“Sigh... That was exhausting.”
Qimeng opened her eyes, retracting her spread-out perception at the same time.
It had to be said that although she could achieve a long-distance auxiliary perspective within her Root Domain, this kind of beyond-visual-range, high-precision monitoring consumed a non-negligible amount of mana.
Still, since the Black Thorn Legion was guarding the territory, nothing major would go wrong with the subsequent defense.
The urgent priority now was to quickly lead this group of Wood Elves in a strategic retreat.
Stay behind and fight to the death with those crazed magical beasts?
What a joke. She didn't have such a bizarre masochistic streak.
Although these magical beasts were all nutrients for her main tree, that didn't mean she was stupid enough to clash head-on with them in a massive group fight.
Because of this, Qimeng led the Wood Elves in an elegant kiting tactic along the way, playing the menacing horde of magical beasts behind them like a fiddle.
However, after leading them around in circles for who knew how many laps, she discovered a strange anomaly.
“No matter how many detours we take, those guys always manage to find us...”
Qimeng looked up thoughtfully at the Crimson Moon in the night sky.
As she suspected.
The Crimson Moon skill released by the Crimson Moon monster she had casually killed earlier right before its death...
It was actually a targeted causal curse, rather than some cheap special effect meant just for show.
After a few minor tests, she was one hundred percent certain that the demonized horde had been staring dead-on at her, Qimeng, from the very beginning, not the Wood Elves.
“Using such disgusting tricks right before dying... what an unpleasant fellow.”
Qimeng made a mental note to settle the score with the demon race later.
Since these puppets controlled by the Crimson Moon couldn't be shaken off no matter what, there was only one solution left.
Just slaughter every last one of them.
She waved her hand at the lolis and led the group back to the Wood Elf valley, which was easy to defend and hard to attack.
Not only was the terrain here superior, but there were also ready-made magic ballistas available, making it a perfect stage custom-tailored for a defensive counterattack.
“Well then, let's prepare a little welcoming gift for our rude guests first~”
Qimeng snapped her fingers, casting an ice magic spell directly onto the entrance path of the valley.
What made it completely unreasonable was that she also casually triggered her passive skill, 【Zero Friction】.
What followed, an otherwise brutal battle, turned into a laughably ridiculous comedy.
“Awooo!”
The magical beasts howling as they rushed into the valley collectively lost their balance the moment they stepped onto the ice.
Some spun in circles on the spot, while others performed highly difficult faceplants, looking for all the world like they were performing an absurd and comical ballroom dance on ice.
“Everyone, don't hold back. Fire to your heart's content~”
Qimeng gave the order with a smile.
The Wood Elves guarding the magic ballistas were utterly dumbfounded.
In this effortless target-practice scenario, they felt they could even save themselves the trouble of aiming.
This one-sided beatdown continued until dawn broke, finally drawing to a close.
As the rising sun broke through the clouds, the crimson moonlight finally faded away.
The Intermediate Rank magical beasts, regaining a shred of sanity, slapped themselves awake. Realizing the horrific situation before them, they immediately fled with their tails between their legs, leaving behind only some intellectually challenged Low-tier magical beasts foolishly lining up to die.
“Hum!”
As the Crimson Moon vanished completely, Qimeng felt the Crimson Moon mark on her—which had clung to her like a shadow—ignite, dissolving into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
“Phew... It's finally over.”
After easily gathering and storing all the spoils dropped on the battlefield, and using her pure white roots to pack up the massive amount of life force and store it back into the main tree, Qimeng finally had the time to look around.
The originally beautiful Wood Elf valley had first been ravaged by fires set by the demons, then became a battlefield for two opposing sides, and finally turned into a chaotic playground for the rampaging magical beasts.
After experiencing such high-intensity devastation, it had now become an unsightly ruin.
Never mind the quality of life, this place was clearly no longer fit for habitation.
Meeting the pitiful gazes of the homeless Wood Elves, who looked like abandoned little animals, Qimeng shrugged helplessly.
“Well, there's no other way. Everyone, come back to the main base with me.”
Although having a sudden influx of Wood Elf lolis in her territory was bound to disrupt her peaceful life, looking at it from another angle, at least things would become lively.
Besides, she was too lazy to build houses herself anyway.
With these Wood Elves who were naturally gifted in natural spells around, the territory's infrastructure upgrade speed would probably become mind-bogglingly fast, right?
“Hmm, thinking about it that way, it's actually not too bad~”
However, she had just returned to the territory and hadn't even had a chance to take a sip of water to soothe her throat when Xiaomi flew over in a panic from the ridges of the Firefly Garden.
“My Lord! This is bad! Quick, come over here! Shroomy is acting super weird, it looks like it's about to go berserk!”
“Huh? Shroomy?”
Qimeng blinked in surprise, then quickly followed Xiaomi to the Firefly Garden.
There, the Demon Mushroom that was supposed to be evolving steadily was now swaying in agony.
Its entire body was emitting an eerie red glow, and the veins on its cap were squirming like blood vessels.
“Could it be the residual influence of last night's Crimson Moon?”
Before Qimeng could think further, a sudden change occurred!
Like a drowning person clutching at a lifesaver, the root tuber beneath the Demon Mushroom's cap suddenly shot out countless tiny blue silk threads, wrapping around Qimeng's finger!
Immediately after, a violent, predatory suction force erupted.
It was an attraction born from the suppression of hierarchy, greedily guzzling Qimeng's Demon Tree blood, which contained special, miraculous properties!
“M-My Lord?!”
Beside her, Xiaomi went pale with fright, spreading her transparent wings to rush forward.
“Let go! This guy is rebelling! It's sucking your blood!!”
“Stay back, Xiaomi.”
Qimeng was unexpectedly calm as she called out to stop her.
Although the pure blood in her body was draining rapidly, causing a wave of weak dizziness to wash over her petite, beautiful body, a unique perception originating from the Demon Tree flashed through her mind.
It was hungering for a higher level of evolution.
The feedback told her that this little guy was undergoing an earth-shattering species restructuring under the impact of the Demon Tree's blood.
“But... just my blood alone doesn't seem enough to support it through this stage. If I let it keep sucking like this, I'm going to become the first beautiful girl mummy in the Great Black Magic Forest.”
Qimeng raised an eyebrow.
Since this little guy had already targeted her, she didn't mind playing big!
“【Wood Core】, run at full capacity!”
With a low shout, she directly initiated the reverse transfer of her internal core.
Rumble!!
The massive amount of life force absorbed from thousands of magical beasts on the battlefields of both the Black Thorn Legion and the Wood Elf valley last night—which had nearly filled the main tree's storage space—surged in reverse along the pure white roots at this very moment.
The pure white roots wrapped completely around it, and a torrent of pure life force poured backward into the Demon Mushroom's body!
“Eat up. If even this can't satisfy your appetite, I'll be very troubled, you know?”
Without a doubt, this was a miracle that could not be replicated.
The timing was perfect: the cursed Crimson Moon that had raged all night had completely activated the mutation factors inside the Demon Mushroom.
The location was perfect: the recently concluded magical beast tide had contributed a massive reserve of life force to the Demon Mushroom free of charge.
And the most crucial factor—harmony—was Qimeng herself, a defiant master who not only possessed Demon Tree blood and the 【Wood Core】, but was also willing to take a massive gamble on this Demon Mushroom!
At this moment, the barrier between the mundane and the extraordinary was utterly shattered by the miraculous power woven from these three elements!
In the next second, a blinding pillar of light shot up into the sky!
The Demon Mushroom moved!
Rate on N.U.
