<h4>Chapter 41: The Strange Lin Lei. The Price of Sin?</h4>


    The violet-gray tree flickered with a strange light in the darkness.


    The area around it was shrouded in wisps of grayish-ck mist, which gave it an added sense of darkness.


    The branches were dense as the violet petals shed, casting a heavy shadow.


    “Isn’t the Qinglei Peachwood said to be an extremely pure and holy object?” Wang Ye stared ahead and was quite hesitant, “It should also be light green. This giant tree looks rather dark and seems to be some kind of nt-type beast. Is it even able to produce the Qinglei Peachwood?”


    Could it be that he had misjudged in the simtion as well?


    Or perhaps, he hadn’t found it at all, so he couldn’t be sure?


    “Since we’re already here, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to just leave... And those investigators... Could it be that they were killed by this giant tree? Only Lin Lei acquired the Qinglei Peachwood at the top of this giant tree?” Wang Ye decided to wait and see for a while.


    In any case, given the current situation, he wasn’t in a rush.


    Right at this moment, the leader of the group spoke out in a clear voice, “Everyone, this tree is extraordinary. It was originally a peak level four purple-thunder jacaranda. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t be able to defeat it. Fortunately for us, this tree is a descendant of a fierce beast from many years ago. It has been struggling to stay alive for so long that it’s only left with less than three-tenths of its strength now. Later, we’ll kill it together and divide the spoils of war. Its branches, tree trunk, and the jacaranda flowers are all rare high-grade materials.”


    “A descendant of a fierce beast?” Someone was puzzled.


    “That’s right!” Lin Leiughed, “You haven’t heard of it before, have you? All of you have probably heard that a demonic sword had once been sealed in this Sealed Demon Sword Tomb. A hundred years ago, the demonic sword had appeared out of nowhere, causing countless bloody storms in the Xinghai Province. It single-handedly massacred tens of thousands of Beastmasters and even caused quite a dark fog storm. That disaster was known as the ‘Xinghai Demonic Disaster’!”


    “I’ve heard of the Xinghai Demonic Disaster! So this is the ce?”


    “That’s right! After countless battles, the body of the demonic sword was split into several pieces, because it couldn’t be destroyedpletely back then. Thus, the experts of the past sealed it in three different ces. Of which, the shattered de was sealed within this Sealed Demon Sword Tomb.”


    Lin Lei continued slowly, “This giant tree is the descendant of a fierce beast that had followed the demonic sword and caused countless bloody storms back then. The experts of the past had wanted to kill it as well, but to leave a warning to their descendants, they decided to leave behind some descendants of the fierce beasts, allowing us young investigators to enter the secret realms and kill them. This way, we won’t forget about the disaster and the countless seniors who have sacrificed here.”


    “All of you must have experienced the first stage and seen the countless tombstones there. Those were the investigators who guarded this secret realm to seal this demonic sword.”


    Hearing this, the investigators who were participating in the assessment became restless.


    Some of them who knew these matters were filled with emotion.


    Wang Ye, who was behind them, was also deep in thought.


    Before he entered, Tang Xiong had briefly mentioned the history of this secret realm, though it wasn’t that detailed.


    Combined with those tombstones that he had seen earlier, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with Lin Lei’s words.


    However...


    “The reason why this medium secret realm, the Sealed Demon Sword Tomb, is rarely opened is precisely because of this. Although it’s only a medium secret realm, it’s too dangerous inside. Even though more than a hundred years have passed and the de of the sealed demonic sword has long rusted, the descendants of the fierce beasts are still alive. They are waiting for generations of investigators toe here and kill them to pay our respects to the heroic souls of the past. This is also the first step that we must take to be investigators!”


    “Everyone! Let’s do it! I believe that at this moment, the seniors of the past are watching us from the sky. Please don’t forget this disaster, as well as the heroes who died in it!” Lin Lei roared, his eyes shing as his aura burst forth.


    The blood of the other investigators began to boil as they grew excited, and one after another, they charged forward with their pets!


    “Lin Lei isn’t simple!” Wang Ye’s head was aching a little from all the words, “His eloquence is strong!”


    After calming down a bit, he felt that something wasn’t quite right.


    Thinking carefully, all of the investigators seemed to have died in hisst simtion.


    Only Lin Lei wasn’t dead.


