Chapter 27
At the bottom of the abandoned rift, the representatives of the Light Domain and the Dark Roots faced each other for the first time.
Above the rift valley, several halos of light hung in the sky, illuminating the valley as if it were daytime; deep within the valley, the tendrils of dark roots snaked out, emitting a putrid stench.
In the instant their breaths mingled, the air seemed to be stretched into a thin film, as if it might shatter at any moment.
The Light Domain Envoy, "White Ash Branch," spoke coldly:
“The source of rhythm cannot be allowed to remain. He is a destroyer of order.”
Elder Dark Root, "Corroding Bone Root," retorted:
“He is not a destroyer, but a prey. We want his roots.”
The two sides, initially at odds, after a silent struggle, simultaneously whispered:
"But—we must trap him first."
The opposition between light and darkness was temporarily obscured by the consensus of "hunting" in that instant.
Fog swirls and rolls above the valley.
The Wandering Vine appeared with her tribe, her voice seemingly coming from all directions:
"Heh... Your crude methods of light and darkness will scare him away."
To trap the source of rhythm, one must first bewitch his mind.
I, the Mist, can weave for you an illusion from which there is no escape.
The sound of the mist vines filled the air with a damp scent, and the rocks on the valley walls seemed to be shrouded in mist as well.
The Light Domain and Dark Root did not immediately refute it, but instead silently accepted the necessity of this "illusion".
The air around us suddenly became filled with the fragrance of flowers. A breeze blew, and petals floated everywhere, sharp as knives.
The messenger of the Wind Flower Society, "Ye Feng Hua," walked slowly, her long flower sheath dragging on the ground, leaving blood-like traces of flower juice.
What happens after you're trapped?
Trapped prey, if not cut down by a sharp blade, will eventually break free.
With a gentle flick of her finger, a petal tore through the air, leaving a thin line of blood.
The addition of Feng Hua completed the final link in this "encirclement and suppression" operation.
With the joint efforts of the four forces, a massive encirclement and annihilation scenario quietly took shape:
The light domain erected a "light prison ring array" on the outside, like four sun wheels, enveloping the valley in an inescapable light curtain.
The underground roots lay thousands of monitoring pods, forming a "root network" that can be tracked in real time.
The misty vines weave a dreamlike fog in the air, and those who enter will be forever trapped in the fog, unable to see the real exit.
The Wind Flower hides in the gaps between the mist and the light and shadow, ready to unleash its Flower Tide Blade at any time. Once its prey is immobilized, it will immediately strangle it.
This was not a simple battle, but a premeditated "ecological hunt".
On the other side of the valley, Sprout 12 was lurking among the ley lines, keenly sensing something unusual in the air.
The scent of the mist mingled with the heat of the light, the decay of the roots, and the sweet, fishy smell of the flowers, creating an unprecedented sense of oppression.
He suddenly opened his eyes and whispered to Seed237:
"Oh no... The four forces are no longer divided; they're going to attack together."
This wasn't a confrontation; it was a hunting ground they had laid out.
Seed 237 felt a jolt, as if it could hear the heartbeat of the underground network of rhythms accelerating rapidly.
In the distance, the first halo of the light prison began to slowly close.
Four halos converged and intersected above the valley, resembling a blazing sun slowly closing.
The moment the light curtain fell, the earth was covered by layers of light netting, and any roots that tried to burrow into the ground would be burned to death by the high temperature.
The messenger of the Light Realm, "White Ash Branch," stretched out its branches and leaves, its voice booming like thunder:
"The prison of light is now set; the net of rhythm cannot be escaped."
Meanwhile, the underground network was being established.
Thousands upon thousands of monitoring pods lie dormant in the soil like spores, connected by hidden veins, forming a vast network of root-rot monitoring.
Seed 237 had just tried to extend its roots into the ground when it immediately felt dozens of cold tentacles wrapping around it, icy and suffocating, as if strangling the pulse within its body.
The laughter that seemed to "corrode to the bone" echoed underground:
"The underground is my kingdom. Every breath you take is under my control."
A milky white fog suddenly filled the sky, carrying an air of dampness and confusion.
The Wandering Vine tribe sang softly, their tendrils intertwining like a woven cloth, and the illusory mist continued to expand, swallowing up the real landscape.
Seed 237 looked up and saw that the original exit, the mountain wall, and even the figure of Sprout 12 gradually turned into a blur, as if they had been peeled into another space.
Within the illusory mist, he even began to hear the whispers of the "Mother Tree," their truth indistinguishable from reality.
The vine's laughter was gentle:
"Go on, go on... No matter where you go, you'll only end up back where you started."
Suddenly, the air became tense, and the fragrance of flowers turned into a sweet and deadly scent.
Countless petals were swept up by the wind, turning into sharp blades that hissed and tore through the air.
The "Wind-Swept Flower" of the Wind Flower Society whispered a command:
"cut."
Hundreds of flower blades converged instantly, like a storm, rushing straight towards the area where the rhythm source was located.
Before its sharp edge even arrived, it had already etched deep lines of blood onto the ground.
Seed 237 was trapped in the center by four layers of blockade: a light prison pressing down, rotten roots locking the ground, illusory mist disturbing the mind, and a tide of flowers waiting to be summoned.
This was an almost perfect hunting ground.
But at that very moment, the rhythmic network within Seed 237 suddenly erupted with an unusual pulsation.
The roots do not extend outward, but suddenly curl inward, condensing into a miniature rhythmic core.
As the heart rate quickened, the rhythmic web began to weave its own **"countercurrent"** within the body, attempting to break free from the tracking of the Corruption Root.
Sprout 12 desperately shouted in the illusory mist:
"Don't move! This is a trap they've set!"
You must first find the reverse node of the root, otherwise you will be completely blocked!
In the next instant, the listening pods of the Corrupted Roots all lit up with a red light, the light prison began to shrink rapidly, the space of the fog curtain collapsed, and the Flower Tide Blade was ready to be unleashed.
The entire hunting grounds—launched their final strangulation.
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