The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

The cicadas' chirping blended into murmurs, and the divine power receded, halting the petrification. The Wood God, already nearing its end, could not allow its divinity to diminish further.

The crimson divinity, finding nothing to feed on, trembled in rage. Lü Wenjun channeled the newly acquired power into his right hand, fusing it with the steel claws on his arm armor to form a gigantic crimson claw!

"Now's the time!"

It would be unwise to contain so much divinity, so he transformed his temporary increase in power into a powerful strike! The crimson giant claw's strike instantly cleared away the obstacles in front of him, and Vilsa seized the opportunity to sprint to the front of the sacred tree!

His steel fists were drawn back like a bow, and his hard latissimus dorsi muscles twisted with his breath.

—Vilsa, may I ask you to be the vanguard?

—I'm a little embarrassed myself. Because this isn't the final, decisive step, but rather the very first step in the journey. But…

—I can't do it, Pershka can't do it, even if we searched for everyone, I feel that only you can do it.

What a cunning fellow.

Upon hearing such words, there was no room for negotiation.

If I am the only one capable of this task, then I can only give it my all!

"Haa!!"

With a powerful battle cry, the warrior threw out both fists.

The moment the iron fist struck, the wind from the punch swept across the battlefield. The sound traveled from the surface of the sacred tree to the earth, shaking the hearts of everyone present, like the resounding drumbeats of an ancient ritual.

The drumbeats never stopped; instead, each strike became faster than the last. The dense, resounding beats were like a violent storm!

Vilsa's "Heretic Claws" possesses top-tier defense and destructive power, but lacks agility due to its slowness. He recognized this deficiency during the entrance exam and actively worked to address it in subsequent courses.

Scholars learn from nature, while warriors learn from history. In Tuliyman's history class, he recounted the heroic deeds of the Viking warriors. They fought valiantly amidst roars, their selfless and fearless spirit earning their people the reputation of "Berserkers."

That raw courage is the new power that Versa has just acquired.

Different Theory: Emergence, Viking War Cry. At the cost of reduced sanity and doubled stamina consumption, it unleashes a burst of frenzied power for a short period!

"Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora!!!"

Skin flushed red from the surging heat of the blood, sweat evaporated as steam. The warrior, completely absorbed in the battle, had a terrifying, almost demonic face. Steel fists rained down in a dizzying flurry of blows.

The cicada demons flew to block him, their tentacles attempting to bind him. However, the insect demons were blasted away by the force of the punches, their tentacles repelled by the muscles, and all attempts to resist were shattered by brute force. At this moment, Velsa was like a mad warrior from history books brought to the modern era; his sense of honor would not stop him until he had defeated his enemy!

"Cover Versa!" "Attack together!" "Let's keep going!"

Lu Wenjun finished charging up first, using his powerful kick to reinforce the attack. The other members also shifted their focus, abandoning defense to attack the deity himself, joining the chorus of drumbeats.

And so, with the increasingly frenzied blows, the anomaly became apparent. The outer shell of the sacred tree, as hard as mountain rock, dented under the blows! Tiny pits became conspicuous flaws, further turning into ugly, noticeable marks on the branches. Then the drumming came to its final end, and Versa unleashed a torrent of power with both fists.

His fist shattered the god's defenses, leaving deep wounds on the god's body!

Chapter 64 Tree Burial: Eternal Binding, Hellfire Sealed

The sacred tree is damaged.

The absolute defense, which had been impenetrable by dozens of spells combined, crumbled under Vilsa's desperate and chaotic attacks, leaving crack-like wounds!

"Attack now!" Pershka shouted.

She reacted instantly, whipping up a cold wind to create ice crystals that shot towards the god's wound. The arrow-like ice slashed through the wind, which should have struck the weakness, but instead they barely grazed the side of the wound.

Was it a misaiming? Insufficient range? No, not at all... it was a far more fatal change!

“My God, that tree is moving!” Spring Legs shouted.

