Chapter 198: Anan’s Power Is Overdrawn and Needs Replenishing
"Divine Lady, if you wanted to visit our nest, why go through all this trouble?"
The Tiger Beastman grinned, revealing a cavernous maw. His fangs glinted coldly in the dim light.
"Come with us quietly, and if our leader is pleased..."
He deliberately drew out his words, a greedy, twisted light flashing in his eyes. "He might even keep you as a pet."
A cold smirk touched Su An’an’s lips as the Spiritual Power Chain coiling around her fingertips suddenly tightened. "With just you?"
"Hmph!"
The Tiger Beastman’s muscles bulged as he ground out through clenched teeth:
"Our five hundred Divine Army soldiers are all S-Level Beastmen at the very least! Crushing you would be as easy as squashing an ant..."
His words stopped short.
A perfect arc of blood cut through the air, and the Tiger Beastman’s right arm fell to the ground.
Seville shook the blood from his Wings, his amber eyes colder than a blade’s edge. "Noisy."
The Tiger Beastman clutched the stump of his arm, his face twisted as he roared:
"You Swan Clan filth! Don’t think you’re so great just because you have some Holy Abilities. You won’t survive this acid rain season."
"Heh!"
A mocking smile played on Seville’s lips as his black Feather Blades twitched.
Another glint of cold light, and the Tiger Beastman’s head rolled to the ground, his savage face frozen in a roar.
She stomped on a Jackal Wolf Beastman who was trying to flee, the Spiritual Power Chain tightening until the creature’s eyes bulged from their sockets.
"Three seconds. Give me the coordinates."
"Poison Mist Valley! At the bottom of Poison Mist Valley!"
The Jackal Wolf Beastman shrieked, completely broken:
"The leader is cultivating a King Blood Mutant Beast! He had us contaminate all the hunting grounds. Once the acid rain season is over, he’s going to have the King Blood Beast devour all the native Beastmen!"
"A King Blood Beast?!"
Su An’an’s pupils contracted sharply.
The events of the night the Empire fell flashed through her mind like lightning.
The Rebel Army’s monstrous warriors, impervious to blades and spears.
Their crimson beast eyes could burn through steel, and their claws tore through city walls as if they were paper.
It was all the result of a Divine Medicine refined from a King Blood Beast.
"You animals!" Old Wolf’s hackles rose, his claws slashing five bloody gashes across the Jackal Wolf Beastman’s face.
"You’ve ruined the hunting grounds our ancestors protected for generations!"
Manda’s Stone Axe slammed into the ground, sending shattered rock flying.
"You raise monsters on the flesh and blood of Beastmen and dare to call yourselves the Divine Army?!"
"Divine Lady, I was wrong!"
The Jackal Wolf Beastman suddenly threw himself to the ground, his festering claws flailing wildly in the air.
"I was forced into it too! They poured Divine Medicine down our throats and made me look like this monster! I hate them!"
He squeezed two tears from his murky eyes.
"If you can save me, I’m willing to lead you right to the Divine Army’s main nest!"
Su An’an saw the greed that flashed in the depths of the Jackal Wolf Beastman’s eyes and, with a cold smile, twitched her finger.
"Fake tears. More disgusting than a Mutant Beast!"
The Spiritual Power Chain violently crushed his throat.
Disbelief was still frozen in the Jackal Wolf Beastman’s bulging eyes as his corpse slammed heavily onto the ground, raising a spray of blood mist.
The entire area fell into a dead silence.
Jin Zhu’s gaze was fiery as she watched Su An’an’s indifferent expression.
’I never would have thought this seemingly delicate Divine Female had a killing intent colder and harder than a Beast Bone Knife hidden in her core.’
"We have to stop the Divine Army from cultivating that King Blood Beast, or we’re all going to die!"
Su An’an turned, her torch-like gaze sweeping over the assembled beastmen.
"But in three days, the acid rain will flood the entire wasteland. We won’t even be able to leave our caves."
Old Wolf’s gaze swept over the battle-scarred warriors, the weak females, and the huddling cubs in the camp, his eyes filled with despair.
