Not every animal has a crystal core in its brain, and some creatures’ cores dissipate over time after death. That’s why it’s best to absorb their energy as soon as they die.
Or… while they are still alive.
She understood that the energy she needed wasn’t the flesh and blood of the animals, but their crystal cores. Yet she still wondered why the giant tree had absorbed her blood and flesh back then.
After absorbing the outer animals, she felt a surge of energy in her body. When she absorbed the quail-egg-sized crystal core from the brain of a black bear, she clearly felt her ability level rise by one tier. At least now, she could create all the previous planting plots at once without feeling fatigued.
Turning her gaze to a fallen tree, the massive head of a black snake came into view. Even though it was dead, its enormous triangular head half-torn by sharp claws, Wen Xian’s scalp tingled, and she felt the urge to run. Her aversion and fear of snakes still dominated her.
She hurriedly absorbed the crystal core from the snake’s brain. To her surprise, it was about the size of a ping-pong ball, and perhaps because it had died recently, its energy hadn’t dissipated much.
Next to the black snake lay the corpse of a white wolf, towering like a small mountain. Its snowy fur was matted and chaotic. A huge gash split open its belly, exposing the innards, which had begun to rot. A few finger-sized flies were feeding.
Getting closer, she realized that even lying down, the white wolf was nearly her height. If it were alive and standing…
Wen Xian couldn’t help but feel awe. But the absorption speed was quick, and the wolf’s crystal core wasn’t much smaller than the black snake’s. After absorbing the two cores, she felt herself rise another tier in power, and the vine formed by her hand had doubled in thickness.
Behind the huge white wolf was a smaller one. The vine wrapped around its body, and the tip of the branch was about to pierce its eye socket when she heard a weak whimper.
Startled, she froze the vine. Stepping closer, she saw that the small white wolf’s abdomen was still rising and falling slightly.
Perhaps sensing her presence, the extremely weak wolf struggled to open its eyes. She then met a pair of ferocious, icy gray eyes that gripped her soul. Blood seemed to rush backward, and an unprecedented sense of mortal danger surged through her.
Fortunately, she was calmer than before. Amid the fear, she clearly knew the white wolf was terrifying, but now it was almost dead.
She stepped forward slightly. The wolf let out a warning whine. Its strong forelimbs twitched, clearly trying to rise, but it couldn’t.
Wen Xian felt relief and finally noticed that its mouth was clamped tightly onto the black snake’s tail, mostly revealing bare bone. It seemed the white wolf had survived so far by feeding on the black snake’s flesh and blood.
Wen Xian hesitated, not sure what to do. The most rational approach would be to finish it off while it was weak. But she couldn’t shake the memory of the sorrowful, harrowing scream she had heard two days ago.
There were many wolves in the valley, but only three white wolves. Besides the largest one, there was a smaller one at the outer edge. The surviving wolf she was facing was the second in rank, it seemed to be one of the leaders of the pack.
It also looked like a family.
Spare it? Given its current condition, it probably wouldn’t survive long anyway, death was inevitable.
Save it? Even if she could, what if it ended up seeing her as food once recovered? That would be… interesting, to say the least.
After a moment of scattered thoughts, Wen Xian realized the white wolf was struggling to keep its eyes open, staring at her with an icy, stubborn gaze, neither afraid nor timid.
Almost human.
Wen Xian silently met its eyes for a moment, then suddenly turned to the vine and asked, “Can my blood save it?”
The vine straightened its small branches, tilted its head, and after a two- or three-second pause drooped down. Wen Xian could tell it looked a little displeased. “King has… life force.”
She had life force? What did that mean?
But life force was exactly what the white wolf needed most right now.
Thinking it over, she cautiously stepped closer. The white wolf bared its teeth, but Wen Xian ignored it and looked into its eyes. “I’ll try to save you, but you cannot repay kindness with harm. Once you’re healed, you must not hurt me. Otherwise, I’ll have all the plants in this mountain twist you into mush. Do you understand?”
She waited quietly for the wolf’s response. After a long moment, the white wolf struggled to close its eyes, then slowly opened them again. The ferocity in its gaze had lessened, replaced by a surprising gentleness.
Wen Xian felt a flicker of joy, thinking it must have understood.
She entered the space, momentarily startled by how much it had expanded, a result of her increased energy. Excitement surged, but she reminded herself she needed to save the white wolf first.
She found half a bottle of mineral water and a needle. Heating the needle tip with a lighter, then letting it cool, she pricked her fingertip and squeezed out a drop of blood, about the size of a red bean, into the bottle, shaking it vigorously to dissolve it.
She still felt uneasy recalling the last time she gave blood to the vine, so she had been much more careful since then.
Holding the bottle, she exited the space. Perhaps due to her increased level, the surrounding plants sensed even the diluted blood. They rustled eagerly, and even the small vine crawled up her wrist, reaching for it.
Wen Xian didn’t hesitate. She knelt beside the white wolf, pried open its mouth, and poured the blooded water inside.
Fortunately, the white wolf cooperated despite its extreme weakness, swallowing the water. Half a bottle was gone in no time. Wen Xian breathed a sigh of relief and returned the bottle to the space.
