Chapter 7: Frenzied Battle (Part 2)

The mutated ironback bear let out painful roars as branches of Soul Vine Wood pierced its wounds. Hanging about ten meters above the ground, the four watched the bear’s miserable state. Guo Shier took a deep breath and said, “Strangled to death… Soul Vine Wood is truly monstrous.”
Li Ran said, “Shier, what are you waiting for? Seize the bear’s soul!”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Alright!” Countless tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi descended from the altar and swiftly pierced into the bear’s body. The poor mutated bear couldn’t resist at all; its soul was forcibly dragged out by the tentacles. The Soul Vine Wood thrashed wildly in an attempt to stop Guo Shier, but since the Ancient Xi Bi’s tentacles were also forms of soul, the Soul Vine Wood crushed a few of them—useless—only for them to reform quickly.
The bear’s massive body began to convulse, and in the blink of an eye, this level-14 mutated ironback bear lost its life force. The Soul Vine Wood went berserk—it needed not only the bear’s flesh but also its soul to grow stronger. With Guo Shier having taken its soul, how could it not go mad? Countless branches retracted from the bear’s body and lashed out viciously.
Li Ran laughed, “This thing can even get angry? It’s unbelievable!” He casually sent out a beam of silver light, which with loud *pops* severed several thick roots in an instant. Then, with his golden hand, he grabbed a clump of vines and said, “Not bad. This time, the quality of the Soul Vine Wood is even higher.”
Facing Li Ran, the Soul Vine Wood was like encountering its nemesis—it couldn’t resist at all.
Guo Shier laughed, “If the Soul Vine Wood could speak, it would definitely be crying. Hehe.”
Seeming to realize that these people were hard to deal with and having suffered losses repeatedly, the Soul Vine Wood had no choice but to retreat. In an instant, the vines that covered the bear’s body retracted back into the ground, leaving only holes everywhere.
Yang Miluo exclaimed in surprise, “It ran away… The Soul Vine Wood has become sentient. Hehe.”
Guo Shier said, “Its losses aren’t severe. Retreating is wise. If it continued to fight, its losses would be even greater. Smart Soul Vine Wood… Hehe. I’m actually giving such an evaluation to a plant. Unbelievable.”
The cries for help grew more urgent. Guo Shier asked, “Should we save them?”
The three of them gave Guo Shier strange looks. Yang Miluo asked, “Why save them?”

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. He knew saving people was troublesome—not all members of the Gu family were good people. He had seen some professionals who repaid kindness with harm before. After thinking for a while, he said, “Let’s find the main root system first. Hehe, as long as we remove it, they’ll naturally be freed from trouble.”

Li Ran said, “Okay. Let’s divide up this mutated rune bear. I don’t want any part of it.”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “Hehe, there are so many prey here. I want some of their blood and hearts, as well as some fur. Hmm, I’ll need one of their claws too. The rest can be left behind.”

Soon, the three of them finished dividing up the prey and quickly cut it apart to collect it. All three were altar-level experts, so it was very easy for them to handle a mutated ironback bear, even though it was huge in size.

In a short while, nothing was left except for the smell of blood on the ground.

Guo Shier pricked up his ears and said, “There are still cries for help. It seems there’s no major problem for now.”

Li Ran held a branch of the soul vine wood he had just obtained, sensed it, and said, “Head to the right! Shier, Yang Miluo, clear the way!”

Guo Shier and Yang Miluo exchanged smiles, summoned their sacred treasures, and continued to clear the path.

The group had already heard the noise of Guo Shier and the others breaking through the forest, so their cries for help grew more urgent. The four of them ignored them and rushed deeper into the forest. Since they had entered this place, they had to be prepared to make sacrifices. They couldn’t afford to waste even a little time, so there was no need for them to try to rescue them.

If they dared enter the Great Abyss Pool without enough strength, they shouldn’t complain. In fact, all the professionals who entered shared this understanding. But when they heard movement and felt they were about to give out, they still couldn’t help but call for help.

