Jiang Yuebai activated the "Immortal Grass Scripture" to counter-plunder. Her own Grass and Wood Essence Qi no longer left her body, but she couldn’t plunder the other party’s Grass and Wood Essence Qi either. Both sides were locked in a tug-of-war, equally matched.

While maintaining the plunder, Jiang Yuebai split her Divine Thought to observe the surroundings. There was only a Sleeping Lotus in the puddle, undoubtedly, it was the one plundering her.

"Got some skills, can’t beat me secretly, so let’s play openly!"

A White Vine shot out from the mud, transforming into a vine whip aimed fiercely at the Sleeping Lotus in the puddle.

Croak!

The yellow frog on the Sleeping Lotus leaf flicked its long tongue, coiling around Jiang Yuebai’s White Vine midair, instantly injecting a venom.

But it was useless, Jiang Yuebai was even more poisonous!

The yellow frog realized something was wrong and tried to retract its tongue, but Jiang Yuebai wrapped around it, not allowing it to pull back.

Having a Companion Beast was useless; she was her own Companion Vine.

The frog weakened by poison, Jiang Yuebai used her third Divine Thought to activate the Sword Orchid innate Demon Art taught by Tian Nanxing.

Sword Qi!

Little Bai Grass used the Disguise Technique to transform into a cluster of Sword Orchids, gathering nature’s Spiritual Energy into the orchid, rapidly condensing into embroidery needle-like Sword Qi.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The Sword Qi shot out, instantly turning the frog into a porcupine, its blood splashing into the puddle.

"So that’s a mongrel like Tian Nanxing."

The Sleeping Lotus’s disdainful thoughts were transmitted over, making Jiang Yuebai laugh in anger.

"You’re near death, yet you still have the nerve to mock me?"

Jiang Yuebai directly swung out a vine, whipping at the Sleeping Lotus in the puddle.

Between the lotus leaves, a pale yellow lotus flower bloomed rapidly, the water in the puddle swirling upwards to form a water curtain.

The moment Jiang Yuebai’s vine touched the water, the pure Spiritual Energy within was forcibly extracted, leaving only the vine to rot in the water. A chilling aura followed the White Vine straight to Jiang Yuebai’s body.

Jiang Yuebai was shocked, hurriedly severing the White Vine to retreat.

The aura in the water was Muddy Qi, something she was very familiar with, having purified Demon Cores for cultivation. It could contaminate anything it touched instantly.

The water curtain fell, and the dust-free Sleeping Lotus continued to bloom in that dirty puddle, exuding a sacred brilliance, Spiritual Energy beaming.

Jiang Yuebai knew she’d encountered a tough opponent.

It’s said that at the dawn of creation, the first Green Lotus in the world was born from Chaotic Muddy Qi, naturally able to transform Muddy Qi into Pure Qi.

This Sleeping Lotus must have a connection with the Green Lotus, thus possessing the innate Demon Art of controlling Muddy Qi; its surrounding puddle was its strongest advantage.

Anything that approached would be contaminated by the Muddy Qi, which would then remain in the puddle, while the purified Pure Qi would be absorbed into its body for cultivation.

If Jiang Yuebai had a human body, she could have crushed it with a single foot. Unfortunately, her demon body was too fragile to withstand the struggle.

As part of the Immortal Ganoderma Clan, Jiang Yuebai also possessed the innate Demon Arts of healing and purification. Unfortunately, these two Demon Arts could only passively activate on herself.

The only one she could actively trigger was the "Thousand Leaves Hand" she benefited from the Human Clan.

If she used her current body to rush over and slam the Sleeping Lotus to the ground, she might just win.

But she didn’t want a pyrrhic victory, not on the first day, with eight more days to go.

If her two leaves grew a bit more, they could activate the Human Clan’s spells with the "Thousand Leaves Hand," then she could crush it!

Having just uttered harsh words, Jiang Yuebai once again declared, "If you’ve got guts, don’t run. I’ll come deal with you in a few days!"

Her attitude was fierce, and she left decisively.

In the puddle, the Sleeping Lotus arrogantly extended its flower stem, looking at the retreating Jiang Yuebai with disdain.

Jiang Yuebai switched to another place; earlier the Divine Tree forbade her from plundering freely, but with the rules in the Insect Valley as they were now, she wouldn’t be polite about it, after all, plants had no morals, and neither did she!

Having exchanged a few moves with the Sleeping Lotus, Jiang Yuebai realized that except for the sound of insects, the Insect Valley was silent, with all capable Grass and Wood Little Demons already biding their time.

She couldn’t find a target to attack for a while, encountering a few stray ants along the way that bit her, which made Jiang Yuebai furious. She casually used the Carnivorous Grass’s digestive method to devour the ants, discovering in surprise that insects transformed by Demon Arts could be absorbed.

