The Creators: From Night City

Page 437

As if by divine intervention, the golden tree, a symbol of faith gathered from the borderlands for an unknown period of time, swayed its branches, radiating intense light that hindered the other's progress and scorched its body.

The space was sealed off, making it increasingly difficult for the giant to move forward. The air around him was stained with golden light, becoming stagnant and heavy as if it were solid, hindering his progress.

But the Founder continued to advance slowly and steadily, and as He moved forward, a great amount of flame rose from His body.

The inner city of Rodel, which survived the War of Domination, the War of the Ancient Dragons, and two sieges of the Shattered Wars, is now facing destruction.

According to survivors who survived this battle and were subsequently stranded in the border region, in what is known as the "Battle of the Burning Tree God," the great deity known as the "Flame of All Things" first revealed His laws at the border.

That grand law is called creation and destruction.

As the flames ignited and burned, the high-level forces at the rule level annihilated each other, and the very foundation of the world's existence—space—began to twist and fold, eventually collapsing.

Ordinary people's vision is being distorted. They are astonished to find that the concept of distance is undergoing a tremendous change: the enormous folds into the minuscule, the smooth becomes a vortex, houses are pulverized, the earth collapses into holes, the sky shatters, and all things wither.

The intensity of the war suddenly transcended the mundane, rising to a level and realm beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The flames spread rapidly in all directions as if they wanted to destroy the world, quickly eroding and burning away the Golden Law along with all the incinerable matter around it.

Sixty-seven creation runes were activated by the vast ether, and forty-two of them shone brightly, forming an unprecedented runic language linked by the etheric flames.

Or rather, they were first compiled by Jiang Bing, who possessed the administrator privileges of the [Founder], into a complete creation code that could operate on this world platform.

A crude, flawed, rootless, and unsustainable world-running instruction, yet somehow manages to get through.

That's enough.

Apart from Jiang Bing, no one knew what this world code represented, but they clearly observed how this sword, burning with an eternal flame, pierced through the domain of the Golden Law like a hot knife through butter, and deeply embedded itself in the magnificent trunk of the Golden Tree.

'Shattered Protection', 'Unstoppable', 'Guaranteed Hit', 'Increased Damage', 'Spiritual Binding', 'Rules Infiltrated', 'Power Blocking', 'Mind Seal'...

Jiang Bing clearly understood just how much of a buff that code had added to this attack at that moment.

The sword penetrated deep into the tree trunk, which meant that his power had pierced the core logic of the Golden Law.

What he needs to do next is quite obvious.

The golden tree, it's time to set it ablaze.

The 'Ether Furnace' roared wildly, instantly maximizing its power, so much so that the entire Asia Altar Plateau seemed to echo with the illusory crackling sound of flames burning.

The aftershocks alone melted half of the royal city of Rodel like ice cream.

Endless flames were poured into the sword by the giant and then transported along the sword into the golden tree trunk.

The goddess Malenia was once again carried on Finley's back as they frantically fled out of the royal city.

She was originally unharmed. The Golden Tree Foot was not the core area of ​​the battle, and the seriously injured Mongot was powerless to stop the two from escaping. The two were able to escape the royal city from the rear.

But Malenia made a mistake she shouldn't have made.

Her divine, extraordinary intuition saw something she shouldn't have seen.

Chapter 890 Jiang the Big Eater

In the instant that supreme flame ignited, her burned divine body resonated with a forbidden source, causing her to involuntarily turn back to look at the battlefield.

To be precise, as a divine being, her 'gaze' followed her innate spiritual sense and looked at the chest of the [Forger] Jiang Bing, which was full of light and heat.

The faint resonance from the remaining 'etheric flames' within her body allowed her to successfully see the magnificent phantom of the sublime furnace hidden deep within the 'inner' realm of the gods.

She was a vessel; the unique physique of a god made her like dry firewood, and she unconsciously and actively 'approached' the blazing furnace.

The result was that it was 'ignited'.

That single glance ignited her inner essence, setting her ablaze along with the towering golden tree.

With a muffled groan from Marlenia, her eyes ignited with illusory and fragmented golden flames, like smoldering firewood, resembling a humanoid bonfire being lit, her entire being beginning to radiate light outwards.

She was corrupted by her high position and burdened with the laws that belonged to Jiang Bing.

But Jiang Bing had no time to deal with this matter at the moment.

His body still gripped the 'dictionary,' continuously channeling flames into the tree trunk.

The golden tree is a container; that's obvious.

All the souls that 'returned to the tree' are stored within the tree, as are the former Elden Ring and the Golden Law.

However, the Golden Tree also has a simplified version of the 'World Tree' function. It also contains many 'spaces' of various sizes. However, these spaces are not simply storage spaces, but rather refer to small worlds in special dimensions.

These worlds exist independently, some large and some small, just like the fruit of the golden tree.

