Chapter 283: Escape

Luo De jolted awake.

The sky still bore its familiar terror—two gray-white moons hanging.

"Ugh!"

Agony and weakness surged through his entire body.

Especially his chest, where sharp pains throbbed in waves.

He looked down and understood.

The large pruning shears were embedded in his chest, pinning him to the ground.

He cried out in pain and gripped the long handle.

【【King of Polearms】 activated successfully!】

【【The Grand Cultivator's Pruning Shears】 has been seized!】

【Effect: Impurity Removal, Toxin Neutralization, Piercing Break, Ownership Recognition, Defense Penetration, Bleeding, Paralysis, Air Blade】

"Hm?"

But Luo De had no time to examine the details.

He gritted his teeth, yanked out the shears, sat up, and frantically scanned for the Grand Cultivator's position.

Before he found him, he spotted the botanical garden far off.

It was two or three kilometers away.

A long drag mark stretched from there all the way to him, and nearby, the Grand Cultivator lay curled in a shallow pit.

His single eye had regrown.

His body was covered in countless claw marks, none deep, and the wounds from the spider legs had already begun to heal.

He stared fixedly at Luo De and let out a cold snort.

As if to say, "Your death is coming soon."

He extended his left hand toward the shears.

No reaction.

For the first time, shock crossed his face.

He reached again.

Still no reaction.

Luo De sneered.

He plunged the shears point-down into the ground and pushed himself upright.

"Now, they're mine."

Then he slashed violently at the opponent!

Two air blades shot forth, crossing sharply at the Grand Cultivator's neck.

Plop—

Two deep gashes scored the skin.

But far from severing the neck.

The Grand Cultivator didn't feel much pain—only utter disbelief.

Like a burglar trying to kill him, and his own wife not only refused to help, but held him down.

In short—he'd been NTR'd.

"Hmm, even the best weapon still depends on the user's strength, but those claw marks—"

Luo De checked the prompt.

【Paralyzing Claw Strike Stack: 1351】

【Trigger?】

He couldn't kill him.

Then stay put.

"Trigger."

The Grand Cultivator froze instantly, paralyzed.

He gritted his teeth, struggling desperately—but to no avail.

He could only watch helplessly as the human grabbed his weapon and turned to run, his expression growing more monstrous.

Thud—

Luo De landed hard, the impact forcing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.

"Without the Tree's Blessing's vitality, healing is still slow."

All his wounds carried toxin and plague, slowing recovery drastically.

Luckily, the shears' 【Impurity Removal】 effect helped.

He re-entered the botanical garden.

The Blood Marrow Tree's vitality immediately flooded into him, restoring over half his depleted essence.

Far off, 【Tremor Blade】 floated aloft, its thirty-six demonic eyes wide open, firmly controlling the dozen or so Gardeners and Plague Beasts nearby.

A few Gardeners had been in terror too long—they'd triggered instant death.

Luo De swung the shears, chopping them to pieces.

The shears towered above him and weren't only sharp on the inner edge—so they still delivered force when closed.

He reached the Ritual Staff.

Sharon materialized.

Her face lit with delight, her tail whipping wildly behind her.

She retracted the Plague Domain, opened her arms, and leapt into Luo De's embrace.

She buried her face against his jaw, kissing him incessantly.

"Awesome!"

Luo De couldn't help it: "Who taught you that?"

"Demia did. She said you sometimes shout that word—it means 'incredibly strong.'"

"That idiot's always spouting nonsense. How long's left?"

"Fifteen seconds left—run! Hahaha—"

She laughed, leapt from his arms, grabbed his hand, and both vanished with 【Spatial Shift】.

Multiple jumps in rapid succession.

Almost the moment they reached safety, the 【Ultimate Annihilation Orb】 ritual activated!

A low hum sounded.

A gray-black energy sphere swelled instantly to the size of a basketball court, engulfing the entire botanical garden's pond.

Forces of collapse and disintegration tore everything inside into powder and ash.

There was almost no light pollution—far more modest than the giant spider leg on the battlefield.

The sphere lasted roughly five seconds, then dimmed and vanished completely.

Then came the changes within the botanical garden.

All plants withered visibly, turning into gray-black mold that rapidly clustered over the former dung pond.

Soon after:

A seed, the size of an adult's head, radiating ominous dark light, manifested.

Its shell consisted of layers of shriveled, dark-green scales, speckled with blotchy mildew and fine cracks; faint, flickering blue veins occasionally glowed between the scales.

Luo De and Sharon rushed forward and sealed it into their Spell Satchel.

Simultaneously, the Plague Beasts ahead erupted in agitated roars, scrambling back in panic.

The two wasted no time.

They activated their pre-prepared ritual and returned to the Real Dimension.

"Oh?"

As Luo De was about to activate, he spotted a familiar figure fleeing in disarray nearby.

The arachnid elf, Yuna?

Behind her, a dark elf chased her—missing one shoulder and arm.

Sharon had planned to wait for him to go first, then activate herself.

Seeing him stop, she asked: "What are you doing? Let's go."

"Ten seconds. I'm grabbing a person and a spider."

The dog-girl turned, frowning sharply: "You pervert! I checked—arachnid elves are failed evolutions, no reproductive organs! Saving her won't let you do anything!"

"Who said I want to fuck her? Girls are to be cherished."

The moment he spoke:

Luo De unleashed a series of Instant Shadows, arriving beside Yuna in an instant.

The battered Yuna first showed despair—but when she recognized his face, she gasped.

"Mr. Luo De!!"

Luo De winked at her and swung the shears toward her back.

【Giant Slash】.

A massive spiritual energy shot forth from the blade's tip, forming a giant spiritual sword behind it.

The pursuing female dark elf was seventh-rank, but had lost one shoulder and arm, bleeding profusely and in poor condition.

Before she could even react, her expression still frozen, the strike sliced clean through her waist.

Splash—

Split in two.

Sharon 【Spatial Teleportation】 appeared, swiftly setting up the ritual on the arachnid elf Yuna and her companion on her back.

"Activate the ritual, now!"

Boom—

Her words were drowned out by the chaotic clamor of the plague beasts now closing in.

"Run!"

Everyone immediately activated the ritual and vanished from their spot.

Almost instantly, waves of plague beasts piled layer upon layer over the space where they had been.

(End of Chapter)