Chapter 214 The Corrupted Tree

The large purple and red eyed tree roared like groaning wood as Keng and the three older Foxes landed.

"What's this thing?!?" Zixin asked in Fox tongue.

"Whatever it is, we need to figure out where the vessel is!" Lady Vix'i shouted. Roots shot out from the ground, splitting the four foxes. Keng's aura shimmered as he pushed himself away. The roots dive bombed into the ground and quickly shot upwards towards him. Keng extended his tail and quickly grabbed onto a broken trunk. He pulled himself backwards, roots embedding themselves into him.

Keng felt the roots start to pump him of his energy and blood. The roots forcefully pulled him back, tails struggling to hold onto the broken tree trunk as it slowly ripped from the ground. The root tendrils that held onto Keng bursted open, releasing him from the tree's grasp. Keng hit the ground with a hard thud as he pulled himself up.

"Zixin, burn the roots!" Lady Vix'i shouted. "I will make sure the roots don't get to us! Stay close to me! Little foxling, can you still move?"

"I'm fine…" Keng pulled the roots off. He watched as his body instantly regenerated and his staccato breaths quickly slowed. Roots barraged the group, Lady Vix'i easily destroyed the roots before they could come anywhere near the group.

"Focus on finding your vessel, foxling. It's trying to eat us alive before it leaves." Lady Vix'i instructed. More roots exploded as Zixin and Nabi moved forward. Zixin and Nabi flew into the air, quickly picking up speed towards the tree. Roots began to pull and explode out of the ground towards Zixin and Nabi. Zixin's body erupted in flames as he shot straight through the roots, erupting them in flames.

Nabi's tails wrapped and trapped the roots in their place, quickly siphoning the energy off of them. The roots shattered as Nabi and Zixin continued to move forward.

"We don't know what kind of abilities you have after your blessing, so we need to play it safe. This tree could easily be the cause of the curse." Lady Vix'i turned to look at Keng. Roots flew towards them and without a single flick or look, the roots blew up around them.

'Is this what it's like to be strong?' Keng wondered.

"You can focus, foxling. We will protect you and figure this out together." Lady Vix'i's serious eyes connected with his. He nodded and took a breath.

'Where are you, Lee?' Keng thought.

—

Lee Seng continued to snake through the large root paths below. The roots pulsed purple and red as he flew through the large caverns. He gripped at the roots and tried to squeeze. His strength wasn't going.

'Dammit…' He thought. 'I need to get out of this… fast!' His hands squeezed harder on the wooden roots and watched as they began to crack. The purple and red energy began to slip out of the roots for a second, quickly repairing itself. Lee Seng's aura fliickered, Dark Matter flying out like electricity. The gold and white wispy aura began to flicker, his hands starting to feel the roots caving. His hands crushed one of the roots as he screamed and slashed with the katana, severing the roots. Lee Seng went flying into the dark root cavern, bouncing as he tried to regain his balance.

"Ugh!" Lee Seng slammed against the earthen wall. He let out a gasp, breathing in the earthy air as he felt his body surging in fire. His body regenerated as the wispy aura continued to light him. "Dammit… Those roots…!" The loud slams above caught his attention as he stood up.

'It's wrecking the whole forest. Do I get out or continue…?"

The sounds of roots moving in the distance made him come to a conclusion, whatever decision he made would result in meeting more roots.

"Let's follow the roots. They might come back for me so I should be ready for a fight." Lee Seng decided. He sheathed the sword and held it with his right hand as he jogged down the cavern. The roots moved quickly back and forth between the huge dug caves. The rocketed up into the air and slammed above and pulled back in and continued to the next spot.

The cavern around him began to shake. He quickly turned to look at roots flying straight for him. The roots dived him as he jumped to the side. The wood grinded, loudly, as it pulled back and whipped itself straight for Lee Seng. Lee Seng unsheathed the katana and slashed the roots in half. The roots pulled back as he pulled with his right hand and stabbed the katana into the roots.

Gravity ripped the roots, following the roots. Lee Seng pulled his sword back and continued forwards. The walls of the earthen caves began to shake. The walls exploded as roots pierced the ground where Lee Seng was. Lee Seng backed up and watched as the roots lashed out towards him.

Lee Seng slashed at the air and watched as the roots dropped to the floor. The roots instantly regenerated and continued forward, slamming themselves into Lee Seng. The roots wrapped around Lee Seng's arms and quickly embedded themselves into his body, once again. They pulled him up into the air and down the root cave with ease. Everytime Lee Seng would try to push the roots away with his strength and gravity, the roots would let up and quickly wrap themselves onto him.

The noises above grew louder. Explosions echoed around him. Flames quickly whoosed past and burned the roots off of him. Lee Seng was released by the roots and free fell towards the ground.

"Fire?" Lee Seng spun and threw his hands out. A gravity bubble rippled out of him and slowed him. His feet landed on the ground and he looked around. The noises of screeching echoed throughout the caverns.

'Where are you, Lee?' Keng's voice connected. Lee Seng looked up. He could feel the connection.

'Keng! I'm underground in the root caves! I can't get out!' Lee Seng told him.

'In the root caves? Where is it taking you?'

'Towards the tree!'

'Lady Vix'i, Nabi and Zixin are here with me. Zixin and Nabi are trying to attack the tree but the tree is holding well against their attacks.' Keng informed Lee Seng of the situation above. 'I have very little I can do in my state. I don't know what we could do.' Lee Seng looked around.

'If I could pinpoint where to go, it would make this easier.' Lee Seng told him. 'I'll have to continue down the cave! The roots were pulling me towards the direction of the tree!'

'Wait, you're not going to get caught, are you?' Keng asked.

'That's exactly what I will do.' Lee Seng began to run down the cave. The caves opened and a faint pulsing light attracted his attention to the right. He moved down the path and listened as roots began to swarm him. 'How many roots does this thing have?' Lee Seng jumped and watched as the roots slammed themselves into him. Once they got him, they began to pull him back.

'What should I do then?' Keng asked.

'You and I need to figure out what the blessing did to us.' Lee Seng told him. 'We got the mark of two suns, so we should burn like the two suns, right? Figure that out!'

'And what if I can't?!?'

'We're in the same Realm now! We've reconnected telepathically! I'm sure you're JUST as capable as I am in figuring this out! You basically have my intelligence for gods sake!' He could feel Keng's hesitation. They had gotten here with great help and even then, they did little to help the older Foxes. 'Don't hesitate about this! You told me yourself…'

The roots whipped left and slammed him against the wall. He grunted and continued to focus on the conversation.

'You said you were investing in me, right?' Lee Seng finished his sentence.

'Yeah, what does that have to do with this situation?' Keng asked.

'Just like you're investing in me, I have to invest in you, too!' Lee Seng winced as another large pump of energy pulled from him. 'Just like I'm following my crazy idea, you need to let loose and reveal what the two suns are! We both do! We'll never know if we continue to rely on people, right?'

Keng didn't respond for a while. A large space opened up and tons of roots were flying and moving about. Lee Seng was pulled up into the tree. Lee Seng noticed loads of skeletons from the bottom. As he continued upwards, he started to see decaying bodies.

'Fine.' Keng responded. 'I'll try my best.'

'What the hell did this tree do…?' Lee Seng thought. He eventually stopped within sight of the pulsing purple and red energy near the eyes of the tree. The roots slammed him into the tree wall as the cursed tree grasped him within the confines of the wall. 'I'm in the tree near the eyes. Aim there.'

Quiet groans alerted Lee Seng. He could see other foxes groggily rocking their heads back and forth.

'The tree has been siphoning life off of other Foxes.'