Chapter 1926 - 990: Deep-Rooted

Earthwork Cat smashes dust, Repair Cat welds, Transport Cat moves bricks, Peace Cat assists.

In the middle, there's a futile Command Cat standing high with a three-point style enticing poster in hand as a blueprint, accompanied by occasional dog barks.

The vibrant and bustling construction site scene comes vividly before the eyes.

Following Ji Jue's plan, they directly adhere to the specifications of Central Earth's battlefield maneuvers, starting to erect constructions right outside the Root of Death's hall.

Precisely situated just outside the enemy's 'range of enmity,' mixing cement, assembling components, reinforcing foundations, electrical welding patches, anchoring connections, then erecting high points, reserving shooting apertures, setting up barbed wire and cheval de frise, laying mines, installing machine guns, positioning fire points, equipping defensive cannons...

Indeed, it's a real eye-opener for the old dispatcher Old Deng from centuries ago.

What the hell is called modern warfare?!

In less than half an hour, a fortress capable of enduring at least four rounds of bombardment under long-range artillery strikes, making the enemy commander jump around in anger, while surprising and giving PTSD to countless line-fill babies, suddenly rose from the ground!

Then immediately, mercury flows, covering the entire situation.

Intricate and overlapping spiritual circuits emerge from prefabricated units, are awakened, assembled, connected... Hundreds of fixed patterns from the Dust Series are spliced together through the linkage and operation of Three-phase Alchemy, forming a strong and impenetrable whole from scattered fragments and components.

Combining the Dust Series alchemy prefabrication dishes, it's outstanding at cost-effectiveness!

Using less than one-tenth of spiritual essence, the entire fortress becomes a genuine alchemy creation. Then, the Ruins Series blessing module is inserted, with the activation of the "Unmoving as a Mountain" blessing chain, covering everything.

There's still more.

Ji Jue claps his two small hands and presses forward towards the fortress.

I directly summon Mechanical Descent!

Continuous rumbling, waves of air sweeping through.

Within the thunderous tremor of the entire steel fortress, there appear scale-like textures. Sharp barbs like those of dragons protrude outwards from all sides, with a vibrant rhythm of spiritual essence emanating from within.

As a mechanical construct, it completes its activation and optimization.

Yet, there's more.

Then comes "Summoning," "Transformation," "Rebirth," with three layers of Non-Attack blessing chains descending, first imbuing spiritual essence, then forcibly elevating the overall quality, and finally strengthening stability for complete solidification.

After an eye-dizzying series of monkey-like antics, a +23 enhanced war construction suddenly appears within the Border Hell Layer.

That intense aura spreads, causing even the Root of Death outside the range of enmity to tremble, seeming to react, on the verge of awakening.

But when a crimson eye opens on the pitch-black trunk, gazing blankly into the distance, it sees... On the fortress walls stands a craftsman with hands behind his back, looking spirited and triumphant.

Seems to have seen him somewhere before.

Familiar... yet seemingly a bit different from before?

"Hello!"

Ji Jue grins, raising his hand, with Taia's range flowing like water, elongating, instantly spanning the long distance, a narrow line, enveloping the entire Root of Death, locking it in.

Then he tilts his head, instructing behind him:

"——Fire!"

Boom!!!

Countless azure electric lights surging instantly, through the layer-by-layer cable connections, already installed Zanlu external module·[Thunder Pool], pre-heating begins.

Massive sweltering mist rises from the fortress, like clouds and mist, with a faint iridescent glow, creating an illusion of beauty.

It's unfortunate that it's not mist or cloud, but a massive amount of cooling liquid evaporating and boiling in the blink of an eye!

Zanlu whistles, excited and clanging.

Before that, an extremely thin and narrow, almost illusory flow of light already pierces the air, two points connecting in a line, embedding into the body of the Root of Death.

Silent and unnoticed.

Only the exterior module [Thunder Pool] under this strike, turns scorching red, the cannon body deforms, melting and collapsing like plasticine, completely scrapped.

Then, near endless overlapping howls rise to the sky!

On the pitch-black body of the Root of Death, amid iron-like trunks and branches, a penetrating hole suddenly appears.

A crescent moon-like gap appears out of nowhere.

Just a slight connection more, and the entire Disaster Beast would be completely bisected.

The sudden destruction is just an appetizer, with the sprawling Purple Lightning Black Flame thoroughly igniting the entire trunk, insidiously eroding inward.

Most of the trunk, in just a few split seconds, is burned to charcoal, shattered and fragmented.

Only ashes fall like torrential rain.

Immediately, under layers of desolate white ashes, the entire remaining charred stump falls silent, lifeless with no sign of life. Only the boiling sound suddenly erupts from the depths of the earth!

