Plants have always been tenacious.
Vines, in particular, can survive and thrive even in soilless environments, growing robustly.
At this moment, infused with the totem power of Enzo , the vine growing in the Giant Mountain Turtle's nostril rooted itself in the creature's body, effortlessly tearing through muscle, rapidly growing, and intertwining with the turtle's blood vessels and tissues, ultimately draining the life from the Giant Mountain Turtle.
In an instant, the Giant Mountain Turtle was completely wrapped up by the vine.
Enzo, utterly spent, fell from the massive head of the turtle, caught by Clara who hurried to his side.
Meanwhile, Priest Lucy stood completely dumbfounded.
Despite the fact that Enzo's method of killing the Giant Mountain Turtle was quite unconventional and not exactly honorable, she always upheld the belief that wisdom was an essential part of strength and did not see it as improper.
She approached the corpse of the Giant Mountain Turtle.
Its enormous eyes remained open, seemingly unable to believe that it had actually died in such a manner.
Priest Lucy ignored the corpse of the Giant Mountain Turtle and instead turned her attention to the vines. Pulling out a small iron knife, she cut open the outer layer of the vines, only to find the wounds rapidly healing before her eyes, sparking suspicions within her.
However, no one seemed to notice Lucy's actions.
Meanwhile, Clara helped Enzo sit down, her gaze wary as she kept watch over Jessica and the members of the Venom Tribe.
Priest Lucy understood the source of this vigilance. In fact, if she couldn't extract information from these vines, she would demand a portion of the Giant Mountain Turtle.
But now, Enzo was more valuable.
Therefore, she instructed her tribespeople to return to their village.
After returning to the village, Priest Lucy was no longer as calm as before. She called Jessica over and asked solemnly, "Jessica, when Enzo helped you enhance your totemic power last time, did you experience anything else?"
"Huh?" Jessica's face turned red. She hesitated.
But under Lucy's serious gaze, she could only confess, "Yes, I felt extremely excited, like encountering some delicious food."
Upon hearing this, a smile crept onto Priest Lucy's lips.
Finally, she could confirm that Enzo's leaf totem was not ordinary.It was indeed the rumored Leaf of Life, capable of such abilities.
However, now that she was certain of this fact, she found herself deeply perplexed.
Because the Seven Great Origins Creations concerning totems—the Tree of Life, the Fountain of Eternity, the Skyward Wings, Fallen Stars, Death Soil, Endless Fire, Blood Copper, Radiant Crystal—were all false. During her time in the archipelago, all tribes held to these beliefs.
The Seven Great Origins Creations did not exist. Neither did the deities.
She had once questioned the validity of this news, but the extinction of the Barren Mountain tribe confirmed it. The Barren Mountain scepter had been offered as a gift to the deities, but during the ritual, the Barren Mountain Priest wielded the scepter's power and found no trace of the so-called deities.
There are no deities in this world.
This is the truth.
But what about those Seven Great Origins Creations?
Priest Lucy's thoughts were in turmoil, making it difficult for her to think clearly.
...
Meanwhile.
In front of the corpse of the Giant Mountain Turtle, Enzo slowly began to regain consciousness.
Clara wielded a dagger and laboriously cut open the body of the Giant Mountain Turtle.Thankfully, the vines had already propped it open, which saved her a significant amount of effort.Clara cleared a crawlable pathway and extracted from the body of the Giant Mountain Turtle the undigested essence of the supernatural giant crocodile, along with a sturdy golden crystal.
Enzo looked at the golden crystal with curiosity filling his eyes.
He asked in confusion, "So, this thing is the supernatural life essence of the Giant Mountain Turtle?"
Clara nodded in agreement, "That's likely."
Enzo took the golden crystal and prepared to examine it closely. However, at that moment, the leaf totem of the Life Tree spontaneously manifested, emitting a strong sense of desire.
It seemed to crave the crystalline essence of the giant creature.
After a moment's consideration, Enzo directly manipulated the leaf totem and began to absorb the power contained within the crystal.
Before long, the entire crystal was consumed.