Among them was a target that greatly interested Jiang Bing: the attacker who had previously hidden in the tree canopy must be hiding somewhere.

And of course, there's the Eternal Queen who created all the conflict.

Marika, the central figure in all events, is naturally his primary target, and the space where she is located is, unsurprisingly, also the location of the Golden Law itself.

So, while accelerating the burning of the golden tree, he summoned his 'partners' to begin a different kind of infiltration into this 'magnificent life'.

Finley, who was fleeing again with his lord's familiarity with the route, discovered that another shocking change had taken place on the distant battlefield.

Meanwhile, Marlenia, who was on her back and was in much better condition than before after her crimson bloom, also looked towards the battlefield. However, this time she squinted and dared not look around.

Endless roots and tendrils emerged from the space behind the 'Outer God,' tightly binding the enormous golden tree and constantly taking root deep within its trunk, as if parasitizing it or drawing nutrients from it.

"What is that? Could it be a tree too?!"

Finley's reaction was quite excessive. After all, the combination of "Outer God" and "unknown tree" with the Eternal Queen Marika and the Golden Tree was indeed somewhat coincidental, making it hard not to make unfounded connections.

"Whatever it is, it's none of our business for now. Finley, don't go too far. We need to return to the capital immediately after the war, since our brother's whereabouts are still unknown."

The two women stopped at a dilapidated house atop a hill with a good view, gazing at the battlefield of the royal city in the distance.

Even the demigod Marlenia, who stood atop the border, and Finley, a hero who had experienced the wars of giants and ancient dragons, had never witnessed such a magnificent battle scene.

Humans always subconsciously have a kind of inexplicable reverence for 'big', which is an instinct rooted in our genes and soul.

Because usually, 'bigger' means 'higher'.

In the distance, the battlefield in the royal city looked like gods vying for supremacy.

The 'Outer God', standing hundreds of meters tall, resembles a mountain range, and even the largest ancient dragon in the world would probably find it difficult to match in size.

The power contained within the opponent's massive body was not something that a giant whose race had already been wiped out could easily exploit.

The raging flames were enough to annihilate everything, yet the opponent's every move showed no sluggishness due to their enormous size; on the contrary, they were as fast as lightning.

The golden tree's counterattack, falling from its canopy, struck the opponent's magnificent robes, only to futilely shatter into specks of golden stardust. The 'divine giant' not only gripped the dazzling greatsword tightly, but also spread his arms wide, embracing the entire golden tree in his embrace.

The flames rose even higher.

Behind him, dense roots continued to emerge from the void, enveloping and tightly binding the entire golden tree, and binding the enormous 'deity' to the whole golden tree, forming a huge cocoon.

It was protecting the food, protecting the food for Jiang Bing.

As its name suggests, the Golden Tree was like a tree made entirely of gold to Jiang Bing, making it exceptionally valuable.

As the absolute core hub of the entire Golden Law era, it not only undertook the responsibility of exchanging most of the 'information' and laws, but also gathered the faith of the entire borderland for millions of years, the 'map' of all life born from the Golden Tree, countless souls returning to the tree, and the vast and incalculable energy of the Golden Law...

It can be said that at least 30% of the 'wealth' of the entire border area is concentrated in this towering tree.

This thing was a perfect 'experience pack' for Jiang Bing.

The 'Map of All Spirits' accumulated since the Age of the Forge of Life, the 'knowledge' of the entire borderland, and the massive amount of ether manifested from the energy of souls, faith, and the Golden Law—all these things that Jiang Bing desperately needed for advancement were continuously pouring into his 'forge.' The abundance was so great that he could hardly believe it, giving him the illusion of swaggering into an unattended bank vault and taking sacks of money.

His only concern now is that 'Supreme Will'.

After all, this bank was owned by the other party.

But no matter how fiercely the flames raged, until they ignited the tree canopy, and how Heiml's roots reached from the canopy to the deep roots, enveloping the main trunk of the Golden Tree and Jiang Bingtuan in a giant cocoon, the 'Supreme Will' never appeared.

This made Jiang Bing breathe a sigh of relief.

It's important to know that as the 'Tree that supports the world,' Heimul's roots can take root in the void between planes. If any abnormal situation occurs, such as the sudden arrival of the 'Supreme Will,' Heimul can forcibly pull Jiang Bing and the main trunk of the Golden Tree, who are completely enveloped by its roots, out of this world in no time, 'load them onto a vehicle,' and escape into the void.

But the key was as reliable as ever, and the other party consistently upheld Jiang Bing's standard of 'security' in choosing the world.

So Jiang, who was terrified of poverty, ate and drank to his heart's content.

Faced with external invasion, the Golden Tree will naturally retaliate, but only under normal circumstances. Now, the 'Aether Fire' fills its entire trunk, and almost all of the Golden Tree's power is used to resist the erosion of the flames, leaving it unable to defend itself.

This also led to Heiml and Jiang Bing's joint efforts to break through the inner space of the Golden Tree making great strides.

