The endless vines attacked from all directions. Qinghe swung his sword and slashed, his movements agile. He used his feet to brace against the wall and thrust downwards towards the top of the mountain spirit's head.
The mountain spirit seemed to sense something, and with a wave of its hand, a vast power mixed with a highly poisonous mist erupted out. Qinghe reacted quickly, stopped the attack, turned around, and landed on a rock not far away.
When his first attack failed, Qinghe flicked his wrist, and the Great Light Spell was immediately unleashed. The long whip, several meters long, was accompanied by rustling lightning, and its offensive power was immense.
With a light tap of his toes, he swung his long whip, drawing a beautiful arc in the air, striking the mountain spirit squarely on the back.
The lightning, like a fiery dragon, pierced the mountain spirit's spine, tearing its skin and flesh apart. The black mist briefly cracked open before closing again.
Seeing the situation, Qinghe flicked his wrist, and the long whip moved nimbly like a dragon, instantly wrapping around the mountain spirit's neck.
With its throat gripped, the mountain spirit was unable to move for a moment, but it was not human after all. After a brief struggle, it broke free of its restraints, and with a swift movement, flew upwards at high speed.
Seeing that it was about to escape, Qinghe leaped up and chased after it, but before she could catch up, Qirong was faster and rushed in front of the mountain spirit, slapping it down with a palm.
With a loud crash, the mountain spirit fell to the ground, creating a deep crater in the earth beneath it.
With the Phoenix Sword in hand, he charged downwards, stopping when the tip of the sword was only an inch away from the mountain spirit.
It was Qi Rong who stopped her.
"Why?"
Qi Rong said, "This place was originally the location of the valley's earth vein. It has been cultivating here for many years and has become one with the earth vein. That's why those vines can grow infinitely. If we kill it and destroy the earth vein, the entire valley will collapse and cease to exist."
“But,” Qinghe said, “if we don’t kill it, how can we release the spirits of those whose mountain spirits it has devoured, and what about those people it has killed?”
Qi Rong looked at her and asked, "Do you know why it became like this?"
Qinghe shook his head.
“Because of pollution.” Qi Rong looked at the mountain spirit curled up on the ground, her eyes filled with pity. “The mountain spirit is kind and protects the spirits in the valley. It is quite friendly to humans and opens the valley every year to give humans the rare and precious materials in the valley. Unfortunately, some people are not satisfied, greedy and selfish. Not only do they not know how to be grateful, but they also have thoughts about the mountain spirit.”
"Humans use all means to lure and kill, attack in groups, and do whatever it takes. Although mountain spirits are stronger than humans, they are simple-minded and do not know how to scheme. They fall into traps time and time again, which makes the number of mountain spirits less and less, and spiritual creatures in the valley become increasingly scarce. The vegetation is not as lush and prosperous as before, and the spiritual energy is becoming weaker and weaker."
He sighed and continued, "Until one day, a weak mountain spirit was captured by humans. In its struggle, it tasted human blood and became increasingly obsessed with it, developing a strong desire for human blood. It greedily drank human blood countless times until today, when it became what we see today."
"Tell me, should we kill it?"
As everyone listened to his story, they felt a deep sense of sorrow.
Qing remained silent for a long while, and when he looked at the corpses on the ground, his eyes changed.
After a long pause, she looked at the strange patterns on the wall and asked, "Is there any way to restore it to its original state?"
Qi Rong shook her head.
The mountain spirit, which had been curled up on the ground, gradually regained its strength. It struggled to get up and tentatively looked at the people in front of it. Seeing that they had no intention of stopping it, it suddenly leaped up, climbed the wall, and headed towards the water.
Seeing this, Qinghe wanted to stop it, but found that she no longer had the intention to kill it, and she herself did not know why she took that step.
I sighed and let it go.
In the silence, a golden light suddenly flashed above. Looking up again, several golden rays of light cracked open at the mountain spirit's heart, growing stronger and stronger. Golden runes surged out from the mountain spirit's body, instantly filling the entire underwater space.
The holy golden light evoked a sense of solemnity in everyone's hearts. Apart from Qi Rong, who remained relatively calm, the other four people stood upright with serious expressions, paying their respects to the golden light.
"How could I forget? Shen Xun's greatest ability is purification. With his help, the mountain spirit can be saved."
Runes swirled around, and wherever they passed, everything came to life.
Golden light enveloped the mountain spirit, which was being corrupted by the mist and miasma. Runes swirled around the mountain spirit and poured into its body, engraving themselves onto its form.
The purification effect was fully exerted. The black energy was resisted and, under the absorption of the golden light, it no longer put up a stubborn fight. The mist and miasma gradually dissipated until the mountain spirit returned to its original appearance.
As the golden light slowly faded, Qinghe immediately stopped looking completely dumbfounded and looked up, where two figures gradually appeared in his field of vision.
Before you see him, you hear his voice.
Before Qinghe could even greet them, he heard the two of them seemingly arguing.
"Why didn't you bring me out sooner? You made me stay inside that monster's body for so long, it suffocated me!"
"This is a lesson for you. Who told you to disobey me and insist on rescuing those two? Now you've been caught, and I'm the one who has to save you."
"I...I am kind-hearted; it is not gentlemanly to stand by and watch someone die!"
"A gentleman? You? I don't know who said, 'I just want to admire my handsome face~', tsk tsk tsk."
"You little page, I'm ignoring you!"
Mu Dong turned away from Shen Xun in a huff, and when he looked up, he saw five people standing opposite him, each of them looking at him with a slightly speechless expression.
He stiffly extended a hand, stiffly greeted them, and stiffly said, "Senior brothers and sisters, what a coincidence, you're here too..."
Five people: You just noticed?
Mu Dong: I feel a little embarrassed for some reason, but it's definitely not my fault.
Shen Xun sighed, "This is utterly shameful."
After the awkward moment, someone said, "Look, the mountain spirit has awakened!"
Li Jiang pointed to a spot, and everyone looked up to see the purified mountain spirit slowly awakening. Its body was no longer shrouded in black mist, but rather a small, bluish-white sprite, instantly becoming adorable.
It spread its wings and flew to the wall, where it lingered for a long time in front of the patterns on the wall, making soft, whimpering sounds, as if it were crying or repenting.
After a long while, it flew through the air, drawing strange patterns. Once the patterns took shape, they emitted a green light. A moment later, countless fluorescent green dots flew out of its body, like fireflies. These were the essences of the mountain spirits it had devoured.
Green dots flew into the wall and merged into the pattern, the entire wall and green light blended together, instantly illuminating the entire underwater space.
Mountain spirits kept flying out from the walls, flapping their wings, forming groups, laughing and chatting like long-lost friends, with endless whispers and a playful spirit.
There could be no more beautiful scene than this.
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