CHAPTER 437: CHAPTER 406 EMBARRASSING_2

As he spoke, he proactively stepped to Aiven’s side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Aiven seemed to have let go of his initial wariness and willingly bent slightly to meet her eye level.

Then, he rubbed his hands expectantly, carefully taking a rolled leaf of windflower handed over by the girl and gently unfolding it.

"Hmm, using such a treasure for the first time, what should I write?"

The troubled words had just fallen.

Tss——

He suddenly jerked his head back, narrowly avoiding a sharp cold glint aimed at his neck, taking advantage of his "full concentration" in thought!

The flower branch armor was not the immediate combat Knight’s heavy armor; for the sake of flexible neck movement, it had no neck plate and was one of Aiven’s few weak defense points.

As he dodged, he simultaneously launched a counterattack, extending his right hand with lightning speed to grab "Miss Moonstone" by the neck.

"Ugh..."

As she failed her attack and was about to retreat, there was no way she could escape the attack of a Tier 3 Physical Side Transcendent.

Hmm, calling "it" would be more appropriate now.

The rest of her appearance had not changed at all; she was still that beautiful girl, but from her rosy little mouth extended a proboscis like that of a cicada.

Even as Aiven held her neck, the proboscis kept writhing, biting his arm, producing only sparking clashes with the arm armor.

Aiven had no doubt that if that proboscis had just pierced his neck, even his soul essence would have been completely drained by it, despite his Tier 3 strength.

"Your answer just now had no obvious flaws.

Regardless of whether the real Miss Moonstone said those words yesterday or not, it could have been explained away.

But the crucial point is, I didn’t come to the Spirit Realm at all yesterday.

And... you’re truly ugly!"

As Aiven’s iron grip tightened, the "girl’s" limbs began to struggle fiercely, kicking and clawing at Aiven.

If it weren’t for the gruesome proboscis, she might truly seem like a helpless girl assaulted by a culprit.

Once the overall situation was secured, Aiven took a moment to ponder what this monster, impossible to be the real Miss Moonstone, actually was.

"Let me guess your identity.

The Spiritual Light gleaming soul armors on you had no reaction when attacked, clearly just for show.

You shouldn’t be a parasite like a brainworm or a ghost worm. The real Miss Moonstone should be fine.

Then you should be a creature adept at mimicking forms but can only glean shallow memories from others.

I just don’t know if it read my memory or Miss Moonstone’s who had gone out.

Are you a Faceless Man? A Ghost-faced Leech? A Shape-shifting Demon?"

However, while he guessed thus far.

Aiven suddenly realized that perhaps through this Spirit Realm demon that had transformed into Miss Moonstone, he could see her true form!

Then.

Driven by an impulse, he reached out and removed the Sapphire Flower from the demon’s head, which emitted a gentle glow that obscured its face.

Then...

"Tch, bad review!"

Seeing the blank and featureless face, Aiven realized that regardless of the transformation method, the other party likely had never seen the true face of Miss Moonstone.

The creature lost its final value.

Thud—

In the next moment, Aiven’s palm suddenly exerted force, crushing the head of this creature that was almost identical to Miss Moonstone except for the gruesome proboscis.

Bang!

The headless "girl" corpse was tossed onto the ground like trash, gradually turning into a puddle of formless, semi-transparent gel, and then slowly evaporated completely.

Shaking off the sticky liquid from his hand, Aiven suddenly sensed something and unexpectedly turned his head, seeing the scene he least wanted to see at the moment.

In the original spot where the Spirit Realm demon first appeared, another Miss Moonstone stood there intact, clearly having watched for quite some time.

Witnessing someone identical to herself being crushed by a familiar face was evidently quite shocking...

Seeing Aiven turned towards her, the girl’s voice opened with cold indifference:

"Shape-shifting Demon, a rare master of disguise in the Spirit Realm, not strong in combat but highly deceptive.

It specializes in disguising as someone close to the victim to launch an attack.

What’s more powerful is its evolved form, the Shape-shifter, completely capable of taking over another’s form, turning a person or animal into a shapeless living mass.

This one was clearly an inexperienced juvenile Shape-shifting Demon, revealing too many flaws in action."

Though Miss Moonstone spoke those words with an expressionless face, showing no great emotion, Aiven was quite survival-minded as he handed her the spoils he just acquired:

"Haha, well then, since finders are keepers, how about we share these two leaves of windflower, one each?"

No need for further testing; the unique aura of this Miss Moonstone convinced Aiven that without a doubt, it was indeed her.

If I’m not embarrassed, then embarrassment can’t catch up with me.

Hearing this, Miss Moonstone hesitated for a moment, but eventually, she accepted one of the leaves.

Just finally, she slightly raised her fair chin and commented on Aiven’s performance:

"Though I don’t know what you’ve been through these past days, for a Spirit Realm novice, not bad at all!"

...

After agreeing with Miss Moonstone for the next expedition together, the two parted ways again.

Aiven, carrying the crystal pillar alone, ascended to the highest sixth tier of the city, placing the massive energy "Magnetic Ore" beside the "Life Tree."

Then, he saw the "Life Tree" slowly absorbing it into its trunk, wrapping it layer by layer.

"Gulp... gulp..."

Like drinking water, it began absorbing the "Magnetic Ore’s" energy to resume its growth.

Rumble....

With an earthquake-like shaking.

The trunk soared tens of meters high, and the already vast canopy stretched out like green clouds, quickly covering the entire sixth tier.

Among the branches, one in every four leaves, originally a combination of Banyan, Ashwood, and Fir, transformed into crystalline ones.

The efficiency of absorbing the Spirit Realm Sun’s energy multiplied by the thousands.

"Swoosh," it scattered the constantly absorbed Spiritual Power, creating a vast independent micro-world beneath the canopy.

Though it covered the entire urban area, Aiven lifted his head to feel the golden sunlight full of warmth as if from the Material World, making his soul feel exceptionally pleasant and comfortable.

Meanwhile, beneath the massive green dome-like canopy, countless tiny grasses and shrubs began to spread rapidly, adding a touch of vitality to this desolate city.

At this point, this beacon anchor ground truly belonged to him, becoming his most solid bridgehead for Spirit Realm exploration!

And Aiven knew that the larger this unique space’s coverage became, the stronger his control over this city would be.

Eventually, he could even completely sever this space from the Spirit Realm, creating a world all his own!

Also, it’s one of the prerequisites for achieving the Tier 4 Truth Embodiment.

For Aiven, this goal is a long and arduous journey!