Chapter 674: You Humans Have More Schemes Than an Old Tree Has Roots

Inside Greenwood Court’s Elders’ Hall, the atmosphere was so heavy that even the life-force motes floating in midair seemed to have stopped moving.

On the enormous Greenstone table, Elder Genxu’s withered hands slowly unfolded a beast-hide tracing that gave off a faint glow. It was no ordinary map drawn in ink, but a “living map” imprinted from pure earth veins’ spiritual energy.

The vast network of roots belonging to the ten-thousand-year-old luminous banyan was rendered in every minute detail. Among them, the three thickest main roots resembled three coiling dragons lying dormant a hundred yards beneath the earth. Their roots intertwined as they plunged deep into the earth veins, radiating dazzling emerald light.

“These are the luminous banyan’s three main roots.” Elder Genxu’s voice sounded like dead wood scraping together, heavy with exhaustion. “Since the Dark Current Sect has announced that it will strike on the eighth day, this must be its target. These three nodes sustain nearly half of Greenwood Court’s life-force circulation. If even one root is severed, the entire outer defensive formations will collapse without a fight.”

Elder Panshi folded his arms. His half-stone face was full of murderous intent. “Now that we know their target, this is simple. I propose gathering all the earth-element spirit races and using a Thick Earth Sealing Formation to completely seal the earth veins around these three main roots! We’ll turn the whole area into an iron wall. Let’s see how the Lord of the Nether Abyss expects his murderous aura to seep in!”

“Absurd.” Elder Qingluo met his gaze coldly, her dark green hair stirring behind her like spirit snakes despite the still air. “The main roots are the nexus through which the life-force of heaven and earth flows. If you seal them with thick earth, you might stop the murderous aura in the short term, but the life-force will stagnate. In less than three days, the main roots will wither from the inside out. Wouldn’t that be the same as severing our own root veins?”

“Then what do you suggest?” Elder Panshi glared at her. “Should we just leave the gates wide open and wait for the Lord of the Nether Abyss to flood us with murderous aura?”

Elder Qingluo clenched her teeth, but for a moment, she had no answer.

Su Ming stood quietly at the far end of the Greenstone table. He did not rush to intervene in the elders’ argument. Instead, he gathered a thread of deep-blue Ruo Shui spiritual energy in his eyes and silently activated Observation of the Minute.

To an ordinary observer, the light around the three main roots was pure and brilliant. But through Su Ming’s observation micro vision, strengthened by the spiritual energy of his late-stage Golden Core cultivation, he saw an entirely different scene.

Deep within the light, among the fine veins of life-force, lurked three threads of dark purple energy, as fine as silk. Rather than flowing outward with the life-force, they were secretly running in reverse, toward the point where the main roots converged at their deepest point.

Su Ming gave a light cough and raised his hand, pointing into the air above the tracing.

A wisp of moisture from his fingertip landed precisely where the three main roots converged.

“Elders, there’s no need to argue any further.” Su Ming’s voice was calm, yet carried a power that made people settle down without realizing it. “The Dark Current Sect isn’t planning to cut the roots by force.”

Elder Qingluo raised an eyebrow, displeasure flashing through her emerald eyes. “Guest Official Su, you’ve only just joined Greenwood Court. You’ve never even visited the main roots. How can you presume to know what the Dark Current Sect is plotting?”

Su Ming ignored her challenge and slowly drew out the moisture at his fingertip, tracing the three main roots on the map.

“Please look closely.” Wherever Su Ming’s fingertip passed, the dark purple trails concealed beneath the emerald glow gradually became visible through the refracted light of the moisture. “On the surface, these three roots appear no different from one another. But hidden within each is a thread of death energy flowing in reverse. If the Lord of the Nether Abyss wanted to cut them by force, he could simply gather murderous aura from outside. Instead, he’s made this death energy flow upstream, against the tide of life-force.”

Elder Genxu leaned closer. His cloudy old eyes suddenly widened. “This… this is…”

“Turning their own strength against them.” Su Ming calmly uttered four words. “He’s waiting. Waiting for these three streams of death energy to converge where the main roots meet. Once he applies pressure from outside, the three main roots will inevitably draw earth veins’ spiritual energy frantically to protect themselves. Then the death energy will erupt, and the life-force and death energy will repel one another with extreme force inside the roots. The Dark Current Sect won’t need to break through our defenses at all. The life-force in these three main roots will turn against itself, causing them to explode from within.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell into utter silence.

Elder Panshi sucked in a sharp breath, cold sweat beading across his back. If they truly sealed the earth veins as he had proposed, the backlash from within would only come sooner and hit harder.

“In your opinion, how should we resolve this?” Elder Panshi’s voice had unconsciously softened, taking on a note of inquiry.

Su Ming swept his fingertip across the tracing, drawing three azure loops between the three main roots with Ruo Shui spiritual energy.

“If the three roots fight alone, each defending itself, the Lord of the Nether Abyss will break through them one by one.” Su Ming raised his eyes, his gaze cool. “Only by allowing their life-force to flow between them, and linking their veins into a single whole with the ancient Living Formation method, can they withstand the first wave of the murderous aura’s assault. If one root comes under pressure, all three will share the burden.”

Elder Panshi stared at the three loops and asked in a low voice, “Guest Official Su, how confident are you in this method?”

Su Ming fell silent for a moment.

“If we defend as before, fewer than one in ten will survive.” Su Ming’s voice was not loud, but every word rang out with conviction. “With this method, we may still have a chance.”

In the Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu’s Soul Body rolled his eyes, his phantom mustache twitching.

“This kid’s getting better and better at putting on a mysterious act. He’s starting to remind me of myself.” Lin Yu chuckled to himself, his Soul Body glowing faintly. “He’s already calculated odds of over eighty percent, but insists on saying they only have a chance. He scares everyone half to death, and if he succeeds, they’ll owe him a huge favor.”

Elder Qingluo stepped forward and pressed him coldly. “Link the three roots? Easier said than done. If they’re truly connected, and one root is completely tainted by the murderous aura, won’t it spread through the channel and contaminate the other two? That would be no different from offering our throats to the enemy!”

That was exactly the question Su Ming had been waiting for.

He lightly tapped the Greenstone table with his fingertip. The three loops instantly spread apart, transforming into three wafer-thin phantoms of rippling water that covered the connections.

“Elder Qingluo’s concern is entirely justified.” Su Ming smiled slightly as he explained. “That’s why this isn’t a simple connection. At each junction, I’ll set up three layers of Ruo Shui buffers, each with a cutoff valve. They’ll open when they encounter life-force and close when they encounter death energy. They can be opened or shut, so we’ll retain control either way.”

Elder Qingluo stared at the exquisitely intricate water-patterned formation lines and remained silent for a long time.

Her hand, which had been gripping a vine whip, slowly relaxed. She tucked the whip back at her waist and muttered under her breath, “You humans have more schemes than an old tree has roots.”

Just then, a gentle yet boundless surge of life-force descended from above the hall.

Everyone’s heart jolted, and they all looked up.

A jade-green leaf, as though borne aloft by a gentle breeze, drifted down from the canopy above the hall. It was no larger than a palm, yet intricate natural Dao Patterns flowed across it, and it gave off an intoxicating fragrance.

The leaf spun once in midair, then hovered steadily in front of Su Ming’s palm.