Chapter 26: Melder (1/2)
Lu Yin grabbed Jeraldine and started his journey the same night. Taking a short rest about 100 kilometers north of Nanjing, they continued heading north until they reached Shandong.
“Hey, the northeast has turned blue,” Jeraldine said with surprise along the way.
Bai Xue was defeated? Lu Yin was curious about this, but before he could think further the duo came across a giant tree that was blocking their path. It resembled a willow that was more than a kilometer tall, countless branches covering a portion of Shandong’s sky. Both of them immediately halted and checked its combat level.
““4290,”” the two exclaimed in unison. The tree was a Melder!
“Let’s go around it,” Lu Yin promptly decided to avoid it, but a few vines stretched out from a river and whipped towards them. He pushed Jeraldine away before dodging the attack himself, a loud snap resounding through the air as the vines went taut. Jeraldine gasped with relief; she wouldn’t have managed to escape the attack if not for the push.
“Go around and try to avoid it,” he shouted even as countless vines whipped toward them from all directions. The tree could somehow attack them from quite the distance, and it soon became apparent that it would be too difficult to go around. They would spend at least ten seconds in its attack radius, and while he could manage that, Jeraldine could not. Noticing her defense faltering, he used a Spacerender Palm to deflect the branches and rushed towards her, lifting her up and rushing directly towards the tree.
“WHAT? YOU’RE CRAZY!” she screamed as they approached, eyes glued to its python-like vines and the piles of bone on the ground. It was a terrifying scene.
“Look behind you,” Lu Yin said calmly.
Jeraldine turned back and her face paled; the road behind them had been sealed off! An endless wall of branches had left them with no way to retreat. She groaned, “This is a Melder, we’re doomed!”
Lu Yin looked through his surroundings with an icy gaze, dodging the endless vines that shot towards them. He was now less than three kilometers away, and the closer he got, the more he realized that he’d underestimated its horrifying size. Its energy alone was distorting the space around, rendering the place devoid of sunlight. Thankfully, the creature seemed quite unintelligent, attacking purely based on instinct. Were it to have any skill at battle, the two of them certainly wouldn’t be able to persist.
Jeraldine took out more than ten fire crystals from her cosmic ring and smashed them, sending a wave of flames towards the ground.
“Uhh… are you trying to burn it?” Lu Yin asked.
She grimaced, “It might be scared of fire.”
“He’s so strong!” Jeraldine exclaimed. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to bear the tree’s attacks if not for Lu Yin, while this other person was obviously quite relaxed.
Lu Yin’s gaze turned cold as they approached closer, recognizing the head of silver hair. This was the same youth whose butterfly sword had beaten his Cosmic Palm under the moonlight, something that he would never forget.
“We meet again, friend,” the silver-haired youth greeted cordially.
Jeraldine was bewildered; how did they know each other?
“What a coincidence,” Lu Yin said as he side-stepped another whip.