Chapter 958: Fighting Separately; The Vine King (II)
Deep within Withered Wood Ridge stood a valley shaped like the crater of a low volcano. Five streaks of light tore through the forest canopy like meteors before descending into the area below. The moment they landed, all five expressions shifted slightly.
Outside the valley, enormous white vines as thick as water barrels had already risen upright, staring at them like predators lying in wait. The Angler stepped past Saberstorm and moved to the very front. “There are quite a lot of them. Over a hundred, at least. Looks like we're in for a tough fight.”
More than a hundred fourth-tier vines meant over a hundred early-stage Adepts. Although their abilities were crude, and they relied on little more than instinctive attacks like binding and piercing, their sheer numbers alone were enough to make the team feel a weight pressing on their hearts. Still, with the combined strength of the five of them, the situation was far from hopeless. If they avoided a direct clash and instead took their time drawing the vines apart and eliminating them one by one, this battle would not actually be too difficult. But it was obvious that the Angler had no intention of proceeding so cautiously. From the very beginning, his goal had been to force his way through the valley and charge straight into the Vine King's nest.
The Angler suddenly turned around. "Surely, none of you intend to run away now, right?"
A foul wind swept through the jagged rocks and brushed across the faces of the four cultivators. Saberstorm lowered his massive saber toward the ground and said in a hoarse voice, "They're nothing but plants. Just cut them down!"
Huangfu Song loudly declared, "Angler, you promised me. Once this mission is over, the Society will negotiate with the Chen family on my behalf!"
Envoy Star Catcher glanced around the battlefield and shook his head. "What a pity. These Withered Blood Vines don't have demon cores; they could've been used to forge stars."
Luo Chen remained silent, though a massive hammer was already in his grip. Seeing this, the Angler gave a satisfied nod. With a casual flick, a black-golden long pole appeared before him, and a thread with a charred end fluttered in the wind. "Good. Seems none of you have lost your nerve. In that case, fight however you see fit!"
The moment those words fell, the battle erupted.
As though responding to some unseen signal, the fourth-tier vines that had long been poised to strike suddenly shot through the air like arrows loosed from a bow. The five cultivators reacted almost immediately, each running off in a different direction. The mass of vines also responded by splitting into five separate groups and giving chase. Of the five, the largest group pursued the Angler, while the smallest went after Luo Chen.
A faint smile tugged at Luo Chen's lips when he saw that, though it quickly gave way to confusion as he watched the Angler charge straight toward the valley alone. He actually dares to provoke the Vine King by himself?
Yet before the thought could develop any further, the swarm of Withered Blood Vines pursuing him had already closed in from behind.
Whoosh!
A pair of wings spread open behind him as he shot into the sky with a giant hammer in hand. Below him, thick white vines writhed wildly as they pursued him. Luo Chen burst into full speed, weaving and turning with effortless control like a crimson meteor streaking across the battlefield. The sluggish vines could not catch him at all. Meanwhile, the giant hammer in his grasp rose and fell without pause, each swing carrying the force of a blacksmith forging iron. Violent blows crashed down one after another. It was his first time using the Flowing Fire Hammer Technique in combat. The result... was far from ideal.
The vines struck by the hammer would weaken briefly, yet after crashing to the ground and lying still for a moment, they would simply rise again and resume the pursuit as though nothing had happened.
Luo Chen frowned and sent his divine consciousness across the other battlefields. He understood why the Angler had chosen a strategy where everyone fought separately. After all, none of the five truly knew each other well, and their fighting styles would inevitably clash. If their techniques interfered with each other during the battle, it would only create problems. By separating and maintaining distance, each could use their own strength to its fullest extent.
Under his observation, everyone's combat style became clear. Saberstorm was as fierce and unrestrained as anyone could be. His every slash unleashed torrents of saber energy. He stood rooted in place like a mountain, yet none of the vines could force their way within three zhang of him. He was truly overbearing beyond comparison!
Compared to Saberstorm's domineering approach, Envoy Star Catcher appeared far calmer. He strode through the jagged mountain paths with strange footwork, moving as smoothly as if he were walking on level ground. Whenever a fourth-tier vine attacked, multicolored streaks of starlight would shoot forth in response. This was the Heavenly Demon Star Sect's famous Starlight Art, an art that countless cultivators praised. But in Luo Chen's spirit eyes, it was something else entirely. Those streaks of starlight were actually the inner cores of Demon Kings! Using Demon King inner cores to cast spells was quite the feat, as expected of a former powerhouse from a great sect. Even amidst such an intense battle, he still carried himself with the ease of a man taking a casual stroll.