Stone plates shatter, the ground collapses, pitch-black roots like angry hands burst from the ground, along with a flooding torrent of blood flames!

Rotting flesh-like blood quickly rebirths from the charcoal, spreading, countless arms-like branches extend again, countless skulls like ripe fruit open their eyes, roaring in unison, venomously screeching.

This is, the Root of Death!

The name Root of Death signifies its source of regret and power, while the name Deep Root pertains to its essence of existence and continuance!

This is the true foundation of its ability to endure in the Central Earth, where an endless tumult of demons and monsters roam. It's not that no one could destroy it, nor that no one could suppress it, for several times it was completely severed and burned to ash.

But as everyone knows, a tree, if not uprooted, is really hard to kill.

To the Root of Death itself, the flourishing branches and leaves above the surface are insignificant; the truly terrifying part is the endless roots entrenched beneath the nine earths, intertwining and extending for thousands of miles!

There are even countless impostors and parasitic clones... Once the main body dies, they would immediately develop and grow again, and under the nourishment of war and death, sprout anew.

As long as war doesn't cease, its life would never end.

Even if here is merely a scratch in time, the instant when it's just born, its tenacity of life is still incomparable to ordinary foes.

In fact, if the time state of the Border Hell Layer weren't frozen, after consuming so many drifters, who knows what kind of monstrous shape it would have taken on!

"..."

Ji Jue sighed regretfully: "The Legion truly has a hard fate."

Charging power for a long time, and only achieved the Second Rank.

It's a pity that recently there's no assistance from Brother Shan, nor so many suitable Heavenly Calamities to feed Zanlu, which has delayed the progress of Refining Form and Quality.

My accumulation in the Entropy System is ultimately lacking a bit.

If only I could absorb the essence from the Five Floors and Twelve Cities, perhaps this hit could directly scatter it, avoiding much trouble later.

Sometime, I'll bring some white-cut chicken to visit the Lou Family!

Ji Jue stroked his chin and began to ponder.

Boom!

The giant tree trembled, facing an unexpected and severe nuclear strike, the fierce nature of the Disaster Beast was completely awakened.

Rage, fury, uncontrollable anger!

One by one, blood eyes opened on the reborn branches, staring fiercely at the iron monster that dared to provoke it from afar.

The situation of ally and foe is unclear, the disparity between both sides is unknown, even what exactly is happening in this exact place is something it's unaware of.

But it doesn't matter.

At this moment, even deeply wounded and weakened, the unique mindset of the Legion or Slaughter Series occupies the high ground.

Fight!

Beneath the cracked bark, within the viscous blood, fire burned through the flesh, and one after another indistinct bloody figures split off, fell to the ground, and slowly climbed up.

Those eerie figures with no skin covering their entire bodies, exposed muscles and tendons, were overwhelmed by infinite pain just by breathing, no, merely by living.

At this moment, within this endless agony, amidst the burning blood flames, the face-stripping warriors like sacrificial offerings gradually lifted the corners of their mouths, laughing madly.

The blood flames of the Legion don't heal their wounds but stimulate nerves and the soul, making the pain even more profound and immense.

In each protruding eyeball from their sockets, a fervent flame light surged.

They were already unable to contain their excitement.

As if only in this way could they truly be alive!

If not, what's the point?

Isn't life supposed to be this way?

To every Central Earth person, it was simply the natural order.

Everyone is born in pain, grows in pain, declines in pain, and dies in pain!

Plagues, droughts, floods, wars, human experiments, taxes and contributions, faith and dogma, enemies and rivals... too many things bring pain.

Even mere breathing!

As long as one is alive, pain is indispensable, is everlasting, pain cannot be escaped... pain is life itself!

When this understanding becomes habitual, when this lifestyle never changes, when this reality is seen as truth, through the fervent faith and the catalyst of war, the Face Stripping Legion is thus born!

Before each battle, these Legions, selected from among gladiators and slaves, would strip their own faces with a blade to feel pain to the greatest extent, offering up their sacrifice.

The moment those blood-red faces appear on the battlefield means the arrival of an insane fight till death.

And when the Face Stripping Legion strips all of its skin and steps stark naked onto the battlefield, it signifies the commencement of their life's final sacrificial offering.

Using themselves as a candle, igniting the fire of pain.

Regardless of victory or defeat, the sacrificers will burn out in this war!

Now, under the catalysis of the Root of Death, sixty-seven Face-Stripping Warriors once again offer everything to the Sacrificial Master, forgetting life and death, stepping onto the battlefield!

Breaking the formation and shattering strongholds, advancing with no regard for life!

Unfortunately…

It's utterly useless.

Sorry, I admit your skin-stripping self-destruction is strong, but what's coming up next is a t0 god of illusion that surpasses the [One-time Large Group]—

—[Ready Craftsman]!