BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 74 – Seeds of Exhaustion
The battlefield had not yet fallen silent.
Dust still floated in the air like drifting fog, and broken pieces of monsters were scattered across the red earth. The massive form of the Rock Fighters’ Leader stood in the center of that destruction like a moving hill of stone.
His body was still enlarged, muscles swollen and hardened as if carved from mountain rock.
At his feet lay the crushed remains of the long, spear-armed creatures he had just destroyed.
The ground itself seemed exhausted.
Across the battlefield...
The old Second-Rank Master stood calmly.
His robe fluttered in the wind as though he were merely watching rain fall rather than witnessing a brutal battle.
His wrinkled fingers moved slowly.
Then he spoke quietly.
"You are stronger than I expected."
The leader lifted his club onto his shoulder.
"And you have more tricks than I expected, old man."
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, neither moved.
Then—
The old master reached into another pouch.
From within it he pulled five seeds.
These were different.
Each seed was the size of a finger, thick and heavy, with dark veins running along their surface.
The Rock Leader’s eyes narrowed.
The old man lifted his hand and released them.
The five seeds fell onto the red earth.
For a heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
Then the ground trembled again.
But this time the tremor was deeper... slower... heavier.
Cracks spread across the soil like veins.
Something beneath the surface was growing.
The earth began to rise.
Then—
The ground burst open.
From each crack emerged a massive form.
Roots.
Endless twisting roots.
They pushed upward from the soil like living trees tearing themselves free from the earth.
Within seconds, five enormous plant creatures rose from the ground.
Each stood nearly five meters tall.
Their bodies looked like tangled networks of thick roots woven together into crude shapes resembling giant humanoid figures.
Their legs stretched downward like bundled tree trunks.
Their arms extended outward—long and flexible—formed from twisting vines hardened into striking limbs.
Their bodies constantly shifted as the roots moved and tightened.
They were not solid creatures.
They were living knots of plant growth.
The Rock Leader let out a small breath.
"So these are the real monsters."
The old master did not answer.
He simply raised his hand.
The five root-monsters began to move.
Their massive bodies leaned forward.
Then they charged.
Each step shook the ground.
Their long root-arms swung outward like heavy whips.
As they attacked—
Their bodies changed.
The tangled roots suddenly hardened.
Their color shifted.
From green to dry desert brown, matching the color of the surrounding land.
Their forms stiffened like hardened wood.
The first creature attacked.
Its massive arm swung downward toward the Rock Leader’s head.
BOOM.
The leader lifted his club and blocked.
The impact exploded like two boulders colliding.
The shockwave scattered dust across the battlefield.
The creature attacked again.
Another root-arm struck from the side.
Then another from behind.
Three massive limbs descended simultaneously.
But the leader twisted his huge body.
His club spun.
CRASH.
One arm shattered.
Another was deflected.
The third slammed into his shoulder, pushing him half a step backward.
The Rock Leader smiled.
"Good."
The monsters did not stop.
They attacked relentlessly.
Every time their arms swung in attack—
Their bodies hardened into that desert color, becoming dense like dry stone.
But whenever they defended—
The color shifted back to deep green, and their roots flexed and absorbed the blows.
The transformation happened instantly.
Attack.
Brown.
Defense.
Green.
It was like watching living siege weapons.
Their strikes were powerful enough to shake the ground.
The Rock Leader swung his club.
BOOM.
The blow struck the chest of one monster.
But its body flashed green.
The roots absorbed most of the force.
The creature staggered only slightly before striking back.
A root-arm slammed into the leader’s side.
Another struck his back.
A third slammed downward toward his head.
The impacts echoed across the battlefield.
For several seconds—
The battlefield became a storm of crushing blows.
Wood against stone.
Roots against iron muscle.
The Rock Leader’s club crashed down again and again.
But the monsters endured.
Their defenses were tough.
Their attacks relentless.
Yet slowly...
The rhythm of the battle changed.
The leader’s swings became heavier. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
More violent.
His club began striking with increasing force.
BOOM.
CRACK.
BOOM.
The ground trembled beneath each strike.
Then—
One monster fell.
Its chest caved in under a crushing blow.
Its root body collapsed onto the ground in a tangled heap.
The remaining four attacked more aggressively.
But the leader’s power only increased.
Another blow.
CRACK.
Another monster shattered.
The third followed soon after.
The battlefield shook with every impact.
Finally—
After several brutal exchanges—
The Rock Leader stood atop the body of the last monster.
Its root limbs lay twisted beneath his feet.
His massive chest rose and fell slowly.
Inside his mind he murmured quietly.
My combat accumulation... is beginning to decrease.
