Luo Shixin returned to the hotel just before evening.
The capital's sky was shrouded in gray. Thick clouds swallowed the sun, leaving the fading daylight dim and cold. A gentle wind drifted between the towering buildings, carrying an inexplicable heaviness that pressed against his chest.
Ever since leaving the military headquarters, he had felt uneasy.
The instincts of a general—the same instincts that had saved his life countless times on the battlefield—kept warning him that something had happened.
The kingdom had just received an official letter from the Kingdom of Shelua regarding Xiang Shuai's repatriation. There were no detailed explanations, only a rigid and guarded diplomatic request.
Spiritual weapons ignited simultaneously—blue, red, and violet light flooded the chamber. Potions were hurled into the air, exploding into clouds of poison and waves of suppressive energy. Explosion after explosion shook the laboratory, striking the girl's body without mercy.
Yet—
the thin energy shield surrounding Xue Yunxue only trembled slightly.
It looked fragile. Nearly transparent.
But not a single attack could penetrate it.
Waves of power shattered like tides crashing against an eternal cliff.
Inside the high-level control room, Pei Yu stared at the surveillance screens, his face drained of color. His hands trembled above the console.
From dozens of camera angles, he watched the laboratory collapse piece by piece.
"Impossible… years of work nearly destroyed by a single little girl," he whispered hoarsely.
No matter how he looked at it, she was only an ordinary beast-human. She was not even old enough to complete intermediate military training. Power like this… should not exist.
Watching safely from behind reinforced steel walls, Pei Yu chose survival. As a beast-human with no combat ability, he feared death more than anything and remained hidden within the control room—choosing to live.
Meanwhile, nearly two hundred guards were finally deployed at once.
They surrounded Xue Yunxue from all directions, forming a containment ring. Energy formations activated, suppression seals ignited, and weapon barrels aligned simultaneously.
"Attack together!"
Light struck from every side.
Explosive energy merged into a raging storm that swallowed the girl's figure whole.
For a fraction of a second, her body disappeared within the flash of destruction.
Then—
the ground pulsed.
A heavy breathing sound echoed… not from a human, but from something older, colder.
Moa took full control.
Golden vines erupted beneath Xue Yunxue's feet, growing at a terrifying speed. Their color shimmered like sunlight stained with blood. They did not move like plants—
but like predators.
Fast. Precise. Merciless.
Vines lashed outward, wrapping around guards' necks, crushing armor, and hurling bodies into steel walls hard enough to dent metal. Some were lifted into the air before being slammed into the ground with sickening cracks of breaking bones. Even guards at level seventy were utterly powerless.
Screams filled the chamber. Formations collapsed. Weapons slipped from trembling hands.
But the golden vines kept moving—more of them, faster, wilder.
The battle turned into slaughter.
The laboratory trembled violently.
Within a single breath—
silence fell.
The screams vanished instantly, replaced by the crackle of electricity and the dripping of liquid from fractured ceilings. Bodies lay scattered across the room, some embedded into warped steel walls, others bound by golden vines that still pulsed slowly like the veins of a colossal organism.
Nothing moved.
No one rose.
Only one figure remained standing amid the destruction.
Xue Yunxue.
Her breathing was heavy, uneven. The golden light surrounding her began to fade, flickering like a dying candle. The golden vines slowly withered, cracked, and dissolved into fragments of light that vanished into the air.
Then—
her knees gave out.
Her body collapsed onto the metal floor with a heavy impact.
"Haah…!"
The air felt sharp in her lungs, like inhaling shattered glass. Her vision spun. For a moment, she did not know where she was. The chaotic noise in her mind vanished, replaced by frightening silence.
Her consciousness returned.
She regained control of her body. Though Moa had controlled her, she had witnessed everything that happened.
The green markings that had spread across her skin slowly faded, retreating like a receding tide. The strange coldness left her body, replaced by overwhelming pain now crashing in all at once.
Moa had fallen asleep.
The power of the little Golden Tree was terrifying—but still immature. Each time her power was fully unleashed, she entered a dormant state to restore her life energy.
Which meant…
Xue Yunxue was alone now.
Only herself.
She gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand despite her trembling muscles. She had not escaped yet—she could not lower her guard for even a moment. Red alarms continued spinning overhead, bathing the room in slow, blood-colored flashes.
Leave.
She had to leave now.
An emergency staircase stood at the end of the half-collapsed corridor. She walked toward it, breathing heavily, military boots stepping through pools of chemical liquid that released thin trails of smoke.
But—
her steps stopped.
Suddenly, she remembered something.
This laboratory was not merely a prison.
It created mutation potions… potions that turned people into monsters. If she left now, the experiments would continue. There would be more victims. More lives destroyed.
Her gaze turned cold.
Slowly, she turned back.
"I… can't allow this place to remain."
She returned toward the main research chamber.
The shattered steel walls now revealed layers of dark soil beneath—the original earth long buried under artificial structures. The damp scent of soil flooded the air, carrying wild and untamed natural energy.
For the first time since the battle began—
nature was on her side.
Xue Yunxue raised her hand.
The earth trembled.
Golden vines emerged again—thinner, wilder, filled with fury. They burst through the soil like starving serpents, spreading throughout the research facility.
Experiment tables overturned.
Glass containers shattered one after another.
PRANG! PRANG! PRANG!
Purple, black, and green liquids spilled across the floor, reacting violently and releasing poisonous smoke. Test tubes exploded in small bursts, shards flying like a rain of knives. The vines rampaged without pattern, destroying every trace of research.
Incubation tanks cracked open. Half-formed creatures inside twitched briefly before nutrient fluid poured out along with thick, dark blood.
The laboratory became a biological hell.
—
Inside the upper control room, Pei Yu's face froze with rage.
The surveillance screens displayed the total destruction of the facility he had built over years. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"That girl…" he muttered with hatred.
Beside him stood a tall man with greasy hair clinging to his forehead—his assistant. A faint smile curved across his pale face as he watched the devastation.
"It seems it's time to use our secret weapon, Professor," he said softly, almost whispering.
Pei Yu fell silent for several seconds.
Then a cold smile slowly appeared on his face.
"You're right…" he murmured. "It's time to test the strength of our newest experiment."
His hand pressed a control panel.
A red button lit up.
ACTIVATION: ALPHA-1
Click.
In an instant, the entire lower level of the laboratory began to tremble.
Not like an earthquake—
but like something…
was waking up.
A heavy pounding sound echoed from deep underground.
Xue Yunxue held her breath as a dense, dark aura seeped into the air.
Too sudden.
Yet what troubled him most was not that.
It was a stubborn girl with clear eyes who always looked at him without fear.
Xue Yunxue.
The moment Luo Shixin entered his hotel room, he removed his military coat and sat briefly at the edge of the bed. He tried to calm his thoughts, but the unease only grew stronger.
Finally, he activated the energy-tracking device.
A thin light appeared in the air.
He searched for one energy fluctuation he knew all too well—
Xue Yunxue's plant-element energy.
The signal appeared.
Still inside the hotel.
Inside her room.
Luo Shixin's brows furrowed.
Strange.
Her energy was usually lively and constantly shifting, like a growing plant. But now…
It was too stable.
Too still.
Was she sleeping?
A cold sensation crept down his spine.
Without hesitation, he stood.
His footsteps moved swiftly through the hotel corridor. The cold aura that normally surrounded him felt heavier than usual, causing passing guests to instinctively step aside.
He stopped in front of Xue Yunxue's room.
He did not knock.
The door opened immediately.
Click.
The room was empty.
Silent.
The bed was neatly made, with no sign that she had been there.
Luo Shixin's golden gaze swept across the room sharply—until it stopped at an object on the table.
A pendant.
The pendant he had given her.
Left behind.
For a moment, the world fell silent.
His expression hardened.
"…You really did it."
His voice was low, almost like a restrained sigh.
He immediately turned and strode toward another room.
The door burst open.
Inside, Lin Yuan sat casually beside the bed, watching over the still-unconscious Lu Xiao. The merman lifted his gaze as if he had already expected Luo Shixin's arrival.
"Have you seen Xue Yunxue?" Luo Shixin asked without preamble.
His tone sounded calm, but the faint tremor in his eyes revealed hidden panic. The pressure of his aura instantly rose, filling the room.
