Qin Mu was briefly stunned. "Many girls bathing? What kind of amusement is there in this barren wilderness... Wait a moment—I've actually encountered girls bathing in the wilderness before!"
A sudden thought struck him, and he couldn't help but shudder, muttering, "It couldn't be that old monster, could it? Impossible. It couldn't have survived this long in the Great Ruins. I must be overthinking it! Still, to be safe, I'd better go around."
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind, clear and resonant: "Fellow Daoist, what a coincidence meeting you here!"
Qin Mu turned to look and saw Yu Bochuan leading a multitude of divine ability users from True Heaven Palace, charging toward him at tremendous speed.
Those True Heaven Palace cultivators ran as they cast their arts, and one by one, great trees tore free from the earth and transformed into tree giants, striding forward in pursuit as well.
At the same time, the ground rumbled and shook. Mountain stones flew about, rolling forward at great speed and converging together to form stone giants.
Even the hill beneath Qin Mu's feet was trembling. Soil cascaded off in showers as the rocks within grew higher and higher, and a hill giant slowly rose to its feet.
"It seems we have no choice but to charge through! Hopefully it's not that old monster!"
Qin Mu gave the order, and Dragon Qilin immediately sprinted forward. The hill beneath them had already risen, and Dragon Qilin galloped across the giant's arm, fire churning beneath its hooves.
The enormous hill giant turned and swung its other arm to swat at them. Dragon Qilin leaped into the air just as a thunderous explosion rang out behind them—the hill giant's two arms collided, and both shattered instantly. Stones flew everywhere in all directions!
Qin Mu looked back and saw that the moment the stones touched the ground, they began rolling about as if sprouting legs, tumbling back toward the hill giant. Before long, two new arms had regrown.
"Palace Master, your True Heaven Palace's ultimate techniques are truly remarkable!" Qin Mu praised with genuine admiration.
Xiong Xiyu channeled her remaining magical power, cupping her palm behind her and pulling upward. A mournful wail emanated from within the hill giant, and streaks of green light flew out from the mountain-sized body, dissipating into mist.
The hill giant instantly collapsed, its massive stones tumbling down and reforming into a hill once more.
"Now that's an impressive technique!"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. "Would you teach me?"
Xiong Xiyu hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "You are the benefactor of my mother and daughter. If you wish to learn, I will naturally teach you everything without reservation."
Qin Mu laughed. "I won't take it for nothing. True Heaven Palace is a holy land of the Western Regions. I'll offer a technique at the level of a holy land's supreme cultivation method in exchange. Let's leave this place first!"
Dragon Qilin galloped at full speed as the two White Bats circled around them, periodically emitting soundwaves to knock down the True Heaven Palace experts pursuing them from the sky, urging, "Fatty Dragon, hurry, hurry!"
"Stop nagging!"
Dragon Qilin was furious and shouted, "I'm already giving it everything I've got!"
Within its body, raging flames erupted. Its physical form grew larger and larger, transforming into a colossal beast over forty zhang long. Its charge became truly lightning-fast, and in just a few breaths it crossed the mountain ahead and arrived at the lake White Bat had spoken of—the one where many girls were bathing.
The lake was extraordinarily clear, like a transparent gem set among the mountains. From the surface, one could see down to the lakebed over ten zhang deep. There were no waterweeds in the lake, nor any swimming fish—it was clean beyond imagination.
Yet along the lake's edge, trees stood in orderly rows encircling the water. On several trees hung pink and white garments along with skirts and trousers, and by the lakeside sat embroidered shoes with pink soles and peonies stitched upon the toes, vibrant and fresh.
From the lake came the laughter of young women, the sound of splashing water, and a beautiful, tender song—a scene of pure paradise.
Dragon Qilin had burst in without warning and was startled, feeling reluctant to disturb the serenity of the place. It bellowed in its loudest voice: "Girls in the lake, get to shore quickly!"
"Gasp!"
The girls in the lake saw the enormous beast crash in and cried out in alarm. One girl boldly raised her pale white arm and giggled, "Big fellow, why don't you come down and play?"
Qin Mu looked at the women in the lake, his face turning ashen. He urgently urged Dragon Qilin on: "Fatty Dragon, it really is that old monster from Withered Solitude Ridge! Run, run, go around it!"
He feared not Yu Bochuan and his followers, but the old Root Demon of Withered Solitude Ridge—the monster that the Heavenly Sage Cult had once suppressed there!
"The old monster from Withered Solitude Ridge?"
Dragon Qilin was terrified. Every single dragon scale on its body bristled upright with a series of sharp snaps, nearly piercing Xiong Qier's feet. It immediately veered around the lake and sprinted with everything it had, its speed soaring to levels far beyond anything before!
Behind them, the mountain ridge was rumbling and shaking. Rocks crumbled and enormous boulders tumbled down the slopes—one could see that Yu Bochuan and the True Heaven Palace experts were channeling their divine abilities, attempting to transform the entire mountain into a mountain giant to attack them!
That mountain was far larger than the other hills. Its peaks were tall and elegant, and if transformed into a giant, a single stride would cover six or seven li, making it easy to catch up to them!
Just then, the elegant mountain suddenly collapsed. Rocks shattered, and countless pale white bones tumbled out from within—bones of humans and beasts alike, piled high into a mountain of their own!
This mountain had actually been packed with bones, nearly hollowed out just to store them. The sight left Yu Bochuan and his companions behind utterly stunned.
"What creature has eaten so many people and exotic beasts?"
Yu Bochuan had no time to deliberate. He bellowed, "The bones carry spirit! Channel the secret arts and slay Nai Kui!"
