Yinzhi quietly shot a glance at Qimeng, who was practically turning to wood beside her, signaling her with her eyes.
“Leave it to me, and whatever you do, don't interrupt!”
Then, she continued to announce loudly.
“That's right! She is the legendary Great Spirit I have been searching for all this time! It is only because she refused to become our tribe's enshrined Sacred Spirit that I willingly became her vassal, begging for her recognition all along the way!”
“Silence! Pull yourselves together!”
At this critical moment, the Chief was the only one who maintained her composure. She slammed the table.
“Don't let these two fool you with their coordinated act! Crossing reincarnation, bound by fate, the Great Spirit... how could such a ridiculous farce happen to a monster girl of unknown origin?”
“Yinzhi, do not make up wild lies just to absolve her of guilt. The matter of the Great Spirit is not a joke. I cannot believe this!”
“If you do not believe me, then let us perform the Leaf Vein Ritual to test her spirit!”
Facing the Chief's harsh skepticism, Yinzhi stood her ground without yielding an inch. Her conviction was so absolute that even Qimeng herself almost believed her.
Before long, the various tools used for the spirit test were personally laid out on the meeting table by the Chief.
“Fine, let's test. I'll see how you wrap this up in a moment. Please, go ahead.”
Qimeng braced herself and placed her hand on the apparatus. Hidden by her sleeve, Yinzhi quietly tugged at the corner of her clothes and whispered in her ear.
“Lady Qimeng, I will use a secret technique to channel the power of nature to you. I've calculated that I can help you fake a seven-layer leaf vein Sacred Spirit aptitude at most. Hang in there!”
Qimeng reluctantly agreed. However, the moment her internal mana came into contact with the power of nature...
An unexpected mutation occurred!
The leaf veins, which should have lit up slowly, suddenly surged frantically as if supercharged!
Hum!
One layer, three layers, five layers!
The Chief, who had been waiting to see a farce, widened her eyes and rubbed her loli face.
Seven-layer leaf veins!
The legendary Sacred Spirit aptitude!
“W-wait! It's at seven layers?!”
The Grand Elder jumped out of her chair on the spot. The spectating Elders gasped, and even the Chief's breathing grew heavy.
But the shock was far from over.
The surging power of nature continued to skyrocket with a momentum that threatened to burst the leaf vein spell array. With a deep rumble, an impossible phenomenon bloomed...
Nine-layer leaf vein patterns!
Under the increasingly bewildered gazes of the Wood Elves, the vein patterns on the ritual leaf lit up all the way to the ninth layer!
A dazzling, emerald-green holy light instantly illuminated the meeting room as bright as day!
“N-nine layers?!”
“The Supreme Spirit Lord has descended from the heavens?!”
The Chief's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an apple, and the Elders felt their worldviews shatter into pieces.
Nine layers?
Yinzhi was completely dumbfounded. Even her secret voice transmission was trembling.
“Lady Qimeng... W-what is going on? I've never heard of nine-layer leaf veins! Is it... is it broken? Ever since the ancestors created the Leaf Vein Ritual, this is a height that no Sacred Spirit has ever reached!”
Qimeng was even more bewildered than she was.
“How should I know?!”
“Wait a minute, could it be because of that thousand-year Mother Tree I devoured earlier? There is indeed a lingering trace of newly born vegetation power inside me, but the aftereffects are way too dramatic!
“Besides, the Mother Tree itself only had six-layer leaf veins. Why did the fusion of these two forces suddenly mutate into nine layers?”
But regardless of the truth, the miracle before them had shocked all the Wood Elves beyond belief.
Thump.
The Grand Elder was the first to fall to her knees.
Thump, thump...
Immediately after, a whole row of hundred-year-old loli Elders prostrated themselves on the ground.
Even the Chief, who had been full of majesty just moments ago, felt her knees go weak. She knelt helplessly before Qimeng, her eyes filled with nothing but awe.
“Our tribe is saved!”
“Welcome, Spirit Lord!”
Nine-layer leaf veins—that was a miracle that only existed in the creation myths!
In an instant, all doubts vanished into thin air.
What did it matter if she ate the Sacred Spirits or took the treasures? In front of a nine-layer Spirit Lord, could that even be called stealing? That was a gift from the supreme spirit!
“I say... Yinzhi,”
Qimeng felt so awkward she wanted to cry but had no tears.
“How do we wrap this up? Are these legal lolis really going to worship me as their Spirit Lord?”
“Just play along for now, we can figure out a way once we get out. After all, there have been similar records of monster girls becoming Sacred Spirits. A seven-layer leaf vein Spirit Lord has the ability to take on a humanoid form. Why don't... you try accepting our tribe's spirit mark?”
“Absolutely not!”
Qimeng flatly refused, taking half a step back.
What a joke! Although she didn't know what kind of anomaly had been triggered, this body of hers was merely a second body split from her main body.
Although both were magical plants, a Sacred Spirit was a pure crystallization of forest life, whereas a monster girl like her was, in essence, just a mass of mana born for plunder.
This perfect humanoid clone, which she had meticulously assembled after finally gathering enough mana, would be ruined on the spot if some weird mana from that stupid spirit mark messed it up. Where would she go to cry then?
Qimeng knew when to stop. If she kept acting, things might actually go south.
Seeing that the group of lolis was preparing to perform the grand kneeling ritual...
She made a prompt decision and preempted them.
Hum!
The light of the nine-layer leaf veins faded behind her. Qimeng put her hands behind her back, lifted her chin, and assumed a cold, aloof posture that looked down upon all living things.
“My vassal, Yinzhi, hear my command.”
“Present, Lord Spirit!”
Yinzhi quickly played along, dropping to one knee.
“Time is of the essence. The shadow of the fourth disaster has already loomed over this valley. To prepare for the impending tribulation, Yinzhi and I must depart immediately to intercept our future fate.”
Qimeng looked down at the legal lolis kneeling all over the floor.
“Guard your valley well, and do not let my previous efforts go to waste. As for these treasures, they shall accompany me to confront our fate.”
“W-we shall obey the Lord Spirit's divine decree!!”
Amid the shock and frenzied reverence of the Wood Elf leadership...
Qimeng turned gracefully, carrying the extra-large beast-skin bag stuffed with treasures, and swept away with cool elegance.
Afterward, the Elders instructed Yinzhi on the precautions of serving the Spirit Lord, and the Wood Elf tribe deactivated the Hidden Gate spell, respectfully seeing them off.
As the Hidden Gate opened, the Chief cast a meaningful glance at Yinzhi before they left, her heavy gaze looking as if she were handing over the fate of the entire tribe.
“Respectful farewell to the Lord Spirit!”
Amid the unison shouts of the bowing lolis of the entire tribe, the wooden Hidden Gate woven from mana slowly closed behind them.
The moment her front foot stepped into the forest outside, Qimeng immediately dropped her aloof act, her shoulders slumping.
“Whew... we're finally out!”
She stretched languidly, feeling as free as a bird in the sky.
At this moment, she was carrying an extra-large beast-skin bundle that created a hilarious contrast.
The bundle's volume was easily three times her own size.
Looking from behind, only her two slender, beautiful legs could be seen. She looked like an otherworldly snail carrying a giant shell, crawling with all her might.
“Back to the territory!”
Qimeng bounced forward cheerfully. Meanwhile, Yinzhi, whose injuries had not yet healed, could only grit her teeth and try her best to keep up, panting heavily from the exertion.
Rate on N.U.
