I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

Guided by the compass, the vanguard team traveled for another two years.

The gray-white sandy wasteland eroded by wind has long been left behind, and the rugged rocks of towering peaks and cliffs have become markings on the map.

The team crossed the dried-up ancient riverbed, traversed barren saline-alkali land, and carved out a road through one desolate wilderness after another.

An oasis appeared one morning.

As we crossed the last sand dune, the morning light shone through the clouds, illuminating the emerald embedded in the yellow sand.

Eight thousand miles.

Only clouds and the moon are visible.

Qi pulled on the reins and glanced back at the procession behind him.

The four-legged lizard's breathing was heavy and labored, like a bellows, and its scales were covered with sand and dried blood.

The riders were wrapped in tattered animal skin cloaks, their faces etched with deep lines by the wind and frost, their eyes sunken, and their lips chapped.

But they still stood tall.

Qi unfolded the hand-drawn march log, which was densely marked with the wild and desolate terrain along the way.

And, the thirteen Xia Kingdom sons who remained forever in the mountains and seas for the sake of pioneering.

Their sacrifice ensured the preservation of road signs and hidden supply points over thousands of miles.

Several hundred more expeditionary soldiers were to arrive in batches after the Yuan Clan inn had completed its resupply, following the landmarks they had left behind.

This road is now open.

"Keep going."

The oasis ahead is truly beautiful.

The palm trees soar into the clouds, their branches laden with golden fruits;

The bushes were layered upon layered, covered with tiny white flowers;

A winding river flows through the center of the oasis, its waters shimmering silvery-white in the morning light.

It's so beautiful it's almost unreal.

Qi didn't rush to step on it.

He crouched down, inserted his fingers into the sand just a few hundred meters from the oasis, and rubbed them.

The sand was dry, without any moisture.

The moisture in this oasis was locked in by some force, and not a single drop escaped.

Be careful.

Xuan walked to his side and gently reminded him.

Li walked silently forward, his snow-white pupils beneath the mask gazing into the depths of the oasis.

The Netherworld power of the Abyss Clan has a stronger perception of death, and in Li's eyes, this oasis is beautiful.

But that beauty had an indescribable eeriness about it, like a meticulously dressed corpse, exquisitely made up, yet unable to conceal the deathly aura seeping from its very bones.

"The earth's veins are depleting."

"The pulse of the earth is going out."

Several of the strongest travelers had already sensed it.

The spiritual energy in the earth's veins was still flowing, but it was the last embers, like the sudden burst of light in the last moment before a candle burns out.

If we could have another ten years...

Perhaps it won't take ten years.

This oasis will die completely.

Qi was about to speak.

The air suddenly changed.

It felt as if something had been drawn away from it, leaving it thin, heavy, and stagnant.

The four-legged lizards lay on the ground at the same time, trembling, and making low moaning sounds.

The ground began to tremble.

First, there was a slight tremor.

It sounded as if someone was beating a drum in the distance, the sound traveling along the ground and making the grass beneath my feet tremble slightly.

The vanguard of travelers dismounted in unison, placing their hands on their weapons.

The tremors grew stronger.

It spread from the soles of the feet to the calves, from the calves to the back, and from the back into the chest.

It wasn't an earthquake, it was footsteps.

The sound of countless footsteps pounding the earth came from the depths of the oasis, growing louder as it approached, like muffled thunder rolling underground.

The palm grove began to sway... the entire oasis trembled.

rustling sounds—

Suddenly, hundreds of travelers gasped in shock.

They saw it.

At the edge of the palm grove, the first figure emerged.

Plant family.

Grayish-green skin, twisted limbs, and dark yellow flames burning deep within the eye sockets.

Then came the tenth, the hundredth, the thousandth...

They emerged from behind the trees, from the bushes, and from beneath the surface of the river.

countless.

There are simply too many to count.

It was a gray-green tide, densely packed, stretching from the depths of the oasis to the horizon.

They swarmed in like locusts, covering the sky and sweeping in.

The tremors of the earth turned into a roar, tens of thousands of feet trampled the meadow, cracked the soil, and made the air tremble.

Qi's lips moved slightly.

He didn't speak, but slowly drew the long-handled sword from his back.

The spiritual energy on the blade shone with a dazzling light in the morning glow.

Behind him, hundreds of blades were simultaneously drawn.

One after another, flashes of light appeared, moving from the front row to the back row, from the left wing to the right wing.

The rays of light merged together, forming a thin, weak, yet unmoving wall of light before the gray-green tide.

No one backed down.

No one speaks.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly.

……

Night finally fell.

The grayish-green tides receded slowly after nightfall, as if summoned back to the depths of the oasis by something.

They silently disappeared into the shadows of the palm grove, leaving behind a trampled meadow and a nauseating stench.

The vanguard set up a temporary camp with the vast desert at their backs.

The campfire was not lit.

In this dying land, any light can become a target.

The travelers, wrapped in animal skins, huddled on the sand, their spiritual light reduced to its lowest level, maintaining only the most basic body temperature.

The knife was placed under his head, and the bow was placed beside him.

The quiver is stuck in the sand with the arrows pointing upwards, ready to be drawn at any time.

Some people are asleep, while others are wide awake, gazing at the sky.

Those stars were the same ones that Xia Guo saw, but they were eight thousand miles apart, making them seem exceptionally distant.

In the center of the camp, Qi, Xuan, Meng, Feng, Li and other decision-makers sat together.

A glimmer of light occasionally flashed in their pupils, casting their faces in shifting light and shadow.

"Several tens of thousands."

Meng spoke first, his teeth clenching with a fierce intensity.

"We slaughtered so many... and they didn't even make a ripple."

The wind fell silent, the night hissed, and no one answered.

The daytime battle lasted less than half an hour, and the vanguard killed at least one or two thousand plant puppets.

Although those things were numerous, their individual strength was weak, and most of them were not even as strong as a cultivator who had just reached the Body Tempering stage.

One slash and they're dead, two slashes and they're dead; it's not hard to kill them.

The problem is, you can't kill them all.

The shattered puppets fell, and those behind them surged forward, stepping over the remains of their comrades.

Their formation remained completely intact despite the annihilation of the vanguard, and their steps did not falter for a moment despite the deaths of their comrades.

Even the tentacles of the Devourer—those carefree plants—can continuously repair the parasitic body.

Endless and fearless.

But people get tired.

Xuan rubbed his temples and sighed.

"The Devourer has devoured the entire Plant Clan."

"If we fight head-on, many people will die."

"Fortunately, they can't escape the oasis," Li said, her snow-white pupils beneath the mask gazing into the distant darkness.

"The evil energy of the Devourer can only cover the oasis area for now."

"Once they leave the oasis, the puppets will lose their power source and immediately become incapacitated."

"This is the only good news..."