Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 616 The Heart (Daily 10,000 words)

Huo Yuhao raised his head slightly. At the top of the golden ancient tree, there was a powerful consciousness. The consciousness seemed to be in a half-dreaming, half-awake state. Waves of sorrow and helplessness entered Huo Yuhao's eyes through his vision in an extremely strange sense.

Is the other party the original consciousness within the Golden Ancient Tree?

Huo Yuhao continued to peer out, but failed to find anything amiss, before finally scanning downwards.

Now, the repeated cross-sections of the golden ancient tree's veins finally changed, revealing golden threads growing deep within the tree trunk, intertwining with the golden ancient tree itself.

Removing these golden threads would probably be ten thousand times more difficult than removing the evil energy of the Dragon Core from Mu En's body.

At first, these threads were few and far between, appearing only sporadically in the nutrient transport channels of the ancient golden tree, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

Soon, as Huo Yuhao's gaze continued downwards, more and more golden threads appeared.

These golden threads, like dense, intertwined tree roots, are spread throughout every corner in all directions.

They intertwine to form networks of varying thicknesses, becoming thicker and stronger as you go deeper.

The crisscrossing patterns resemble the intricate network of blood vessels within a giant organism.

Whether deep within the trunk or on the surface of the ancient golden tree, these golden threads have spread layer upon layer, even covering the ancient golden tree like a membrane.

To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, the Golden Ancient Tree is like a grass carp, and the golden threads are like the tiny spines and bones inside the fish, densely packed and omnipresent. Although they do not affect the shape of the Golden Ancient Tree, they are everywhere, covering every part of the lower half of the tree.

Finally, when Huo Yuhao's vision reached its limit, he saw a scene he would never forget.

Leafy patches and clumps of grass and roots, layer upon layer, densely packed, piled up, tightly wrapped the roots of the golden tree firmly in the ground. Giant grass leaves, several meters wide and of unknown length, were piled together in a regular pattern, swaying slightly.

On the deep blue blades of grass, there were countless golden lines as thick as an average person's arm.

Countless vigorous blue roots intertwine and entwine in the earth, their golden veins flashing and changing, as if breathing rhythmically. Whether it is nutrients in the soil or nutrients from the roots of the ancient golden tree, they are all absorbed by these blue roots.

The deeper they went underground, the more vibrant the colors of the roots became—a blinding blue and a dazzling gold—so much so that Huo Yuhao's vision trembled.

"Knock knock, knock knock, knock knock"

Deep underground within the Golden Ancient Tree, a sound like a resounding bell was 'heard' by Huo Yuhao. The disorderly growing blue roots had firmly blocked the way deep underground, enveloping any Golden Ancient Tree roots that tried to break free.

It looks just like the actions of a giant python hunting its prey: first, it envelops the prey, squeezes out the oxygen from the prey's chest cavity, crushes the prey's hard bones, and then eats the enemy whole, bite by bite.

However, the giant python can only devour its prey in a day at most, while this blue crop, which exudes a terrifying aura, would probably need thousands or even tens of thousands of years to devour the golden ancient tree.

Looking around, one after another, the roots intertwined, like giant pythons with blue skin and golden patterns mating.

No matter where you look, from the sky to the ground, roots of all shapes and sizes grow everywhere. And at the very center of these roots, there is an incredibly huge, heart-like structure formed by several enormous roots, which is entwined by layers upon layers of roots.

"Knock knock!" "Knock knock!" "Knock knock!"

The sound of the 'heart' beating was like the sound of a Kui Niu drum being struck by an emperor. Any other sound seemed powerless under the strong beating of this 'heart'. The thick roots tightened and the fine root system pumped. Watching this heart-like creation, which was about the size of a small mountain, contract and expand powerfully again and again.

Even though he didn't actually hear the sound of the 'heart', Huo Yuhao was still so shocked by the terrifying scene before him that his heart skipped a beat.

Huo Yuhao's gaze focused on the heart, which resembled a mountain range, and his expression became increasingly serious. The aorta and the inferior and superior vena cava were actually composed of those thick, dark blue tree roots with golden patterns.

In other words, these living tree roots are actually the blood vessels of this heart?!

Huo Yuhao dared to swear to the heavens that the other party was definitely the largest life form he had ever seen in his life. Even the Titan Snow Demon he had encountered in the far north was only forty or fifty meters tall, about the same height as the remains of a giant three-legged ammonite.

Even the Evil Eye Tyrant, whose existence is only briefly mentioned in Shrek Academy records, has an eye diameter of no more than 100 meters, and with its tentacles, its body length is no more than 300 meters.

That true million-year-old soul beast, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, was similar to the two divine dragon skeletons at the bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, still within the concept of a hundred meters.

This is a number that has lost its intuitive feel. Only by comparing these beings with a skyscraper of more than thirty stories can one have a clear understanding of the exact size of these soul beasts.

Compared to this blue monster, they all seemed insignificant; a single, sufficiently thick root system of the monster could probably extend for thousands of meters!

Not to mention the Golden Ancient Tree, the entire inner courtyard of Shrek Academy, and even the entire Sea God Lake, if you step on it, you'll find its root system beneath your feet!

A god, this is an absolute god, a divine-level soul beast of the plant type.

Huo Yuhao was even afraid, afraid that the other party had noticed his gaze. Even the level 98 Poison Undying could sense his gaze, so there was no reason why the other party, as a god-level powerhouse, would not be able to sense his gaze!

However, perhaps it was Huo Yuhao's luck that protected him, or perhaps this terrifying and almost indescribable existence was subject to some kind of restriction, Huo Yuhao could clearly sense that the other party was actually asleep, rather than half-asleep like the golden ancient tree above.

The Douluo Continent cannot contain the power of the gods!

Huo Yuhao immediately thought of this. Even the remains of the two great divine dragons, when they landed on the Douluo Continent, could give rise to blessed lands like the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. How much more so this god-level plant-type soul beast that was clearly in its prime?

The opponent's power must be suppressed by heaven and earth—for example, it can only fall into slumber and rely on instinct to devour the golden ancient tree that is infinitely close to godhood.

(End of this chapter)