Chapter 108: Slaying the Divine (Part 1)

Chapter 108: Slaying the Divine (Part 1)

Watching Shell Woman standing on his shoulder, her tiny face flushed red from exhaustion as she panted heavily, Chen Shouyi nearly coughed up blood in frustration.

After all the worry I went through, thinking you'd run away for freedom, only to find out you sneaked off to retrieve your glass beads without a word.

I really want to smack her!

Yet, even though Chen Shouyi had ten thousand curses in his heart, the moment he saw Shell Woman untethered, his words came out as:

"Fine, I’ll get it for you right away!"

Now you’re the boss!

With no other choice, Chen Shouyi jumped off the canoe and walked back onto the island. Following Shell Woman’s directions, he finally found the treasure chest she had secretly buried—a palm-sized shell.

"Happy now?" Chen Shouyi picked up the shell and showed it to her.

"Happy!" Shell Woman nodded vigorously before swiftly landing back on his shoulder. Her tiny face remained vigilant as she stared at the hand holding the shell, warning, "Giant, these are all mine. Don’t you dare steal any!"

Then, as an afterthought, she added, "I’ve already counted them!"

Chen Shouyi was speechless. Like hell I’d steal your damn glass beads.

……

After climbing back onto the canoe, he grabbed the oar.

After such a long delay, they could finally set off.

Four hours later, he stepped onto the barbarians’ island once more.

The moment his foot touched the shore, a sudden gust of wind swept across the island. Countless leaves in the forest trembled and swayed wildly, and an oppressive atmosphere descended, dimming even the sunlight.

Clearly, his presence had been detected the instant he landed.

But times had changed. With his strengthened Willpower, what had once terrified him to the point of fleeing now seemed insignificant.

Shell Woman, perched on his shoulder, was unusually quiet, her tiny hands gripping his collar tightly.

Before landing, Chen Shouyi had tried to leave her on the canoe, but she stubbornly refused, insisting on coming along. Unwilling to leave her unattended, he had no choice but to bring her.

He circled the island along the beach.

Strangely, not a single barbarian was in sight. Even their canoe workshop appeared abandoned. Over a month had passed, yet the half-carved colossal log remained untouched, showing no progress.

Evidently, after his last massacre, the barbarian tribe had completely halted their shipbuilding efforts.

In the shallow sea near the island, he also found another stranded canoe, its interior filled with stagnant water.

……

Ever since absorbing the seed of that colossal tree, which had enhanced his physical attributes and granted him the Innate Ability to control wind, Chen Shouyi had suspected that the illusory World Tree in his mind held a natural dominance over plant-based divine creatures—perhaps even the power to absorb their Strength.

If a mere seed could do this, how much more could the tree itself offer?

"Encountering a divine creature in the Otherworld is rare enough, but stumbling upon a tree-based one is even rarer."

According to the book's description, tree-type divine creatures are the weakest among all divine creatures. Most of them have limited mobility or are even completely immobile. There was once a foreign Advanced Explorer at the Great Martial Artist level who attempted to slay a divine colossal tree in search of the secrets of godhood. However, the tree was simply too massive, too hard, and possessed astonishing Defense. After hacking at it for a while, he had no choice but to give up.

Chen Shouyi hesitated over whether he should take the risk.

His expression shifted, and suddenly he gritted his teeth, steeling his heart.

Damn it, it's just a tree. What's there to fear?

At worst, if the situation turns unfavorable, he could always retreat.

Besides, in the Otherworld, he had the Natural Healing ability. Ordinary injuries wouldn’t be enough to kill him.

...

His feet stepped on the ground covered in dead leaves, feeling soft and spongy.

The sunlight overhead filtered through the dense layers of foliage, casting dim and sparse patches of light on the ground. The moment he stepped into the forest, the light rapidly dimmed, creating an illusion of impending nightfall, accompanied by a chilling sensation.

This primeval forest on the island had existed for who knew how many tens of thousands of years.

It had likely begun growing shortly after the island itself came into being.

The barbarians' limited activities here clearly had little impact on altering nature.

Massive trees with trunks so thick they could barely be embraced were everywhere.

Those with diameters of three to four meters were not uncommon.

Chen Shouyi even spotted one colossal tree covered in moss, weeds, and smaller trees, with countless snake-like vines entwined around it—almost like a miniature ecosystem. If he didn’t look up at its branches, it stood before him like a sheer cliff.

The wind in the forest grew increasingly fierce, howling and swirling.

This was no natural wind. No matter how strong a natural wind might be, after passing through this dense primeval forest, its force would be reduced to near imperceptibility.

This wind originated from within, as if countless tendrils deftly wove around tree trunks and leaves, threading through the woods like a labyrinth before converging toward him.

Dead leaves on the ground whipped up, dancing wildly before him, making it almost impossible for Chen Shouyi to keep his eyes open.

Yet, faced with this eerie phenomenon, he actually felt relieved.

It could only mean that this colossal tree, aside from obstructing his path, seemed to have no better way to deal with him. If it were capable of movement, it would have already uprooted itself and come to kill him.

Now, he couldn’t help but regret his lack of foresight in coming to the passage unprepared. If he had bought a pair of windproof goggles, even the strongest wind would be nothing to him.

Unless the wind was strong enough to blow him away.

He weighed 85 kilograms. To lift him off the ground, at least a category 10 typhoon would be required. But with this place's gravity three times that of Earth, the wind would need to reach category 12 or higher.

Of course, if this colossal tree possessed such Strength, Chen Shouyi would turn around immediately and never entertain the idea again.

After all, even if his power increased ten or a hundredfold in the future, as long as his weight didn’t increase significantly, a strong gust would still send him flying. What kind of plan could he possibly make then?

...

At one point, he tried using his Innate Ability to counteract this annoying wind.

But the facts proved he had overthought it—his wind control ability was utterly insignificant compared to the divine colossal tree, completely unworthy of mention.

Chen Shouyi had no choice but to shield his eyes with one hand, squinting as he pressed forward. Along the way, he occasionally spotted Otherworld animals collapsed on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, seemingly oblivious even as he approached.

"Giant, I'm so scared!" Shell Woman's face was pale with fright.

"How about you fly back to the boat and wait for me?" Chen Shouyi suggested after a moment's thought.

Shell Woman frantically shook her head. "There are very fierce and vicious large birds here! They’ll eat me!"

No wonder she had refused to stay behind before—those large birds were clearly her natural predators.

"Don’t be afraid. I’m a giant. Stay close to me, and there’s nothing to fear," Chen Shouyi reassured her.

"Mhm, you are a strong giant!" Though still frightened, Shell Woman nodded firmly, her confidence bolstered by Chen Shouyi’s string of victories.

As time passed, the wind grew increasingly terrifying, escalating from a level 6-7 typhoon to a level 8-9 typhoon.

Shielding his eyes, Chen Shouyi trudged on for another five or six minutes before suddenly halting.

Ahead lay a vast clearing where not a single tree grew.

His Mind Spirit shuddered as realization struck, and he sharply focused ahead.

The endless gales here had transformed into one tornado after another, varying in size. Though none exceeded a dozen meters in height, the scene was apocalyptic in its horror.

Beyond the raging winds, an indescribably massive tree stood hundreds of meters away. Its bark was dry and cracked, bearing the marks of ages, while countless gray-black roots sprawled across the earth like coiled dragons.

At the base of the tree, hundreds of barbarians—men and women, young and old—lay prostrate in prayer. Watching them, Chen Shouyi felt an inexplicable sense of solemnity and sacredness wash over him.