Chapter 211: The Escaping Flowers of the Other Shore

Aiden gazed at the spot where the six-armed general had fallen, feeling an intense sense of unreality. The general that had just forced them to hide together, could he have simply collapsed like this? Was it dead, wounded, or merely sleeping?

The absurd and scattered thoughts lasted but a moment, as Aiden suddenly remembered the flowers of the other shore blooming in the air, and their origin.

Aiden quickly gathered his chaotic thoughts, leaped from the large tree, and with the demonic energy protecting him, rushed swiftly away from the direction of the flowers of the other shore.

At this very moment, the absurd feeling in his heart intensified. If not for seeing it with his own eyes, Aiden would never believe that the famous gun Manjushage would appear within the Great Vortex.

Every famous weapon was a national treasure, each possessing the power to suppress an entire region. Similarly, they could not be lost. It was said that the wielder of Manjushage was just a young girl with little primal force; how could the empire let her bring Manjushage into the Great Vortex? Moreover, even someone of noble demonic lineage like him struggled to adapt to the harsh environment of the Great Vortex. How did she manage to endure it?

At the same time, another idea couldn’t be suppressed—this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to seize Manjushage! By acquiring this famous weapon, Aiden could become a renowned figure in the Evernight realm, and his status among the demon descendants would also rise significantly.

However, Aiden wasn’t swayed by the allure of such a grand prospect and fled without hesitation. The power of the attack he had just witnessed seemed to surpass the legends. Aiden believed he wouldn’t survive the bloom and wither of dozens of flowers of the other shore, let alone the hundreds of Manjushages blooming in the air.

Glory and fame were good, but one needed to be alive to enjoy them. Regardless of who now held Manjushage, Aiden was certain that if the person discovered him, there would be no mercy.

At this very moment, Wei Po Tian and Zhao Yuying were also staring blankly, watching the distant flowers of the other shore bloom and wither one after another.

Zhao Yuying suddenly shouted “Ruo Xi” and leapt up like a madwoman, rushing toward the place where the flowers were blooming. Wei Po Tian, startled, hurriedly chased after her.

After sprinting for a while, Zhao Yuying realized her mistake and immediately reined in her aura, switching to stealth as she continued her rush. Wei Po Tian caught up, running silently by her side. Zhao Yuying glared at him but didn’t mind his presence.

Zhao Yuying remembered that after firing the gun, Zhao Ruo Xi would be in a state of weakness, almost defenseless, which was why the Zhao clan always assigned strong protectors to stay with her. But this was the Great Vortex, and Zhao Yuying didn’t know why she was here. In such a special environment, those two protectors were likely not by her side.

The forest was full of dangers, and Zhao Yuying didn’t want to inadvertently lead any vicious beasts to Zhao Ruo Xi.

The massive corpse of the six-armed general lay on the ground, its six arms occasionally twitching. However, its eyes had lost their luster, staring blankly at the sky. On its large body, Zhao Ruo Xi was hopping around, searching for something.

Several pouches hung from the six-armed general’s body. Zhao Ruo Xi opened each one and found most of them contained dried beast meat and some unrecognizable stones and wood. She ignored these items, but in one pouch, she found a jar of ginkgo wine, causing her to exclaim in joy and hug it to her chest.

“Ruo Xi, put it down, you can’t drink it!” Without thinking of anything else, Zhao Yuying called out from a distance.

Startled, Zhao Ruo Xi’s hand trembled, nearly dropping the jar. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhao Yuying and Wei Po Tian rushing toward her.

Her face changed slightly, showing some panic, and then several flowers of the other shore around her bloomed and withered, and she ascended into the air.

Anxious, Zhao Yuying shouted, “Ruo Xi, stop, where are you going?”

But it was clear that Zhao Ruo Xi had no intention of listening. The flowers around her continued to bloom and wither, and she soon disappeared into the depths of the forest, moving faster than Zhao Yuying could ever hope to.

By the time Zhao Yuying reached the six-armed general, Zhao Ruo Xi was long gone. She stood there, quite dazed.

Wei Po Tian caught up and stood beside her, looking in the direction Zhao Ruo Xi had vanished, saying, “It seems she doesn’t want to see you.”

“Why?” Zhao Yuying was clearly perplexed.

Wei Po Tian shrugged, “How should I know? But there must be a reason. If she doesn’t want to see us, we can’t do much about it.”

Stamping her foot, Zhao Yuying exclaimed, “But she’s in danger right now!”

“Now that the power of Manjushage is still present, you’ve seen its might. So the danger isn’t to her, but to us.” In the Great Vortex, once a primal force weapon is used, one must leave the area as soon as possible, or else unknown dangers might come. With that, Wei Po Tian pointed at the six-armed general’s corpse and said, “Do you want to see what’s on it? If so, we need to act fast. We don’t have much time.”

