Chapter 186

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

What is going on? Could the house eat people, and even grow up automatically?

Shen Yao's gaze was cold and sharp; the originally unfathomable scene was forced to reveal itself because of the morning's events.

There might indeed be traces if people were swallowed; the tree roots crisscrossing inside the ground were dense and numerous, the kind that would make one develop trypophobia at a single glance.

Shen Yao pursed her lips, said no more nonsense, and pulled Xi Chen toward the peach blossom tree in the center of the town.

Compared to the previous day, the peach blossoms on this tree had bloomed even more.

The pink canopy looked exceptionally beautiful, complementing the peach blossoms dotted within it.

"See anything?" Shen Yao asked Xi Chen, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the central area of the peach blossom tree.

Xi Chen said calmly, "Demonic Qi."

The Demonic Qi covering the canopy sky and earth was the kind of existence that made one's eyes swim just from one look.

Xi Chen had only heard elders speak of it before — that Demonic Qi in some Strange Instances was terrifyingly abundant — but because of his own strength he had never witnessed such a scene; now he finally got to see it for himself, and he didn't know what to say.

Shen Yao looked up, "Not just that." Besides the Demonic Qi, there was also constantly emanating Impure Qi glowing with red light.

This peach tree should be the root of the problem in the entire Tao Hua Town.

Before, Shen Yao wasn't very certain; she went to the town edge to test, targeting the hemispherical barrier in the sky that enveloped the whole Tao Hua Town.

But everything right now told her that hemispherical barrier was very likely restricting this peach tree before her eyes.

"Fall back, take care of yourself, and don't let the others come out recklessly."

A Buddha Light Petal landed in Xi Chen's hand; Shen Yao took off the peach wood hairpin she had been wearing on her head and the black long whip.

Xi Chen: ……

Xi Chen turned and ran back, distributing the petal in his hand to the others who had entered before the big battle here began.

Some elderly people knew the importance of the petal, because whether it was the Investigation Bureau or the Patrollers, they had all released some rumors about it.

As for why this handsome young man before them could produce such a treasure, one shouldn't ask what shouldn't be asked — this is the standard mindset for certain people to live long.

Boom—

A sudden explosive sound rang out beside their ears, and everyone instinctively looked up.

They saw large amounts of black qi suddenly emerge from the originally calm central location.

The black qi was like branches and vines flying everywhere, constantly dragging and whipping their own branches.

In mid-air, a small black dot flickered in and out of view — a person attacking with their back to them.

As the black qi spread through mid-air, a pungent smell drifted over.

Shen Yao frowned tightly, forcefully swinging the long whip in her hand, lashing out viciously at the peach tree beside her.

The peach tree, under attack, began to tremble; the countless peach blossoms originally hanging on the canopy fluttered down.

The sky full of falling peach blossom rain was beautiful and fresh, but paired with the continuously overflowing black and red qi, the whole scene became strange and bloody.

The black qi spread faster and faster; they seemed alive, baring fangs and brandishing claws as they continued expanding outward.

Shen Yao knew things were bad; she concentrated her spirit and began chanting a spell formula.

Instantly, streaks of Talisman Paper flashing with light shot out from her hand, flying straight toward the black mist in mid-air and the peach tree.

The black mist, struck by the light, let out a howl, and even its color faded by several degrees.

The peach tree behind was even more excessive — its whole body was pitted and hollowed, and its originally lush branches and trunks had withered almost completely.

Seeing this, Shen Yao let out a heavy breath of relief. But she knew this was merely a beginning; the real challenge still waited for her behind.

Her expression unconsciously turned serious; Shen Yao rested briefly then continued confronting the peach tree before her.

Rumble—

The originally calm peach tree suddenly shook violently; huge root systems burst from the ground, rushing straight toward the sky above.

The sky still held dense black and red qi; even though Shen Yao had scattered a portion with Talisman Paper, there was too much accumulated above, and no change could be seen.

Shen Yao's eyes widened; she hurriedly dodged backward, while personally watching the peach tree combine with those black and red qi, causing the entire tree's body to swell several sizes larger.

Compared to the peach tree, Shen Yao was far too tiny; even when those roots whipped toward her like whips, she could only temporarily evade.

Where the root systems passed, surrounding houses collapsed, kicking up rolling clouds of dust.

"This really is — a size difference is too disadvantageous." Shen Yao forcefully shook the black whip in her hand, meeting the difficulty head-on; at the same time Talisman Paper activated, flinging onto the tree like cannon shells and exploding into myriad fireworks.

Shen Yao's figure nimbly leaped in mid-air, dodging the root systems' attacks. Simultaneously, the long whip in her hand danced, clashing fiercely with the root systems upon collision.

At this moment, a gradually clarifying black silhouette emerged behind the peach tree. It was a Tree Demon phantom with a ferocious, terrifying face!

It opened its huge mouth and directly sprayed a stream of black flame forward.

Shen Yao cast a spell formula, summoning a protective shield. The flame slammed into the shield and surged past it, continuously emitting piercing sounds.

The flame extinguished; the shield still encasing her held, and Shen Yao stood in mid-air with long hair flying.

