Chapter 269: The Terrifying Pollution

The towering green portal was extremely wide, large enough for thousands of people to enter at once. The thousands of humans and gods gathered outside entered it in just a few groups. After the last group entered, they sensed no signs of living beings around. The green portal then began to shrink instantly, disappearing completely within a few breaths.
Some who arrived too late couldn’t find the entrance to the ruins and had no choice but to return in frustration.
When Donald and his group entered the portal, they felt a sudden change in space. When their feet touched solid ground again, they found that everyone else was gone—only they remained. Donald tried to sense Uther, his subordinate with whom he had a mental connection, but found nothing. This indicated that there was some force within that could isolate space.
Looking around, he found himself in a vast forest filled with tall trees, low shrubs, and vines—everything resembling the Green Cloak Forest. Yet such a forest in the frigid region of the Great Snow Mountains was utterly out of place.
Although the northern regions were much colder than the southern parts of the continent, the Outcloud Mountains and the even farther northern snow mountains protected them from the extreme cold from the north. As a result, temperatures in areas south of the Outcloud Mountains were tolerable outside of the harsh winter months, with cold-resistant plants dominating the natural vegetation.
While this demi-god ruin could be considered another space, making it possible for it to have a different climate, Donald knew that this seemingly endless forest was almost certainly an illusion.
Upon hearing about the Green Tree Ruins earlier, Donald had assumed it must be a sealed space created by the Green Tree God using his own divine domain. Unlike the demi-planes he had built, such spaces relied on the material world and could not exist independently—they could be seen as layers within the primary material plane.
However, with divine power modifications, this demi-god totem god’s ruin should be close to the level of a godly kingdom. It just couldn’t separate from the main world to form an independent world like those of true gods.
Therefore, Donald speculated that the space of this totem god’s ruin couldn’t be very large—its actual area was likely similar to his demi-plane. Even a true god’s initial godly kingdom wasn’t much bigger, so a demi-god-level totem ruin probably wouldn’t be much larger either. How could it possibly contain such an endless forest?

Isn’t it difficult to have thousands of people scattered over hundreds of square kilometers? With divine barriers separating them and the distorted space here, everyone is kept apart, along with various illusions. Thus, even if two people are physically very close, it’s hard for them to see each other.

Only by breaking through these divine barriers or passing trials to reach certain special areas can one possibly encounter others.

Since it’s a trial, Donald doesn’t intend to use the Book of Truth to break through the space and illusions here, lest he lose his chance to obtain the demi-god’s treasure.

While passing these trials might be difficult for others, it could be surprisingly easy for Donald!

Because ever since he entered through the portal and arrived here, the Natural Fury before his soul’s light column in the consciousness world seemed to sense something, trembling uncontrollably.

“Could it be?” Donald thought of a possibility.

Although it’s merely an existence formed by gathering the fury of nature through will, it is a symbol of authority recognized by the natural will of the main world. This spear lies between divine status and godhood. Though it has no physical form, its power when unleashed is likely greater than that of ordinary sub-divine artifacts, almost on par with elementary divine artifacts in the hands of true gods.

This is also Donald’s trump card, one he won’t use unless absolutely necessary.

Since Natural Fury has no physical form, once it unleashes its full power, it will likely be difficult to restore to its original state, making it a last-resort weapon that can’t be used frequently.

On the other hand, the Sword of Will, Heart of the King, can be used just like a sword master’s sword intent, and its full power can be unleashed without regret.

“Can’t it be that lucky!” Natural Fury is the embryonic form of a primary divine authority. Those it can sense are either artifacts or objects related to nature, or gods who control the natural realm. Since the Green Tree domain has become ruins, the Green Tree God must have perished. What remains are only artifacts, divine objects, or residual soul projections guarding the godhood.

If it’s the latter, that would be troublesome. Those residual soul projections formed from the fallen gods usually possess 10% to 20% of their original strength, and even 10% of a powerful demi-god’s strength is beyond the reach of ordinary legendary warriors.

However, given that Natural Fury’s reaction isn’t hostile or indicative of danger, it might even be some unexpected good news!

So Donald simply summoned the energy form of Natural Wrath and held it in his hand, then flew in a certain direction guided by its sensing. Soon, guided by the spear in his hand, he arrived at a large, bare area in the forest covering several acres. This place seemed to be polluted by some strange energy—both the plants and grass had withered away, and the black soil was unnaturally barren. It wasn’t fertile black soil but rather land contaminated by chemical waste, emitting an unpleasant smell that made him feel disgusted instinctively. Looking at the harsh environment before him, Donald suddenly had an epiphany and understood what kind of test the fallen Green Tree God had devised. He softly recited a spell and waved his hand to release a massive fireball. The fireball exploded on the dark, polluted soil, covering an area of dozens of feet. But before Donald could cast another spell to purify the rest of the area, the scorching red flames suddenly changed color, as if encountering a natural enemy, and their temperature dropped rapidly. Soon, not even embers remained, and they vanished completely. At the same time, the polluted soil seemed to gain momentum and expanded slightly outward. Although the expansion wasn’t large, Donald’s keen senses detected it. “What is this thing? It can absorb other energies to grow stronger, spreading like cancer cells throughout this forest, this ‘body’?”