Chapter 2262: A Flower Covers the City

The hole was large enough to comfortably accommodate two or three people.

They lay sturdily on the ground. Sun Hongye couldn't see any stems or leaves and couldn't resist reaching out to touch a petal. It was fleshy, firm, and elastic. A flower growing this large was spectacular, but not beautiful. Yet, they possessed an extraordinary fragrance, more intense and intoxicating than jasmine.

"I've never seen such large flowers before!" Sun Hongye recalled. "I once read about a type of man-eating flower in a casual book that also seemed to lack stems and leaves, but it emitted a strange, putrid smell to attract prey."

"Good memory," Pu Hua said, pointing at the large flowers on the ground with a smile. "These are man-eating flowers."

"..." Sun Hongye swiftly pulled his hand back. "But this fragrance?"

Man-eating flowers usually emit a putrid stench.

"We've made some improvements to them. Otherwise, no one could stand in this room."

The temperature in the room was a bit high; an ordinary person would start sweating after standing there for a while. The ground was made of damp, moist soil, with an occasional snail crawling out. If a foul stench were added, anyone who entered would likely flee immediately.

Just then, two flower ants emerged from small holes in the ground. Each was as large as a calf.

Madam Zhu took out a token and waved it in front of them, saying, "To the Crimson Cloud Golden Palace."

The flower ants then turned around and gently touched the large flowers on the ground with their antennae.

It was unclear what "password" they activated, but after about three to five breaths, a huge fleshy bubble squelched out from the man-eating flower's opening.

It was dark red, somewhat transparent, and a little sticky.

"This is called a spore sphere. Go inside."

Madam Zhu was concise and directly pushed herself into the fleshy bubble.

Despite her body being covered in stiff bristles and thorns, the outer membrane of the spore sphere did not break; instead, she squeezed right inside.

Sun Hongye and Pu Hua also squeezed in. The sensation was like jumping into a muddy bog—gloomy, wet, and cold, not at all comfortable.

But they still got in, like ants squeezing into a large soap bubble without it bursting.

"Sit down, we're about to move," Madam Zhu said, her voice becoming muffled and booming in the confined space.

"This isn't a teleportation array, is it?"

Sun Hongye looked around. Outside the spore sphere were dark red, fleshy walls, crisscrossed with thick red lines resembling blood vessels, which looked somewhat alarming.

"Of course not!" Madam Zhu exclaimed, curling herself into a ball, as her bristles would otherwise prick them. "Even with the current abundance of spiritual energy, imagine how much it would cost to build a teleportation array covering the entire city! And how much more to use it daily for travel! Even Beijia wouldn't dare be so extravagant; they only set them up between the floating islands and the ground."

Pu Hua stifled a laugh.

Madam Zhu used to view money as dirt, but having been influenced by the Emperor's presence, she now found herself talking about money constantly.

"This thing is a demon puppet with earth-burrowing abilities," Madam Zhu explained, stomping on the spore sphere. "The main root of this man-eating flower is deeply embedded beneath the entire city of Ju, and the spore spheres we're riding in normally travel between the plant's branches and stems to transport nutrients."

Sun Hongye understood and was astonished. "One plant? Can a single man-eating flower really penetrate the entire underside of Ju City?"

Elsewhere, a single tree forming a forest would be remarkable, but beneath Ju City, there was a single flower covering the entire city!

"Indeed."

Madam Zhu did not elaborate.

Normal monsters could never grow to such exaggerated proportions.

This man-eating flower was Dong Rui's proud creation, and its sequence number was ninety-nine.

He possessed divine blood and the blood of a divine son. Therefore, he drew inspiration from the concept of flesh-and-blood fortresses, transforming this man-eating flower demon puppet into a massive underground network carrier.

"We're riding in spores," Sun Hongye mused. "Does that mean this man-eating flower is treating us as nutrients being transported?"

"A teachable child," Madam Zhu responded. "Precisely."

"...It doesn't eat people, does it?" Sun Hongye asked, as voluntarily sitting inside the mouth of a man-eating flower still required considerable courage.

"The primary consciousness of the man-eating flower has been erased," Pu Hua interjected, "and it's nourished by mysterious crystals, so it no longer hunts living creatures. However, it retains some instincts; if attacked, the flowers will retract underground, and the plant can also self-repair. Using this method to transport personnel over long distances is a bit slower, but it consumes less than half a percent of the energy a teleportation array would."

The man-eating flower itself requires spore spheres to travel throughout its body to transport nutrients, so carrying extra people along is not an issue.

This internal transport system is efficient and energy-saving.

As they spoke, the spore sphere began to move, picking up speed, sometimes swaying.

But overall, it was quite stable.

After approximately fifty breaths, it slowed down again and finally came to a stop.

"We've arrived."

The three squeezed out of the spore sphere again. This time, they emerged from another orange-red house.

The Crimson Cloud Golden Palace was now within reach, appearing even more majestic and grand.

With Madam Zhu leading the way, holding her token, the three successfully passed through the palace gate.

Behind the gate stood an ancient maple tree, its trunk thicker than an old door panel. This ancient tree had been planted at the Crimson Cloud Golden Palace during the Age of the Inverted Sea.

Upon reaching this point, Madam Zhu raised a forepaw and drew a circle in mid-air.

The air in front shimmered, and a round mirror, taller than a person, slowly emerged from the void.

"This is the Haoyuan Golden Mirror," Madam Zhu said, as she and Pu Hua stood still. "Please enter; Jiuyou will be here to see you soon."

Sun Hongye cautiously reached his hand into the mirror. His fingers met nothing, but felt a slight chill.

Since arriving at Julu Port, he had seen countless strange objects, and by now, he was no longer surprised.

He composed himself and stepped into the mirror.

The next second, he found himself standing beneath a sweet osmanthus tree, facing a Vermilion Cloud Gate.

The scenery shifted instantly.

The palace walls around him were very high.

Two palace attendants approached, their smiles exceptionally warm:

"This way, Mister Sun. The Emperor is currently meeting with foreign envoys and will see you shortly."

He looked back. The Haoyuan Golden Mirror had vanished, and only a lingering discomfort in his stomach reminded him that he had just been teleported.

Sun Hongye was led to the Flowing Fragrance Stream.

It was a mountain stream, where clear springs flowed down over rocks, making three cascading turns and murmuring softly. The palace attendant said that after a fresh rain, the stream would transform into a waterfall.

It was called "Flowing Fragrance" because the sides of the rocky stream were covered in flowers, like two long, hanging flower carpets. When the morning breeze blew, a subtle fragrance wafted through the air.

Turning around to look back, Ju City lay at his feet.

The Flowing Fragrance Stream was located halfway up the mountain, a hundred zhang above the ground, offering a view of roughly half of Ju City's full expanse.

From this elevated vantage point, the city appeared meticulously planned, shaded by lush trees, combining beauty with grandeur.

He now had a more direct impression of the vastness of Ju City.

By the stream stood a small pavilion, guarded by two figures whose backs were straighter than tree trunks.

The palace attendant asked him to wait there, then bowed and withdrew.

Sun Hongye noticed a small red clay stove burning by the table, with a kettle boiling water on it. On the table were a lacquered wooden box and a basket.

Seeing no one else around, he casually opened the lacquered box, and cool air wafted out. Inside were large, plump strawberries, each one a vibrant, juicy red.

He then lifted the cloth covering the basket, and found it filled with large red dates.

Sun Hongye froze for a moment, and memories from the past suddenly resurfaced.