Cuòjué Forest was home to many magical beasts. The Zhou Kingdom left this place alone both because of the strength of the magical beasts there and also because it was a treasure trove of resources. There were many natural treasures that humans could not cultivate. They had to be grown naturally. By leaving this natural environment for magical beasts to roam, the Zhou Kingdom could periodically enter and farm the place for its resources.

The deeper a person traveled into the forest, the stronger the magical beasts became and the rarer the resources that could be acquired were.

Zhou Lihua pushed through the forest. The trees had grown so thick and hard to manuver around that she could no longer fly. She briefly considered ascending above the balcony, but a roar from above had disabused her of the idea. There was a flood dragon making its way through the sky. Its majestic elongated body and blue scales were enough to let her know this creature was at the Deva Realm.

Flood dragons were highly territorial and prideful creatures who would, without warning, attack anything that encrouched upon their territory. This was a magical beast that not even the Zhou Kingdom’s emperor would dare fight unless there was no other option.

That flood dragon must be the master of this forest. I’ll need to be careful and avoid running into it.

Zhou Lihua made her way forward on foot. She tried not to rush and studied her surroundings with keen eyes. According to the books she read, penghou looked like giant willow trees. They released a pollen from their leaves that had a calming effect on animals and magical beasts. That was how they lured in their prey. While they couldn’t move because they were rooted, that didn’t mean they were helpless. Their vines were strong enough to crush bones, and they could release powerful toxins.

She’d heard from an alchemist living in the Zhou Kingdom that the one living here was at the Human Limit Realm. She hoped that was true or this entire journey would have been in vain.

There were a lot more magical beasts than just the flood dragon. Zhou Lihua ran across everything from massive earth bears so large they towered over the trees to flaming wearcats. Earth bears were apex predators in most magical beast forests. They were between the Asura and Human Limit Realm. These massive creatures were larger than most trees, had brown fur that was harder than stone, and sharp claws that could rend through just about anything. Flaming wearcats weren’t as big, but they were fast, agile, and very viscous.

Zhou Lihua did her best to avoid these creatures. All of them were a treasure trove of alchemical resources, but she was here for a specific purpose.

Mammal type magical beasts weren’t the only thing she needed to worry about, however. Aside from the penghou, several other plant type magical beasts existed in this forest. Zhou Lihua had already been attacked several times by creepers. They were plant magical beasts that resembled vines. It was hard to tell they were there because they looked like normal vines, but the moment you got close enough for them to sense you, they lashed out. Zhou Lihua already had several cuts on her skin from where one had struck her.

She had lost track of time, but the sun had set and risen once, so at least one day had passed. Was Wu Jian awake by now? How would he be feeling? She wanted to see him, but she had a task to do, and time was running out. They had no idea what happened to those two women, but she had a feeling they were alive and searching for them.

After finally parting several branches, Zhou Lihua found what she was searching for. It sat on the edge of a lake, a giant tree with long, flowing branches and leaves. The limber and supple nature of its extremities meant it could bend to accommodate and withstand strong winds and adverse weather conditions. Powerful chi and vitality emenataed from it.

This penghou is definitely at the Human Limit Realm. The question now is how do I kill it?

It’s cultivation was slightly higher than her own, but she was confident she could kill it with her Heavenly Ghost Flame. The biggest concern she had was that other magical beasts would notice what was happening and come to attack her. Penghou were highly sought after by both humans and other magical beasts for their parts. Whether eaten or refined into a pill, they had a lot of uses.

As she stood there, pondering her choices, a flaming werecat wandered into the clearing. It was far enough away not to be caught within the penghou’s branches as it leaned over to drink some water. The penghou swayed as though caught in a breeze, releasing several strands of pollen. The flaming werecat froze, sniffed the air, then slowly wandered over to the penghou as though caught in a trance.

The moment it was within reach, the penghou lashed out with several branches, ensaring the werecat, who only now realized the danger it was in. Bright flames erupted from the werecat’s body to burn through the penghou. In most cases, it might have succeeded, but this particular penghou was at the Human Limit Realm and it was only at the Anima Realm. The penghou snuffed the flames and wrapped its branches around the the flaming werecat, which whimpered in agony before a loud crunch! echoed around the clearing. Zhou Lihua flinched when the magical beast’s bones were crushed.

The penghou took the corpse and buried it in the soil by its roots. Those roots would latch onto the magical beast and absorbed nutrients and chi from it to grow stronger.

I can’t afford to get close to it… should I launch my flames at it from a distance?

As Zhou Lihua tried to think of a method for dealing with this creature, a voice suddenly echoed all around her.

“Is that a human, I see? It has been a long time since one of your kind have come to visit me. Come. Come. Let me get a good look at you.”

“What… was that? Is someone talking in my head?” Zhou Lihua placed a hand on her head as she looked around.

“It seems you are confused. I am talking to you using telepathy, my dear. I’m sure you have noticed, but I have no mouth, so I must speak to you like this.”

Zhou Lihua froze and gazed over at the willow tree. “Are you… the penghou?”

“Some have called me that.”

So this creature was using telepathy to speak to her. She knew that magical beasts gained human-like sentience and the ability to speak after reaching the Human Limit Realm, but she had not realized this was how plant type magical beasts communicated. Telepathy was a skill few humans ever learned.

“Come. Come. Don’t be shy. Let me get a good look at you.”

