“P-Please wait, Lady Qimeng! You're walking too fast!”
“What's wrong with being fast? It's a rare harvest after all... Ow!”
Because Qimeng suddenly stopped, the extra-large bundle on her back slammed into the back of her head due to inertia.
She rubbed her head, tilting it in confusion.
“Strange, I feel like I've forgotten something.”
“Forgotten what? Aren't all the treasures in the bag?”
“No, not the treasures...”
Qimeng fell into deep, agonizing thought, then suddenly slapped her forehead.
“Ah! I forgot Xiaomi!”
That foolish bee girl who constantly buzzed around her, shouting “Master,” had actually been completely thrown to the back of her mind.
“Ah, you mean Xiaomi.”
Yinzhi came to a sudden realization.
“She should still be in our tribe's confinement room right now...”
“Tsk, tsk, that foolish vassal.”
Qimeng sighed and facepalmed.
“No wonder those forest lolis suddenly became so easy to talk to. Turns out they kept a card up their sleeve and held her as a hostage. Oh well, leaving a fool there as a hostage might actually put their minds at ease.”
“Then... where are we going now?”
Yinzhi asked curiously.
“Are we going straight to look for the real Great Spirit?”
“How is that possible? Of course we're going back to my lair first.”
Yinzhi worriedly tugged at the corner of her clothes.
“But didn't you say the Reincarnation timeline and the lizardman army attacking the Wood Elf valley in three days were more urgent?”
“Huh? What attack?”
Qimeng looked at her like she was an idiot.
“Eh...?”
“Didn't your tribe's Hidden Gate spell never actually get lost? How could the lizardmen possibly break in? I just made all that up on the spot to scare them so we could get away.”
“What?!”
Yinzhi jumped up in shock.
“You were lying?! Those terrifying clan-extinguishing Reincarnations were all fake?!”
“Huh? You actually believed it?”
Qimeng had an innocent look on her face.
“I thought you'd see right through it.”
“Of course I believed it! Before leaving, I donated all my savings to the tribe as war supplies! Now I have nothing left but the clothes on my back!!”
“Alright, alright. Once we get back to the territory, I'll personally weave you a few leaf dresses!”
“Ah! That's not the point at all!”
“Okay, don't worry. I didn't entirely lie to them.”
“Huh? Lady Qimeng, what do you mean by that?”
“Hehe, follow me and I'll tell you~”
Qimeng gave a mysterious smile, automatically filtering out Yinzhi's inquisitive gaze. She happily broke into a run again, leaving an afterimage in the forest.
“Wait for me! Lady Qimeng! Explain yourself!”
Yinzhi's voice was left far behind.
After all, during this trip to the Wood Elf tribe, Qimeng had not only successfully leveled up to a High-tier Intermediate magical beast, but her mana capacity had also surged, and she had gotten so many treasures for free.
She couldn't wait to go back and expand her Root Domain.
As long as she extended her roots all the way to the Wood Elf valley and turned that place into her own territory, wouldn't she be the one calling the shots?
“W-Wait! What about my life savings?!”
The Wood Elf girl, who had been tricked into complete bankruptcy, cried with a long face, lifting her skirt as she ran desperately behind.
...
Meanwhile, at the Wood Elf tribe.
“Hmph! She was indeed lying! She clearly told me before that she was a useless tree demon who couldn't even use mana, but in the blink of an eye, she actually took on an entire tribe by herself! She's just a wicked monster girl through and through!”
Xiaomi had just been dragged out of the confinement room by a loli Wood Elf.
Having inexplicably become a left-behind hostage, she was currently sitting in a treehouse with a soot-covered face.
She wanted to keep cursing toughly, but looking at the empty doorway, she could no longer suppress her overwhelming grievances. With tears in her eyes, she wailed.
“Waaah... Master! How could you run away on your own! Did you forget your loyal worker?!”
“Hey, it's dinner time. Eat this.”
At this moment, a Wood Elf crossly threw a bowl of food over.
It was a dry pollen ball mixed with a tiny bit of bland wild wildflower honey.
Xiaomi pinched a small piece and put it in her mouth. After just one chew, she instantly turned into a black-and-white bee girl.
“S-So awful!”
Not only was the honey inside not sweet at all, but the pollen even scratched her throat!
Xiaomi pushed open the window of the treehouse, looking toward the distant sky with immense longing.
Her mind was completely filled with thoughts of the main tree back in the territory, and its high-quality pollen and honey that were rich in dense mana.
“Master! Waaah, I already miss your flowers! Please come back and save this child!!”
“What are you shouting for? Keep shouting and we'll lock you back up! Close the window!”
The cross scolding of a Wood Elf guard suddenly came from outside.
“Hiccup, okay...”
Xiaomi let out a tearful hiccup in fright, shrinking her neck and meekly pulling the window shut again.
...
In the dense forest.
Qimeng dashed south at full speed all the way.
With her running movements, the extra-large bundle behind her bounced up and down, making a clanking sound that was full of the feeling of a bountiful harvest.
Then, right at this moment.
“Snap.”
The moment her round, fair jade feet stepped into her own Root Domain...
It was back.
Ah, everything was back!
The surging mana, the wide field of vision, the clear perception!
Her parched body was filled with dense mana, becoming incredibly replete!
“Wow... this feeling, it's like I'm about to overflow! It feels so good I want to moan on the spot.”
Through the perception transmitted back by the roots, she could sense the earth spiders, who had searched fruitlessly all night, still blocking the edges of her territory, scattered sparsely around.
However, she was no longer the same person she was yesterday.
As the saying goes, a day apart makes one look at a spider with new eyes!
She was currently a genuine High-tier Intermediate magical beast, you know?
When she dared to directly slaughter even the Crying-Face Spider Queen, would she still care about these puny little spiders?
The answer was, absolutely not.
“Then, let's clean up these small fry a bit.”
Qimeng giggled and actively went out to meet them.
What Flower Shadow Dual Flash, Shadow Step, or whatever? No need at all.
Straight to the point: Wood Spike opener!
After successfully promoting to the Intermediate Rank, the Wood attribute structure in her body had become even more perfect.
The originally slender Wood Spikes had condensed to the thickness of an adult's arm, their surfaces flowing with a near-solid emerald magic light.
Both the firing speed and the destructive power had achieved a massive leap!
Although her accuracy was still slightly lacking, her recent hit rate had already improved a lot.
Besides, even if she missed, it didn't matter!
Because Qimeng could fire them in rapid succession!
“Take this! A storm-like saturated rapid fire!”
“Wood Spike Cannon! Boom, boom, boom!!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The new version of the Wood Spike Cannon turned into a sky full of flowing light and whistled out.
Rate on N.U.
