Chapter 39
Catula shought, Someone? No.
es flickered not a person, but a spirit
The child in front of her had no solid body; he was sustained prafely by the Alchemical Arbor’s mana. At the muitment, he was chainseling the lake’s power from the Veil to attack her, tapping into the full might of this marsh.
Linda thought. The Chuanian of the Vell?
Linda darted around the nee trunk, dodging water arrows as she humbly sealed the Mana Bough, closing in on the child in record time.
“What do you think you’re doing!” The boy blinked out of sight reappearing five steps away.
But Linda was quicker.
The boy sputtered in fury. “Fine, take the Sovereign Pips if you want them! But this one’s mine. You can’t touch it!” He could let go of the Sovereign Pips, but not the golden one; it contained the tree’s very essence. It was his lifeline.
Linda chuckled softly. “I’ve come this far. Why stop at a handful of fruits? Of course… I want everything.
The boy’s eyes went wide as her stare fixed on him. “You want to catch me too?” he stammered in disbelief.
“Catch? That’s a strong word. I’m just relocating you to a nicer spot.” Linda crept closer, step by step, like a wolf sweet–talking a lamb in grandma’s guise. “Come on, little one. Let me introduce you to true freedom.”
Emmett was speechless. “You’re crossing the line!”
Linda snatched at his wrist. “Oh, I can cross it further.”
Emmett somersaulted backward, twisting away from her grip, but a burst of mana from below caught him and propelled him right back forward.
Emmett whipped around and spotted a Vellum Sigil that had materialized under him without warning. It burst into flame on its own.
Arcane Scripts spilled out, weaving a glowing barrier around the Alchemical Arbor.
4
Snap. Another burst of sparks.
Emmett traced the noise and saw lights flaring from every direction, four Vellum Sigils igniting all at once.
The four Scripts surged forward, coiling tight and trapping him with the golden fruit, like a web closing in.
Emmett flailed in rage, flinging his arms about. Gale–force winds whipped up over the lake, battering the Script barrier with a deafening clamor.
In an instant, he grabbed the golden fruit and dove into the branches, disappearing completely.
Linda’s face stayed calm. She thrust one hand through the Scripts; they shrank like a golden bracelet, locking around her
wrist.
Bracing her other hand on a branch, she jumped down.
The winds howled in, dragging water columns that slammed toward her.
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But the strips on her wiid hallsoned outward, forming a shield that lended off the track Brushing off the raging guzte and water pillars, she sprinted to the tree’s ro*.
Dropping me a half crouch, she smacked her palm against the ground Quintessential Weave, break for mer
Five beams of light streamed from her palm into the earth Withe Alchemical Arbor at the center, five spirit orbs shot cut and spread wide. They surrounded the whole Alchemical Arbor
Emmett’s eyes nearly popped out, textering on the edge of a breakdown. “What the hell, how can Gilded Cores just pop out like that? What kind of freak are you?“.
He thought, ‘A cultivator’s Gilded Core! This woman has actually expelled her Gilded Cores, wielding them like Relics. And… One, two, three, four, five… Five in total. Why five? What sort of liturgy is this?‘
Linda curled her palm into a fist, gripped tight, and yanked upward inch by inch, heaving the entire Alchemical Arbor from the ground.
Emmett sensed his hiding spot quaking, letting out a piercing wall. “What are you doooing–aaah!”
Linda kept her tone light and airy. “Just getting you out of here, that’s all.”
“You lunatic!”
the
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As the Alchemical Arbor was wrenched free bit by bit, the whole Veil shuddered, rocked by the disturbance. Emmett shouted, “The Arboretum of Essence is the core of the entire Dream–Weaver Fens. If you yank it out, this whole place will come crashing down!”
“Eh, not my problem.”
Emmett said, “Have you no conscience?”
“Nope.”
With one mighty pull, Linda hoisted the entire Alchemical Arbor free, but even after lifting it dozens of meters up, the roots still trailed on endlessly. They sure dug in deep.
Linda sighed softly. “This is turning into a real pain.”