The sacred tree was moving, like the legs of a giant elephant supporting the city. The trunk rotated, and the wounds that had been facing the crowd moved to their backs in a matter of breaths.

Its form changes during this process, with thousands of branches hanging down naturally, resembling a woman's disheveled long hair. The divine eye that has been opened shifts accordingly, hiding among the branches and tangled hair, like a gloomy single eye.

The jade's luster suddenly vanished, revealing a huge, decaying cavity. The cavity occupied nearly half of the tree trunk, empty except for the twisted, decaying growth rings.

Lu Wenjun felt as if he were seeing a disemboweled corpse. Its organs had long since decayed and rotted, yet it was driven by an obsession to continue moving. That obsession was its will to survive. It had lost its faith, forgotten the name of God, and lost its personality and reason, yet it still wanted to live.

Even if it means annexing society and destroying civilization, it is still necessary to perpetuate its own existence.

Because that is the instinct of life; survival is the ultimate goal, and nothing is more important than existence!

[For a long time...for a long time...]

The murmurs of the gods surfaced in everyone's minds. Fragments of long-dormant memories awakened during the fierce ritual. Thus, monotonous words acquired a completely new meaning.

Enduring and everlasting. Unafraid of the passage of time.

May all beings benefit from this. May all beings offer me peace and wisdom.

[May the realm of divine words be forever immortal, as if alive.]

That was a distant memory, a divine obsession. The ancient tree, unwilling to die, defied fate, its decaying body thus reawakening. Its roots broke through the soil, forming dense "feet." The trunk arched, transforming into a body with a hollow abdomen. Divine power drove the sacred tree to sprout again, and slender, claw-like branches grew from its sides.

It stood up! The sacred tree rose from the ground, transforming into a monstrous, decaying wood demon—a being somewhere between a ghost and a spirit of the dead!

"Retreat!! Everyone retreat!!" Lü Wenjun shouted hoarsely.

In the face of such a behemoth, close combat is utterly meaningless. The mere aftershocks of its movements can create a great wind, and ordinary body enhancement spells are no different from bare hands in its presence.

The vanguard group lost most of their fighting spirit on the spot, and they hurriedly turned around and withdrew from the shrine according to the pre-arranged plan. Lü Wenjun had a contingency plan in place: if special circumstances such as ineffective close combat occurred, they would retreat in groups and head to hiding places outside the battlefield.

The strategist, usually so astute, miscalculated this time. Vines and branches crisscrossed, forming a brown wall that blocked passage. It was no longer the frantic beating of seconds before, but a precisely set, solid seal. Even if the blockade were breached, new plants would immediately fill the void.

Centered around brown wooden walls, wildly growing plants form cubic cages. Suddenly, the people inside the wooden cages experience a blur before their eyes, and an extreme weakness surges within them, rendering them unable to even stand.

Wood in a square shape represents being trapped.

Tree burial for permanent binding

The incantation of words was uttered, and divine magic descended. It was not a spell cast by magicians using their own talents, but a "miracle" fueled by faith. The people in the cage were instantly frozen in place; the weariness in their hearts made them lose the will to resist, and they could only laugh weakly.

"It's not going to work..."

"It seems this is the end of it."

"We're pretty brave, aren't we?"

45 people. 25 people. 12 people. 2 people.

Within a mere 20 seconds of Shenmu awakening, only two members of the vanguard group remained: Lü Wenjun, who lingered, and Vielsa, still standing in the same spot.

"Vilsa, give me your hand! I'll take you out of here first—"

"Sorry, I'm out of energy," Velsa said.

He sat down on the spot, ignoring the rapidly forming tree burial cage behind him. The previous outburst had exhausted the warrior's strength; he no longer had the power to even walk, let alone retreat.

The heretic's claws dissipated, and his hands returned to their original state. He turned his back to Lü Wenjun and raised his thumb.

"Come on, you have to win!"

"...Ah, thank you!"

