Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 111 Whispering Woods

Unlike the desolation of other parts of the wilderness, the land here has an unhealthy, mottled, dark green hue.

The air was filled with a faint, cloying, and slightly decaying floral fragrance that made one feel slightly dizzy.

Looking around, the ground was covered with many strange and unfamiliar magical plants: there were enormous flowers with human face patterns that opened and closed continuously; there were vines that writhed like blood vessels and secreted viscous sap; there were bushes covered with sharp thorns and bearing jet-black fruit that emitted an alluring fragrance —

The life energy here is unusually active, even frenzied.

But what Kate felt was not prosperity, but a chaotic, distorted, and seemingly forced, abnormal prosperity.

"There's definitely something strange about this." Kate's eyes narrowed slightly, and the Heart of Reincarnation activated on its own, spreading out an invisible domain force field that repelled the unusual floral fragrances and chaotic life energies that tried to invade his body.

As required by the mission, he first began basic exploration: recording the landforms, collecting soil, water and air samples, and drawing a sketch of plant distribution.

The analytical force field of the Seed of Origin was activated throughout, and a stream of cold data continuously poured into consciousness:

[Soil sample: Rich in organic matter, but with abnormal composition; high concentrations of unknown active spores, faint traces of necromantic aura, and some kind of mutation factor that promotes rampant cell division were detected.]

[Water sample (taken from a small swamp): Pale green in color, containing trace amounts of life energy, but also containing neurotoxins and hallucinogenic components.]

[Air sample: Pollen concentration exceeded the standard; some pollen carries psychoactive properties.]

[Plant Sample A (Human-faced Flower): Possesses weak predatory instincts, releases a deceptive fragrance, and has digestive juices in the center of its flowers. Suspected to be a mutation of the carnivorous flower, exhibiting increased aggression but no apparent intelligence.]

[Plant Sample B (Vessel Vine): Extremely aggressive; its sap can corrode energy shields and it attempts to parasitize life forms. Suspected to be a mutation of a vampire vine fused with some kind of undead fungus.]

[Energy Environment: Life Energy Activity (150%), Purity (35%), Stability (Extremely Low).]

An unknown source of high-energy life activity exists (suspected core pollution source).

"It's like some kind of powerful life energy source leaked out, causing an unpredictable fusion and mutation with the death energy of the undead and the local magical plants—" Kate wrote as she ventured deeper into the woods.

The deeper you go, the denser and more bizarre the vegetation becomes.

Huge, twisted trees covered in glowing moss blocked out the sun, and the thick fungal carpet on the ground was soft and squishy underfoot, oozing a viscous liquid.

The cloying, decaying floral scent in the air grew even stronger, and it even began to try to coalesce into invisible tentacles to wrap around Kate, but it was easily dispersed by the domain of the Heart of Reincarnation.

Hiss—!

Suddenly, a huge clump of ferns on the left, covered with eyeball-shaped spots, trembled violently, and several vines that looked like black lightning bolts shot out, with sharp needles dripping purple venom at the tips!

Kate didn't even turn around; her thoughts were only slightly stirred.

Puff puff!

The ground behind him instantly cracked open, and several thorny iron vines covered with dark gold scales and with sharp, knife-like edges burst forth from the soil. They precisely wrapped around the attacking vines, easily tearing and crushing them, with foul-smelling blackish-purple sap spurting from the broken ends.

The attacker—the clump of eye ferns—convulsed violently, emitting a sharp shriek like a baby crying, before quickly withering and rotting.

"Highly aggressive, but defensively weak." Kate calmly recorded another piece of data, her steps never faltering.

After continuing for about a kilometer, he came to a relatively open clearing in the woods.

The sight of the open space made his pupils shrink slightly.

In the center of the open space was a huge crater, more than ten meters in diameter, with the soil around the edge of the crater charred black, as if it had been burned intensely.

The pit emitted a rich, chilling emerald green light!

The source of the light was a pool of viscous green liquid at the bottom of the pit that was constantly writhing and churning, like a living thing!

It seemed to breathe as if it were alive, each "breath" emanating a powerful yet chaotic wave of life energy, along with a thick, nauseating stench of decay.

Around the pit, a ring of extremely large, bewitchingly colored demonic flowers grew. Their petals were like gaping maws, constantly sucking up the green light spots drifting out of the pit, while their stamens continuously spewed out pollen that carried mental interference!

The roots of these flowers penetrated deep into the edge of the pit, seemingly forming a symbiotic relationship with the green liquid.