Emmett assumed she’d back down, but her Gilded Cores, still floating free outside her body, whirled even faster, rising higher. Amazingly, she still had mental bandwidth to spare.
She cracked open the portal to her Amethyst Band.
Now Emmett couldn’t stay put any longer. His whole lair was on the verge of being scooped up. He couldn’t just stand by. He shouted, “Hold on! The Arboretum of Essence relies on the Lucent Mere in this Dream–Weaver Fens. If you rip the tree out alone, it won’t last long.”
Linda finally eased up a bit. “In that case…”
With a wince of reluctance, Emmett said, “Either haul off the entire Lucent Mere too, or set it back down, and I’ll give you every last fruit.”
He added quickly, “Even the golden one.” He was holding nothing back.
As a spirit bound parasitically to the Veil, his survival hinged on its existence. If it collapsed, he’d be done for.
As he was faced with losing one life versus ten, the choice was obvious. At worst, he’d bide his time again… Even if it burned him up inside.
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Linda thought it over briefly. “No point making it harder than it as to be. If the lake’s art have, I just grab the white. hat and caboodle”
Emmett was speechless.
Do you have any idea what you’re proposing? This is the DreamWeaver Pers. A Lucent Mere forged from the prest Ambient Mana, cultivated over ten thousand years.
“A single drop can add a year to a mortal’s lifespan; a full bowl could revive the dead and knit broken bones back together. It’s a fountain of mana that every cultivator dreams of, no wound too severe to heal after a few days soak. And you want to cart it off?”
Linda’s emotions twisted in a knot. “Thanks for the sales pitch, but you don’t have to sell me on it. Now I’m even more set on taking it.”
Emmett let out a piercing screech. “That’s not what I was getting at!”
Linda fished three golden talismans from her robes. “I’ve only got three of these, and they’re single–use only. Meant to save them for a true emergency, but I guess one’s getting used early.
Emmett went still. “What are those?”
Linda ignored the question. She poured mana into the talisman instead. It flared to life without any fire, golden runes bursting forth and blooming at the lake’s heart.
They fused into a crushing Weight of Will.
Emmett’s heart pounded as he whispered in shock, “What…. is this?*
Such raw, terrifying force. It seemed capable of annihilating everything in sight.
Linda’s brow creased faintly. Her current realm was too low for more than a one–stage jump, but that should be enough.
The runes wrapped around her, then scattered and sank in, merging deep into her meridians.
It felt like slipping into full–body armor, inside and out.
The boost added layers of protection while sucking in Ambient Mana, propelling her aura upward at breakneck speed.
In mere moments, it neared Astral Sovereign Form territory. Mid–Astral Sovereign Form, to be precise.
Linda squeezed her fist tight. “That’ll do.”
Her five orbiting Gilded Cores powered up in tandem, and with a surge of willpower, she grunted low. The cores darted to the lake’s perimeter, lifting the whole thing into the air.
The boy stared, completely dumbfounded.
He wondered, ‘What sorcery is this? Is she seriously using the entire Dream–Weaver Fens as her own energy?‘
Guided by her intent, the whole Veil barreled toward the gaping maw of the Amethyst Band.
But that was when things hit a hitch.
The ring’s storage space couldn’t accommodate a lake this enormous.
Linda paused, mildly taken aback. “Huh, didn’t account for that.
Bailing now would probably shatter the lake and tree alike, but shifting focus to upgrade the ring’s capacity? No chance, not
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Chapter 39
with time this night.
The sination stalled, and Emmett felt the shadow of oblivion creeping in.
Heroared, “I knew it! Your absolute madwoman!”
Linda pondered aloud, “Yeah, that one slipped past me.”
But hey, if all of it wouldn’t fit, half ought to work just fine.
She acted fast, beginning to reel in the Gilded Cores‘ span.
Emmett unleashed a torrent of curses. “Don’t you dare!”
Linda fired back, “If I don’t, this Veil’s collapsing anyway.”
Emmett gnashed his teeth. “Alright. I’ll take care of it.
“Let me handle this!”
