According to the feedback from his little ones, the one in danger was a blue-haired human—specifically, Katelansi!
Without any hesitation, Zhang Ye immediately dashed in that direction.
At the same time, Katelansi was looking around with a terrified expression.
Around her, thorn-covered vines erupted from the grassy ground, whipping rapidly through the air in a terrifying display.
She had originally been exploring the outer ruins, starting from the small pyramids just like Zhang Ye and the others.
But without realizing it, she had wandered into a grassy area.
This grassy area was surrounded by walls, but they had already collapsed from weathering over the years, revealing a wide variety of beautiful plants inside.
Among them were several precious Spirit Materials that Katelansi recognized!
Katelansi was overjoyed. She thought this might be a botanical garden of this ruined civilization—a place for cultivating Spirit Materials. Although the civilization had been destroyed, the Spirit Materials inside the garden had survived.
The lush, colorful Spirit Materials left her feeling quite dazzled.
These were all high-level Spirit Materials, and many had even reached the level of Saint Materials. She recognized many of them, and they weren't aggressive at all!
So, Katelansi cautiously entered and began harvesting them.
As she gathered one precious Spirit Material and Saint Material after another, she was gradually enveloped in joy, and her vigilance slipped. She had no idea that she had unknowingly stepped into a perilous place.
Just as she was about to harvest a Saint Material, the soil suddenly exploded. Thick vines shot into the air, each tipped with a flower bud. When the buds bloomed, they revealed rows of densely packed, razor-sharp teeth!
It was as if a hideous giant serpent had opened its bloody maw!
The dense mass of vines instantly surrounded Katelansi, trapping her completely!
What was even more terrifying was that these vines were not the main body of this ferocious plant. Its actual body soon emerged from the ground—a giant flower several meters tall. As it opened, the teeth inside were more numerous than the spines on a cactus!
This was a highly aggressive Saint Material!
Terrified, Katelansi immediately tried to call for help, but she quickly realized to her horror that the crystalline pollen released by this Saint Material could block mana fluctuations, preventing her from sending any distress signals to the outside world!
She wanted to flee, but when she turned around, she discovered that there were two more of these Saint Materials!
Three clawing, flailing Saint Materials had already surrounded her in a triangular formation!
The towering vines whipped around so tightly that she didn't even have a chance of breaking through!
Katelansi noticed that the vines and flower buds of these Saint Materials were very shriveled, as if they hadn't absorbed nutrients in a long time. They were clearly starving. Consequently, while their strength might not be at its peak, they were far more ferocious—well beyond what Katelansi could withstand.
Katelansi finally understood why the secret realm was so dangerous.
One moment of carelessness was all it took to fall from heaven to hell!
She began to regret not sticking with Zhang Ye and the others.
But regret was useless now. Katelansi could only pray that she could break through, or that someone would discover her and come to her rescue before the protective power inside her body was completely depleted.
Soon, the three hungry Saint Materials could no longer contain themselves. A sky full of vines lashed toward Katelansi like whips.
Katelansi did not sit idly by and wait for death. She immediately drew her wand and tapped the air, conjuring a thick wall of ice.
But the ice wall didn't hold for long. There were too many vines, and the power of the Saint Materials was too great. After lasting less than three seconds, the ice wall shattered, and the gaping mouths of the vine buds opened wide, ready to feast on fresh flesh.
Fortunately, the delay from the ice wall gave Katelansi time to dodge and set up magic circles.
It had to be said that as the ice-attribute genius mage of the Morton family, Katelansi was undoubtedly powerful.
Facing such a ferocious onslaught, Katelansi was still able to force herself to stay calm, casting spells to defend and buy time.
‘If I release a freezing chill to erode them, as long as they slow down, I can drag this out longer!’ Katelansi thought. She then unleashed a violent wave of cold with herself as the center, instantly coating the surface of the incoming vines in a layer of ice.
