Tactical Retreat and Verdant Vengeance

Huang Xiu watched as the Pig-headed Man’s right hand transformed into a blade, sweeping down to sever the spider plant’s thorns embedded in its body. One by one, it then wrenched them free.

“Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst; a single mutated cactus won’t be enough to turn the tide.”

Though she had previously vowed to teach the Pig-headed Man a lesson and ensure it would ‘not have good fruit to eat,’ Huang Xiu remained remarkably calm.

The Pig-headed Man’s power far exceeded her expectations.

A single mutated spider plant could barely defend itself, and relying on it to kill the Pig-headed Man was clearly out of the question.

Yet, much like in League of Legends, defeating champions and securing kills was merely a means to victory, not the ultimate objective itself.

Her true goal was to ‘push towers’—to stall for time until reinforcements arrived!

Huang Xiu glanced at the Pig-headed Man ahead, having no intention of confronting it head-on.

With such a colossal event as the Netherworld’s descent, she refused to believe the Special Jurisdiction Bureau would remain oblivious.

Thus, her only task was to rescue as many students as possible before help could arrive.

Therefore…

“Saving the people is success enough!”

With a flicker of thought, the young woman commanded the slowly rotating spider plant to charge forward and delay the Pig-headed Man.

Meanwhile, she herself turned and sprinted down the staircase.

“You deal with the path; I’m making a tactical retreat!”

“Every classroom has potted plants, but only a few classes placed theirs on the corridor windowsills. Let me think, which classes were those?”

Huang Xiu mused as she ran, when suddenly a realization struck her.

Wait, why was she fixating on potted plants when there were countless other plants in the campus green belts?

“I must be losing my mind from the rush! How could I be so foolish?”

She laughed at her own exasperation, briefly considering slapping herself, but the thought of the pain made her abandon the idea.

A ripping sound echoed!

Following the strange noise from upstairs, Huang Xiu’s mental connection with the spider plant vanished instantly.

The mutated spider plant hadn’t managed to hold on!

This, however, was also within her expectations.

Originally, only through her precise micro-management had the mutated spider plant been able to barely contend with the Pig-headed Man.

Left to fight independently now, it stood no chance against the Pig-headed Man for more than a few rounds.

After all, she was the ‘summoner’ Zyra, who triumphed through sheer numbers!

“As long as I have enough plants, the Pig-headed Man is nothing to fear!”

Huang Xiu’s gaze sharpened as she leaped from the tenth-floor staircase, landing on the first floor with a powerful jump.

“Who still descends stairs the traditional way in this day and age!”

No sooner had she landed and steadied herself than a dark shadow suddenly plummeted heavily before her.

Boom!

Accompanying the earth-shattering roar, dust billowed into the air, and spiderweb-like cracks fractured the ground.

It was the Pig-headed Man!

It had likely realized that it couldn’t catch Huang Xiu, who was already nearing the first floor, in such a short time.

Thus, it had chosen the shortest route: leaping from the building.

“Damn it, is this brute actually that smart?”

Gazing at the Pig-headed Man, which had abruptly appeared before her with eyes blazing crimson, Huang Xiu’s heart skipped a beat, yet she quickly regained her composure.

Composure was her greatest weapon, second only to her supernatural ability.

A sudden malevolent gust assailed her, and a silvery-white object rapidly expanded in her vision.

Her exceptionally keen dynamic vision allowed the young woman to clearly perceive the angle and trajectory of the incoming ruler.

Seizing the opportune moment, she executed a sudden fish-like leap, narrowly evading the massive ruler that swept horizontally towards her.

As she lunged forward, she performed a flexible roll on the spot, then pushed off with her hands and scrambled to her feet, running on all fours—a parkour technique known as a safety roll.

Had it not been for the transformation that significantly increased her body’s flexibility and agility…

Even if she had reacted in time, she would have been incapable of executing such a movement, which previously existed only in her mind.

She exerted every ounce of strength in her body.

Like a gust of wind, she instantly shot through the corridor and emerged onto the open ground outside the teaching building.

The school’s greening efforts were generally second only to those of a park.

And as a key high school with ample funding, Ying City No. 1 High School had invested even more heavily.

The school grounds were replete with green belts, flowerbeds, and street trees.

During public service days in the past, Huang Xiu and her classmates had been exhausted to the point of collapse from cleaning the flowerbeds.

Now, however, she never imagined these same efforts would save her life.

Presently, a vast expanse of green belt stretched before her, just outside the teaching building.

Lightly slicing her palm with a fingernail, the young woman had grown increasingly accustomed to the sting of pain.

With eyes reddened and misted, she offered a faint smile. “Finally, I’m on my home turf.”

Her eyelashes curved gracefully, and faint dimples appeared on her cheeks.

“Now, I shall truly enumerate your sins!”

Before her words had even faded, the young woman swung her right hand, and blood sprayed forth like a torrential downpour.

Elliptical iron trees with tough leaves, weeds carpeting the ground, osmanthus trees over a decade old…

More than a dozen plants began to emit a faint red glow.

“Mutate!”

A faint white light shimmered faintly within the depths of the young woman’s dark pupils—a manifestation of her Void Energy reaching its absolute peak.

She had never before mutated so many plants at once, let alone one of them being an osmanthus tree seven or eight meters tall.

The Void Energy within her body poured out as if a floodgate had been opened.

Yet, what was most terrifying was that this depletion seemed endless; she had no idea when it would cease.

Sensing the impropriety, she attempted to cancel the mutation of so many plants, but once initiated, the mutation proved irreversible.

Thus, Huang Xiu could only grit her teeth and desperately hold on.

“Damn it, I got carried away!”

In a mere two seconds, a quantity of Void Energy equivalent to that of two ordinary Awakened-tier supers had drained from her body.

Had she not been an S-rank ability user, with Void Energy comparable to a Silver-tier super, she would likely have been completely drained by now.

At that very moment, the Pig-headed Man had caught up.

It resembled the most persistent of stalkers, the most devoted of sycophants, its eyes now fixed entirely on Huang Xiu’s graceful figure.

It would not give up until it had devoured her alive.

Reeking of foul odor, it charged towards the stunned young woman.

Clutching the ruler in both hands, it swung it like a baseball bat towards the young woman standing frozen beside the green belt.

The fierce, malevolent wind generated by its swing howled forth.

It swept aside the young woman’s dark hair, which had veiled her face, revealing her beautiful eyes, within which a river of white light seemed to flow.

“Go!” The young woman’s cherry lips parted slightly, and an arm-thick thorn shot out from beside her with lightning speed.

Pffft!

It was the sound of flesh being pierced; the thorn, moving faster than the eye could follow, instantly impaled the Pig-headed Man’s chest.

However, this hasty strike appeared to miss its heart, or perhaps such a monster possessed no such weakness as a heart.

It merely shuddered violently, then, with eyes still blazing red, its ruler continued its relentless descent, intent on brutally smashing the young woman’s head.

“Die! Human scum!”

Actually, it couldn’t speak, nor was it particularly intelligent; this was merely a line Huang Xiu had imagined for it.

After all, a villain who didn’t utter some cruel words before their demise would undoubtedly diminish the fun.

The white ruler loomed larger in the young woman’s serene eyes, yet her eyelids did not even twitch.

A brown hand, roughly the size of a person, extended from behind her, gently cupping her in its palm, offering steadfast protection.

With a muffled thud, wood splinters flew everywhere.

The ruler’s terrifying blow struck the back of the colossal hand, leaving behind a massive indentation.