Chapter 501: Root 1

Blackbeard's mind was a mess. However, after seeing everyone's gaze fixated on him, he tried hard to clear his mind and clarify a few key points.

"Without Demon Phoenix, there is no point for us to be on guard here. Looks like we have to think of a way to escape to the outside world....How long has it been since we were in touch with the outside world?"

"I always thought that we were protecting the world from the ferocious Demon Phoenix. We were fighting for true peace. I never thought...We have indeed overestimated ourselves." Blackbeard sighed.

"Uncle." The young leader with a crescent mark suddenly voiced out. He lowered his head and spoke with a low voice. However, there was a sense of immovable determination to it. "We have to go and see the outside world."

The people around were quiet for a moment, then immediately started talking.

"How about the withdrawn bridge? That's the only exit."

"No one can leave Osa without breaking through the Six-Horned Bull."

"How did those people enter? We must be able to exit that way!"

"They are so strong, we..." "Maybe the Six-Horned Bull has already been handled by them?"

"Let's go have a look!" "Yes, have a look, in case..." "Let's go have a look!"

Within a while, arguments due to different opinions became a united voice, to go and have a look. At that moment, everyone's gaze fixated on two people, the young man with a crescent mark and Blackbeard. These were the two men with authority in the small village.

"Our responsibility is to guard the Demon Phoenix to prevent it from creating trouble. Since the Demon Phoenix has been kidnapped, we have to find out what is that person's true purpose." Blackbeard thought for a moment. Finally, he managed to find a reason to appease himself.

Since all of them were soldiers, they could leave anytime.

"After all it is our thousand-year duty," Blackbeard said surely. "Let's go to look for the black-robed man! Let's find the Demon Phoenix, and also...also see the world!"

"Tony...According to what I heard just now, the people fighting called the black-robed man Lord of Black Swamp Palace. There was also Cthulhu King. They were speaking in a strange Ender language." Blackbeard's daughter who had the most talent in linguistics spoke. She was the legendary sage Osaka's reincarnation after a thousand years. Osaka had been the great sage that had sealed the Demon Phoenix. Her position among the crowd was very special.

"A person as strong of this is definitely not an unknown figure. As long as we find a civilization, we definitely would be able to find out." Blackbeard nodded. He looked at the devastated battlefield below. Without the power of the Demon Phoenix, those puppets fell to the ground, each returning to the state of a corpse.

"Let's leave the city!" He shouted at last.

**********************

Ten days later...

He took a deep breath.

Garen sat crossed-legged on the floor, healing his body. From time to time, he would spit out blood. He was severely injured.

It was a black barren plain. The surroundings were quiet. Some distance away, a few white wolves were being corroded by black acid into corpses.

The Demon Phoenix and three others were being cautious on the side. They were watching Garen closing his eyes, meditating. The four of them exchanged gazes and quietly walked away. A faint purple light surrounded the four people, completely blocking off the noise from their footsteps.

From their point of view, there was a large, round hole on his chest. His body was almost split into two. With injuries like that, it would be considered extremely severe even for themselves, what more for a human. The man before them was definitely drained, without much energy remaining.

However, thinking of the terrifying wave and aftermath in the battle just now, four of them shuddered. Their first thoughts weren't to fight back, but a strong intent to escape.

As they took slow steps, minutes and seconds passed by.

Garen's aura stabilized. His eyes didn't seem to open, as if he had fallen asleep.

As they finally retreated towards behind a stone pillar, Demon Phoenix and the rest heaved sighs of relief.

"Where are you all heading to?"

Suddenly, a calm male voice came from behind.

The four of them were shocked. Their bodies became numb and stood still. Only then did they notice that black gas was slowly coming from the ground beneath their feet. The black gas gathered into small snake-like shapes. Their glowing black eyes stared at the four of them coldly.

"Stay here and don't run around." Garen opened his eyes to look at the remaining potential points on his attribute pane. There were only ten plus points left, totally insufficient. In the battle with the Cthulhu King, he'd recklessly used his points during the battle. Hundreds of points that he had accumulated had been drained to maintain the full nine lives of his nine-life talent. Because of that, he'd used up too many potential points. Twenty potential points could be used to replenish a life. Normally, it wouldn't seem like much, but at this point where he was only left with ten points...

Garen spat out some air. The taste of blood was incredibly strong. His ears moved slightly. As he stood up, black gas suddenly appeared beneath his feet. With a swoosh, he disappeared into a ray of black light, which shot out into the distance.

Demon Phoenix and the rest heaved sighs of relief.

"My Lord, what should we do now?" The purple-armored girl, who was quietly beside Demon Phoenix asked.

"Do not panic...We do not know why he captured us. But since he didn't kill us after capturing us, he must have his reason. Let's not panic." The helmet on the Demon Phoenix's head had been corroded into black water after being surrounded by the black gas. It revealed a pretty girl's face beneath.

