Chapter 1031: Everyone Becomes an Immortal

"The Crow Rain Tribe's king has been suppressed!" Captain Wu said softly, rapidly recovering from his injuries at the same time.

Fang Yue gave a slight nod.

"A Mo-level Weird being suppressed by a Rain-level warrior — those four tribe elders really are monster-level."

From the looks of things now, the battle here could be safely left to Qing Wang and the Four Elders, while they could free their hands to rescue An Dong'er.

Just as the two of them thought of this…

Crack!

The Imperial Palace ground suddenly split open with a fissure.

Fang Yue looked down and saw that what was revealed within the fissure was a massive vine.

Has An Dong'er returned?

Fang Yue's heart first leapt with joy, but he immediately realized this could also mean Feng Wang had stabilized An Dong'er's condition and come back to kill.

An Dong'er's situation was truly too special; under these circumstances, he didn't even have much confidence he could save her, and might even have to kill An Dong'er's body because he had to face Feng Wang.

Just as Fang Yue thought of this…

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The fissure in the ground suddenly widened, and at the same time, the earth all around the Imperial Palace developed fissures of varying degrees; countless vines, like interwoven fibrous tissue, writhed and tangled beneath the surface.

"Has the Nation-Protecting Spirit Tree returned?"

"Excellent — the four tribe elders have returned, His Majesty has come in person, and with the Spirit Tree's aid, the heavens truly do protect Qing Guo!"

Many people had no idea at all what had happened between the Spirit Tree and Fang Yue's group; they had only been watching from afar before, so they didn't know that the 'Nation-Protecting Spirit Tree' was more likely an enemy.

"An Dong'er! Is that you?"

Fang Yue and Captain Wu exchanged a glance, then called out toward the surroundings, but the response they received was…

Crack!!

The vines within every fissure in the Imperial Palace ground — at the very same instant — all burst through the surface and shot skyward!

They twisted and tangled, crisscrossing in every direction; in just a moment they had grown several hundred meters tall, blotting out the night sky, and in an instant they adorned the entire Imperial Palace like a primeval jungle.

Before the crowd could collect themselves, blood-colored fruits sprouted from these massive vines one after another, swelling and growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming blood-colored fruits each over a meter across.

The dense blood-colored fruits covered every vine; so thickly packed they nearly hid every vine's trunk, as if any part of the vine could serve as fertile soil for the blood-colored fruits to grow in.

In just this short while, the Imperial Palace had undergone a tremendous transformation, throwing the crowd into panic.

"Wh-what is this thing?!"

"Everyone look quickly — there's something inside those fruits!"

Fang Yue followed their gaze, and his expression immediately turned strange and ugly.

What was writhing inside those blood-colored fruits was unmistakably… babies!

Fist-sized babies, serene and peaceful as if still in a mother's womb.

But Fang Yue could sense no breath of life from them.

This meant…

"Dead infants."

Captain Wu said grimly, "The babies inside those blood-colored fruits are all corpses!"

The Ink Immortal Formation was sinister and dark — a method utterly beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Fang Yue didn't know much about Mo Qing, but he generally understood that this was someone who would stop at nothing to break through the Immortal's limits; yet the scene of such madness before him still left him feeling uneasy.

Such a violent upheaval made both the Four Elders and the Crow Rain Tribe's king briefly halt their clash; only the battle between the two kings higher up was unaffected.

The Crow Rain Tribe's king looked down upon the grand spectacle below, and an infinite sense of pleasure welled up within him. Although none of this was his doing, seeing humanity reduced to such a state still filled him with deep satisfaction.

But before he could voice any sentiment, the smile just beginning to form on his face suddenly froze.

Drip.

A drop of blood-colored Night Rain fell onto his cheek.

Immediately after came…

Whoosh!

Ferocious Night Rain poured down like a storm, breaking through the Imperial Palace's barrier and falling into the entire palace! The Night Rain across the whole night sky seemed to have concentrated entirely over the Imperial Palace; raindrops falling in the surrounding areas madly rushed toward the Imperial Palace's location.