Greed is a virtue when one has enough power.

Boss Jiang, who is known for his ruthless and meticulous nature, capable of tearing down even the bare floors of a factory, is now faced with a treasure trove of wealth that is a real gem for someone of his current status. How could he possibly remain indifferent?

He not only wanted to eat the golden tree, but also to take all of its 'fruits' with him.

Soon, a pocket world called 'Great Blessing' was found.

Chapter 891 Marika's Two Fingers

Jiang Bing arrived from nothingness, and the first thing he saw was a huge round table filled with all kinds of weapons, while the sound of hammering echoed in his ears.

The Great Blessing didn't seem particularly special, and the entire Pocket World was pitifully small, only about the size of a small castle.

But there are a lot of people here, and most of them are 'faded people'.

Warriors whose eyes lose their color after being stripped of the blessings of the Golden Law are called 'the Faded Ones'.

According to Finlay, after defeating the Stormhawk King and winning the war to unify the Borderlands, the First King Gofulei was impatiently stripped of his Golden Blessing by Marika on the battlefield and banished from the Borderlands, becoming the first 'Faded One'.

"Ah, at this terrible time, new compatriots have arrived. I wonder if this is a blessing or a curse for you."

A faded figure, leaning on a cane and habitually hunched over, looked up from the golden flames burning on the wall and greeted Jiang Bing, who had just entered the Great Blessing.

Perhaps it was Jiang Bing's lifeless eyes that caused the other party to misunderstand, mistakenly believing that Jiang Bing was also a 'faded one'.

“I am Gideon Ophniel, the administrator of the Great Blessing, or you may call me ‘Sir Hundred Wisdom’.”

“Faded One, where do you come from in this turbulent time?”

Jiang Bing did not respond, but instead looked at the other party with a strange gaze, at the strangely dressed man and woman beside the other party, at the illusory blessing light floating on the round table platform, and at the strange life form that was only separated by a wall.

His silence created an awkward atmosphere between the two.

Just as the smooth-talking 'Sir Hundred Wisdom' was about to brush the matter off with a laugh, the heavy iron door on one side of the hall was pulled open with difficulty from the inside out, and an old woman wearing a tattered white and red robe, with a pale and taut face and withered limbs rushed out, shouting with almost all her might.

"He is the enemy of the law!"

"Kill him! Kill him! Don't let him get near Lord Twofinger!"

Upon hearing this, the entire round table hall fell silent, even the steady clanging of the blacksmith's hammer quietly ceased.

A dark-skinned barbarian female warrior beside "Sir Hundred Wisdoms" reacted quickly, immediately pulling out two axes faintly crackling with lightning and preparing to charge forward, but "Sir Hundred Wisdoms" stopped her in her tracks.

"Neferi, don't be impulsive."

Sir Hundred Wisdoms was a smart man. He knew very well that if what the Witch of the Finger said was true, the seemingly ordinary visitor was definitely not a match they could defeat.

"Faded ones, what are you waiting for? Kill him! Kill him!"

Twofinger's loyalty to the Golden Law still made the other Faded Ones in the Round Table Hall unable to restrain themselves, especially after Jiang Bing turned his gaze into the room where Twofinger was. The agonizing screams and wails of the Unraveling Witch made them choose to take action.

A warrior clad in skeletal armor charged out from behind Sir Hundred Wisdom, while a male priest in ascetic robes with a wooden ring around his neck symbolizing a magic circle began to pray. A warrior in silver-red armor raised a silver whip, and a mage on the balcony raised his staff.

Neferi, on the other hand, broke free from Sir Hundred's obstruction and stepped forward as well.

But none of the attackers even managed to touch them. The flames that erupted from all directions immediately entangled them, ruthlessly suppressed them, drained their strength, and pinned them to the floor.

Jiang Bing didn't kill them; he still had many questions to figure out.

He glanced at the stiff-bodied 'Sir Hundred Wisdom' and strode towards the 'Audience Chamber' where the two fingers were located.

The witch who was screaming wildly trembled violently as Jiang Bing approached, as if she had seen something she could not look at directly. She crawled on the ground in terror, burying her head in her arms like an ostrich, and finally, wisps of white flame rose up, and her whole body seemed to be burning.

Her intuition was surprisingly sharp, comparable to that of the divine being Malenia.

This is normal, though, since she is the priestess responsible for communicating with the 'two fingers'.

"You are afraid."

The heavy, half-closed bronze door was instantly scorched by flames into a pool of molten iron, revealing the scene inside the audience chamber to Jiang Bing.

What horrified the group of faded individuals even more was that their 'two fingers' were trembling wildly, as if they were truly facing a fearful enemy.

"Marika's two fingers, I must say, you really do resemble that."

The name "Double Fingers" is truly fitting, as its image consists of two enormous fingers pointing upwards, resembling a palm split in two.

Are you the one driving the Golden Tree?