Lured into His Grasp

At the end of the stone steps, a blood-red Lotus Pedestal emitted a faint blood-red Blood light.

The Blood light was not dazzling; it was like a lantern dimmed to its lowest setting, casting a warm, dark red glow over the surrounding area of several feet.

A bewitching flower perched atop it, emitting a ghostly light that made it appear exceptionally mystical.

The eerie light mingled with the Blood light of the Lotus Pedestal, one dark and one red, like a blob of ink soaked in blood, both strange and beautiful.

Lin Ming looked at it, and his tense body finally relaxed completely.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled with a sigh of relief.

The breath was exhaled very long and slowly, like a string that had been stretched for a long time finally being released, and the muscles that had been secretly tense during the battle softened at this moment.

"Is this the legendary, extremely rare divine flower in the Great Thousand World, the Mandala Flower?" Lin Ming stepped up the stone steps, stopped in front of the Mandala Flower, and examined it with some curiosity.

The stone steps had nine steps, each made of Blood Jade. Stepping on them, one felt a warm, smooth sensation underfoot, like a piece of jade warmed by the sun.

He stood about ten feet in front of the Mandala Flower, looking up at the black flower that was over ten feet tall.

The closer you get, the clearer it becomes: the dark purple patterns on the petals are not still, but rather flowing at an extremely slow speed, like a group of purple earthworms crawling on black silk.

The golden specks in the flower's stamens were even denser than when seen from a distance, like a nebula compressed at the heart of the flower. Each flash of light was accompanied by a faint, delicate fragrance wafting outwards from the center of the flower.

Legend has it that if each Mandala Flower were to evolve to its ultimate form, it would possess power comparable to True Dragon True Phoenix, making it a being on par with the Heavenly Sovereign.

However, this divine flower is born with intelligence, is proficient in the power of darkness, and has vigorous vitality. Even if it has just been born, once it wants to hide, even Earth Sovereign being would probably be unable to find it.

Lin Ming gazed at the Mandala Flower in front of him. Although the flower was currently in a state of dormant self-sealing, he could still sense the surging power contained within this enchanting flower.

That power was like a vast ocean compressed deep within the heart of a flower. Although the surface was calm at the moment, the sheer vastness emanating from its very core caused the space to tremble slightly.

He could feel the blood jade lotus platform beneath his feet trembling slightly, like a giant beast locked in a cage turning over in its sleep.

Lin Ming knew that if he tried to take it away by force, it would probably resist in order to protect itself.

Although the Mandala appears to be trapped in a self-sealing state, it still retains an instinctive capacity for self-protection.

If Lin Ming tries to take it away by force, it will inevitably provoke a counterattack.

The counterattack from an Upper-Rank Earth Sovereign was clearly beyond Lin Ming's ability to withstand. Even a mere instinctive reaction to that level of power would be enough to severely injure him.

At this moment, Lin Ming's gaze moved downwards from the Mandala Flower, looking at the Lotus Pedestal carved from Blood Jade beneath Mandala.

The Lotus Pedestal was about several feet in diameter, and was carved from a single piece of dark red jade. The surface of the stone was covered with fine natural patterns, which looked like blood vessels frozen in the stone.

He sensed a remarkable restorative power from the Lotus Pedestal.

The restorative power was extremely gentle and long-lasting, like a hot spring buried deep in jade, flowing slowly, each drop carrying a soothing touch.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ming immediately guessed that the Ancient Mandala Flower had chosen to seal itself here because it was seriously injured and was being pursued by a powerful enemy, which was why it came here.

The outer array can block the enemy; the Grandmaster Spirit Formation composed of corpses and stone pillars is like an iron wall, keeping the pursuers out.

This blood-soaked platform allows it to recover from some of its injuries, much like a hospital bed laid out in a safe place.

However, it seems its injuries were too severe, resulting in the limited healing ability of the Blood Platform, leaving it still in a state of repair and sealed away, unable to awaken.

Of course, this was good news for Lin Ming. After all, if the Mandala Flower had awakened, it would possess consciousness, and naturally it wouldn't allow Lin Ming to collect it.

How could a divine flower of the Upper-Rank Earth Sovereign level, possessing sentience, obediently follow a Half-Step Earth Sovereign being? It was already being kind of it not to devour Lin Ming on the spot.

But now that it's asleep, it's different. It only has instincts.

What is the instinct of a plant when it is severely injured? It is naturally the rich vitality of the Wood Attribute. Just like a tree that is about to die smelling the moisture in the desert, it will desperately take root in that direction.

As for the life force of the Wood Attribute, supported by the World Origin and the Bodhi Ancient Tree, Lin Ming doesn't believe anyone can compare to him.

