Run! The Mountain Is Alive!!

Boom...

The moment she made the first cut, a powerful earthquake erupted within the mountain.

Although Lan Qingyou was floating in the air and didn't feel much of the vibration herself, the Beast Emperor's flesh below was visibly shaking.

Furthermore, the witch could clearly sense the mana in the surrounding air trembling.

So it really is alive—

Lan Qingyou marveled in her heart, but her hands didn't slow down at all; instead, she accelerated her work.

After all, since the opponent was alive, it could counterattack at any moment.

The faster she moved, the less danger she would be in.

Thump!

While scooping out the meat, Lan Qingyou suddenly felt as if she had been struck hard by a hammer.

It was a mental attack.

And it was even heavier than the one Gu Xiaobei had suffered earlier.

Although Lan Qingyou hadn't experienced the attack Gu Xiaobei faced, she could say this with certainty.

After all, she had been perfectly fine before, but now she felt a distinct wave of dizziness.

This was a classic symptom of suffering a mental attack, but Lan Qingyou didn't dare stop her work. If anything, she pushed herself to move even faster.

Drip, drip...

Lan Qingyou gritted her teeth as drops of blood began to leak from her nose and fall.

But she couldn't worry about that now.

The longer she dragged this out, the more disadvantageous it would be for her.

Even with her spirit stat approaching four hundred, she couldn't completely negate the damage from this mental attack. While the actual harm wasn't massive, it was highly insulting.

Lan Qingyou considered her spirit to be quite high among transmigrators, yet she couldn't even nullify the effect.

It was easy to imagine just how powerful this Beast Emperor must have been when it was alive.

No... based on common sense and the muscle tissue beneath the ore, this Beast Emperor was likely a physical-based melee fighter.

In that case, its mental power could only be described as a mere bonus.

Lan Qingyou raised her hand and plunged her dagger deep into the Beast Emperor's flesh, not even sparing the spots where her nosebleed had dripped.

After all, she considered her own blood to be quite precious.

Moreover, she wanted to compare the difference between the Beast Emperor's flesh 'contaminated' by her blood and the uncontaminated parts.

“Away you go!”

Saying those words through gritted teeth, Lan Qingyou dug out the final piece of meat and quickly stored it into her cards.

Boom!

A much more intense mana surge erupted from the flesh below the moment the Beast Emperor Ore disappeared.

Lan Qingyou held her head with one hand and gripped her Magic Broom with the other to keep herself from falling.

Tsk, the attacks are getting stronger.

Wait, this is...

Just as Lan Qingyou turned her broom to leave, she saw the connection between the Beast Emperor's flesh and the weathered stone beginning to expand.

The weathered stone gradually began its activation, eventually turning into the same pink, tender appearance as the Beast Emperor's flesh.

Whoa~~~~~~~!!!

Seeing this, how could Lan Qingyou not understand what was happening?

With its mana source gone, the Beast Emperor's body was preparing for one final counterattack.

I'm out of here!

Without a second thought, Lan Qingyou shifted straight into third gear and flew rapidly back the way she came.

After all, she was currently like a tiny insect trapped inside someone's body. If a real counterattack happened, it certainly wouldn't be as minor as those mental attacks.

Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best.

Nothing could stop a girl's heart when she was determined to leave.

The cave tunnels were originally formed from the Beast Emperor's blood vessels, making them narrow and winding.

Lan Qingyou sat on her Magic Broom, racing forward as if driving a race car, while the mountain behind her continued its gradual activation.

Although the Magic Broom's speed in third gear wasn't slow, the mountain's activation speed was just as fast, practically nipping at her heels.

The cramped space of the cave left Lan Qingyou with nowhere to dodge at times.

And so...

Rrip...

Lan Qingyou was hit.

A piece of her sleeve, which bore Ruan Qingyi's advanced enchantment, was instantly torn away by something.

An Invisible Object.

It was something even Lan Qingyou's Magic Eye couldn't see, so she referred to it by that name.

But names were irrelevant now.

Escaping with her life was all that mattered.

So, even though she was being attacked, Lan Qingyou didn't stop for a second.

Pushing her speed to the limit, it took her three minutes to finally burst straight out of the cave the moment she saw the light from the entrance.

“Whoa! What's going on!”

When the people waiting outside saw Lan Qingyou's tattered robe, they couldn't help but cry out in shock.

“What happened!!?”

Vivian looked up and shouted at Lan Qingyou in the air.

“Run! The mountain is alive!!”

“What!?”

Lan Qingyou's shout left the hundred or so people waiting below with massive question marks in their minds.

What did she mean by the mountain being alive?

They didn't understand, but in the next second, the realization hit them fully.

A vibration like an earthquake drew their gaze toward the hill.

They watched as the lush, green mountain began to slowly rise as if it had come to life.

Because the shaking made it difficult to stand, everyone took to the air; leaving the ground made the tremors much more bearable.

But then, they witnessed a scene that both they and Lan Qingyou would never forget.

The soil, trees, and vegetation covering the small hill began to fall away like an outer wall crumbling, revealing the gray reality beneath.

It was hair—thick, coarse strands like porcupine bristles.

Beneath the hair was skin with a faint gray-red tint.

The things supporting the rising hill were those very bristles on its 'back.'

These bristles seemed to have a consciousness of their own, gathering together, twisting, and binding until they formed six leg-like appendages.

They had even simulated the joints.

“So, what exactly is this thing?”

Vivian flew over to Lan Qingyou's side, holding Gu Xiaobei by the back of her collar.

There was no other way. Gu Xiaobei was the only forest elf present who couldn't fly, so she needed a 'little bit' of help.

Gu Xiaobei had some complaints about this, but she was helpless to do anything about it and could only let it happen.

“It's the Beast Emperor's body,” Lan Qingyou replied flatly.

Her entire focus was on the creature the Beast Emperor's body had become, so her answer was a bit distracted.

Hearing the answer, Vivian could only think, 'That makes sense.'

Since it was the place where the Beast Emperor's heart was located, it stood to reason that it was the body as well.

It was just that the Beast Emperor's body had likely mutated.

It had transformed from a corpse into a monster resembling a long-haired worm.

Yes, a creature that didn't even qualify as a monster.