Prime Originator

In the Grassland Region, it had not been long since the sun had finished setting. As the darkness of the night swallowed the last traces from the light of day, so did the people feel the darkness swallowing their hearts and sealing their grim fates.

If Elder Evergreen could not win, none of them would survive.

The Ant King's pounding on the defenseless rock golem was like a hammer on their hearts. Each pound would make them sink a little deeper into despair. 

The Ant King was more monstrous than any beast they had come across. Even the Skysilver Beast King would not be as tyrannical as this. These were the thoughts of the few soldiers who had been to the Western Frontier and witnessed the grandeur of the Transcendent beast king. 

Elder Evergreen had suffered greatly under the Ant King's barrage of attacks. Although the dense layers of earth absorbed most of the damage, the shockwave still reached the elder hidden within.

It was foolish of the elder to believe that he could overpower the Ant King with his current cultivation. 

Although the rock golem possesses a lot of power, it was too easy of a target with its slow speed. If Elder Evergreen had another choice, he would not have conjured a rock golem to fight. 

There had to be a better way to optimize his fighting potential. His power was too spread out in the rock golem. IF he could compress everything, his battle potential would rise.

Unfortunately, Elder Evergreen was helpless in his current state.

The battered rock golem was the only thing protecting his life. 

If he tried to change tactics while being immobile, he would be giving an opening for the Ant King to finish him off. 

Elder Evergreen brainstormed for solutions but came up with none to get him out of his current predicament. 

'Haiz…. It seems like this old life of mine will end here tonight.' Elder Evergreen quietly thought while trying to endure the shockwaves from the Ant King's attacks.

The people had retreated quite far from the camp. The earthen rampart had been too close to the battle and had already been destroyed by the attacks of the Transcendents. 

Despite being quite a distance away, they could still tell that the situation was not good. The earth spirits were still protecting their rear against the ants going after them, but it was not long before they become surrounded.

"What to do? What to do? We need to help Elder Evergreen, but we are also too weak to help. Is there nothing we can do?" 

Lilith was anxious, but so was everyone else. They were holding out for now, but if nothing changes, then they were only delaying inevitable.

Buzz….

Suddenly, a low distant droning noise began making its way into the ears of everyone present amidst the sounds of the battlefield and the booming blows of the Ant King.

Over time, the droning noise became loud enough not to be ignored.

"Does anyone hear that sound? Where is it coming from?"

"Why are you even worried about that? We should be worrying about how to survive this mess!"

"Hang on, I think I know this sound… Isn't this the noise made by airships?" 

The soldiers from the Western Frontier were more familiar with the airships. Once they heard the mention of the airship, everyone's eyes lit up.

"An airship is coming?" 

"We have reinforcements!"

"We are saved... or not."

"Urgh… So, what if there is reinforcement? Who could possibly stop that monster?"

"Ah… that's true. Elder Evergreen is the strongest person I ever met, but even the elder is not a match for that thing… shit, we are still fucked." 

 It did not take long after the soldier's short celebration that they became dejected once more. Nevertheless, they still searched the sky to locate the direction of the airship.

…

In the sky, the airship began to decelerate as it drew closer to the World Tree. Leon stood on the bow with Faelyn and Marquis Haldir as they gazed ahead.

Princess Faelyn was awed by World Tree, the closer they got. She knew the World Tree was big, but she did not expect to be THIS big. Seeing up close gave a different feeling to seeing from afar. It was an eye-opener for her.

Marquis Haldir did not express any opinion, but it was also clear that he was also admiring the World Tree. Even the darkness of the night cannot hide its towering grandeur.

While the two of them had their sights on the World Tree, Leon was pleased with the density of spirit energy in the area. It was vibrant and very suitable for cultivation, but he did not forget he needed to collect a large amount of spirit energy for the Teleportation Array. 

Leon quickly refocused his attention on the more pressing matter at hand. 

Stirring the black vortex in the depths of his sea of consciousness, the ring of grey energy transformed into spirit energy and traveled through his meridians channels to his eyes. Soon, his eyes began to glow.

Leon was using [Spirit Eyes] to survey the source of the rumbling earth in the distance below. He quickly located the humanoid ant battering a broken colossal earth golem, but could not tell who was controlling it.

His sight moved onto the group of humans and earth spirits much further down south. Their situation looked precarious as they were surrounded by ants, but they were actually holding out well. 

He found Lilith among them but did not see Elder Evergreen. His eyes immediately shot back to broken rock golem being battered by the humanoid ant, and his expression became more serious.

There was no need for him to guess at this point. Elder Evergreen was the one controlling the rock golem.

As the airship entered the range of the battlefield, or more precisely, the range of the World Tree, the airship was suddenly uplifted with increasing altitude. 

The airship soon broke the limit of 600fts and continued rising without any sign of stopping. Although Leon was surprised, it was not the time to be pondering why the airship was able to break through the altitude limit set by the unknown suppression of the sky.

"Begin the descent!" Leon commanded. 

The airship captain proceeded to order the crew to slowly lower the power output of the active levitation stone. The airship stopped rising and began making its descent.

At this point, Leon turned to the Supreme Elder and asked, "What do you think, Senior? Are you able to handle that monster?"

The deafening booms as the Ant King pummeling the broken rock golem made the Supreme Elder turn stiff with wariness, but he still answered, "My cultivation is low. I'm afraid I am not that thing's opponent. However, if I team up with that other Seeking Insight-level Transcendent, we might be able to stand a chance."

Leon nodded, expecting this answer. 

Elder Evergreen was much older than the Supreme Elder and should have been in the Seeking Insight-level Transcendent Realm for much longer than the Supreme Elder. 

If Elder Evergreen were not the Ant King's match, then the Supreme Elder would not be its match either, but it was as the Supreme Elder had said. If they joined forces, they might be able to stand a chance.

In the Divine Realm, body refiners always suppress energy refiners of the same realm, but this did not mean that body refiners were infallible.

"Please help us out, Senior." Leon clasped his fist and requested.

"As you wish, Your Highness." Marquis Haldir slightly bowed with a smile.

Leon smiled in turn, but his expression suddenly froze midway when he saw the Supreme Elder directly jump off the airship, which was still hovering at about 400fts. Of the five basic elements, wood, water, and earth could not be used to fly. 

'Did he just force the Supreme Elder to commit suicide? Was the Supreme Elder actually not confident despite what he said and planned for an early grave?'

These were just passing thoughts before Leon stopped his nonsensical thinking. The Supreme Elder would surely have his own methods to reach the ground safely.

Sure enough, the Supreme Elder took out a seed from his pouch that quickly grew into a large cloverleaf that helped the Supreme Elder slow down his descent. 

During his descent, the Supreme Elder also tossed out a handful of seeds instilled with his energy at the Ant King.

Scree!

(Hmph! I wasn't planning to play with you newcomers until I'm done with this one, but since you are in a hurry, I'll send you off!)

The Ant King snorted as it turned to Marquis Haldir with grim crimson eyes. 

Just as the Ant King was about to swat away the seeds shooting at him, he suddenly paused. The seeds did not even hit the Ant King. Instead, it shot into the rocky golem just by its feet.

(???)

The Ant King glanced at the seed before looking back up. 

Scree!

(Stupid, human. Can you even aim?)