Chapter 4023: Chapter 4042: The Will of the Planet

Nalan Wushuang and the three retreated once again by a considerable distance, Lin Chen summoned the Linglong Tower, and he himself flashed into it.

The Linglong Tower directly fell towards the planet’s surface, then immediately plunged into the massive crust crack that had just been sliced open, descending rapidly downward.

Lin Chen stood in the Summit Great Hall, observing the situation outside through the Water Mirror Technique.

Although the other party’s Divine Soul Attack shouldn’t kill him, dodging it even a little bit would still be beneficial.

First, let’s see what this creature really is, and it’s unclear whether our group’s efforts earlier caused it any injury.

The Linglong Tower continued to descend.

Lin Chen looked at the enormous cliff that had been cleaved open, yet felt some confusion in his heart.

Judging by the cleaved rock wall, the layers beneath this Sand Sea are also solid rock, so what kind of creature is hidden beneath, able to live so freely in the rock layers?

Could it be this creature also knows how to perform Earth Escape like I do?

The Linglong Tower continued to fall to the deepest part of the crack, yet surprisingly, beneath there it was still just split rock layers, without the injured giant beast Lin Chen imagined.

Where was the entity that attacked our group?

Was it possible that our earlier attacks didn’t really harm it, and just scared it, prompting it to retaliate?

Yet just now, the other side seemed to howl angrily and mournfully?

Lin Chen thought for a moment and decided to send out an avatar to test it out.

The avatar floated at the deepest part of the crack but wasn’t attacked, which puzzled Lin Chen.

Could our previous strikes have frightened the underground creature, making it afraid to act?

Seeing no movement, Lin Chen’s avatar raised a hand, cleaving at the abyss ahead.

"Boom!"

Although the avatar’s attack power was much weaker than the Black Blade’s might, it still held the terrifying strength capable of opening mountains and splitting the earth, causing massive tremors in the abyss.

In the next moment, something shiny suddenly appeared in the darkness, and the avatar seemed to be struck by a Thunder Strike, directly falling from midair. Simultaneously, a pitch-black tentacle extended from the ground, directly wrapping around the avatar’s corpse.

It’s here!

It’s still here!

Lin Chen’s heart and mind tightened, broadening his eyes to watch the light curtain of the Water Mirror Technique.

At such a close distance, Lin Chen finally saw clearly.

The tentacle that suddenly emerged from the rock layers wasn’t a solid entity!

It must be some kind of Energy Body, manifesting as a tentacle form, akin to an energy whip!

An Energy Body?

Without Strength?

No wonder!

No wonder this being traverses so freely within these underground rock layers without any obstruction.

But being an Energy Body that exists underground, our group’s previous strikes shouldn’t have caused it any harm.

"I’m heading out; Xi Jie, be ready to save me."

Xi nodded gravely, "Alright."

If the opponent was only employing Divine Soul Attacks, even if Lin Chen suffered an attack and was injured, losing the ability to perform Star Sky Jump, Xi Jie could manipulate the Linglong Tower to pull him back in.

As long as Lin Chen enters the Linglong Tower, he will be shielded from the opponent’s Divine Soul Attack, ensuring absolute safety.

As for the tentacles, neither Lin Chen nor Xi paid them much heed; without being struck by the Divine Soul Attack, those tentacles couldn’t possibly catch Lin Chen.

Lin Chen cast several techniques enhancing resistance to Divine Soul Attacks on himself, layering several layers of "armor," before flashing out of the Linglong Tower.

As soon as Lin Chen appeared, he was prepared for the impact of a "Thunder Strike," yet while suspended in midair, nothing occurred.

What’s going on?

After a brief contemplation, Lin Chen was surprised.

Was it because I hadn’t attacked the abyss below that I wasn’t confronted with an attack?

Could it be that my avatar was attacked before because of randomly striking the ground, which harmed or spooked something below, eliciting its retaliation?

Previously, when I slashed from the sky with Black Blade, I was retaliated against after each attack.

Upon consideration, it indeed seemed that way.

Those subjected to attacks all exhibited actions of attacking the ground, which resulted in facing attacks from the unknown underground creature, meeting instant demise.

Realizing this, Lin Chen refrained from rashly launching an offensive, opting instead to quietly hover, slowly expanding his Divine Sense in all directions, attempting to interact with this distinct entity.

Soon, Lin Chen’s Divine Sense was obstructed by the rock layers, unable to penetrate far, impeded by the heavy earth.

Nothing.

Lin Chen was quite surprised, where exactly is this Energy Body hidden?

Why couldn’t it be sensed at all; was it hidden in the Earth’s Core?

Could it detect every movement on the entire planet?

After pondering for a moment, Lin Chen decided to take a slight gamble.

He approached the ground, performing Earth Escape, diving into it while extending his Divine Sense as far as possible in various directions.

The earth impeded the range of Lin Chen’s Divine Sense dispersal, but Lin Chen disregarded it, continuing downward.

He descended an unknown distance before suddenly halting.

He opened his eyes wide, a look of delight appearing on his face.

He had sensed it!

Within the ground below, there was a consciousness moving.

Yes, it flowed rapidly within the earth, as if formless water.

Lin Chen quickly pursued it, closing in on the consciousness’s fluctuations in no time.

Endlessly chasing like this wasn’t a solution; Lin Chen sent his Divine Sense tracking the target, directly intercepting its path.

Ready for intense retaliation, Lin Chen was surprised when the entity didn’t attack, seemingly observing him with curiosity instead.

Observing?

Lin Chen felt as if they were like two dogs encountering each other on the street, cautiously edging closer, sniffing out each other’s intentions.

Testing, Lin Chen edged closer, the entity didn’t evade, inquisitively coming forward instead. When the two touched...

In an instant, countless consciousnesses intertwined, and Lin Chen engaged in extensive exchanges with this consciousness.

This type of exchange wasn’t verbal but rather soul-linked, soul-level communication.

No words, no actions needed, merely comprehending each other’s thoughts.

As their soul consciousness intermingled, Lin Chen’s expression gradually turned more peculiar.

He finally comprehended what this consciousness was, also understanding its reason for attacking those who landed on the planet.

It indeed wasn’t the life form defined conventionally by Ning Xiuzhu, but it undeniably possessed its own consciousness.

It was the will of the planet, or rather, the planet’s soul.

It’s a part of the planet, or rather, this whole planet is it.

Lin Chen was completely astounded.

Could such a unique existence truly be possible?