Xie Zhaolin's figure shot through the forest in a desperate sprint, but her divine sense spun faster than ever, calmly analyzing the deadly crisis in front of her.
Fire attack?
No way!
She'd already tried it earlier. Even when the Liuyun Ribbon worked with a Gale Talisman to unleash flames, the roots only burned for a short while. The flower sea was simply too massive, and its resistance to fire was far stronger than she'd expected. It couldn't be destroyed or even slowed by flames alone.
Unless she could find a natural magma field, but those places were always home to terrifying fire-type beasts. That would be another dead end.
Water escape?
Even worse!
The rivers and lakes of the Endless Beast Plains were far more dangerous than the land. They hid countless water-type beasts, strange aquatic plants, and even the wraiths of drowned souls. Once she entered the water, her speed would drop sharply, and she'd basically be offering herself up to death even faster.
Lure it to a Nascent Soul beast's nest?
The idea popped up but she crushed it instantly.
Nascent Soul beasts were far more terrifying than Golden Core ones. Their territorial awareness was overwhelming, and any intruder would be torn apart on sight. She'd be crushed into dust by pressure alone before she even got near the nest's core, or killed with a casual strike. The flower sea might be destroyed by such a beast, but she wouldn't live to see it.
She had to find a place that could counter this monster, or at least a place that could severely limit its movements!
Her mind raced as countless danger marks from the map of the Endless Beast Plains flashed by, filtered with the knowledge and experience from her past life.
"Roots… afraid of fire, but resistant… sharp blades could cut them, but there are too many, I can't cut them all…
The body's a demonic plant… a demonic plant… a demonic plant…"
Suddenly, a thought split through her mind like lightning!
The Bone Corroding Marsh!
According to the map and old rumors, that swamp was shrouded year-round in highly corrosive toxic miasma. Beneath the sludge lurked countless Bone Corroding Bugs that fed on flesh and spiritual power. Any ordinary cultivator or beast that fell in would melt into sludge within moments, leaving nothing but sinking bones.
This Bewitching Beast Yam might be strange, but its roots were still wood fiber bound with demonic power. A corrosive environment like that would definitely cause massive damage and slow it down!
The marsh itself was extremely dangerous, but compared to this endless flower sea chasing her, at least its dangers were known and could be avoided!
"That's it!"
Xie Zhaolin made her decision instantly. She poured spiritual power into her legs, her speed shooting up another notch as she turned sharply toward the northeast!
Her divine sense spread out fully, avoiding other dangerous auras along the way while locking onto the direction of the Bone Corroding Marsh! Behind her, the flower sea seemed to sense her shift in direction. Its speed actually picked up, the rustling sounds growing sharper, carrying a frantic, greedy urgency!
Hundreds of li melted away under her flight. The air slowly changed. The thick wood aura and beastly demonic qi were replaced by a sour, decaying stench.
Far ahead, the sky turned gray and heavy, blanketed in a murky green haze that reeked of death. The ground grew muddy. Hard soil gave way to dark, bubbling swamp pits. Trees grew sparse, many nothing more than bare, withered trunks.
She'd arrived.
The Bone Corroding Marsh!
Without hesitation, Xie Zhaolin plunged into the gray-green haze!
The miasma immediately hissed against her protective aura, eating away with faint sizzling sounds. She didn't dare slack off. She swallowed an antidote pill at once and poured more spiritual power into her defenses, resisting the corrosive fog.
Carefully, she picked her footing, avoiding pits that looked bottomless. The instant she crossed into the swamp, she suppressed her aura as much as possible, hoping not to draw out even deadlier things hiding inside.
Then, tense, she looked back. The flower sea had reached the edge!
It seemed instinctively wary of this place's corrosive, death-laden stench. Its advance slowed, the foremost roots writhing in agitation at the swamp's edge, probing forward but not stepping in.
It was working!
Her eyes lit up.
But then—
Glug… glug…
The swamp pits nearby bubbled violently!
Something had been stirred up by this enormous "prey" appearing right at its doorstep!
The dark mud erupted upward.
Countless Bone Corroding Bugs, each the size of a fingernail and gray-white with shells mottled in eerie corroded spots, surged out of the muck. They flooded across the swamp in a writhing carpet!
Some bugs sensed her faint aura, but they quickly turned their attention to the massive flower sea instead!
Sha-sha-sha!
The bugs swarmed over the probing roots, biting frenziedly. The roots blackened and shriveled before her eyes, full of holes and rotting away in seconds!
The flower sea shuddered violently, as if wracked by pain and fury. It tried to yank back its roots, but the bugs were endless, and more poured from the depths of the swamp in an unstoppable tide.
The flower sea went berserk!
Its massive body tilted forward, hurling even more roots into the swamp to crush the bugs!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Mud exploded everywhere as swaths of bugs were ground into paste, popping like firecrackers. But there were just too many. Every death only drove the swarm into greater madness, hurling themselves forward in waves of gnawing hunger.
Seeing them locked in battle, Xie Zhaolin bolted in another direction at full speed. She wasn't naïve enough to think she could profit from this fight. These were creatures far beyond her level. Even the smallest ripple of their clash would be fatal. But just as her aura faded into the swamp's distance, the flower sea suddenly froze!
Every root, every blossom seemed to pause at once.
Then—
Screeeee!
A piercing screech exploded from its center!
The sound was so sharp it shook the miasma into rolling waves!
The next second, the flower sea went completely insane. The enormous central blossoms swayed wildly, and an even thicker, sticky pink fog blasted outward in all directions. The powder carried not only hallucination and paralysis but also raw corrosive force!
The Bone Corroding Bugs that touched it staggered, their movements sluggish and chaotic. Some even turned on each other, biting their own swarm! The tide faltered for the first time.
The flower sea seized its chance. Ignoring the bugs still devouring its roots, it hurled its entire body forward with earth-shaking force!
It hadn't given up on chasing her!
Xie Zhaolin's heart sank.
This thing… had it gone completely mad?