Chapter 550: Chapter 550

One of the layers within the ancient ruins was paradise. It was a vast hollow beneath the earth that was exceptionally spacious. Magnificent buildings stood tall, and roadways of white stone paved the ground like smooth jade. Colored streamers hung between ornamental trees, and bronze bells dangled beneath, clinking softly.

Squared meadows, man-made lakes, and hills carpeted with white and pink blossoms were dotted around the structures. Figures in vivid, exquisite garments frolicked amid the scenery, raising cups of wine or singing at the top of their lungs. Others sat by the water, chatting with friends while quietly awaiting a nibble on their fishing line. From afar, it formed a scene of paradise that stirred yearning in the heart.

Among them, one silhouette alone appeared completely out of place. He wore a black cloak, his aura deep and cold. He stood apart from the revelers, leaning against a great tree and observing in silence. The man folded his arms, exposing the pale fingers of his right hand. Newest update provided by novel~fire~net

A Supreme bone ring of verdant plant-like green gleamed on one of his fingers. The emerald hue was deeper, almost shaded toward black, and far richer than any Wood Spirit once born of the Ripple Order.

It was Wood Spirit, the first-generation leader of the Ripple Order. He remained in the tree's shadow, seeming unwilling to touch the bright white radiance around him.

Yes, bright white light, not sunlight.

Wood Spirit slowly raised his head and, through gaps in the foliage, saw the cavity's lofty vault. There, an endless mass of pale roots writhed like strands of hair or slender venomous snakes. The root system branched, splitting and spreading without ceasing. One into two, two into four... It resembled a human nervous system.

Lustrous, iridescent light radiated from the roots. When those many colors merged, they formed white light indistinguishable from sunshine. At least, one would not sense a difference without looking up.

After staring for a while, Wood Spirit lowered his eyes. He turned and glanced toward the distant meadow and lakeshore.

Those beings wore puppet-like grins, laughed, and kept repeating the gestures they had made half an hour earlier. He remained silent, a hint of mockery flickering deep in his eyes. It was aimed not only at them but at himself.

"So this is the price of pleasure and immortality... No benefit comes without a cost."

The great tree behind Wood Spirit shook and quivered violently. Two metres up, the thick bark split, suddenly revealing a visage. It was a huge face twisted together from pale root stalks.

"The invaders who set foot on Eternal Island have already wiped out this generation's Ice Spirit and the Ripple Order's core strength..." The pallid face hissed, its voice crackling like electricity. "They are now heading into the ruins, toward paradise..."

"Hmm?!" Wood Spirit's half-closed eyes flew open, shock flashing in his pupils. "How could that be? Eternal Island is home turf for the Ripple Order. Besides, had you not summoned back the strongest Ripple Masters from across the world? You even ordered the mother tree to birth more Supreme bone rings... How could they have been wiped out in one stroke?"

Three Supreme bone rings, then another newly born, plus the original Ice Spirit. That was five Spirit stage beings! In Wood Spirit's prime, the clan had gone through an unprecedented expansion with only three such beings. Yet five had been swept away by those mysterious invaders?

The pale face fell uncharacteristically silent before Wood Spirit's doubt.

After a moment, it spoke. "One invader is extremely dangerous. He hails from the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community and carries what I need. His team has just entered the ruins; I need you to lead paradise's Spirit stage beings to the upper layers and intercept them. Preferably kill them, then bring that bone tree back for me..."

Wood Spirit calmly glanced at the pale face. "Their strength."

"Over seventy combat artists, several of them top-tier. Most of Black Rain Manor's leading knight-level Hellsing, including two of the four strongest marked-ones..." The pale face explained.

"And the extremely dangerous one you mentioned?" Wood Spirit rubbed the verdant ring on his middle finger.

"An hour ago, he slew four extreme combat artists working together. Then he killed Ice Spirit whom my Will had descended upon. Ice Spirit was even wearing five Supreme bone rings simultaneously..."

The pale face paused slightly. "He is already close to Holy Fist..."

"Holy Fist..." Wood Spirit murmured the term, feeling a vague, majestic awe. He knew what Holy Fist signified. It was a title from the Covert Martial Arts world.

As paradise's only half-autonomous being, Wood Spirit had visited many places in a millennium's span. He had gradually learned of the path of Covert Martial Arts and its practitioners.

Holy Fist was the supreme realm venerated by Covert Martial Arts Practitioners! A saint of the fist, a king of Covert Martial Arts!

Indeed, the basis of the Root of Pale Origin's millennia-long imprisonment in these ruins seemed intricately tied to a certain Holy Fist. And now there was one nearing that realm among this wave of invaders.

No wonder even the Root of Pale Origin had taken immediate notice.

"Close to Holy Fist, is he?" Wood Spirit slowly raised his head. "I fear I cannot defeat him. My body has decayed, and my strength is waning. Over twenty years ago, you bade me to invite Thunder Spirit in order to replace paradise's steward, did you not? Unfortunately, Thunder Spirit saw through it and understood paradise's truth. Even when I fought with all my might, I failed to keep him. I only left him grievously wounded and he fled near death. It was partly Thunder Spirit's great strength, yet more so that my own strength is bleeding away. There is no true immortality. Perhaps I pursued the wrong goal from the start. Had I not accepted your gift then, dying of old age would have been fine..."

