Book 18, Highgod – Chapter 26, Choice

The black fog instantly invaded Linley’s sea of consciousness, and even began to invade and corrode the repaired part of the ‘flaw’. The level of the current repair work was something which Linley had accomplished after spending nearly two hundred years after becoming a Highgod. If it was broken, then the efforts of two centuries would have all been for naught!

“Hmph.” Linley’s spiritual energy instantly surged out in waves against the black mist.

His spiritual energy, glowing with that azure light, moved as fast as lightning, constantly clashing against the poisonous black fog and extinguishing it.

“Boss, this big snake is rather tough to deal with.” Bebe sent mentally.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaawr!” The large green snake’s tail swung about angrily, transforming into multiple blurs which struck towards Linley and Bebe.

Linley’s gaze turned cold.

“Swish!” Linley’s draconic tail swung out viciously as well, intersecting with the snake’s tail. With a ‘whap!’ sound, Linley couldn’t help but be knocked back by a few dozen meters, while the giant green snake once more coiled itself around a branch of the Abyssal Fruit Tree.

“This large snake’s skin really is tough.” Linley was secretly surprised. “And quite slippery!”

“Hmph.” After Linley was sent flying backwards, Bebe charged straight towards the Abyssal Fruit. The giant green snake naturally struck out with its tail again, which twirled about like a tornado, causing the nearby space to twist and distort as it lashed out towards Bebe. Bebe just gave a sinister grin, and the godspark dagger suddenly appeared in his hands. He gave the oncoming serpentine tail a vicious swipe!

“Slash!”

The dagger, when meeting the serpentine skin, couldn’t help but slip aside. It only left behind a fairly deep white impression, and only managed to crack three of the thin scales.

“Hey?” Bebe was surprised, and at the same time he also sent mentally, “Boss, this big snake’s body is much stronger than those of the little green snakes, and it is also quite slippery. Not even my godspark weapon was able to break through it at one blow! Right, Boss...you hurry up and get the Abyssal Fruit, and let me tie down this big snake! He’s not able to do anything to me!”

“Punk, I’m going to make you die!”

The giant green snake, seeing that three of its serpentine scales had been cracked, was instantly enraged. Bellowing, it once more coiled towards Bebe. Its venomous fangs were sharp, but they weren’t that tough; in terms of toughness, its skin was the toughest. Over the course of countless years...nobody had ever been able to leave behind any wounds on its body.

“Swoosh.” Linley was very confident in Bebe, and so he charged straight for the Abyssal Fruit.

“Rumble...”

Bebe was surprised. As soon as the giant green snake touched Bebe, it instantly began to wrap around and constrict Bebe, as though wanting to crush him to death. “Hey, you are pretty strong. But if you want to crush me to death with this bit of strength...keep dreaming.” Bebe raised his head proudly, staring directly at the giant green snake’s head, not afraid at all.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The giant green snake was exerting pressure with every part of its body as it sought to crush Bebe to death.

Constriction was one of its innate talents. It was very easy for it to rely on its body to constrict Highgods to death. Even Highgod artifacts, when gripped and ground down upon by its body, would begin to twist and distort. But today, it discovered...that the youth it was currently constricting was like an incomparably tough and resilient chunk of metal.

“Hey, use more strength.” Bebe chortled. Bebe was happy to be keeping the giant green snake occupied, and he also paid attention to Linley’s situation..

“Eh?” Bebe was suddenly startled.

When Linley drew near the Abyssal Fruit, many soft, willow-like branches suddenly coiled towards Linley. Irritated, Linley lashed out with Mirage, filling it with divine earth power and raising its attack power to the limit. With a gentle sound, tears in space began to appear.

“Slash!” Mirage chopped down upon one of the branches.

This branch was as thick as a person’s thighs, but when Linley’s Mirage godspark sword chopped down, it was only able to cut to the center of the branch and no further. “Eh?” Linley suddenly had the feeling...that when the branch of the Abyssal Fruit Tree and Mirage collided, a surge of powerful, rippling force was transmitted through.

It was attacking his mind!

“Rumble...” Linley’s mind couldn’t help but go momentarily dizzy, but he was still able to endure the attack. At this moment, many other branches swung towards him as well.

“Retreat!” Linley hurriedly pulled his sword out, retreating at high speed!

At the same time, an earthen yellow aura emerged from his body, immediately forming into his Blackstone Space. The powerful repulsive force immediately activated against those branches. Although the branches now moved much more slowly, they still came wrapping around towards him from every direction. Linley could only choose to run even farther away.

Linley was in a tough situation, but it wasn’t easy for Bailey either. He, too, was unable to do anything against the Abyssal Fruit Tree.

