A distance of fifty meters felt as long as half a century.
When Xilutaiya stepped into another "colored bubble," it was like a fish returning to a pond, able to breathe once more.
She walked into the center of this vibrant clearing, leaned against a tree to rest, and lay on the ground, gazing up at the clouds hanging impossibly low and heavy overhead.
*This oppressive feeling really takes some getting used to. It's like the sky is falling.*
After resting for a short while, Xilutaiya stood up again. Searching the surroundings, she discovered more mushrooms bearing attribute power beneath several trees.
Though she did not know the origin of these mushrooms, she planned to gather them anyway. At the very least, they were exceedingly rare and carried the power of "attributes," so they might come in handy later. Because most of them grew in fairy rings, Xilutaiya named them "Ring-Color Mushrooms."
[Ring-Color Mushroom: Mushrooms bearing various colors and different attribute powers, growing in the colored domains of the grayish-white world.]
[Ring-Color Mushroom (Red Parasol)] (First-order · Blood Law), [Ring-Color Mushroom (Indigo)] (First-order · Conch Fish), [Ring-Color Mushroom (Black Gill)] (First-order · Dead Cinder)
So far, she had gathered three mushrooms with complete attributes, carefully placing them into the pocket of her cloak.
Once fully rested, she set off again. This time, she chose a more distant destination—another "colored bubble" leading toward the top of the hill.
Stepping into the grayish-white world, she once again felt as if submerged in dark, deep water. Everything fell deathly silent; she could see her own body moving, yet heard not a single sound.
This trek was farther than the last. She had to cross an interval of about 160 meters before finally reaching this "colored bubble" to rest.
The physical exertion was minimal, but the drain on her "Emerald Honey" left her feeling somewhat fatigued.
If she compared it to a battery at 100%, that crossing had consumed about 4%, leaving roughly 95% remaining.
It was still fairly abundant, but she had to account for the extreme possibility that she might deplete it entirely without finding a way out.
While Xilutaiya leaned against a tree, calculating how to conserve her physical energy and reserves while searching for a way out, an unusual "fallen leaf" drifted slowly down from above the narrow grove.
Brownish and similar to the surrounding foliage, its veins were far more intricate, even slightly grotesque. The moment it landed on the grass behind Xilutaiya, it abruptly writhed. As if alive, the leaf kicked off the ground, sprang onto a tree trunk, and lunged toward the girl's unprotected nape from behind.
*Smack!*
Even without seeing it, the [Natural Perception Lv. 2] she had gained after advancing allowed her to react in time. Accelerated by her Breathing Method, she darted forward and swiped the bizarre monster aside with the back of her hand.
The forceful blow sent the leaf crashing into the tree trunk before it slid down. Suppressing the repulsive sensation from where the back of her hand had brushed against it, the girl focused her attention on inspecting her assailant.
[Fallen Leaf Monster] (Attribute: Distortion): A bizarre, unnatural lifeform. Beneath the leaf were two pitch-black eyeballs, and along the serrated edges grew tiny tentacles.
The [Distortion] attribute!
Xilutaiya's pupils dilated slightly. This was the first time she had ever encountered such an attribute.
Attribute [Distortion]: Foul instincts and runaway cadence.
It was an almost purely negative, uncontrollable attribute that tainted the world. According to historical records, the entire "Seventh Era" had been spent warring against the power of this very attribute.
The reason Muleituo, the "King of Primeval Savagery" and ancestor of humanity, had led the early people across the Vast Star Wilderness on a grueling trek of nearly twelve years back then was that their homeland had been eroded and corrupted by this attribute's power until it was uninhabitable.
As for the origins of this attribute, the secret history recorded that it stemmed from the Third Alien Star's Descent. Stars from an alien world had torn through the sky and fallen upon this realm; their invisibly spreading power warped and mutated the world, giving rise to the [Distortion] attribute.
In contrast to the first descent that had granted the world life and the second that had bestowed light, the third alien star brought only chaos and ruin. The sky fell, and countless dragonkin and fairies perished. To withstand the tearing impact of the alien star and the prying gaze of great entities from the outer realms, dragons and fairies formed a rare alliance, putting aside their past enmities to confront the catastrophe together.
The Seventh Era was destined to be an age of turmoil and decline. Many beings of the ancient eras perished, the earth was pierced through, the shell of the world shattered, and even the ever-optimistic fairies fell into despair during those dark years.
Pulling her mind back from these memories of lore, Xilutaiya looked directly at the creature before her. Although it appeared small, she dared not lower her guard.
Drawing the short sword at her waist, Xilutaiya regulated her breathing. After observing Xilutaiya for a moment, the "fallen leaf monster" launched another attack. It first scurried in circles around her, attempting once again to ambush her from behind.
However, once its ambush tactics were exposed, the spectacle turned somewhat comical. Because it had no legs, it could only scuttle along on its tiny tentacles or bounce by bending its leaf-body. Relying solely on these two modes of movement, its rhythm and pattern were easy to predict, allowing the girl to dodge effortlessly.
Realizing its flank attack had failed, the little creature seemed infuriated. It wiggled the tiny tentacles all over its body, let out a bizarre hiss, and tried to circle behind her again.
Naturally, it failed once more. Having grown familiar with its behavior, Xilutaiya shifted her footing slightly to create distance, rendering its flanking maneuver utterly futile.
Then, it tried to circle behind her yet again.
At this point, Xilutaiya began to understand: its intelligence was remarkably limited, or perhaps it was incapable of complex thought altogether, able only to endlessly repeat a set routine.
*This is getting rather dull,* the girl thought. Even so, she observed it cautiously for a while longer before finally making her move.
Her short sword struck the fallen leaf monster with pinpoint precision, flicking it upward before pinning it firmly to a tree trunk.
Black blood oozed from the "fallen leaf's" wound. Wherever it flowed, wisps of dark smoke rose from the bark, and the tree began to deform and twist.
Now Xilutaiya understood why the trees here were so bizarre and malformed.
It seemed the [Distortion] attribute had seeped into every corner, including these trees, differing only in degree of severity.
The only thing that piqued Xilutaiya's curiosity was how those mushrooms could thrive. Could it be that the ancient attribute of "Mycelium" truly possessed a resistance to the corruption of Distortion?
The blood was not true blood, but a mixture of liquid and black mist. As it ran down, it initially spread across the bark, but soon evaporated into the air, permeating the surrounding environment.
Finally, Xilutaiya pulled her blade free, only to find that even the forged metal had undergone a strange distortion, the tip of the sword warping and curling upward.
*This corruption is far too bizarre and formidable. No wonder the fairies back then were helpless against Distortion.*
As for how the various races had overcome Distortion at that time—the truth was that the great war had never been won. The Twilight Sea beneath the seven continents was nothing more than a graveyard heaped with countless distorted abominations.
The Primordial Sea was already contaminated. The source of all life's pulse, [Blood Law], had become bound to [Distortion], gestating world-destroying, twisted abominations within the depths of the Twilight Sea.
Chapter 72