"You regret it now? Why, back then, were you not as ecstatic as a drowning man clutching the last straw? You thoroughly enjoyed the first hundred years, did you not? Were the first paradise members not invited by you in person? And now you renege? Hypocritical human..." The pale visage spoke in a low tone.

"Yes, I regret it. I never thought I would be the only one to retain even half my consciousness! The other Spirit stage beings had their personalities erased, leaving only naked hedonistic desire! They became beasts. Puppets! Puppets whose insides are steered by a monster like you while outwardly feigning humanity..." Wood Spirit's emotions grew agitated.

As the progenitor of Ripple Masters, the first Wood Spirit cherished the clan and each generation of its leaders. That was his legacy, proof of past glory, and the embodiment of his life's worth. Otherwise he would not have invited later leaders into paradise to share immortality. However, after learning the truth, Wood Spirit never again invited another leader.

Even when the Root of Pale Origin demanded it, he resisted to the end. He had only gone to Thunder Spirit because it mattered greatly. The Root of Pale Origin had paid a price to seize Wood Spirit's body and arrange the scheme. Paradise had existed for a millennium, and Wood Spirit's consciousness as long. He had come to loathe his own being.

After the matter with Thunder Spirit, he felt, faintly, a desire for death. Yet he could not quite abandon the Ripple Order he himself had founded and raised, even though that faction lay deeply under the Root of Pale Origin's sway.

However, when the Ripple Order's main elites were wiped out, Wood Spirit suddenly found himself less sad and less angry than he had imagined. He realised he had simply wanted an excuse to keep on living, as a matter of course.

The Root of Pale Origin was right—he truly was a hypocrite...

Wood Spirit's mood gradually calmed, and only then did the pale visage on the trunk say, "If you can lead paradise and kill those invaders in the ruins, I will allow you to commit suicide afterward."

Yes, suicide required permission, for even the half-controlled Wood Spirit could not kill himself. He could only feel his body rot away for over a thousand years until it became ash. What a stifling way to die...

So much for immortality! Seas dried and stones decayed. Even the Root of Pale Origin itself would eventually die and rot, only it happened too slowly. Compared with a human life barely over a hundred years, it felt immortal. Stones lasting a hundred million years still crumbled to dust, let alone conscious creatures. Wood Spirit's state of mind now differed utterly from the past; his heart brimmed with a desire for death.

"I agree." He gazed at the pallid face on the trunk, pronouncing every word.

Wood Spirit stepped out from the shadow into the white light. Then, figures gathered around Wood Spirit and flashed toward paradise's exit at great speed.

Meanwhile, the Covert Martial Arts party had fully entered the ancient ruins. They followed Cassius, their pace ever increasing.

Like the Ao Yin Ruins, the site naturally held lethal traps, dreadful monsters, and unknown powers. Nonetheless, the Covert Martial Arts team bulldozed through dangers that would have buried normal combat artists alive.

It was not one or two fighters who were cautiously exploring, but over seventy combat artists! Such numbers changed the concept entirely. The same threats felt utterly different before them.

Robust figures packed the rectangular tunnels to the brim. Whenever a metal trap emerged from the floor, wall, or ceiling, a combat artist leapt up and smashed it with a heavy fist. They yanked mechanisms from the walls or wrecked the gears outright. Bolder ones barreled straight through, using their bodies to break traps.

The fate of the monsters was even bleaker. The moment one appeared, it was swamped by seventy fighters. Each delivered a single punch, and the creature vanished into dust before it could bruise, kneel, or howl.

They left nothing but destruction behind them. They looked less like explorers of an ancient ruin than a demolition crew coming to tear it down.

Of course, this was merely the least perilous first layer. It was only natural for it to be steamrolled by the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community. The layers ahead would grow more perilous, and everyone would need to tread carefully. One misstep could spell injuries and loss of men.

However, Cassius possessed the bronze key. He could use a hidden passage in a layer to go straight to the Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist's location. He could guide them through this shortcut, meeting the deadliest zone in peak condition. Afterward, they could rest again and head to the fist technique armoury as they wished.

Cassius halted where three tunnels forked. He stepped forward toward the pitch-black rightmost opening. All followed, wholly trusting Cassius's judgment.

Ten minutes later, a wall on the ancient hall's flank cracked open. A slanted passageway appeared, colored in archaic gray-white. Cassius pocketed the key; his palm sweating slightly in a strangely excited manner. It had been long since he felt this way.

After all, this was the Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist. Perhaps he could truly unite the three fist techniques today. Without further thought, Cassius strode into the passage, and the others followed. With a click, the wall sealed behind them, leaving silent stillness.

The hidden tunnel descended all the way down. No traps emerged and no mishaps occurred; they simply moved downward steadily.

Cassius, who had once braved the Ao Yin Ruins, sighed inwardly. Intelligence truly was paramount; this was so effortless. There was no need to dash about the ruins, dusty and disheveled as in the third time-travel.

Back then, he had been chased from beginning to end, battered and only escaping after more than ten days.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

Dense footsteps echoed within a passageway in the fifth layer. The wall parted, revealing a hidden passage. Powerful figures strode straight into the ruins' lowest depth.

Cassius consulted the map. He found that the dangerous zone lay less than two hundred meters from their position. They were right in its face!

The end-game boss was not in their face. It was him in the boss's face!

Be it the Ripple Order, paradise, or the mysterious Ultimate Dark Form, no one could stand in Cassius's way!