The closer he drew to the center of the garden, the taller the Fog Lamp Grass grew. The ones in the very middle had even reached Xia Nan's chest.
Likewise, their thicker stalks and dense root systems made the light blooming from the lantern-flowers at their tips shine brighter and brighter, swaying like incandescent bulbs that gave off a brilliant blue-white glow.
And amid that cluster of dazzling radiance, the huge object standing in silent stillness looked like a "cocoon of light," woven among leaves and shining brilliance.
He gripped the Emberfall Straight Sword tightly, pushed aside the Fog Lamp Grass blocking his path, and slowly approached.
As the distance between them gradually shortened, Xia Nan saw the full appearance of the "cocoon of light."
He was sitting there cross-legged.
Or rather, "its" former body remained in place.
The lower half of its body had been completely replaced by the same purple-green twisted vines as the Fog Lamp Monster before, leaving no trace of what its original legs had looked like.
Amid deformity and distortion, it was tangled and connected with the roots of the surrounding Fog Lamp Grass. Faintly, blue-white energy could be seen flowing and being transmitted through the stalk-like limbs and tendrils.
Perhaps because the transformation had not been completed, "its" upper body, especially the head and arms, still retained a broadly human shape. Its facial features, the structure of its arms, and its five fingers were all clearly visible, but its skin had been replaced by a plant-like protective tissue. No pores or body hair could be seen. All that remained were fluorescent blue meridians like the veins of Fog Lamp Grass, flickering faintly beneath the skin.
The expression on "its" face looked pained and struggling, yet it had also stiffened as if frozen in place.