Chapter 81: The Radiance of New Sprouts, the Thorns

The tiny emerald bud at the tip of the World Tree’s young branch, like the first ray of dawn piercing eternal night, unleashed a torrent of vital energy that instantly swept across the entire depression. A fresh, pure scent, sharp as forest dew, surged like an invisible tide, scouring away the lingering insect carcasses and rotting slime on the rampart’s armor; where it passed, the sizzling corrosion sounds rapidly faded, and the suffocating acrid stench in the air was largely dispelled! The vines clinging to the rampart’s armor seemed injected with a stimulant—its pale golden leaves unfurled instantly, purification sparks igniting like stars, greedily absorbing this pure life energy!

“This… this is…” Tong Xu nearly dropped his forging hammer, his mechanical ocular implant flashing blue light wildly as it captured the visible, emerald-dust-like particles of life energy drifting through the air.

“The branch… it’s alive?” Ban Shou peeked out from his hiding spot, his tiny green eyes wide as he stared at the growing emerald halo emanating from the earth fissure.

Lin Mo held the unconscious Ali, feeling her body rapidly cooling and the purple qi spreading wildly down his left arm—its chilling cold clashed violently with the vibrant bud before him, tearing his heart apart! Hope was right before him, yet Ali’s life was slipping away at breakneck speed!

“Lingna!” he nearly screamed, rushing toward the earth fissure with Ali in his arms.

Xiang Lingna had already thrown herself beside the bud. Her face still bore tear tracks, but her eyes burned with unprecedented focus and resolve. She didn’t even glance at Ali in Lin Mo’s arms—her entire spirit was immersed in resonance with the bud. She extended both hands, no longer just her fingertips glowing green, but her entire palms covered in a warm, jade-like radiance, like the most devout priestess, carefully cradling the sprouting bud.

Hum!

The instant Xiang Lingna’s jade hands touched the bud, another transformation erupted!

The bud exploded in even brighter emerald light—a life-source energy far purer and denser than before surged forth like a released dam, violently flooding through Xiang Lingna’s arms! She shuddered violently, her face draining of color as if bearing unbearable pressure, yet she gritted her teeth and did not retreat; instead, she guided this torrent of life energy, turned, and firmly pressed her palms, thickly sheathed in intense jade radiance, onto the pulsating purple wound on Ali’s left arm!

Hssss—!!!

Like a searing branding iron plunged into ice water! A piercing melting sound erupted as violent energy clashed!

The emerald life-source clashed violently with the dark-purple corruption! Ali’s body convulsed as if struck by lightning, groaning in pain even in unconsciousness. At the wound, purple-black and emerald energies twisted like two venomous serpents, frantically eroding, annihilating, and fighting for every inch of flesh!

“Hold on!” Lin Mo gripped Ali tightly to prevent her from falling, while channeling every ounce of the Anchor of Order’s blue light into her body, trying to stabilize her chaotic energy field and aid the emerald life-source in suppression!

Xiang Lingna’s face grew paler by the second, her body swaying precariously—the life-source flowing from the bud was too vast, far exceeding her current limits! Yet her hands remained welded to Ali’s wound, pouring out jade radiance without restraint, her gaze stubbornly resolute, trembling with heart-wrenching determination. The glow of the World Tree’s young branch dimmed visibly as it drained its life-source; the bud at its tip even began to wither slightly!

This was a race against death—using the bud’s life-source as fuel, Xiang Lingna’s body as the bridge, to combat the vile corruption embedded deep in the bones by the Rotclaw!

“Tong Xu! Energy! Give her energy support!” Lin Mo, seeing Xiang Lingna’s condition, shouted urgently.

Tong Xu reacted instantly—his short, sturdy figure shot forward like a cannonball to the earth fissure furnace, his massive mechanical hand slamming onto a specially designed energy diverter valve!

Boom!

A pure, blazing stream of orange-red earth energy, like a torrent of molten lava, was forcibly drawn from the furnace core and channeled through temporary conduits, slamming into the ground beneath Xiang Lingna’s feet! The earth roared as the orange energy surged through the earth’s veins into her body, temporarily relieving her crushing burden and stabilizing her nearly collapsing frame!

