Apex Jungle

*Epigraph Unknown.*

## Summary

Apex Jungle is a D-Grade skill Zac evolved from Ancestral Woods to be more aligned to his Evolutionary Path. It dropped its damage transfer ability to instead create axe beasts, and the ten-meter trees now create a formation to seal enemies inside it, while still allowing teleportation. The trees themselves can fully dissipate strong D-grade attacks.

## Evolution

* Zac had made significant adjustments to his Domain Skill when upgrading it, essentially giving up on most of its defensive properties. Before, he could transfer damage from himself to the trees, but what was the point? **Chapter 1,124**
* Instead, Zac shifted toward a forest that resonated with his path. **Chapter 1,124**

## Skill Location

**Back**

* *Presumably same location as Ancestral Woods..*

## Early Proficiency

* A vast forest of twisting trees appeared before the cultist could unleash his strike. Not two trees were exactly alike, but most were over ten meters tall and had large crowns with either silver or golden leaves. Together, they formed a dense canopy that blotted out the stellar battle above. The trees grew out of thin air, their roots disappearing into golden scars, creating a magical, floating forest. **Chapter 1,123**
* The scene could have been mistaken for a vision of paradise at first glance, but it was clear the forest was not a blessed land. A sharp and ruthless aura radiated from the plant life, like each tree was a general of a hundred battles. Their fierce emanations were so strong that one's perception could easily shift, making one think you were looking upon huge axes with gleaming blades. **Chapter 1,123**
* The trees blocked everything, even absorbing the poisoned liquid without letting a single drop escape. A few dozen trees collapsed, but most survived the onslaught with just scarred trunks or withered canopies. Meanwhile, dangerous auras seeped out from the trees hit by the Kan'Tanu's attacks. **Chapter 1,123**
* Streaks of light shot out from their tree crowns, moving toward the floating heads and the Hegemons themselves. One moment, the streaks looked like all kinds of primordial beasts, their fangs and claws bared at their targets. The next, they were deadly arcs of axe light, not two identical. **Chapter 1,123**
* It wouldn't protect him, but it would create a kill zone to trap and target his prey. The beasts were real axe attacks, and any outer stimuli accelerated their growth. So long as the trees survived an attack, they would respond in kind based on the concepts inside his Evolutionary Stance. **Chapter 1,124**
* Hiding wouldn't work either—so long as the trees could sense an enemy's aura, they would charge up and target them like predators pouncing on someone encroaching their territory. Zac could also control the process, manually generating stronger attacks by infusing more of his will and Dao. Against these kinds of enemies, letting the skill run autonomously was enough. **Chapter 1,124**
* The tree's movements were one with the Dao, forming a natural formation at the level of his Late-stage Dao Branches. **Chapter 1,124**
* ... a trunk just as Zac sunk into it, soundlessly teleporting toward the Hegemon closest to the edge. **Chapter 1,124**

## Synergy

* **[Primal Edict]** had already spread throughout the jungle, using the connection of all life to propagate far faster than it could outside. **Chapter 1,124**

## Commentary

* The seal wasn't as absolute as **[Pillar of Desolation]**, but that didn't matter in most fights. **Chapter 1,124**
* It had taken him a lot of work to rework **[Ancestral Forest]** [*sic*] into **[Apex Jungle]**, but it might have taken him years without the **[Court Cycle Token]** to provide inspiration. But infusing all of his understanding into the skill had been enough to create its natural formation, strengthening the skill beyond what Zac had originally expected. And thanks to its harmonization with his technique, he could instinctually [*sic*] understand how the trees would move and act. **Chapter 1,125**