Ender poured his World Energy into the long spear in his hand, and the Law Secret Runes on the silver-white spear shaft were activated, shining with a light green glow, and intense Law fluctuations also gathered.
Facing the Immortal Energy attack launched by King Overbearing Autumn, he did not dodge or evade, but swung his glowing long spear, Void Spear, to meet it.
Boom!
The Void Spear, gathering powerful might, dispersed the incoming Immortal Energy. Most of its power dissipated in the collision, with only a small portion of its might transferring to Ender's body.
Suffering a blow, Ender's speed slowed slightly. He was already unable to catch up to King Mistflare, and now he was even further behind.
"King Overbearing Autumn, you block King Verdant End!"
King Mistflare did not pause; the fiery red stream of light she had transformed into flew towards the vault door.
"Leave it to me."
The golden stream of light that King Overbearing Autumn had transformed into swept past the vault door, which was close at hand. His Divine Body instantly grew to ten kilometers tall, blocking most of the passage, leaving only a small gap for passage.
"King Verdant End, this path is blocked."
His Divine Body returned to its normal form, King Overbearing Autumn grinned and transmitted, "With me here, you won't get through."
Although the plan had a problem, it wasn't King Frost Steed who entangled King Verdant End, but it was the same with him; the goal was achieved.
Encountering the interception, Ender was forced to slow down.
He stared at King Overbearing Autumn, who was using his Divine Body to cover most of the passage, considering whether to use his long spear 'Silence,' which was solidified with Fei Mo Poison.
"King Verdant End, there's a treasure chest in the vault, but it can't be taken away with a world ring, nor can it be opened."
At this moment, King Pheasant Wing's voice entered Ender's mind, "King Mistflare, who just came in, has already tried, and similarly, she has no way to deal with that treasure chest."
Upon hearing this, Ender transmitted back, "Hmm, I'm blocked by King Overbearing Autumn. I'll be there in a moment."
At the same time, King Overbearing Autumn on the opposite side also received a transmission, and its content made him somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected that, despite having the advantage, the treasure chest would be unopenable.
"King Overbearing Autumn, there's no point in you blocking me. Even King Mistflare can't open the treasure chest in the vault."
Ender saw that King Overbearing Autumn's expression was a little strange, so he transmitted, "Why don't we go in and take a look?"
King Overbearing Autumn heard this but did not reply, seemingly transmitting to inquire about more specific details.
The next moment, King Overbearing Autumn received a reply, the content of which confirmed Ender's words, which made him coldly snort, "Hmph, consider yourselves lucky."
With that, King Overbearing Autumn's Divine Body rapidly shrank, instantly reducing to a few meters in length.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Ender and King Overbearing Autumn simultaneously transformed into streams of light, shooting towards the vault door. In just two or three seconds, they arrived inside the vault.
...
Entering the vault.
Ender saw King Towering Bear and King Mistflare, along with other Pinnacle Stage King-Level Immortals, studying how to open the treasure chest from a distance.
From the battle marks around the treasure chest, it could be seen that both sides had previously fought over the ownership of the treasure chest there.
Of course, what Ender didn't know was that these battle marks were mainly from King Towering Bear and King Frost Steed, with most of them being traces of conflict arising from the competition for g-grade metal Materials.
"This treasure chest is entirely cast from g-grade metal Red Hong Essence Gold. Even if we use fire to melt it, it would take at least ten days to open it."
King Towering Bear transmitted, "But the problem is, we don't know what's inside the treasure chest, and King Mistflare and the other Demon race King-level Immortals will never let us melt it."
King Pheasant Wing said softly, "There's a high probability that there are rare treasures inside this chest, otherwise the natives wouldn't have spent such a huge cost to cast a treasure chest integrated with the building."
Ender listened to the transmissions of his two allies and only felt that the current situation was very troublesome. Neither they nor the Demon race would allow the other party to successfully melt the treasure chest.
Because this meant that once the treasure chest was melted, it was highly likely to be seized by the other party, and their apparent strength was weaker.
At the same time, King Mistflare and the three Demon race King-level Immortals felt that the current situation was complex. Although they held an advantage in apparent strength.
However, Ender had Five Hundred Vine Star-Eating Grass, which could temporarily entangle a Pinnacle Stage King-Level Immortal, instantly changing the situation to 3 against 2, and then their advantage wouldn't be so great.
Thus, in this evenly matched situation, an immovable and sturdy treasure chest made both sides feel tricky.
After a moment of stalemate.
King Overbearing Autumn couldn't help but transmit, "What do we do now?"
"In this situation..." King Mistflare pondered for a moment, and just as she was about to reply, she heard a loud bang.
Dong!
Everyone looked over at the sound and saw that the vault door had actually fallen and closed!
King Overbearing Autumn's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "King Frost Steed, what's going on? Why did the vault door suddenly close?"
"I don't know, this didn't happen during the last exploration."
King Frost Steed's expression was solemn, vigilantly observing his surroundings.
