Chapter 74

Filthy pus and shattered tissues fell like thick raindrops from the ruined dome. The stench was suffocating, mixed with the acrid reek of charred flesh. The massive tumor nest had become rubble, its remnants still twitching faintly, like a dying behemoth, but the overwhelming, despairing field of decay that had blanketed the entire space had largely dissipated.

Lin Mo leaned on the "Earthvein Arbiter," struggling to push himself up from the cold metal wall. The explosion’s shock had churned his internal organs; a trickle of blood seeped from his lips. The blue glow of the Anchor of Order within him dimmed slightly—his full-power strike had drained him severely, and it had stirred the dark purple mark buried deep in his soul, now throbbing with dull pain and a chilling tremor.

He turned his gaze immediately toward Ellie. The silver-haired girl knelt half-bowed nearby, back pressed against twisted pipes, gasping heavily. Her left arm wound had torn open during the blast, dark red blood soaking through her damaged light armor; the stubborn purple aura at its edges seemed to have deepened further. The Thorned Lunar Shield had long vanished, and the lunar threads swirling around her fingertips had grown faint—clearly, her strike against the Rotting Eye had drained her severely.

“How are you?” Lin Mo stepped forward quickly, his voice urgent.

“Not dead yet.” Ellie wiped blood from her lips, her voice hoarse but still cold and hard. She tried channeling Lunar energy to purify the wound, but when the silver radiance touched the purple aura, it was like cold water hitting boiling oil—a violent stab of pain and deeper erosion surged through her, making her grunt and sweat bead on her forehead. “This damn thing… is harder to deal with than the withered beasts outside.”

Lin Mo’s gaze darkened. The decay energy lingering in Ellie’s wound was far more invasive and stubborn than anything they’d encountered before. This was no ordinary corruption—it was more like… a fragment of the Rotting Claw’s primal contamination! He immediately activated the blue glow of the Anchor of Order and carefully channeled a thread of it toward the edge of her wound.

Hss—

Like ice meeting fire! The moment the blue Order light touched the dark purple corruption, a violent energy annihilation erupted! Ellie’s body jerked violently; the agony made her grit her teeth, but the stubborn purple aura, under the cleansing force of the Order light, was finally pushed back slightly—allowing the silver radiance to penetrate deeper into the wound’s edge.

“Hold on,” Lin Mo said grimly, continuing to feed weak streams of Order energy. Blue and purple clashed fiercely at the wound, each annihilation bringing intense pain. Ellie’s face turned as pale as paper, sweat rolling down in beads, yet she made no sound—only her cold eyes locked unblinkingly on the flickering blue-purple light.

Just then—

Hum…

An extremely faint yet indescribably fresh and vital resonance, like a gentle breeze, brushed over their weary, taut nerves. The source? The center of the nest’s ruins!

Lin Mo’s heart jolted—he immediately halted his energy input. Ellie, gritting through the pain, sharpened her gaze toward the rubble.

There, amid the filthiest remains—smoldering chunks of flesh and viscous sludge—a single emerald glow pierced through the muck, steady and unwavering. The source appeared to be a fragment, only as long as an arm, entirely carved from the finest jade-like material… a branch?

No—more accurately, a young shoot. It glowed translucent and luminous, radiating a warm aura of life, its surface covered in intricate, naturally formed runes. Though buried deep within this filthiest core of the nest, the aura it emitted was pure, untainted by even a trace of impurity—carrying the freshness of a forest, the crisp sweetness of morning dew, utterly alien to its surroundings, like a peerless green lotus blooming in mud.

It was the emerald signal the probe had detected earlier!

“That’s it!” Wrench’s voice, thick with tears of relief, emerged from behind a collapsed control panel as he scrambled out, covered in grime. His probe case, slung crookedly on his back, was scarred and smeared with slime, yet the core’s Thorned Steel still glowed steadily. “Boss! Ellie! I knew you two were alive! That explosion nearly buried me alive! That’s it—that signal! Pure as hell, just like Xiang Lingna’s scent!”

