Sage stepped back from the clifftop and got some distance from the edge before tossing out a writhing mass of flesh that rapidly expanded as it hit the ground, a ball of tongues with claws extending from their ends like boneless fingers. These weird tentacles burrowed into the ground, writhing and twisting as they dug a hole and slithered into it. The mass of flesh started the size of a fist and rapidly grew to be a yard across while it burrowed into the ground. As it expanded in size, so did the hole it was digging. It worked quickly, pushing the soil out of the hole and coiling its ‘limbs’ around rocks to crack them in half using pressure. They drilled downwards further and further, their path taking them downwards in a gradual circle, spiraling deep down beneath the huge stone where the spire was located.

They finally came to a stop nearly half a mile under the ground, finally reaching the spot beneath the spire and also beneath the deep portion of the river below the falls. Sage stopped to make himself comfortable, sitting down beside the big fleshy ball as it carved out a small chamber. Then Sage reached out and set his two hands upon the ball of flesh and started to send his Qi into it. As fast as his body produced it, it was sent into the writhing mass, constantly feeding it Infernal Qi. The tentacles extended outwards, going in different directions and starting to swell up. The thickest part of the tentacles suddenly split apart, turning one limb into many. They spread outwards, growing longer and larger as they dug through the dirt and stone. After traveling a few dozen yards they split again, growing and separating. The fleshy limbs spread and multiplied like the roots of a tree.

This was the plan they came up with after finding the normal tactic to be too obvious. Since the river blocked him from forming a perimeter around the spire at ground level, then he would just have to start from below and make it a big dome instead. Like an umbrella or a net he would envelop the whole area with the roots of Infernal Banyans. Once the whole area was covered with these roots then those giant wolfish heads would be able to pop up anywhere. They wouldn’t be warned by the forest getting smaller and smaller around them, instead they’d be walking around on top of a giant ambush.

Of course, this plan was far from perfect as it would cover a far larger volume than a simple perimeter. The giant root structure would use an order of magnitude more energy to create because of its three dimensional shape. Since Sage produced energy at a set rate, then it would take him a large amount of time for all these roots to grow, spread, and multiply enough to cover this hemi-spherical area with a diameter over a mile. Instead of this attack being finished in a few minutes, it was going to take a few hours. The Infernal Banyan kept expanding larger and larger, spreading out its net to completely surround the river at the top and bottom of the huge waterfall, encircling the area of both shores and also to be able to block off the up and downriver directions. In fact, the root coverage had to be even thicker and more concentrated than on the banks as it had to be ready to stop people escaping by swimming down the river or ships coming to their rescue from upriver.

Even after the huge root system was fully formed beneath the ground, Sage continued to push more and more energy into it. As soon as the Infernal Banyan broke the surface it would need to grow rapidly and that would take an immense amount of energy. This core of the Infernal Banyan was now nearly the size of a house, all to contain the reserves of power it would need, and also keeping it far away from the surface. Just like sensing the ‘aura’ of others, a massive amount of energy like this would be noticeable by others. The greater the concentration and quantity, the easier it would be noticed by others, like a loud noise that dropped off with distance.

Once this huge battery was done being filled, Sage released a single Blacksilver Pawn, except this one was ‘corrupted’ by Infernal Qi. The already flesh-like appearance of tar black muscles and flesh was now actual flesh and blood. From the wooden way it moved and the featureless face it seemed like some sort of bloody golem, especially since its muscles were exposed, which made it look like it had been flayed. This creepy thing walked over to the core of the Infernal Banyan and pressed its hands up against it.

Then Sage moved back up the tunnel he’d used to get down here in the first place, his spiked armor lightly clanking and creaking as he moved, the chain links and beast leather straps flexing and twisting from the motion of his limbs. When he finally reached the surface he brought out a red chariot, its two wheels made of flame and tilted at an angle to face towards the ground. He stepped onto the back of it and it lifted into the air. This Magical Tool was a unique creation from the Inner World, built as a Flying Tool for a Cultivator who had died hundreds of years ago. Since it was a unique design, it couldn’t be linked to any specific power or group in the outside world, and it would let him complete the second part of the plan he’d devised.

The massive root network stretching out beneath the spire created a quite tight net, at least for the most part. The weakness in this plan was in the height of the spire itself. The tallest part of the spire would be the furthest away from the encirclement that he’d set up on the ground. A person could attempt to fly off from the top of the spire and the Infernal Banyan would have to rise up into the sky faster than the escaping Cultivator could move horizontally. The one escaping would have gravity to help them, while the Infernal Banyan would have to fight it the whole way.

To deal with this problem, the second part of the plan was now being put into motion. Sage used the Flaming Chariot to fly up and over the top of the spire, only now entering the wide open space around the spire and allowing those inside to see him. There was nothing to conceal him, which was why everything else had to be in place first and right now he flew into position without speaking to or acknowledging the occupants of the spire. He moved at a calm and nonchalant pace, making it seem like he was very familiar with this place as he flew upwards. If he charged in it would make him seem like an enemy, while moving in a calm fashion like this made it seem like he knew someone in charge and was just heading to speak with them.

It was only after he got closer and closer without stopping that the people in the spire started to get suspicious. They would probably be expecting him to stop at the edge of the territory and announce himself so that their own leader or the proper level of person could then come out to meet him. Unfortunately, for them, Sage never stopped. Instead he picked up speed, rushing forward rapidly and bringing out a boulder which he threw at the peak of the spire. This ‘rock’ suddenly shattered apart when it smashed against a previously invisible barrier of blue energy. The sky suddenly lit from the power of the cone shaped Formation Array that came to life to protect the spire. The outer surface of the rock broke apart, which revealed a writhing mass of flesh, just like the one Sage had used deep beneath the ground. It started to expand rapidly even as Sage threw out a dozen more stones just like the first, each of them shattering apart and linking limbs with the others.

In just a few seconds these balls of flesh had linked together to form a sort of net around the peak of the spire that was growing rapidly with every moment that passed. Since he wouldn’t have the time to patiently pour energy into the Infernal Banyan he was growing on top of the spire, he instead made many smaller ones in advance so he could just throw them out rapidly. The whole time Sage was creating the Infernal Banyan deep beneath the ground, his clone was busy creating these smaller ones on the Inner World.