Lin Yuan rested his chin on his hand.
"No," he replied lightly. "I think she went somewhere."
Luo Shixin's gaze sharpened.
"Did she say where?"
Lin Yuan paused, as if considering something.
Then a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"She mentioned… the Owl Clan."
Silence.
Luo Shixin's aura changed instantly.
The air in the room grew heavy, like a storm forming without sound.
His hand slowly clenched into a fist.
"That foolish girl…"
His sentence trailed off—not from anger, but from worry too real to conceal.
He turned immediately and strode out. The door slammed shut behind him.
For the first time in a long while, the general known for his cold rationality lost his composure.
He knew exactly what kind of place Xue Yunxue was heading toward.
A secret laboratory.
A place where people entered…
and often never returned.
Inside the room, Lin Yuan stared at the closed door with a faint smile.
"…Interesting."
He glanced at Lu Xiao's unconscious body. Lu Xiao's condition was far more stable now; all that remained was for him to wake.
Lin Yuan only hoped the girl would return before Lu Xiao regained consciousness and did something foolish for her again.
"This family has truly never been boring since that girl arrived."
—
Luo Shixin stepped out of the hotel without looking back.
The evening sky hung low above the capital, painted in golden crimson hues that looked beautiful—yet to his eyes, it felt like a bad omen. The wind grew stronger, responding to the surging energy awakening within him. Night was approaching, and mutant creatures became far more aggressive after dark.
A golden aura erupted from his body.
Brilliant light swept through the air like a second sun suddenly born at dusk. Winds spiraled wildly, windows trembled, and spiritual pressure spread for kilometers.
Luo Shixin's body slowly lifted from the ground.
Golden feathers began to grow from his skin as light engulfed him completely. His bones reshaped with faint cracking sounds, and enormous wings burst from his back, tearing through the air with overwhelming force.
In an instant—
the human general vanished.
In his place remained a gigantic golden eagle.
Its wings spread majestically, reflecting the sunset until the sky seemed to burn with gold. Its sharp eyes shone coldly, carrying the unrivaled authority of a sky predator.
RAAAASH—
He shot into the heavens.
Faster than the wind, his golden form became a streak of light piercing through the dusk sky. Clouds split apart as he passed, the air roaring behind him as if unable to keep up.
Higher.
Faster.
From afar, he looked like a golden meteor blazing across the sky.
Yet behind that overwhelming grandeur, his thoughts held only one thing—
the face of a stubborn girl who always challenged him without fear.
Xue Yunxue.
He had only one destination.
To reach that illegal laboratory immediately—
and bring her back.
Thousands of kilometers away—deep within a laboratory hidden from the world—Xue Yunxue fought for her life.
The spiritual sword in her hand shone brilliantly, green-gold light pulsing like a living heart. Its glow reflected against the cold metal walls, casting long, shifting shadows that twisted wildly, turning the entire chamber into a giant cage with no escape.
The clash of metal rang endlessly.
The mask that had once covered her face had fallen away at some unknown moment, lying forgotten in a dusty corner of the floor.
Now her face was fully revealed.
A beautiful face with delicate yet resolute features. Her slightly upturned almond eyes shone with stubborn determination—beautiful, yet filled with unwavering resolve. Strands of messy hair clung to her cheeks, damp with sweat. Her breathing was heavy, but her gaze remained sharp as a drawn blade.
Several beastmen hesitated for a moment.
A flicker of admiration appeared in their eyes.
This girl… was far too beautiful to stand on a battlefield.
But orders were orders.
They tightened their formation again, spiritual aura erupting and flooding the room.
CLANG—!
Sparks of energy scattered every time her sword collided with the guards' weapons. The vibrations traveled into her wrists, slowly numbing her muscles.
Her movements were fast.
Light.
Almost graceful.
She spun, parried, leapt, and counterattacked in a seamless flow of motion like a dance. Yet this dance carried no beauty—it was a dance of life and death filled with killing intent.
Ten beastmen surrounded her from all directions.
No openings.
No room to breathe.
Their coordination was flawless, clearly trained to deal with dangerous targets. Every movement Xue Yunxue made seemed predicted a second in advance.
