Having dealt with the "fallen leaf monster," Xilutaiya relaxed slightly, then surveyed the narrow wooded clearing once more, searching for any other creatures of its kind.
Sure enough, during her search she discovered two more "monsters" disguised as tree leaves, and dispatched them with her sword.
Black blood trickled along the blade. Everywhere it touched, the steel curled and warped, writhing as grotesquely as an earthworm.
*This sword is probably ruined,* Xilutaiya thought, unable to suppress a shake of her head. Yet she had no better alternative at hand, so she had to make do with it for now.
After resting for a while, she set out uphill once again. This time no mishaps occurred, and the clearing held no monsters—
Yet there was a strange tree.
A twisted great tree stood at the center of this "colored bubble" domain. Its broad crown bore no leaves, only dangling ropes choked with all manner of knots and burls. These hanging branches seemed encrusted with grotesque tumors, making for a nauseating and bizarre sight.
When a chaotic and perilous place appeared devoid of enemies, chances were the greatest enemy stood right before one's eyes.
Xilutaiya watched the great tree from a distance, refraining from rashly approaching.
[Knotted Great Tree (Attribute: Distortion): A grotesque banyan variant. Devoid of leaves, it possesses abundant hanging branches, upon which grow numerous knots and burls.]
Knowing that simply standing in place was no solution, Xilutaiya picked up a stone and threw it at the tree, but it produced no reaction.
*Does it only respond if someone walks up to it?* she wondered.
*Forget it. Better not take the risk.* She would rather take a detour than be seized by a great tree. If she truly failed to break free, it would be too late for regrets.
Xilutaiya chose caution. Instead of pressing straight ahead, she skirted the outer edge of the tree's domain, slowly moving to the opposite side, and stepped once more into the grayish-white expanse.
After she left, the withered bark at the center of the great tree slowly split open, revealing a human-like face that gazed in the direction the girl had gone.
"I sense a supreme aura... Could another 'Blessed One' have come to this forgotten corner?"
"Forgive me, Your Sovereign Majesty. Aibosi has no strength left to fight, and can only eke out an existence by coexisting with these twisted abominations."
Through the gaps of its split mouth, one could faintly glimpse that the trunk's center had hollowed into a cavity, piled high with all manner of corpses and bones. Those ferocious skulls spoke to the formidable might and terror of bygone days.
***
Having put the recent "colored bubble" node far behind her, Xilutaiya continued onward, traversing the grayish-white world until she reached another colored bubble near the mountain peak.
Someone had been here before!
The moment Xilutaiya stepped inside, she noticed how this place differed from the earlier ones. Scattered across the ground were broken weapon hilts, shattered leather armor, and remnants of a campfire.
She cast her gaze forward again. Light swirled within her pupils, allowing her to see clearly through dense thickets of brush into a concealed cave. Some monster seemed to lurk within, and a faint, foul odor drifted on the breeze.
Pulling her hair in front of her chest, she drew a few breaths to recover her stamina, then swept a wary gaze over the surroundings in search of any hidden threat.
Empowered by the Destiny effects of Natural Perception Lv. 2 and Appraisal Eye Lv. 3—both excelling in perception and observation—her keen insight far exceeded that of an ordinary first-order practitioner. Moreover, Radiant Moon was the sole attribute devoted purely to flawless clarity, making it the bane of countless illusions.
Even though she had not cultivated the Radiant Moon attribute, her innate affinity for it retained a measure of that quality.
Numerous shattered ruins lay around, but no monster showed itself, leaving the cave behind the thicket as the only possibility.
As a practitioner of the Emerald Honey attribute, she was not as adept at combat as those of Blood Law. If given the chance, she preferred to avoid resolving matters through fighting.
Backing away seemed the wiser choice at this moment, but... the path to the mountain summit lay right beside that cave. If she detoured, the remaining terrain consisted of sheer precipices. Leaving aside whether she could scale them, doing so would drain far more energy trudging through the grayish-white expanse.
*It seems the pioneers who came here before ran into the same dilemma,* she thought, looking down at the ruined campfire at her feet.