Zhou Lihua was wary this was a trap, but she stepped out from tree she had hidden behind. She didn’t come any closer to the penghou than that.

“Are you not going to come closer?”

“I think I’ll stay right here, thanks.”

“You’re a cautious one. I suppose I cannot blame you. My apologies for showing you something so unseemly. Had I known you were there, I might not have eaten that flaming werecat.”

“It’s fine.”

“What an understanding girl. Tell me, young one. For what reason have you come?”

Well, what should she say now? Zhou Lihua didn’t think any good would come from admitting she was here for the penghou’s monster core.

“You need not say anything. I already know why you’re here. I merely wanted to test whether you would confess the truth to me yourself.”

Zhou Lihua bit the inside of her lip. “If you knew why I came, why are you having such a cordial conversation with me? Is this an attempt to lure me into a false sense of security?”

“No. If I thought I could do that, I would have already done so, but you’ve managed to figure out my range. You’re too far away for me to affect with my pollen.”

“Maybe normally, but you can use control the wind, can’t you? If you wanted, you could creature a breeze and send your pollen to me that way.”

“What a clever girl you are. I see nothing gets by you. I suppose there’s no use trying to manipulate you then, so I’ll simply make you come over here by force!”

Zhou Lihua had already suspected things would come to this. No magical beast would pass up a chance to eat a Human Limit Realm cultivator. Humans like her were the same as a natural treasure to magical beasts. If this penghou could consume her, then it would surely grow even more powerful.

A stiff wind picked up and sent pollen from the penghou in her direction, but Zhou Lihua summoned her tessen and swung them forward.

[Heavenly Flame Wave]

Pollen met flames and evaporated. The flames were much more powerful than the pollen and continued flying toward the tree.

[Water Jet]

Water shot from the lake and slammed into her flame wave. Steam erupted everywhere with a loud hiss, but her flame was far more powerful than the lake water. Did this creature think a heavenly flame could be done in by regular lake water? Yet just as Zhou Lihua became confident she could overpower this magical beast, more water streamed in from the lake. Several streams shot out and combined, forming a massive jet that slammed into the heavenly flame attack and demolished it.

“I did not realize you possessed a heavenly flame, but now I understand. You’re an alchemist. And you need my core for a pill. It looks like I need to be more cautious when dealing with you.”

Zhou Lihua bit her lip. She couldn’t get close to this creature because it’s pollen was too powerful and she had no defense against it, but it couldn’t attack her because all it had was highly flammable pollen to attack with. They were at a stalemate because she couldn’t get close enough to do any damage and it couldn’t attack her with its powerful branches.

At least, that’s what she thought at first.

“!!!!?”

Zhou Lihua was glad her instincts remained intact. She leapt backward seconds before a massive tree root burst from the ground before attempting to stab her through the chest. A single swing of her tessen released another wave of fire that slammed into it. Tree roots were dense and full of water, so her attack did not damage it like she had hoped, but it did force the root back.

There was no more time to think. Several more roots erupted from the ground, and Zhou Lihua found herself barely able to avoid them. They came from the front, back, left, and right. She had not realized the penghou could attack like this. Just how long were these roots? She also realized after several seconds of dodging that it was attempting to corral her closer to it. No doubt it wanted to bring her close to use its pollen.

Zhou Lihua realized only now how difficult a situation she was in, but she quickly thought up a plan. It was reckless. However, it was the only thing she could think of.

[Heavenly Flame Bloom]

Zhou Lihua circulated chi throughout her entire body, then expelled it from her skin. The heavenly flames erupted all over her body and bloomed like a chrysanthemum around her. Several roots attempted to touch her and jerked back. However, the flames were much stronger now, and the roots quickly caught fire. The penghou shrieked in agony as the heavenly flames crept along its roots. It tried to put them out to no avail.

I’m only going to have one shot at this!!

Zhou Lihua put on a burst of speed, leapt over a root, ducked under a branch, and swerved to the left when another root attempted to impale her. She was soon standing right next to the penghou’s massive trunk. She had already used her keen eyesight to see where the monster core was, and she had found something glowing near the center of the trunk.

The penghou must have realized the danger it was in. It released massive amounts of pollen that fell on Zhou Lihua like snow, but it all burned up in the face of her heavenly flames.

Zhou Lihua flipped the tessen in her left hand closed, turned it so it pointed at the trunk, and stabbed it forward. The penghou shrieked more and began writhing as she pushed her flames into the injury. Its trunk was too dense to truly catch fire, but her attacks also damaged the soul, the spirit, and what was a penghou if not a tree spirit? Spiritual attacks like this were highly effective.

While the flames attacked it, Zhou Lihua widened the hole, removed her tessen, and plunged her hand inside. She flinched and bit back a yelp as something stabbed into her thigh. As blood ran down the wound in her leg, she wrapped her fingers around the object inside the trunk, and pulled.

As she removed her hand, the penghou writhed and shrieked, but the sounds grew weaker. The object impaling her through the thigh had disappeared. Zhou Lihua stumbled backward as the creature before her began withering. Branches dried up and crumbled. They chipped, cracked, and fell to the ground before disappearing like acrid black smoke. It wasn’t long before the trunk followed suit. Everything was soon gone.

Zhou Lihua gazed at the glowing green monster core in her hand. This was it. A tier 5 monster core with a wood element. Now she had what they needed to refine the Low-Grade Regeneration Pill.

Wincing as she turned around, Zhou Lihua limped off. She needed to get back to Wu Jian.