"Where are we?" Aditya put Alicia down and then started looking around. Right now they were deep inside the forest. Aditya instantly guess that they must have been teleported to the inner or to the core region of the heavenly hemlock forest. He couldn't sense any mutant fire ants or any magical animals in this area. Everything was just too quiet.
The whole forest was covered in a blanket of snow. The snow under Aditya slowly started running red from the body that was still falling from his body. The Peak 5-star healing pill was still healing his wounds. It would probably take another few hours for his body to completely heal.
"My guess is, we have teleported to the core region of the Heavenly Hemlock forest." Hearing Sylvie's words, Nora, Alicia, and Noah's faces turned pale. The core region of the forest was home to many powerful and strong 5th-order magical animals. It was a place where the strongest in the whole continent lived. Even if a beginner 5th-order can easily die if the cultivator is not careful enough. This place was full of danger.
"Here I thought the teleportation crystal would send us out of the Heavenly Hemlock forest." Aditya was a little disappointed. If he was alone, then he could have left the heavenly hemlock forest.
"The Heavenly Hemlock Forest is even bigger than the Ethereal Empire. The teleportation crystal functioned to randomly teleport us anywhere within 100km. We're probably not so far away from the inner region. We were unlucky."
"Aditya, how are your wounds?" Everyone's attention fell on Aditya's wounds. There were still large holes on his right wing. And the condition of his right arm was still as bad as before. His face looked pale as if someone had drained blood from his body. His former handsome face was no longer there. The flesh on his right cheek had been torn and now his cheekbone could be seen. Honestly, it was even frightening to just look at his face.
Alicia also looked at Aditya in concern. "The pill that Alicia gave me is healing me. Though I am not fully sure if the pill will heal all of my wounds and recover my body to 100%." Aditya knew that his right eye was gone.
"My fractured ribs have already healed. My damaged organs also have healed. As for the wounds on my right cheek, right arm, right-wing, and, right shoulder, I guess that would probably take a few more hours." At this moment everyone was feeling sad. The expedition team which previously had 100 powerful cultivators now only had 5 cultivators left. Everyone else had been killed. No one was sure if Coby, the strongest of the elite soldiers who were told to wait outside the heavenly hemlock forest and look at the Pegasus was alive or not.
Sylvie used earth elements to make a cave that was hidden on a rocky mountain. She then blocked the cave's entrance with stones and covered it with snow so that no one will suspect anything.
"I will seal this cave." Aditya started drawing runes on the cave walls. These runes would hide their presence and prevent their Aura from being leaked. Even a Beginner 5th-order cultivator won't be able to sense their presence unless that cultivator is near their cave. This will keep the magical animals and the mutant fire ants away from this cave.
After Aditya was done, He went to a corner and sat down with his back leaning against the wall.
"Alicia, have you found my storage ring?" At that time, knowing that Noah was going to be killed, Aditya had asked Alicia to look for his storage ring which fell from his middle finger when he was sent flying by Ashley's attack.
"I did." Aditya took his storage ring from Alicia.
At that moment, knowing that his current speed wouldn't be enough, Aditya used one of his evolved skills.
『Inferno Overdrive: -
『Description』- A special type of skill developed by the Goddess of War. This skill has evolved from Blast of Divine Fury. Because of the Divine Dragon Bloodline, the power of this skill has reached a new level.
『Function』: - It will consume [20+] mana to activate the Inferno Overdrive skill. When this skill is used, the host will enter into a berserk state. All of the host stats except for Mana will be temporarily increased by 70%. The host will have to spend [5+] mana per second to keep this skill activated. After using this skill, the skill will enter a 24 hours cooldown.』
When Aditya used this skill after using Crimson lightning dash, and Storm flight, his agility had reached [2385+]. At that moment Aditya's speed had reached a new frightening level. Even he was having trouble controlling his agility. Unfortunately moving at such terrifying speed when his body was severely injured only reopened some of his wounds which previously had stopped bleeding because of the Peak 5-star pill.
Aditya never thought there would be a Peak 5th-order enemy. Without even using the Inferno Overdrive skill, his agility was 1403 which was more than enough to take on multiple beginner 5th-order enemies. 'That old man almost countered my top speed. If I had not used a Crimson lightning bolt at that moment, he would have blocked my attack.' At that moment, the power of his lightning-type attacks also had increased by 50% because of his mythical class Storm Marshall.
One more thing that Aditya noticed was that there is another powerful enemy besides the old man. It was that being who pressured Aditya right when he slaughtered almost four hundred thousand mutant fire ants and managed to push the mutant fire ants over an area of 10,000 meters. The Aura of that being was more darker and sinister than the Aura of the old man which was filled with killing intent.
"What should we do now?" Nora asked the most obvious yet most important question. Hearing her question, Aditya was the first one to reply before anyone else.
