Chapter 600: “Look What You Made Do.”
The warriors froze mid-step, their faces draining of color.
One of them tried to strike at the Devil’s Den again, but the vines regenerated faster than he could swing his weapon. Panic spread like fire among them.
Jin, Wen, and Lin stepped back, staring at the sealed wall in disbelief. Their strongest attacks — the sa techniques that could crush boulders and cut through tal — had done nothing.
“This… this isn’t the sa Devil’s Den,” Wen said, his voice low and hoarse. “It’s stronger. Much stronger. I… I thought I could cut down those damn tree devils without breaking a sweat now that I’ve beco an Argent artist. I… I could never have imagined…”
Wen’s fear-filled eyes darted toward Aksai before he could finish his sentence. A pang of regret crept into his mind, even though Aksai had not made a single move against any of them.
It was as if Wen could already imagine what was going to happen to them. A part of him wished he could turn back ti and accept the way out that Aksai had offered earlier.
The Spirit farr stood in the center of the do with the sa calm expression he’d worn from the start. But sothing about him had changed.
His black hair was no longer black — it had turned deep red. His hazel eyes glowed faintly gold, bright enough to catch even from far away. His ears had grown longer, the sharp curve of an elf’s form now clear under the moonlight.
Around him swirled threads of green energy — nature’s pure essence radiating from his body like a living storm.
This was an advanced form of druid transformation.
Aksai had reached the final step of being a Foundation Establishnt realm. With the improvents in his Spirit cultivation ca better access to his druid lineage.
At this point, Aksai’s druid bloodline had been refined to a critical stage where the essence of being a druid had seeped into his very soul.
His racial identity as a human was long gone, to the point that it actually took effort for him to revert and maintain his human form. As such, he felt liberated whenever he tapped into his druid form.
It was as if a wolf pretending to be a sheep had finally escaped the hunters’ zone to assu its true shape.
Aksai opened his eyes slowly, and the vines all around the do responded at once, quivering as if alive and waiting for his command.
Every martial artist present — from the lowest Bronze Body cultivator sent as cannon fodder, to the Argent artists who made up the main battle force, to the proud Aurous elders who stood as deterrents and backup — felt their stomachs tighten.
A sense of fear spread through all of them.
No one spoke. All eyes turned toward Aksai. And when he looked back at them, there was no warmth in his golden eyes — only quiet, deadly calm.
“What happened to your bloodlust?” he asked, his tone sharp and mocking. “Aren’t I right here in front of you? Why are you not attacking ?”
He waited, but no one answered. The silence stretched until it began to feel heavy. So of the warriors shifted uneasily, their weapons trembling slightly in their hands.
Aksai sighed softly, as if he finally understood sothing. “Ah, I see,” he said in a calm voice. “It seems I’ve triggered a shared trauma you all carry. The Devil’s Den… it must have brought back mories, hasn’t it?”
His eyes flicked toward Jin, Wen, and Lin, who stood frozen in place. “No wonder you don’t have the will to fight . You’ve already lost once.”
He smiled faintly, though there was no warmth in it. “Never mind. I’ll make the first move so that we can all wrap this up soon.”
He lifted his hand.
Swoosh. Grab. Hurl.
In the next instant, a thick vine shot out from the ground like lightning, wrapping itself around the leg of an Argent Body martial artist who stood near the edge of the formation. Before anyone could react, the vine yanked him off his feet and swung him through the air toward Aksai.
“Haah! Not so fast.”
An Aurous artist nearby moved instantly, his body flashing with golden light as he jumped to intercept the falling man. But before he could reach him, another vine dropped down from the do’s ceiling, coiling tightly around the man’s torso.
The trajectory shifted in midair with a frightening smoothness — a perfect, silent coordination between dozens of living vines.
Within less than three seconds, the helpless martial artist was hurled straight toward Aksai.
“You… you…” the Aurous artist was left speechless.
Aksai caught him by the throat midair, his hand closing around the man’s neck with bone-crushing force. The man’s face turned bright red, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly as he tried to breathe. His eyes bulged with panic.
With his other hand, Aksai moved in a blur. His fingers pierced the man’s abdon just below the solar plexus. A wet, sickening sound filled the air. His hand pushed deeper until it reached the man’s chest, and then — with one clean motion — Aksai pulled his hand back out, clutching a still-beating heart.
Ba-dum ba-dum. Ba-dum ba-dum. Ba-dum ba-dum.
For so reason. Even the warriors at the far back could hear the heartbeats of a dying heart that had just lost its rib protection.
The martial artist’s body went limp, and Aksai let him drop to the ground like a discarded rag.
“Look what you made do,” Aksai said, his tone mocking. “The grand master of the Grand Martial Hall — aren’t you a cruel person? Tch, tch, tch. Such cruelty should be a seriously punishable offense. A poor, kind farr like could never expose my close subordinates to such dangers. At least, not in such a careless way.
I sure hope you at least have so form of insurance sche ready for these lost souls who are about to liberate themselves from the shackles of their mortal shells. Otherwise, I’d be forced to look down on your Grand Martial Hall.”
He looked at the heart in his hand for a mont, then slowly squeezed.
Grab. Squeeze. Pa-chook!
Blood ran down his fingers as the organ pulsed weakly and burst, the flesh turning into a crushed ss.
AFAR just hit one more milestone — 600 chapters!
I want to take a mont to thank all of you for reading and supporting the story. A special shoutout to the Top 100 Contributors — you guys are aweso! 🙂
I had to take a short break earlier because of so dical stuff (gallstones, ugh), but things are much better now. It’s been over a month of slightly wobbly but steady daily releases, so I think it’s safe to say — we’re back! 😉
This arc will probably be Aksai’s last visit to Sharang. The original plan was to leave Zinnia behind to handle her own path… but now I’m wondering — what do you all think? Should Aksai take her along instead?
Drop your thoughts in the comnts — I’d love to hear what you guys think! 😀
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