Chapter 538: Chapter Five Hundred and Thirty-Four: Pretending

The soul of the divine willow visualized through the Mimicry Technique shot out, a fluorescent-dappled jade willow swirled into existence in front of Mi Yang, its radiance rivaling that of his physical form.

Everyone watched as the robust physique of the Mi Clan’s elder began to shrivel rapidly, white and red mist billowed from it. As emerald light diffused through the air, within mere breaths, his once sturdy body resembled a wooden statue – all semblance of moisture completely stripped from his withered muscular lines. Just like a wooden mannequin without arms, he appeared lifeless.

The spirit of the divine willow circled back into Mi Yang’s body after his human form transitioned into wood, like a soul being infused into a wooden sculpture. A vibrant green light, symbolizing life, emanated from his body. Beneath his shoulders, countless slender branches and willow sprigs grew out, integrating together to form new arms for the wooden figure, its bone structure made of branches, veins of willow, and skin of green leaves.

Under the crowd’s astonished gazes, two new arms appeared. Albeit devoid of moisture, the bulging muscles hinted at the immense power harbored within.

He clenched his fluorescent fingers into fists, producing a faint explosive sound. Raising one arm, Mi Yang gestured towards the crowd, as if taunting, “See! The arms you worked so hard to chop off are back!”

Although Du Ting and Sun Jinfang had now joined the battlefield, their hearts sank at the sight of a rejuvenated Mi Yang. They were despondent that the advantage they had paid a great price to obtain via Tang Qian’s shattered armor and serious injuries was easily nullified. Even these seasoned warriors of the Fierce Realm couldn’t help but feel shaken.

The so-called victory via strategic warfare. Mi Clan’s elder had unsettled the resolve of the three Du elders just with a single trick. But if he truly possessed such a commanding force, there would have been no need for this display.

The only reason one would need to display such power publicly is if they aren’t strong enough. It may deceive others, but it certainly won’t fool seasoned warriors.

“Do not be intimidated by him!” Tang Luo, clutching his stomach, heaved himself up; his voice rang out like a thunderclap, echoing throughout the battlefield, “The concept of resurrection via limb regeneration is widespread in the world. However, the strength and resilience of the regenerated limbs are far inferior to what they once were. Moreover, these are just two wooden branches shaped into arms. They are nowhere near the quality of his original arms. He is greatly weakened right now. Let’s seize this opportunity and take him down together!”

The so-called limb regeneration refers to the regrowth of a new limb from where the original was severed. With the capabilities of the divine wood’s bloodline, Tang Luo had no doubt that Mi Yang could regenerate new flesh and blood, regardless of how his body was shattered by external forces. After all, regenerating severed limbs is a special ability unique to the bloodline of the divine wood.

The ability of the divine wood bloodline to control the wood element coupled with an extremely vigorous life force was precisely why it ranked fourth in the Earth Level. The Mi Yang who healed using the Gen Earth Energy isn’t just missing two arms but has also repaired all the damaged meridians and external connections.

The universal characteristic of all life forms is that their limbs retain vitality for a short while after detachment. Like lotus roots that remain joined by fibers after being severed, or tree branches which can self-repair when reattached to their original place. The Azure Dragon of Wood, the secret ability of the divine wood, was created based on the vigorous life force of the severed arms that can maintain contact with the main body and sustain an abundance of life force.

In essence, the energy of the two wooden dragons was still supplied by the divine wood. The dragons couldn’t venture too far away from the divine wood, which was why they were falsely accused several times of massacring humans indiscriminately within their reach.

Since what Tang Luo was healing were wounds to the flesh and not severed limbs, regeneration was simply not feasible. Yet, the divine wood body of Mi Yang was indeed unique because everyone knew that although a tree only has one trunk, it has countless branches and nodes.

The arms may have been two of the biggest branches of the Divine wood, but cutting them off doesn’t mean that Mi Yang couldn’t find other replacements. However, what’s lost is lost forever. Even if there are alternatives, they can never replicate the original.

With his spiritual energy detecting eyes, the numbers are clear. When he first met Mi Yang, the numbers 99999 (72351) now only had 99999 (32351) left. The detachment of the two main branches caused him to lose forty thousand units of latent energy. Everyone may see Mi Yang as a force to reckon with right now, but Tang Luo was acutely aware of his current frailty.

Due to the massive leakage of spiritual energy stored within bodies and organs, martial artists tend to fall into an uncontrollable state of weakness. Otherwise, the Mi Yang wouldn’t have mercifully spared the Du Clan. A character as domineering as him wouldn’t let Du Wei and Du Ling off given Tang Qian’s injury

He put up a brave front to buy time for recovery, but will Tang Luo afford him that opportunity? Like a lion exerting its full strength to catch a rabbit, taking advantage of his enemy’s weakness is a basic strategy in warfare and it should never be overlooked.

On receiving the command, all four veterans of the Fierce Realm soared towards the wooden man. With Du Ting, Du Wei, Du Ling joining, they could finally launch the top grade joint attack of the Red Cloud Skill. Moreover, with the assistance of Sun Jinfang, Mi Yang was left only with retreat. Despite having regenerated his arms, everyone discovered that what Tang Luo said was true.

Whether it was strength, precision or reflexes, the new arms were far from their original proficiency. Even his fists and legs weren’t as potent as they once were. Despite having all limbs intact, his dominance wasn’t as it was when he only had his legs.

Noticing this, Du Ting and the others ramped up their attack, forcing Mi Yang onto the defense with no ability to retaliate. Taking advantage of the situation, Du Sha sat cross-legged to recover his strength and energy.

Even though they held the upper hand, Tang Luo’s brows were deeply furrowed. Despite Mi Yang being critically injured, his current combat power didn’t befit a martial artist at the peak of the Fierce Realm. Instead, he seemed to be consciously recuperating.

If he could defend using his physical strength, he would spare no efforts to conserve spiritual energy. Many Spirit Arts were even completely shielded by his divine wood physique.

Although Mi Yang at this point seemed dry and desiccated like deadwood, his physical defense had increased manifold. His desiccated muscles had transformed into high-grade armor, holding back even the combined attacks of the Fierce Realm by the three Du elders, merely brushing him aside and eliciting sparks.

Upon transforming into his current form, Mi Yang of the Mi Clan now resembled an actual dead object. Expressionless even when repeatedly hit, those emotionless eyes seemed to see through everything.

“This bodes ill!” Tang Luo gloomily predicted. His mind awash with alarm bells; he couldn’t pin down where the issue lay.

With another array of the Crystal Blades assault, Mi Yang was sent flying, but managed to stabilize himself in mid-air. His wooden flesh seemed to turn into jade, glinting with an inexplicable emerald radiance. Looking down at Tang Luo and the Du Clan warriors, he coldly declared, “After all your attacks, it’s now my turn! Divine Wood Secret Technique – Thousand Green Wood Realm!”

Tang Luo’s face paled; he had the intuition something was wrong but didn’t expect the danger to materialize so abruptly. He had just attempted to execute the Ghostly Blur technique and withdraw from the battlefield when he realized it was too late.

With a loud crash, Mi Yang exploded in the sky. A lamina of emerald light enveloped everyone present on the western hump within. Everyone was enclosed within the Spirit Realm controlled by Mi Yang.