Chapter 148: Crushing the Withered and Uprooting the Base

You have slain the boss: Fallen Tree Spirit Elder, gaining 20% dungeon progress.

Current dungeon progress is 20%, already reaching the minimum clearance progress.

Dungeon difficulty increased to: Hard.

Flower Demon A Li Si Er's template switched to hard boss template, all attributes increased by 20%.

After a glance at the information prompt, Mu Yi showed no hesitation and directly waved his hand.

March forward, tear apart the next enemy!

Mu Yi led his mighty army into the forest depths; occasionally a few fallen tree spirits appeared along the way, easily overwhelmed by the Asura army.

Deep in the forest lies a quiet path; before Mu Yi's eyes spreads a flower sea about a hundred meters wide, yet at this moment the flower sea is a withered, desolate sight; although the view has opened up, the overcast sky lingers without dispersing.

In the center of the flower sea stands a woman draped in withered flower leaves; though her appearance is fairly decent, she bears a ferocious and mad expression.

Check successful, you are immune to this negative effect.

The pollen that truly affects them had already been inhaled into their bodies the moment they stepped into this flower sea; unexpectedly, even spiritual beings can be affected.

Cao Ming had no suspicion and directly withdrew.

A ferocious man-eating flower burst from the ground, its stamen full of black sharp teeth, like a signal; several similar man-eating flowers sprang from the earth, beginning to devour nearby Asura warriors, their roots all linking toward the flower sea's center.

The Asura warriors devoured had no chance to struggle, being digested into some substance and transported along the roots into the black flower bud.

Cao Ming loudly warned Mu Yi, but in the instant the purple pollen mist covered him, Cao Ming stood dazed, as if losing consciousness.

As Cao Ming swiftly retreated, a sudden change occurred: a bloody maw burst from the ground, opening and closing, swallowing whole the Asura warriors who couldn't dodge in time.

"Cao Ming! Retreat!" Mu Yi's intuition told him things weren't simple; he roared, ordering Cao Ming to retreat.

Immediately afterward, a huge black flower bud rose from the center of the flower sea, the bud connected to these man-eating flowers.

"Vermilion Bird Spirit!"

Mu Yi scratched his head, not knowing why the flower demon A Li Si Er's resentment always gave him a feeling of guilt for having abandoned her.

——Continuous Fireball

Several fireballs linked into a straight line flying toward the flower demon; A Li Si Er shrieked, countless vines tangled together forming a barrier that blocked the fireballs.

The Vermilion Bird Spirit flapped its wings, spewing scorching flames at the flower demon A Li Si Er; the withered flower sea instantly ignited, and A Li Si Er let out a bone‑chilling tragic scream.

【Flower Demon A Li Si Er, hard template, challenge level 10】

"Humans! All humans must die! You will pay for your actions!"

Mu Yi noticed this, covering the Vermilion Bird Spirit's power over all Asura warriors, while simultaneously pulling a fire‑element crystal from his hand.

Cao Ming strode forward toward the flower demon, flames igniting on his spear; the tip blazed, forming a line of fire that thrust straight at the demon's head.

"Human hearts are the filthiest things, jealousy, betrayal..."

Sensing someone approaching, he snapped his head back; in his scarlet eyes he saw Mu Yi.

This is also an advanced application of Cloud Energy, a link between Cloud Energy and military formations; it counts among Mu Yi's greatest gains from his deep study of the Military Strategist classics.

At this moment, the flower demon A Li Si Er remains ferocious.

Mu Yi directly controlled the Cloud Energy, then, using the Vermilion Bird Spirit as a vessel, exhaled flames.

A Li Si Er looked in disbelief at the freely moving Mu Yi, who was actually completely unaffected by her dual material‑spiritual control.

Black patterns stood out on his pale‑green skin, a strong withered aura continually seeping from his body.

I never expected to so quickly suffer the drawback of the Scorching Ash‑shaped Hell Path, which separates Asura warriors.

Accompanied by a roar of resentment, the flower demon A Li Si Er shot countless black vines from beneath her feet, speeding toward all the Asura warriors.

"All humans must die; you will all be buried in this flower sea!" the flower demon A Li Si Er shrieked hysterically.

Even the Asura warriors who only knew killing fell silent alongside Cao Ming, standing like statues.

The flower demon A Li Si Er's voice poured incessantly into Mu Yi's ears, full of boundless resentment.

