Try a Different Tree

High Priest Imhotep was a classic villain from the Mummy series. He had been condemned for cuckolding his own superior and cursed into an immortal mummy.

Three thousand years of torment had tortured his soul, and his magical power had grown unprecedentedly powerful in the darkness.

Imhotep was an utterly evil fiend—there was no excusing that—but his devotion was indeed worthy of praise. He had died and come back to life for the woman he loved, only to die again after living once more.

His ending had been especially tragic. Betrayed by his lover, his heart turned to ashes, and he chose suicide, leaving people sighing in regret.

Imhotep in the Main God Space was tremendously powerful. Aside from his Immortal Body and formidable combat abilities, he could casually wield all kinds of spells. The four Reincarnators were no match for him and were killed in no time, their dehydrated corpses refined into mummies.

After killing the four Reincarnators, Imhotep stood where he was and quietly waited for the next challenger. Like a level-based game, the Scorpion King was the final BOSS. To meet him, one had to defeat Imhotep first.

But the game had an obvious loophole. With Imhotep and the Scorpion King placed together, if the Reincarnators followed the rigid rules, their intelligence would truly be beyond saving.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—

A barrage of bullets poured down, mixed from time to time with fire, frost, and other magic or Supernatural Abilities. The Reincarnators hiding in the shadows had made their move.

Russell swept his gaze around. There were three fire points, meaning there were at least three Reincarnator teams nearby. They had not acted earlier, likely for the same reason as him: letting cannon fodder die made it easier to gather intelligence.

Below, Imhotep spread his arms and raised them high, erecting a vast curtain of yellow sand that blotted out the sky. The sea of sand was as agile and ever-changing as flowing water, yet it possessed formidable defensive power. It blocked the dense firepower while extending three giant faces made of wild sand, roaring as they bore down on the locations of the three Reincarnator teams.

Rumble!!

The ground shook and the mountains trembled. The entire stone-walled space quivered beneath this blow. Of the three Reincarnator teams, one was silenced outright. Too weak to resist, they were swept into the air by the wild sand, their bodies dried out amid screams until they became mummies.

The remaining two Reincarnator teams repelled the yellow sand. One used a magic shield, freezing the wild sand with frigid air upon contact. The other met force with force and smashed the giant sandy face apart with a single punch.

Reincarnators who could make it here either had good luck or real strength. Imhotep’s ordinary attacks could not do much to them.

Below, the shadow cast by the sandy curtain stretched out and slid along the ground, darting beneath Imhotep’s feet at tremendous speed and merging with his shadow.

Imhotep’s body stiffened, and his raised arms involuntarily lowered. He gave a cold smile and said to the air, "Mortals, follow the rules and fight me to earn the right to challenge him, or… is this your final choice?"

No one answered. Overwhelming spells and a metal storm rained down, engulfing Imhotep and the Scorpion King’s statue. Crimson lotuses bloomed one after another, and explosions rang out without end. Nearly every Reincarnator team that had arrived had attacked.

Russell drew his Desert Eagle and fired in rapid succession. Like the other Reincarnators, he frantically focused fire, intending to kill the level’s BOSS in one stroke.

Kang Xi wrote runes with her fingertips and summoned flames. Attacking as she spoke, she asked Russell, "Isn’t what we’re doing a little inappropriate?"

"How is it inappropriate?"

"Imhotep said that only by defeating him one-on-one could we gain the chance to duel the Scorpion King. Those are rules established by Anubis. Ignoring them might increase the difficulty!"

"So what? To lower the difficulty, we should fight him one-on-one?" Russell sneered. "Your assumption makes sense, but you’ve overlooked one thing. There are at least thirty Reincarnators here. Even if someone defeats Imhotep and earns the challenge right, the others will not agree. In the end, it will still turn into a siege."

"You mean… to stop other teams from completing the mission, someone might interfere during the challenge?"

"Exactly!" Russell said meaningfully. "After all, people’s hearts are treacherous, so we have to be on guard. Everyone would rather raise the difficulty than get stabbed in the back at the final moment."

Rumble!!

Amid the roaring flames, Magic Power boiled and surged into the sky. The endless sea of sand gathered into a massive face, rising into the air through the bombardment and gradually swallowing the tunnels along the walls.

With prior examples to warn them, the Reincarnators knew full well what would happen if the sand ensnared them. Their attacks became even fiercer.

At that moment, a tunnel closest to the ground suddenly erupted with boundless cold. In an instant, the sandy face was frozen solid.

Five Reincarnators leaped onto the frozen ground. One of them jumped high into the air and, upon landing, smashed a fist into the ice. Terrifying force burst outward, punching straight through the ice. The instant he fell through, his four teammates followed him inside.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The tunnels around the walls fell silent for a moment. Then another Reincarnator team rushed out. Soon, more and more Reincarnators joined in.

Ding

Host had contacted plot character Wei Zhang, triggering the Lottery Draw. Draw now?

Host had contacted plot character Wei Shengzhi, triggering the Lottery Draw. Draw now?

In just that short time, twenty or thirty Reincarnators had appeared. Two of them had provided Russell with Lottery Draw opportunities. The names were still the kind that made one want to complain, but he did not mind. So long as they could trigger a Lottery Draw, they were good names.

The Reincarnators each displayed their own Supernatural Abilities, breaking through the ice in all manner of ways and charging toward the underground hall.

Some flew on swords, some had wings growing from their backs, some ran along the walls, some drove mecha, and some rode Flying Carpets…

Huh, riding Flying Carpets?

"Jason, it’s the vice-captain. Sister Xinlan and the others are all there. Let’s go down too!" Seeing that her teammates were safe, Kang Xi could no longer suppress her eagerness to reunite with them and leaped down from a height of a hundred meters.

Kang Xi had no ability to fly, but after experiencing so many worlds as a Reincarnator, jumping off buildings was as routine to her as eating. As she descended through midair, she drove her spear into the wall, gradually slowing her fall.

"What’s the rush? The winners always make their entrance last. Don’t you even understand that…?"

Russell shook his head. After confirming that no one was nearby, he snapped his fingers and summoned Jason, who had been hiding deep within a tunnel.

Jian Feizao’s corpse was strapped to Jason’s back. Having enhanced it with Hancock’s bloodline, that body could fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth with ease. The earlier stone chamber had been too cramped, limiting Jian Feizao’s abilities, but this place was different. There was plenty of room.

Russell pulled Jason’s soul out, stored the corpse with the Adamantium skeleton in his Space Ring, then chanted an incantation and stuffed Jason’s soul into Jian Feizao’s corpse.

Before long, Jian Feizao crawled to his feet, picked up the mask and fastened it over his face, then stared at Russell expectantly.

Jason: (._.)

Russell: (._.)

Jason said nothing, but Russell knew what he wanted. Speechless, he took out the Dogleg Saber and tossed it over.

"You’re so damn stubborn. Wolverine’s claws, Hancock’s fists—which one isn’t stronger than a machete? Why insist on going down one path until you die? Can’t you try a different tree?"