These were not ordinary guards.
Attacks came relentlessly. One struck from the front, two cut off her retreat, while others waited patiently like hunters watching wounded prey.
Her breathing began to falter.
Suddenly—
WHUUSH!
Something shot toward her from the side.
A long black tentacle lashed out like a living serpent, wrapping brutally around her ankle.
"Ah—!"
Her balance shattered. The metal floor felt slick beneath her as she was violently dragged down.
Her sword nearly slipped from her grasp.
She had no choice.
Her spiritual energy exploded outward.
Green vines burst from beneath her clothing, growing wildly like living creatures. Thorned golden leaves bloomed, gleaming beneath the laboratory lights.
The vines whipped through the air, forcing several guards to retreat.
But—
the moment they touched the floor and walls…
their movements slowed.
Metal.
The entire room was constructed from synthetic metal. She could not freely unleash her plant abilities here—her power depended on earth to manifest, and these steel walls were impossibly thick.
Damn it…
In the distance, Pei Yu's eyes widened—not in fear.
But in near-mad excitement.
"Pure… plant element…" he murmured, breathing heavily as if discovering priceless treasure.
Obsession filled his face.
"Capture her alive!" he shouted sharply.
"I want her as my experimental subject!"
The order instantly doubled the pressure of the assault.
The guards no longer held back.
Spiritual energy flooded the narrow corridor. High-level auras pressed down on Xue Yunxue from every direction.
These men were at least Level Sixty.
One among them had even reached Level Seventy-Five.
The pressure felt like a collapsing mountain crushing her shoulders.
Her spiritual sword continued to dance through the air, elegant yet increasingly heavy with every swing. Her hands began to tremble.
CLANG!
An attack struck her shoulder from behind.
She spun to block, but a single second of delay was enough.
A heavy blow slammed into her abdomen.
All the air was forced from her lungs.
Her body lifted—
and—
BRAAANG!!
She crashed violently into the cold metal wall.
The impact rattled through her bones. Pain exploded across her entire body.
Her spiritual sword trembled in her grip.
The world spun.
Xue Yunxue coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, dark red liquid spilling from her lips and dripping onto the cold metal floor.
Several large guards rushed forward.
Without giving her a chance to rise, they pinned her down against the icy ground. Dark energy chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles, locking her spiritual flow like living shackles.
CLANG—!
The sound of metal locking echoed sharply.
She struggled, but spiritual electricity surged through the chains, forcing her muscles into painful spasms.
Her body was dragged upright.
Then pulled forward.
Through a long corridor that felt… wrong.
Dim white lights flickered overhead. The cold illumination fell upon rows of thick glass walls lining both sides, casting long shadows that swayed slowly like living things.
The corridor resembled a massive aquarium.
But it held no water.
Only… experiments.
Behind each glass enclosure were imprisoned mutant species. Scaled creatures with half-melted bodies. Beastmen suspended in green liquid, their forms covered in cables and needles. Some twitched faintly—movements too slow to truly be called alive.
Heavy breathing… machine pulses… and the bubbling of fluids filled the air.
There was not a single human voice.
Only the sounds of something being forced to remain alive.
Xue Yunxue's heart tightened.
This was not a laboratory.
It was a living graveyard.
The guards finally stopped at the end of the corridor.
There—behind the final glass enclosure—stood something different.
A tree.
Crimson red.
Not a natural red… but a deep, dried-blood color. Its vines crawled weakly along the glass walls, its leaves hanging lifelessly as if it had lost the will to live. Parts of its trunk were blackened, as though burned from within. The life aura that should have been powerful felt fractured and nearly extinguished.
Xue Yunxue unconsciously held her breath.
She was dragged into the glass chamber beside it.
The door opened.
And—
THUD!
Her body was thrown inside mercilessly.
The glass door sealed shut with a heavy sound.
She lay weakly on the glass floor. Bitterness filled her throat, and her head still spun from the battle and the suppressive energy chains. With trembling hands, she quickly took out a healing potion and drank it.
Warmth slowly spread through her body.
But the coldness of the room did not fade.
'Sister Xue…'
Moa's voice sounded softly in her mind, different from usual. There was an unfamiliar tremor within it.
