Chapter 13: Five Elements Great Escape, Lotus Root Clone

A long, black-green mucus-covered tongue swept towards him like a sharp sword.

Shred!

The sound of tearing fabric pierced the air.

Qin Shu formed his fingers into a blade, channeling metallic sword qi that materialized as a wind-driven edge, slicing diagonally to the rear-right. The force cleaved the tongue in two with precision.

“Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit! …”

The chorus of frog calls filled the air.

As dozens of Five Poison Horned Frogs, each as large as millstones, emerged from the swamp, Qin Shu let out a laugh. “Quite the welcoming party, aren’t we?”

These creatures were first-rank communal beasts: the Five Poison Horned Frogs. With horn-like protrusions on their heads resembling those of dragons, they had fist-sized pus-filled sacs along their backs capable of firing venomous darts. Their tongues also served as formidable weapons.

Qin Shu recognized them at a glance.

In an instant, the frogs’ sacs erupted simultaneously, launching hundreds of venomous darts hurtling directly towards him.

An acrid odor filled the air.

“Rise!”

True essence surged within Qin Shu as he activated Aerokinesis, creating a massive tornado around himself. This whirlwind acted as a barrier, deflecting the incoming volley of poisonous darts.

Within the vortex, a cyan sword lotus blossomed.

Instantaneously, the tornado turned azure before exploding outward.

Above Qin Shu’s head, a three-meter-wide Cyan lotus burst forth with boundless radiance.

The explosion was eerily silent.

The dissipating tornado merged with the Cyan Lotus sword qi, transforming into an endless barrage of sword glares that erupted in all directions.

One by one, Five Poisons Horned Frogs were sent flying as the sword glares effortlessly pierced through them.

Their bodies disintegrated upon impact, quickly decaying until they vanished without a trace.

Dozens of these frogs equaled the power of a single Foundation Establishment monster. With nine more waves like this, Qin Shu would be able to initiate his own teleportation back home.

He rose on his sword, soaring into the air, and looked out over the vast landscape.

Before him stretched an endless swamp, its boundaries blending with the sky.

“Looks like I’ll have to plant it here.”

A Dao seed of Cyan lotus, no larger than an infant’s fist, fell and swiftly took root in the mire, sprouting buds.

Compared to the previous incarnation, after undergoing a transformation, the lotus seed’s husk had grown ten times larger.

As a result, its growth rate was significantly faster than before.

In no time at all, the tip of the shoot broke through the soil.

Beneath the swamp, roots rapidly absorbed energy, forming rhizomes.

This fragment of the Abyss World reacted even more violently than the last one.

Even the void itself began to tremble.

In the distance, unknown monsters approached at speed.

Qin Shu sensed a massive presence lurking beneath the swamp.

“Come out already!”

His hands formed a condensed ball of wind, which he directed towards the creature’s location.

The wind sphere, coalesced from true fortune essence, glowed with a pale azure hue, almost tangible in its density.

With a thunderous boom, it plunged into the swamp, blasting the creature skyward.

“Go!”

The Qingping Sword Pill flew forth, its power amplified by the nourishing true fortune essence.

In an instant, it pierced through the monster’s skull.

Upon closer inspection: “Mud-armored Swamp Dragon.”

A second-rank beast, resembling an alligator with a lizard-like head, its body sheathed in thick keratinized mud plates, stretched eight meters long.

Drawn close to the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed, the Mud-armored Swamp Dragon was absorbed into the Fortune Force field, disintegrating into nutrients for the lotus’s growth.

Having assimilated an entire Mud-armored Swamp Dragon, the lotus seed sprouted, rapidly growing into a sturdy stem.

The stem, as thick as an adult’s arm, continued to thicken and lengthen.

The Fortune Force field expanded, now spanning ten meters.

Within this field, Qin Shu breathed deeply, inhaling the Fortune Force and swiftly converting it into true fortune essence to replenish his own reserves.

The Qingping Sword Pill orbited around the Cyan Lotus stem, its sword energy undiminished.

Beneath the swamp, some rhizomes began to swell, signaling the imminent formation of lotus roots.

These nascent lotus roots emitted a faint white glow, enabling the Cyan Lotus to more rapidly absorb energy from the surrounding marshland.

In an instant, a pool of clear water emerged within a radius of ten meters, rapidly spreading outward.

The lotus stem began to branch into five separate stems.

The lotus leaves unfurled, transforming into five 16-foot-wide Five Elements Lotus Leaves.

Five beams of light flew out from them, merging into Qin Shu’s forehead.

The Five Elements Great Escape allowed control over the powers of nature. When cultivated to perfection, it enabled one to embody the Five Elements, maximizing manipulation of the vital energies in heaven and earth.

