Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System-Chapter 447: [Control Essence]

"Mo Wuxian and Fu Chenxian are the ones I really didn't want to bring along for this mission, but… you insisted," Yan Ro let out his grievances to the beautiful woman of jade beside him. "And you always get what you want in the end…"

"Come on, dear, there's no need to be like that," the beautiful woman giggled. "I, Su Ming, never have you do anything for naught. The both of them are on the verge of reaching the Viscera Refinement Realm; they could prove useful if things wind up going south."

"Useful, huh…?" Yan Ro peeked back at Mo Wuxian and Fu Chenxian, watching the both of them play rock-paper-scissors to decide once and for all who had better hair.

"Those two are idiots…"

"Maybe," Su Ming said as she linked arms with the big armored man. "But that doesn't make them any less valuable."

Yan Ro sighed, unwilling to admit that his wife was right.

*Rustle, Rustle!*

A rustling suddenly came from a patch of nearby bushes, putting every Greenflame Sect Disciple on guard.

"Watch every front! Even if it's just a weak Low-rank 1 Demon Beast, we can't let ourselves get careless!"

"Yes, sir!"

That was when everyone saw it. A six-foot-tall creature of wood with hollowed-out eyes. It robotically walked out of the grouping of bushes, its eerie gaze making several of the Greenflame Sect Disciples go pale in fright.

"What in the hell is this creature!?" Mo Wuxian questioned. "I've never heard or seen anything like it! It's so fucking creepy!"

"Stop cursing, you buffoon," Fu Chenxian remarked. "This thing doesn't even possess an aura. It's likely just a weirdly mutated beast that has yet to reach even Low-rank 1—"

OOOM!

That was when everyone in the exploration party felt it. An overwhelming pressure that made their teeth chatter and their legs tremble.

"This is… Viscera Refinement Realm Peak!??"

The moment Yan Ro made this announcement, fear welled up inside him. He felt the clawing urge to run away, but with his wife by his side, there was no possible way he would escape in time.

This meant that if he wanted to save his wife, he had to fight!

Unfortunately, the heart of a human was oftentimes fickle…

"H-Husband, where are you going!?"

Su Ming reached out for the fleeing figure of her spouse, but found herself unable to reach him in time. Tears streamed down her face as the reality of her being abandoned fully settled in.

"W… Why…? I-I don't understand what I did…"

"Shit!" Mo Wuxian cursed. "That bastard leader of ours actually ran off the first chance he got! Fuck!"

"Doesn't matter!" Fu Chenxian brandished his slick, shiny sword. "If we want any hope of making it out of this alive, then we have to get our heads on straight and strategically fight this wooden creature—"

Just then:

BOOOM!

A loud explosion reverberated a few hundred meters out, followed by a metal cannonball being launched toward a boulder next to the terrified group.

"T-That is…"

The Team Leader—Yan Ro!

All of his limbs were twisted unnaturally, with a large hole gushing blood out of his chest. His eyes appeared listless and hopeless as he incoherently muttered words that almost sounded like pleas for help.

That was when the Greenflame Disciples heard it—a voice. One that cut through the air like a distorted jigsaw blade:

"DOn'T RuN… ThE CrEAToR Is CoMiNg…"

The Creator!?

What was this tree thing talking about!?

This was also around when the Greenflame Disciples realized that there was more than just a single one of the tree monsters. There were over five of them!

And all of them were slowly walking out of the woods like entities straight out of one's worst nightmares!

"Whoever this Creator is, I don't want to be around to find out," Mo Wuxian whispered to Fu Chenxian. "We have to make it back to the Sect and inform the Elders of the situation. If me and you work together, we should be able to slip through their entrapment."

Fu Chenxian really didn't want to cooperate with the pretentious bastard beside him, but under these dire circumstances, he really had no choice in the matter.

"Damn it," he ruffled his hair in frustration. "What's the plan, fucker!?"

"Okay, so first… Then we'll… And finally…"

However, even after so much planning, the moment they went to make a move, a pressure that exceeded that of the Sect Elders erupted from behind the humanoid tree creatures. It was so immense that many of the Disciples struggled to even keep their eyes open, let alone completely take in the unimaginable sight before them.

A massive serpent of living wood erupted from the ground, stretching over a hundred meters long and ten meters wide. Its hollow, glowing eyes bore down on them with a cold, ancient malice, reducing Mo Wuxian and the others to trembling insects beneath its gaze. All will to resist vanished in an instant.

"CReAToR!"

All six of the humanoid tree creatures hit their powerful fists against the ground, causing the earth to shake for dozens of meters.

"!?!?" "!?!?"

This was the Creator those things spoke of!?

Was this huge monstrosity actually capable of creating anything!?

"M-Monster…!!" Yan Ro, who was fading in and out of unconsciousness, screamed out like a crazy person while staring up at the huge wooden python. "Ge-Get away from me…!!"

'But I haven't even touched you yet…' Necro thought blankly. 'Whatever; let's just get this over with. They were the ones to invade my territory with ill-intentions first.'

Branching off his main root, a smaller root appeared. It extended toward the terrified Greenflame Disciples, emitting a faint purple glow at the tip.

"Accept or deny this liquid; your fates will be decided from the decision you make."

What was on the tip of his extended root was the product of the Skill he obtained after evolving to Rank 5—[Control Essence].

As the name suggested, any who were touched by it would lose control over their free will to an extent. It was an outcome that none would want but were forced to let happen when all other possible paths were barred off.