I became the slime toy of the evil dragon girl?

Ian showed off another candy that Mirabelle had given him.

The signal from the Fountain of Life is like a lighthouse in the darkness, with a clear direction, but the terrain and ecology along the way are becoming increasingly bizarre.

This area is beyond the Sweet Forest and can be considered part of the Monster Forest.

However, most areas of the Monster Forest are not this eerie.

They passed through a silent woodland where the trees were intact, but there were no sounds of birds, beasts, or insects. Even the sound of the wind seemed to be absorbed. The slight sound of Lilith's feet crushing dry branches sounded particularly jarring, not to mention the huge sound of the giant rock monster moving its feet.

What was most annoying was a pervasive, pale golden mist.

It doesn't always exist; rather, it suddenly spreads from tree holes or some plants without any apparent pattern.

Once enveloped, one will feel sluggish magic flow, easily become mentally fatigued, and lose their sense of direction. Lilith's shadow abilities are significantly suppressed here.

"We're being watched." Lilith suddenly picked up Ian and hugged him tightly, her silver eyes scanning the surroundings sharply. She said in an almost inaudible voice, "It's waiting for us to make a mistake, or waiting for us to go deeper."

Ian sensed it too.

The detection magic didn't detect anything unusual, but Ian had a chilling feeling of unease, as if he were hiding in the forest.

The continuously operating [analysis] can detect a negative emotion that resembles that of a human being. It is extremely faint, almost blending into the environment, and carries vigilance, hostility, and a trace of... sadness?

"Keep moving forward, maintain maximum alert," Ian ordered, there was no turning back.

As they ventured deeper, the signals they perceived grew stronger, and the surrounding scenery became increasingly surreal. They saw a forest composed entirely of crystal-clear mushrooms, with luminous dewdrops dripping from their caps;

Even in a forest clearing, there were several bizarre humanoid sculptures formed entirely from twisted and grown trees, their faces blurred, radiating an unsettling sense of staring.

"We're almost there." Lilith stopped and pointed ahead.

It seemed no different from anywhere else, but both the [Analysis] and [Life Perception] indicated that there was a subtle sense of discontinuity in the space ahead, where magic was blocked.

"It's a magic barrier." Kiki took out a few small instruments and began to examine the barrier.

The instrument gradually changed from a ticking sound to a thumping sound, and then, unable to bear the strain, it emitted a plume of black smoke.

Qiqi spat and muttered under her breath, adding, "Damn equipment... This barrier is very strong, but it's not completely sealed off. You need specific conditions or a key to pass through smoothly."

Ian observed carefully.

From the perspective of the analysis, the green life light in front of us was not blocked after reaching a certain limit.

Instead, like water flowing through transparent glass, it splits upwards and to both sides along an arc-shaped outline, forming a huge pale golden dome.

The part of the dome that touches the ground has a noticeably different color of life-giving light, which is more solid, like a...path?

He followed the different colored stream of light and groped his way forward until he came to a particularly dense thicket of thorns.

The thorns were black and covered in barbs, making them look menacing.

But in the heart of the thicket of thorns, a narrow passage, forcibly opened, can be vaguely seen, and the thorns within the passage show signs of being corroded and withered by some force.

"Something went in here recently." Lilith crouched down to examine the traces. "It wasn't long ago. The corrosion marks still retain a faint trace of natural magic, and it's a bit corrupted, like it's been contaminated."

Half-elves? The first thing that came to Ian's mind was the half-elves who lived in the Sweet Forest.

"It's very narrow, so I'll have to go in first. You guys wait here." After saying that, Ian rolled into the thorny passage like a bowling ball.

As it rolled, it continuously released dragon flames, and wherever Ian passed, the thorns were instantly ignited.

In the blink of an eye, the narrow thorny path transformed into a long corridor of flames.

The passage was narrow, and the rock monster had to squeeze through with difficulty, scraping off a lot of black thorns and sap, which emitted a foul smell.

The scene before Ian's eyes suddenly changed.

Ian, who was the first to pass through the thorny barrier, stood on the edge of a bowl-shaped valley, observing the surroundings and waiting for the others to enter.

The valley was not large, with a small pool of water in the center, shrouded in a hazy white light.

Beside the pool, there grew a strange tree. One half of it was lush and verdant, full of life, while the other half was completely withered, charred black, and lifeless.

The pool was crystal clear, but the bottom was covered with a layer of black substance that looked like ash.

The white light seemed to emanate from the depths of the pool, becoming hazy and weak after being filtered through the ash, with a strong and contradictory aura of life and death emanating from the pool.

The flames slowly died down, and the once dense thorns were no match for the dragon's flames. The narrow passage was now wide enough for the rock monster to enter.

The others also came in.

Qiqi looked around curiously, her gaze finally settling on the clear spring: "That's the Spring of Life? The energy reaction is very strong, but it feels... very unstable."

Lilith, like a cat with its fur standing on end, stared intently at the half-dead tree, its shadow writhing uneasily at her feet. She warned the others, "There's something in the tree... watching us."

Ian was completely focused, pushing his [Analysis] talent to its limit.

In his vision, the tree was a huge energy conversion center. It seemed to draw pure life force from the pool, then pollute some of that life force, transforming it into lifeless energy, and then releasing it out, forming an "inertia miasma" that enveloped the valley and even affected the outside world.

The intense sadness and anger were emanating continuously from the withered half of the tree trunk.

"It seems to be in a lot of pain..." Ian murmured.

Just then, something unexpected happened!

Gudong, Gudong...

The ground around the pool churned violently, and seven or eight enormous, black, slimy tentacles, seemingly made of a mixture of mud and tree roots, burst forth from the earth, carrying a nauseating stench of decay, and lashed out at Ian and the others with lightning speed!

At the same time, on that half-dead tree, the withered branches moved volcanically without wind, and countless scorched leaves fell off, shooting out like sharp blades, with a chilling power of decay wrapped around the edges of the leaves!

"Enemy attack!"

Lilith shouted sharply, her figure instantly transforming into a blurry shadow as she narrowly avoided the attack of the two tentacles.

The shadow sword in his hand flashed with several cold lights, slashing at a tentacle. The tentacle was instantly severed, and a foul-smelling black liquid splattered from the cut. The tentacle twisted and retracted back to the ground.

Lilith's extensive experience in fighting tentacles came in handy again here!