Chapter 408: Thorn Plane
“Dear audience, as of now, the third stage of the Transformation Trial, the Lava Lake Secret Realm, has concluded. Below are the latest rankings of all trial participants…”
As the third stage of the Transformation Trial drew to a close, John Jones, the host standing on a flying magic tool, held the newly updated score ranking list and announced it to the entire audience.
By now, only twenty-one participants remained in the Bonsai Secret Realm, with thirty-four having been eliminated.
The first place was taken by Louis Tor-Turan, with a current score of one hundred and sixty-two points.
There were two individuals tied for second place.
They were Maguire-Storm and Hai La - Herheim, both tied for second with one hundred and fifty-two points, only ten points behind Louis Tor-Turan in first place.
Third place went to Kunbu-Poison Spine, who currently had one hundred and two points, a significant fifty-point gap from second place. Fourth place was still held by Daisy Hathaway, who was in third place in the previous round, closely following with ninety-two points.
And Jia Na, who had repeatedly performed astonishing feats, only had eighty-two points so far, sharing fifth place with three other participants—
“Miss Jia Na’s ranking has finally gone up!”
In the audience of the Glory Arena, Goblin Billy, upon hearing Jia Na’s ranking, couldn’t help but cheer in a low voice.
“Yes, the ranking has finally improved.”
Upon hearing Jia Na’s latest ranking, Gavin-Tuer also felt relieved. However, he was more concerned about Jia Na.
“I hope the next two stages will have scenarios suitable for Jia Na to perform in—”
“Rumble—”
The volcano collapsed, and the lava dried up.
In the intense magic storm, the original volcanic scene disappeared, replaced by a swamp scene surrounded by thorns and poisonous miasma.
Among them, the continuous hissing of poisonous insects within the miasma sent shivers down one’s spine.
“This is—”
Opening her eyes and looking at the completely new scene before her, a strange glint flashed in Jia Na’s eyes.
“Thorn Plane?”
An endless poisonous miasma swamp, a gloomy and terrifying thorn forest—as the first Elemental Plane where Jia Na successfully completed Elf Summoning, she would definitely not mistake the place.
However, feeling the hissing of poisonous insects from all directions, Jia Na always felt something was missing.
“This Thorn Plane is not real; it’s just a projection.”
As a Summoning apprentice extremely familiar with the Thorn Plane, Jia Na quickly noticed the anomaly here.
Besides the lack of biological diversity, the absence of the plane will also made Jia Na realize that the various elemental scenes within the Bonsai Secret Realm were likely just projected illusions from real Elemental Planes.
“Boom—”
As the final roar ended, the thorny swamp terrain outside the meditation formation was completely set, and the surrounding violent elemental particles gradually stabilized until they returned to normal.
“Ever-changing!”
The first to act the moment the Elemental Tide ended was Kunbu-Poison Spine, who possessed an A-level Insect Language talent.
“Hiss—”
This time, Kunbu-Poison Spine transformed into a highly venomous yellow wasp, roughly the size of a fist, with a dark yellow body and a bit of fuzz on its head.
After completing his transformation, Kunbu-Poison Spine quickly rushed into the poisonous miasma and disappeared from sight.
“Ever-changing—”
Looking at the direction where Kunbu-Poison Spine quickly disappeared, the other participants also subtly felt something was wrong. Therefore, to prevent any accidents, everyone completed their transformations immediately.
This time, all participants’ transformation ideas were very simple; most transformed into insects or stones, or other creatures that consumed less magic, and hid themselves.
“It seems everyone’s magic power is almost depleted.”
Even Louis Tor-Turan and Hai La - Herheim adopted a conservative strategy in this round; one transformed into an inconspicuous bird and flew onto a thorn tree, and the other transformed into a raven and hid in the shadows, neither showing any intention of continuing to fight.
“Buzz—.”
Just as Jia Na was still observing, a chilling hiss suddenly sounded again. In the poisonous miasma, a cloud-like swarm of poisonous insects flew from all directions, rushing towards the meditation formation.
“They’ve come, as expected.”
Looking at the constantly approaching poisonous insects, Jia Na’s face showed no surprise.
Just now, Jia Na, who possessed the ability of Natural Communication, almost immediately activated the surrounding thorns to monitor Kunbu-Poison Spine the moment he flew out of the meditation formation.
And just as Jia Na had thought, after Kunbu-Poison Spine left the meditation formation, he quickly hid inside a tree hollow.
Immediately after, dense swarms of poisonous insects, as if receiving a command, flew in unison around the tree hollow where Kunbu-Poison Spine was, and in the next moment, all the poisonous insects systematically surrounded the entire meditation formation, poised to attack everyone.
“It seems that besides Maguire-Storm and Louis Tor-Turan, Kunbu-Poison Spine is the third participant to master a Law Fragment.”
Moreover, the Law Fragment mastered by Kunbu-Poison Spine should have an ability very similar to his A-level Insect Language talent,
which is controlling insect swarms.
“Buzz—”
As the hissing of the insect swarm grew closer, those participants who had transformed into birds or other insects and hidden in the trees had no choice but to retreat back into the meditation formation.
“These poisonous insects seem to be under command; no matter where you hide, they will find you!”
Not only the participants who transformed into birds and insects, but also those who transformed into stones were surrounded by a swarm of poisonous insects, which continuously corroded them with acidic venom. In a short while, the entire surface of the stones was riddled with holes, forcing those participants to activate their Magic-Sealed Rings prematurely.
“We must unite to eliminate these poisonous insects, otherwise, no one will escape!”
The speaker was a male participant who had just escaped from a tree back to the meditation formation and transformed back into human form from an insect.
However, upon hearing his words, the others did not immediately respond, still maintaining a wait-and-see attitude, seeking the most beneficial solution.
“Rustle—”
Just as everyone was in a state of anxiety, a strange sound suddenly came from underground.
“There’s a sound underground.”
The first to give the warning was Daisy Hathaway, who was currently ranked fourth in points. However, before she could finish speaking, a emerald green thorn, as thick as an arm, suddenly emerged from the ground and tightly wrapped around her calf.
