Chapter 542 - Five Supreme Bone Rings

Crack, crack, crack, crack...

The rampaging statues halted, their figures freezing at once despite their fighting postures. One statue whose fist was crashing earthward went rigid, and a knight-level Hellsing tumbled out in fright from beneath its huge knuckles. His face was still stricken, drained of color.

"Move!" Ripple Master stowed the ancient White Bone Tree. "They'll start moving again soon. The tree's effect won't hold forever."

The Black Rain Manor Hellsings sprinted deeper down the road and quickly left the statues behind. They had never expected this kind of outcome. Even with Ripple Master guiding them, they had lost members only moments after entering Eternal Island in earnest. It seemed Eternal Island truly was treacherous and could not be taken lightly.

***

A few minutes earlier, on the inner isle of Eternal Island, beneath the towering pale mother tree.

Dense ranks of black-clad figures filled the broad clearing, which was ringed by buildings of wildly different styles. Some resembled Hongli Empire motifs while others bore island-nation adornments. The mixture produced a strangely compelling beauty.

The leader of the Ripple Order sat cross-legged before the mother tree. He perched upon a protruding thick root five meters above the ground. The whole root rose like an altar.

The Ripple Practitioners' leader sat there with eyes closed. A breeze brushed by and he suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes sharpening at once as his previous calm vanished.

"Lord Ice Spirit, what is it? Has the mother tree sent another command?" A weathered Ripple Master below the altar asked the question.

The title Ice Spirit was a special name for the current Ripple Order leader. It was because the Supreme Ring he wielded was attuned to ice. Hence, he was called Ice Spirit. Similarly, there would be Thunder Spirit, Flame Spirit, Wind Spirit, and the like. For instance, the three Supreme Rings currently gestating upon the mother tree.

"..." Ice Spirit paused for a moment, then said quietly, "The situation is grim. The invaders' numbers and strength far exceed what we imagined. They have broken through our coastal defenses and have fully set foot on Eternal Island. They are heading this way."

"They broke through us? Then Gareon and his men must have...?" The Ripple Master spoke at once.

"Gareon is dead," Ice Spirit nodded grimly. "And not only him—his subordinates were wiped out down to the last."

He slowly turned and gazed into the distance. For an instant, it was as though his sight pierced the thick woods and hills to behold the blood-soaked wreckage far off on the shore.

Ice Spirit turned back to face forward again. "The first landing force was extremely strong, roughly sixty or seventy in number. Their leader alone shattered Gareon and his more than seventy elite Ripple Practitioners head-on..."

"One man! Shattered them outright!?" The elderly Ripple Master at his side could scarcely believe it.

A lone Ripple Master and a Ripple Master backed by an array were utterly different concepts. A prepared Ripple Master's power was often several times what he could show when caught alone and unprepared. That meant a Ripple Master wielding multiple times their normal strength was still no match for that single invader!

It implied many things. Only one person within the Ripple Order could equal such a feat: Ice Spirit himself.

"And that was only the first wave." Ice Spirit regarded the aghast elder and delivered a second heavy fact. "The teams on Eternal Island's west and east have been broken too. The west, like the south where the first force landed, was entirely annihilated. There are some extremely dangerous auras among them. They have yet to act, yet the mother tree still sensed them."

He paused briefly to let them absorb the news, then went on. "On the east, the third invading force likewise routed our men. That side was not wiped out; about one-third survived."

Ice Spirit reported this relatively good news calmly. Though it was not truly good, everything was relative.

"This..." The elder Ripple Master wore a bitter look.

How had they suddenly become beset on every side? The Ripple art had spread fast in recent years, yet it had not offended any major power. Why would three powerful groups appear at once to strike their stronghold?

"For now, we must first distribute the three Supreme bone rings granted by the mother tree. We must raise our strength if we are to meet the threat." Ice Spirit spoke with great composure.

"Right, right." The elder recovered himself.

Hearing of the front's utter ruin had shaken him badly. Now he recalled: yes, had the mother tree not just manifested its might by forming three Supreme bone rings?!

If they were given to the three strongest Ripple Masters, their strength would soar. They could touch the highest stage, "Spirit" stage, in an instant. Then, Eternal Island would have four Spirit-stage beings! Ice Spirit, and a soon-to-be Thunder Spirit, Flame Spirit, and Wind Spirit.

Once they added their home field edge and the mother tree's intelligence advantage, even three powerful forces might be beatable!

Thinking so calmed the elder's heart. He looked at Ice Spirit, about to speak. However, Ice Spirit closed his eyes again, clearly receiving fresh word from the mother tree. This time, the silent communion lasted even longer. After five minutes, Ice Spirit reopened his eyes and looked sharply upward.

The elder Ripple Master also raised his gaze in puzzlement. There, three differently glowing rings floated like little suns in the lush crown of the towering mother tree. Beside them, yet another ring was about to be born.

"Another Supreme bone ring!!!" All the assembled Ripple Practitioners sensed the anomaly. They pointed at the canopy in excitement, faces awash with shock.

Standing upon the root, Ice Spirit drew a deep breath, the mother tree's command resonating in his mind: Destroy the invaders at any cost! Take back an object from them! Ensure that the tiny Bone Tree, small enough to hold in one hand, comes to no harm!

