"It seems like something happened that we don't quite understand, and we don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing." Duo Lei looked at Xu Le, seemingly asking.
However, Xu Le just pretended not to hear at this time and was studying intently.
"No matter what happens, it should be a good thing for us now."
"Why do you say that?"
"The characteristics of the Golden Light Tree have changed, and the birth of life is being forcibly carried out."
"The birth of life is carried out by force?"
"It probably means that the Golden Light Tree is forcibly giving birth to a child. Now, look at the hard work that has turned into fruits. It is actually the result of the change in the rules."
Duo Lei frowned slightly, she didn't understand why Xu Le suddenly knew so much after just touching the Golden Light Tree.
The guy in front of me is very problematic.
"Forget it, let's wait until we get all the research reports on the Golden Light Tree before we kill him," Duo Lei thought to herself.
She nodded slightly and praised verbally:
"Mr. Xu Le is indeed very capable. He achieved results in such a short time. Have you found the cause of the tree's decay?"
"The reason for the rot is due to errors in the rules. The Golden Light Tree is absorbing the energy of the heart, and it wants to use the energy of the heart to generate something, which leads to a conflict in the rules.
We have to go to higher levels to understand the specific situation."
"Absorbing anima? Can this be confirmed?" Duo Lei was shocked.
"It is certain that the Golden Light Tree is indeed absorbing mental energy."
Duo Lei nodded again. Xu Le had already given some information about the decay of the golden tree. This information was quite important.
Especially the fact that the Golden Tree is trying to absorb anima energy is completely contrary to the concept of the Red Moon Temple.
This alone is enough to convict someone.
She is now looking forward to Xu Le being able to discover more things.
"Very good, let's continue upward."
"If you continue to go up, there will be certain risks." Yulong looked up and said suddenly.
Xu Le didn't say anything. Their current location was already on the jade circular platform. If they went up further, they would reach the rotten garden.
That place... it’s hard to say!
"Coming to the Golden Tree is a risky thing in itself, so continue."
After hearing what Duo Lei said, Yu Long didn't say anything more.
Chi Xiao, who had not spoken much or even made any move at all, looked at Xu Le at this time. To be precise, it was Ding Ke in Xu Le's arms.
"soon."
Meow!~
Ding Ke responded to Chi Xiao, leaving Xu Le confused, not knowing what they were communicating.
But by this time, everyone had expectations for the top of the tower.
And everyone’s expectations are different.
"Walk a little faster, there's something not right about those fruits of hard work, as if they're gestating something."
Yu Long reminded everyone, and others quickly followed suit.
Xu Le turned to look at Wang Man. He originally thought that such a continuous climb would be difficult for Wang Man's physique.
But after seeing her current state, Xu Le found that Wang Man was in surprisingly good condition.
Her eyes exuded a faint white light, as if she had been blessed by some kind of power.
"You're in good shape."
"Yes, it's getting closer, so it's in pretty good shape."
"That's good." Xu Le nodded. Seeing that Wang Man didn't need help, he turned around and continued walking up.
"Wait, Xu Le."
"Um?"
"It seems you have made your choice."
"Yes." Xu Le nodded.
…
After bypassing the circular platform, the jade steps began to become narrower, and some golden fruits gradually began to appear at hand.
These fruits look like some kind of fleshy form, and some can even feel the beating marks.
Like a living thing.
Although plants themselves are living things, these fruits are definitely completely different from normal plants.
Normally, Xu Le and the others need to move up now, so there will definitely be no interaction with these fruits.
But the expansion speed of these fruits is really fast.
The swollen fruits of the golden tree have squeezed into the walkway, affecting their route.
"Does it need to be cleaned?" Duo Lei asked.
"I don't know what will be left after cleaning it out, so I won't let it go." Yu Long denied her.
Suddenly, Xu Le looked up.
"There is a very special smell, fragrance?"
"I smell it too."
"It seems we are very close to the truth, Mr. Xu Le."
Duo Lei's face was full of smiles, but as soon as she finished speaking, a golden beam of light shot out.
Clang!
This beam of light was like a sharp sword, instantly cutting off the entire ascending steps.
