25: Demonic Bee Devouring Soul

Deep within the Forbidden Ground, narrow rock crevices resembled the intestines of a giant beast, permeated with a cold, damp, moldy smell.

Mo Yuan leaned against the icy rock wall, each breath pulling at the still-healing searing pain in his chest and abdomen.

Thunder Spiritual Power at Qi Refining Stage 4 surged through his widened Meridians, bringing a powerful sense of strength, yet it could not fully soothe the hidden injuries from forcibly breaking through the thunder barrier and enduring the thunder pool's body tempering.

Deep in his Sea of Consciousness, the tearing sensation caused by the Illusion Lizard's dual mimicry forcibly extracting his Divine Sense was like a maggot in his bones; bouts of dizziness accompanied by sharp stinging, making his face ashen.

Li Feiyu's terrifying pressure at the Foundation Establishment Stage was like an invisible shackle; although temporarily diverted by the chaotic infighting, Mo Yuan had no doubt that the old monster, like a poisonous snake on his heels, could lock onto him again at any moment.

Nearly one-third of the Thunder Spiritual Power Origin had been swallowed by the magic bottle—this was undoubtedly striking at Li Feiyu's lifeblood!

This enmity would not end until one of them died!

He had to recover immediately! He had to replenish his strength! He had to... leave!

The Seven Mysteries Sect Herb Garden!

It was the key resource location for the magic bottle to unlock the Emerald Demonic Liquid (exclusive to the Plant Series sequence)! It was also the closest place to him now, containing abundant life energy!

"Swarm!" Mo Yuan's icy will, like an invisible military order, instantly pierced into the chaotic, bloodthirsty consciousness core of the Bee King within the Bottle Grotto!

Buzz—!

Space ripples silently spread through the narrow crevice!

The dark green figure of the Venomous Stinger Bees King instantly solidified!

Three ruby-like leaves on its carapace swayed slightly, emitting cold and efficient mental fluctuations.

Following closely, nearly a thousand Venomous Stinger Bees, like a dark green torrent of death pouring out of the Void Realm, instantly filled the narrow crevice!

The high-speed buzzing of their wings converged into a heart-pounding, low roar, and the sweet, poisonous stench mixed with icy killing intent made the already cold air almost solidify!

Under the accelerated growth of five days in the Grotto (one day in the outside world) and the nourishment of Spiritual Qi, each bee had become more lustrous and ferocious, and the crimson, blood-like poison gleam at the tip of their dark blue, venom-coated stingers condensed and remained unshaken!

Their "Bee Swarm Matrix" was even more compact and efficient, like a war machine controlled by a collective consciousness!

"Target! Seven Mysteries Sect Herb Garden!" Mo Yuan's voice was hoarse, carrying an undeniable resolve, "Drain it dry! All the spiritual plants! Not a single trace... left!"

"Buzz—!!!" A sharp, piercing buzz erupted from the Bee King's chaotic, bloodthirsty consciousness!

It was the ecstasy of the highest command being activated!

The three ruby-like leaves swayed wildly, and invisible mental commands instantly covered the entire swarm!

Swish!

The dark green torrent of death, as if receiving a charge order, instantly changed direction, transforming into a dark green afterimage tearing through the air, and surged out from the narrow rock crevice!

Its target was the Seven Mysteries Sect Herb Garden, located on the other side of the back mountain and protected by a Formation!

Mo Yuan, suppressing dizziness and intense pain, sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into the magic bottle in his arms.

He needed to witness this final step of plunder with his own eyes!

The Seven Mysteries Sect Herb Garden.

The former lush greenery and swirling Spiritual Qi were gone.

Zhang Wanchun had been executed, and the Elders and Disciples had fled, leaving behind this unguarded treasure land.

The low-level Formation barrier protecting the Herb Garden, without anyone to maintain it, was as dim as a candle in the wind, virtually nonexistent.

Inside the Herb Garden, various spiritual plants still grew tenaciously.

Moon-gazing grass emitting a hazy moonlight, vermilion fruit vines with crimson sap flowing, cold mist grass with leaves like carved ice crystals, and large patches of green spiritual rice containing pure wood Spiritual Qi... a riot of colors, full of vitality, with a rich medicinal fragrance and grassy scent mixed together, refreshing the heart.

However, this tranquility was about to be completely shattered!

Buzz—!!!

It was as if the horn of death had suddenly sounded!

A dark green cloud, covering the sky, descended with a tearing shriek, instantly enveloping the entire Herb Garden!

The death storm formed by the Venomous Stinger Bee Swarm had arrived!

The dim light barrier of the protective Formation, like a fragile soap bubble, shattered silently under the furious impact of the swarm, without even a ripple!

"Disperse!" The Bee King's icy mental command was given!

Buzz—!!!

Nearly a thousand Venomous Stinger Bees, like detonated bombs, instantly scattered!

They no longer maintained their Formation but transformed into countless deadly dark green streaks of light, like a locust plague that had been hungry for a billion years, pouncing on every spiritual plant in the Herb Garden that emitted an enticing Spiritual Qi fluctuation!

The devouring! It had begun!

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Hair-raising gnawing sounds erupted like a sudden downpour!

So dense it was suffocating!

The delicate leaves of the moon-gazing grass, emitting hazy moonlight, were torn apart and chewed to pieces by the sharp mouthparts of the Venomous Stinger Bees, like fragile paper!

Pure moonlight Spiritual Qi transformed into wisps of white mist, greedily absorbed by the fine hairs around the Venomous Stinger Bees' mouthparts!

The plump fruits on the vermilion fruit vines, flowing with crimson sap, were fiercely pierced by the barbed proboscis at the Venomous Stinger Bees' tails!

Like water pumps, the crimson sap and the essence of the plants within the fruits were frantically extracted!