With the earth energy’s support, Xiang Lingna’s jade radiance surged again! The stubborn dark-purple corruption, under the triple pressure of pure life-source, Order’s light, and earth energy, finally began to retreat—melting and shrinking like snow at the wound’s edges!

The grotesque purple qi on Ali’s left arm visibly shrank! The corruption was forcibly pushed back into the wound’s depths, finally coalescing into a pigeon-egg-sized, living-looking dark-purple tumor, deeply embedded at the wound’s center. Though the surrounding skin still bore purple-black erosion patterns, at least the uncontrolled spread had been halted!

“We did it… temporarily suppressed it…” Ban Shou, watching the probe’s scan data, spoke with a voice trembling from near-death relief.

Xiang Lingna could hold on no longer—her body collapsed backward, caught by Tong Xu. The girl’s face was as white as paper, her breath faint, sunk into deep unconsciousness, yet a faint, relieved smile lingered on her lips. The bud at the tip of the World Tree’s young branch had withered completely, its emerald glow dimmed, as if all its power had been spent.

Lin Mo held Ali, still unconscious but with slightly steadied breath, staring at Xiang Lingna’s drained form and the withered branch—his heart held no joy, only a crushing burden and boundless rage. Rotclaw! The Doctor! This debt will be repaid!

Just then—

Hum!

Beneath Lin Mo’s right sleeve, the dark-purple mark suppressed by the Anchor of Order—stimulated perhaps by the compressed corruption tumor on Ali’s wound, or sensing the World Tree branch’s weakening power—suddenly flared with an unprecedented, greedy, and brutal heat! This time, the pulse wasn’t confined to his arm—it surged through his entire body like lightning, striking his soul! A cold, chaotic, ravenous will of decay, like a beast breaking free from its cage, slammed violently against the Anchor’s blue aura!

Boom!

In his mind, thunder cracked! Lin Mo grunted, eyes darkening, dropping to one knee as he clutched Ali—the “Earth Judgment” slipped from his grasp, the dark-purple portion of its hilt emblem flashing wildly, briefly overpowering the other three colors!

“Boss!” “Lord!” Tong Xu and Ban Shou gasped in shock!

“Ugh…” Lin Mo clamped his right arm, veins bulging on his forehead, sweat instantly drenching his back. The Anchor’s blue light flickered violently within his soul, desperately resisting the mark’s frenzied assault. He could clearly “hear” the mark roaring, whispering:

“Power… unleash… consume… be reborn…”

“Thorns… chains… break… embrace… annihilation…”

"Get out!" Lin Mo roared inwardly like a beast—the Thorns’ will, ignited by fury, fused with his unyielding resolve to protect his home, slammed against the decaying will! The Earth Heart seemed to sense his crisis—the orange glow surged fiercely, pouring endlessly into his body through the ground beneath his feet!

After a brief, fierce clash, the rebellious mark was once again forcibly suppressed deep into his arm, lying dormant. But Lin Mo felt it clearly—the Anchor’s blue light had dimmed slightly, its suppression now far more difficult. This counterattack had been fiercer than any before. Rotclaw’s power was growing!

He lifted his head, panting, face as pale as a ghost, eyes burning with cold fire. He turned to Ban Shou, voice hoarse but absolute: “Star map! Coordinates! Pure star dust! Analyze it now! We have no time!”

Ban Shou jolted, scrambling to his workstation: “Working on it! I wasn’t idle during the insect swarm! The data’s almost done!”

Lin Mo’s gaze swept over the unconscious Ali and Xiang Lingna, over the withered branch, then settled on the blackened ground outside the rampart, still littered with insect corpses. The Thorns’ Heart had just won a bitter victory—but a greater storm was brewing in the darkness. The star map coordinates were their only hope… or perhaps the Doctor’s carefully prepared next tomb.

Just as Ban Shou’s finger hovered over the final analysis command, the core screen of his “Abyss Probe” suddenly flared violently! A fragmented, blurry constellation pattern, drawn from countless light points, forcibly popped up—beneath it, a set of incomplete coordinate parameters flashed wildly. At the core of the constellation, a miniature, cracked replica of a derelict ark, simulated by Thornssteel energy, slowly rotated. Beside it, a line of distorted, scrambled energy glyphs flickered and vanished:

【...Ark Seven...Core...Star Sea...Annihilation...Key...】