……

Bang—Bang bang bang—

Xi Chen dodged left and right, simultaneously striking down a puppet attacking him.

Calling it a puppet, it was more like a human-form skin bag eroded by Demonic Qi and controlled by the peach tree.

Oh, it couldn't even be called human-form — misshapen and bizarre, who knows what happened.

Xi Chen grumbled inwardly, his eyes still occasionally watching the great battle between the two sides ahead.

Although he knew Shen Yao was a Big Shot with strong capabilities, completely unafraid of this kind of boss, Xi Chen just couldn't let go of his heart that was stuck in his throat.

Flowing light flashed on his hand, and the puppet charging at him shattered into pieces on the spot, leaving only a few pitch-black bones.

Seeing this, Xi Chen did not stop, continuing to deal with the enemies surging forward endlessly.

The entire Tao Hua Town was under the control of the peach trees; with so many residents, it would still be somewhat difficult for just them to handle.

Fortunately, they had Buddha Light Petals, allowing them to recklessly use the spiritual power within their bodies to attack without cease; even if they inhaled too much Magic Qi, they could simply swallow a petal to neutralize it, which instead improved their combat power.

"When will this end? If we keep fighting, we'll either be killed by the puppets or drop dead from exhaustion after our spiritual power runs out."

We're not getting out of this alive anyway, especially with so many endless puppets around us; there are only a few of us, and the fact that we've held out this long is thanks to the Buddha Light Petals.

"Hold on a bit longer; they're still fighting over there, but we have the upper hand."

While smashing one puppet with each punch, Zhou Hai did not forget to cheer on the others around him.

Sometimes, what people fear most is losing that breath of spirit in their hearts.

No matter what, Zhou Hai hoped they could all leave alive.

"And looking at the current situation, the possibility of clearing the instance early is very high; don't be afraid, we just need to"

Before he finished speaking, another deafening boom rang out beside his ear.

The sound was truly loud, and the ground trembled; they and the charging puppets all fell to the ground.

The peach trees exploding in the distance looked like fireworks; everyone could only see something flash by, and then they were all thrown out.

Xi Chen was the same; when he came back to his senses, he had already returned to the Spirit Fungus Room.

Shen Yao had already freed herself from Xi Chen's embrace, sitting on the ground gasping for air.

Xi Chen:?...!!!

Xi Chen hurriedly helped Shen Yao up and asked with concern if she was alright.

Shen Yao shook her head. "I'm fine. Contact the Investigation Bureau and the Patrollers and report this matter."

After speaking, Shen Yao turned around and entered the room; after confirming there were no hidden dangers in the room, she took out a transparent round small ball from her space.

Inside the small ball was a withered tree demon, very chibi mini.

Shen Yao summoned the system and asked if the Magic Qi Invasion was man-made.

"The tree demon here is a Magic Beast," Shen Yao had seen some similar varieties when she was in the Cultivation World.

They were native creatures born in Magic Qi, different from species generally eroded by Magic Qi.

And discovering native Magic Beasts in a Strange Instance was a very unusual signal.

Putting it more plainly, if Magic Qi actively invaded, such Magic Beasts generally would not be born at this time; it was not yet time.

But if Magic Qi passively invaded, it meant someone first buried Magic Beasts, and then the Magic Beasts produced Magic Qi to invade in reverse—that would be very interesting.

Who could bring Magic Beasts in without anyone knowing and lead the Magic Qi Invasion? This was no small matter, and it wouldn't be short in time either.

Xi Chen had said the Patrollers and Investigation Bureau knew the time of the Magic Qi Invasion and Spiritual Qi Revival, so on top of that, they had to keep calculating further back.

Hiss

Several thousand years or even tens of thousands of years; it might have something to do with these originally foreign Patrollers.

Shen Yao's imagination ran wild; whatever points she thought of, whether spoken aloud or pondered alone, could scare people half to death.

But Shen Yao didn't care, thinking she should still improve her capabilities; as long as her strength was strong enough, would she still fear others being dishonest behind her back? She could just clench her fist and deal with them from the start.

Simply resting for a night in the Spirit Mushroom House; when Shen Yao went out the next day, she saw Xi Chen looking fatigued.

Clearly a cultivator with a cultivation realm, Xi Chen did not have the ethereal immortal qi a cultivator should have.

Shen Yao inferred that the instance they had just experienced must have been quite severe.

"The Patroller is dead."

Xi Chen spoke, not only startling Shen Yao for a moment but also jumbled the train of thought Shen Yao had finally sorted out.

Dead?!

Shen Yao tilted her head and confirmed with Xi Chen again whether he had misspoken.

This absolutely shouldn't be; that was a Patroller, whose strength could be said to be the strongest in the entire instance except for the boss.

Blinking, Shen Yao signaled Xi Chen to explain the circumstances properly.

Xi Chen didn't know much, but because he had always stayed by Shen Yao's side, and the Investigation Bureau and Patrollers needed to rely on Shen Yao to gain certain benefits, once the relationship was sorted out, the matter of this Patroller's accident became clear.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao sighed. "Is this kind of situation common?"

Xi Chen shook his head, his expression still somewhat dazed. "Not common," even extremely rare.