Not only that.
Due to the exponential surge in her mental and magical capacity, her humanoid form underwent a subtle transformation.
Her pitch-black hair now shimmered with a noble, dark-green luster, and her skin became increasingly translucent.
The aura radiating from the young girl was no longer that of some low-tier magical beast, but rather the sheer pressure of a high-tier predator!
“Y-You've got to be kidding me! Hey! Someone tell me this isn't real!!”
The trio of thieves was scared out of their wits.
The two Low-tier Intermediate lizardmen felt their knees go weak. They could sense that this monster girl in front of them was completely crushing them in terms of rank!
“L-Lady Qimeng?”
Yinzhi's face was filled with shock, her eyes shining with admiration.
“C-Congratulations on your successful breakthrough!!”
The thieves' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Wait, seriously, lady?! You're supposed to be the guardian of this ancient tree! Your Mother Tree was just sucked dry like an afternoon snack, and here you are congratulating the enemy on her breakthrough?! Does that make any sense?!
“Ah, that feels so good~”
Meeting their dumbfounded gazes, Qimeng happily clenched her small fists, savoring the surging sense of power.
However, she smacked her lips and fell into thought.
“Strange. Even though it was a huge leap, I only reached High-tier Intermediate.”
“Is this all the power a thousand-year Mother Tree has? Was it diluted or leaked along the way? Well, whatever. A successful breakthrough is still a win.”
However, before she could fully savor the joy of her breakthrough, the underground room lost all structural support due to the Mother Tree's dissipation.
Rumble!! With a deafening crash, a massive section of the ground collapsed!
The bright morning sunlight poured directly onto Qimeng's face. The sky was fully lit.
Having just advanced and prepared to deal with the thieves, the black-haired magical beast couldn't help but be startled once she saw the surrounding situation.
The secret chamber that had been hidden underground was now completely exposed to broad daylight, turned into an open-air pit.
The Wood Elves, who had been kneeling and weeping in the early morning, hadn't even wiped away their tears when they looked down and saw the scene in the pit. The entire tribe was thrown into utter confusion.
Even before the dust had settled, the highly alert Wood Elves had already surrounded the area so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.
The fully armed Chief, Elders, and guards stood at the ready.
They held staves, fully drawn bows, and enchanted weapons. Behind them, several giant strategic magic ballistas radiating destructive fluctuations were wheeled forward, aimed straight at the bottom of the pit.
“Yinzhi? Why are you here?”
The Chief's shocked voice shattered the frozen silence.
“And the outsiders next to you—how could you bring them into the tribe's secret chamber?!”
“Sob, sob... Chief, save me!”
Yinzhi was quite clever. With a quick roll of eyes, she immediately put on a dramatic act and cried out with a deeply wronged expression.
“These two lizardmen and the red-haired demon are the real invaders! They wanted to take me hostage to steal the treasures! Also, the spirit attendant who infiltrated Lady Eve's side and caused the assassin chaos last night was that red-haired woman in disguise!!”
“What?! A demon assassin?!”
“Damn it! The assassination at last night's gathering was indeed a long-planned conspiracy! These bastards not only stole our treasures, but they also destroyed our sacred Mother Tree!!”
“Absolutely unforgivable! All forces, hear my command! Eradicate those three exposed demon scum with everything you have! Attack!!”
The trio of thieves: “??????”
“Wait, hold on a second!”
“What does the tree's destruction have to do with us?!”
“Why are you pointing all your weapons at us for no reason?!”
Meanwhile, Qimeng hid to the side, desperately holding back her laughter.
Speaking of which, after advancing to an Intermediate-rank magical beast, her deepened understanding of the Wood attribute allowed her to master a little trick to blend into nature.
It was similar to actively lowering her presence.
When those Wood Elves peered down, they didn't notice her at all.
With this natural bystander camouflage, combined with the eye-catching, foreign appearance of the trio of thieves...
Well, it seemed those three unlucky bastards were absolutely destined to take the fall for this massive disaster.
In an instant, arrays of magic circles lit up across the sky.
Countless brilliant magic arrays hovered overhead.
Looking at the inescapable net formed by hundreds of regular Wood Elf soldiers, the trio of thieves fell into utter despair.
They're crazy! These Wood Elves have all gone mad!!
“Damn it! These Wood Elves were actually prepared for this?!”
Cold sweat poured down the leading lizardman's face.
“When... when on earth did you see through our infiltration plan?! Did you seriously mobilize your regular army and strategic magic ballistas first thing in the morning just to corner the three of us?!”
The Wood Elf Chief furrowed her brows and roared furiously.
“Stop playing dumb! Speak! Who ordered you to sneak into our treasury and destroy the sacred remains of our Mother Tree?!”
Hearing this, the red-haired woman was both broken and deeply aggrieved, unable to stop herself from screaming back.
“So you don't even know who we are?! Then why the hell are hundreds of you fully armed and surrounding this place first thing in the morning?! Is this not an ambush you set up beforehand just to wait for us?! What, does your entire tribe skip breakfast every single morning just to hold a military parade over your underground treasury for fun?!”
The Wood Elf Chief and Elders exchanged glances, collective question marks practically appearing over their heads.
“???”
Qimeng, who was watching the drama unfold from the sidelines, almost burst out laughing on the spot.
This was pure gold. This was what you called a legendary cross-channel miscommunication!
The demon trio thought their plan had been exposed long ago, assuming the Wood Elves' massive deployment was meant to capture them.
But what about the Wood Elves?
Because a certain black-haired magical beast had stolen and eaten four Sacred Spirits last night, the entire tribe was already on the highest level of alert to catch the thief.
Then, the Mother Tree suddenly vanished first thing in the morning. When everyone rushed over to check, they unexpectedly found two lizardmen and a red-haired demon popping out of their treasury.
No matter how you looked at it, this colossal scapegoat was firmly pinned on the trio of thieves.
“Nonsense from demon scum! Since you dared to destroy our sacred tree, don't even dream of leaving here alive today!”
The Grand Elder waved her hand in a fit of rage.
“All forces, fire!! Leave none alive!!”
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Boom! Boom!
Following the command, a downpour of arrows infused with Wood-attribute magic, accompanied by the roaring explosions of spells, rained down relentlessly.
“Damn it! Yours truly will fight you to the death!!”
Seeing no way out, the two Low-tier Intermediate lizardmen erupted with desperate ferocity.
Their dark-green scales transformed into the heavy, steel-armor-like Petrified Heavy Armor, desperately resisting the dense rain of arrows.
Meanwhile, the red-haired woman, looking incredibly disheveled amidst the bombardment, suddenly turned her head to glare at Qimeng, who was leisurely enjoying the show.
Her slit pupils were filled with pure venom.
“You damned black-haired magical beast... This is all your fault! If you hadn't sucked the Mother Tree dry and made it collapse, we would have escaped through the secret passage with the treasures long ago! Die with us!!”
Boom!
The red-haired woman unleashed the last of her magic power, and the cold crystal staff in her hand flared with a brilliant blue light!
“Ice Coffin Burst!!”
A bone-chilling frost spread throughout the pit, instantly freezing and cracking the ruined ground.
Countless ice spikes whistled through the air, hurtling toward Qimeng in an overwhelming torrent!
The freezing wave caused the surrounding air to crystallize into layers of white frost.
“My, taking your anger out on others isn't a very good habit~”
Facing the ice that blocked all paths of retreat,
Qimeng merely let out a lazy yawn.
Grabbing the remaining black magic stone, she fully opened her magic veins.
Rate on N.U.
