Chapter 173

Central Pine City was bound for disappointment . They had waited for a long time, but no master had arrived .

The dean looked down, revealing an unconcealed disappointment .

Wang Zhen was disappointed as well . However, his facial expression looked extremely calm . He glanced at the dean and said deeply, “Let’s go . We need to study the movie bean that was brought back and see what the situation is inside . ”

The dean got ahold of himself and forced a smile .

In order to obtain this movie bean, they had suffered such a huge loss . Its value was immeasurable .

All the reputable and powerful individuals were gathered for this meeting . Wang Zhen clearly knew that if he could not get their support for the subsequent battles, Central Pine City would have no chance of surviving .

The enormous meeting room was fully packed, but at the moment, there was dead silence in the room .

The faces of those who participated in the meeting were pale-white . They were looking at the video on the screen with fear . It was as if a noose was tied around each of their necks, causing them to have breathing difficulties .

Those hideous and sinister plants looked as if they were from another world . No, they were from hell .

The thick hanging roots of the trees resembled gigantic blood vessels . One could even see blood pumping and flowing within them .

A wave of alarmed cries swept across the meeting room . Involuntarily, some people even stood up in trepidation .

“Oh my god, what’s that?”

“Is it blood inside them? That’s too scary! Is this even considered a tree?”

Even the wood elementalists, who were used to seeing various weird plant species, had their faces blanch . Their eyes contained nothing but fear . It was almost like they could smell the strong and nauseous odor of blood just by watching the video . They could not understood why the plants outside of the city had become such monstrosities .

When everyone saw the densely-packed hanging roots rise up like a bunch of snakes and bind an elementalist, a cold shiver went down their spines .

A few chairs flipped over . Those who fell to the ground were trembling nonstop with fear .

No one was laughing at these people because everyone was staring fearfully at the screen with their eyes wide open . Everyone finally understood why they suffered such a huge loss .

Initially, the elementalist that was bound by the hanging roots was struggling with all his might . However, as the red-colored liquid started to pump into him, his struggling became increasingly weaker . A red flush appeared on his face and his gaze became trance-like, as though he was enjoying the process . Unexpectedly, his mouth broke into a smile, a smile that displayed extreme pleasure and satisfaction .

The red liquid that flowed through the densely-packed hanging roots that were inserted into the elementalist’s body glowed with a red fluorescence . As the glow reached his face, his smile became indescribably weird and sinister .

Everyone’s heart stopped beating, as if their hearts were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand .

Their minds were blank and their hair stood on end . They had even forgotten to breathe .

Pop!

The sinister smile suddenly exploded in front of them on the screen . Everyone was dumbstruck . When they returned to their senses, they saw brain matter and blood strewn all over the place .

Blargh…

Nearly half of the participants in the meeting covered their mouths and puked without pause . The entire meeting room was filled with the odor of vomit . However, at this moment, no one cared anymore . Those who did not puke stared blankly at the screen with deathly white faces . Their hands and feet were unconsciously trembling .

A lot of people wanted to escape from the meeting room, but their legs would not listen to them .

Wang Zhen had a solemn look on his face . He did not mock these people’s reactions at all .

When he first saw this segment of the video, his reaction was not much better than everyone else’s . He thought that nothing could frighten him since he, himself, had experienced bloodshed and numerous battles .

He had not realized how wrong and naive he was until today .

“Let’s switch to a new meeting room,” Wang Zhen told his subordinate .

. . . . .

There was absolute silence in the new meeting room .

These reputable individuals were covered in vomit . Each of them was holding a cup of hot water, as if it would make them feel better . They were in despair and their faces were ashen .

“From what we observed, this should be the way they transform . Take note of the bulges on the tree branches . Did all of you notice that there are many bulges? When the hanging roots move, these bulges move as well . The wood elementalists who are studying this phenomenon think that these bulges are created when devouring blood fiends or blood insects . To be precise, the smaller and weaker blood insects will act as nutrients for the larger and stronger blood fiends’ transformation . This conjecture can be proven by the fact that our scouts did not discover any blood fiends or blood insects on their trip outside of the city .

Only the mayor’s voice resounded through the dead silence of the meeting room .

“Right now, it’s extremely possible that a batch of even more powerful blood fiends or blood insects are being created . That means, from now onward, we will encounter stronger blood fiends . Our situation will be even more challenging . The time that we will be tested is arriving soon,” Wang Zhen looked around the room and announced .

“Can’t we run away? Travelling on the ground might be hard, but what about escaping through the sky?” someone asked feebly .

“Where can we run to then?” Wang Zhen questioned back . “How big is the Induction Ground? Can we really fly out of here? Furthermore, we might encounter flying blood fiends . Don’t forget about the blood bat from before . If we lose the city walls, how long do you think we can last?”

The person who asked that question was dumbstruck . After some commotion, the room returned to its state of absolute silence .

The meeting was very successful . Wang Zhen’s suggestion garnered everyone’s support . They all knew that their individual powers did not matter at this crucial juncture . They could only unite and work together .