***

Ten minutes later, beneath the towering mother tree.

The Ripple Practitioners stared upward at the mother tree. Rings kept appearing; bone rings that once needed decades to ripen now formed in the span of a few breaths. What emerged were not the lowest white rings but Bloodthirsty bone rings one after another!

Bloodthirsty bone rings were ranked above White bone rings, and were distinguished by the crimson filaments embedded in their bands. Above Bloodthirsty bone rings were the half-attribute Ripple bone rings, like the half-white, half-red ring that Ripple Master Gareon had worn.

Whoosh~

A gust blew through the leaves. Rings began dropping from the branches like ripe fruit. Each landed with uncanny precision in the hands of elite Ripple Practitioners who had worn white rings. Scores of half-attribute rings likewise fell, seeking out Bloodthirsty Ripple Practitioners.

The Ripple Practitioners caught them eagerly and swapped their rings. They were ecstatic as they felt the stronger ripple thrumming in their palms. Their weaponry had leaped a tier in a moment, sending the force of the whole group soaring.

Five figures now stood on roots four or five meters high, right hands lowered. Five Supreme bone rings pulsed with eerie light. The air about them warped subtly. Ice Spirit stepped on the highest root. He looked down upon the tide of black silhouettes from on high.

"From this moment, everyone moves! Hunt down every intruder who has set foot on Eternal Island! Leave none alive! Go now!"

Tap, tap, tap ... tap, tap, tap ...

The black figures spun and shot into the distant fog like arrows loosed from strings. They were marching to war.

***

Back on the outer isle of Eternal Island, the Covert Martial Arts party had trekked a long while through thick mist. They had encountered many strange zones on the island.

Sometimes, purple poisonous rain fell, corroding everything save a vivid red plant that flourished in the air. Closer inspection revealed that the rain was vapor from that very plant, condensed aloft and confined to a limited patch.

Elsewhere, the ground was strewn with diamond-like crystals clustered like clear blossoms. They were breathtaking when the sun struck them. However, a careless touch or misstep triggered an immediate explosion.

That would set off a chain of blasts across the field, fearsome enough to almost set Cassius's coat-tail alight!

Strictly speaking, even grazing Cassius's garb counted as a feat. At his current extreme combat artist level, even top-tier combat artists could scarcely reach his hem, let alone harm it. Thus, the crystal blasts were truly perilous to the Covert Martial Artists and had to be treated with caution.

Now they faced another peril beyond those two special zones.

Cassius stood at the edge and looked ahead. A tall live volcano loomed in the distance. One could see streams of lava spilling from cracks around the crater rim. They wound downward like glowing scarlet ribbons.

Honeycomb-like rocks littered the ground at the volcano's foot. Odd trees grew from the crevices. They bore no roots or leaves, only twisted branches like claws made of human bone. Tiny pores in the branches breathed constant white smoke that drifted skyward into the overarching mist.

Tap, tap, tap ...

The Covert Martial Arts party approached. Yet as they neared, several fighters in front showed discomfort. They frowned, their bodies bristling in instinctive alarm.

Cassius sensed something wrong as well. He stepped near one of the large trees and into the smoke issuing from its hollow. Instantly, he felt his Qi being stabbed by myriad tiny needles.

No, it was not an attack but an invasion. Something within the fog was boring into his Qi.

Whoosh!

Cassius flashed backward in a swift retreat. The tree before him spewed a furious gout of fog that washed over the ground. After brief thought, he withdrew the Qi sheathing his hand.

After sensing for a moment, Cassius formed a hypothesis. The white fog was laced with plant spores so fine they were almost undetectable. Any organism exposed would be invaded and parasitised by them!

It was just like the devil ray Cassius had seen, whose nervous system was nearly replaced and wholly controlled by plant roots. It had become a guardian sea monster of the Eternal Archipelago.

Cassius gazed into the sky with deep eyes, realising that the fog seemed to blanket the entire archipelago. Did that not mean every creature on the island had fallen under the unseen Ultimate Dark Form's control?

After all, even nearby fish were afflicted. Surely land beings that met the fog stood no chance! Eternal Island stretched nearly a hundred kilometers from north to south. And it had all succumbed? Was this the Ultimate Dark Form?!

It even appeared to be in some impaired condition!

Cassius spun and told the Covert Martial Arts group, "There is a parasitic spore in the air. We must keep our Qi cladding us at all times. Unless absolutely forced, do not draw your Qi back inside..."

Fortunately, they had travelled in a Qi-covered state since they had landed. The spores in the mist were far thinner out at sea than on land. The combat artists' Qi naturally repelled invasion as long as the spore density stayed below a certain level.

"Rest here a moment and cover your bodies cleanly with Qi..." Cassius reminded them.

Ten minutes later, the combat artists finished resting and regrouped. They planned to detour rather than force their way through the spore forest.

The spores would grow only thicker within the forest and perhaps grow dense enough to pierce Qi. The seemingly more dangerous volcano mouth was actually safer to skirt. So long as it did not erupt, they faced no fatal threat.

Meanwhile, the Gate Organisation team thought the same beside the spore forest. The volcano looked dangerous yet offered a safer route.

Thus, both parties chose to climb the volcano toward its summit. An encounter between them was now nearly inevitable.

As for the volcano... It would most likely greet them as well.