Chapter 13: The Moment of a Bountiful Harvest

Almost at the very moment those dark roots were severed, the entire room's vines suddenly froze in place! The once wildly thrashing thick vines seemed to lose their source of power, their movements growing sluggish and weak, their attacks losing precision, merely twitching erratically.

Although the iridescent vine had embarked on a path of mutant evolution, it still could not escape the laws of nature. It still required an energy supply to survive.

At the center of the room, the bright green core’s light began to flicker violently, wavering like a candle flame in the wind. This was its mutated core, its ‘consciousness vessel,’ but having lost its energy source, it gradually dimmed, as if it would extinguish at any moment.

“Heh, it really works!” Xia Tong felt a surge of joy in her heart. Ignoring the increasingly intense haze clouding her mind, she prepared to press the advantage and completely destroy this troublesome mutant vine.

However, just as she was about to gather her water elemental power again for a fatal strike, the mutation regenerated!

“Hum…”

A sharp humming emanated from the green core. That core, on the verge of extinction, suddenly burst forth with unprecedented dazzling green light as if a last breath of life had been summoned.

Immediately, the once withering fluorescent flowers around the core seemed reinvigorated, blooming suddenly as if injected with new life.

A thick, cloying sweetness mingled with a pollen storm swept through the small room in an instant.

“Ugh!” Xia Tong’s vision distorted instantly, a powerful dizziness crashing over her like a tidal wave. It felt as if an invisible hand gripped her brain, blurring her consciousness.

“What the hell?”

The previously mildly irritating sweet floral scent and dreamy pollen had turned into a deadly poison, ravaging her mind ferociously.

Before her eyes, the hanging vines twisted and warped, transforming into grotesque, clawing monsters. The walls began to writhe irregularly like living creatures, and the ground seemed to melt into swirling, radiant quicksand...

An illusion! It was the iridescent vine’s final counterattack before death!

“Damn it!”

At the moment of death, the iridescent vine had released all the energy it had accumulated...

“Damn... no way!”

Xia Tong bit her tongue hard; the sharp pain briefly cleared her clouded mind. She knew she couldn’t collapse here—once fully engulfed by the hallucinations, death would be certain.

Time slowed as the thick fragrance enveloped her. Xia Tong’s consciousness dimmed, her eyes slowly closing...

Suddenly, a faint radiant glow burst forth from the “Source Core” within her spiritual sea.

[Abnormal host status detected. Releasing micro-spiritual light particles…]

[Stabilizing spiritual field…]

[Killed a first-tier, three-star mutant: Iridescent Vine. Experience +17]

[Current experience: First-tier, two-star (17/100)]

In the final moments of fading consciousness, Xia Tong seemed to see countless tiny green lights, like a swarm of fireflies dancing across the sky...

---

A cool, peculiar energy flowed gently through her chaotic spirit like a stream, forcibly soothing the frenzy and distortion caused by the hallucinations.

The intense dizziness was suppressed by this coolness, allowing her to regain some control over her body.

The sharp pain from her bitten tongue further stimulated her nerves, pulling her back from the brink of collapse.

“Huff…” Xia Tong suddenly opened her eyes, a trace of lingering fear flickering in her glimmering, cat-like irises.

At the same time, those green “fireflies” swarming in the air slowly drifted closer to her, while the surrounding vines and once-blooming fluorescent flowers withered completely.

“What’s going on?” Xia Tong looked around puzzled, unable to make sense of the scene.

At that moment, the “Source Core” alert sounded again.

[Detected dissipated pure wood-element energy... absorbing and purifying...]

So that was it. Guided by the “Source Core” prompt, Xia Tong finally understood. She quietly watched as the drifting light particles were drawn toward her by the “Source Core,” then absorbed and transformed.

[Absorbing and purifying wood-element energy... starting analysis, reconstruction, transformation...]

[Activated host’s faint wood-element affinity... attempting to construct elemental power prototype...]

[Constructing wood-element elemental power prototype... insufficient energy purity... insufficient energy precision...]

[Wood-element elemental power system construction paused...]

A series of notifications echoed in Xia Tong’s mind, accompanied by an indescribable comfort.

The green light particles absorbed into her body seemed to transform into the gentlest warm energy streams, nourishing her fatigued body and spiritual sea, weary from overexertion of her mental strength.

“Hm?”

“Constructing... wood elemental power?”

Xia Tong blinked in surprise, her pupils dilating as an astonishing joy flickered in her eyes.

This...

---

Although the wood-elemental power was not fully constructed yet, Xia Tong believed she would awaken it one day.

She hadn’t expected the “Source Core” to bring her so many surprises.

It was known that awakened powers in elementalists were usually singular; only a rare few lucky individuals could awaken a second power.

Those who sought to awaken a second or even more elemental powers faced immense difficulty, usually requiring extraordinarily rare opportunities or some kind of ‘heavenly treasure.’

This was merely theoretical, something Xia Tong had never dared to imagine.

Yet, defeating this first-tier, three-star iridescent vine had brought her to the very threshold of the wood elemental power!

Of course, this was all thanks to the “Source Core.”

“Looks like I’ll have to pay more attention to those special mutant individuals in the future. Who knows what other unexpected surprises might await.”

When the last green light particle was fully absorbed by the “Source Core,” the entire room fell silent once more.

Xia Tong shook her head, dispelling the lingering dizziness in her mind, and began to survey her surroundings anew.

The whole room seemed to have been drained of all life energy in an instant.

At its center, the massive spiral vine that had once enveloped the green core was now completely withered, revealing the dull, lifeless green crystal inside.

The soft green glow and intense energy fluctuations it had emitted were gone, leaving it looking like an ordinary crystal with just an unusual color.

Xia Tong stepped forward and gently touched the crystal with her claw.

It felt slightly cool, with no energy response.

Confirming that the iridescent vine’s core had lost all vitality, Xia Tong breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed the thumb-sized green crystal toward herself, examining it carefully.

Though its energy had been almost entirely absorbed by the “Source Core,” this was still the core of a first-tier, three-star mutant plant. The material might still have use—best to keep it for now.

“This adventure turned out pretty good,” Xia Tong thought, carefully considering her gains.

Though the process was perilous and she almost perished, she had ultimately eliminated the threat, gained a partial prototype of the wood elemental power, and obtained a mutant plant energy core.

This was far from a loss.