Chapter 932: Rank 9 Iron-Thread Lotus! One Million Empty Stones!

The cold wind pierced the bones, snowflakes drifted through the air.

Xu Jingming and Su Qingli stood on a frozen plain made of solid ice.

Dozens of meters ahead of them stood a colossal entity!

It was a flower bud, its color and shape similar to a lotus, yet standing over seventy meters tall!

It stood there, exuding a tremendous sense of oppression.

Especially as its aura continued to strengthen, as if launching an assault on some bottleneck.

"Once the Iron-Thread Lotus breaks through, we'll have our second Rank 9 S-class combatant."

Looking at the bud before him, Xu Jingming smiled and spoke.

"Plant life that reaches Rank 9 accumulates more indestructible matter than an ordinary Rank 9 Martial Saint."

"After this Iron-Thread Lotus breaks through, its combat power should surpass mine."

Su Qingli nodded in agreement.

Just the endless vines capable of constant regeneration would be enough to give anyone a headache.

Not to mention plant life can transform into armor with extremely strong defensive power.

Boom!!

Time slowly passed; after several attempts, the Iron-Thread Lotus finally shattered its bottleneck.

Like a whale swallowing, it greedily absorbed the ambient yuan energy; its peak aura surged rapidly, reaching an entirely new level!

At the same time, its lotus bud bloomed fully, releasing a faint, fragrant scent.

Countless vines and roots, as thick as water barrels, sprouted from the lotus and danced joyfully.

The frozen plain, however, suffered—craters were smashed into the ice by these roots and vines.

"Master."

After a while, as its aura stabilized, the Iron-Thread Lotus sent out a mental pulse.

Compared to the Thorned Sword Grass, its mental pulse was far more powerful and forceful.

Yet the vines that extended outward curled around Xu Jingming like puppies, showing great affection.

"What changes have you gained since reaching Rank 9?" Xu Jingming stroked the vines and asked with a smile.

Plant life has its own personality.

The Thorned Sword Grass had survived in the secret realm for countless years; its personality had long stabilized.

The Iron-Thread Lotus was different—since its seed stage until now, Rank 9, it had only been two months.

Its power had risen, but its personality remained childlike.

"I've gained a new ability to create illusions; my vines can now extend up to fifty kilometers."

"Also, my vitality is over a hundred times stronger than before—I won't die easily."

The Iron-Thread Lotus replied.

"Create illusions?" Xu Jingming's eyes lit up. "Try it on me with full power."

Plant life abilities vary.

The Thorned Sword Grass had its life blade leaf; the Iron-Thread Lotus's original ability leaned toward psychic powers.

I never expected that this time we would directly gain a new illusion ability.

"Alright."

Each vine of the Iron-Thread Lotus bore beautiful lotus flowers.

Now, thousands upon thousands of lotuses bloomed simultaneously, releasing a mesmerizing, faint fragrance.

Xu Jingming felt his eyelids suddenly grow heavy; his consciousness began to blur, as if being drawn into some illusion.

At that moment, the "Bright Moon" in his mental sea surged violently, his mental energy boiling like thunder!

His nearly fading awareness snapped back into clarity.

Xu Jingming took several deep breaths to recover, his expression filled with delight:

"That's terrifying mental power—I nearly got dragged into the illusion."

"Only you're powerful, Master. Little Lotus's illusions have no effect on you."

The Iron-Thread Lotus sent a mental pulse, brimming with reverence.

"It only doesn't work on me—your illusions would overwhelm any ordinary Rank 9 psychic."

Xu Jingming laughed heartily.

If you unleashed such an illusion mid-battle, it would decisively turn the tide.

But right now, this ability isn't needed—the Iron-Thread Lotus's vines can extend fifty kilometers.

That's a great help for our search for empty stones.

Thinking of this, Xu Jingming took a Void Stone from his space ring and handed it to the Iron-Thread Lotus, eagerly saying:

"Little Lotus, help me find more of these crystals nearby."

Most plant life excel in vitality.

But as a top-tier plant life, the Iron-Thread Lotus wasn't just powerful in vitality—its mental energy was terrifying too.

With vines extending over fifty kilometers, combined with its immense mental power,

it located numerous empty stones hidden underground or in caves.

In just six hours, Xu Jingming and Su Qingli each amassed over 150,000 empty stones!

Even Eva's empty stones increased to 50,000, placing her in the top hundred.

Xu Jingming and Su Qingli both entered the top ten.

Along the way, they encountered other Ice Giants, but these Ice Giants were too low-ranked—only Rank 7 and Rank 8.

The ice element essence obtained after killing does not condense well; after replenishment, the success rate of the ability's transformation is less than 2%.

"S-class! I've received a message from the auxiliary AI."

Above the glacier, Xu Jingming and Su Qingli flew at high speed.

On the ground, countless iron-vine tendrils raced forward like giant serpents.

At that moment, Eva's voice suddenly echoed in their minds.

"Oh? Have you found a group of demonic beasts?" Xu Jingming asked quickly.

Although the Golden Flow Guards scattered after entering the seventh layer were all Eva's sub-bodies,

their information transmission range was only about two hundred kilometers; once beyond that distance, no signal could be received at all.

This was the first time they had sent a signal, meaning one of the Golden Flow Guards was within two hundred kilometers of them.

"Yes."

Eva nodded. "In the southeast, about four hundred kilometers away."

"Southeast? No wonder..."

They had been flying south the entire time and had never looked toward the southeast.

"Jingming, should we go there now?" Su Qingli asked softly.

"Let's go," Xu Jingming nodded. "After we kill the ferocious beasts, we'll be due to regroup anyway."

Before dispersing the Golden Flow Guards, Eva had already set their orders.

Return to the starting point after twenty-four hours to consolidate the collected map data.

Just as Xu Jingming was about to change direction, the iron vines suddenly sent a psychic fluctuation:

"Master! I've found a huge number of Void Stones! There may be over a million!"

As soon as the words ended, the iron vines shared their psychic perception with them.

Indeed, beneath the ground forty kilometers northwest, a vast quantity of Void Stones lay hidden!

"A million Void Stones! There are that many there?" Xu Jingming's eyes blazed with intense light.

"No, no, Master—there's another powerful being there!"

The iron vines' panicked voice rang out, followed by another burst of psychic perception shared with them.

This time, at forty-five kilometers northwest, there was a terrifying aura!

That aura was like an immense mountain—Xu Jingming himself felt a crushing sense of pressure.

"It's a ninth-rank peak expert!"

Su Qingli, who had also received the iron vines' psychic perception, wore a Solemn expression and said helplessly, "It seems these Void Stones are beyond our reach."