The instant that thing showed itself, an overpowering stench of rot and blood burst through the air, mixed with the heavy scent of wet soil. A crushing pressure followed right after, slamming down on Xie Zhaolin and Elder Chou like a mountain.
Xie Zhaolin caught a glimpse of it from the corner of her eye and felt a sharp chill stab straight through her heart.
It wasn't the beastlike creature she'd expected. It looked more like a massive, twisted mass of living roots tangled into a single monstrous shape.
Countless thick and thin dark brown roots coiled together, forming the rough outline of a humanoid figure, towering more than ten zhang tall.
It had no face. Where its head should be was a constantly opening and closing hollow pit, pitch-black and bottomless. A mournful wind howled from the hole like air whistling through an empty cave. Dirt and gravel rained down its massive body, revealing a surface beneath that glimmered with a faint, eerie wooden sheen.
"Mu Xiao? No... something older. A Boundary Guardian born from the mutation of the wood spiritual energy buried here!" Elder Chou instantly revealed its origin, her voice heavier than ever before.
This was no ordinary beast. It was a guardian formed from the rules of the secret realm itself, nurtured by dense spiritual qi and linked inseparably to the land. Such things were nearly impossible to kill completely.
Xie Zhaolin never imagined she would run into something like this right after entering the secret realm.
What a terrible stroke of bad luck.
The root giant seemed drawn to their life force. It let out a rumbling growl, its massive body looking heavy but moving with shocking speed. It lifted a gigantic arm made of woven roots and slammed it toward them.
The arm hadn't even landed yet, but the violent pressure blasted ahead of it, ripping away three feet of the forest floor and exposing the dark soil beneath.
Xie Zhaolin's figure flickered. The Jingxiao Ribbon flared into a shield of dark purple light in front of her.
Bang, bang, bang!
The massive arm smashed against the barrier, each impact thundering through the forest. The force sent her blood surging chaotically and knocked her back several steps. The light covering the Jingxiao Ribbon wavered violently.
The strength behind these vines was far beyond what she expected.
On the other side, Elder Chou dealt with it far more gracefully.
The array plate in her hand flared with intense light, instantly forming several rippling spiritual barriers in front of her.
Though the vine-arm shattered those barriers, its speed was weakened with each one broken. Elder Chou's movement was like smoke, slipping past the deadly strike at the last possible instant.
Xie Zhaolin swallowed the metallic taste rising in her throat, her heart trembling.
The Boundary Guardian's power was at least at the late Nascent Soul stage, maybe even higher. She, at peak Golden Core, had no chance of overpowering it.
"We can't fight it head-on."
The thought crashed through her mind without hesitation.
Using the recoil from its strike, she let herself drift backward like a falling leaf. The Jingxiao Ribbon snapped out and wrapped tightly around the trunk of an ancient tree thick enough that ten people couldn't encircle it. With a hard pull, her body shot sideways like an arrow.
Whoosh.
She skimmed barely over the ground, narrowly avoiding another sweeping strike that followed close behind. Broken wood and flying stones shot past her like arrows, the wind slicing painfully across her cheeks.
Elder Chou wasn't much better off. She no longer blocked directly. The array plate spun in her hand, releasing countless intricate runes that formed layered illusions and shifting fields around her.
The root giant's attacks kept getting diverted away from her, smashing into empty air or pulverizing nearby trees. But the horror of the Boundary Guardian was only beginning to show. It wasn't fighting alone.
Shhhhshhh!
With a teeth-grinding sound, the ground around them split apart. Countless smaller dark brown roots shot from below, whipping toward their ankles and waists. A thick aura of decay clung to those roots. If they got caught, they wouldn't just restrict spiritual power. They would suck flesh and blood dry.
"Annoying!" Xie Zhaolin gritted her teeth, forming a sword shape with her fingers. A razor-sharp stream of dark purple sword energy burst from her fingertips, slicing every attacking root cleanly.
The severed roots writhed on the ground, oozing foul-smelling black fluid. But there were far too many. Cutting them slowed her down drastically.
Worse, the giant root-body was already closing in again. The hollow where its face should have been shrieked even sharper now, enraged by their resistance. Its colossal arms swept out again, sealing most of Xie Zhaolin's escape paths.
Elder Chou handled it better, her movements even more slippery and unpredictable. The tiny sparks flying from her fingertips turned into fierce flames when they touched the vines, burning them to ash with popping sounds, forcing the attack back for the moment.
But she too had been forced into a restricted space.
"Elder Mo! If this keeps up, we'll be worn down and die here!" Elder Chou's voice floated over, still lazy-sounding but noticeably faster. "This thing is one with the ancient forest. Unless we sever its link to the earth veins, we have no chance."
Of course Xie Zhaolin knew that. But she was currently under the brunt of the assault.
The giant fist came down again. She couldn't avoid it. The Jingxiao Ribbon twisted into a spiral and barely blocked the hit. Her eyes raced. Its attacks were fierce, but its turning speed was slow, especially when aiming upward toward the tree canopy.
"Climb!" Xie Zhaolin decided immediately. No hesitation. The Jingxiao Ribbon snapped around a massive branch, launching her into the air.
Elder Chou blinked with mild surprise but understood instantly. Her movements were even more graceful. With a tap of her toes on thin air, her sleeves fluttered as she landed atop another towering tree.
Their sudden rise confused the giant for a moment. It howled and smashed the trees instead.
Boom! Crack!
The trunks shuddered violently, cracks splitting across them. The monster's body leaned forward, and dozens of holes opened across its chest and arms. Countless glowing green wooden spikes shot out with shrill whistles, blanketing the sky.
The range covered every escape route.
Facing the storm of wooden spikes, Xie Zhaolin instantly realized these weren't ordinary projectiles. The spiritual power within them carried strong piercing and corrosive energy. One direct hit might destroy protective light instantly.
Suspended midair with nowhere to step, she was in deadly danger.
"Jingxiao!"
Her voice was sharp as a blade. She poured her spiritual power wildly into the Jingxiao Ribbon. Dark purple light exploded outward, transforming into a spinning wheel of blades. A dense purple cocoon surrounded her.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
Endless spikes slammed into the shield. Most were shredded to dust, but several thick ones forced their way through, grazing her body and tearing bloody lines across her skin. Pain burned like fire.
She bit back a groan, steadied herself, and used the impact force to hurl herself farther away, the Jingxiao Ribbon latching onto an even larger tree deeper in the forest.
Elder Chou now held a feathered fan. With one fierce sweep:
Whoosh!
A whirlwind appeared from nowhere. The wooden spikes that entered the wind field spun uncontrollably, clashing and breaking apart. The few that slipped through were snapped apart by pinpoint bursts of spiritual light.
She looked calm, but her face had paled. The technique clearly drained her.
The two moved with everything they had, dodging the endless wave of attacks.
But the Boundary Guardian wasn't done.
Seeing ranged attacks failing, it roared loudly enough to shake the forest. Its massive body lowered suddenly, and both arms plunged deep into the ground.
Rumble!