"Five hundred Divine Army soldiers, all S-Level at minimum. What do we have to fight them with?"
Manda’s ears drooped in frustration, his lion’s tail slapping limply against the ground.
"The Gang Vine! Bring it out!"
Su An’an spoke suddenly, her voice as cool and clear as a spring.
Manda and Old Wolf exchanged a look and carried a large bamboo basket out from the tribe’s forbidden area.
Inside was a black vine as thick as a young child’s arm. Its fibers could perfectly insulate against the acid rain.
Unfortunately, it grew extremely slowly. A year of cultivation would yield enough to weave ten hats at most.
"Qiuqiu, come here."
Su An’an knelt and gathered the round, fluffy cub into her arms.
She gently pressed her forehead against Qiuqiu’s, rubbing her nose against his soft little cheek.
"Can you lend your Genetic Reorganization talent to Auntie?"
"Okay!"
Qiuqiu replied in his high, childish voice.
Two jet-black scales with a pearlescent sheen immediately appeared on his forehead.
"Thank you, sweetie!"
Su An’an gently peeled off the scales and planted a kiss on Qiuqiu’s milk-scented cheek.
The moment the scales touched her forehead, they merged perfectly with her pink fox ears, emitting a rosy glow.
Seville silently took Qiuqiu, his large hand supporting the cub’s back steadily.
Su An’an took a deep breath. The instant her fingertips touched the rough surface of the Gang Vine...
BOOM!
A river of pink-gold light poured out like a galaxy. The once-coiled vine began to tremble violently, its branches growing at a frenzied, visible rate.
In just a few moments, a massive tree that blotted out the sky shot up from the ground.
Its black, scale-like leaves chimed in the air with the clear sound of colliding metal.
And yet, they felt as soft as velvet as they brushed against Su An’an’s palm.
"This... this is a miracle!"
Old Wolf dropped to his knees with a thud, tears welling up in his cloudy eyes.
Jin Zhu, Manda, and the other Beastmen all prostrated themselves, bowing repeatedly to the Gang Vine.
Who would have thought that the Gang Vine they had protected for generations would bloom with power beyond imagination in Su An’an’s hands?
Su An’an plucked a leaf and rubbed it between her fingers. "The acid rain can’t corrode this."
She suddenly raised her voice. "Jin Zhu!"
"Here!"
Jin Zhu rose and came before Su An’an, her usually calm expression unable to hide a trace of excitement.
"You’ll be in charge of weaving armor for every warrior."
Su An’an handed the black leaf to Jin Zhu, then turned to Old Wolf and Manda.
"You two, listen up."
"Yes, ma’am!"
The two Beastmen instinctively straightened their backs.
"Go tell the other tribes: either we live together, or we die together."
A burst of pink light exploded in Su An’an’s palm, illuminating the entire camp.
"Between the Divine Army and us, only one can survive."
"Yes, ma’am!"
Old Wolf and Manda balled their right fists and pounded them against their chests.
Suddenly, Su An’an swayed, her slender, pale fingers unconsciously grabbing the Gang Vine beside her.
The constant battles and the overdraft of her Divine Power had left her face nearly translucent.
Cold sweat slid down her delicate collarbones and into her clothes, and the Divine Pattern on her lower back burned with a searing pain.
Seville’s black-and-white Wings flared open, and he swept her up into his arms before the assembled beastmen could even cry out in alarm.
He looked down, his gaze fixed on the girl in his arms biting her lower lip. A turbulent undercurrent swirled in his amber eyes.
"The price of showing off, hm?"
"These are medicinal herbs that can restore stamina! Quick, give them to Anan!"
Manda anxiously pulled a handful of red herbs from his beast-hide pouch.
Jin Zhu, Old Wolf, Xiong Guo, and the other Beastmen also gathered around anxiously.
"That won’t be necessary. Move!"
Seville cut them off coldly. With a flap of his Wings, he swept past the crowd and into a hut.
The heavy beast-hide flap fell shut behind him, cutting off all the noise from outside.
The beast-hide bed creaked softly.
Seville gently laid Su An’an on the bed. The proud, snow-pine scent unique to a Holy Priest enveloped her.