The ancient Bodhi Ancient Tree within his Inner World was rooted in the center of the world, its canopy reaching the sky, its roots spreading to every corner of the earth, and the Wood Element elemental essence it absorbed and exhaled daily was like an endless ocean.

He drew a wisp of life force from the roots of that ancient tree; the life force was so dense that it resembled a mass of compressed green slurry.

At that moment, Lin Ming immediately gathered an extremely rich life force from the Bodhi Ancient Tree and directed it toward the Mandala Flower.

The life force condensed in his palm into a turquoise ball of light about the size of a pigeon egg. Fine wood grain flowed across the surface of the ball, like a miniature ancient tree that had been condensed.

He gently pushed the ball of light forward, and it drifted towards the Mandala Flower like a firefly that had been released.

The Mandala Flower was initially instinctively wary of this sudden, abundant vitality.

Its originally slightly drooping flowers lifted up a little, and the dark purple patterns on the petals suddenly accelerated their flow, like a group of disturbed snakes slithering across the flower's surface.

The golden specks at the center of the flower also brightened a bit, like a swarm of startled fireflies flitting about inside.

However, it is now dormant and no longer possesses intelligence, so its vigilance was ultimately replaced by an instinctive desire to receive this wisp of life force.

The emerald green light was absorbed the moment it touched the petal, like a drop of water being absorbed into a sponge.

After absorbing the life force of the Bodhi Ancient Tree, one of the very short and thin black lines that covered the Mandala Flower disappeared.

Those black lines were like rusty needles stuck in the meridians, and at this moment, they were dissolved by the force of the Wood Element's life force.

For a moment, its flower swayed gently, as if longing to continue existing.

The swaying was extremely subtle, like a cat licking its lips after taking a big bite.

Seeing this, Lin Ming smiled and gathered an even larger wisp of light, which converged towards the Mandala Flower.

This time, he condensed a fist-sized ball of emerald green light, the life force within it several times denser than before, like a green sun compressed to its extreme.

However, this wisp stopped just as it was about to reach the Mandala Flower.

The ball of light hovered about three feet in front of the Mandala Flower, like a piece of meat hanging in front of a hungry dog.

It looked as if it were telling the Mandala Flower: If you want it, move a little closer to take it.

Under this rich Life Aura, the Mandala Flower also stirred slightly, its movement like a cat that had smelled fish and hesitated for a moment before finally unable to resist extending its paw.

It moved a fraction of a distance, absorbing that wisp of life force into its body.

The flower stem leaned forward, like a bamboo stalk bent under its weight, and the golden light in the center of the flower illuminated for a moment.

In an instant, another black line inside its body disappeared.

The black line was thicker and longer than the previous one. As it dissipated, a wisp of very faint black smoke drifted out from the gaps in the petals and vanished into the air in an instant.

At this moment, it swayed even more violently, its longing growing even stronger.

The whole flower is like a person who has walked in the desert for three days and finally sees water, wishing they could uproot themselves from the Lotus Pedestal and rush over.

Seeing this, Lin Ming immediately gathered more Bodhi Ancient Tree life force to form orbs of light. These orbs were about the size of a fist and floated in the air one after another, separated by several feet, like a string of candies placed on the ground.

He moved the orbs of light backward along a path, the end of which led to his Inner World.

The entrance was on his chest, like a door that had been pushed open a crack, through which a green light shone.

The Mandala Flower moved little by little, absorbing these orbs of light into Lin Ming's body and bringing them to the entrance of his Inner World.

With each pill it inhaled, it moved forward one step, from the edge of the Blood Jade Lotus Platform to outside the platform, from outside the platform to the stone steps, and from the stone steps to Lin Ming's chest.

The process was extremely slow, like a snail crawling along a line sprinkled with salt.

But each time it hesitated, the time it spent absorbing the light became shorter and shorter, and the speed at which it absorbed the light became faster and faster, like a little beast that had been fed and was becoming less and less afraid of people.

For a moment, it hesitated.

The flower stopped three feet in front of Lin Ming's chest, its stem tilting back slightly, like a cat that had already stepped onto the threshold but was still pulling back.

However, faced with the extremely dense life force before it, it ultimately stepped through the entrance and entered Lin Ming's Inner World.

The flower was enveloped in a layer of emerald light the moment it touched the entrance.

At that moment, he glanced at the vanished Mandala Flower on the blood-red Lotus Pedestal, then turned his gaze to his Inner World.

There, a black flower was slowly unfurling, gently supported by the roots of the Bodhi Ancient Tree, like a fish released back into the water, slowly adapting to its new pond.

In an instant, a wide smile spread across Lin Ming's face.