Chapter 334

The closer one got to the center of the garden, the taller the growing Mist Lamp Grass became; the ones in the very middle even reached up to Xia Nan's chest.

Likewise, the thicker stalks and dense root systems made the light emitted by the floral lamps at the tips of the Mist Lamp Grass increasingly bright, swaying and emitting a blue-white radiance like incandescent bulbs.

And it was precisely under the cluster of these dazzling rays that the massive, silently standing object looked like a "light cocoon," interwoven amidst the plant leaves and brilliant light.

Gripping the 【Ember Meteor】 straight sword tightly in his hand, he pushed aside the Mist Lamp Grass blocking his path and approached slowly.

As the distance between the two sides gradually shortened, Xia Nan saw the full picture of the "light cocoon."

It was sitting cross-legged right there.

Or rather, "its" former body remained in place.

The lower half of the body had been completely replaced by purple-blue twisted vines like those of the Mist Lamp Monster, making it impossible to discern the original appearance of the lower limbs; in their deformity and distortion, they were intertwined and connected with the root systems of the surrounding Mist Lamp Grass, and one could vaguely see blue-white energy flowing and transmitting through the stalks and appendages.

It seemed the transformation was not complete; "its" upper body, especially the head and arms, still retained the general shape of a human, with facial features, arm structures, and five fingers clearly visible, but the skin had been replaced by protective tissue similar to that of a plant, with no pores or body hair visible, leaving only fluorescent blue meridians like the leaf veins of Mist Lamp Grass flickering beneath the skin.

The expression on "its" face appeared pained and struggling, yet it was frozen and stiff as if fixed in place; its hands were tightly clutching the root system of its lower body, with fingertips buried deep into the fibrous flesh.

Xia Nan did not dare to get close, observing from a considerable distance away.

His vigilance grew ever stronger.

Recalling the life evolution ritual recorded at the end of the journal, there was no doubt that this statue-like deformed plant body was the owner of the journal, that evil Druid stuck at the Lv5 bottleneck.

Although he did not know the detailed process of the so-called sublimation ritual, the scene before him seemed to indicate the outcome of the other party's "failed evolution."

"So... is he dead?"

Xia Nan observed secretly, focusing his attention and pushing his perception to the maximum.

This appearance...

Not dead, but not alive either.

It was as if it were in a state of superposition, neither dead nor alive.

Under his perception, the root systems were connected, and the surrounding Mist Lamp Grass, while emitting brilliant light, was also continuously transporting energy to the plant statue in the center.

But the quantity of Mist Lamp Grass was limited after all; no matter how tightly the roots were intertwined, it was like a tiny stream pouring into a dried-up riverbed, nowhere near enough to revive it, only barely maintaining the continuation of the life force within its body.

Considering the growth cycle of Mist Lamp Grass, which only blooms once a year in specific months, this energy transported into the Druid's body would likely have to sustain his consumption for the entire year after the flowering period ended.

Thinking of this, Xia Nan couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

That counted as good news.

At least he was not facing a high-level professional who had already broken through the bottleneck and completed a class change.

And just as he was carefully stepping forward, carrying his straight sword, intending to put an end to all of this.

Suddenly, the plant statue that seemed fixed in place moved its head ever so slightly.

The previously ferocious and pained expression quickly receded, and the fingertips trembled, shaking off fibrous debris as they pulled out from the root system.

The closed eyes suddenly opened, and those pupils, devoid of irises and consisting only of whites, stared straight at Xia Nan, who had retreated rapidly the moment he sensed the movement.

As the lips parted, a hoarse, dry voice, like the friction of withered leaves, echoed in the cold, dead air.

"Stay your step... stranger adventurer..."

You say stay, so I stay?

Alarm bells rang in Xia Nan's heart, but his footsteps did not stop; at the same time, he held his longsword horizontally in front of him, staring fixedly at the Druid ahead while also remaining vigilant of the surrounding Mist Lamp Grass, fearing a sneak attack from somewhere.

His continuous retreat seemed to make the half-plant Druid feel anxious; that purple-blue, stiff face twisted, as if trying hard to squeeze out a smile, causing even the branches and leaves around its body to tremble slightly:

"Adventurer... you can see my current state..."

"A living dead man who exhausts all his strength just to lift a hand cannot pose a threat to you."

Naturally, he could not believe the other party's explanation.

Having read the notes, Xia Nan knew clearly that the other party had previously been a bona fide Lv5 professional, whose alignment leaned toward evil, capable of using the lives of innocent villagers without a second thought to create conditions for his own advancement.

Under these circumstances, even if this Druid looked half-dead and near death, he would never lower his guard.

He only gradually slowed his pace after retreating to a sufficiently safe distance.

Seeing this, worried that if he wasted too many words, the adventurer who had broken into the garden would simply leave, the Druid hurriedly cut to the chase and raised his voice:

"I have touched... the edge of eternity."

"Only one last step remains to complete the transformation."

"Adventurer, help me... and you shall receive rewards beyond your imagination."

Rewards?

Xia Nan raised an eyebrow slightly; while maintaining his vigilance, he deliberately slowed his pace further, intentionally appearing interested.

The Druid's waking time was short, and his consciousness was not yet fully clear, so he could not perceive Xia Nan's disguise.

Thinking the other party was truly moved by his words, the Druid hurriedly increased the stakes.

A flash of blue-white fluorescent light passed, and Xia Nan felt a trace of extremely weak mental energy coming from the center of the garden; while carrying some information, it also contained a deeply hidden controlling effect of the temptation type, touching his consciousness.

The feat 【Direct Gaze into the Abyss】 triggered immediately, and that thread of mental control effect was instantly neutralized.

Perhaps because the ability's effect was too weak, the feat's deterrent counter-effect did not take hold; it merely isolated the negative influence, allowing the information within to be transmitted normally.

Immediately, several short segments of text appeared in Xia Nan's mind, accompanied by clear images.

They were, respectively, a brief introduction to a combat technique, a description of a piece of equipment, and a narrative of the effects of a potion:

【Mist-Hidden Light Steps】: Utilizes the mist in the air to significantly increase movement speed for a short time, while also providing a certain degree of stealth and concealment;

【Green Grass Wood Ring】: When the wearer is in a forest or grassland environment, it slightly increases the speed of wound healing;

【Mist Lamp Grass Concentrated Essence Potion】: Consuming it increases Constitution and Strength attributes for a short time, but after the effect duration ends, the user will enter a three-day state of weakness.

These were the so-called rewards the Druid offered to tempt Xia Nan.

Despite his extremely poor state, he still barely maintained his level of observational ability from before he fell asleep.

Therefore, he could roughly judge that the professional level of this adventurer who had broken into the garden definitely wouldn't be too high, likely just having advanced, around Lv1 or Lv2, which was the most difficult stage of a professional's path.

Under such circumstances, a combat technique, a piece of magic equipment, and a recipe for a potion hit the critical points perfectly; no one could refuse such temptation.

Considering this, the Druid actually had no issues.

For 99% of adventurers in this world with no background, the moment they complete their professional advancement, they are at an awkward stage where they stand at the top of ordinary bottom-tier adventurers but are at the very bottom of the professional pyramid.

They look down on the standard equipment in blacksmith shops, but can't afford enchanted gear; the few combat techniques they have aren't enough, and they are far from having enough combat technique points to exchange for more on the second floor of the Association...

If the person standing there right now were truly an ordinary, newly advanced adventurer whose willpower wasn't quite firm, they might have actually believed the other party's nonsense.