Should she take a long detour, or gamble on a breakthrough?
A detour would burn extra stamina and power without guaranteeing a path up the mountain, while pressing forward meant braving unknown dangers.
*What a difficult choice,* she mused, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers.
Yet at that moment, there was no longer any need to deliberate, for the monster in the cave seemed to have caught the scent of living prey and stepped out.
It was hard to imagine that from such a modest cave, emerging like spilled liquid, stepped a monstrous black cat taller than Xilutaiya and larger than an ox. Its coat of black fur was dark as pitch, blurring the edges of its outline. The only striking feature was a pair of ferocious, lemon-yellow eyes.
"Hiss—"
It bared two long, sharp fangs. As expected of a beast, the bloodline inheritance granted them formidable claws, fangs, and horns.
[Pitch-Dark Monstrous Cat (Distortion): Shifting form, with grotesque black fur akin to liquid. Exceptionally vicious.]
Looking at the towering, bizarre black cat in the distance, and then at the twisted short sword in her hand, Xilutaiya decided against fighting. Her first instinct was to flee.
She leapt backward into the grayish-white expanse, intending to head for another safe colored bubble.
Yet she soon realized her mistake. The black cat plunged straight into the grayish-white expanse after her. Pitch-black ink flowed along the contours of its body as if bleeding into water, granting it the ability to move through the gray realm.
Left with no choice, Xilutaiya accelerated, dodging the cat's pounce before dashing back into the colored bubble she had just left.
Planting her feet upon the grass, Xilutaiya pushed off the ground and swept her sword in a reverse slash, tracing a razor-sharp arc that struck the descending black-furred forepaw.
The immense impact she had braced for never arrived. It felt as though she had struck an inflated balloon: once the tough outer skin was pierced, nothing lay inside but empty air.
The black cat suffered a light wound, its forepaw leaking black liquid and rising steam.
*Is that all it amounts to?* Xilutaiya thought, yet something felt off. If it could be defeated so easily, why were there so many shattered blades and remains on the ground?
Hurting, the black cat arched its back. Its blurry fur suddenly flared out like a porcupine's quills, every strand needle-sharp. It let out another hissing roar and lunged violently toward Xilutaiya.
The girl spun into position, her blade flashing in a gleaming silver arc like a sudden crescent moon, cleaving straight through the center of the black cat's brow.
As if an outer shell were instantly torn asunder, the cat's body split down the middle. Yet it did not die. Its two divided eyes remained fixed on Xilutaiya as it lunged forward, and the body and viscera behind its head surged forth like churning black mist, engulfing her entirely.
*Not good! That was its true attack all along!*
Caught completely off guard by an attack that defied all reason, she had no time to react before being swallowed by the dense black fog.
All light and sound vanished. Her hands could grasp nothing in her surroundings; there was only boundless void. An intangible distortion pressed inward from her skin. It began with the delicate blood vessels: under the influence of the Distortion attribute power, they fell into chaos, the blood flowing backward and forward erratically as the vessels squirmed like worms.
Next came the internal organs. Invisible hands seemed to wrench and tear at her insides, shifting them out of place and making Xilutaiya's stomach churn with violent nausea.
Finally, even the intangible Fate Board deep within her soul was invaded by the twisting black mist. Creeping in from all directions, it steadily spread, staining Breathing Method Lv. 3 and Bloom Art Lv. 1 below with pitch-black darkness.
Like a virus, the once radiant, pristine cards grew turbid, marred by black spots that gradually widened and gnawed away at them.
Breathing Method Lv. 3, being a third-level card, could still hold out, but Bloom Art, at only level one, quickly shattered under the corrosive distortion, scattering into remnants. As a result, Xilutaiya lost her newly acquired Bloom Art and could no longer perform any of its techniques.
Worse still, by destroying Bloom Art, the black, twisting mist opened a path toward the central Destiny Card, beginning to encroach upon Gardening Apprentice Maiden.
If even her Destiny Card shattered, it would mean the end of Xilutaiya's life.
Chapter 73