The ice crystal met the tri-colored filament with an ear-piercing hiss.

The ice melted away before their eyes; Leng Ningxue's face drained of color—she was clearly suffering a violent backlash.

At that critical instant, a resolute emerald blaze erupted in Lvdou's eyes.

Instead of dodging, she spread her arms as if to embrace the lethal strike.

‘Prairie, return to source!'

An ancient grass-leaf sigil on her chest flared blindingly.

It wasn't a defense—it was a lure!

The portion of forest Life Energy inside the tri-colored filament was forcibly torn from the attack and sucked, like a stream into the sea, into Lvdou's body.

‘Pfft!' Lvdou coughed up a mouthful of blood flecked with fresh green vitality.

Her aura surged wildly; beneath her skin, cyan light-veins crawled and expanded.

This wasn't mere energy infusion—her innate prairie gift was devouring, dissecting, and assimilating the higher-order, kindred power of the Rainforest.

For the first time, a flicker of open surprise crossed the man's indifferent eyes: ‘Oh?'

Topographical energy couldn't be absorbed by Survivors, yet it posed little restriction to Employees.

After all, they were native to this place.

Moreover, as an elf, Lvdou possessed absolute affinity with nature.

That instant of surprise—and the almost imperceptible stiffness caused by the forcibly stripped energy—gave the others their chance.

Bai Cheng, Qing Niao, and Ye Liangchen's strikes arrived in perfect unison, forcing the man to split his attention and halting any follow-up attack.

Seizing the moment, Lvdou dropped to one knee and pressed her palms against the cold rock.

Rather than suppress the violent clashing power inside her, she guided the Rainforest life-force she had swallowed to rampage through her own prairie laws.

‘Boom!'

A vast, fresh, yet primordial aura shot skyward from her body!

The air seemed to fill with the scent of grass; a patch of rock at her feet was instantly carpeted with lush turf.

Her rank barrier shattered under the pincer assault, her aura climbing sharply and stabilizing at king-level, second stage!

‘Still not ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ enough...' Lvdou wiped blood from her lips, eyes burning.

She could feel the Deathly Rainforest power inside her—far from digested—rebellious as a seed, clashing and mingling with her prairie origin on a deeper level.

If the Rainforest's law of plunder, symbiosis, and wild growth could find resonance with her prairie's law of nurture, cycle, and resilience... She jerked her gaze toward the chains linking the man and pulsing with emerald Rainforest energy, desire and resolve shining in her eyes.

‘Cover Lvdou! She wants to absorb the Rainforest power!' Bai Cheng instantly read Lvdou's intent—insane as it was.

To absorb the enemy's core power on his own turf.

Yet right now, it might be the only chance to create a miracle!

‘Delusion.' For the first time, the man stepped forward on his own initiative.

He clearly sensed the latent threat of Lvdou's anomalous gift.

All across the valley, Rainforest-energy chains blazed several times brighter.

More emerald torrents split off, no longer mere attack energy,

but solid, venomous vines of power that shrieked with soul-corroding hunger as they swept toward Lvdou, sealing off any path of aid.

‘Frozen Millennium!' Leng Ningxue shouted, biting through her tongue as she released every shred of her king-level strength—now even purer after her breakthrough—without reserve.

Glacial cold erupted from her, filling the air with ice crystals and snowflakes; the emerald vines visibly slowed, thick frost coating them.

Yet the stubborn vitality and corrosive nature of the Rainforest energy madly shattered the ice; blood seeped from Leng Ningxue's seven orifices as she teetered, but she held the front line.

‘Now!' Lvdou's eyes blazed. Ignoring the risk to her soul, she stretched mental tendrils toward the slowed Rainforest vines.

A prairie sigil manifested on her forehead, forming a small rotating green vortex.

‘Hum—!'

An even vaster emerald flood was ripped into Lvdou's body.

This time it wasn't mere absorption—it was fusion!

Her body became a battlefield where the vast serenity of the prairie and the cunning ferocity of the Rainforest clashed, seeped, and re-forged every scrap of flesh and soul.

Her aura began to climb again, the fluctuations even more arcane.

She was forcibly comprehending the essence of the Rainforest's law, striving to weave it into herself!

For the first time, the man's brows drew together.

He realized that, under the interference of Lvdou's peculiar gift, his control over the Rainforest energy had grown sluggish and obstructed.

This girl's talent and nerve far exceeded his estimates.

The battle grew fiercer.

Everyone fought desperately to buy Lvdou precious seconds.

Liu San, grazed by a lava flow on half his body, froze a frost chain aimed at Lvdou;

Ye Liangchen's blade flashed, severing countless vines while backlash shook his internal organs;

Yu Nian and the rest of the battle formation were already tottering, every member wounded.

Bai Cheng and Qing Niao bore the brunt of the frontal pressure, clashing again and again with the terrain-energy beasts and rule fragments the man commanded, their hands split and blood churning.

Time seemed to stretch; every second brought pain and massive energy drain.

Finally—at a certain instant—

The wild emerald light around Lvdou snapped inward, fully contained.

A wholly new aura, carrying both the endless vitality of the prairie and the wild tenacity of the Rainforest, slowly unfurled like an ancient tree waking from slumber.

She opened her eyes; within them lay the vastness of grasslands and the depths of the Rainforest.

King-level, third stage!

She straightened slowly, a spear of grass-and-vine forming in her hand, its tip swirling with fused emerald light.

Though her aura still couldn't match the man's ancient, all-commanding presence,

it now possessed the weight and persistence of roots in the earth—qualified to face a king-level peak head-on!

‘How... is this possible?' For the first time, the previously unflappable man showed open shock—even dread.

He stared at Lvdou, then snapped his gaze toward Bai Cheng, who had led the charge and directed the battle, his voice sharp with disbelief: ‘Your Employees... can actually use topographical energy to break through again and again? What... what rank were they originally?!'

Bai Cheng parried an energy blast, panting, wiped blood from her cheek, and met his stunned gaze with clear, icy words: ‘Immortal Level.'