Wrench pointed excitedly at the emerald shoot while frantically operating the probe’s remaining functional components. The screen flashed a stream of chaotic but unmistakable data: 【Detected ultra-high concentration of life essence… Natural affinity… Same origin as target ‘Jade Heart’ fragment… Low vitality… Strongly sealed/repressed…】

Lin Mo and Ellie stepped forward toward the ruins. The closer they got, the stronger the fresh life aura became—reviving their spirits, even momentarily suppressing the purple corruption in Ellie’s wound. Lin Mo carefully pried away the debris with his blade’s tip, revealing the shoot in full view.

It lay quietly in the charred rubble, one end severed, the cut surface smooth as a mirror—as if cleaved by a sharp blade. The other end branched into several tiny, equally translucent leaves, their edges curled slightly, appearing withered. Most strikingly, wrapped around the shoot’s middle was a complex energy seal woven from silver moonlight and emerald vines! The seal’s glow was dim, riddled with fine cracks—clearly on the verge of collapse after centuries of decay and erosion. It was this fragile, crumbling seal that barely sustained the shoot’s last spark of life, while masking most of its aura.

“A World Tree shoot?” Ellie stared at the complex seal, her cold voice tinged with uncertainty. “The sacred relic from the elf legends?” She had seen similar descriptions in surviving scrolls left by elf priests.

“Not quite.” Lin Mo crouched down, carefully sensing the energy composition of the seal. The silver lunar force was pure and chilling; the emerald vines pulsed with resilient life. The two energies fused perfectly. This technique… bore uncanny resemblance to Ellie’s Thorned Lunar power, yet it was older, more refined, more powerful. “This sealing method… is from an elf priest! And a mighty Moon Priest at that!”

Just as Lin Mo’s finger neared the silver lunar seal—

Hum!

The shoot trembled violently! A faint but crystal-clear fragment of thought—like the murmured dream of a sleeper startled awake—shot directly into Lin Mo and Ellie’s minds. It was not language, but a torrent of raw emotion: despair, sorrow, protection, and unyielding defiance!

【…Protect… the last… hope…】

【…Mist… consumes… home…】

【…Moon God… pity… seal…】

【…Key… stolen…】

【…Rotting Claw… descends…】

【…Liyana… can’t… hold on…】

Countless fragmented images flashed with it: skies choked by withering mist; elves writhing in agony, eventually corrupted into withered trees; priests battling with silver moonfire against rotting tendrils; a colossal jade core pierced through by clusters of purple-black crystal; and… a monstrous claw, covered in rotting bark and crystal, emerging from deep within the mist!

“Liyana?” Ellie caught the name in the thought, her pupils contracting. Was this the seal’s creator? A desperate elf Moon Priest?

Lin Mo’s spirit reeled! The final image—the monstrous claw… was the Rotting Claw! And the jade core pierced by crystal clusters… its shape and aura matched almost exactly the Jade Heart fragment in his territory—only larger, more immense! Could it be…?

“The key was stolen?” He suddenly remembered the keyword the Rotting Claw imprint had whispered in his mind—“key”! Was this sealed World Tree shoot, this final plea from Priestess Liyana, connected to that so-called “key”? And was the Rotting Claw’s true target the core essence guarded by the elves—something akin to the Jade Heart?

“Boss! Something’s wrong!” Wrench suddenly pointed to a tiny corner of the probe case—a blue indicator for spatial stability was flashing crimson furiously! “The explosion… must’ve damaged some structural supports! Spatial readings are fluctuating wildly! It could collapse again any second! And…” his beady green eyes widened in terror as he stared toward the entrance passage, “Something big’s coming! Energy readings… off the charts!”

As if confirming Wrench’s words, a terrifying roar—brimming with brutality and destruction—rolled like thunder from deep within the ruins. The entire metal structure shuddered violently! A decay pressure a hundred times stronger than the tumor nest surged forth like a tangible tidal wave!

The doctor’s cold electronic voice, like a funeral bell, echoed again through the residual speakers in the ruins:

【Annihilation Countdown: 00:09:59…】

【Experimental data collection complete… Target response matches expectations…】

【Final annihilation protocol… initiated…】

【Enjoy… your final moments… insects…】

The cold countdown digits appeared in the corner of their vision, like bloodstained brandings.