But the layer of ice didn't even last half a second before it was shattered and broken. The vines continued their assault. Katelansi constantly executed her movement techniques, stepping on ice flowers to dodge. Several times, the vines brushed right past her.
Those withered yet thick vines were wider than her waist, looking as though a single hit would snap her in half.
And indeed, they would.
As the freezing chill continuously seeped in, the vines began to slow down. Katelansi felt a flicker of joy.
This was working!
However, before her joy could last, a sudden heatwave rolled in.
Katelansi looked into the distance in terror.
There, a red flower was in full bloom. There was no vegetation around it, and the ground beneath it was nothing but lava and scorched earth.
It didn't actively attack Katelansi, but when the freezing chill drifted toward it, it felt the cold and instinctively released a heatwave to dispel it.
And it was precisely this heatwave that completely collapsed the freezing zone Katelansi had worked so hard to maintain!
This was also a Saint Material!
As the heat rolled in and the ice melted, the three Saint Materials regained their mobility, their movements growing faster and faster!
On the other hand, Katelansi was instantly put at a disadvantage.
She was an ice mage, and this increasingly scorching environment was undoubtedly making things worse for her.
Her mana consumption grew more intense, and her dodging became increasingly difficult.
Finally, a thick vine lined with razor-sharp barbs whipped toward her from behind. This time, she was too slow to dodge.
Sensing the fierce wind behind her, Katelansi's face went pale.
Just a moment before the vine could snap her in two, a terrifying burst of freezing power erupted from within her body, instantly freezing everything within a radius of several li into a sheet of frost!
Even the vine lashing toward her was frozen mid-air.
That was the Saint-tier protective power inside her body.
However, just as the powerful freezing energy spread to where the fiery flower was, the flower seemed to sense a threat—or perhaps it felt provoked.
It would not allow any cold to invade its domain!
Thus, an equally powerful heatwave suddenly erupted, clashing with the freezing energy.
Katelansi could feel the protective power within her body rapidly depleting.
Yet the heatwave from the fiery flower only grew stronger.
The freezing energy receded, and the surrounding ice began to melt once more.
“Boom!!!” The fiery flower unleashed another powerful heatwave. It was as if a bomb had gone off. Serving as the straw that broke the camel's back, the intense blast of heat sent Katelansi flying. She slammed into a hard Spirit Material and tumbled to the ground.
Katelansi spat out a mouthful of blood. As a pure mage, her physical body was not strong, and the impact of the heatwave had thrown her mana into complete chaos.
She tried to stand up several times but simply couldn't. Her body was wracked with intense pain and almost completely numb. She could only manage to lift her head, but the moment she did...
Despair descended.
The frost had mostly melted, and the three ferocious Saint Materials had regained their mobility, their vines whipping through the air.
And the protective power inside her body was completely exhausted.
The offensive power of the fiery flower was entirely at the Saint-tier level. The heatwave swept across a dozen li, though strangely, the other Spirit Materials seemed unaffected.
It made sense. Anything planted alongside the fiery flower would surely have high fire resistance.
But Katelansi had no such resistance. She had no protective power left to defend herself, and the shock of the heatwave had thrown her mana into disarray, preventing her from even using the pseudo-Saint artifacts in her space ring for defense.
She didn't even have the strength to pull out a magic scroll and tear it...
A vine lunged forward like a spear, whistling through the air like the chant of the Grim Reaper.
Katelansi's face was ashen. Facing death, she realized just how truly powerless she was.
Despair enveloped her heart, and a deep sorrow welled up from within.
Save me... Someone, please save me...
Anyone...
But would anyone actually come to save her?
Just as both her body and spirit were about to perish, a blinding white light flashed, carving a brilliant arc through the air!
In the next instant, golden light flared, appearing right before her eyes.
She would never forget how steadfast and reliable the back of the figure shielding her was!
She would never forget how radiant that figure, appearing amidst the golden light, truly was!
That was... hope!
...
...
Rate on N.U.
