"Sense!"
Elder Chou's voice broke through the howling wind and the thunderous rumble of pursuit behind them. There was a faint edge of urgency in her tone. "Its roots are spread across the ground, but a creature controlling a body this massive has to have a core consciousness. When I teleported just now, I faintly sensed something in the southeast, about three hundred zhang out. The wood spirit qi there was unusually dense and stable, completely different from the violent chaos elsewhere."
Xie Zhaolin's heart tightened.
She knew Elder Chou's Primordial Soul was strange. The woman could sense things she couldn't. In this chaotic nightmare, that might be the only clue worth trusting. Better to take the chance than die standing here.
"I'll trust you this once." Her voice was icy, but she abruptly changed direction and shot toward the southeast. "If it's a trap, I'll kill you first."
Elder Chou didn't get angry. Instead, she let out a soft laugh and followed with flickering rainbow light. "Don't worry, Elder Mo. I don't plan on becoming fertilizer for that block of wood."
They didn't waste another word. Both surged forward at full speed, weaving through the deadly root spears ripping out of the ground.
The Jingxiao Ribbon and Elder Chou's rainbow light intertwined. One was fierce and forceful, carving through obstacles head on. The other was strange and agile, slipping through danger with cunning finesse. In the chaos, the two created an unexpectedly smooth battle rhythm.
The root giant roared when its prey changed course and thundered after them.
The earth shattered beneath its steps and ancient trees toppled, yet Elder Chou had been right. Compared to its horrifying strength, its ability to turn or sprint wasn't quite as monstrous.
That gave the two women a sliver of breathing room.
Three hundred zhang was only a blink for a Golden Core cultivator fleeing at full speed, but in this ancient forest that had turned into a netherworld of roots, it felt painfully far.
Xie Zhaolin's divine sense stretched to the limit. She did sense it. A patch of land up ahead had spiritual fluctuations completely different from anywhere else.
Those ancient trees were just as tall, but the roots weren't attacking there. The ground was calm, breathing out an ancient, heavy aura.
"There!" Elder Chou locked onto it too.
But just as they were about to dive in, everything changed.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The ground ahead and on both sides burst open. Three roots even thicker than the main ones erupted skyward, each covered in dark gold markings.
This time, they weren't lashing wildly. They moved with a coordinated formation, sealing off every angle to advance or dodge.
The aura pouring from the dark gold roots far exceeded anything the giant had used before. It had clearly summoned them with intent.
"Careful, this thing won't be easy!" Xie Zhaolin's pupils shrank. The Jingxiao Ribbon tightened around her, forming a shield as azure violet light gathered in a sharp surge.
Elder Chou's expression turned solemn. Her hands formed rapid seals, and the rainbow light around her shaped itself into an enormous lotus bud. It wrapped around her, its petals covered in glowing runes that radiated powerful defense.
In that razor thin instant before the roots closed in, Xie Zhaolin caught something in the corner of her eye.
At the point where the rightmost dark gold root had torn out of the ground, a deep pit remained. The soil around it was strangely pale, and she could feel faint spatial ripples drifting from the hole.
Was that the channel the guardian creature used to burst out earlier? Or a crack leading somewhere underground?
A wild idea flashed through her mind.
Charging the triple root blockade would cost a brutal price. They might even get stalled long enough for the root giant's main body to catch up and crush them.
But that pit might lead underground. Unknown, yes. Deadly, maybe. But also possibly the only escape.
An underground space could restrict the monster's massive body.
She snapped her gaze to Elder Chou, voice cold and decisive. "I've got a method we can try. I need you to buy me three breaths. No matter what it costs, charge for the tunnel it crawled out of."
A spark of shock flickered in Elder Chou's eyes.
Three breaths under this kind of assault was almost suicidal. But when she saw the madness and resolve in Xie Zhaolin's eyes, she understood it was their only chance.
"Fine!" Elder Chou grit her teeth and agreed without hesitation. Right now, their fates were tied together.
Before the words faded, Elder Chou's hands flashed through a seal and she spat a mouthful of essence blood into the air.
"Wanhua Mirror Realm!"
Hum.
Prismatic mirrors bloomed around her, filling every inch of space. They weren't solid. They were illusions fused with powerful spiritual barriers. Each mirrored surface reflected fragments of her and Xie Zhaolin's shadow, scattering their auras until nothing made sense.
When the root giant's force slammed into the mirrored space, it was scattered and weakened layer by layer. The incoming roots hesitated, unable to immediately lock onto the two women.
"Now!" Elder Chou's face had gone pale. Maintaining this technique was draining her fast.
Xie Zhaolin didn't hesitate. As the Wanhua Mirror Realm solidified, she poured all her spiritual power into the Jingxiao Ribbon.
"Jingxiao, become the rainbow!"
The ribbon burst with brilliant purple light. It no longer defended or attacked. It transformed entirely into speed.
Purple light wrapped Xie Zhaolin's body. She didn't dodge or weave, she shot forward like a falling star, straight toward the burrow behind the root giant where it had first erupted from the ground.
A straight line was fastest, but also the most dangerous.
The giant roared. Even with the illusion confusing it, the woman's direct sprint pulled its full attention.
It abandoned the illusions. The largest root swept sideways, aiming to smash the purple streak head on.
Around the burrow, countless roots angled to skewer her.
Elder Chou's heart clenched. She struggled to maintain the mirror realm to interfere with the others, but she couldn't stop that massive sweeping root.
The purple light was about to collide with the devastating sweep.
A flicker of madness flashed through Xie Zhaolin's eyes. Instead of slowing down, she sped up.
Her left hand opened. A tiny bead of condensed black light shot out, so faint it was almost invisible. She didn't aim at the sweeping root itself, but at a subtle node where it joined the ground.
It was the Breaking Barrier Spike she'd kept hidden, made to pierce through any defensive armor.
Chi.
The black light hit the node dead on.
The sweeping root shuddered. Its movement stalled for a tiny instant. Barely noticeable.
But enough.
The purple streak scraped past its edge, missing it by a hair's width. The violent air pressure almost tore Xie Zhaolin's protective light apart.
One second.
She cleared the outer ring of roots.
The root giant howled in rage. It twisted its huge body as every root gave up on Elder Chou and lunged like a tidal wave toward Xie Zhaolin.
Two seconds.
She didn't look back at the deadly storm of roots behind her. Her gaze locked onto the shadowy pit ahead. The Jingxiao Ribbon screeched against the air from sheer speed.
Three seconds.
"Break!"
Xie Zhaolin shouted, channeling every ounce of power into the Jingxiao Ribbon.
The purple light compressed to its limit and shaped itself into a spear of pure destruction. It shot straight into the bottomless tunnel.
Boom.