"King Towering Bear." Ender turned and transmitted, "You have carefully deciphered the native text murals, have you discovered similar situations?"
"No similar situations have been found." King Towering Bear replied, "The native text murals in this sacrificial place are mainly about sacrifice and praise, with very little other content."
Da da da...
Suddenly, continuous light tapping sounds rang out, like the faint clinking of metal.
"It's the treasure chest."
"The sound is coming from inside the treasure chest."
Everyone present was a Pinnacle Stage King-Level combatant, so they naturally heard that the light tapping sound was coming from inside the treasure chest. Thus, everyone's gaze was fixed on the treasure chest.
Da da da — Ta!
After a few more light taps, the sound from inside the red treasure chest, entirely cast from Red Hong Essence Gold, stopped with a final powerful "Ta" sound.
Bang!
Like an exploding roar, the originally airtight treasure chest, with numerous secret runes carved on its surface—opened!
"The treasure chest is open!"
"The treasure is mine!"
Seeing the treasure chest open, King Overbearing Autumn and King Towering Bear moved, both transforming into streams of light and shooting towards the treasure chest.
"Hmph!"
King Mistflare snorted coldly, transforming into a fiery red stream of light and attacking the black stream of light that King Towering Bear had transformed into.
"King Verdant End, stop King Mistflare, I'll go assist King Towering Bear."
King Pheasant Wing spread his wings, instantly transforming into a streak of light and flying away, his burst of speed astonishingly fast.
And at the same time King Pheasant Wing transmitted, Ender stepped on his Shadow Shuttle and shot towards King Mistflare.
"King Verdant End, don't even think about getting through!"
King Frost Steed transformed into a white stream of light and flew over. His Divine Body rapidly expanded in the air, instantly reaching several kilometers in height, blocking Ender's flight path.
"Get out of my way!"
Ender swung the long spear in his hand, and the spear struck out like lightning. A blow carrying terrifying power swept across King Frost Steed's white, thick fur.
Boom!
King Frost Steed wore a rank-eight top-grade battle armor. His defensive force field blocked a considerable amount of the attack's power. After the defensive force field was broken, a small portion of his Divine Body was shattered, but it instantly reformed and recovered as before.
"Haha, it's useless."
Feeling the negligible loss of Immortal Energy, King Frost Steed, who had been repelled, continued to advance and block, while laughing and transmitting, "King Verdant End, your attack power is too weak, it can't harm me at all."
Upon seeing this, Ender was about to switch his long spear to 'Silence' when he sensed a sudden change!
...
King Towering Bear and King Overbearing Autumn, who had rushed towards the treasure chest first, had already arrived in front of it while entangled in combat, preparing to seize the treasure within.
And King Pheasant Wing was entangled with King Mistflare. Originally, the former planned to seize the treasure in the chest, but seeing that King Towering Bear was already close to the chest, he chose to assist.
"Get lost!"
King Mistflare was entangled and temporarily unable to deal with King Towering Bear, so she had no choice but to attack King Pheasant Wing, who was close at hand.
At this moment, tens of thousands of black, thread-like strands shot out from inside the treasure chest, striking King Towering Bear and King Overbearing Autumn, who were closest to it.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
These black threads were incredibly thin when they first left the treasure chest, but they grew thicker the further they got from it.
When they struck King Towering Bear and King Overbearing Autumn, their diameter was already over one centimeter, and they didn't look like threads at all. Their surface had the texture and patterns of tree bark, just like slender, leafless branches.
"It's an Immortal plant life form, Black Branch Willow!"
"Ten thousand branches, this Black Branch Willow is High Stage King-Level."
Upon seeing this scene, the knowledgeable King Towering Bear and King Overbearing Autumn instantly recognized what the suddenly appearing black branches were.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Tens of thousands of black branches struck King Towering Bear and King Overbearing Autumn, pushing them back continuously, but the actual Immortal Energy damage caused to them was very little.
"Guarded by a Black Branch Willow equivalent to a High Stage King-Level, there must be rare treasures in this chest."
The appearance of the Black Branch Willow did not make King Towering Bear retreat or fear; instead, it filled him with immense joy, making him even more convinced that there were rare treasures within the treasure chest.
"The treasure is mine!" King Overbearing Autumn thought so too.
To obtain the treasure, he decisively burned his Immortal Energy, used a secret technique to shatter all the incoming black branches, and then rushed towards the treasure chest.
Those black branches instantly reformed, striking and hitting King Overbearing Autumn again, but they had little effect on his approach.
"How can there be an Immortal plant life form?"
Seeing the ten thousand branches of Black Branch Willow appear, Ender, who was blocked by King Frost Steed, felt strange. Why would an Immortal plant life form appear in the treasure chest?
"Wait!"
Ender briefly recalled and instantly remembered that the native murals seemed to mention Black Branch Willow, but the murals were too abstract for him to connect the two.