Enzo was pleasantly surprised to find that his totemic power had been fully replenished and significantly enhanced, now more than double its original strength.
He could vividly sense the changes, knowing that with a bit more enhancement, the leaf totem of the Life Tree would advance, gaining more abilities and even more powerful effects.
All this from just one Giant Mountain Turtle.
He lamented that such creatures were probably hard to come by. Even if he were to encounter them, it wouldn't necessarily be possible to kill them like this time. Nevertheless, the gains from this encounter were quite substantial.
The essence of the seven supernatural giant crocodiles was intact.
The tribe would soon gain seven new totem warriors, greatly increasing their chances against the Chew Bone Tribe. It might even lead to an overwhelming advantage.
Enzo felt immensely satisfied at this moment.
...
On the other side.
After receiving orders from Chew Bone Tribe leader Mog, Crue led a portion of the tribe members in a swift attack on the Timberwolves Tribe. They easily breached the Timberwolves Tribe's defenses, capturing over forty suitable sacrificial members and sending them off to the valley.
Afterwards, they swiftly moved towards the Crimson Star Tribe.
Concealed among the tall trees on surrounding peaks, they covertly observed the Crimson Star Tribe's camp.
One of the plunderers from the Chew Bone Tribe couldn't help but exclaim, "The Crimson Star Tribe actually has pottery! That could fetch a lot of gold leaves from those traveling merchants. And look at that red house in the middle, it might hold precious treasures!"
Another plunderer licked his lips and said, "I prefer women over treasures any day."
He continued, seemingly recalling something, his voice growing sharp and frenzied as he shouted, "Crue, why did you stop me just now!Otherwise, that man will be able to see how his woman screams beneath me, and then I drive a spear through her chest!"
Crue's voice was low: "You can go tell Mog that."
The plunderer immediately fell silent. He clearly lacked the courage to say such things to Mog, the chief of the Chew Bone Tribe.
However, Crue's attitude also displeased him.
He continued to question, "When do we strike?"
Crue glanced at him and replied, "Not yet. Patience."
The plunderer taunted, "Crue, you're not scared, are you?Just the few down there, if I have a little time, I can cut off their heads!"
Crue didn't respond this time.
He furrowed his brow as he spotted several members of the Chagga Tribe below in the camp.
What was going on?
Crue couldn't understand. Furthermore, there were several tribal members below engaged in training, likely the defense forces of the Crimson Star Tribe. However, their training resembled that of Clara's Battle squad under the command of the Chagga Tribe.
Could it be that Clara had betrayed the Chagga Tribe?
Crue wondered to himself.
At this moment, the plunderer who had earlier taunted Crue couldn't hold back any longer.He cursed, "Crue, you're just a coward! Keep waiting for me, I'll take care of those people!"
With that, the plunderer slid down from the tree and dashed towards the Crimson Star Tribe camp.
Seeing this, Crue had no choice but to command the others to follow.
At that moment, the sound of arrows whizzing through the air rang out. The first plunderer who had descended was unable to dodge in time and was struck by several arrows in the chest.
He couldn't believe it, unable to accept that he was dying like this.
The tribal patrol team also noticed other members of the Chew Bone Tribe and immediately shouted, "Ambush! Everyone, be on alert! Enemies spotted!"
The tribal camp descended into chaos.
Witnessing this scene, Crue erupted in anger, shouting, "Fools!"
After his outburst, he issued orders, "The rest of you, take care of that Battle squad. Follow me into the camp!"
But before he could finish his command, dozens of arrows came flying again.
This time, however, the plunderers were prepared. They took cover behind trees, easily evading the arrows. Seizing the moment when the Battle squad members drew their bows again, the plunderers swiftly surged forward. They rolled down from higher ground and thrust their spears at the Battle squad members.
On the side of the Crimson Star Tribe, Captain Lupus yelled, "Be careful!"
But his warning came a bit too late. Several members were impaled by spears, severely wounded and unable to continue fighting.
Seeing this, Lupus was filled with rage.
Yet at this moment, he had no choice but to issue the order to retreat, saying, "Everyone, fall back to the camp!