Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Chapter 25

The vines came without warning. Yet caution honed by years kept most of them alive when they strike.

They guarded against the beasts running to them, patrolling cultivators and mages walked around the camp with steady feet and focused eyes. The ones stationed all around the camps had their sights steady and unwavering to the shadows between the trees, staring down the possible danger that might be waiting for them to falter, to show weakness.

The dome around the camp shimmered as if saying, ’I’m right here, I’ll keep you safe. Transparent and thin yet solid and strong.

A short brown haired woman was sitting on a rock near her tent reading a book when she felt it. Deep underground, slithering like a giant snakes.

Immediately, she stood up on her guard, swiftly taking her staff on her hand, a beautiful and smooth red wood with elegant curves, curling at the top, hints of small cracks mark its smooth surface, proof of its battle worn journey, a scar to a warrior, a mark to a weapon. The hand white beautiful hand holding it tightened as it was moved horizontally in front of the woman.

"Alix, Caie, Chao" The woman ran towards her group’s tent and woke her companions up.

"What? It’s too early. I’ll cook Later Chunhua, let me sleep" One of them groggily replied, turning away from her and covering his head with his blanket.

"Get up you idiot! The foodie is you, not me. There’s something wrong" The woman hissed lightly kicking the man who, along with their companions immediately sat up and lunged for their weapons, not a trace of sleep in their eyes, looking at her for answers ready for battle.

Before she could explain a horn sounded loud, deep and booming! "Hooooonk! Hooooonk!"

"There’s something underground! Everyone on your guards!" The patrol group run between the tents to make sure everyone heard

"Hoooonk!"

"Wake up! You guys wake up!" The warriors and mages immediately went to wake their companions up.

"Hooooonk!"

"Shit, what is it this time!" A man woke angrily, snatching his sword that was set beside his bed.

"You idiot, that’s my sword!" On another side, a cultivator snatched her sword back from a mage that hastily reached out for the nearest weapon. "You’re a mage. What would you do with a sword? Wave it like a wand?"

"Sorry" He sheepishly handed the sword back looking for his magical conduit.

"Jin, have you seen my shirt!"

"Mei, stand behind me"

"Can you sense anything?"

"Hoooonk!"

"Let me at whatever this motherfucker is! I’ll send it back to the shit hole it came from!"

"Han, try to use your magic to determine what it is"

The quiet campground immediately bustled with light. Orbs of magic lit up the place like stars.

"Chen Rong! On your left!" Mei Lin shouted and immediately, Chen Rong jumped to the side as everyone pointed their weapons in that direction.

A ’vine’ burst at the ground trying to find its victim. Immediately, Chen Rong moved to cut it down and Mei Lin casted a fire spell that made it burst into flames but before they could relax, more of these things burst out from the ground.

That was what welcomed Feng Jiao Xue as she left her tenth.

Without another word, she moved and cut down a vine that was strangling someone.

Fire spells after fire spells lit up the camping ground as cultivators moved to cut the vines down but they were never ending!

"You damned thing!" A middle aged cultivator cursed as he mercilessly cut the vine that was bathed with the blood of his friend as it pierced his through his body. Cutting and shredding it with reddened eyes.

"These are..." Feng Jiao Xue closed her eyes and focused on pinpointing several energies outside the barrier that these vines connect to.

Without another word, she ignored the vines and ran to the barrier.

It appears that she wasn’t the only one who thought of the idea as others gather around strange looking plants.

Its body was taller than a human, deeply rooted to the ground yet it can move and evade so easily. With tangled vines wiggling against each other as a body and a huge ’flower’ as a head. It has blood red petals around the mouth that easily swallowed a man whole. As it opened its mouth, sharp teeth, like that of a shark was revealed but Han Qing moved and cut down a vine holding a man up as it got ready to feed.

"Graaaahgh!!!!" The ’flower’ lashed out, lunging at Han Qing for taking its ’food’ away.

"Dark as the night it thrives on, I call upon the shadows to devour the monstrosity before me!" Zang Shi declared, an array appearing above the ’flower’ slowly devouring it away.

