It just so happens that no grass grows around Briar; such a large area shouldn't be wasted.
Briar wasn't too happy, but it didn't dare say so.
This thing clearly absorbs malevolent energy; it'll definitely steal its nutrients. Oh well, they can't compete with it anyway.
In the blink of an eye, they reached the cave path again, one side of which was a sheer cliff. Looking down, it was pitch black, an unfathomable abyss.
That blackness possessed a magical power that could devour everything. Just one glance, and Lauren felt as if her soul was almost sucked in.
“Be careful, don't fall. The death energy down there is very heavy.”
“Heavy death energy?”
“Yes, those who died unjustly, unwilling to enter the cycle of reincarnation, often wander the world as special spirits. The will of heaven created this place to house these spirits, to prevent them from disrupting order and harming humanity. This is the final resting place for all vengeful spirits.”
Just hearing it was terrifying. Lauren quickly steadied herself and swallowed a Pure Heart Pill.
She tried to walk as close to the wall as possible, keeping her distance from the cliff.
“Hey—don’t move yet,” Edmund suddenly said.
His perception far surpassed Lauren’s and Briar’s. Even reduced to a soul, he sensed things they couldn’t.
“What now?” Lauren froze in place, not daring to take another step.
“Be careful. The plants here aren’t like the ones from earlier.”
“How are they different?”
“Their aura.”
Lauren: “…” That was not helpful. “Can Briar tell?”
Briar crouched and observed for a moment. “They’re older.”
Lauren looked closer. The roots were indeed thicker, gnarled, and twisted like veins beneath the soil.
“Stay away from them,” Edmund warned.
Lauren took a steady breath and tried to navigate around the ancient stumps.
The problem was—the path was already narrow. On one side loomed the cliff filled with vengeful spirits. On the other, these strange old plants blocked her way.
Between suspicious plants and a bottomless abyss of death energy…
Yeah. The abyss felt worse.
As the trail constricted further, her shoulder accidentally brushed against an old, faintly glowing green plant. It flared instantly.
What had seemed like a delicate blossom snapped open into a massive, tooth-lined maw and lunged at her without warning.
“Shit!” Lauren sprang backward and rolled more than ten feet down the path. She avoided the bite—but not the retaliation.
A mouthful of thick, green spit splattered across her face.
Sticky. Cold. Disgusting.
“Edmund! It just spat in my face. Check this crap!”
“It’s fine,” Edmund replied calmly. “The energy is just excessively gloomy. Take a few boosting pills later.”
Lauren dragged Briar out of her space. “Come with me.”
Briar blinked. “Huh?”
She shot it an irritated look. “Aren’t you supposed to be some divine-realm man-eating flower? And you’re scared of these little bastards? You all hide in my spatial dimension while I risk my damn life out here alone?”
Briar’s leaves flushed faintly red in embarrassment. “Then… I’ll go with you.”
“Good. I’ll move first. You cover behind me.”
“Okay.”
The deeper they went, the worse it became.
The older plants had initially remained still, as long as she didn’t touch them. But now, sensing her presence, they began to react.
One by one, their oversized blossoms slowly turned toward her. Leaves rustled. Stems coiled.
Some split open, revealing long, curved fangs, snapping at her outright.
Lauren drew her sword.
A massive crimson flower lunged at her, petals stretching wide enough to swallow her whole.
She slashed.
The blade cut clean through the stem. The glowing red flower tumbled off the cliff’s edge into the darkness below.
A heartbeat later—
A piercing scream echoed from the abyss.
Lauren’s scalp prickled. She couldn’t tell whether it was the flower shrieking as it died… or a vengeful spirit below that had just been crushed.
She decided not to think about it. One after another, she cut down anything that blocked her path.
Thankfully, these monsters were rooted in place. Unlike Briar, they couldn’t chase her.
But the road was too narrow, and they grew right in her way. Every time a flower fell into the darkness, another scream rose from below.
She stopped trying to figure out who was screaming. Briar’s true form was a vine, and its fighting style was very different.
Its tendrils lashed forward with eerie precision, wrapping around a carnivorous plant, tightening until the creature shriveled and blackened. Once it was dead, Briar casually flung it over the cliff.
Watching how efficiently it handled them, Lauren stopped wasting energy and let Briar take the lead. Much easier.
“Edmund,” she asked, “how much farther?”
“Soon.”
Two hours later, the path still stretched endlessly ahead.
Lauren’s expression darkened. “Didn’t you say ‘soon’? It’s been two fucking hours. Where’s the end?”
“Soon.”
Lauren: “…” If I hadn’t asked you two hours ago, I might’ve believed that bullshit.
“At our speed, is that one more hour? Two?”
A pause. Then Edmund said calmly, “This road has no end.”
Lauren stopped walking. “…What?”
A cold wave washed over her. “Speak like a normal person.”
“I am speaking like a normal person,” Edmund replied. “Otherwise, I’d be screaming.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?”
What kind of nonsense is this? She looked at Briar. “Even Briar’s tired of killing. Stop playing riddles. What’s going on?”
Edmund was silent for a moment before answering. “That thing… is down there.”
Down there? Lauren’s gaze shifted slowly toward the abyss. “You mean the pit filled with vengeful spirits?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened. “The Boundary Breaking Stone? How could it possibly be in a place like that?”
“What do you think the Boundary Breaking Stone is?” Edmund asked quietly.
“What is it, then?”
“It’s the foundation stone of the Cultivation Boundary Marker.”
“…What?” Her heart began to pound. “The Cultivation Boundary Marker?”
A strange excitement rose in her chest, sharp and dangerous. Her pulse quickened despite herself.
“Don’t overthink it,” Edmund said flatly. “No one can take the Cultivation Boundary Marker.”
Lauren forced a smile. “I wasn’t thinking that.”
“You were.”
“…Shut up.”
“This world is already overflowing with life,” Edmund said evenly. “Its boundary marker cannot be taken by anyone. To move it, you would need the power of faith—the faith of all sentient beings in this world.”
He continued, “Take humanity as an example. Humans alone are divided into countless factions. In a world that complicated, no one can gather the faith of every living being.”
Lauren waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t care about that. I don’t want the boundary marker.”
Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst through her ribs. Her eyes were practically glowing.
Edmund snorted. “You do.”
“I don’t.”
He ignored her denial. “Do you know why all the vengeful spirits are gathered around it?”
“Why?”
“The boundary marker carries a purifying force. It cleanses them—slowly.”
“Oh.” Lauren nodded.
A beat passed.
“What you’re about to do,” Edmund added calmly, “is purify them.”
Lauren’s face went white. “Purify them? Are you insane? That requires massive merit—or a Buddhist cultivator. They memorize liberation mantras for this kind of thing.”
“Mm. Correct.”
“I barely have any merit, and I’m definitely not a Buddhist cultivator. If I screw this up, I’ll get backlash and end up down here with them!”
“You’re right.”
Lauren: “…”
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