The Flower Fiend Cowered Underground; One Word Silenced the Clamor, and Snow Descended upon the Mortal World

A thick, sickly-sweet reek mingled with the stench of rotting flesh burst out of the ground.

The smell was overpowering.

It was as though hundreds of Soul Beast carcasses rotting in a swamp had been ground into putrid mush.

The leaves of the lush plants and trees nearby immediately yellowed and curled upon contact with that foul air.

Their verdant vitality was forcibly drained, leaving a stretch of rotten mud that gave off black fumes.

The Heavenly Black Monkey leaped back in disgust, pinched its nose tightly between two thick fingers, and kept hurling insults at the top of its lungs.

"Good grief, this thing is hideous!"

"You're so ugly it hurts to look at you! You're about to make me puke up the bananas I ate last month!"

As it cursed, it made exaggerated retching motions.

Following the black monkey's disgusted gaze revealed the sight ahead.

An absurdly enormous plant occupied the center of the split earth.

Its entire body was a sickly deep purple, its flower head as large as a millstone, with serrated fangs lining its edges.

Nauseating, viscous drool dribbled from deep within its center.

The Snow Empress shifted her beautiful eyes, inspecting the enormous flower head.

"It's a Soul-Eating Overlord Flower," she said with certainty.

"One of the top plant-type Soul Beasts. It's naturally adept at illusions and toxins."

"This creature is extremely cunning. It loves disguising its surroundings and survives by luring in and killing high-level Soul Beasts that pass overhead."

The Snow Empress's gaze settled on the main vines, each thicker than a bucket.

"Judging by its astonishing size and that purplish-black layer of toxic keratin covering its vines..."

"Its cultivation is at least ninety thousand years."

"Ninety thousand? And here I thought it was something impressive!"

The Heavenly Black Monkey curled its