'The plant in front of you… it is a forbidden plant. A parasitic plant from Fleur.'
Xue Yunxue slowly rose.
Her steps were unsteady as she approached the glass wall. Her palm pressed against the cold transparent surface as her eyes fixed on the creature beyond.
"That plant… is almost dead," she murmured quietly.
Inside her consciousness, Moa fell silent for a moment.
A heavy sadness spread through the small being. Moa could feel the plant's life pulse—weak… fractured… like a candle about to go out.
'…It's too weak,' Moa whispered.
'It can no longer even transform.'
Xue Yunxue frowned.
"What? That plant… has a human form?"
'Yes,' Moa answered softly. 'The Parasitic Clan is the same as the Golden Tree Clan. They can shapeshift. They are living beings… not mere plants.'
As if sensing Moa's presence, the crimson plant moved.
Very slowly.
A thin vine crept forward and pressed itself against the glass from the opposite side.
Its movement was sluggish… trembling…
'That tree is ancient. I think it has been here for far too long. If Fleur was destroyed five thousand years ago, then it has lived even longer than that. Unfortunately, it was never properly cared for. The Peach Tree of Life treated me well… but this tree… is truly unfortunate,' Moa said softly.
'This must be the work of the Power of Darkness,' Moa added, her voice filled with anger.
The crimson leaves trembled weakly.
There was something within that movement.
Consciousness.
Pain.
'They have been draining its energy,' Moa's voice turned cold, carrying a fury rarely heard from her.'They used its power to create medicine… and narcotics. They have been squeezing its life away little by little.'
Xue Yunxue fell silent. A heavy weight pressed against her chest.
Once again… the Power of Darkness.
Once again, a living being reduced to a tool until nothing but an empty shell remained.
Behind the glass, the parasitic tree moved slowly.
Rustle.
The faint sound of leaves brushing together echoed softly, almost like the whisper of someone too weak to speak. Its vines crawled across the glass, leaving faint crimson streaks behind—like blood dragged by trembling fingertips.
The air in the room suddenly grew colder.
The ceiling lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The tree's shadow stretched across the wall… and for a brief moment resembled a thin human figure reaching outward with trembling arms.
Xue Yunxue swallowed.
"Moa…?"
The small being remained silent for several seconds, as if listening to something only she could hear. When her voice returned, it was quieter than usual.
'Sister Xue… it's speaking.'
The red vine tapped against the glass again.
Softly.
…Tok.…Tok.
Like someone knocking from inside a coffin.
'It says… it wants us to take it out of here,' Moa continued, her voice trembling.'If it remains in this place… it will not live much longer.'
The tree's movements grew weaker. Several crimson leaves fell slowly, turning into dust before they could reach the floor.
Its energy was nearly exhausted.
'It is willing to help us,' Moa whispered.'With the last of its remaining energy… it will open a path for us.'
Something pierced deeply into Xue Yunxue's chest.
Not fear.
The red vine slowly pressed itself against the glass directly opposite her palm, separated only by the thick transparent barrier.
The surrounding air suddenly changed.
Heavy.
As if the entire room had sunk into the unseen depths of the ocean. Breathing became difficult, and coldness crept upward from the glass floor into her spine.
The corridor lights flickered again.
Once.
Twice.
The pale white light pulsed unstably, casting wildly shifting shadows across the metal walls. For a moment—the red tree's shadow changed.
No longer a plant.
But an old, thin human figure kneeling, head lowered, long hair hanging like a curtain of death… before collapsing once more into vines and leaves.
Xue Yunxue held her breath.
The vine moved again. Slowly… incredibly slowly.
Then—
something impossible happened.
The tip of the crimson vine passed through the glass.
It did not shatter it. Nor did it pierce it.
Instead, it slipped through like a shadow passing through water. Cracks of red light spread from the point of contact, branching across the glass like glowing veins. A faint creak… creak… echoed, resembling bones slowly fracturing.
Warm light wrapped around Xue Yunxue's hand.
Not heat.
But warmth… like the heartbeat of a living creature.
Suddenly, her palm felt heavy.
As if someone had placed something into it.
The red light condensed.
And when the glow faded—
a blood-red crystal core lay in her hand.