Upon seeing that everyone left the room in despair, the dean could not help but say to Wang Zhen, “By behaving like this, you will cause panic . ”

Actually, the dean did not support the idea of letting these people watch the scary video . He knew how mentally weak these people were .

Wang Zhen did not seem to care . “If they panicking, let them . At this point in time, only panic can make them abandon those impractical thoughts . Otherwise, do you think they would put in the effort to fight against the enemy?”

The dean knew Wang Zhen was right, but he was still worried . “Panic will make them crumble easily . ”

Wang Zhen turned his head abruptly and replied, “Do you know what you should do to survive on a battlefield? Don’t think too much and move forward . Those who crumble easily are fated to die . Who can do anything about that?”

The dean was silent .

At this moment, both of them noticed that two people were walking toward them . They were Han Yuqin and Mingxiu from the Jade Embroidery Workshop .

“Good afternoon, Master Han,” Wang Zhen and the dean greeted at the same time .

For those who became masters, people would add the title “Master” to their surnames as a form of respect .

Any master, regardless of their field, enjoyed an extraordinary status . Whether one was a dean or a mayor, he or she had to display a certain level of respect toward a master .

Even though they wished that Han Yuqin was a combat master and not an embroidery master,, they would not treat her with less respect at the current time .

Regardless of the field, a master had an extremely deep understanding of elemental energy . Naturally, Han Yuqin’s fighting capabilities would not be comparable to a combat master’s . However, her fighting capabilities would still be superior to an average elementalist’s . An average elementalist’s understanding of elemental energy could not be compared to a master’s .

Even her disciple, Mingxiu, had rather terrifying fighting capabilities . Mingxiu was from a noble family . Her family had many talents and she had a very powerful elder brother . Previously, during the naked streaker incident, the fighting capabilities that Mingxiu displayed were so powerful that she struck fear in everyone’s heart .

Han Yuqin and Mingxiu came here as the representatives for the Jade Embroidery Workshop . Wang Shouchuan did not come .

Wang Zhen admired them in silence . While one was old and the other young, these two women were still much more calm and composed when compared to the others, though they still looked somewhat afraid .

“Good afternoon dean . Good afternoon mayor,” Han Yuqin greeted them back . She then sighed . “I didn’t expect the situation to worsen to such a critical state . Mayor, you’re right . Everyone needs to unite and work together if we want to possibly survive this ordeal . Mayor, feel free to use anyone from the Jade Embroidery Workshop, including Mingxiu and I . If you need us to do anything, feel free to tell us . ”

“Mayor, feel free to let us know if there’s anything we can help with,” Mingxiu added .

Wang Zhen was overjoyed at the good news and bowed . “Thank you Master Han and Miss Mingxiu!”

Previously, he did not dare to request help from the Jade Embroidery Workshop . How could he request for an embroidery master to fight on a battlefield? This would be disrespectful to her and he did not have the balls to do so . It was the same regarding Miss Mingxiu, he did not dare to ask her due to her status .

Right now, with the approval from both of them, he seemed to have gained two powerful allies .

“Mayor, you’re too courteous . ” Han Yuqin continued to say, “I’m a complete stranger to fighting on a battlefield . However, if it’s about defending a city, I might have some ideas . ”

Wang Zhen was surprised at these words, but he quickly said, “Master Han, please elaborate . ”

Han Yuqin thought for a while before replying, “The first thing I can think of is a spell formation previously mentioned by my husband . The art of spell formation has long since vanished along with the Cultivation Era and I’m not proficient in it . However, the logic applied should be the same . If there’s a workable spell formation now, it would be [Elemental Energy Distribution-Connection Formation] . It’s somewhat similar to embroidery . The only difference is that we would treat the sky, earth, mountains, and rivers as the ‘cloth . ’ The sky, earth, mountains, and rivers might be too vast, but if we treat the city as the ‘cloth,’ I might be able to do it . ”

Wang Zhen was stunned . He was looking blankly at the calm-looking Han Yuqin .

Treating the city as “cloth”… Was this the lofty quality of an embroidery master?

Currently, Han Yuqin’s petite and aged stature became imposing in his heart .

“Master Han, please give it a try!” He submitted willingly to her and bowed deeply .

The dean was also convinced and bowed . “Master Han, please give it a try!”

. . . . .

Outside of Central Pine City .

The red-dressed girl looked at the rattan balls that were hanging on the tree in front of her . She specially found this batch of blood fiends from up to 100 kilometers away . This time around, she did not care about the quality of the blood fiends, but rather the quantity .

The turn of events in the valley had completely disrupted her plan . Central Pine City was no longer her ideal choice .

She was not Tian Kuan .

She did not have much time to waste . Otherwise, she would not be able to catch up and would lag behind everyone else .

However, she refused to forgive herself for leaving without doing anything .

As such, before she left, she prepared a huge present for Central Pine City .

She flew up in the sky and looked at the distant Central Pine City . The image of a young man appeared in her mind, and she bewitchingly smile . “I will be back for you . ”

She turned around and disappeared, like a wisp of ethereal red smoke .