Still somewhat unwilling, Zhao Yuying glanced in the direction Zhao Ruo Xi had left before sighing and accepting Wei Po Tian’s suggestion, collecting the spoils from the six-armed general’s body first.

The items in the general’s pouches were either worthless or unidentifiable. Wei Po Tian’s spatial equipment had very limited capacity and couldn’t hold everything. Due to size, the general’s equipment was also impossible to take.

Perhaps the most valuable spoil was the general’s corpse itself. But facing such a massive body, how could they tell which parts were valuable and which were just useless flesh?

Following her intuition, Zhao Yuying slashed at the general’s chest. For such a formidable life form, the heart must be of great value.

But the slash only left a shallow mark on its skin! Such a light wound hadn’t even broken through the general’s skin!

Zhao Yuying hadn’t expected the body to be so resilient, even in death. It seemed extracting the heart would be a daunting task.

Just then, a faint rustling sound filled the forest. Hearing this, even Zhao Yuying and Wei Po Tian felt a chill down their spines.

“What’s that?” Zhao Yuying asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely not good,” Wei Po Tian replied, his face grim.

The sound grew closer, and from the forest emerged several beetles. Each beetle was as big as a fist, with a cluster of scarlet compound eyes and an incredibly large mandible. They moved swiftly, almost as fast as Wei Po Tian running at full speed.

The beetles headed straight for the general’s corpse, and behind the first few, more beetles came pouring in, a dark, endless swarm.

Zhao Yuying and Wei Po Tian instinctively felt the danger. Zhao Yuying grabbed a few random stones from the general’s pouches and pulled Wei Po Tian, turning and running.

By now, the rustling was like a raging storm. They dared not stop, sprinting through the forest until the menacing sound faded, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, as they had guessed, the beetles were after the general’s corpse. Otherwise, they would have been in grave danger. Such an insect swarm was terrifying; any fierce beast trapped within would be reduced to bones in moments.

Zhao Yuying glanced back, still shaken.

“What do we do now?” It was rare for her to ask, but Wei Po Tian had shown unusual calmness and clarity in recent events, earning her respect.

Wei Po Tian thought for a moment and said, “Let’s try to get back to the initial area first. The frigid nights here are hard enough to endure. Plus, I don’t want to encounter the six-armed monster or those beetles again.”

Zhao Yuying nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.

“And after we get back to the initial area?” she asked.

“At that point, we’ll have more options. I have a Celestial Cloud Pearl, so we can try our luck at the Well of the Stars. From there, the Pool of All Beings isn’t far, though whether to go there or not will be your decision.”

Hearing about the Pool of All Beings, Zhao Yuying hesitated. Women faced ten times the humiliation of men if they lost control in the pool. Even with Wei Po Tian, he might struggle to save himself. Thus, even the strongest often shied away from the Pool of All Beings.

The Pool of All Beings was the ultimate test of will. Any strong-willed individual took pride in their mental fortitude. Only in the pool would they discover the weaknesses in their willpower. Someone had once proposed using the pool to further temper their will, but while many agreed, no one actually tried it.

After a long hesitation, Zhao Yuying sighed, “I had some experiences in the past… My willpower probably won’t pass. I won’t go.”

Wei Po Tian nodded, not prying further.

In the celestial grass field, the old man was guiding Qian Ye and the others around.

Closest to the cottage was a vast grassy slope, dotted with several small trees bearing cherry-like red fruits, their skins speckled with golden spots.

The old man said, “These are Star Cherry trees. The larger ones are fully grown, the rest are still growing. Star Cherry trees take nearly a century to mature. Can you guess which part is used in medicine?”

“The fruits,” Qian Ye guessed.

“The leaves,” Ji Tian Qing answered.

“The roots?” Li Kuang Lan suggested.

The old man stroked his beard and chuckled, “None of those. It’s the trunk.”

He approached a Star Cherry tree as tall as himself, stroking its trunk. “This one is fully mature. To collect it, all branches and roots must be removed, leaving only the trunk. The fruits, however, are highly poisonous. Don’t touch them, let alone eat them.”

Qian Ye noticed that even the old man was cautious, avoiding the fruits. He became wary of the tree.

The old man withdrew his hand, smiling at the three, “This one is ready. Who wants to give it a try?”

“I will,” Ji Tian Qing, naturally, stepped forward.

She drew a war knife and asked, “How do we collect it?”

“Cut it at the base, close to the ground, then remove the branches and leaves.”

Ji Tian Qing nodded, her blade flashing, striking the tree’s base. A metallic clang sounded, and the trunk only gained a shallow scratch, not even piercing the bark.