Beautiful.
Yet unbearably sorrowful.
Inside the crystal, energy pulsed faintly… like a final breath not yet extinguished.
At the same moment—
the parasitic tree on the other side began to wither.
Its crimson leaves lost their color, turning pitch black one by one. The once-living vines dried, cracked, and fell slowly onto the glass floor with fragile sounds.
No movement remained.
No energy.
The creature… had given away its entire life.
Heavy silence filled the room.
Moa fell silent. Anger burned within her. After five thousand years, this was the first being she had encountered from her own world—and yet the reunion had been painfully brief. Though the Golden Tree Clan and the Parasitic Clan had never been on good terms, their fates were ultimately the same.
The power of the crimson crystal weakened the shackles binding Xue Yunxue. The chains corroded rapidly, as if suffering extreme decay, before snapping apart. The restraints around her ankles followed soon after.
Suddenly, Moa's power surged violently within her body.
The energy no longer flowed gently as before.
It pulsed.
Wild.
Unrestrained.
Moa's voice sounded again—but this time not as a whisper within her mind.
It came from her own mouth.
"Forgive me, Sister Xue… please allow me to borrow your body completely."
The next second—
Xue Yunxue's consciousness sank into darkness.
Her gaze dimmed, becoming still like the surface of a windless lake.
Lines of pale green mixed with gold slowly appeared across her cheeks, spreading like living leaf veins. The patterns pulsed softly—beautiful yet terrifying, like the mark of something awakening that was no longer human.
A faint green radiance emanated from her body.
The surrounding air began to tremble.
Then—
CRAAACK.
Beneath the thick glass floor, something moved.
At first, a single blade of grass.
Then two.
Then dozens.
Within seconds, long emerald-green grasses pierced upward from beneath the glass, sharp as blades. They grew at a horrifying speed, shattering the reinforced surface as if it were nothing more than thin ice.
Cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb.
The glass walls trembled.
Pressure filled the room.
And then—
PRANG—!!
An explosive shattering roar echoed.
Thousands of shards scattered through the air, reflecting the flashing red emergency alarms now screaming endlessly.
"A specimen has escaped! Repeat—specimen has escaped!"
The cold voice of the security system rang through the speakers. Red lights spun wildly as sirens wailed deafeningly.
Guards rushed in from every direction, energy weapons aimed at the girl standing amid the shattered glass.
But their steps slowed.
One by one… they stopped.
Not because of orders.
But instinct.
The aura emanating from Xue Yunxue had completely changed.
It was no longer the aura from moments ago. It was far stronger—so overwhelming that even high-level guards watched her with extreme caution.
Her spiritual energy surged like a storm awakened from ancient slumber. Invisible pressure filled the air.
Xue Yunxue—or rather, Moa controlling her body—slowly raised her head.
Her eyes glowed green-gold.
Cold.
"Is that… the girl we captured earlier?" one guard muttered, unease creeping into his voice. Though she appeared the same, the energy she emitted was entirely different.
She stepped forward.
And something impossible happened.
The metal floor beneath her hissed. Its cold gray surface faded as green sprouts burst forth wildly. Plants spread from her footsteps.
Each step she took brought destruction.
Fine fractures trembled across the steel surface—not ordinary cracks. Something alive crawled within them. Dark green fibers infiltrated the metal itself, devouring it like breathing rust.
Krek… krek…
The sound echoed softly yet horrifyingly, as though the laboratory itself were screaming in pain.
Sharp grasses grew uncontrollably.
They pierced alloy walls, wrapped around massive pillars, and shattered structures from within like bones forcibly broken. Metal fragments flew, sparks of electricity flashing wildly through the air.
Amid the destruction, Xue Yunxue stood still.
Her hair drifted gently among the flashing red emergency lights.
She no longer looked human.
More like an ancient goddess descending with the wrath of nature itself.
Without warning—
the attack began.
BOOM!
Hundreds of vines burst through the metal floor simultaneously, shooting upward like living spears. The laboratory ground lifted, cracked, and exploded from below. Guards were thrown backward, several impaled before they could even raise their weapons.
"Attack! Subdue the target!"
A panicked command echoed through the chaos.