This man’s sense of oppression was suffocating!
Lan Lingdu curled her body into a ball, feeling weak. The brief skirmish just now had drained every last bit of energy she had managed to muster.
Lu Yuanxiu had never imagined that while trying to stabilize himself at a hotel because his Bestialization Index was skyrocketing, he would fall victim to a scheme. The Heaven Grass being burned in the air was constantly irritating him, and the female within his reach was a persistent challenge to his nerves.
Lan Lingdu did not answer him; instead, she looked toward a potted green plant behind him.
Seeing the female ignore him, the veins on Lu Yuanxiu's forehead began to throb. A heavy murderous intent flashed in his eyes as his last shred of patience vanished.
"Hiss—"
Just as Lu Yuanxiu prepared to kill the female, he heard a faint whistling sound behind him. Before he could even shift into a defensive stance, he was completely engulfed by barbed vines.
The drug-addled Lu Yuanxiu let out a cold laugh, not even bothering to acknowledge the barbs on the vines that were piercing his skin. Did this mere Mutated Plant think it could ambush him?
With that thought, the muscles in his body surged, and he prepared to shatter the vines binding him.
However, in the next second, his face turned deathly pale. His body stopped obeying him. "These vines… they’re poisonous…"
Feeling the vines tightening around him more and more, Lu Yuanxiu slipped into darkness, consumed by deep resentment and fury. Who could tell him how a poisonous Mutated Plant had appeared in this hotel?
The unknown plant, possessing extraordinary resilience, continued to coil around him, wrapping him tighter and tighter like a mummy.
Outside the reach of Lu Yuanxiu's vision, Lan Lingdu was gasping for air, her face deathly pale. Because her mental capacity was overloaded, her head was buzzing, and her vision was starting to blur.
Yet, she did not allow herself to stop, knowing full well the power of the man before her. He was a snake, and he might transform at any moment. Once he shifted, his serpentine form would likely be massive, and these vines would be nothing more than decorations to him.
Thinking back to the raw power the man had displayed just moments ago, Lan Lingdu shivered. With reckless abandon, she pushed the All Things Flourish ability to its absolute limit!
Then, she used Wood Spirit on the man, watching her interface with agonizing focus, not wanting to miss a single detail.
Soon, a flurry of system notifications began popping up.
[Purification Value +1...]
[Purification Value +1...]
[Purification Value +1...]
Oh? So Wood Spirit was a purification skill? The values were a bit pathetic, but the sheer speed at which they were scrolling made up for it.
Lan Lingdu licked her dry lips. After knocking out this unknown Orc with the skills on her interface, she had tasted the rewards of success.
Once she had obtained the interface, Lan Lingdu had acted decisively, using All Things Flourish on the plant behind Lu Yuanxiu. To her surprise, the plant had indeed responded to her command.
While she was at it, she had boldly manipulated the plant to ambush Lu Yuanxiu. To think this Orc, who looked so imposing and intimidating, was actually so frail—he had collapsed at the first sign of trouble.
She attempted to extend a sensory tentacle of her spiritual energy to check his Bestialization Index. In the next second, her expression shifted, and her vision went black.
Through the spiritual tentacle, Lan Lingdu "saw" a gargantuan black serpent coiled within the man's spiritual sea. Compared to it, she felt like a mere ant facing a dragon.
Clutching her throbbing head, Lan Lingdu retracted her spiritual tentacle. She realized that with her current strength, even if this guy didn't resist and just lay there for her to purify, it would take at least two or three months to cleanse that black serpent.
Remaining here forever was impossible.
Lan Lingdu struggled to stand up, walked carefully to the man, and gave him a hard kick. No response.
She glanced at the "Purification Value +1" notifications still flashing on her interface. A boss who acted like a corpse while providing a constant stream of Purification Value—it was incredibly tempting.
She hesitated. Should she stay and grind for a bit more? She glanced at the Orc, who appeared to be in a deep sleep but looked like he could wake up at any moment.
Soon, a touch of madness flashed in Lan Lingdu's eyes.
All in!
If she risked it, a bicycle might turn into a motorcycle. If she failed, the worst that could happen was she'd just close her eyes again; she had gained this life for free anyway! It wasn't a loss!
Having made this wild decision, Lan Lingdu sat back down beside the stranger, doing her absolute best to maintain the growth of the plant.
Lan Lingdu tensed up, holding on beside Lu Yuanxiu for about ten minutes, until her spiritual energy was completely exhausted. Only when the vines wrapped around the man began to wither did she stop.
During this time, she had studied the plant. It was likely just a common ornamental houseplant from the hotel; without soil, it would wither quickly once her All Things Flourish support was gone.
Lan Lingdu checked the Purification Value on her interface and dumped it all into Wood Spirit.
[You have infused 3,888 points of Purification Value. You suddenly feel a chill at the soles of your feet as you break through a mysterious barrier. Wood Spirit has reached Level 2.]
Lan Lingdu: "..."
She definitely felt a chill at the soles of her feet, but that was because she was standing on an ice cube. It would be a miracle if she didn't feel cold.
With the skill upgraded, she felt a hint of her exhausted spiritual energy returning. Lan Lingdu cast All Things Flourish on the wilting plant covering the man again.
"Purification Value +2."
Lan Lingdu’s eyes lit up! She immediately locked her spiritual energy onto the plant, allowing the Purification Value to climb steadily.
She then quickly walked into the bathroom and cleaned the Heaven Grass residue off her body as fast as she could.
After emerging from the bathroom, Lan Lingdu walked to the window and looked down—not bad, only seventeen floors. Various escape plans flashed through her mind.
She walked back to the man, brazenly stripped the Space Ring from his person, and smeared some of the blood from his shoulder onto the device, forcibly overriding its security via genetic recognition.
She then dragged out a small shuttlecraft from within. By the time she finished, the bit of spiritual energy she had recovered from the skill upgrade was completely spent.
Enduring the discomfort of extreme mental exhaustion, Lan Lingdu crawled into the shuttlecraft and activated the autopilot mode. The craft left the Junlin Grand Hotel in total silence.
After Lan Lingdu left, the plant—deprived of her ability's support—withered rapidly.
Ten minutes later, the man on the floor opened his eyes.
Lu Yuanxiu sat up instantly and immediately unleashed his powerful spiritual energy to scan the area. As expected, he found no one. He looked at the wound on his shoulder and discovered that his Space Ring was missing as well. His dark eyes flickered with intense murderous intent and rage.
Despite this, he calmly opened his Light Computer and began to methodically issue a series of orders.
That female who dared to scheme against him was dead.
*
Having fleeced an Orc and robbed him of his Space Ring, Lan Lingdu was already seated on a transport ship, ascending into space.
In her rush to escape, she hadn't bothered to pick a destination; she had simply bought the fastest ticket off Planet M.
Lan Lingdu was just about to check the ship's destination when a distinct notification sound from her Light Computer caught her attention.
"Ding! Honorable female, the Federation Government has mandatorily matched you with a Beast Husband. Please report to the Civil Affairs Bureau within the specified time to register your marriage.
"Given that this is your second Beast Husband, the fine for refusing a mandatory match will be doubled. Those who commit serious violations will be sentenced to prison. Please strictly adhere to the Interstellar Orc Regulations."