The others were not so lucky. Struggling with the things.

Everytime they cut down a vine, another untangles from its unholy body. Changing in size to as thin as a needle that easily pierce through them or as thick as a trunk that crashes them.

Feng Jiao Xue did not stay idle.

A white burst of qi coated her blade before she controlled them to simply coat it like a paper thin sheath.

If cutting the vines is meaningless, her eyes focused on the "flower bud".

Swiftly, she dodged a vines that was coming towards her, another cultivator cutting it for her.

She raised her sword and striked the ’bud’ however, its petals moved to cover its head. The petal looks as frail as any other however Feng Jiao Xue had to jump back as a vine tried to tangle itself to her, not a scratch on it.

’Did she really need to use her magic?’ She frowned before falling back, observing the flowers that was fighting them

Flicking her wrist, she attacked again, this time, before it could fully cover its ’head’ her, she moved her sword, before it could land, thrusting it upwards inside its mouth.

The Flower shrieked and its vines wildly wiggling in the air agitated.

"Don’t let the young girl get attacked" A cultivator saw the opportunity and moved to cut down the vines that were aiming at Feng Jiao Xue the others following along.

Feng Jiao Xue stepped on a vine for balance as she removed her sword from its mouth when it was about to bite her hand off.

As she had guessed, the petals only protect the outside.

Without hesitation, she let herself be caught and as the bud opened to eat her up, her sword cut its head by the ’jaws’ in half killing it.

Others immediately followed suit, aiming for attacking its insided. Dividing the roles in half. Others work on defending the attackers.

One by one, the vines started to lessen inside the barrier giving those inside a breather.

As the sun began to rise, the last of the ’flower’ fell with a shriek. The entire place is now filled with green gunk.

Feng Jiao Xue immediately went back to her space to take a bath as she isn’t just covered in dust anymore but a green goo all over her clothes and body.

As the water ran down her body, she frowned when she felt a sting on her wrist and noticed a deep cut she must have gotten when she thrusted her sword into its mouth.

The flesh on the wound showed a purple coloring as her veins appeared more prominently, taking a dark shade.

"Shit" She cursed as she immediately dressed up and headed to her potion room in the space ring, drawing her blood and going around the room testing what poison it was. Needles stuck on her arm to prevent the poison from spreading leaving her with only one hand available to work.

Luckily, it was just a mild poisoning and the cure was easy to concoct. It was just a slow acting one that is meant to paralyze its victim for the plant to enjoy its food easier.

She sprinkled the powder she created on the wound and used qi to hasten the process, watching her arm return to its usual coloring before taking a low level healing pill watching the wounds she accumulated during the training and the fight start to close up and heal.

"Jiao Xue, are you okay?" Huang Jin de immediately fussed over her when she stepped out, Xiao Ying worriedly looking at her.

"Yeah, I’m fine. All healed up"

"That’s good." he sighed before grinning. "Then congratulations are in order." he announced, making her raise a brow.

"What?"

"Check your dantian" He smirked.

Closing her eyes she closed her eyes and that was when she noticed her qi more abundant than ever.

"Qi Gathering level 3..." She breathed out with amazement "I advanced? when?"

"When you were busy fighting. You’ve already nearly exhausted your Qi during training and you didn’t notice that you kept drawing more to your sword as you fought." Huang Jin De informed her.

"When I felt like I just woke up from a peaceful rest" She surmised remembering when she was fighting her fourth plant and started to struggle drawing out more Qi. "I thought it was a rejuvenating spell"

"Nope, you advanced!" Huang Jin De created mini fireworks on top of her head. "Congratulations! hahaha"

"Master, congratulations!" Yin Xiao also celebrated, bouncing around her happily.

A small smile appeared on her face, her eyes softening. A hint of gentleness on her usually cold expression made her beauty stand out more in a different way.

"Thank you" She replied to their congratulations.

It’s a small step, but it shows that she’s slowly moving in the right direction to her goals.