The originally smooth jade steps completely collapsed and fell at this time. Duo Lei rolled and crawled up, and then barely managed to avoid the blow.
"ah!"
But there were more than one steps that were broken, and Wang Man, who had no support, fell directly from the golden tree.
"Wang Man!"
Xu Le jumped over and wanted to reach out to catch her, but he was just a little short!
He immediately transformed into an elemental body and flew downwards.
A branch stretched out from his fingertips and wrapped around Wang Man's waist, holding her up.
"If you fall..."
"It will definitely be smashed into a pulp."
Xu Le finally managed to pull Wang Man up, while Yu Long and Chi Xiao on the other side had already taken action respectively.
The monsters that attacked them just now were several gargoyles.
[Gargoyle, Level 6 Weird, Red Moon, God-Glory.]
The light beams just now were the eye beams they emitted.
Lasers were fired again, and the gargoyles circled around the golden tree and attacked the group of people. Yulong and Chixiao could certainly block such an attack.
But it seems like they are destroying the steps intentionally or unintentionally.
Without the jade steps, it would be very difficult for Duo Lei and Wang Man to continue going up.
"Why haven't these weird things turned into fruits?" Duo Lei asked.
"Maybe it's because they are relatively powerful, or maybe it's because of the nature of gargoyles. They are not reproductive creatures."
After dodging several laser beams again, Yulong pulled Duo Lei and ran upwards.
Xu Le also pulled Wang Man along.
Chi Xiao, on the other hand, stayed behind to break up the rear.
"Chi Xiao." Xu Le looked at Chi Xiao with questioning eyes, but Chi Xiao simply shook his head.
"Let's go, Xu Le." Ding Ke in his arms suddenly spoke, which made Xu Le stunned.
There is obviously no moon here, and the nature of the spirit of the red moon is also mixed with the energy of the golden light tree. This should be consistent with Ding Ke's spiritual power.
"Why are you suddenly able to speak?"
"Because you cut off the connection between the tree and the moon, this tree may develop in some strange direction."
Xu Le did not refute Ding Ke's words. He did lead the final result of the tree to the other side, whether it was good or bad, he himself did not know.
"Don't you need to wait for Lord Chixiao?" Xu Le asked in a low voice.
"These weaklings can't stop her at all. She just wants to distance herself from us."
"Why?"
"Everyone has their own purpose when climbing the tower, and she does the same."
Xu Le rarely has such a serious conversation with Ding Ke. At this time, Ding Ke is indeed somewhat of a life mentor.
"Xu Le, what are you waiting for? Chi Xiao will handle the rest, come up quickly." Duo Lei in front has already begun to urge.
Xu Le nodded, stuffed the black cat into his arms, pulled Wang Man and ran upwards.
After all of them left, Chi Xiao, who stayed where he was, showed a different expression.
She started to laugh.
The burning heat in his hands began to brew, and metal chains emerged from under Chi Xiao's palms. These metal chains were like snakes, twisting around Chi Xiao.
When those gargoyles saw Xu Le and the others running away, they wanted to chase them back, but Chi Xiao's chains suddenly shot out.
Each chain tangled with a gargoyle.
A total of 7 gargoyles were trapped by Chi Xiao at this moment.
Roar!
The gargoyle roared at Chi Xiao, but Chi Xiao didn't care at all. The smile on her face became more and more cruel. She hadn't shown such a smile in ten years.
The flowing molten iron flows towards these gargoyles along the metal chains.
"The destruction of the golden tree may be today."
The molten iron surged rapidly and soon covered the bodies of these gargoyles, wrapping their skins with a metal coat.
At first, these golden gargoyles were still struggling and twisting in Chi Xiao's hands, but soon, they were completely bound in the solidified molten iron.
Chi Xiao raised his right hand, and seven iron cones shot out.
It pierced the chest of each gargoyle at an extremely fast speed, and golden juice flowed from the breach.
But soon, Chixiao's metal flowed in along these wounds.
The expressions of the seven gargoyles were struggling at first, but by the end, their eyes had completely lost their sparkle.
Seven flying gargoyles stayed in the air, connected by metal chains, and finally fell into Chi Xiao's hands.
