The valley felt like time itself had turned thick and slow.
Xie Zhaolin sat cross-legged in the center, stabilizing her late Foundation Establishment cultivation while quietly probing the faint barrier between Foundation and Core Formation.
Most of her focus, though, was immersed in comprehending the foundational chapter of the Ten Thousand Puppets Codex.
You Ji Shàngrén's puppet arts were vast and profound. Even just the basics shattered her old understanding. Many of the problems she'd faced while crafting the Shisha Spider puppet suddenly became crystal clear.
Still, she never dropped her guard.
The wind rustled faintly through the grass. Insects chirped. Leaves swayed softly. Everything seemed ordinary.
The first day passed quietly.
On the second afternoon, one of the detection arrays on the eastern side of the valley rippled slightly, as if a low-intelligence spirit beast had brushed against it.
Xie Zhaolin's eyelids lifted. Her divine sense swept in that direction and quickly locked onto a small creature—a clueless Spirit-Seeking Rat. Confirming it wasn't a threat, she withdrew her attention.
By the morning of the third day, the mist still hung over the valley, cool and refreshing in the early light.
Just when she thought she'd make it through the final day in peace, several of the concealment and interference arrays she'd placed at the entrance shattered all at once. There was no explosion, no warning—just a soundless, eerie crumble, as if erased by some invisible force.
Right after that, a faint but greedy and yearning intent swept silently through the valley. It wasn't a divine sense attack. It felt more like... instinct. A natural kind of seeking.
Xie Zhaolin's eyes snapped open, a cold gleam flashing through them.
"They're here." Her instincts screamed danger.
That sensation—so similar to the time she'd encountered the Bewitching Beast Yam—but colder, slicker... and smarter.
It wasn't the same monster.
It was something else.
Another plant-beast drawn by the scent of the Rebirth Flower.
And this one's way of tracking and breaking through barriers was even trickier and harder to guard against.
"Master! This is bad!" You You's panicked voice burst from the jade slip, hurried and anxious. "It's a Thousand-Thread Vine! That thing's an expert at silently slipping through and unraveling low-tier barriers. Its perception's razor sharp! We've been locked on!"
Almost before she finished speaking—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless nearly invisible vines shot from the valley walls and ground, streaking toward Xie Zhaolin with terrifying speed!
Her reaction was instant.
The moment the vines appeared, she retreated swiftly, both hands forming seals.
"Burn!"
A surge of black flame erupted from her palms, spreading into a sea of fire before her.
Sizzle—!
The transparent vines hit the flames and shrieked as they burned, curling into charred husks that reeked of scorched rot.
But more came, from every direction. An endless tide of twisting, creeping tendrils. The fire held them back, but barely. There were too many, and they were flexible, slipping through any gap they could find.
"Master! The Thousand-Thread Vine's core must be nearby! You have to locate and destroy it fast, or it'll never stop coming!" You You's voice trembled with urgency.
Xie Zhaolin's eyes turned cold.
While maintaining the barrier of black fire, she spread her divine sense wide, scanning every inch of the valley for the hidden core of the plant-beast. Just like You You said, this vine was more troublesome than the Bewitching Demon Yam. It didn't show itself directly but fought by entanglement and attrition.
"Found you."
Her gaze sharpened, locking onto a patch of deep green vines clinging to the inner cliff wall. They looked no different from any other plant, but their roots pulsed faintly with condensed spiritual energy.
"Out!"
At her command, the You Ming Bracelet on her wrist flared with light. A palm-sized An Jin Guardian emerged before her, gleaming dark gold.
"Go, destroy that vine!"
The An Jin Guardian's eyes flashed red, and in the next heartbeat, it turned into a streak of dark gold light. The transparent vines lashed toward it, but their attacks slid harmlessly off its metal body.
Before the vine could react, the Guardian had already reached its core.
A piercing shriek echoed through the valley—the Thousand-Thread Vine had realized too late that its true body had been exposed.
The tendrils frantically coiled back to protect it, but the Guardian was faster.
It drew back its fist and slammed down with the full strength of a late Foundation cultivator.
Boom!
Rock shattered. Sap splattered everywhere.
The vine convulsed violently, letting out a scream filled with pain. The countless transparent vines dancing across the valley suddenly froze midair, then collapsed, limp and lifeless, turning into piles of brittle dry stalks.
Silence returned to the valley.
Only the smell of burnt wood lingered, along with the broken remains of the vine's root system—a grim reminder of the short but deadly battle.
Xie Zhaolin dispelled her flame and slowly exhaled, her expression frosty.
"Looks like three days is still too long," she muttered, glancing at the jade slip on her wrist. Her voice was low but carried sharp urgency. "You You, you'll have to be faster."
"Master! Master!" You You's voice burst out again, this time bright with excitement. "I've got it! I found a temporary solution!"
"Speak." Xie Zhaolin's tone was cool as she melted into the valley's deeper shadows, wary that the earlier noise might attract something worse. The An Jin Guardian stood ready beside her.
"It's the Breath Concealing Wood Transformation Art!" You You spoke quickly. "It's a fragment of an ancient secret art. It doesn't completely hide your life aura, but it can transform it, making it resemble that of a thousand-year-old Ironwood Tree.
That aura's gentle and carries a faint lifeless quality. Most plant-beasts won't find it tempting at all. It won't fool high-rank creatures completely, but it should mask the Rebirth Flower's scent well enough to buy you some time!
I'm transmitting the technique now!"
A flood of obscure, intricate information surged into her sea of consciousness.
Her divine sense was powerful, her comprehension unmatched. In moments, she grasped the core principles of the art.
Without hesitation, she began circulating her spiritual power according to its pattern, adjusting the rhythm of her life aura. Her presence shifted rapidly, taking on a muted, woody stillness, faintly like the breath of an ancient tree.
As the transformation settled, the sense of unease that had hovered in her heart for days finally eased.
That was the instinctive feedback of a cultivator's intuition, confirming the art's effectiveness. It truly weakened the Rebirth Flower's lure to the plant-beasts.