Chapter 45: Omen

The willow tree was overwhelmingly powerful, beyond anyone's imagination. The green vortex reached the heavens, tearing everything apart, and even the enormous purple giant was ground into powder in an instant.

From the death of the master of the Luofu Marsh to the hanging of Lei Hou, the destruction of the golden wolfskin artifact, and the collapse of the giant created by the Purple Mountain Marquis—all of it happened in the blink of an eye.

“Roar!”

During this process, the divine wolf reacted swiftly. As soon as the master of the Luofu Marsh was killed, it sprang into action, leaping and turning to flee, leaving behind a golden afterimage.

The cunning wolf, sensing something was wrong, smashed through the stone mountains and devastated the forests, its speed reaching its peak as it darted into the dense woods.

In fact, when the golden wolfskin demonstrated its might and launched an attack, it had already transformed into a golden beam of light, fleeing into the primordial mountain range.

Known as the strongest spirit within a fifty-thousand-mile radius, its spiritual perception was exceptionally strong. At this moment, it no longer had its formidable aura, only fear, and dared not stay even for a moment.

Though the elders of the Golden Wolf Tribe were powerful and controlled vast territories, their strength was still inferior to the divine wolf. Realizing this too late, they hurriedly fled.

“Fire the arrows!”

At the same time, he issued orders for the tribe’s warriors to obstruct and buy time. For a moment, a rain of arrows flew through the air, their whistling sounds unending, a dense shower of iron arrows heading towards the stone village.

However, this proved useless. The green vortex expanded, pulling all the arrows into it. Each iron arrow broke into pieces, then exploded. The sight left everyone stunned, chilled to the bone by such a terrifying spectacle. The willow tree was truly monstrous; how could it be fought?

“Whoosh!”

The tornado howled, as if an ancient beast was roaring, shaking the mountain range. The chief of the Golden Wolf Tribe let out a scream as he was uncontrollably propelled towards the eye of the storm.

“No!” he cried out in terror. If he entered, he would surely die. No matter how great his position, he could not withstand the willow tree’s attack.

“Swish!”

A golden light surged, its waves resembling the rising and falling tides of the sea, incredibly stunning. The brilliance was so dazzling it seemed like a fragment of a golden sun exploding and striking the tornado.

“The ancestral artifact!”

“The chieftain brought the ancestral artifact!”

Members of the Golden Wolf Tribe exclaimed in surprise, then with excitement, hoping to pierce through the tornado and injure the willow tree.

However, just as they began to get excited, everything changed. When the golden beam of light encountered the green vortex, it slipped from the control of the Golden Wolf chieftain, its brightness dimmed, and it escaped.

“Ah!”

The leader of the Golden Wolf Tribe let out a final scream as his body was torn apart, blood mist rising, and he was reduced to a bloody mess in the tornado, ceasing to exist.

The crowd was horrified and filled with dread.

“Crash!”

The ancestral artifact that had escaped fell before the eyes of the Golden Wolf Tribe members. It was a dagger, a foot long, with a flowing golden sheen. Although its runes dimmed after encountering the green vortex, it had at least managed to break free.

Upon closer inspection, it was found to be crafted from a golden beast's tooth, imbued with a mysterious and terrifying power. The members of the Golden Wolf Tribe trembled; an elder shakily picked it up, heart bleeding, unable to believe that even it could not withstand the willow tree.

This was not a tooth from a spirit of their tribe but from an ancient kingdom.

In the past, before the Golden Wolf Tribe migrated, they had to pay tribute to an ancient kingdom every year, and their ancestors had performed great deeds there, being granted a treasured wolf tooth dagger.

At that time, the Golden Wolf Tribe was extraordinarily powerful and glorious. It wasn’t until later that they gradually declined, and after many years, a branch of the tribe migrated here, forming the present tribe.

This artifact thus fell into their hands.

The wolf tooth dagger was a tooth from a spirit of the ancient kingdom. Although its innate divine essence was taken by the kingdom, even as an artifact, its power was unimaginable. Yet now, it could not withstand the willow tree and had returned dimmed.

“Purple Mountain Marquis also escaped.”

Only then did people realize that the Purple Mountain Marquis, who was said to be the strongest within a fifty-thousand-mile radius, had long turned into a sliver of purple sunlight, skimming the ground and heading into the primordial mountains.

He had fled at the same time as the golden wolf, leaving behind a treasured artifact, radiating twilight, and forming a human figure to take his place.

The willow tree, having only one branch, after sweeping across all directions, had no time to chase further. It merely pierced the artifact and absorbed its divine essence, without pursuing the top fighter. The sky-high tornado shrank and quickly vanished, leaving behind a quiet scene. The attacks of the four great powers were dismantled, instilling a deep fear in all the heroes.

The four tribes fell into silence. They had gathered in force, but only one of their leaders had escaped; others were either killed or captured. The slap of defeat was deafening.

They had considered themselves rulers of this land, unmatched by anyone, issuing commands to all tribes during their outings, and even threatening to level the stone village. Yet, this was the result.

Looking back, their arrogance and genocidal actions had become a joke. Before this terrifying willow tree, they were nothing.

Now, the leaders of the four tribes were stunned, fearful, terrified, and angry, their emotions complex. The death of their chieftain filled them with both dread and rage, their fists clenched tightly.

“My father cannot die in vain; we must seek justice!” a robust youth from the Golden Wolf Tribe roared, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

“Calm down, young chieftain. We cannot fight that demonic willow. Anyone who goes will die, including our chieftain,” someone advised.

“The wolf tooth dagger fell here, and the demonic willow did not pursue. I estimate it can only extend a little over a mile and cannot reach farther,” the youth said coldly, his eyes turning as he prepared to make plans.