"Affected by hallucinogenic pollen, undergoing willpower check..."

"I don't want to collapse in a place like this!"

Mu Yi furrowed his brow; as the flower demon A Li Si Er's resentment spread, some purple mist‑like substance diffused from the bud.

Cao Ming swung his spear at the vines; flames flashed past, and the vines, as if alive, some fearfully dodged the spear.

"Didn't expect I'd have to do it myself!" Mu Yi drew his formation knife, narrowed his eyes, and fixed his gaze on the flower demon.

The line of fire pierced the flower demon's head; in Mu Yi's doubtful gaze, A Li Si Er slowly collapsed, her body ablaze, as if she had just died thus.

"Within 5 minutes, the character will become completely immune to such spell effects."

Anyway, it doesn't matter; the flower demon has probably run out of tricks.

Mu Yi shook his head, freeing himself from the environment; the flower demon A Li Si Er's attack, the purple pollen mist, is merely a supporting means, or perhaps a smokescreen and psychological suggestion—fundamentally it is a mental‑attack spell.

"Is that it?" Mu Yi felt a bit dazed; how could it feel weaker than the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder just now? It should have been strengthened.

The flower bud slowly opened, and inside appeared none other than the flower demon A Li Si Er.

"My lord, be careful, it's pollen!"

This incident gave him a heads‑up: he lacks a means to dispel control on a group; if he encounters such a flower demon foe again without a counter, it will likely be troublesome.

The Military Strategist school is not without a solution; the independent belief zone mentioned by Bai Qi is an excellent countermeasure, but he cannot deploy it now without relying on the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier.

If he were to unfold the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier, the nature of using the dungeon to test his current strength would change.

So Mu Yi simply drew his blade and went into battle, a good chance to verify his recent contemplation results; thanks to the first day's blessing, when he contemplates atop Kunlun Mountain he always gains an extra boost, making his progress faster.

——Divine Foot Technique·Double Speed

Mu Yi's form turned into a phantom as he charged toward A Li Si Er; several vines whipped at him.

——Scorching Ash

Illusory flames appeared on the vines; the vines instantly spasmed in panic, and the Scorching Ash flames spread along them all the way toward A Li Si Er.

"Ah!"

The originally illusory flames, under the natural life's Instinct of fear, seemed to become real.

The boundary between reality and illusion grew indistinct amid the plants' Instinctual terror of fire.

When Mu Yi broke through the vine net's obstruction and rushed to Arisel's side, the flower spirit had already been twisted beyond recognition by the scorching flames.

At this moment Arisel's once lovely visage was gone, his whole body riddled with severe burns, barely clinging to life, his form trembling as if about to collapse, even the large black flower attached to his lower body withered, seeming ready to wither away at any instant.

—Thunder

Without a hint of mercy, Mu Yi raised the array blade in his hand, and dazzling lightning burst from its tip.

The flower spirit was cleaved in two by the array blade, lightning flickering over its remains.

The flower spirit Arisel slowly closed his eyes, the withered aura on the ground gradually receded, and a gentle breeze rose from the sea of blossoms, as if the earth had regained its vitality.

"Sar... you clearly said you wouldn't deceive me!"

Seeing the flower spirit Arisel's mournful expression, Mu Yi sighed, noting that love has always left only regret, and surely he was a pitiful soul whose heart had been broken.

"You have slain BOSS: Flower Spirit·Arisel, you have gained 20% Dungeon progress."

"Current Dungeon progress is 40%, already reaching the clearance threshold."

"Dungeon difficulty has risen to: Elite."

"Wizard Sai's template has been switched to Elite BOSS template, all attributes increased by 40%."

The flower spirit's corpse turned to ash and dispersed, leaving a tiny bud and a ring fallen on the ground.

【Life Bud】

Item Level: 10

Quality: Blue

Use: Alchemy, Potion Crafting

Effect: When taken directly, restores vitality (based on the character's constitution attribute).

【Ring of Covenant】

Item Level: Level 10

Quality: Purple Epic

Category: Ring

Special Effect:

Couple Ring: When used together with another Ring of Covenant, quality can be upgraded.

Love Vow: Declare a love oath; after declaration, keeping the oath grants attribute bonuses.

PS: Love has no expiration date; even grand vows can become worlds apart, and those who break a love oath will suffer divine punishment!!!! —Pure Love Warrior Association of the Net.

