The next morning.
The atmosphere around the Demon Tower plummeted to a freezing point!
As the purple light emitted by the Demon Tower grew brighter and brighter, a chaotic melee broke out!
To clear the area, the major factions began to prioritize hunting down the isolated solo fighters.
However, these arrogant fools quickly bit off more than they could chew when they ran into Helena.
The moment the black-armored female swordsman appeared, her black stone sword whipped up a massive wave of death energy!
She feared neither pain nor injury, fighting as if she didn't even care about her own life.
Her combat strength was comparable to a Demon Marquis lord!
This was true, unrivaled valor.
Armed with only her sword, she routed the treasure hunters so thoroughly that, in the end, not a single soul dared to take a step forward.
The battlefield quickly settled into a three-way standoff.
One faction was the allied army of human adventurers, primarily consisting of B-rank adventurers, who brought along a large number of slaves to serve as cannon fodder for triggering traps.
Another faction was the massive demon army; representatives from at least half of the eighty-odd Demon Marquis territories had gathered.
And the third faction was the ragtag band of solo fighters led by Helena!
Helena's group was rather interesting.
Seeing her fierce strength, the isolated individuals—a mix of humans and wild demons—all gathered around her.
Among them, there were actually three who had reached the Dominator Rank.
One was a solo human knight, and the other two were demon warriors.
“Wow... even the Demon King City sent people.”
Standing in the center of the demon camp was a commander of the Demon Marquis rank.
But what caught Qimeng's attention was the deputy standing beside him, who was clad in a loose black robe.
That guy didn't leak a shred of mana, but under the gaze of All-Things Deconstruction, the space around them was actually distorting!
“Even I can't see through them... They're likely a Calamity Rank monster using some method of mana concealment.”
While the Extraordinary Rank and Dominator Rank represented transcendent beings, the Calamity Rank referred to fierce existences that had touched upon a certain Authority within the laws of the world!
The Demon King City was indeed full of hidden talents.
“But... so what if they're Calamity Rank?”
Qimeng brushed the cookie crumbs off her hands.
When she advanced to the Dominator Rank, she had also evolved Devour All Things into a brand-new skill: 【Devourer's Gluttony Realm】!
This was a new Authority that combined Devour All Things and Life Deprivation.
During battle, as long as an enemy stepped into the Devouring Realm she deployed, their life force and mana would be continuously drained, and their strength would be steadily stripped away and converted into Qimeng's own!
In other words, she would grow stronger as she fought, while her enemies would be constantly weakened until they were at her level or even lower.
Therefore, even if it turned into a death match between Authorities, she wouldn't panic!
Besides, with thousands of treasure hunters fighting for entry, many of them were bound to die.
Every single one of them was perfect nourishment to boost her strength!
Late that night, Qimeng quietly extended her roots to the burial site outside the camp, devouring all the corpses of the Extraordinary Rank combatants who had died during the day.
“No matter how little meat they have, they're still Extraordinary Rank. It won't do to waste food!”
By three in the morning, the mana fluctuations around the Demon Tower suddenly surged violently!
The towering structure solidified, and with a deafening boom, countless purple stone plaques shot out in all directions!
“The entry plaques are out! Grab them!”
The night watchmen who spotted the anomaly shouted in excitement, waking everyone up.
A frantic scramble broke out!
The experts gathered in this wild forest numbered in the tens of thousands, yet there were fewer than two thousand slots to enter the Demon Tower.
Total chaos ensued!
Qimeng lurked behind the crowd, watching the show while quietly manipulating her roots to drag the fallen Extraordinary Rank corpses underground, turning them into experience points.
At the same time, she sent an order to Helena through their mental link.
“Helena, go pay special attention to those Dominator Rank powerhouses! Turn them into fertilizer!”
“As you command, Master.”
Helena stood in the camp of solo fighters, surrounded by three Dominator Rank powerhouses who were currently trying to recruit her.
Without a word, Helena spun around and unleashed a massive strike with her black stone greatsword, which was heavily shrouded in death energy!
“Damn it, is this woman crazy?! She's attacking her allies?!”
One of the demon Dominators paled in shock and hurriedly raised his blade to block.
But as fate would have it, a stone plaque landed right at his feet!
“He got a stone plaque!”
“Kill him!”
The surrounding treasure hunters grew bloodshot with greed, swarming him like a pack of wolves.
Faced with the collective onslaught and Helena's relentless pursuit, the demon grit his teeth and flung the stone plaque far away.
“Take the damn plaque! Get out of my way!”
Normally, once the stone plaque was thrown, the pursuers would naturally turn to grab it, allowing him to escape with his life.
However, Helena didn't play by the rules at all!
She didn't even spare a glance at the flying plaque. Willing to take a heavy blow to her shoulder, she drove her black stone sword straight through his chest!
Pfft!
The Dominator Rank demon's eyes bulged from his sockets. Unable to die in peace, he glared at the black-armored female swordsman and roared with his final breath,
“You... you actually... aren't doing this for the plaque?!”
“Despicable human...”
Amidst the chaotic battlefield, no one noticed a root emerging from the mud, dragging the Dominator Rank corpse underground.
“Wow! A Dominator Rank corpse is so nourishing!”
Nourished by this demon's body, Qimeng's main tree in the neighboring forest trembled, successfully stepping into the Dominator Rank!
With this, both Qimeng and her main body had officially entered the Dominator Rank!
Along with this breakthrough came a new skill.
A brand-new ability for her main body:
【Bud of Life: Rebirth】!
“Wait... as long as they are a vassal engraved with my Tree Lord spirit mark, they will gain a resurrection effect upon death?!”
Qimeng analyzed the skill description briefly, then gasped in shock.
Ordinary vassals would get one chance to resurrect.
As for the Wood Elves, who received the deepest protection from her main body, as long as they didn't die of old age, they could endlessly reconstruct their bodies in the Wood Elf Incubation Pool and resurrect, no matter how many times they died in battle!
“This... doesn't this basically turn the Wood Elves into undead?!”
Qimeng took a deep breath, utterly stunned by this effect.
Although it didn't directly boost her personal combat strength at the moment, this was an incredibly powerful territory skill!
“Once I get out of the Demon Tower, I can just deploy the Wood Elves as an undead legion...”
Qimeng suppressed her excitement and continued searching for her next high-value fertilizer.
Elsewhere, Helena had set her sights on a human.
A Dominator Rank Flame Knight.
Clutching a stone plaque, the knight specialized in a tyrannical fire-attribute magic, and towering flames erupted around him.
“I saw how you killed that demon earlier! You crazy bitch, you aren't doing this to grab a plaque at all!”
The knight roared in fury. Knowing that she wouldn't let him go even if he threw away the plaque, he decided to fight back!
Boom!
Flames and death energy clashed violently!
Flames engulfed one of Helena's arms, but she felt no pain.
Her black greatsword tore through his armor, leaving a deep, bone-deep gash across his chest!
Rate on N.U.
