Quietly, Qimeng successfully slipped to the edge of the stone platform.
From this vantage point, she had an unobstructed view of the central high platform.
The four Spirits of Nature, which had drawn everyone's attention during the gathering, were resting quietly in the center of the stone platform.
They were enshrined in four separate containers filled with special magical soil, each emitting a different-colored shimmer.
The three-layer and four-layer leaf vein Spirits of Nature glowed with a relatively subdued light, resembling clusters of multi-colored fireflies.
The five-layer one was already releasing palpable waves of raw vitality.
As for the six-layer Sacred Spirit at the very center...
Its light cocoon shell had already been peeled back, revealing its full form.
Even in its slumbering state, it looked like an art piece carved from pure crystal, its surging life force practically overflowing.
“So... these things are basically magical plants that have developed intelligence—the so-called Spirits of Nature?”
Qimeng stared at the glowing plants, rubbing her smooth chin.
“If that's the case, what does that make me? The spirit of a Spirit of Nature?”
“Hmm... it feels a bit different. The biggest difference between me and them is that these Spirits of Nature seem to act purely on instinct.”
“Whereas I possess a subjective consciousness. I suppose that's the fundamental difference between humans and animals.”
Oh well, why overthink it?
Qimeng couldn't help but sniff the air again.
“No matter how you look at it, these things smell absolutely delicious!”
“To me, they're the ultimate, highly nourishing supplements!”
“I might as well just secretly eat them all.”
She took a quick look around.
On the high platform stood four little loli guards in a defensive perimeter.
Meanwhile, on the treehouse tower opposite, a little loli sentry on the night shift kept watch from above.
Stealing the items without being noticed at all was an almost impossible mission.
In that case...
Her only option was to win with pure speed.
She would devour them all before anyone could react!
No sooner said than done.
Qimeng squeezed the black magic stone in her hand.
In an instant, a dense wave of magic power surged from her body.
Shadow Step!
Qimeng's figure traversed the shadows, teleporting directly onto the high platform.
Moving too fast for the naked eye, she left an afterimage in the air as she closed the distance, slipping behind the two nearest guards in the blink of an eye.
A flurry of pink petals and glowing pollen dispersed silently into the night.
Before the little loli guards could react, their eyes glazed over with confusion.
Before the illusions before them could fade, Qimeng's wood-armored hand chopped down hard on the sides of their necks.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The dull impacts rang out almost simultaneously.
The four lolis on guard rolled their eyes back and collapsed limply to the ground.
Perfectly executed.
Just then, the sentry up on the treehouse tower seemed to notice something amiss below and leaned over to look down.
However, all that met her eyes was a cloud of drifting pollen and petals.
“Ugh... my eyes are so itchy.”
Her vision clouded by the illusion, the sentry subconsciously rubbed her eyes.
That brief window of distraction was exactly what Qimeng needed!
Wasting no time, she lunged toward the stone platform.
White roots erupted from her open palm, wrapping around three of the Spirits of Nature.
Devour All Things, activate!
Boom!
As the three Spirits of Nature went down, a warm wave of nutrients exploded within her body.
She had hoped to use this opportunity to upgrade her humanoid form, but an unexpected, wondrous change occurred inside her.
It wasn't her base strength that was being raised.
It was her species rank limit!
In this world, after all, there were strict species limits for all creatures.
Qimeng's initial rating had been at the pitiful level of a High-tier Novice magical beast.
The only reason she seemed so formidable in combat was due to her main body's absurd magic reserves.
But now, the sole shackle holding back her development was cracking right before her eyes, catalyzed by the Spirits of Nature!
Not only that, but the magic capacity of her humanoid form was also expanding continuously.
Since the capacities of her humanoid form and tree form were linked,
this was practically equivalent to raising the maximum limit of how far her main body could expand in the future!
By the time she finished digesting the first three Spirits of Nature,
her species rank limit had easily risen to the level of a High-tier Intermediate magical beast.
“Whoa... this feels amazing!”
Qimeng's eyes shone with excitement.
Without hesitation, her gaze locked onto the most fragrant one—the six-layer Sacred Spirit.
She grabbed the crystal-like magical plant and unleashed 【Devour All Things】 once more!
Crack.
It was as if some higher-dimensional bottleneck was crushed instantly.
With the fourth Sacred Spirit consumed, her species rank limit skyrocketed again, breaking straight through to the terrifying level of a Low-tier Advanced magical beast!
This was a chasm that countless magical beasts could never cross in their entire lives.
In other words, as long as she had Sacred Spirits to devour, she possessed the invincible potential for infinite evolution!
“Ah... I'm so full.”
“It would be great if there were a few more of these Spirits of Nature.”
Qimeng rubbed her belly, looking thoughtfully at the leftover husks.
After having their life spirits drained, the four Sacred Spirits had degenerated into ordinary magical plant husks.
But even as empty husks, they still possessed excellent nutrients.
However, her current humanoid form was merely a medium used to channel magic power; it couldn't store energy perfectly like her tree form could.
Since she couldn't connect to her roots right now,
forcing all the magic power from these husks into her current body would only result in energy leakage, wasting it entirely.
Though it was a slight shame,
her gains tonight were already enough to make her want to hum with joy.
However,
before she could fully savor the thrill of her skyrocketing power, disaster struck.
Deprived of the suppressing intelligence of the six-layer Spirit of Nature,
the crystal-like magical plant itself lost its magical equilibrium and suddenly began to expand wildly!
Billowing black mist and violent magic power erupted from the stone platform with a loud bang!
To make matters worse, triggered by the energy of the six-layer plant, the three adjacent magical plant husks—which had also been drained of their intelligence—went completely berserk as well!
Countless thick vines and aerial roots lashed out like the tentacles of an octopus.
With a thunderous crash, they smashed the stone platform to smithereens, whipping wildly in every direction!
“Holy crap?!”
Still basking in the euphoria of her raised limits, Qimeng was startled by the sudden commotion and reflexively recoiled.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the stone platform collapsed into a pile of rubble.
The racket instantly shattered the silence of the sleeping village.
“A-An assassin...!!”
The little loli sentry on the high treehouse tower shrieked, her voice cracking in terror.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, torches flared to life one after another.
Countless loli guards on night patrol swarmed in from all directions.
But when they saw the state of the scene,
they froze in unison.
Under the bright moonlight,
the once-sacred high platform had been reduced to a heap of ruins.
Four giant magical plants, bloated to several times their original size, thrashed their tentacles like demon lords descending upon the world.
And right in the center of these rampaging plants...
stood a black-haired beauty in a leaf dress, looking utterly embarrassed.
Their eyes met.
In that instant, Qimeng could almost hear the snapping of whatever strings of sanity remained in the little lolis' minds.
“C-Catch her!”
“We can't let this black-haired monster escape!!”
No one knew who lost their composure first, but panicked screams instantly pierced the night sky.
It was a disaster. In the blink of an eye, the entire place descended into absolute chaos.
Rate on N.U.