When used against enemies, this technique could unleash the full potential of elemental magic.

When used for escape, it was akin to spatial teleportation.

This was a divine ability of great magnitude.

Qin Shu had only just begun his journey with it, achieving a level of mastery similar to that of Fortune Manipulation.

The key difference lay in the fact that while Fortune Manipulation required attachment to the Cyan lotus, the Five Elements Great Escape could be activated independently.

No hand seals were needed; no incantations had to be chanted.

By projecting his divine sense and channeling true essence through his body, he could wave his hand to gather the earth element’s vital energy from the surroundings.

With a casual flick towards the swamp surface, the earth element’s vital energy exploded, solidifying the ground for hundreds of feet ahead.

At that moment, hordes of monsters approached from all directions.

Standing on the firm ground, facing the surging abyssal creatures, Qin Shu ignited his inner fortune true essence in an instant.

The Qingping Sword Pill split into five, mobilizing the vital energies of the Five Elements in heaven and earth, transforming into white, azure, black, scarlet, and yellow lotus flowers.

Cyan Lotus Sword Art - Five Elements Sword Qi.

He had just comprehended its mysteries through the Five Elements Great Escape technique.

“Go!”

Above the Cyan Lotus, five lotus flowers of different colors rapidly spun and bloomed, transforming tiny sword energies into an endless glow.

The multicolored sword qi pierced downward from above, instantly restoring deathly silence over several kilometers of swamp.

Exhausted, utterly drained.

In that moment, Qin Shu released all the true essence within his body, unleashing such tremendous destructive force.

For nearly a hundred meters around the vast lotus pond, the marshland sank one meter deep without warning.

Some monsters’ bodies were exposed to the air, swiftly decaying until they vanished.

Qin Shu sensed the aura of the God Soul Continent, ready for him to teleport back at any moment.

Alas, the Dao Seed of the Cyan Lotus was still undergoing transformation and rebirth, necessitating his temporary stay here.

Deep in the muck at the bottom of the pool, a plump lotus rhizome had ripened, looking pure white and tender.

After absorbing the Fortune Force and recovering to his peak state, Qin Shu focused his thoughts, causing the lotus rhizome to break off a section.

The Fortune Force surged into it, activating the power of destiny.

The lotus rhizome began to change shape, forming into a child-sized figure with features resembling his own.

“Go!”

Qin Shu split off part of his divine sense and attached it to the lotus rhizome duplicate, which opened its eyes.

“You stay here and guard the Cyan Lotus. I’ll go ahead and explore.”

“Yes, my lord!” The lotus root incarnation sat down cross-legged on a jade-green lotus leaf, peering around vigilantly.

Qin Shu rose on his sword and flew forward.

In the blink of an eye, he had soared kilometers away.

Before long, he sensed a powerful presence rapidly approaching him from within the swamp below.

“Stop!”

Without hesitation, Qin Shu mobilized his true essence, condensing earth elemental energy in his palm. With a flick of his finger, the earth elemental energy erupted forth, solidifying the swamp beneath him into firm ground.

Alas, it was but a fleeting advantage. The forceful impact shattered the makeshift platform, as a blood-red maw lunged towards him with irresistible might. An overwhelming power bore down upon his body—the power of devouring, accompanied by a suffocatingly foul stench.

It was a colossal serpent, its exposed body alone stretching for twenty meters across the swamp. Its girth was no less than six feet in diameter, and its gaping maw dripped venomous saliva from two fanged tusks.

Before this behemoth, Qin Shu felt like naught but a tiny insect, struggling desperately against the crushing force of its voracious appetite.

“Rise!”

With a thought, his inner fortune true essence exploded, pushing the Cyan Lotus Sword Art to its absolute limit. He became one with the sword, transforming into a streak of radiant light that barely managed to escape the clutches of the devouring force.

A wave of fear washed over him as he realized what he’d just escaped.

Core Formation stage? I’ve encountered a boss-level opponent.

The Cyan Lotus Sword Pill in its lotus root form sensed it was no match for this adversary. Qin Shu swiftly mobilized his true essence, coalescing the metallic qi from the heavens and earth before him.

A massive white sword materialized in front of him.

“Go!”

He directed the colossal blade towards the giant snake.

“Ao~!” The serpent’s cry resonated like a dragon’s roar, causing the swamp to rupture once more. Its enormous tail swung up and down with devastating force.

“Boom!”

The giant sword shattered, dispersing into fine strands of sword energy that pierced the great snake’s body. Yet, they merely served to polish its scales, proving utterly ineffective against such armor.