Three white scratches instantly flushed red.
Qimeng frowned slightly.
Her wrists—fair, slender, perfectly proportioned, and practically works of art—had actually been scratched by a beast.
The Night Shadow Cat's figure vanished under the moonlight, drifting behind her as its sharp claws lunged straight for her nape!
“Too slow.”
Qimeng coated the back of her neck in hard-wood armor, blocking the attack.
Several thorny branches erupted from her back, binding the black cat tightly like a cocoon before it could even retract its claws!
“Wild and untamable. You're useless to me!”
Activating her Devour All Things trait, she mercilessly absorbed the black cat that very night.
A vision of shadow stealth flooded her mind.
She hadn't expected to snag a new skill so easily: 【Shadow Step】.
Merge into shadows, erase your presence, and emerge silently from another shadow.
“What a divine skill. This is way more cost-effective than keeping an ungrateful cat that scratches its owner at any moment~”
After several days of aggressive expansion, the radius of her main body's root network had extended to an astonishing two hundred and twenty meters.
Although it wasn't total coverage, her reach was noticeably larger than before.
While patrolling the edge of her new territory, a patch of slender, purplish-black grass caught her eye. This magical plant was rather uncommon.
Mid-tier Novice.
Just as her roots tentatively brushed against them, the black grass suddenly came alive, climbing up along her roots.
Decisively channeling her mana, Qimeng severed that section of her roots in a swift, defensive cut and immediately set off to the site.
The moment Qimeng's fingers brushed the blades of grass, the stimulated shadow grass went wild!
Purplish-black blades abruptly wrapped around her fingers, climbing savagely through the gaps and wrapping around her forearm in the blink of an eye.
The fine fuzz along the edges of the blades tickled intensely.
Thwack!
Her other ankle suddenly tightened, followed by a violent squeeze!
The blades of grass crawled up her calf, locking the joints of her humanoid form and spreading to her slender waist, pinning her to the ground.
The purplish-black grass formed a striking visual contrast against her snow-white skin.
“Well, I've been bound—literally.”
Qimeng still had the peace of mind to tease.
“Though the color is a bit too gloomy. If it were light pink, I might have enjoyed it a little longer.”
【Liquefaction】 activated!
Her body dissolved into a puddle of clear, cool water, slipping easily through the gaps in the grass.
Re-solidifying a few meters back, Qimeng rubbed her itchy skin.
“Not bad. I almost got dominated by a little thing like you.”
A single stalk of shadow grass posed very little threat, but a whole patch sharing a single root system was indeed a hassle when they coordinated.
“But in the face of absolute elemental advantage, numbers are meaningless.”
Taking a flanking approach, Qimeng transformed her deep blue Water Threads into underground chainsaws, slicing through the shadow grass's root system.
Once she cleared them out, she devoured the main root of the shadow grass.
A vision of shadow binding and extension surged into her mind, converting directly into her new skill.
Returning to the Tree Court training ground.
“Shadow Entangle.”
Qimeng's gaze fell upon her own shadow.
The pitch-black shadow crept silently across the ground.
A few meters away, the silly bee girl Xiaomi was currently practicing her short spear thrusts.
A terrifying sensation of constraint washed over Xiaomi. It was as if she had been encased in wet concrete, leaving her unable to even budge a finger!
“Wah-wah-wah... What's going on?! An invisible monster is attacking! Help me, you bad woman, waah!”
Panicking, Xiaomi flapped her thin wings frantically, wailing at the top of her lungs.
Qimeng strolled over to her with leisurely steps.
“Hey, Captain Xiaomi. When you're asking for help, what are you supposed to call me?”
Xiaomi was dazed for a second, then her brain finally kicked in.
“It's your doing, isn't it?! You hopeless, wicked woman...!!”
Qimeng sighed deeply, making a show of turning to leave.
“Even the defense captain says so. It seems this invisible monster is too powerful. I'll make my retreat first.”
“Nooo! I was wrong!”
