Chapter 4675 — The False-Man Vine

More than a dozen vines as thick as buckets suddenly burst upward from the ground, tearing through the air with a terrifying roar, sweeping toward the group at a speed the eye could scarcely follow, blotting out earth and sky!

After so much monotony, everyone had grown more or less careless, and the assault of these giant vines came so abruptly and so violently that the three walking at the very front—Ren Zhongyuan, Yi Xiaotian, and Yao Jiali—had no chance to react at all. In an instant they were struck by the vines. Only Wei Zhao, who had been on his guard all along, and Huo Yudie, whom he had yanked aside, barely escaped disaster.

Even so, Ren Zhongyuan and the other two were, after all, masters at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage. Caught off guard and unable to dodge, they still managed a hasty defense.

The instant the giant vines struck, a layer of golden true qi simultaneously covered Ren Zhongyuan and Yi Xiaotian. The vines seemed utterly unable to shake that golden defense; to Wei Zhao it felt like the legendary Golden Bell Shield.

Yao Jiali, though not as rigidly armored as the other two, proved extraordinarily agile. Her whole body twisted and whipped like a water snake, and at the very last moment she just barely evaded the vital spots, though she could not help being grazed a little. Besides, she wore a suit of azure soft armor, and this much force it could easily withstand.

At the sight, Wei Zhao's eyebrows rose slightly. A poor character, perhaps, but their strength was beyond doubt—worthy elites of East Isle Academy. Even other masters at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage might not have responded so promptly.

Still, all three came away battered and filthy. That single exchange had nearly knocked them down into the valley; they were driven reeling back, and only after retreating some distance did they stare in horror at the mass of giant vines ahead—writhing and clawing, very much like some monstrous octopus: "What in the world is that?!"

While the others stood stunned, Huo Yudie could not help glancing at Wei Zhao. Had he not pulled her aside, she would surely have ended up like Ren Zhongyuan and the others—not injured, perhaps, but utterly disgraced.

Guarding warily as they slowly drew back, the group studied the giant vines that had sprung from nowhere. What astonished them was that this whole massive tangle grew from a single root system—in other words, all that earth-and-sky-shrouding menace came from one plant!

Wei Zhao looked to the base of the可怕 plant. Before, hidden in the sand, it had been hard to detect, but now it was plain that its enormous roots had driven deep into the entire mountain path, completely blocking the way ahead.

"How can such a monstrous plant exist?" Yao Jiali cried out in horror as the giant vines looked ready to attack again. The others could not help exchanging glances. A moment ago they had thought the journey dull; now they had their wish—and a fine mess it was!

That brief clash had made it clear: the strength of this giant vine monster was at least above the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage. Even joining forces, the few of them might not have much chance of victory against such a bizarre creature.

Huo Yudie, having retreated to a safe distance to observe carefully, suddenly spoke up: "This is a False-Man Vine—a vine monster that has attained spiritual awareness. I once read of it in an ancient text!"

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was somewhat surprised as well. He had seen any number of powerful spirit beasts, but plants were rare—not that he had never encountered one. At least there was something similar in the back hills of North Isle; on that trip to Half-Moon Lake, if that ghostly thing had not cowed it, Wei Zhao would long since have become a heap of fertilizer.

Though Wei Zhao's strength then had been far below what it was now, instinct told him that this False-Man Vine, formidable as it was, could not remotely compare with the monster in the back hills of North Isle. After all, the whole of Half-Moon Lake had been that creature's body, and even the ghostly thing could do nothing to it. This False-Man Vine clearly had not reached such a level.

Wei Zhao weighed the matter inwardly. Judging from the brief exchange between Ren Zhongyuan and the others and this False-Man Vine, his own strength should be enough to slay it—but whether the lot of them together could manage was another matter.

"That's right, now I remember!" Having heard Huo Yudie out, Yi Xiaotian suddenly exclaimed: "This is an ancient battlefield—fragments of intent and spiritual qi linger everywhere. Plants here absorb them and very likely mutate. That is how the False-Man Vine comes to be!"

"It likely absorbs more than mere intent and spiritual qi," Ren Zhongyuan said with a wary look. "It may well swallow up the lingering primordial spirits of the battlefield as well—otherwise how could it become such a terrifying monster?" Their escape unharmed just now had been pure luck; his protective Golden Bell had nearly been smashed apart by the giant vines, and if that had happened, the consequences were unthinkable.

"Ah! Then... then what do we do?" Yao Jiali's face paled further. Of the three she had come off the worst, and the terror the False-Man Vine inspired in her ran all the deeper. In her panic she blurted out: "We're here to harvest Longlife Root—this is the only route, isn't it?"

"You!" Ren Zhongyuan's expression changed at once. He shot Yao Jiali a furious glare, clearly enraged that she had blurted out the purpose of their journey.

"Uh..." Only then did Yao Jiali realize her mistake. They were not the only ones present. Huo Yudie was one thing, but Wei Zhao, an outsider, was trailing along behind them.

"Never mind, no harm in the boy knowing—he has nothing to do with it anyway!" Yi Xiaotian smoothed things over for her. That was the truth of it: Wei Zhao, merely at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage, was beneath their notice. For the sake of Shangguan Tianxia's name, they would toss him a little something and be done with it. But if he had the gall to stick his hand out for rare heaven-and-earth treasures of the peerless grade, then they would have to teach him a proper lesson.

As the three talked, Wei Zhao was secretly muttering to himself: and what in the world was this Longlife Root?

But from the sound of it, their goal was not the same as Huo Yudie's after all—which meant they knew nothing of her search for the Lei Xuan Vine?

On reflection, that was only natural. Though they belonged to the same academy, the rivalry between them was fierce enough to be called water and fire; true exchange of information was impossible, especially where a strategic-grade treasure like the Lei Xuan Vine was concerned. Huo Yudie had most likely learned of it from her master Liu Ziqi, who was on good terms with West Isle. Ren Zhongyuan and the others probably had no such connections.