Free Web NovelChapter 157: Chapter 157
Ding Ning’s territory was completely sealed off, cutting off all outside contact.
As soon as the seal was set, Hua received messages from the other Lords.
Hua’s true form tightly wrapped around Ding Ning’s residence, leaving the modest castle buried beneath intertwined, sprawling roots.
A pale purple mist drifted in the air; wherever it shrouded became Hua’s domain of perception, blocking all prying eyes unless someone’s power far surpassed hers.
At present, judging by the Lords’ abilities in the Evil Spirit Realm, no one possessed such strength.
Ever since Ding Ning left, those slacking Lords started having a rough time.
Purging even a single Dark Forest mother plant was exhausting work.
Losing a person and shirking effort were two entirely different issues.
No matter how little effort they put in, it was still half-assed; each Lord was responsible for a section.
If Ding Ning left, then the area she handled would become a headache for the others.
In the past, no matter how many were missing, nobody cared, because panic was never their problem.
Besides, with the Dark Forest choking off the passages, they didn’t see themselves suffering any losses—it was just a waste of time at most.
Most crucially, this Dark Forest mother plant offered zero offense; every ounce of its energy went into defense and regeneration.
Whatever they cleared just grew back a moment later.
They’d fought plenty of Dark Tree forest mothers before while expanding their own lands.
But this time, when they really tried to clear the roots from the passage, they discovered this one was tougher than any they’d encountered.
The growth this time was just too rapid.
Logically, a newly-thrown mother seed shouldn’t have this kind of tenacious vitality.
It was just like Ding Ning had said: behind the passage, the Dark Tree mother had devoured an entire human city, and was still relentlessly spreading outward.
Tens, even hundreds of thousands of lives fed its growth.
With Dark Star gone, and nine Lords attacking together, their combined might was incredible—even the most resilient mother usually couldn’t hold out under an assault like that.
But now, this plant actually remained undefeated against such overwhelming force.
The Lords left at the passage wore grim faces, silent, no one blaming anyone else.
Before, they’d been delighted to see Ding Ning all anxious and flustered.
Especially seeing her like that over a human man—there was something strangely amusing about it all.
"What do you want?" Hua’s voice was icy cold; her giant blossom swayed slightly, leaves bristling with fuzzy spikes—pure defense mode.
"Help us pass on a message. It was our fault before. Could she come back? Being down one Lord for a sector just won’t work." The one speaking was a Lord’s avatar, waving its octopus-like tentacles and bowing in midair, fishing for forgiveness.
Hua just rustled her flower and leaves. She didn’t know what happened to Ding Ning on the other side of the passage, but she would carry out Ding Ning’s orders to the letter.
"Sorry, our Lord is a bit tired and is resting now." The purple mist around Hua thickened further.
The octopus ghost’s slick cranium was studded with eyes, each a different shape, spinning in all directions.
Hua knew him—Ning had told her about this Lord.
This Lord was called Water Monster: an octopus form with a head covered in eyes, always acting as a peacemaker, especially when Lords were at odds like this—he always intervened.
Ding Ning said his cunning far surpassed the multitude of eyeballs jelly-stuck to his skull.
Whenever his eyes spun off in separate directions, you knew he was scheming furiously.
Now, his head-eyes kept flashing, as if searching for a solution.
Usually he prided himself on his shrewdness, but now he was at a loss.
He’d studied humans, knew what they were like.
Honestly, he thought Ding Ning now acted just like a delicate human woman throwing a tantrum.
He’d even looked up human books, which all agreed: when a woman sulks, you just have to coax her gently.
But the trouble was, coaxing someone? That wasn’t something outsiders like them could do.
Absolutely useless!
"The Lord is sleeping." Hua’s massive body didn’t budge. Just moments ago, she suddenly sensed Ding Ning’s aura weakening, her Spiritual Power drastically depleted.
To prevent accidents, the purple mist around them thickened even further.
A loss of Spiritual Power—this kind of thing must never be known by the other Lords.
To these evil spirits, physical wounds meant nothing.
External injuries were always the easiest to heal.
But if they learned of Spiritual Power damage, the other Lords would drop everything, abandon the passage-clearing, and turn on Ding Ning—tearing her apart, devouring her.
What the hell happened?
Worry crept into Hua’s heart, but outwardly she was unmoved by the ghost’s persuasion.
She just repeated over and over that the Lord was resting.
Privately she was Ding Ning’s friend, but in public, she still addressed Ding Ning as Lord.
The Water Monster paced anxiously in place, dozens of tentacles drumming at the ground, like a human nervously pacing.
He felt the warning in the purple mist but didn’t find it surprising.
He knew this giant Cannibal Flower—her strength was considerable.
Her personal relationship with Ding Ning was solid; she was the Lord’s most trusted subordinate.
The other Lords had a rough idea of each other’s resources.
In the Evil Spirit Realm, subordinates’ strength was secondary—their real value was in "nailing down" conquered Dark Forest territory after expansion.
How strong your subordinate was determined how big a "nail" you could hold.
There was no need for massive wars between dungeons here, not at all.
Here, absolute power ruled.
Hearing Hua’s excuse, the Water Monster scratched his head. If she’s mad, fine, but "sleeping?" Could she really say that?
Do evil spirits like them even sleep?
"Fine, I won’t disturb you." The Water Monster sighed helplessly.
He couldn’t find any pretext to convince Ding Ning to return, since she was famous among the Lords for avoiding conflict—let alone invading human land.
The only possible reason to bring her back was that so-called "human husband."
But no matter how highly Ding Ning spoke of Jiang Che, the Water Monster didn’t take him seriously.
He thought Ding Ning was just acting impulsively—it wasn’t like she’d swallow her pride and return after being angered by the others.
As for Jiang Che?
The Water Monster didn’t think Jiang Che mattered at all.