The girl had a healthy tan. She had a blue eye and a purple eye, while her two ears were a little pointy. She didn't look like a human. Her purple-black long hair was like feathers, and she was faintly releasing a strong strange aura.

"Never thought that I, Demon Phoenix, whom no one could restrict for thousands of years. But now, surprisingly..." Demon Phoenix stood up in negativity. She looked towards the sky with deep, complex emotions.

Bang!

It was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

"Why you are you standing over there foolishly! Come over and prepare a meal!"

Garen's voice came from a close distance.

"Oh..." Demon Phoenix looked stunned. She hurried over to drag the ten-meter long corpse of a giant yellow bear on the ground. The three others also rushed over to help her.

For the past few days, Garen had been going to hunt and bringing back raw materials for Demon Phoenix and the rest to process, making all kinds of dishes. Garen never thought that the dishes that they made were actually decent. Hence, he would rather pass on this task fully to them.

However, today seemed different.

As they were processing the giant bear's corpse, a black ray of light landed not far away from them, forming Garen's figure. The difference this time was, there were a large group of more than ten yellow bears following him behind.

This bear species had a white horn on its chest. The horn faced the sky and could increase gravitational force by three times. These ten plus giant Gravity Bears were obviously chased here by Garen.

They gathered together and didn't dare to move at all. Numerous small black snakes suspended in the air around them. These snakes were formed purely by black gas. It was a huge oppression by a peak fifth form. Even Demon Phoenix and the rest also felt the air and didn't dare to go close, what more these Gravity Bears..

Very quickly, a purple bonfire came to life again. With one hand, Demon Phoenix was controlling the Demon Cloud Power, which emitted the purple flames. On her other hand, she was grabbing the hind leg of a giant bear, while the other purple-armored girl was carrying the bear's head.

The two of them set up the whole bear and barbequed it over the fire. The skinless bear turned red. As its blood continuously dripped, it quickly produced crackling sounds in the purple fire below. There was also a faint smell of meat flavor.

From time to time, purple-black smoke rushed into their faces, causing their faces to be smoked and blackened.

After finishing their barbeque of the giant bear, the two of them were covered in smoke, ruining their images.

The other two males had been responsible for skinning, draining the blood, removing the internal organs and other dirty tasks.

For the five of them, Demon Phoenix, her three companions, and Garen, who once again closed his eyes to rest on one side, this was their small, temporary campsite.

The four of them were busy with their own tasks. All of them were now Garen's captives. The original difference of statuses was also gone. Whether it was Demon Phoenix or her three underlings, they cooperated to cook up a meal. None of them considered any other things.

After the meat was done, the seasoning was passed on to the purple-armored female chef. Demon Phoenix went around to find edible vegetables and plants.

According to Garen, it wasn't appropriate to only eat meat. It has to be paired with some vegetables to be healthy. After a few deep thoughts and physical lessons, Demon Phoenix would naturally go around to find vegetables with decent texture. After all, no one would love to be severely beaten fifteen times in an hour...

She couldn't wander too far to obtain the vegetables. Fortunately, Garen had a good appetite. His strong body allowed him to only care about the taste and texture. He didn't have to consider whether it was poisonous or not.

Demon Phoenix walked for hundreds of meters. She had previously thought to escape. But unfortunately, the few small black snakes around her body made her dismiss the idea.

With the power of a fifth form, finding plants was extremely easy. Regardless of whether they were on the ground or underground, they couldn't escape Demon Phoenix's discerning eyes.

When she returned, the bear meat was already seasoned. Fresh green vegetables with golden-yellow bear meat, it looked appetizing indeed.

Under the salivating gaze of the rest of them, Garen was gobbling down the bear meat in big bites. The rich aroma was all around the area. But they didn't dare to move. They were only qualified to eat after Garen had finished eating.

Very quickly, after half an hour or so, Garen threw away the femur in his hand. The purple-armored female hurriedly served a napkin that was just cleaned. After wiping his mouth, Garen nodded in satisfaction.

"Look after these small things. I'm heading out first." He ordered.

"Yes." Demon Phoenix and the rest answered quickly.

"Alright." Garen stood up. He had almost fully recovered from the injuries on his body. With a bang, he exploded, becoming a black cloud that shot towards the distance.

Very quickly, a thunderous bang came from afar. A black giant stone pillar slowly broke down and collapsed. Roaring sounds could faintly be heard.

"Needless to say, they are fighting again." Demon Phoenix and the rest looked into the distance. They could only see the black cloud and red light interweaving in the dusty sky. They couldn't see anything else.

The terrifying tremor could be heard even from tens of kilometres away.

When they'd arrived on these plains, it had been a flourishing land.

Various strong creatures could be found everywhere fighting for territories. Desolate beast cries could be heard every evening. However, since those two people arrived, the whole plains had become silent.....