The plump fruits shriveled, withered, and turned into charred husks at a visible speed!

The ice-crystal-like leaves of the cold mist grass made sizzling sounds under the corrosive effect of the Venomous Stinger Bees' venomous saliva, instantly losing their luster, becoming dull and fragile, and then were torn into fragments!

Large patches of green spiritual rice were like encountering an invisible harvester!

Wherever the Venomous Stinger Bees passed, the emerald green rice leaves and plump rice ears instantly vanished, leaving only bare, rapidly yellowing rice stalks!

The plant essence contained within them transformed into a torrent of light green specks, frantically devoured by countless Venomous Stinger Bees!

This was no longer harvesting, but a complete, destructive plunder!

It was leaving no blade of grass behind, like a locust plague!

It was the most primal, most greedy devouring of the world's spiritual essence by the magic bottle's creations!

Inside the Herb Garden, the rich life essence, like a punctured balloon, rapidly dissipated!

In its place was a nauseating scent of death, a mixture of sweet venom and the decay of withered plants!

The once vibrant spiritual plants, swept away by the dark green torrent, withered, charred, and turned to ash in large swaths!

The colorful Herb Garden was losing its color at an astonishing speed, turning into a desolate, scorched earth!

Within the Bottle Grotto.

Mo Yuan's consciousness, like an overlooking deity, clearly "saw" the changes in the magic bottle!

Every time the swarm devoured a spiritual plant, every time it absorbed a wisp of plant essence, a trace of extremely pure energy, containing the Origin of plant life, was forcibly extracted and gathered by the magic bottle through the profound channel of the Soul link!

Deep within the black magic bottle's body, the unactivated emerald glow, representing the Origin of the plant series sequence creations, began to pulsate violently, like a dormant seed infused with sweet dew!

The light grew brighter and purer!

It was no longer a single green, but a deep, restrained, yet infinitely vital emerald green, like the finest imperial jade!

On the bottle's body, the silver-purple thunder patterns, originally dominated by the Dao of thunder's destruction, now underwent a strange transformation!

Tiny, yet vibrantly green threads of light, like tender vine sprouts emerging in early spring, began to grow, intertwine, and spread along the edges of the thunder patterns!

The destruction of thunder and the vitality of plants, two completely opposite Dao of Origin, began a strange fusion and collision within the magic bottle!

Buzz— Buzz— Buzz—!

The magic bottle's tremor grew more intense!

At the mouth of the bottle, an incomparably powerful suction erupted, no longer targeting external Spiritual Qi, but... frantically drawing in the massive amount of plant life Origin plundered from the Herb Garden!

Boom—!!!

It was as if some invisible shackle had been completely broken!

The magic bottle's body suddenly erupted with an unprecedented, blinding emerald green light!

The light was no longer contained but illuminated the entire Bottle Grotto like a green sun!

Deep within the Grotto, the few translucent emerald green sprouts, naturally conceived by the magic bottle's Dao of Origin, swayed and grew wildly under the illumination of this emerald light, as if summoned by an emperor!

The silver-purple thunder patterns flowing on their leaves were instantly dyed and assimilated by the emerald green, becoming thicker and more profound!

At the mouth of the bottle, a drop of viscous, pure, exquisitely deep emerald green demonic liquid, like liquid top-grade imperial jade, slowly condensed and dripped, carrying an indescribable aura of life creation!

Plop!

[Emerald Demonic Liquid]—The Blood of Plant Series Exclusive Creation! Unlocked!

It succeeded!

Mo Yuan's consciousness felt the grand fluctuations from the magic bottle, like a new world's door opening, and a surge of pride in controlling the authority of creation naturally arose!

However, just as this euphoria surged—

At the edge of the Herb Garden, next to an inconspicuous withered weed deliberately hidden in the shadow of a large medicine rack.

Space rippled ever so slightly, like water.

A thin figure, wearing a faded gray Disciple robe, solidified silently, like a ghost blending into the environment.

It was Han Li!

He had infiltrated here at some unknown time, like the most patient observer.

There was no expression on his ordinary face, only a pair of eyes as calm as a deep pool, which now clearly reflected the apocalyptic scene unfolding in the Herb Garden!

The dark green swarm covering the sky! The spiritual plants rapidly withering and turning into scorched earth! The sweet, poisonous stench and the decaying smell of plants filling the air!

What shocked him even more was that the dormant little green bottle deep within his robes, at the moment the spiritual plants in the Herb Garden were frantically devoured by the swarm and their life Origin forcibly plundered, actually trembled uncontrollably!

An extremely faint, yet incredibly clear, complex wave of emotions—anger, disgust, and a deeper longing—surged through the Soul link, fiercely impacting Han Li's consciousness!

The little green bottle represented the purest, most fundamental creation and vitality in the world!

It abhorred this destructive plunder, abhorred the magic bottle's creation's greed in devouring the life Origin of spiritual plants!

But deeper down... it seemed to have a fated... resonance and... attraction to the [Emerald Demonic Liquid], forcibly condensed by the magic bottle, representing another rule of life creation!

Han Li's gaze pierced through the rampaging swarm and the withered spiritual plants, as if through the distance of space, firmly locking onto the direction of the Forbidden Ground's rock crevice where Mo Yuan was hiding!

Deep in his eyes, the cold scrutiny, which had slightly eased after Zhang Tie's liberation, was rekindled, mixed with the shock of the little green bottle's unusual movement, becoming sharper and deeper!

magic bottle... demonic liquid... devouring plunder... plant series...

Mo Yuan... what kind of power do you wield?!

Han Li's figure, like flowing water merging into shadows, silently vanished from his original spot just before the raging death storm of the swarm completely covered the area, leaving only the withered weed swaying slightly in the violent buzzing.