If they lingered any longer, the only mobile unit member would also be caught in the crossfire. Lü Wenjun turned around, using his leaping ability to avoid the sealing branches. He picked up Pershka and ran out of the shrine; behind him, the final tree burial was complete.

Thirty seconds after the God of the Outer World awakened, the vanguard team was completely wiped out.

"……Oh shit!"

Lu Wenjun emerged from the dust and smoke, cursing unconsciously. Self-blame, guilt, and a multitude of other emotions swirled within him. No matter how perfect the simulation in the operational meeting was, it was never the same as the reality he witnessed firsthand.

His mindset wavered, but that cannot be considered a mistake. Maintaining composure under pressure requires accumulated experience, but his previous training was mostly focused on survival; he had no experience in commanding a group in combat!

Pershka gripped his shoulders tightly: "Turn around! Quickly!!"

"What are you looking at... Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!"

I glanced back subconsciously, and then all the emotions in my heart vanished like a whirlwind.

The wounds are healing.

Slowly but surely, the wounds inflicted by Velsa were shrinking. The crater, once large enough to accommodate those two enormous fists, had shrunk by a quarter without anyone noticing. It was still large enough to cut through an axe, but if it shrank by half again, it would barely be able to fit a sword blade. Divine power was healing the wounds; the Wood God was regenerating.

"The God of Wood can even regenerate his own body?!"

"Nonsense, it's a block of wood itself! Didn't you think of that already?!"

"Who would have thought it would recover so quickly!"

There's no time for idle thoughts; the current situation is literally a race against time. Before the wounds are fully healed, we must move on to the next phase of the battle. Besides, the awakened god is right behind us!

A deafening roar of trees snapping echoed through the dust, and the Wood God pursued them like a rotten, sinister serpent. Its speed seemed slow, but its massive size completely compensated for it.

The Eye of the Wood God stared intently at Lü Wenjun's back, on high alert. That power that devoured divinity was the greatest threat; to ensure its survival, it had to defeat it!

The scene before them was like an explorer being chased by an avalanche... no, even more terrifying! It was like being chased by the mountain itself! The torii gates, painstakingly erected, were collapsing one after another because of it. Every rise and fall of the demon's claw brought earthquake-like tremors, and countless large trees were broken as a result.

The movement of the Wood God was itself a natural disaster, and they were merely mortals being pursued by it. More of his followers received orders and poured out, rushing after the two in an attempt to interfere. Led by Spring Legs, a small number of surviving phantoms, under Pershika's command, cleared out the pursuers.

Lu Wenjun stumbled and staggered, the trembling ground making it difficult to find footing and maintain balance in this harsh environment. At this moment, the Wood God launched a new offensive, using its demonic claws and branches to ensnare over a dozen ancient trees. The claws arched backward, the branches twisted, and a terrifying power steadily accumulated. It used the ancient trees as ammunition to create a dozen catapults; their sheer weight would crush all enemies into dust!

"They're here!" Pershka shouted.

Lu Wenjun took out a bamboo tube, from which slid out a small, pale yellow fox, its body slender and long. The fox meowed softly, and the shaman sitting at the back looked up. Her voice, carried by another slender fox, echoed deep into the forest.

"Please, guardian deity."

Then, a deep roar echoed from the depths of the jungle. The tree trunk in the Wood God's hand expanded rapidly amidst the roar, and then exploded at the same time, making a deafening noise!

two

Trees blown up!

Another giant emerged from the jungle—the horned guardian deity, Lacey the Great, whose power was to cause trees to explode. The Wood God, jolted by the near-miss explosion, momentarily halted. Lacey the Great roared and charged forward, clamping its massive hand down on the Wood God's demonic claws.

Compared to the Wood God, it appeared almost frail, yet it had support—a force of 46. Several slender foxes darted through the forest, relaying messages, and the ambush troops, who had been lying in wait, all appeared. They climbed ancient trees, reaching the branches, and unleashed their prepared spells with all their might, sparing no effort to unleash their strongest attack.

