Golden auxiliary light flew out from the scepter and entered Qian Yuelong's body.

Qian Yuelong activated the passive skill "Blooming Dreams," closed her eyes, and the Floating World Golden Lotus in her palm began to rotate like a mechanical lantern, its golden light flickering. In an instant, the delicate fragrance became rich and intoxicating, and everyone present could smell the strong floral scent.

"rustle,"

The rustling sounds came from all directions, like the sound of some kind of reptilian spirit beast brushing against the dense branches and leaves, accompanied by the occasional crackling sound like wood exploding, which made one's scalp tingle.

Hu Liena and the others instinctively assumed a defensive stance, surrounding Xu Yu and Qian Yuelong, who was releasing her "domain ability," in the very center.

The three mentors frowned, alertly reducing the distance between themselves and the students. They tacitly protected the fledgling students in the middle, while they themselves stood guard to the side, ready to face any danger from the outside world.

The next second, Yan's pupils contracted in fear. A massive phantom of the Flame Lord's energy appeared behind him, a wisp of flame flickering in the air. His eyes reflected the overwhelming green vines, which writhed like snakes, their bodies visibly thickening. Many dark brown thorns grew from their emerald green bodies, rustling and gathering together. Before they knew it, the space around them was completely filled!

"Be careful, these are not soul beasts!" Wei Ming warned everyone in a deep voice.

As for why he didn't let the students retreat, it wasn't just because Qian Yuelong was casting a domain, but also because he remembered what Qian Yuelong had said before, that it would summon a kind of vine.

"Holy crap! What the hell is this?!"

Seeing the vines approaching them, Yan, feeling insecure, suddenly changed his expression. A cluster of orange-red flames shot up in his hand, condensing into a ball in half a second. Just as he was about to unleash it, another voice stopped him in time.

"Don't touch them."

Qian Yuelong suddenly opened her pale purple eyes, which shimmered with a hazy light, and felt the vines' excitement mixed with longing. She patted Hu Liena's arm, which was blocking her way, and stepped forward, raising a hand.

"They are self-sustaining vines."

The jagged, emerald-green vines rustled and twisted like earthworms, excitedly and carefully separating into different main branches, urging their life force. While stretching out thinner vine tips toward Qian Yuelong, they swayed themselves, and a dark brown bulge grew from the tip, swelling and standing upright in the shape of a small flower bud. Just as it was about to touch Qian Yuelong's palm, it suddenly bloomed into a small white flower.

Vines: Satisfied and content (jpg)

Unidentified white flowers bloomed from the main branches of different vines that approached, as if they were vying for attention. Their huge, long bodies, trailing behind them, pressed down on each other, each trying to gain an advantage. The little flowers blooming in front of Qian Yuelong swayed incessantly with the vines' open and covert struggle.

Everyone: "."

Xu Yu swallowed hard, struggling to shift his gaze from the jagged vines to a thick, emerald-green vine blooming with a small white flower to please Qian Yuelong, a sight that evoked a strong sense of déjà vu.

That wasn't a vine; it looked more like a pet snake trying to please its owner.

A green shadow entered his field of vision. Xu Yu nimbly took two steps back, looking with lingering fear at the vines wriggling around happily, completely disregarding the vines that might prick them. He silently added in his mind: "They're the double standard type."

Qian Yuelong stroked the soft white flowers, releasing a wisp of spiritual energy, and through "Blooming Flowers Like a Dream," conveyed her thoughts to the vines.

"Good child, help me find some soul beasts in the forest with a cultivation level of over five thousand years. Try to make as little noise as possible so they don't notice you."

If you can't tell, then look for spirit beasts with powerful auras.

Fearing that these summoned vines might not have a concept of cultivation, Qian Yuelong added another sentence.

'Powerful aura.'

'try to find'

'Want to stick together'

'I'll find the good boy first.'

Countless murmurs echoed in unison.

These were sounds that ordinary people could not hear, as if they were ethereal sounds coming from a very distant place, reaching Qian Yuelong's ears.

The next second, everyone saw the vines gathered in front of Qian Yuelong suddenly turn their heads, like earthworms digging in the soil. The hard ground seemed to be loosened by them, easily penetrated and burrowed into the ground, their emerald green bodies constantly wriggling. Only the thickest vine among them remained, like the main root system, obediently staying beside Qian Yuelong.

Knowing what orders Qian Yuelong had passed to the vines, 886 said quietly, "Aren't you afraid your little darlings will just find you a 100,000-year-old soul beast?"

Qian Yuelong scoffed: "I'm not afraid. If we alert them, we retreat; if we can't, we fight. It's not like I'll be the one running away. At worst, I'll unleash my Divine Realm ultimate, then stack the [Oborozuki no Yoru] set's pupils and phoenix crown—I'll still win easily."

With this hanging on, there's nothing to fear, okay?

886: That makes a lot of sense.

If they were to actually encounter Qian Yuelong and her group, the danger would be posed by the soul beasts.

———A side note———

It's almost 1 AM, the exams are on July 1st and 2nd. I've been going crazy doing all those practice questions for my usual grades these past two days. There are so many! Who disabled copy and paste? I have to type so many words myself! (grumbling)

(End of this chapter)