His muscles were starting to feel the strain.
But his eyes turned toward the old master.
But what about his?
Is his accumulation decreasing as well?
Without waiting...
He attacked again.
The Rock Leader charged toward the Second-Rank Master.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
But the old man simply lifted his hand again.
More seeds fell.
This time they were smaller.
Dozens of them scattered across the battlefield.
The moment they touched the earth—
The ground erupted once more.
New monsters appeared.
These were smaller.
Their shapes were different—more insect-like, with curved limbs and wide mouths made of leaf blades.
Within seconds...
More than fifty new creatures surrounded the leader.
They rushed him immediately.
One leapt onto his back.
Another clawed at his legs.
A third exploded in green dust.
The attacks came without pause.
They battered him again and again.
The Rock Leader crushed them in waves.
But they kept coming.
The battle dragged on.
Minutes passed.
The battlefield filled with corpses of plant monsters.
Finally—
The leader stopped.
He stood breathing heavily.
His massive chest rose and fell like a bellows.
Across the field...
The old master calmly reached into another pouch.
He began pulling out more seeds.
The Rock Leader stared.
Then he muttered to himself:
"Do that old man’s seeds never run out?"
Far away...
The old master stood quietly.
Inside his mind he whispered:
The control style...
Relies on the consumption of accumulation and abilities to control the bodies of followers or creatures.
His eyes followed the exhausted giant.
But... there is an exception.
Meanwhile the leader attacked again.
But a troubling feeling slowly crept into his mind.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The seeds kept coming.
The monsters kept appearing.
The old master showed no signs of exhaustion.
The Rock Leader’s eyes darkened.
Then he made his decision.
"Enough."
He lowered his stance.
Then—
He charged directly toward the old master.
The monsters rushed to intercept him.
He crushed them violently.
One exploded against his chest.
Another stabbed his leg.
A third tore across his shoulder.
Blood appeared on his stone-like skin.
But he did not stop.
He kept advancing.
Breaking through wave after wave of creatures.
Closer.
Closer.
Finally—
He reached the old master.
The old man calmly lifted his hand.
From his palm emerged a long white thread.
It shot toward the leader like a spear.
"Here it comes," the Rock Leader whispered.
The thread struck him.
The moment it touched his body—
A strange dizziness filled his mind.
The thread burrowed into his senses like a needle.
The old master’s eyes glowed faintly.
He began controlling him through the thread.
The Rock Leader felt his thoughts slipping.
His mind began sliding toward a dark abyss.
A bottomless pit of silence.
His limbs began to grow heavy.
His thoughts slowed.
But then—
His eyes widened.
His will hardened.
He forced his mind to stand upright again.
The darkness shattered.
His body stabilized.
He stood firm.
Then he spoke.
"This... is your ultimate control attack, huh?"
The old master frowned.
Then—
Something unexpected happened.
Behind the Rock Leader...
Thirty soldiers began to move.
The warriors of the Rock Fighters.
The ones who had been controlled earlier.
Their bodies moved freely.
The old master’s eyes widened.
"How...?"
The Rock Leader turned his head slightly and smiled.
"From the beginning..."
"My breaking technique was never limited."
"It was complete."
"It shatters your control entirely... and returns control to me."
He looked directly at the old man.
"But I let you believe otherwise."
"I was waiting."
"Waiting for your strongest attack... so I could analyze it."
He lifted his club.
His eyes burned with fierce determination.
"And now..."
"You are in my hands."
The old man frowned.
"It is troubling..." the old man whispered.
"A complete break and mental defense... two weapons that counter my strongest weapons... such terrible luck for me, hahaha."
The old man frowned.
"There is no other solution," the old man snorted, closing his eyes.
... then
He pushed his hand outward... and threw aside his staff.
He whispered, "Full ability... a body capable of combat."
Suddenly—
Blue energy began to pour from his body like steam, surrounding him like a cloud.
Then the old man disappeared within the blue vapor.
The vapor began to expand.
Then...
It slowly started to thin again.
From behind the blue mist...
The new body appeared.
The staggering old man... had become a boulder of massive muscles that looked ready to burst.
Three meters of tightly coiled muscle.
A body surrounded by a powerful aura... far stronger than before.
"It’s time for punishment, boy," the master snorted.
Then—
He vanished from before the leader’s eyes.
He appeared in front of him.
He raised his fist... huge and heavy like a rock boulder.
And brought it down violently.
BOOOOOOM.
Twenty meters.
The Rock Leader staggered.
His body curled in.
The strike had been extremely powerful.
It left a clear mark on the leader’s movements.
On his knees... the leader knelt, gasping for breath.