Nice item, but Mu Yi probably won't need it; love… that thing is too extravagant.

Probably when his first love failed, he already relegated it to fantasy.

Placing both into the backpack, Cao Ming also at this moment quietly awoke.

"Sorry, my lord, I have disappointed you!"

Cao Ming wore guilt on his face, and before he knew it he fell for the trap, which truly made him feel ashamed.

"No problem, let's go to the next location!"

Deep within the dense forest lay a chaotic burial ground, and the evil aura grew even stronger.

"Detected character in profane environment, conducting mental contamination check..."

"Check successful, you are immune to this mental contamination."

"For the next 10 seconds, the character will be completely immune to such spell effects."

The environment's impact on willpower shifted from once per minute to once every 10 seconds; Mu Yi was fine, but Cao Ming seemed uncomfortable, clearly his contamination value was rising.

"You took down the Tree Spirit Elder and the flower spirit?" The black‑cloaked Wizard Sai, clearly aware of the prior battle, examined Mu Yi with interest.

【Wizard Sai, Elite Template, Challenge Level 10】

"Although those two idiots were a bit foolish, their strength was decent; I didn't expect them to be killed so easily by you—did you receive help from that old undead thing outside?"

"Anyway, it doesn't matter; he won't hold out long anyway!" Wizard Sai said with near mockery.

"I don't know if he can hold on, I only know you should die!" Mu Yi drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired.

Wizard Sai whispered a few syllables, and an ice shield materialized to block the arrow.

"Hehehe, then let us play!"

As Wizard Sai's staff fell, the stone coffins arranged around them slid open in unison, and corpses of varied styles rose—some clad in guard armor, others in mage robes.

The central main stone coffin contained a corpse dressed in knight armor, wielding a longsword, crowned with a war helm; within the hollow helmet, a pair of spirits slowly ignited.

"How is it, my masterpiece—perfect, aren't you anxious? You will become my next masterpiece… hmm, he's not bad either!" Wizard Sai's laugh was as chilling as a night owl.

"Aren't you a wizard? Why are you acting like an Undead Mage!" Mu Yi frowned, looking at the revived corpses— all elite‑level monsters, a bit troublesome to deal with.

Moreover, the knight in the center seemed stronger than the other corpses; the elite difficulty's intensity suddenly spiked.

"Cao Ming, go restrain that knight; the rest to the Asura warriors!"

Cloud Energy rose, and the corpses' forms suddenly grew much heavier.

As Asura warriors collided with the corpses, the mage‑clad corpse chanted a spell, hurling a fireball among the Asura warriors.

—Explosion Flame Technique

Several Asura warriors were instantly blown away by the exploding flames; Mu Yi frowned, noting his Asura troops were too homogeneous and he couldn't command them to perform finer actions like throwing or shooting— a problem he would need to solve.

Summoning the spirit of the Black Tortoise, he fortified the Asura warriors with defense; Mu Yi let out a sigh at the unseen, for a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

A fully equipped legion can effectively enrich tactics, elevating combat power to a higher tier.

What he lacked at that moment wasn't just archers; even spearmen, cavalry, scouts—these finer classifications—were missing, let alone accompanying mages or alchemists, which was a pipe dream.

Watching Wizard Sai hide behind the corpses, Mu Yi gauged the direct distance between them, lifted his array blade, for he was still relatively effective against these magical classes.

As long as we charge past, there is a 100% probability of being able to slay it.

Mu Yi took a quick glance at the chaotic battle center and stretched out his hand.

——Military Strategist divine ability·Hide the Sky, Cross the Sea

A large number of mirror images filled the surroundings, Wizard Sa Yi furrowed his brows, and began chanting an unknown spell.

——Time Confusion·Tenfold Speed

But before he could finish chanting, Mu Yi turned into a bolt of lightning, and under the effect of tenfold Time Acceleration, instantly appeared before Wizard Sa Yi.

"Die!"

In Wizard Sa Yi's astonished gaze, Mu Yi appeared before him, and with his battle blade held high, he fiercely chopped down.

Wizard Sa Yi's Magic Item lit up, and several suddenly appearing shields of various colors blocked in front of him.

Although Wizard Sa Yi was surprised, he was not panicked; he had confidence in his multiple shields, as long as he could block for a moment, he could escape.