Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 810: Reforestation

The draconian guard smiled. "If you can truly extinguish the demonic threat, we would be very grateful. The demons have been particularly active in recent years. Led by their king of the realm, they invade our world through the wormhole annually, and we suffer significant losses in troops whenever that occurs."

Zhou Ying sighed. "The draconians truly are in a precarious state..."

It felt as though the draconians were surrounded by enemies.

The draconian guard shrugged. "All three thousand worlds are like this, to some extent. All linked worlds experience conflict from time to time. Anyway, back to the demons. The demons are omnivorous and eat basically anything in sight, poisonous or not. They enjoy raw meat and will settle for corpse flesh—we're basically no different from genetic lifeforms to them. "

Because the demons lived in such an inhospitable world, their digestive system, poison resistance, and regenerative ability had all been developed to frightening levels.

The draconian guard continued, "The demon king is the most frightening existence of all—a primordial great demon, the progenitor of all demonkind, and the largest tumor of all our neighboring worlds!"

Zhou Ying asked seriously, "What's so special about this great demon?"

He was surely her target, and she needed to learn as much about him as she could.

The draconian guard continued, "His very existence is an anomaly. From his titles alone, you can identify what makes him stand out: the primordial great demon, the tyrant of poison, the king of toxins!"

"He's particularly poisonous?"

"Calling the great demon 'poisonous' is like calling a sperm whale 'big'. I have to say, you were truly unlucky to be chosen to fight the great demon. In my opinion, even the most sinister neighboring world, that of the black spirits, pales in comparison to the demon world—and all because of the great demon. Do you know how the demon race was spawned?"

"How?"

"All the demons used to be other lifeforms, but when they came into contact with the demon king's skin, they slowly transformed into demons themselves!"

Zhou Ying frowned. "You mean that these demons are just poisoned lifeforms?"

The draconian nodded. "All who come into contact with the demon king's skin will slowly transform into demons."

"Thank you for the information. I'll keep it in mind when facing off against this demon king. Now that I've finished resting, it's time for me to bid you all farewell."

Even the unwelcome revelation wasn't enough to shock Zhou Ying. She got up and made her way toward the wormhole to the demon world.

With every step she took, she began to transform. Green motes of light trailed from her feet and covered her body. Her hair turned green, a shade the color of sparkling jade. She looked so beautiful the guards were immediately enraptured.

"Please, be careful!" the draconian guard murmured, as she stepped through the wormhole.

When Zhou Ying arrived in the demon world, the first thing she noticed was the grayish-purple smog in the air. The exit of the wormhole was a gnarly, twisted forest. The trees had drooping branches and oily black bark.

Thick miasma blocked any sunlight from reaching the ground, but even so, the trees seemed to be able to grow without any issue.

The universe was filled with all sorts of plants and trees, and Zhou Ying had grown used to seeing oddities along her travels. The forest floor was covered not with grass, but dark green and black lichen.

By the roots of the unusual trees that made up this forest were small flowers and grasses, but one look at them was all it took for Zhou Ying to realize that they were poisonous, highly so.

In addition to the greenery, there were curious bugs flying all over. Some had landed on the trees' bark, while others were zipping through the forest. According to the draconians' information, all the living creatures in the demon world were poisonous.

There was a swamp in the distance that gave off a persistent stench, and there were even a few unmelted bones floating above the brackish water.

Zhou Ying very much disliked this environment, as well as the thought of fighting on her enemies' turf. She certainly wasn't about to deal with a purported primordial demon under such conditions.

"It looks as though I'll have to reforest the land, then." With a snap of her fingers, a pulsing green ring of energy emanated from Zhou Ying.

Green motes of light spread throughout the forest. Thick, lush vines sprouted from the ground, growing toward the light. Branches and leaves appeared on the vines.

Some of the vines wrapped around the dark purplish-black wood and began emitting Zhou Ying's unique brand of vitality. The vines melded with the bark and turned the trees' leaves from a dark purple to a deep green.

All over the swamp, more and more vines emerged from the ground and turned into trees.

Zhou Ying planned to make the entire environment her own.

With Zhou Ying at its center, lush greenery continued to grow and proliferate throughout the demon world, which gradually turned more and more green as time passed. In less than half an hour, the land within a hundred kilometers of her had all been reforested. That greenery was completely at odds with the rest of the forest, which boasted a purplish-black palette.

However, the original inhabitants of the world didn't have any intention of letting Zhou Ying do as she pleased. Within the forest, thousands of black figures darted through the trees, heading toward the center of the verdant bloom: Zhou Ying.

The moment Zhou Ying appeared in the swamp, the primordial demon had detected her. It expected that Zhou Ying would immediately set off in search of him and die a fruitless death, only to be simultaneously threatened and disgusted by Zhou Ying's actions. The primordial demon immediately summoned reinforcements in the form of demons, who were shocked to find that the land itself seemed to have turned against them.

The leaves rustled. The trees, which shook as though they had come to life, began to work against the demons. The leaves shone with green light and shot toward the demons, each leaf as sharp as a blade.

The demons were quickly swallowed up by the forest, cut down by the leaves that came at them like a storm. Even if the demons were to break a tree down by the trunk, a new one would quickly regrow.

The demons, realizing that they wouldn't be able to keep forging forward through the forest, turned and tried to leave, only to hear a horrendous, frightening roar that was so loud they could feel the sound waves surging toward them like a storm. A huge figure appeared on the horizon.

Upon hearing that roar, the demons all jumped in shock. Subsequently, they turned back around and charged into the forest, as though their fear of death had been eclipsed by the source of that roar. They charged forward heedless of caution, paving the way to the heart of the forest with the bodies of their kin.

Within a few minutes, thousands of demons had died, many from running over each other, but none of them had any intention to give up. Finally, as blood dripped down their bodies, they stumbled past a final copse of trees and into the heart of the forest.

Zhou Ying was standing upright, vitality so thick it was palpable flowing out from her. The trees in the immediate vicinity were lush and strong. Even when they were destroyed by the demons, they regrew within seconds.

Against the thousand or so demons remaining, who had survived the wild scramble into the clearing at the heart of the forest, Zhou Ying said, "Demons, I praise your courage for entering this glade—but you won't be able to change a single thing."

The demons had entered some form of craze. They ignored their fallen comrades and ran on, deeper and deeper within the verdant forest, searching for the woman at its heart—and the moment they found Zhou Ying, they pounced...

…only to find their claws swiping at thin air.

Zhou Ying's body suddenly burst apart into a whirlwind of leaves, which melded into the forest.

The demons were all stupefied.