    Wasn’t that a bit too strange?


    Rumble!


    Right at this moment, the giant purple tree suddenly began to roar, letting out a series of rumbling sounds.


    It seemed to be saying something.


    Its branches rustled, and thunder rumbled in the dark sky.


    In the next moment, countless branches that were covered with lightning suddenly grew from the giant tree and swept towards Lin Lei.


    The branches were like long, straight spears as they pierced through the air, producing a constant crackling sound.


    “It’s getting anxious!” Lin Lei suddenly said.


    As soon as he finished speaking, he charged out as well with his cloud dragon.


    “Those branches...” Wang Ye frowned slightly. “They seem to be only heading towards Lin Lei... the power of this attack...”


    The branches transformed into long spears that moved extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, they had already closed in on Lin Lei.


    Right at this moment, Lin Lei suddenly charged towards a nearby investigator, saying from behind, “This fierce beast is too dangerous. Let’s attack together!”


    “Alright! me-mouthed beast! Fire st!” The investigator immediately gave the order.


    The branches swept forward, but just as they were about to stab into the investigator’s body, they abruptly paused.


    Then, they were swallowed up by the fierce mes.


    “Lightning w!” The cloud dragon pped its wings, leaped into the air, and stabbed its ws forward.


    The strange thing was that this technique wasn’t aimed at the branches that were on fire before it. It was aimed at the me-mouthed beast.


    At the same time, Lin Lei suddenly pulled out a small sword that shed with cold light. However, his attack wasn’t aimed at the branches before him either. Rather, he stabbed the investigator from behind.


    Wang Ye, who had been watching in the dark, was so shocked that his pupils constricted.


    “Could it be that these investigators were all killed by Lin Lei?” Wang Ye was growing more and more puzzled.


    In the next moment, something even stranger happened.


    The branches swept over once more amidst the mes, sweeping away the investigator and his pet!


    With this sweep, the investigator and his pet were immediately sent flying!


    Seeing this, Lin Lei didn’t seem to panic at all. Instead, he said angrily, “Yun Xiaobei has been captured. Everyone, attack this fierce beast together!”


    The other investigators were busy dodging the attacks of the branches and they didn’t know what was going on. Only when they heard Lin Lei’s shout did they see the investigator being sent flying. With that, they immediately joined forces.


    For a moment, fire and water interweaved, and ice spread out. All sorts of multicolored pet skills smashed against the giant purple tree.


    As the branches were chopped off, the investigators were filled with excitement, but they soon began to feel exhausted.


    They felt as though this was a crushing battle.


    The light that the giant purple tree have off grew increasingly dimmer, and its branches grew no longer as sharp as before.


    As for Wang Ye, he was sweating profusely as he watched. All sorts of guesses shed through his mind, but they were ultimately just guesses.


    As a bystander, he could clearly sense that the target of the branches of the giant tree didn’t seem to be the investigators, but Lin Lei.


    But why?


    This giant tree...


    Right now, time was of the essence. Wang Ye didn’t dare to run a simtion suddenly either as during the simtion, he wouldn’t be able to sense what was going on outside.


    “It’s about to die,” From afar, Lin Lei narrowed his eyes, his voice still quite loud and clear.


    “Lin Lei, the spiritual energy of our pets is almost exhausted. Hurry up and give it the final blow!” The investigator named Yun Xiaobei said excitedly, “Hurry up, stop wasting time!”


    Lin Lei looked at the giant tree in front of him and said in a cold voice, “Don’t worry, these beasts will pay for their sins!”


    “Whoo-hoo-hoo...” At this time, the giant tree made a rustling sound and its whole body shed as if it was about to die.


    Faintly, a hoarse and aged voice sounded from the trunk of the great tree, “No, Xiao Tao... is not... as you said... No... No...”


    The voice stunned everyone, as though a gentle breeze had blown past and calmed them down. the investigators were all in a daze.


    Lin Lei just shook his head and his footsteps paused for a moment before he shook his head and said, “As expected of the descendant of a fierce beast of the past. To think you’re still spouting nonsense on the verge of death. Unfortunately, you won’t have the chance.”


    After saying this, he walked forward, step by step.


    Lightning seemed to have striked Wang Ye as he suddenly thought of something!


    He walked out...