The raindrops in midair formed a funnel shape, pouring madly into the Imperial Palace — spectacular and eerie!

For the Crow Rain Tribe's king, this should have been a good thing, but the problem was…

This time, the Night Rain was beyond his control.

Those violently pouring Night Rain drops were simply drawn by something, madly falling toward the area below the Imperial Palace!

"I-it's Night Rain! Night Rain has broken through the Imperial Palace's barrier!"

"Retreat! Get out of here, quickly!"

The others turned pale with fright and were about to scatter like startled birds and beasts, but were stopped by a great shout.

"Everyone gather toward me!"

The one who shouted was unmistakably Fang Yue.

Fang Yue used his Rain-level strength to spread open a barrier, protecting the safety of the others, then sent people to gather the remaining survivors and bring them under centralized protection.

While Fang Yue was focused on this, Captain Wu beside him suddenly stretched out a hand, his body trembling with a strange expression, his finger pointing at a blood-colored fruit not far ahead.

"Captain Ye… is it my imagination, or has the blood infant inside that fruit… come back to life!"

The blood infant had come back to life?

Fang Yue was stunned for a moment, instinctively looked up, and his pupils immediately contracted.

The dead infants inside the blood-colored fruits on those massive vines were, under the bathing of the Night Rain, slowly emanating a thick vitality — passing from death into life!

And the Night Rain, which should have corroded everything, falling onto the blood-colored fruits had not the slightest effect; instead, it nourished the fruits, making that blood-red color even more vivid.

It was as if two strange kinds of power, through this very method, merged into one, becoming an entirely new existence.

The infant inside breathed and rose and fell as if still in a mother's womb, growing ever steadier. At the same time, on the surface of the blood-colored fruit, layer upon layer of black lines began to appear, like the patterns of some kind of formation's runes. Fang Yue could not read them, but he still felt an extreme malice and ill omen.

Plop.

Just then, a blood-colored fruit hanging from a vine — the infant fruit whose entire body was already covered in black lines — suddenly dropped from the vine and fell to the ground!

The blood-colored fruit was unexpectedly brittle; the moment it hit the ground it burst open, splashing out a puddle of blood. And within that blood, the blood infant, just like an ordinary baby, closed its eyes and with a single wail let out the first great howling cry of its life.

The blood infant had truly come alive! It had become a living, breathing baby!

Only, looking at its outward appearance, black lines surfaced on the infant's skin — that mark of artificial carving had still left its imprint upon it.

Just as Fang Yue was carefully observing the blood infant, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

Because he had noticed something.

"Captain Night Rain, did you find something?" Captain Wu immediately noticed the change in his companion and asked in a low voice.

"This blood infant… has a Spirit Root!"

A Spirit Root?!

Captain Wu's pupils contracted.

The blood infant that fell from the Spirit Tree came with a Spirit Root of its own — what did that mean?

A Spirit Root is the ticket to becoming an immortal; without a Spirit Root, there is no future!

If the infant before them possessed a Spirit Root, then the infants inside the countless blood-colored fruits on the other Spirit Trees…

Almost the instant Captain Wu thought of this, more blood-colored fruits ripened to their utmost.

The countless blood-colored fruits tumbled to the ground one after another, each letting out a great wail.

The infants' cries, together with the blood pooling across the ground, formed a scene as bizarre as the alternation of life and death, striking the soul with awe.

Such an uncanny situation left people at a loss, and no one even noticed that the Night Rain in the sky, as if drained of its energy, had at some unknown moment quietly withdrawn.

And just then, from the darkness ahead came the sound of slow, unhurried footsteps.

As the shadow drew near, that person slowly bent down, lifted the blood infant into their arms, and gently soothed it.

"The Ink Immortal Formation, every man becomes an immortal! A marvel that rivals the heavens, seizing the fortune of creation — truly inconceivable."

As they gently soothed the blood infant in their arms, that person slowly stepped out of the shadow, and was unmistakably…

"Ming?"

Fang Yue's eyes went wide, and the name escaped his lips.

This woman was still alive?

(End of chapter)