Chapter 292 - Slaying the Green-Clad Woman
Han Wu refused to let the plants entangle him. In an instant, he summoned his weapons through all four Swordwind Arms. He gripped the Defiant Sword, the Soul Reaper, and the Soul Shaver, channeling the full potential of the four arms’ talent. The Soul Shaver whirled in his grasp, striking again and again with relentless speed as he tore into the horde of Moonlit Flowers.
He moved with blinding speed, his strikes slicing the air until wind blades roared forward like an artillery barrage. The blades tore into the Moonlit Flowers’ vines, and the Soul Shaver’s unique properties turned the wind damage into fire damage.
The massive horde of Moonlit Flowers became trapped in the blaze, their stems snapping and crackling under the heat like fireworks exploding during the New Year.
The green-clad woman’s gaze burned with fury as she watched her prized blooms perish in the blaze. She would not forgive the man who had cut them down and set them alight. With a sharp wave of her arm, the burning Moonlit Flowers surged together, weaving themselves into a towering giant of tangled vines. She guided it like an extension of her own body, ordering it to pluck one of its blazing flowers and hurl it straight at Han Wu.
The fiery flower spun through the air like a deadly discus. Han Wu countered with the Bull King Horns’ Horn Cannon, releasing a burst of energy that exploded against the swirling flames.
This was only the opening move for the green-clad woman. Her towering vine giant still had countless flowers to hurl. At her order, it launched a barrage of blazing flowers toward Han Wu.
He soared through the air on powerful wings and avoided the burning flowers with grace. His gaze stayed locked on the woman directing the giant. She had no Moonlit Flowers shielding her, having already spent most of them to create the towering construct.
He resolved to strike her down first. With a sharp beat of his wings, he closed the distance and triggered the Bull King Horns’ second trait, Charge Horn. For the next three seconds, his speed multiplied tenfold as he lunged straight for her.
The woman’s eyes widened as she tried to recall the vine giant to shield her, but the effort came too late. In desperation, she conjured a massive tree trunk between them. The wood was so dense that neither the Defiant Sword nor the Soul Shaver could cleave it.
It meant nothing to the Soul Reaper, though. The weapon slipped into its immaterial form and phased through the wood before slicing cleanly through her neck. Her head tumbled to the ground, rolling a short distance before coming to rest, eyes still glazed with bewilderment, unable to comprehend how his strike had passed her wooden trunk.
Han Wu stayed vigilant. The interface still displayed the same Demon Lord count, which meant the green-clad woman was not truly dead.
The vine giant finally returned to her side and protected her. It swung a burning vine fist at Han Wu and forced him to leap backward to avoid the blow. Then he saw several vines sprouting from the top of the woman’s neck, twisting and curling until they formed a new head. It was the first time he had witnessed such a strange and unsettling sight.
The newly grown head glared at him fiercely and threatened, “You damned trespasser, you will pay for your actions!”
The vine giant relentlessly hurled burning flowers at him.
On the other hand, Han Wu managed to kill her numerous times, yet the results never changed. She continued to regenerate her lost body parts. He also noticed something odd about the vine giant. Though it had been ablaze the entire time, it never turned to ash.
Unable to kill her, Han Wu retreated outside the garden. The vine giant pursued him but stopped just one kilometer from the garden’s edge. He sensed it was restricted in its movements.
The green-clad woman shouted insults, calling him coward and despicable, but Han Wu ignored her taunts and focused on uncovering why she could survive fatal attacks. After careful observation, he noticed that she only commanded the vine giant to attack while taking only a few cautious steps forward herself.
He suspected she was unable to attack directly rather than unwilling to fight on the front lines. Something anchored her to that spot. Once he formed that hypothesis, he attacked again, this time easily dodging the vine giant. He grabbed her neck and lifted her into the air.
She could not resist his powerful Dragon Claws and was forced to soar with him. That’s when Han Wu spotted a thick green vine trailing from beneath her skirt, rooted deep in the earth.
That was probably why she couldn’t leave the garden. He finally found a crucial clue and cut the vine with Soul Reaper.
The instant the vine was severed, her strength vanished. Wrinkles spread across her face as if she had aged decades in seconds. Han Wu snapped her neck with his Dragon Claws, and this time, she did not resurrect.
Checking the interface, Han Wu saw he had gained 1,000,000 Demonic Origin—the reward for killing the green-clad woman, a Demon Lord.
“A million Demonic Origin?!” he exclaimed. “Was she really worth that much?”
His gaze dropped to the vine giant, which had collapsed back into the Moonlit Flowers, no longer under her control. Most still burned fiercely, flames licking their petals before reducing them to ash.
Han Wu refused to let them die that way. He would kill them now to earn more Demonic Origin. He grabbed his weapons and charged into the Moonlit Flowers to chop them up.
It took three full hours, but Han Wu finally cut down every last Moonlit Flower. Though they were only Inferior demons, their numbers were overwhelming. He earned 300,000 Demonic Origin just from their deaths and collected numerous enhanceable body parts. Unfortunately, most bore the wood attribute, which was incompatible with him.
With a sigh, he tossed the incompatible parts into the Void Jaw to digest. As he scanned the battlefield for further loot, his eyes caught the vine he had severed from beneath the green-clad woman’s skirt. To his surprise, it was an enhanceable body part of Orange quality, already enhanced to Stage 8.
The vine carried two rare special traits. The first, Gaia, allowed its user to absorb energy from the earth, tethering them to the ground and granting near-immortality. The second, Nurture, had enabled the woman to nurture the Moonlit Flowers.
Both traits were unique and powerful, but unfortunately, the vine was incompatible with Han Wu. Still, he recalled the abundance of plants in his divine realm and considered fusing it with one of them. Rather than consuming it, he carefully coiled the vine and tucked it into his pouch.
After clearing the battlefield, Han Wu prepared to seek another demon pack when a warm, soothing sensation bloomed within his skull. Shocked, he realized his Crystal Lich Skull had advanced to Stage 3 after absorbing energy from digesting the other body parts.
Three choices for his special trait appeared before him.