Meanwhile, Huangfu Song looked far more strained. At first, he attempted to sever the vines with his sword, but the fourth-tier ones were unbelievably tough. His sword energy lacked the overwhelming sharpness of Saberstorm's saber energy and could not cut them apart in a single strike. Once that failed, he tried to imitate Luo Chen by widening the distance between himself and the vines. Unfortunately, the encirclement had already taken shape by then. Left with no other choice, he was forced to resort to a trump card. Purple light erupted from his body and spread across the surrounding area for several li. Within that purple glow, his sword energy seemed to gain some sort of enhancement, and his movements gradually became smoother and more effortless. Luo Chen was very familiar with that purple light—back on Surging Lake, when he had trapped Huangfu Song within Mirror Flower Water Moon, that same light had erupted. It seemed it was the ability that Huangfu Song relied upon most heavily.
After swiftly observing everyone's battlefields, he quickly arrived at a conclusion of his own. Blunt attacks won't do much against these fourth-tier vines. Better to switch to piercing and cutting attacks instead. Too bad the Mystic Flame Sword's gone.... Still, I've got other methods.
With that, he stored the Flowing Fire Hammer away. Freed from the hammer's power, the white vines surging up from below became even more frenzied in their pursuit. He ignored them entirely and merely opened his mouth. A wisp of pale smoke trailed out, and he looked at it with regret. Ever since the battle on Coldlight Island, this was the final strand left of the Blazing Fire Miasma he had refined from Withering-Flourishing Fiend Qi. He had originally intended to use this final strand as a foundation and slowly restore the complete Blazing Fire Miasma over time. Unfortunately, the past few years had been consumed by artifact creation, leaving him with no opportunity to replenish it.
But this technique isn't all that useful to me anymore anyway. Might as well let it have one final show here at Withered Wood Ridge.
As he muttered to himself, mana surged violently from his body. Along with it came strands of green fire—the Withering-Flourishing True Fire! The Withering-Flourishing Fiend Qi had been born from lands scorched year-round by that very fire. Now, empowered by its original source and amplified by Luo Chen's mana, the pale smoke instantly transformed into a boundless blazing haze. He pressed a palm downward. The blazing torrent crashed toward the pursuing vines below, and in the next instant, the white vines collided with it head-on.
The stench of scorched rot quickly spread through the air. Yet even within the Blazing Fire Miasma, the fourth-tier vines continued thrashing madly!
Luo Chen gritted his teeth and poured out even more mana into it. "BUUUUURN!"
The crackling sound of burning grew louder and louder. High in the sky, over a dozen enormous vines became engulfed in it, their twisting forms resembling azure dragons writhing through the sky. The highly corrosive Withering-Flourishing Fiend Qi invaded them to the core, eroding every fiber from deep within them and destroying them from the inside out. The struggle continued for the better part of the time required to drink a cup of tea. Only when Luo Chen began to feel the strain of exhaustion did those azure dragons finally lose their strength and crash powerlessly onto the ground.
BOOM!
Luo Chen descended as well. He frowned as he looked at the fourth-tier vines still twitching and struggling across the earth. Yeah, as expected. They may have Adept-level power, but their abilities are far too limited. Once someone finds the right counter, they fall apart pretty quickly. Still... their vitality is ridiculously tenacious.
He took a breath and circulated his mana once more. Then, he quickly formed seals before his fingers came together in a sword gesture. Streams of sword energy shot forth at once. It was the Sword of the Golden Harvest! The spell itself was only second-tier and technically not even a true combat spell, but rather a technique used by spirit botanists for harvesting. Yet against wood sprites, it possessed surprisingly effective killing power.
Under the barrage of sword energy, the white vines writhing on the ground were instantly severed, and at that point, their vigorous vitality vanished completely. Seeing this, Luo Chen instinctively looked toward the valley. These offshoots really are drawing their vitality from the main body...
The moment he looked up, he saw the Angler stepping across countless mangled fourth-tier vines. They had all been shredded to bits by a razor-thin thread as the man steadily ascended to the peak.
Upon reaching it, the Angler turned and looked down upon the battlefield below. Within his sight, Luo Chen stood calmly, with empty hands and no enemies around him. Not far away, Saberstorm retreated with his massive saber dragging behind him. He was not moving fast, yet not a single white vine continued chasing him. Meanwhile, Envoy Star Catcher raised his hand toward the void. Streaks of starlight flew back toward him one after another.
The only battle that had yet to conclude was the region shrouded in purple light. A few moments later, accompanied by a furious roar, a massive square seal came crashing down from above, smashing the fourth-tier vines covering the ground into paste. As the Angler looked upon that seal, a satisfied smile slowly surfaced on his face.
He then shouted, "Now that your offshoots are gone, it's time for you to come out!"
As if on cue, the earth quaked violently. An incomparably vast pillar of spirit energy shot straight into the sky. The five Adepts raised their heads to stare upward, and their eyes widened at the sight. From within that towering column of spirit energy, a massive white vine stretched across the sky like a dragon.