[High-energy life source detected: a mixture suspected to be highly concentrated life essence (origin unknown) with necromantic corruption energy and mutated fungi. Energy level: Peak of the first ring. Characteristics: Highly active, highly polluting, mentally disruptive, catalytic mutation.]

[Surrounding Demonic Plant: Rotten Saliva Giant Mouth Flower (Level 1, Beginner), mutated by a pollution source, possessing aggressive and mental pollution abilities.]

"This is the core." Kate's eyes were serious.

This pool of green liquid contains an enormous amount of life energy. If it can be purified, it will be of great value. However, it is also extremely polluting, and if it spreads, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Just then, as if sensing the approach of Kate, the outsider, the pool of green liquid suddenly boiled violently!

Gudu Gudu!

It was like boiling asphalt, bubbling up a lot of bubbles. Each bubble burst and released a thick, emerald-green mist that quickly spread out.

At the same time, the surrounding ring of giant, rotting, mouth-filled flowers seemed to receive a command, and all their "mouths" turned towards Kate, their stamens trembling violently!

Buzz—! ! !

A terrifying mental shockwave, visible to the naked eye and mixed with emerald green light spots and pink pollen, swept towards Kate like a tsunami!

Wherever it passed, the air distorted, and the fungal carpet on the ground withered instantly and then grew wildly, presenting an extremely chaotic state!

This shockwave was not merely a mental attack; it also contained a powerful force of life-corrosion and forced mutation!

Kate's expression remained unchanged, but a flash of silver-blue light appeared in her eyes.

"The Realm of the Heart of Reincarnation - Unveiled!"

hum!

Centered on him, an invisible force field with a radius of five meters instantly expanded. Inside the force field, space slightly distorted, and the rules of life and death began to flow according to Kate's will.

The moment that violent mental shockwave crashed into the force field, it felt as if it had sunk into a quagmire.

The emerald green light spots and pink pollen were rapidly neutralized and absorbed by the life energy flowing in the force field, transforming into the most primal nutrients; while the spiritual corruption and mutation forces contained within were forcibly annihilated and decomposed by Kate's power of death rules!

The shockwave failed to budge Kate in the slightest, not even causing his clothes to flutter.

But the attack did not stop. The pool of green liquid seemed to be enraged, suddenly bulging and coalescing into a huge tentacle made entirely of viscous green liquid, which slammed down on Kate with the force of a thunderbolt!

Countless distorted, painful human faces appeared on the surface of the tentacles, emitting silent wails that assaulted the soul.

At the same time, the surrounding spitting out of thick, highly corrosive acid and more spiritual pollen.

Kate snorted coldly and stopped holding back.

"Life is absorbed and purified!"

He raised his right hand, aiming at the incoming green tentacle. The Heart of Reincarnation spun violently, unleashing a powerful, targeted suction force!

The tentacles, composed of polluted life energy, seemed to have met their nemesis the moment they came into contact with this suction force. The chaotic energy that constituted its form was forcibly stripped away and drawn in, flowing into Kate's palm like rivers flowing into the sea. Through the transformation of the Heart of Reincarnation, the decay and mutated impurities within were stripped away and stored as pure life essence.

The enormous tentacles shrank and collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The acid and pollen are also rapidly decomposed and transformed after entering the realm of reincarnation.

Kate made a grabbing motion in the air with her left hand.

"Resist Death, Wither!"

An invisible gray wave, carrying the meaning of the end of all things, spread out from his left hand, sweeping over the surrounding rotting, giant-mouthed flowers.

Those flamboyant flowers trembled violently in an instant, their petals withering, turning black, and falling off at an alarming speed, as if they had completed their life journey of hundreds of years in a single moment, turning to ashes along with their roots that were deeply embedded in the ground!

In just a few breaths, all the attacks were thwarted. The pool of green liquid seemed to have consumed too much energy, becoming quite weak, its light dimmed, and its movement slowed down.

Kate walked to the edge of the pit and looked down at the pool of liquid. The Seed of Origin was fully activated.

[Analysis complete: Target is a mixed contaminant. Core components: Pure Life Essence (75%), Undead Corruption Energy (15%), Mutated Fungal Spores (7%), Chaotic Mental Fragments (3%).]

[Separable and purified. Solution: Construct a miniature purification field within the Heart of Reincarnation domain to guide life to absorb and resist death runes, peeling away impurities layer by layer to extract the core life essence.]