“Bailey, you said the Spirit Snake controls the Abyssal Fruit Tree? Then how is it that the tree is capable of using spiritual attacks?” Linley couldn’t help but bark. He had already retreated a hundred meters, while Bailey had also retreated to a distance of a hundred meters. Shaking his head, Bailey replied, “Back then, when I first encountered the Abyssal Fruit Tree...there were simply too many green snakes, so I couldn’t draw near at all. I didn’t know the Abyssal Fruit Tree was capable of spiritual attacks. Now, it seems, the Abyssal Fruit Tree itself possesses sentience!”

Linley suddenly realized...

What the ‘tree’ and ‘snake’ the red-haired beauty was referring to.

“The ‘snake’ should be this sort of large snake, while the ‘tree’ should be this Abyssal Fruit Tree.” Linley was now aware of the power of this Abyssal Fruit Tree. A single branch...was actually able to endure his full-force sword blow. Despite using a godspark sword, he was only able to chop to the center of the branch.

“Eh? It already repaired the damage?” Linley discovered to his surprise that the damage he had done by chopping down against the branch was already repaired.

“This Abyssal Fruit Tree is just like normal Deities; its body can easily repair itself when damaged.” Linley felt a headache oncoming.

“Haha...nothing left? Then it’s my turn!” Bebe’s voice suddenly rang out.

Linley couldn’t help but to turn and look...

Bebe was currently still being constricted by the giant green snake, which seemed to want to crush Bebe. But suddenly...

“SHKREEEEEEEEEE!”

With an ear-piercing, savage sound ringing out, Bebe opened his mouth, while at the same time, around his body an enormous illusion of a Godeater Rat appeared, which stared coldly at the giant green snake.

The giant green snake was stunned. It couldn’t help but have a bad feeling!

A cold look flashed through Bebe’s eyes.

“Aaaaaah!” A miserable scream rang out, and from the head of the giant green snake, a black divine spark flew out, entering Bebe’s mouth. As for the giant green snake, it fell down lifelessly, dead!

Innate divine ability – Godeater!

In the same instant of the giant green snake’s death, the surviving little green snakes which had remained on the leaves of the Abyssal Fruit Tree all transformed into green energy, then disappeared from the world. They, too, had died!

“Oh?” Linley suddenly understood.

Those little green snakes should have been a part of the giant green snake. Or perhaps their lives were linked to the giant green snake’s soul. Now that the Spirit Snake was dead, the little snakes perished as well.

“How dare you be arrogant in front of me!” Bebe snorted.

The distant Bailey and Bloan both stared towards Bebe in disbelief. Just now, they had both seen Bebe use the ‘Godeater’ divine ability. This innate divine ability didn’t belong to any sort of Law or Edict. It surpassed them, and once it was used...Bailey and Bloan were completely stunned.

In the face of this technique, what could they do against it?

This technique acted directly against one’s divine spark. Most likely, even if you had incredibly deep understandings of the Laws, you still wouldn’t have any chance to use your techniques!

“The Abyssal Fruit is mine!” Bebe once more charged towards the Abyssal Fruit Tree.

“Rustle, rustle...” The Abyssal Fruit Tree seemed to have gone mad, and many of its branches began to swing about, encircling and wrapping towards Bebe. Linley, seeing the situation, activated his Blackstone Space with a thought, instantly spreading it out to a circumference of hundreds of meters.

Gravity, downwards!

Those branches couldn’t help but drop downwards, but they all strove to rise up and go snatch Bebe.

“Swish.” Linley charged forward as well.

“Swoosh.” Bailey didn’t hesitate either, hurriedly seizing the chance to charge forward.

The Abyssal Fruit Tree’s movements were indeed now much slower, and it found it hard to catch Bebe and Linley, but...the tree branches didn’t try to seize Linley. Many of the branches actually easily began to twist and distort, completely wrapping up the Abyssal Fruit.

Linley, Bebe, and Bailey were stupefied.

Now that the Abyssal Fruit was wrapped up in branches, how would they acquire it?

“Last time, the Abyssal Fruit Tree just casually blocked for a time. It wasn’t as savage as this!” Bailey said uncomprehendingly.

Linley and Bebe floated in the air, staring at the Abyssal Fruit Tree.

“Boss, what should we do?” Bebe asked.

“This is rather tricky.” Linley frowned, and then immediately launched Mirage against the Abyssal Fruit Tree. Mirage was already translucent, and as the sword ripples lashed out, one tear in space after another appeared. Mirage struck at the trunks multiple times, but each sword blow found it hard to break through.

Hundreds of consecutive blows! But after each blow, the branches immediately healed.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, many branches exploded forward, attacking the nearby Linley.

Linley’s face changed, and the direction of his Blackstone Space suddenly changed to be...repulsive!

The branches couldn’t help but slow down, and Linley flew back, retreating.