"We're going to spend a few days here. I want to recover from my injuries. After that, we will leave this place. This time I will be ready to deal with the old man." Aditya knew that if the old man had not taken him by a surprise attack, then he could have defeated the old man. Aditya still had many skills that he hasn't used. The inferno overdrive was one of these unused skills.
No one said anything. Everyone agreed with Aditya's plan. They knew in their hearts that if they wanted to leave the Heavenly Hemlock forest, then Aditya was their best option.
Meanwhile, a frown appeared on Alicia's face as she looked at Aditya's wounds. "That's odd. Why are your wounds not healing?" Her words caused Aditya to also look down. Just like Alicia had said, although the bleeding had stopped, his wounds were healing too slowly. At this rate, it would take him half month to completely recover. Another thing he noticed is that compared to when he took the pills, his healing speed had slowed down.
"A Peak 5-star should have the power to instantly heal all Aditya's wounds. I don't understand why it is taking go long for your wounds to heal." Others also frowned. This was not a piece of good news.
"Maybe, this has something to do with that Peak 5th-order cultivator. I am not sure of it but I heard that some 5-star weapons can actually inflict curses on opponents. There are many kinds of curses out there. I think the old man's golden spear cursed Aditya's body which caused a slowdown in his healing speed." Even Sylvie looked unsure of her words.
But her words had worried Aditya. "Or maybe the spear had some mysterious substance that entered your body and slowed down your healing speed." Nora's words made more sense. One reason why Aditya instantly believed in Nora's words is that if he was cursed in any way, then his divine dragon bloodline would have reacted to it. But that was no reaction, so it means that Nora's theory is true.
"Nora, I am afraid your words are true." Aditya couldn't help but feel anger toward that old man.
"I have a way." Sylvie broke the silence by taking out a red round shaped earring from her storage ring. This red round-shaped earring was a Peak 4-star artifact. The earring had a unique crimson glow on it. Even an ordinary human would be able to tell the value of this crimson earring.
"Take this" Aditya caught the earring and looked at it for a few seconds before deciding to wear it. After wearing the earring, everyone noticed a visible change in Aditya's pale. The paleness in his face now had decreased. Aditya now looked more lively and energetic than before.
"What sort of artifact is this?" Nora curiously asked.
『Blood of World Tree』
『Peak 4-star artifact』
『Artifact type: - Earring』
『Description: - This Peak 4-star earring was forged by a talented 4-star elven blacksmith. The final material of this earring which is the blood of the world tree was obtained after waiting for 129+ years. The blood of the world tree makes this artifact extremely valuable. Throughout the ages, many elves had lost their lives to get the Blood of World tree artifact in their hands. The Blood of world tree used to be a Mid-5-star artifact. If both the Blood of World tree earrings are worn together, the artifact will become a Mid-5-star artifact.』
『Function 1』: - When the blood of the World tree earring is worn, the user's stamina will be increased by [300+]. If both earrings are worn together, the user's stamina will be increased by [700+].
『Function 2』: - If in case the user's health drops to a dangerous level, this function of the earring will be activated. When the user's health falls to a dangerous level, the blood of the world tree will increase the user's healing speed increased by [40%]. If both earrings are worn together and the user's health drops to a dangerous level, the user's healing speed will be increased by [90%]. This function will be unavailable for the next 30 days after each use.
Cooldown: 30 days
『Function 3』: - A single earring will increase the user's stamina recovery speed by [30%] while both earrings will increase the user's stamina recovery speed by [70%].
『Function 4』: - If both earrings are worn together, the earrings will protect and prevent the user's health from reaching zero. Note: - This function can only be used once. After using this function, the earrings will lose this function, and the earring's rank will drop from Mid 5-star to beginner 5-star artifact.
As soon as Aditya wore the earrings, his stamina instantly increased by [300+]. As his health was still very low, the second function of the earrings was also triggered which increased his healing speed by [40%].
"This artifact will increase Aditya's healing speed. I never thought the artifact which I never used will come in handy in such a situation." This artifact was passed down from her grandmother. Sylvie very rarely used this artifact as she had other better options. The artifacts that she wore increased her mana by a few hundred points. One of her artifacts even increased her spell-casting speed by [100%].
Normally a Peak 4-star artifact would be considered a priceless treasure. But given Sylvie's identity, it was easy for her to have multiple powerful artifacts. Having those artifacts greatly helped Sylvie in fighting. There is no doubt that After Aditya, Sylvie was the second most powerful with Nora, the Succubus being the third most powerful one. If Nora was also given the same artifacts that Sylvie had worn during the battle, then the Succubus would have been even more powerful than Sylvie. Nora's biggest drawbacks were her limited mana. If she had a huge mana reserve like Aditya, she could have even controlled all the 5th-order mutant fire ants using her charm.
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