Chapter 351: The Mountain's Roots
Chapter 351: The Mountain's Roots
"It's not a mountain peak?"
"What are you talking about, kid?"
As Qinggan heard Linsey's reminder, she was cleaning the ground.
She found this statement a bit odd, but out of a scholar's caution and diligence, she extended her perception ability underground.
"This... isn't just an ordinary mountain peak?"
Qinggan didn't sense anything unusual, not even a hint of it.
In her eyes, the mountain beneath her feet was as stable as the surrounding land, having stood firmly on the earth for thousands of years.
Even with her careful probing, she couldn't find anything else.
Other than the direction of the forest's root system, there were no additional discoveries.
Qinggan then turned her questioning gaze towards Linsey:
"Is your gaming skill malfunctioning? I don't sense anything wrong."
Linsey immediately provided an explanation:
"Ms. Qinggan, I can scan the terrain structure within a certain range."
"The mountain below isn't solid; it's filled with something like... wood?"
Linsey answered while simultaneously controlling his Map skill.
At this moment, he and Qinggan were located at the edge of this mountain peak.
But as the map's coverage area expanded, the reconnaissance range exceeded the mountain, and the objects within the mountain also disappeared.
However, this situation raised an even bigger question! Even though the reconnaissance range went beyond the mountain range, the green color on the Map didn't disappear.
Instead, it continued to extend into the distance, and a faint arc appeared.
It wasn't until Linsey expanded the map to its maximum acceptable range that he could only see an endless expanse of green.
"..."
Facing this reality,
Linsey was momentarily bewildered.
But soon, an exaggerated assumption formed in his mind.
The Map skill only displayed two things: the terrain being scouted and various target markers.
The former didn't match the actual scouting conditions.
So, it could only be the latter.
"Gudong—"
Linsey swallowed, and his left eyelid began to twitch, his expression turning tense.
Green represented a friendly unit for this colossal being.
But from its size...
"How big is this thing?"
Linsey recalled his previous encounter.
If the underground mycelium could be considered a massive entity occupying several square kilometers.
Then, compared to Linsey's current reconnaissance target.
The difference between the two was like that of an ant and an elephant!
In this world with Origin Power, a life form with such an enormous body might not even be adequately described by the power of the Seventh Stage.
"..."
"What's so surprising about the wood underground?"
As Linsey was astonished, Qinggan beside him also took action.
She demonstrated her skill, and her powerful force seeped into the surrounding ground like spring rain. The soil beneath their feet began to churn.
The cold inorganic matter seemed to come alive.
The soil turned and shifted, creating a massive gap in front of Linsey and Qinggan. It even thoughtfully formed a downward slope, making it convenient for them to descend and take a look.
Whoosh—
At that moment, a gust of night wind blew through the restless forest, dispersing the dark clouds and revealing the bright moon above. Silver moonlight shone on the ten-meter-deep fissure.
The yellowish-brown wood, buried deep underground, was now exposed to the two of them.
Linsey and Qinggan, with their botanical knowledge, immediately recognized it as the root system of a certain plant.
But compared to ordinary plants, this root was extraordinarily thick, with a volume so immense that it was hard to imagine. The several-meter-wide crevices that had opened up couldn't even reveal its full form and trajectory!
Qinggan didn't even continue down the path she had forged.
She turned around on the spot, looking at Lindsey with disbelief:
"Are all the roots beneath the mountains we're standing on like this?"
Lindsey nodded:
"At least, that's how it appears in my scouting range."
"..."
Qinggan was speechless.
Aside from being shocked by the root's massive size, she was even more surprised by the failure of her perception ability.
Qinggan's origin type was Life Essence.
Her skills were inherited from Volcano City's School of Life, following the unified path under the Scholar System. When this skill was developed to its depths, it could even encompass all things under the same life concept.
Based on this ability, Qinggan's perception of life was incredibly precise.
But today, without Lindsey's reminder, she wouldn't have even had the chance to realize that there was such an exaggerated behemoth buried beneath the mountain beneath her feet!
To put it bluntly, it was almost like making a joke out of Qinggan's abilities.
The only possible explanation was that the life represented by this root was far beyond Qinggan's realm, which was why she couldn't detect its presence.
Qinggan cleared her thoughts and asked herself:
"Can a Stage Seven existence achieve something like this?"
"..."
She immediately had her answer.
Impossible.
If the strength were any higher, it could only be a Stage Eight...
The Life Scholar stood in place, her brows furrowed.
Lindsey broke the silence at the right moment:
"Ms. Qinggan, what's your opinion on this?"
Due to her understanding of Awakened and Essence, Qinggan was shocked by what the sight before her implied.
But upon hearing Lindsey's question, she responded with a more realistic theoretical analysis out of her scholar's instinct:
"The volume of a plant's root often corresponds to its aboveground part."
"Since its root can reach the scale of a mountain, then the volume above ground must also be..."
Qinggan's tone paused.
She realized what her speculation implied, and her rational deduction contradicted the actual outcome.
"This is impossible!"
"Our exploration of the Forest Courtyard World wasn't thorough enough, but it's not possible that we missed such a massive life!"
The people who developed the Forest Courtyard World had established three major cities along the world-spanning road.
There were also hundreds of small villages or towns surrounding these three cities, spreading across the entire world.
During this process, there were all sorts of explorations and adventures.
Even though they were relatively preliminary and crude, the map of the entire world had been largely summarized.
Among the countless explorations, there was absolutely no life that could be as enormous as this!
Could there be a problem with the exploration of the world?
Various doubts flooded her mind, and Qinggan clenched her fists, even considering sending a message to Volcano City.
Just then, Lindsey asked, half reminding and half questioning:
"Do you think it might be related to the forest's earth pulse?"
"..."
"I'll give it a try."
Qinggan closed her eyes and maximized her perception ability.
The result matched Lindsey's speculation.
The mountain's trajectory followed the direction of the earth pulse, perfectly overlapping with the enormous root!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