Just now, it was the same; she couldn’t forcibly plunder nature’s Spiritual Energy, but she could incite it with Demon Arts.

This meant that all survival methods of the Grass and Wood Demon Clan could work in this Insect Valley.

With this in mind...

Jiang Yuebai wandered to the center area of the Insect Valley, finding a massive, sturdy tree, and unceremoniously extended her White Vine to coil around it.

The method of strangling a tree with the Stone Dragon Vine she had already learned, this tree with Demonic Art could also be strangled by her.

The White Vine coiled around the tree, becoming indistinguishable, with seven flowers blooming on a single vine.

Some flowers had large and vivid stamens, equipped with traps to ensure insects came in, but never left.

Some resembled enchanting female insects, with a heady fragrance guaranteeing that insects couldn’t resist.

Some were covered with sweet, poisonous mucus, ensuring insects ate their fill on their journey to the afterlife.

One flower was weak and unable to fend for itself, yet it emitted a spiritual glow like a nighttime firefly, hanging lonely under the tree, swaying in the wind.

Jiang Yuebai’s Divine Thought split into three, waiting patiently for prey to arrive.

In the dark valley, dappled with shifting shadows, dangers lurked everywhere, with the careless liable to be devoured by lurking predators.

A Mystic Bee, thumb-sized, sought nectar, flitting its wings within the forest, suddenly spotting a vibrant yellow cluster resembling pollen-filled stamens.

The Mystic Bee darted toward the yellow patch, landing to investigate, finding the scent and color matching, yet unable to locate any pollen?

Unwilling to give up, the Mystic Bee searched more thoroughly, its legs inadvertently triggering a hairy mechanism, plunging the world into darkness.

The Mystic Bee, perished!

Soon after, a Golden Mantis climbed onto the tree vine, resting next to an exotic insect flower, intoxicated by its fragrance, prepared to...

The flower’s stamens tightened, suddenly ensnaring the Golden Mantis, squeezing hard.

The Golden Mantis, perished!

A few gluttonous mole crickets licked the red syrup on the flower’s leaves with slurps, succumbing to the addiction, overdosing on toxins.

The mole crickets, perished!

The Little Bai Flower swayed in the wind, its demonic fragrance wafting through the air, where a brewing restlessness hung.

Disguised as a corpse-flower stinking Rafflesia, the Orchid Herb Demon, seeing the Little Bai Flower as feeble and bully-able, stealthily extended its roots, silently creeping underground.

Only upon nearing did it realize the Little Bai Flower’s roots already densely covered the surrounding three miles, too late to escape.

Whimper—

The Orchid Herb Demon, perished!

Day by day, Jiang Yuebai’s highly efficient hunting methods fostered rapid growth of her demon body. When other Little Demons noticed that the insects in Insect Valley had mysteriously dwindled, they revelled, thinking luck favored them.

Unbeknownst to them, Jiang Yuebai’s growth in just a few days far surpassed the preceding few months; her Cloud Mushroom Leaves had already developed to the size of a young child’s palm, even sprouting a new pair of leaves.

Strangling the tree, Jiang Yuebai retracted a Divine Thought, by daylight, she hunted while attempting to draw upon nature’s Spiritual Energy, performing Human Clan spells.

The demon body lacked a Dantian, requiring the direct summoning of Spiritual Energy from the heavens and earth; the spell’s power depended entirely on how much Spiritual Energy the Divine Thought could attract.

Her Divine Thought was mighty enough, all that was missing was practice.

Jiang Yuebai was like she was back at the beginning of the Qi Cultivation Stage, learning spells enthusiastically, striving hard to pummel the Sleeping Lotus Demon.

Come nightfall, when Moonlight descended, the Little Demons in Insect Valley reached a mutual understanding, emerging from their hiding spots to unfurl leaves, blossom, and absorb the rare Moonlight for cultivation.

Only at these times could all the Little Demons fully enjoy the rare comfort, although there were also things that made demons want to cry.

At the center of Insect Valley, there was always a "mongrel," with flowers blooming all over a single vine, coiled around the tallest tree in the valley, each greedily absorbing Moonlight.

Jealousy drove the demons mad, yet helplessly, every demon that went to confront the "mongrel" vanished without a trace, even the Little Osmanthus Tree, the dominant force in the western Insect Valley, barely escaped with half a life, choosing to abandon the trial and fleeing the valley.

The demons were powerless, the demons wept.

Watching the "mongrel" grow ever more robust, its aura and demonic power intimidated all the demons, ever more Little Demons gave up the trial, leaving the valley early for self-preservation.

Only the Sleeping Lotus Demon to the north and the Fire Grain to the south persisted in holding on.