Seeing her only backer about to run, Xiaomi was scared out of wits.
Her face flushed crimson as she threw all caution to the wind and shrieked.
“M-Mother! Mother, save meee!!”
Qimeng stumbled, her face instantly darkening.
“Huh? Who's your mother?”
Xiaomi retorted with absolute conviction.
“Eh? Is that wrong? The most noble female bee in the swarm is called Mother!”
“It's completely wrong! I would never want to give birth to a daughter as foolish as you!”
Qimeng massaged her temples in exasperation.
“Change it. Call me 'Master' from now on.”
Xiaomi nodded obediently, immediately taking the hint and shouting.
“Master, save me! Master, save meee!!”
Only then did Qimeng happily retract her shadow.
With the restraint lifted, Xiaomi's body went limp. She nearly tumbled forward, glaring at Qimeng with teary eyes.
“You almost scared me to death!!”
“This is called situational mock-combat training.”
Qimeng maintained an innocent expression.
“Besides, who else is there in my territory to practice on?”
Xiaomi gritted her teeth in frustration, picking up her short spear once more.
Qimeng was in a great mood. The effects of Shadow Entangle were even better than she had anticipated.
Over the next few days, the small-fry monsters lured in by the scent continued to deliver themselves as easy prey, all of them turning into nutrients to support the expansion of the Tree Court.
Until one day, accompanied by heavy, thudding footsteps from the north side of the territory, a massive creature standing three meters tall appeared, its forelimbs resembling purple scythes of death.
High-tier Novice, Scythe-Blade Mantis!
“Xiaomi, fall back. Go hide behind the Tree Court.”
Qimeng's gaze sharpened, and she strode forward to meet it.
This time, she didn't employ any clever underground tactics. She wanted to purely test her body's explosive power and reflexes in high-intensity, close-quarters combat.
Clang! Boom!
Facing a tempest of scythe slashes, Qimeng launched into an offensive, relying on her knightly combat instincts and her newly acquired skills!
Using Shadow Step, she repeatedly teleported behind the beast for backstabs, while scattering Scale Powder Burst to disrupt the giant mantis's vision.
For the attacks she absolutely couldn't dodge, she activated Iron Bones to take them head-on!
After several rounds of intense fighting, Qimeng caught an opening right after the giant mantis executed a full-force slash.
“It's over!”
Countless Wood Spikes materialized around her, shooting out like a torrential downpour.
With a wet squelch, they pierced straight through the joints of the mantis's neck!
The giant mantis crashed to the ground.
As Devour All Things stripped away and absorbed its mana and traits, two surges of violent magic gathered in Qimeng's arms.
A deep comprehension of close-quarters cutting took shape in her mind.
【Scythe Blade】: Gathers mana in both arms to manifest indestructible physical close-combat mana blades.
“Whew... Whew...”
Qimeng stood before the corpse, panting.
Because she had fought head-on, several deep cuts had been left on her body, oozing a milky-white sap.
Fortunately, her Demon Tree constitution possessed excellent self-healing capabilities, and the wounds would close up before long.
“Master! Are you alright?!”
Xiaomi fluttered her wings and flew over.
But before she could even express her concern, her sensitive little nose twitched a few times. She stared at the sap oozing from Qimeng's arm.
“Sniff, sniff... Master, this scent... why does it smell so good? It's so fragrant...”
Qimeng sniffed her own wound as well.
There was indeed no scent of blood; instead, it carried the light, clean fragrance unique to plants and trees.
A sudden spark of inspiration struck her.
Could this blood-like sap have some hidden use?
In the spirit of experimentation, she squeezed out three drops of the milky-white sap and let them fall onto an exposed section of her main tree's roots near her feet.
As the sap seeped in, the root section began to stretch and expand, as if it had just consumed some legendary tonic.
The feedback sent from the roots was one of near-ecstatic pleasure, tinged with a greedy craving.
Qimeng: “...”
The black-haired Demon Tree's expression turned incredibly complicated.
Rate on N.U.