Chi Xiao gently waved the chain in his hand, and after the gargoyles trembled slightly, they actually came to life again.
"Forbidden Technique - Metal Control."
After glancing at the top, Chixiao jumped suddenly, grabbed the seven chains and flew higher.
Without the involvement of Xu Le and the others, her speed of action reached an indescribable level.
And the seven gargoyles she was holding began to flap their wings at the same time, running rampant on the treetops of the Golden Light Tree.
Along the way, all the jade steps were smashed by the gargoyle's battle ax and hammer. Chi Xiao seemed to be deliberately destroying everything here.
…
Xu Le's side.
Yulong had already pulled Duo Lei out of the last steps, and they came to the place above the golden tree, a sky garden full of floral fragrance.
"Here is..." Duo Lei looked at the flower garden in front of her that had obviously been carefully tended, and she didn't know how to describe it for a moment.
The degree of rot here is extremely serious, and red water is seeping out from the entire trunk.
Because Xu Le changed the rules before, a large amount of anima energy left in the tree trunk formed bulges here.
There was something flowing inside the bulge, blinking, like the eyeballs of some kind of animal.
Xu Le knew the characteristics of Hongyue's eyeballs very well, but there were too many bulges here, tens of thousands of them.
These densely packed bulges blink constantly, which can almost trigger trypophobia in humans.
"This should be a hanging garden." Xu Le said knowingly.
"I know this is a hanging garden. The question is what are the flowers here and who is taking care of the garden here."
Xu Le spread his hands and said that he didn't know, but it was foreseeable that the people who could be stationed here would definitely not be ordinary characters.
The garden is filled with the fragrance of flowers. Although these flowers also have a rotten smell, the smell still makes people feel relaxed and happy.
"It's quite comfortable to stay here. At least it smells better than down there."
"Oh, do you really think so?"
A voice appeared in Xu Le's ears. This voice seemed familiar to Xu Le.
The last voice that appeared when he came here with Wang Man in his soul state.
"Forehead!"
Xu Le looked around him. Neither Yu Long nor Duo Lei seemed to have heard the sound.
He glanced at Wang Man who was closest to him again. At this time, Wang Man was still feeling the fragrance of those flowers.
"Brother Xu Le, the fragrance of these flowers seems to be very unusual."
Just as Xu Le was about to answer Wang Man's words, the voice appeared in his ears again:
"Because these flowers were carefully cultivated by me, they used the best nutrients from the entire golden tree, but it is a pity that they only bloomed but did not bear fruit."
Xu Le frowned slightly and said softly in a voice that only he could hear:
"Isn't it already finished now?"
"Wrong approaches will only lead to wrong results. Beautiful flowers should not bear such ugly fruits, what do you think?"
"Wrong or right depends on the angle."
"But this is not the result our Lord wants. We have wasted too much time and life here, but we have not gotten what we want. This is a mistake.
It was my Lord's mistake, and it is also my mistake.
Now that I have severed contact with my Lord, where will the future go?"
The soft voice was full of doubts, as if he had entered a state of self-questioning, but Xu Le was more curious about the other party's identity than that.
"Who are you?"
"I am the answer you have been looking for."
The surrounding petals slowly floated up, and Yu Long, who was walking in the front, also felt something was wrong.
But apart from the fragrance of flowers and petals, there was nothing else or movement at all in the garden.
Only Xu Le felt the vague sound of footsteps. He looked at the others, but none of them seemed to notice.
"Why, why don't you remind them? They should be your companions."
Xu Le didn't know whether this was a test by the other party, or whether Yulong and the others really couldn't hear the sound. If Yulong and the others couldn't hear, why could he hear it?
Poof!
The petals flashed, and a red dagger had pierced Yulong's abdomen.
Old Mrs. Yulong snorted and took a few steps back.
In front of her, the petals condensed like an illusion, gradually forming a woman wearing a floral dress.
She spoke softly, as if talking, but Yulong and the others couldn't hear what she said at all.
Only Xu Le could vaguely hear:
"I have embarked on the path of betrayal, bearer of Gu Yinduo, everything is as you wish."
Xu Le:???
"Are you passing the blame?"
"Feel it fully, the silent blade originating from the golden tree."