Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies Chapter 1670: The Sword in the Tree Evolves

To prepare for the Wuluan Empire’s invasion, which could come at any moment, everyone was giving it their all.

Every day, Li Changgong shut himself away in the training grounds, honing his one-strike, one-kill swordsmanship.

He knew that even though he was the weakest member of the five-person team, if they truly faced that terrifying Gatekeeper of the Underworld, he would certainly have to risk his life to deliver that one strike!

No one dared to slack off.

Under the threat of a powerful civilization, anyone could die in the coming war.

The first light of dawn was faint.

In a field at Qingpu Base, the light was as bright as ever.

No crops had been planted in the field yet. Vast stretches of fertile land waited only to be tilled and sown.

Suddenly, the ground trembled slightly, and grains of rich soil, like sand, began to slide down.

Only on closer inspection did it become clear that someone was buried in the earth.

Li Jian had been buried here for a long time.

To help cultivate the Sword in the Tree, he had spent this entire period turning himself into a human plant.

The increase in his ability index had greatly advanced his abilities. By now, he could almost merge with the soil just like Babu, enriching the land. He could even absorb nutrients from the earth, repeating the process over and over.

This was the way of life force drawn from the earth.

The door to the cultivation room opened, and Zhang Yi walked in from outside. He immediately sensed where Li Jian was, then followed the rows of earth toward him.

Zhang Yi crouched down and looked at the man buried in the soil before him. “Did it work?” he asked softly.

A pair of dark eyes appeared in the earth.

The soil slid away, and Li Jian’s body slowly emerged from the ground. He was completely naked, like an old tree root that had spent years growing underground.

“It worked, Your Excellency, the Supreme One!”

Li Jian’s voice was hoarse. Having cultivated the Sword in the Tree, his body was nearly dried out, but his tone was filled with barely concealed joy.

“Thank you,” Zhang Yi said sincerely.

Suddenly, Li Jian opened his mouth wide with a loud “Wah!” and spat out a jade-green vine.

The vine forced his mouth open and quickly wriggled out. A powerful vitality instantly filled the entire cultivation room.

All across the cultivation room, the seeds buried in the soil began to grow at once: breaking through the ground, growing, budding, and blooming.

An incredibly rich breath of life permeated the entire space.

Even Zhang Yi felt refreshed, body and mind alike, as he breathed it in.

The green vine emerged from Li Jian’s body. Zhang Yi walked over and grabbed it, and soon the vine spread across his arm.

A large number of nanobots had been implanted inside the Sword in the Tree, allowing it to rapidly change its shape.

One moment, it was a bracelet wrapped around Zhang Yi’s arm; the next, it slithered around his body like a little snake.

It was both a vine with leaves and branches, and something as fluid as water.

Zhang Yi could feel the Sword in the Tree evolving. After receiving the God Essence and being nourished by Li Jian’s life force, it had now unlocked its Genetic Lock and reached the Epsilon-class level.

At a mere thought from Zhang Yi, it wrapped itself around his arm, clinging tightly as it began to absorb his power.

Li Jian’s body could no longer satisfy it. Only Zhang Yi’s supernatural power was the sweet nectar it craved most.

Connected to the Sword in the Tree, Zhang Yi could clearly sense that it had grown robust.

It was tougher, and more powerful.

Zhang Yi swept his right hand, and the Sword in the Tree’s vines immediately twisted and coiled together, transforming into a massive silver blade!

Zhang Yi opened a Dimensional Gate and went straight outside. He looked around, then landed at an abandoned steel mill.

He gently raised his arm, set the silver sword against the mill’s wall, and lightly drew it across.

He hadn’t used even a trace of supernatural power. Relying solely on the Sword in the Tree’s own strength, he cut through the thick concrete wall as easily as slicing tofu!

“Its strength has changed beyond recognition. Most importantly, it can withstand my power!”

A deep, shadowy gleam flashed through Zhang Yi’s eyes. The power of the void spread over the Sword in the Tree like a rising tide, instantly staining it into a massive black blade.

The tip of the blade lightly tapped the void ahead.

Pop!

In the blink of an eye, the entire abandoned steel mill vanished from where it stood, leaving only an enormous circular crater in the snow.

“Excellent. Now this is a weapon worthy of my strength!”

A satisfied smile curled Zhang Yi’s lips.

The Sword in the Tree possessed limitless regenerative ability and the toughness of a plant.

Its defense was exceptionally strong, and its ability to harass enemies was practically impossible to counter.

Now that it had reached Epsilon-class, it could bear the full force of Zhang Yi’s power, and its destructive force would reach unimaginable heights!

No other weapon could produce an effect like this.

“From now on, you can attack and defend. Babu, even though you’re dead, you’ll live on in my hands forever, fighting alongside me. This is your honor!”

An evil smile curled Zhang Yi’s lips.

Of course, Babu was long gone. All that remained was the Sword in the Tree, with its plant instincts.

The black branches seemed to respond to Zhang Yi’s words. They climbed gently over his body, weaving densely together until they formed a suit of plant armor!

“Is this… vine armor?”

Zhang Yi was astonished. He hadn’t expected the Sword in the Tree to gain this ability after evolving.

In the past, he had never considered using the Sword in the Tree as armor.

Its branches were too easy to snap. They were mainly used to harass enemies, not as a primary means of attack or defense.

But now, after breaking through to Epsilon-class and absorbing Zhang Yi’s supernatural energy, it had reached an unbelievable level in both offense and defense.

The armor it formed was even more protective than the Hidden Dragon Armor Lu Keran had made for him.

Zhang Yi was now truly layered from head to toe, packed with technology and deadly tricks.

The innermost layer was a close-fitting black suit made with the technology of the Jiangnan Region’s combat suits.

The middle layer was an exoskeleton armor Lu Keran had built using new Yi Metal materials and her formidable mechanical expertise.

The outermost layer, fitted over the Hidden Dragon Armor, was a layer of vine armor like an overcoat, formed from the Sword in the Tree’s vines.

His defensive power was completely maxed out!

Zhang Yi raised the Sword in the Tree in his hand and said softly, “I’m completely ready for battle now. Gatekeeper of the Underworld, are you coming?”

He looked toward the distance, in the direction of the sea.

Zhang Yi took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

“You’d better not show up after all!”