Upon hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned.

“Bang!”

At that moment, Lei Hou, who had been suspended on the willow tree, finally exhausted his energy and could no longer summon the thunderlight. His body, dried up and resembling a broken teapot, fell to the ground in pieces.

“Ah!”

Many in the Thunder Clan howled in anguish and rage, their eyes reddened as they prepared for a bloody battle, determined to fight at all costs.

“My Luofu Marsh will not retreat. Since it is impossible for them to attack here, we will burn this stone village from a distance and carry out a bloodbath!” someone from the Jiaolong Clan shouted. The death of their chieftain had left them with a deep grudge.

Only the Purple Mountain faction remained silent, as the Purple Mountain Marquis had fled.

“Retreat and launch test attacks.”

The Luofu Marsh, Golden Wolf Tribe, and Thunder Clan forces withdrew to five miles away, leaving some behind to fire flaming arrows at the stone village.

These were astonishingly strong archers, precise in their aim, all targeting the stone village.

Indeed, at a sufficient distance, the willow branches did not retaliate. A hazy aura enveloped the entire village, and all the arrows were shattered, unable to penetrate.

A large fire ignited outside the village, burning fiercely, but it could not spread into the village.

“It’s ineffective,” the crowd sighed, their fear evident.

“Surround this place. The villagers cannot leave or hunt; they will starve to death sooner or later,” the young chieftain of the Golden Wolf Tribe said viciously.

“Young chieftain, we should retreat. Otherwise, there will be a great catastrophe,” someone advised.

In fact, the four tribes were all filled with fear. The majority wanted to flee immediately and had no desire to stay any longer. However, the descendants and powerful figures of the tribes, with red eyes and lost reason, insisted on revenge.

“Our Luofu Marsh will never retreat. We must avenge my brother and surround this place to starve those mountain villagers to death!” roared the younger brother of the Luofu Marsh’s master.

The Jiaolong Tribe was terrified and unwilling. Someone stood up to oppose.

“Knowing it’s certain death and still going to fight, we cannot do it. It is your brother; you may seek revenge, but we don’t want to die in vain.”

“What are you saying? The chieftain has just died, and you aren’t seeking revenge but planning to escape? Are you still men of Luofu Marsh?”

In an instant, Luofu Marsh nearly erupted into chaos, starting an internal conflict.

Similar situations occurred with the Thunder Clan and the Golden Wolf Tribe. No one wanted to die and everyone wished to distance themselves from the bizarre willow tree.

In the end, some people fled, while others obeyed orders to encircle the stone village and cut off their food supply.

“Roar!”

The golden divine wolf charged back, went straight to the younger chieftain of the Golden Wolf Tribe, slapped him away, and then bit the treasured wolf tooth dagger, turning and running. It transformed into a golden beam of light and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Everyone was stunned, then began to scream.

“Young chieftain, retreat quickly! This is an ominous sign. The spirit has abandoned us and even taken our ancestral artifact!” an elder of the tribe cried out in terror.

Not only the Golden Wolf Tribe but also the Luofu Marsh and Thunder Clan felt a chill, all contemplating retreat. As for the Purple Mountain Clan, they had already started fleeing, leaving no one behind. Clearly, they had received orders from the Purple Mountain Marquis and had no intention of continuing the fight.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, the willow branch moved again. This time, its light intensified, more blinding than before, extending rapidly to four or five miles. It swung violently, severing the stone mountains, causing peaks to collapse with a roar and flattening the forests.

The younger chieftain of the Golden Wolf Tribe screamed as heads flew. Many who had persisted in the battle were cut in half, their bodies falling in heaps, blood spraying everywhere.

Similarly, the Luofu Marsh and Jiaolong Tribe suffered the same fate. Numerous powerful figures were killed, and as the willow branch swept by, heads flew and large splashes of blood erupted.

In their final moments, these people were consumed by extreme fear and regret. The willow tree wasn’t incapable of extending to this place; it simply hadn’t done so before.

“Whoosh, whoosh!”

After slaying the main figures, the willow tree did not engage in a large-scale massacre but attacked the scaled horses, exotic beasts, and others. The willow branches pierced through one mount after another, impaling a long string on its glistening branches.

In the end, hundreds of mounts, including scaled horses, unicorns, and moon rhinos, were all impaled on the willow branches and dragged back to the stone village. This time, it did not absorb their life essence but directly tossed them onto the streets.

“Run!”

The four tribes’ powerful figures, terrified, fled desperately, no longer daring to linger.

The villagers of the stone village stared in shock, overwhelmed by the strength of the willow tree.

After a long time, the people like Stone Forest Tiger came to their senses, feeling heartbroken. “This is a unicorn, capable of traveling ten thousand miles a day; it’s a rare and valuable steed.”

“There are also a few feathered tigers here, which are rare exotic beasts,” an elder exclaimed.

The villagers, in awe of the willow tree, sincerely worshipped it, for it had protected the stone village. Everyone referred to it as the Willow God, praying devoutly.

Suddenly, a divine thought resonated, saying, “This is food. Prepare plenty; a great disaster is coming.”

“Who?” Everyone was startled.

“It’s the spirit. The Willow God protecting us has spoken,” Little One’s eyes widened, glowing brightly, as he stared in astonishment at the charred willow tree.

Seeing someone estimate the radius of fifty thousand miles, stating it as only one hundred and thirty miles, they immediately broke into a sweat. This was just an estimate, not a precise value. The text referred to fifty thousand miles as the radius or the extent within the range of fifty thousand miles, a vast area even larger than the land on Earth.