Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

Chen Hao's expression froze.

Ou Yun's expression froze.

Leng Ruolan slowly turned her head to look at Ou Yun: "Didn't you say it only trembled once?"

"It really only shook once! It didn't say that shaking would break any seal—"

"Seal - Stake -"

Leng Ruolan's pupils dilated in shock. "Something this important, didn't you ever wonder why it would grow there?!"

"I thought it was a wild mineral vein—"

"Wild mineral veins can grow into the shape of stakes?!"

"No, we've encountered similar situations before!"

"...!"

The lord slowly raised a giant, rotten-wood-like hand and pointed it at the two of them.

Wherever his finger passed, it left purplish-black marks on the ground, like scorched cracks.

"Now that you have removed my first shackle... as a reward..."

The lord paused, his tone turning colder.

"I can let you choose how you die."

The European team hadn't even reacted yet—

boom!!!

Beside them, Storm Blackhawk's lightning struck first.

Dozens of blue and white arcs of electricity instantly intertwined to form an electric net, which swept straight towards the lord.

The lord didn't even try to dodge.

When the electric arc struck it, it was like water droplets falling into a scorching hot iron plate, sizzling and evaporating into wisps of white smoke.

It didn't even retract its hand, and no scorch marks were left on the surface.

Storm Black Hawk's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Gah—?!"

This is impossible!

The Frost Giant Roc immediately made its move.

It spread its wings, and ice-blue energy condensed into a tiny rotating ice cone in front of its chest, then shot it fiercely towards the lord's finger.

The ice spike spun rapidly in the air, leaving a long trail of white mist, and precisely embedded itself in the joint of the lord's finger.

creak-

The lord's hand seemed to move slightly.

At the joints where the ice picks were driven into, a layer of white frost quickly formed on the surface.

The white frost spread along the cracks to the palm of the hand at an extremely fast speed, freezing the entire finger in the blink of an eye.

But the lord merely looked down at his frozen hands and casually shook them.

Click.

The ice cubes shattered.

His hand regained its freedom of movement.

"The power of frost..."

A barely perceptible hint of interest appeared in the lord's voice.

"I saw your ancestor in the last century. That old bird's frost could freeze entire mountains—you are still far from that level."

The Frost Giant Roc was also startled.

"The three of you are no match for me."

The lord slowly withdrew his hand.

It looked at the three giant beasts with its cracked face.

"My enemy is the being that sealed me away back then, it has nothing to do with you. Get out of my way."

The giant tortoise poked its head out of its shell and let out a low gurgling sound.

"Gurgle gurgle gurgle—"

I don't know what this guy said.

But judging from the lord's expression, it was clearly not something nice to say.

The cracks on the lord's face deepened, and the purple light pulsed even more violently.

"Since that's the case—"

The lord suddenly raised his hands.

Two giant hands slammed down on the ground at the same time, all ten fingers digging into the soil.

The next second, the ground along the entire riverbank began to tremble violently.

The soil beneath their feet first bulged up in huge mounds—then one by one the mounds cracked open, and thick tree roots emerged from each crack.

These tree roots were more than ten times thicker than the ones that had chased them in the forest before, and each one was more than waist-thick in diameter.

Tree roots emerged simultaneously from all directions.

Upstream, downstream, the opposite bank of the river, the cliff behind you—all directions.

They resembled a giant hand closing in, trapping the three giant beasts and the three bipedal creatures within.

"This is like catching a turtle in a jar."

Ou Yun drew his longsword. "Captain Leng! Should we open the supply crate now?"

"Let's not open it yet."

Leng Ruolan had already leaped out, her twin blades crossed as she slashed at the nearest giant tree root.

"Let me test its defensive capabilities!"

"Oh……"

As expected of the Cold Team, still so fierce.

Leng Ruolan's two electrified longswords struck the surface of the tree roots simultaneously.

The initial effect was minimal, but as a wisp of black mist slowly emanated from the blade, the corrosive effect immediately kicked in—

The black mist seeped into the tree roots along the blade, and the lord's chapped skin began to wither and turn black rapidly after coming into contact with the black mist.

It works!

Ou Yun was stunned. "When did Captain Leng start having enchanted knives like this?"

Chen Hao said, "Don't ask. The answer is that it was forged in a furnace."

But the effect is limited—only the outermost layer of skin withers.

Once that outer layer peels off, revealing the hard, iron-like wood fibers inside, even the most powerful blades become useless.

When Leng's blade struck it, sparks flew everywhere, but he couldn't even make a nick.

Leng Ruolan, seeing her advantage was secured, dodged the sweeping attack of the tree roots with a backflip and shouted to Ou Yun in mid-air, "Try your sword!"

Ou Yun reacted quickly, rushed to the nearest giant tree root, gripped his sword with both hands, and slashed fiercely!

This strike used almost all of Ou Yun's strength.

The dark red sword light of the Abyss Sword drew an arc in the air.

"when!!!"

The deafening roar caused even the two giant birds, Electricity and Ice, to cover their ears in pain.

The instant the sword's edge collided with the tree root, in Ou Yun's mind, the lord uttered an extremely faint sound—

"what?"

It's not pain—this guy's behavior suggests he has absolutely no concept of pain.

This sound was more like witnessing something unexpected.

Leng Ruolan heard it too, and she quickly looked toward where Ou Yun had slashed.

The sword blade pierced into the tree root nearly a palm's width deep.

Although it was not completely cut off, several dark red cracks appeared on the surface of the tree roots.

The cracks spread outwards along the grain of the wood fibers, and the split wood began to disintegrate on its own.

"Your sword..."

The lord spoke with an air of finally being able to look at the two-legged creatures properly.

It lowered its head slightly, still looking at Ou Yun with that cracked face, its voice carrying a hint of unfathomable emotion, "What was it made of?"

After thinking for a moment, Ou Yun politely replied, "None of your business."

He then drew his sword again, striking the same tree root once more.

This sword strike landed on the crack created by the previous strike, severing a third of the tree root.

The lord remained silent.

The scene instantly fell into an indescribable silence.

Leng Ruolan sensed something was wrong and instinctively reached out to pull Ou Yun back, hoping to make him more vigilant.

However, the lord did something that no one expected.

It retrieved all the giant tree roots.

The tree roots that were about to wrap everyone up like dumplings all stopped moving and then slowly retreated back into the cracks in the ground.

The encirclement dissipated, and the countless tree roots vanished completely, leaving only a mess of mud.

"That concludes today's exchange."

The lord withdrew his hands, his face devoid of features now facing Ou Yun.

"I recognize the aura of the weapon in your hand."