Chapter 279: The Great Cultivator

"You're quite generous, giving away two sixth-tier magic rings all at once—what's their current market value? Eight hundred Jin Along? Or nine hundred?"

Watching Yuna's retreating figure.

Sharon, beside him, was slightly jealous, her tone cold.

Luo De smiled.

Both rings were produced by Zombie Selena; their cost didn't even exceed fifty Jin Along.

Girls always need to be spoiled a little.

More importantly, cast a wide net—the Windwall Forest is huge, and there are still many locations left.

He reached into his spell satchel and grabbed a handful, reaching to hand them to Sharon.

But the dog-girl dodged away, refusing to accept them.

She sneered:

"You've got a lot of tricks, huh? Just a Spirit Warrior—how dare you give me these? Keep them for yourself."

"Princess?"

"Princess your ass—I'm just worried you'll lose one day and have no way to escape."

Sharon spat out curses, growing angrier, then yanked a red gem from her spell satchel and hurled it at him.

"This is the 【Escape Gem】. If you ever feel you're in trouble, use it. Don't use it lightly, or give it to anyone—it has a spell array inside; once used, it'll automatically notify me, and I'll come rescue you."

"You say that and I lose face—do I really need you to save me? You're a defeated underling."

Hearing this, she immediately bared her teeth, clearly Bufuqi.

"That was just Ameier, a fool. Got the guts to fight me again?"

"Sure. I've got another magic ring—the 【Li Oumeng's Secret Hut】. Let's fight again in bed."

Sharon fell silent.

She struggled for a long time without uttering a word.

Seeing Luo De approach, her mind immediately recalled his scorching body heat, and faintly remembered the sensation of two hot, large hands gripping her waist and hips.

A tingling numbness surged through her body; she hastily activated 【Flight Spell】 and flew away like a runaway, heading toward the botanical garden.

Luo De laughed: "Come along—I've got a group flight spell that doesn't drain mana."

Luo De soon caught up to Sharon.

And activated the mana-free group flight spell.

After all, they were still some distance from the botanical garden; better to conserve mana if possible.

Both had 【Agility Boost】, plus 【Cloud Wing Spell】, making them significantly faster than normal flight.

Even so, it still took nearly an hour to reach the vicinity of the botanical garden.

During that time, another 【Solar Inferno】 and another 【Burnt Cloud Spell】 occurred.

Clearly, the dark elves needed some preparation time.

And when they drew near,

Luo De once again felt just how powerful a legendary spell was when all its magical mastery was channeled into raw power.

To be honest,

After that 【Solar Inferno】, he truly had no confidence he could withstand it.

"I'm still not tough enough."

Fortunately, even the dark elves could only cast these two spells once every half hour.

Legendary spells are powerful, yes—but their incantation time and material demands far surpass those of ordinary spells.

Luo De and Sharon arrived at a hill near the botanical garden.

The scene inside was clearly more dire than before—gardeners busily fused plants and flesh to create new plague beasts, steadily replenishing the battlefield's losses.

The front line had tilted noticeably, drawing closer to the botanical garden; vast numbers of black spiders and dark elves now filled the Shiye, locked in frenzied combat.

The botanical garden's defeat was obvious.

Its manpower gap was enormous; full invasion was merely a matter of time.

"So, any guards?"

Luo De was puzzled.

When he first entered the botanical garden, he clearly remembered being mistaken for the 【Great Cultivator】—presumably the garden's master.

Yet now, the Great Cultivator still hadn't appeared.

Sharon was equally puzzled.

"Strange. They've split off a group of gardeners, constantly entering and exiting a tunnel beneath the rose garden—it feels off."

"Once the dark elves break in, it'll be even harder for us to act."

"Trust me, wait a little longer—I can feel the plague domain stirring."

"Really? I don't feel anything."

Sharon turned to him, lifting her chin smugly: "That just proves my plague domain is superior to yours."

Luo De chuckled in silence.

His hand slid stealthily onto her plump, honey-colored buttocks and squeezed hard.

"Get off."

Luo De ignored her. Since they'd already been intimate, he stopped pretending and kept touching freely.

Sharon couldn't persuade him, and didn't want to make a scene.

So she gritted her teeth, glared at him, her breath uneven, yet her mouth kept producing saliva uncontrollably.

They waited in place for a while.

Indeed, the plague beasts were retreating step by step; even the front garden of the botanical garden was breached.

The accompanying dark elves let out excited shouts.

And at that moment,

All the plants in the botanical garden glowed and trembled, bowing and shuddering as if in reverent fear.

Like welcoming a noble presence.

The dull yellow toxic mist grew denser, its stench more pungent and sharp.

Then, visibly, it began to coalesce.

The dark elves on the other side clearly knew what was happening—they shouted in their own tongue, filled with panic.

Luo De gripped 【Tremor Blade】; its translation skill let him faintly catch words like "returned" and "seal."

But they were too far away to hear much.

"Probably some kind of summoning-return ability. These cosmic beings each have unique powers, yet they don't use magic—still, they can achieve this?"

Sharon murmured in amazement.

She shared the typical mage's attitude.

She viewed cosmic beings as merely stronger beasts, nothing special.

After all, she'd never seen them develop techniques like magic or spirit arts the way humans had.

Luo De nodded.

It wasn't hard to guess.

The Great Cultivator of the botanical garden was likely unable to return to his domain for unknown reasons, forced to let his subjects summon him back temporarily to face the assault.

Human summoning rituals usually have time limits.

For example, Kali's friend, the cat spirit Xiao Ju, returned to her own realm half a month ago when her summoning time expired.

Still, perhaps cosmic beings' summoning techniques are better.

Thinking this,

The yellow, rotting mist gathered at its peak, compressing violently.

Then, in the next instant, the mist vanished as if sucked into a void, leaving only faint wisps drifting outward.

A humanoid figure, no taller than a human, stepped out of the mist—plain and unadorned.

The surrounding plants cheered wildly, welcoming their master's return.

It was a one-eyed monster with arms reaching past its knees.

Its pale green skin was dotted with pustules.

In one hand, it held a monstrous, rough pruning shears, resting on its shoulder; its single eye—occupying nearly a third of its long face—scanned the surroundings with disdain.

Its irregular skull grew irregularly, sprouting branch-like bony horns on both sides.

Only the left horn had been severed, its fresh wound still dripping blood.

(End of Chapter)