But when he connected the two, his expression immediately changed, and he quickly released the Five Hundred Vine Star-Eating Grass.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
On the other side, King Pheasant Wing and King Mistflare were still entangled, but the former was clearly not an opponent, so he chose to primarily engage in aerial combat, relying on his instantaneous burst of speed to intercept and block the latter.
"Ten thousand branches of Black Branch Willow, why is there an Immortal plant life form here?"
King Pheasant Wing also felt strange, but having deciphered all the native mural texts in the previous exploration, he quickly recalled that there was indeed a similar existence to the Black Branch Willow in the murals.
"Hmm! No..."
Recalling the content of the mural text, King Pheasant Wing's expression changed. Just as he was about to flash away, he was entangled by the enraged King Mistflare.
The tens of thousands of Black Branch Willow branches extending from the treasure chest now had a diameter of over one meter each. Ten thousand black branches densely surrounded the treasure chest, continuously striking and hitting outwards, trying their best to prevent King Overbearing Autumn and King Towering Bear from approaching.
However, after the two Pinnacle Stage King-Level Immortals burned their Immortal Energy, their strength increased a hundredfold. Even though the Black Branch Willow was equivalent to a High Stage King-Level Immortal, its ability in entanglement and encirclement was very ordinary, completely unable to stop the two.
When King Overbearing Autumn and King Towering Bear reached the treasure chest, the tens of thousands of Black Branch Willow branches suddenly stopped. Then, cracks appeared on the surface of many branches, and powerful wood-elemental Immortal Energy surged out from the cracks!
Boom!
The surging wood-elemental Immortal Energy erupted, transforming into incredibly terrifying light and heat.
Centered around the treasure chest, the Universe space, which had become incredibly sturdy due to the Space Lockdown, collapsed under the terrifying self-destruction power, and even the Universe space fragments instantly melted into a stream of particles.
The Immortal plant life form Black Branch Willow's true Divine Body length must be thousands of kilometers long. The Immortal Energy contained within such a massive Divine Body is naturally extremely vast, and its self-destruction power is even more terrifying!
King Overbearing Autumn and King Towering Bear, being closest to the treasure chest, were the first to be impacted by this incredibly terrifying light and heat, and they were completely enveloped by the particle stream formed from the Universe space fragments.
The terrifying light and heat caused their Divine Bodies to be torn apart and melted, but due to the existence of their Immortal bodies, their Divine Bodies instantly reformed and recovered, only to be torn apart and melted again.
King Towering Bear let out a desperate cry, "No!"
In this desperate situation, he was utterly despairing.
Because his race was an ordinary race, without the existence of a great Universe Master, it was impossible for him to be resurrected after his demise.
His race would also not pay an immense price for him, a Pinnacle Stage King-Level Immortal, to ask a Universe Master ally for help.
In despair, King Towering Bear could only transmit, as if grasping at a lifeline, "King Verdant End, King Pheasant Wing, save me!"
"Bastard!... He actually... self-destructed just like that!"
King Overbearing Autumn's Divine Body was torn apart and melted, constantly repairing his torn Divine Body, making it difficult for him to speak smoothly.
The two Pinnacle Stage King-Level Immortals, closest and surrounded, were the first to bear the brunt of the Black Branch Willow's self-destruction power, and the impact of the self-destruction power did not stop, continuously surging in all directions.
Boom...
"Save you?! I can barely save myself, and you're still thinking of me saving you?"
King Pheasant Wing, who had already noticed something was wrong, disregarded conserving Immortal Energy and burned his Immortal Energy to quickly flee towards Ender.
He knew well that in this incredibly terrifying self-destruction of the Black Branch Willow, if he had any hope of survival, it would be with King Verdant End, who was known for his defensive capabilities.
"King Verdant End."
King Pheasant Wing had just managed to transmit a shout when he was then engulfed by that terrifying light and heat. His Divine Body was constantly torn apart and melted, then repaired only to be torn apart and melted again, causing a significant loss of his Immortal Energy.
"Damn it!"
Impacted by the incredibly hot particle stream, King Pheasant Wing cursed wildly in his heart, "Damn King Mistflare, if she hadn't stopped me, I would have already escaped to King Verdant End's side!"
His Divine Body was constantly being torn apart and repaired, and King Pheasant Wing felt his Immortal Energy rapidly draining, realizing that he couldn't escape.
As a member of the powerful Swallow Hawk Race, his race had a great existence like a Universe Master, so as long as he wasn't Soul enslaved, he had the qualification to be resurrected.
Thus, to avoid falling into slumber and being Soul enslaved, King Pheasant Wing decisively chose to self-destruct!
Boom!
Another terrifying energy impact rose, but the light and heat that suddenly rose did not immediately merge with the previous light and heat.
Instead, they partially canceled each other out before merging into one, continuing to impact towards the edge of the vault.
Thank you for reading!
If you'd like to support the story and help with faster translations, consider joining my Patreon. Supporters get early access to 20 upcoming chapters before they're released publicly. Your support means a lot and helps keep updates coming!