"Other Theory - Manifestation, Lizard Fire!"

"Other Theory - Manifestation, Thunder Beast!"

"Water Sprite's Wrath!" "Kamaitachi's Blade!" "Miniature Lava Blast!"

The 46-member ranged attack unleashed a furious onslaught, their spells flashing with light, interspersed with magical bombs crafted using alchemical knowledge. In such a chaotic battlefield, accurately hitting a target was extremely difficult, yet every attack struck precisely. The slender foxes pointed out the location of the deity; sharing intelligence with the fox in Lü Wenjun's arms and obeying the commands of the priestess behind him, they could accurately monitor the battlefield even from the outside.

The Mystery of Manifestation: The Fox-like Servant. These slender foxes are kept in bamboo tubes by Onmyoji (Yin-Yang Masters). When they are evil, they can possess and wreak havoc; when they are good, they can act as agile messengers. Linggong uses this technique to coordinate the assault team and the ambush troops, working with Lü Wenjun to control the course of the battlefield!

The Wood God's wound healing speed slowed down temporarily. Suppressed by the attacks of Da Laixi and the ranged group, it could only watch helplessly as Lü Wenjun fled into the distance. It quickly constructed a long whip from its branches, intending to rout the ambush in one fell swoop. However, at this moment, the strongest beast witch rushed into the battle, wielding a wood-chopping axe and severing the Wood God's weapon in one fell swoop.

"Don't give it a chance to catch its breath!" Pershka shouted. "Keep it pinned down like this! Spring-legged attacks on the wound!"

"I'm coming!"

The spring-legged creature leaped like a white light, jumping backward to face the Wood God directly, attempting to launch a second attack on the wound.

It leaped onto the ancient tree with incredible agility, its steel claws plunging straight into the wound of the god. But the spring-legged creature suddenly stopped, looked up at the sky, and let out a mad and astonished laugh.

"Terrifying! Bizarre! This is no adventure story, it's horror literature!" Spring-Legs' shrill laughter echoed through the forest. "Look up at the sky! Witness death fall from the heavens!!"

The sky, peeking through the shade of trees and dust, gradually turned into a deep green.

Those were leaves fluttering in the air.

Each leaf is a shimmering character. Each character is a "word of power" condensed on the sacred tree. Tens of thousands of leaves of this power float in the air, their radiance growing ever brighter as divine power is infused into them.

Lu Wenjun suddenly remembered a story.

It's a strange story I read a long time ago, recounting the incredible abilities of the Onmyoji Abe no Seimei. Legend has it that once, to demonstrate his divine power, he placed a fallen leaf on the back of a frog. The frog instantly turned into blood and foam, as if struck by a boulder.

People use this story to boast about Seimei's extraordinary supernatural powers. Because as long as enough divine power is infused…

Even something as delicate as a leaf can be turned into a weapon.

Ten thousand leaves hung down in unison. The gods issued a new command.

【Manyo no Kotobuki】

Leaves fell like rain.

It was a sharp and deadly green rain, every leaf as razor-sharp as a knife, every falling leaf capable of taking a life. The spring-legged creature, attempting a surprise attack, was the first to meet the falling leaves, using its high speed and incredible evasive skills to weave through the green downpour. But the rain never stopped, leaving no gaps and no chance of life.

He was broken in the rain, with fallen leaves tearing through the fabric and cold laughter.

"Ha, nowhere to run!"

Even Dalaisi retreated in the rain of leaves, its tough hide slashed with deep wounds. It summoned a hardwood shield to protect the ranged group from the attacks, but the leaves instantly took root and sprouted upon hitting the hardwood, turning the shield and the students within it into wood.

In just a few seconds, the carefully prepared ambush was completely wiped out. Big Lacey was forced to retreat into the jungle, while the entire ranged team was assimilated by the divine realm!

Lu Wenjun gave up on dodging; his spring-like legs had already proven through experience that avoidance was useless. He used all his magic to accelerate, rushing forward in a straight line.