Night had fallen, but the city of twilight never slept. The crater was illuminated by torches and formation lanterns, as the excesses across the city grew more intense. Ortega had to admit that the central palace, surrounded by the glowing barrier and bustling city, looked impressive.
A very scenic place. It was almost a shame to lay it to waste. Almost. Looking past the splendorous pleasures, Ortega was not blind to the darkness in the alleys, the cellars, and forgotten corners. He had only read about the condition of the people saved from here, but he could see it with his own eyes now.
Especially after his intensive... research, he knew that this place was a rotten ruin below all the glamour and makeup. The actions of the Shadow Mountain Association had a striking resemblance to the deed of cultivator in Delta.
They used drugs to control people, or outright sell them, or rent them out. According to intel, there were also suspicions that they did the same disgusting medicine that was created from humans, after breaking them with drugs. Getting rid of this place was no loss at all.
If there were any doubt that they were the good guys, Ortega had none after looking at this place. Lost in thought, he had already passed through the busy streets and walked all the way to the entrance of the central palace, which was blocked by the glimmering barrier.
"Should be about time," he thought to himself as he pressed his hand against the barrier, as if to test if it was still solid. Ortega stretched, his bulging muscles stressing the fabric of his robes, then he turned to one of the alleys that was out of view from the main streets.
The moment he entered, he faltered. Among the grime and trash in the narrow alley, he found the rotting corpse of a small child. A boy, maybe four or five. His body looked malnourished, not unusual in this place, but the boy looked emaciated, almost like a mummy.
"I hate this place...Absolutely no loss," he mumbled. As mentioned, Ortega was already aware of the nature of this place. This was sadly not the first dead child or emaciated corpse he came across here. And he had only entered this city twice since he arrived.
There was some kind of cultivator that actually sucked his victims dry for energy in this place. Not that it mattered. This place would have no cultivators left once he was done here. He was interrupted by an incredible noise filling the crater and the screams and commotion on the street.
It had started. He better hurried.
...
A stake had been driven through the heart of the city of twilight. No, that was wrong. It had emerged from the heart of the Shadow Mountain Association, bursting through the central palace and reaching high into the night sky.
Unfurling a mighty crown, pieces of the building were catapulted across the crater. The gargantuan tree smashed through the shining barrier of the association like bursting a bubble and quickly covered the whole crater and more.
Everything happened so fast that people could barely react to the rain of deadly debris, as everyone was frozen in shock, staring at the flora that blocked the heavens. From one moment to the next, the stars had vanished, and the only light in the city was the lanterns and torches on the ground, which couldn't reach the tree that shot to the heavens.
Where the central palace stood mere seconds ago was not only a dimly lit cloud of dust and the looming figure of the tree's base. The realization of what had just happened only seeped in slowly; the quickest were the people on the streets who actually witnessed what had just happened.
Just when people started screaming in shock and fell in a panic, vines descended from the darkness above, grabbing people left and right, pulling them up into the shadows, barely giving them a moment to lament their fate.
"Mother! Ugh!" the Seventh Young Master grunted as he blocked the vine that suddenly attacked his mother from above. Following the block, he moved in to attack, and his sword, covered in aura, managed to cut off the tough vine.
"Get back into the Inn! get back in!" he commanded his mother and their entourage. The outside was chaos. Commoners and weaklings were running around in a panic, trying to flee from the catastrophe that hit the center.
He could sense fights all over the city. People in the Foundation Realm were fighting for their lives, while Golden Core Realm experts like him were actively fighting back or protecting people. All kinds of confusing thoughts were swirling in his mind.
What happened? Why did it happen? But they were all pushed back by the feeling of dread that grew whenever his divine sense touched upon the origin of this pandemonium. Where the palace of the Shadow Mountain Association once stood... was a Tree with a presence like nothing he had ever felt.
"Just what was going on? " he thought as he felt the fear settle within him. No, this was not the time. His mother was right behind him; he had to assess the danger and get her to safety. At least her.
His heart quivered as he pushed through the fear and expanded his divine sense to the maximum to get a full measure of the tree's extent. As a Peak Golden Core Cultivator, he was able to cover most of the city as long as he focused.
The Seventh Young master instantly regretted it, as his stomach started to churn and he tried to evacuate the recently consumed delicacies. The sky above was covered with these thick, tough vines hanging down from the lower branches like hair and attacking people in the city.
What was truly sickening was the true sight of these branches themselves, as he witnessed the fate of those who vanished into the darkness. The branches were filled with corpses, hung like criminals and desiccated like the victims of the Internal Energy Absorption Art. No, it was probably worse... The tree itself was like...
Like an insurmountable mountain. It felt like facing a landscape feature that had gained sentience. A divine mountain with unknowable power and mystery. There was not even the notion that he could ever fight this horror. Facing this presence was the source of true despair.
On the flip side, he actually felt glad that he was not present at the palace at the time. He didn't worry about the things he left behind; he actually felt lucky that his mother had called him to visit the Pale Moon Pavilion for dinner. As battle was no option, flight was the only response, and fortunately, they had a head start.
He retracted his divine sense as he couldn't take the sight of the branches. Instead, he spread it across the city. Mountains had their feet and foothills, and trees had their boundaries. The crown had to end somewhere, right? Would the vines be able to reach them if the escape the crown?
Once he sensed past the boundaries of the crater, he found what he was looking for. The edges of the crown lowered closer to the ground around the foot of the mountain. A tree that covered a mountain was terrifying but there was hope. He stormed back into the inn.
"Mother, I'm sorry, but we have to move," he apologized as he grabbed his mother and her closest maid by the waist to carry them under his arms. At first, she wanted to protest, but seeing a usually naive son so serious had her keep her words.
"Anyone who can keep up, follow me," he barked at the guard and charged through the restaurant to exit on the side closer to the crater edge. He did not fly. The air was filled with vines, and he would be unable to evade or fight with the two women under his arms.
It was easier to use buildings as cover and evade the wooden thunder from above. The guards, all either Peak Foundation Stage experts or at the beginning of the Golden Core Realm, took a moment to process his words before they followed to cover the escape.
He didn't waste time on maneuvering or using artifacts. Covered in a shield of his internal power to protect himself and the two women, he just powered straight through any buildings on the way, leaving a neat row of holes for the guards to follow.
Although the seventh young master didn't explain anything, they soon got an explanation for his actions. Obviously, he was not the only one perceptive enough to find hope in this situation, and soon after, the city was filled with enhanced calls and sound transmissions that warned the people and asked them to evacuate the mountain.
At this point, the Seventh Young Master with his mother and her maid under his arms had already evaded vines and random battles to reach the outskirts of the city, where they faced the towering cliffs of the crater.
"Those who can't fly, climb. Those who can, cover the retreat of the climbers," he left instructions before flying up the cliff, close to the wall.