“Bebe, these branches are simply too tough, and there are too many of them. As soon as I launch one blow with my sword, the branch has already healed the damage before my second blow arrives. And it is also capable of a powerful soul attack. I’m not afraid of a blow from a single branch, but if hundreds of them strike me with the great power they possess...or if they constrict me, it’ll be even tougher to deal with than the constriction of that giant green snake.” Linley sent mentally.

“Looks like there’s only one option.” Bebe flew forwards.

Suddenly...

The illusion of a Godeater Rat that was tens of meters tall appeared before Bebe. That powerful aura caused Bloan and Bailey to both feel shock in their hearts, and a unique energy was applied to the Abyssal Fruit Tree.

“Yet again. After using it this second time, Bebe will need some rest.” Linley couldn’t help but say to himself.

Linley was very confident in Bebe, but the result caused Linley to feel astonished. “How is that possible?” No divine spark flew out from the Abyssal Fruit Tree, and it wasn’t damaged at all. As for Bebe, he landed back on the ground, looking puzzled. “Boss, I...I can’t sense its divine spark!”

“Can’t sense it?” Linley was stunned.

“This Abyssal Fruit Tree has no divine spark.” Bebe was completely certain.

“If that’s the case, then this will be troublesome. This Abyssal Fruit Tree...no wonder it is capable of nurturing and creating a holy object such as the Abyssal Fruit. It is indeed hard to deal with.” Linley frowned. “But from what Bailey said, last time the Abyssal Fruit appeared, the Abyssal Fruit Tree didn’t prove to be such an obstacle. It just went through the motions of defending before allowing someone to harvest the fruit. Why is it that this time...?”

Right at this moment...

“Swoosh!” Bailey transformed into a blur, once more charging towards the Abyssal Fruit Tree. Linley and Bebe were in no rush, allowing Bailey to go make the attempt.

“There’s no way he’ll be able to deal with the Abyssal Fruit Tree.” Linley said to himself.

He didn’t believe that Bailey had any hope!

“Whoosh!” Those protective branches surrounding the Abyssal Fruit suddenly opened up, while at the same time reached out towards Bailey in an embrace...and Bailey suddenly struck hard against a nearby branch, relying on the counter-force to propel himself forward towards the Abyssal Fruit. As for those surrounding branches, their speed seemed to have been lowered significantly...

Bailey managed to just barely escape the embrace of those branches, and immediately plucked the translucent, crystalline Abyssal Fruit.

“It is mine!” Bailey was wildly overjoyed.

At the same time, without hesitating at all, Bailey chomped down, swallowing it into his stomach in a matter of seconds.

Linley and Bebe seemed to have been thunderstruck.

“What’s going on?” Bebe didn’t dare to believe it.

“Why didn’t the Abyssal Fruit Tree try to block it?” Linley couldn’t understand it either. Given how many branches the Abyssal Fruit Tree had, it was completely capable of blocking Bailey. Even if it didn’t block him...it could do the same thing it had done to Linley and Bebe, just wrap up the Abyssal Fruit Tree. Bailey naturally wouldn’t be able to acquire it.

But...

The Abyssal Fruit Tree had voluntarily opened its branches, just blocking him slightly.

“It seems as though the Abyssal Fruit Tree was partial towards Bailey.” Linley said, not understanding.

“Rustle...” Suddenly, the entire Abyssal Fruit Tree began to tremble. The main trunk of the Abyssal Fruit Tree sank downwards into the ground, and then its many branches sank into the ground as well. It also pulled the corpse of the giant green snake into the ground. In but the amount of time necessary for a few breaths, the Abyssal Fruit Tree had completely gone underground.

The Abyssal Fruit Tree had departed!

“Haha...” Sudden, excited laughter rang out. Bailey once more opened his eyes.

“Eh?” Linley had the feeling as though Bailey’s very aura had changed.

“Thank you, you two.” Bailey looked towards Linley and Bebe, while Bloan excitedly ran over as well. “Big Brother, you succeeded?” Bloan knew exactly how much suffering his elder brother had endured for the sake of this Abyssal Fruit. The first time he entered the Abyssal Mountain, although he had seen it, he hadn’t acquired it.

And then, he had waited resolutely while training, preparing for the next time.

Countless years of loneliness. He had successfully endured and also succeeded.

“Gentlemen, last time, the Abyssal Fruit Tree just did some cursory blocks as well. This time, it clearly acted with intent against you two.” Bailey laughed as he looked at Linley and Bebe. “I think...it should be because Bebe killed that Spirit Snake!”

“Spirit Snake?” Linley and Bebe both felt shock in their hearts.

“This Spirit Snake and the Abyssal Fruit Tree were always together. After countless years, they definitely must have formed an extremely strong emotional bond. Tell me...how could the Abyssal Fruit Tree possibly be willing to give you the Abyssal Fruit which it nurtured?” Bailey said, laughing.