The white wolf didn’t immediately react like the vine had; it was likely too injured.
Satisfied she had done everything she could, and with time pressing, she stood, ready to leave.
Before departing, she glanced at the black snake’s corpse. On impulse, she extended a branch and drew it into the space. She didn’t know why she did it, only that it felt instinctive.
The moment the black snake entered the space, the long-dormant white tubes suddenly extended. Several reached toward the black snake, piercing its flesh. The snake shriveled before her eyes; in less than a minute, its plump body was reduced to skin stretched over bones.
Wen Xian had no idea. She had originally planned to take the two other white wolves as well, but spared the living one, only regretting the loss of the other two’s fur.
She left decisively, unaware that the white wolf’s cold gray eyes silently followed her back until she vanished into the forest.
By the time she returned to the temporary camp, night had fallen. Worried about the altered space, she quickly lit a fire to cook something simple, tidied up a little, and heated water for washing before entering the space again.
The space continued to expand outward in a circular shape. All around was still a dense white fog, but the center had risen noticeably. The flower bud was now farther from her, and at the same time, the green crystal core had grown larger, if before it had been the size of a quail egg, now it was the size of a walnut.
She quickly tied some wooden beams, extending all the five- and ten-meter planting plots to fifteen meters. She also added another ten-meter plot near the edge of the white fog. Each plot had a one-meter gap in between, and with this arrangement, everything she had collected could now be planted.
She controlled it all with her mind, yet her waist didn’t ache, her head didn’t hurt, and she even felt an inexhaustible strength.
After finishing this, she trained her abilities for two hours. She first worked on the vine’s whipping power and the tree shield’s defensive capability. As expected, after the level-up, her combat strength increased several times over; a single lash to the ground could leave a four- to five-centimeter-deep mark.
Later, the vine acted as a sparring partner. It didn’t know its own strength, eight out of ten lashes hit her directly. The strikes burned where they landed, and some may have drawn blood, but her body’s self-healing left her no time to react. She gritted her teeth and endured, relying on her greatly enhanced senses and physical strength, and by the end, she could dodge eight out of ten strikes.
By the time she finished, it was past midnight. She was gasping for breath from exhaustion but decisively decided to stay another two days. The vine’s hits were painful, yet far more effective than her chaotic solo training.
The next morning, she was woken by a thunderous commotion.
Scrambling to get dressed and rushing outside, she saw the vine tightly coiled around a massive white figure. The figure struggled and growled, and when it turned its head to bite the vine, she recognized it instantly, it was the white wolf.
Her heart jumped; her first thought was, had the white wolf really repaid her kindness with harm?
At that moment, the wolf seemed to catch her scent. Its previously fierce expression faltered, and then it lifted its head toward her, letting out two low whines, almost as if greeting her.
Wen Xian froze for a moment and stepped forward. The small vine suddenly darted out from somewhere and clung to her. Its clear, excited voice rang out, “King! Danger! Danger!”
It tightened its grip even more. The white wolf let out a pained whine but no longer struggled. Gradually, it lowered its body and let out two more soft whines toward her.
Wen Xian had raised dogs before and knew that when a dog lay down on its own, it was showing submission and friendliness. Although a wolf is not the same species as a dog, they are close enough that the difference shouldn’t be too great.
Moreover, she didn’t sense any threat or hostility from it. On the contrary… she felt its closeness.
Thinking for a moment, she patted the small vine. “Let go of it. It won’t hurt me.”
The vine was simple-minded, what she said, it obeyed. Obediently, it released its grip, and a few arm-thick tendrils slithered back into the vine cluster.
Only then did Wen Xian get a clear look. The white wolf was still extremely weak, its fur matted and filthy. Even after the vine released it, the wolf remained lying down, exhaling white mist from its dark nose. Its gray eyes didn’t blink, staring at her, and she could even sense a kind of… affectionate longing.
Wen Xian: …
She walked to a spot two meters in front of the white wolf. “Why did you come?”
The wolf let out a few low whines, resting its large head on its strong paws without moving, but Wen Xian somehow understood that it had come for her.
“What do you want from me?”
The white wolf whimpered softly, its eyes carrying a hint of sadness, as if trying to tell her something. Wen Xian didn’t fully understand. Then it lowered its head, cautiously lifting its upper body. Seeing her instinctively take a step back, it lay down again. One paw twitched, and its eyes stayed fixed on her, looking slightly aggrieved.
Wen Xian paused and stood still. “What do you want to do?”
The white wolf let out an excited howl, staggering to its feet. It was now taller than Wen Xian by a head, and the pressure of its presence made her body tense. Slowly, it approached her, its gray eyes fixed on her, emitting a soft, purring murmur like a kitten. Then it lowered its massive head and rubbed affectionately against Wen Xian’s chest.
Her stiff body staggered backward from the nuzzle before she regained balance, a feeling of disbelief washing over her, this white wolf was bowing its head to her.
“You…”
“Woof…”
The white wolf let out a low call and then collapsed with a heavy thud.