"It was an unexpected bonus," Kate said, her eyes sparkling.

The core life essence of this liquid is extremely vast and pure, far exceeding the reward for the mission itself.

Without further hesitation, he formed a hand seal, and the domain of the Heart of Samsara contracted, concentrating to envelop the entire pit.

A miniature, complex magic circle composed of silver-blue, emerald green, and gray light appeared at the bottom of the pit and slowly rotated.

Under the influence of the magic array, the pool of green liquid began to churn and separate into layers.

The black, deathly aura was drawn away and annihilated by the dim light; the colorful fungal spores were enveloped and purified by the emerald life energy; the distorted fragments of spirit were dispersed and driven away by the silver-blue spatial fluctuations.

In the end, only a viscous liquid about the size of a washbasin remained at the bottom of the pit, radiating a soft and pure emerald light, like a liquid gemstone—the purified essence of life!

[Obtained: High-purity life essence, remaining quantity: approximately 50 standard units. Extremely valuable.]

Kate took out a specially made sealed crystal bottle and carefully collected all the life essence. This essence was enough for him to nourish and grow the fragments of the Root of Immortality a little longer, or to be used to concoct a large number of top-grade potions.

He then carefully collected residual samples of the decaying giant mouthflower and soil samples from the edge of the pit.

Only after doing all this did he begin to draw a detailed map, marking the location of the crater and the level of residual energy.

The exploration mission was successfully completed, with results far exceeding expectations.

When Kate reappeared in the Evergreen Fortress's teleportation hall, he immediately handed over the mission sample and report.

The person in charge of the inspection was a serious old phytographer. He carefully examined the samples and maps that Kate had brought back, and was particularly struck by the immense and pure energy emanating from the purified life essence sample, his face showing an expression of disbelief and shock.

"You—you actually solved the source of pollution in Whispering Woods?! And you even purified and refined it?!" The old planter's voice trembled slightly. "That mission had been pending for over half a year. Three teams went before, but all returned empty-handed, some even suffering from mental pollution! You not only completed the exploration, but also—"

Kate nodded calmly: "We successfully located the core of the mutation and attempted to purify it. The source of pollution has been removed, but the forest ecosystem will need time to recover."

"Excellent! This is a miracle!" the old plant arborist exclaimed excitedly. "Lady Kate, your mission evaluation will be perfect! The reward will be paid immediately, and I will apply for an additional bonus! You have removed a major threat to the barrier!"

Soon, Kate's wizard identity card received a notification:

[Completed the "Whispering Woodland Exploration" quest. Rating: Perfect]

[Quest Rewards: 800 Contribution Points, 1500 Magic Stones]

[Bonus Rewards: 500 Contribution Points, Special Exchange Access to Evergreen Barrier (can be exchanged for some rare magical plant seeds/samples)]

Kate then took out the moon dew she had collected during her trip to Emerald Pool and gave it to the old plant maker to use for completing the task.

This task was originally supposed to be a low-risk errand, but the journey was a bit troublesome. Even a level 4 wizard apprentice could accept it, but it would take a level 4 wizard apprentice 10 days to complete the collection of ten Moon Dews.

Kate picked up the task since it was on her way, and with the precise analysis of the Seed of Origin as required by the mission, it only took Kate an hour to complete the collection mission.

Seeing that Kate wasn't interested in chatting much, the old plant maker quickly settled the account for her. Seeing the time it took to accept the task, the old plant maker became even more respectful.

[Reward for completing the task: 100 Contribution Points]

Kate looked at the notification and felt a pang of emotion. The contribution points that a level 4 wizard apprentice needed to spend 10 days to earn were easily obtained by him once he became a full-fledged wizard. That was the charm of growth.

With a bountiful reward, Kate left the mission hall.

The completion of the two missions not only brought him resources and contribution points, but also deepened his understanding of the rules of life. The meticulous treatment of the Heart Lily made him realize the importance of ultimate purity and resonance; the purification of the Whispering Woods allowed him to practice the synergy and transformation of the rules of life and death in dealing with complex situations.

These practical experiences yielded far greater benefits than mere meditation. He could sense that his mind of reincarnation had become more harmonious and fluid, and his control over energy had become increasingly refined and subtle.

Back in the treehouse, Kate didn't rest. Instead, she carefully stored away the newly acquired Star Fruit and high-purity life essence, then immersed herself in deep meditation once more, digesting the insights gained from this trip and gradually planning and perfecting her own cycle of reincarnation.