Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 578: Tianjie

Shi Xiaobai had disappeared.

One-Pun's God's Guardian should have been able to precisely pinpoint the target's location regardless of the distance, but this time, it failed. He was unable to lock onto Shi Xiaobai's location.

There were only two possibilities for such a situation to occur.

The first possibility was that Shi Xiaobai was in a location where God's Guardian couldn't locate. This was despite it having never happened before. Still, One-Pun had no way of determining how wide God's Guardian's range was, considering the possibility that some corner in the world could screen his targeting, or that it was possible that Shi Xiaobai had gone to another world which was separated spatially from their world.

It was very improbable, but still possible.

The second possibility was that the target was dead, and the targeting would automatically be removed in such a situation.

This was nearly impossible if Shi Xiaobai were to die, One-Pun would have sensed the "danger" before he died and teleport to Shi Xiaobai's side through God's Guardian.

But up to now, One-Pun had never sensed any signs of "danger" happening. The three targets he protected were safe. If he needed to doubt this point, then God's Guardian was something completely unreliable.

"It looks like I need to make a trip," One-Pun thought.

God's Guardian's teleportation was categorized into two types. One of them was Guardian Teleport. It would allow him to teleport to the target if they encountered danger. Such a form of teleportation did not cause any harm to himself, but it could only be triggered when the target was in danger.

The other was a proactive teleport. Without hitting the condition that the target wasn't experiencing any danger, he could still teleport to his target's location at any time. But doing so would expend a great deal of Psionic Power. According to One-Pun's present Psionic Power capacity, using it once would drain about half his Psionic Power.

Draining half his Psionic Power to teleport to an unknown location was no doubt a risk.

But be it his appreciation for Shi Xiaobai's character and personality, or the importance he attached to the genius youth who was the only one to conquer the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower in ten thousand years, One-Pun could not sit idle.

"God's Guardian—Proactive Teleportation."

One-Pun proactively used God's Guardian's and after instantaneously teleporting, he arrived somewhere unfamiliar.

Typically speaking, the person who appeared in front of him should have been the youth who called himself "This King," but right before him was a towering tree spanning a hundred meters in diameter.

To be precise, there were two trees. One of them grew out from the ground, while the other was inverted, having the sky as its soil. The crowns of the two gigantic trees met in midair more than ten kilometers in the sky. Together, they formed an expansive emerald-green shade that blotted out the firmaments.

These two giant trees were said to have grown overnight. The spectacle of the two trees had caused a sensation and had occupied the headlines today. One-Pun had also heard of it, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he was astounded.

It wasn't because of the massiveness of the gigantic tree, but that One-Pun sensed that the two trees contained immense power.

The stronger someone was, the more they could sense the might emitted by the gigantic tree. It was as though two divine soldiers were overlooking all life. That look of contempt towards all things in the world left One-Pun feeling apprehensive.

Soon, One-Pun sensed a familiar aura amid the might.

It was the youth's aura.

Right inside the trunk of the gigantic tree that rose from the ground, he could sense an aura belonging to Shi Xiaobai.

One-Pun's expression changed slightly.

There was no way for God's Guardian's teleportation to be wrong. Shi Xiaobai ought to be right in front of him, but all he saw was the ancient tree trunk that resembled a gigantic wall. Furthermore, he could sense Shi Xiaobai's aura from the trunk. Then, the answer was obvious.

"Shi Xiaobai is inside the tree!"

One-Pun's expression grew solemn.

If Shi Xiaobai was inside the tree, then perhaps the tree's might was able to screen God's Guardian's targeting. That was reasonable.

However, how was he to determine that Shi Xiaobai was safe inside the tree?

Besides, the competition for the organization and academic factions was beginning tomorrow. This highly-acclaimed competition that garnered the attention of the entire nation was an honor precious to every rookie. Perhaps Shi Xiaobai didn't care for it, but it would be a pity if he missed it.

He had to figure out a way to get Shi Xiaobai out.

One-Pun thought for quite a while for a solution, but ultimately chose the clumsiest method.

He drew his Moon Reflection Sword, squatted down slightly, and leaned his body diagonally, posing as though he was about to slash.

A purple luster rapidly flowed across his blade as Psionic Power gathered and Sword Intent condensed, gradually transforming into a surging strength.

Guardian—that was One-Pun's Sword Truth.

Weng!

The Moon Reflection Sword cleaved out as it produced a clear hum while slicing through the air. The Sword Truth powers surged and like meteors striking the moon, the semicircle purple sword beam struck the towering tree!

Cleaving apart the tree and rescuing the youth out of it was the only solution One-Pun could think of!

Clang!

The sharp purple sword beam struck the tree's bark, producing the dull, reverberating sound of metal being struck. Upon scrutiny, he did not even leave a scratch on the smooth, light-brown bark!

This strike was delivered by a world-class Sword Master that was powered by Sword Truth; yet, it failed to even slice into the bark. The hardness of the tree was truly unimaginable.

"Indeed."

One-Pun sighed lightly. Although his Sword Truth was Guardian, making it more a defensive Sword Truth than destruction, his failure to slice into the bark implied that the tree's defensive strength exceeded expectations.

"Heh."

At that moment, he heard a scoff behind him.

One-Pun turned his head and saw a green-skinned youth appear not far behind him without him realizing it.

The youth scoffed and said, "Foolish human, you are far from being able to cleave open the Holy Tree with that inferior sword art of yours."

One-Pun's pupils constricted. His acuteness for danger made him instantly feel his hair stand on end as his body tightened up in wariness.

Apart from his green skin, the youth looked no different from an ordinary youth, but One-Pun felt an indescribable suppression.

This youth is very powerful, no—extremely powerful!

How many years had it been since he saw a monster that could make him feel repressed simply from their aura?

One-Pun clenched his Moon Reflection Sword and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

The youth did not mind introducing himself, "This King's name is Tianjie, the Transcendent King, and also the ruler who will be conquering this world."

One-Pun pricked up his brows. "Conquer this world?"

Tianjie raised his finger and pointed to the sky, saying, "This King's people live in the world above the Holy Tree. That is a barren land that the Transcendents have lived in for over ten thousand years. Now, it's time for you humans to experience this hell.

"This King has finished gathering his troops. Once This King kills all the experts of the humans, This King will begin the slaughter known as war!"

When Tianjie said that, his eyes turned ice-cold and smiled at One-Pun. "You are the first human This King has met. Are you considered an expert among humans?"