Prime Originator

After taking down the strongest person from the human, the Ant King did not continue to attack and simply glanced at the humans on to of the earthen rampart with a teasing, yet bone-chilling smile.

(I just took down your strongest expert! What will you all do now? Come! Struggle for me, puny humans!)

Screeeee! 

(Go, my subjects! Kill them all! Today, we feast on their blood and flesh! Tomorrow, we take our revenge on the tree!)

The Ant King's cry was not very loud and powerful, neither could anyone understand what the Ant King was saying, but they could sense the killing intent and the omen of death contained within its cry.

Its arrogance and confidence were practically shooting through the high heavens. The human Transcendent went down in one shot, and the World Tree was not retaliating. Who could possibly be its opponent?!

Lilith suddenly found herself in a dangerous predicament after Elder Evergreen went down in a single blow. Being the only person left on the battlefield, she quickly decided that she had to retreat back to the earthen rampart as quickly as possible. 

The palace guards were stricken with fear and rooted on the spot under the Ant King's gaze. They were too terrified to make any sudden movements and even forgot to breathe.

Only the earth spirit people were still able to move as they fended off the attacking ants and covered Lilith's retreat.

"This way, Lady Lilith! We will cover you!" One of them shouted as they worked in unison to impede the ant's movements with earth and wood manipulation. Grass grew to vine-like lengths and restricted dozens of ants as they wrapped and entangle them.

Behind the rampart, the ordinary soldiers were free the Ant King's terrifying gaze and were not stricken with fear. 

Part of the group quickly made their way over to check on Elder Evergreen and see whether the elder could still be saved.

When they arrived, they almost choked with grief when they saw the gruesome state of the motionless elder's body. It was unknown how many bones were broken, but the numbers would not be small.

"This is horrible! There's no way anyone could have survived a blow like this… the elder… he is…"

"Shut up! Don't say it! Earth-users bolstered the greatest defense while wood-users are known for their great vitality! There's no way a mighty Transcendent like Elder Evergreen could have fallen from just this!"

"Just this, you say?! Did you not see what just happened?! That punch was not something a human can withstand! Even being hit by the force of a thousand trucks would not have been as bad as this!"

"That's right! That was like being hit by a freaking mountain, man!"

"Then, are you cursing the elder to death?! Nothing is conclusive yet! Quickly see if the elder is still breathing!"

The soldiers were divided between optimistic and negative opinions as they glared at each other.

Another portion of the soldiers went to check on the other soldiers that suffered collateral damage from being hit by the flying elder to administer first aid treatment.

All of them were severely injured by the collision, with several bones broken. Unfortunately, some were hit in fatal areas that broke their neck and crushed their organs. These soldiers died on the spot.

"Not good. These brothers can no longer be saved. They're already gone." A medical soldier sadly concluded after inspecting the lifeless bodies.

"Tend to the ones that can still be saved."

"Dammit, what the hell was that thing? I've never seen anything like it in the [Encyclopedia of Insect]!"

"It might be an ant that underwent a second mutation, or it might be an evolved form of the ants."

"Shit, this is too horrifying. That thing is too monstrous! How can we hope to even beat it?!"

Just as they were falling into despair, there was a small commotion over Elder Evergreen's side. The soldiers over there were rejoicing when they saw one of the elder's fingers suddenly twitch.

"The elder is still alive! Quickly help him out—No, do it gently and carefully!" A soldier shouted.

"Cough… No need…" Elder Evergreen coughed and said as his body was recovering quickly.

After opening his eyes, an intense green light burst out, as a tremendous amount of wood energy was gathered towards him in particles of green light.

The weeds and grass within a 100-yard radius began to shrivel up and die when the elder absorbed all their lifeforce and energy.

The elder's body was soon covered in a layer of green light, and all his wounds began to heal at an even more rapid rate. 

Starting with the right arm returning to its correct form, the elder used this available arm to bend the rest of his limbs back into shape to save time and hasten the recovery process even further. 

After that was done, the elder stood up and cracked his stiff neck with a determined look.

"Are you alright, Elder Evergreen?" 

"Will you be okay?"

"Are you going to fight that thing again?"

The medical soldiers gathered around the elder, asked one after another with a gulping expression as they have never witnessed such insane recovery.

The elder was practically on the brink of death. Yet, in the blink of an eye, he returned to a perfect state, full of vigor and majesty. 

"I am fine. All of you step back. I was careless just now." Elder Evergreen said with a narrowed look as his eyes burned with battle spirit, and a grand aura began to spread out from his body.

"To compete with that thing, I should have made ample preparation and gone all-out straight from the start! Step back now!"

The soldiers all did as they were told and hurriedly retreated a few steps.

"Haaa!"

With a great shout, the ground cracked as a towering pillar brown, and green light shot out from Elder Evergreen in a surging tide while the surrounding air rippled outwards. 

All the soldiers were still standing too close were forced several more steps backward by the wind pressure generated by the elder's explosive aura as he channeled his full power. 

The pillar of light was the manifestation of all the energy contained within him. As they seemingly surged towards the heaven, the surrounding energy of heaven and earth also gathered and blended into the pillar of light.

"Earth, come!" 

Elder Evergreen slammed his palm into the ground, and the rising pillar of light immediately plunge straight down into the field below. 

The earth rumbled, and an enormous amount of earthen mass began to rise from underneath the elder and swallowed him inside. At the same time, a massive crater was formed in the absence of the earth gathered to the elder.

The soldiers had no idea what the elder was doing, but they soon found their answer as they quietly watched the enormous earthen mass formed the outline of a giant human. 

The earthen mass compressed, becoming rock-solid and transformed into a colossal rock golem with a pair of glowing green eyes.

The soldiers were awed at this sight.

At the same time, they were concerned if the rock golem was mobile and whether the elder could even see or breathe inside, but their worries were unfounded. 

The rock golem took its first step forward, and the earth shook under its sheer weight. It climbed out of the enormous crater and made its way back to the earthen rampart.

"My lord! I've only seen rock golems in picture books for children! I didn't think I would actually get to see one in real life and one as big as this on top of that!"

"The gap between Ranked Awakeners and Transcendents is so vast!"

"Everyone, quickly make way! Getting accidentally stepped on by the rock golem is no laughing matter!"

"That's for sure!"

All the soldiers tried to scurry out of the way, but the rock golem was not moving in their direction. The rock golem was bigger than the camp itself! It would flatten the camp and everyone within if it did not circle around it.

The rock golem moved very slow due to its sheer size and weight, but this spoke volumes of its great power! An attack from a rock golem of this magnitude would definitely be… earthshaking!

However! 

Elder Evergreen was not finished with the rock golem transformation! 

After the elder controlled the rock golem to step on a fresh patch of grass that had not been withered to death, they proliferated and intertwined themselves around rock golem, like countless bandages.

With each step taken, a new patch of grass would join the mix and add a layer of greenness over the rock golem until it covered the rest of the body in green.

By the time this was finished, the colossal green rock golem was already back on the battlefield as it stared down at the tiny Ant King with its glowing green eyes.

The Ant King looked back at the colossal rock golem with interesting. Unexpectedly, the person behind the rock golem did not die. Does it have the tenacity of a cockroach?!

Scree!

(Interesting human, show me what you got!)