Everyone cast their spells. Countless bones scurried rapidly, assembling into a towering skeleton giant that strode into the lake.
Yu Bochuan and the others leaped into the air and landed upon the skeleton giant. The women in the lake could not dodge in time, and several were crushed beneath its feet.
Yu Bochuan and his followers steered the skeleton giant across the lake, chasing after Dragon Qilin who was sprinting along the shore. Just then, the lake water suddenly churned. Hundreds of women burst from the water, flying into the air, each trailing a pitch-black tentacle behind them. They cried out in unison, their voices shrill:
"Heavenly Sage Cult Master!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Thunderous sounds rang out continuously. The skeleton giant beneath Yu Bochuan's feet cracked apart, ensnared by the black tentacles that coiled and squeezed with tremendous force. The skeleton giant shattered, and countless bone fragments shot out in every direction. More than a dozen Six Directions realm cultivators with lesser cultivation could not dodge in time and were pierced by the bone shards, falling into the water. Even those with somewhat stronger cultivation found it hard to withstand the barrage, each one spitting blood from the impact.
Those divine ability users who had fallen into the lake struggled to rise, but suddenly the water churned as if it had been set to boiling. Countless pitch-black shapes, large as pythons, slithered and writhed through the water, coiling around them and dragging them down to the lakebed.
Yu Bochuan and the others were horrified. They hastily took to the sky and fled beyond the lake. That once tranquil and idyllic lake had become a scene of chaos in the blink of an eye. Tentacles continued to burst from the water, each bearing a naked woman, grabbing anyone they could reach and dragging them into the lake!
The others hurriedly channeled True Heaven Palace's divine abilities, attempting to control these strange tendrils. True Heaven Palace believed that all things possess spirit and all things possess godhood—their divine abilities could command everything, living or dead, turning it all into a weapon. Yet against these bizarre roots, their powers proved utterly useless.
In moments, another dozen or more cultivators were seized by the women atop the tendrils and dragged into the lake, their fate unknown.
"Heavenly Sage Cult Master, at last I've found you!"
Yu Bochuan and the others finally flew clear of the lake. They had just touched down and hadn't even caught their breath when the trees along the shore suddenly uprooted as one, sprinting on their root-legs in the direction Dragon Qilin had fled.
Yu Bochuan and his companions stared in disbelief before breaking into a desperate run. The Celestial Being realm experts among the True Heaven Palace immediately activated their Primordial Spirits and deployed their divine abilities to fend off the attacking trees.
After fleeing for a hundred li or so, they finally escaped the range of the bizarre trees and tendrils. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and slowed their pace.
If they were flying at a leisurely pace, even a thousand li wouldn't exhaust them. But sprinting for their lives, even a hundred li left them gasping for air.
Dragon Qilin also slowed its pace, panting heavily, not too far ahead of them.
"We should be safe now."
Qin Mu exhaled in relief. "That Root Demon's tendrils only extend about a hundred li at most... Wait!"
His expression suddenly turned grave. He surveyed his surroundings and found himself in a dense forest, trees casting deep shade—a common enough sight, but interspersed among them were plants Qin Mu had never seen before.
They were enormous flowers, each taller than a person. Tender pink buds were clustered together, standing tall and elongated, flanked by two large leaves on either side.
Though Qin Mu had studied herbology under Medicine Master and could normally identify all manner of plants and spirit herbs, he had never seen these strange flowers before.
Yu Bochuan and his group had also charged into this flower forest. Seeing this, they frowned, but pressed on without stopping, still pursuing Qin Mu and his companions.
Suddenly, one of the great flowers lazily unfurled its stamen, the bud spinning as its petals slowly opened. The tender pink deepened—first to rose, then to crimson.
When the flower had fully bloomed, a young woman kneeling within it slowly rose, lifting her head to stare at Qin Mu. From her mouth came a shrill, piercing cry: "Heavenly Sage Cult Master! Your Heavenly Sage Cult has brought me such misery!"
Throughout the flower forest, the great flowers burst open one after another with sharp, whistling sounds. At the center of each stood a maiden of stunning beauty, all turning their gazes toward Qin Mu in unison, screaming: "Such misery—!"
Qin Mu's scalp went numb. He urged Dragon Qilin, "Fatty Dragon, breathe fire! Brothers of the Bat, use your soundwaves!"
Dragon Qilin unleashed a torrent of flames, and true fire blazed across its entire body. The two White Bats soared into the sky, spewing soundwaves, while Qin Mu drove the Carefree Sword. The divine sword zipped up and down like lightning, severing the root tendrils trailing from behind each charging girl.
At this point, no other sword would have sufficed. Only this divine weapon could hold back the tendrils of the Root Demon of Withered Solitude Ridge.
But against the old monster's true form, Qin Mu could not be certain whether the Carefree Sword would be enough.
"That old monster's cultivation seems even stronger than before!" he fretted.
Whoosh! Countless maidens soared into the air, flowers and leaves trailing behind them as they attacked the intruders in the forest.
One True Heaven Palace divine ability user summoned a jade tree, its thousand branches sweeping toward the girls. But the maiden's petals and leaves snapped shut, wrapping her body in a tight cocoon.
The cultivator was delighted—his jade tree's roots and branches coiled around the flower. Yet the bud was slick and slippery, slipping free with a soft pop. A single stamen shot forward and pierced clean through the cultivator's forehead.
Yu Bochuan's face contorted with alarm. He roared: "Summon the Sacred Treasure!"
The small exotic beast perched on his shoulder—barely a chi in length—leaped down. It pounded its fists against its chest, its body swelling larger and larger, then suddenly opened its mouth and roared. A treasure radiating vibrant green light emerged from the mouth of the horned ape-like creature.