Li Ran said, “We’re almost there… Be careful!” Before his words faded, countless vines shot up from the ground and wildly wrapped around them. Guo Shier and Yang Miluo quickly retreated, while Li Ran and Fan Zhen stepped forward to hold them off.

Perhaps the soul vine wood sensed the approaching danger, so it attacked frantically, trying to stop these annoying humans.

The vines this time were different from those that appeared earlier. Instead of a light green color, they were dark green, more resilient, and stronger. Fan Zhen, who could easily cut through the moving branches before, now found it difficult. He kept retreating under the strikes of the branches.

Yet the Soul Vine Wood still couldn’t withstand Li Ran. Under his command, a silver light swiftly severed the branches and leaves that lashed out. That silver light was extremely powerful—any branch it touched was cut in an instant, with countless branches falling to the ground. But Li Ran frowned because he couldn’t find the extending root branches; only by cutting those could the attacks be stopped.

Guo Shier, with the tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi, had as many hands as he needed. Under the command of the old man Shuai, the tentacles continuously picked up the vines cut by Li Ran—materials of extreme value.

Yang Miluo was also collecting them, but much more slowly. He used virtual talisman chains to roll up the vines and branches from the ground.

Li Ran snapped, “You little scoundrels! Stop trying to take advantage and come help quickly… You three, try to lift the vines up!”

Guo Shier’s face turned slightly red as he said, “Okay!” A virtual talisman hand flew out, and he continuously cast spells. Without Li Ran’s help, his virtual talisman hand would have been quite impressive, but it was far inferior to Li Ran’s golden hand. He had to keep casting virtual talismans to reinforce it.

Yang Miluo also sent out a virtual talisman hand, which also needed constant reinforcement. Fortunately, with Li Ran holding off attacks ahead, they had enough time to do so. After all, Fan Zhen Tong was a professional at the seventh-tier altar. Once reaching that level, his strength far surpassed that of those at the sixth tier—it was a threshold where quantitative change led to qualitative change. Once crossed, his strength would soar significantly.

The three large hands descended simultaneously, plunging into the vines, which struggled desperately. Guo Shier shouted, “Lift them up!” All three exerted force at the same time, with soul energy surging into their virtual talisman hands. With a mighty push, they lifted the vines high into the air, dozens of meters above the ground.

Three root branches immediately appeared below. The moment they showed up, a silver light flashed, and in an instant, all three root branches were severed.

Guo Shier and the others exerted more force, tearing the vines into three pieces and taking them away. Li Ran shook his head with a smile, “You guys really love to rob.”

The three had acted instinctively and felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing this. Guo Shier chuckled twice and said, “We’re poor…”

Yang Miluo and Fan Zhen Tong didn’t know what to say either and could only nod vigorously. Li Ran burst into laughter and said, “Trying to act poor like me? Haha, I’m too lazy to argue with you. I’m leaving!”

They continued to push forward. This time, there were no obstacles. The mutated Soul Vine Tree was already severely weakened; it fled desperately, but its main roots couldn’t move easily, moving at at most one meter per minute—making escape impossible. Once its location was identified by someone stronger than it, its chances of survival were virtually zero.

After about an hour, the four of them finally reached the location of the main roots.

Guo Shier said in astonishment, “Damn… how do we kill this?”

This mutated Soul Vine Tree was terrifyingly large. If Guo Shier could fly high, he would see that it covered an area of over a square kilometer—no wonder it moved so slowly. Countless roots as thick as water tanks crisscrossed the ground, and branches as thick as buckets swayed wildly like living things, as if threatening Li Ran and the others. The swinging branches made a shrill sound as they cut through the air. Even though Guo Shier had reached the sixth level of the altar, he still felt a chill running down his spine.

The diameter of the main roots was over ten meters, colored like black ink, with faint green glimmers appearing from time to time. The vine leaves here were as big as a small car, eight fingers thick. From afar, they resembled leaves, but up close, they looked like irregular green steel plates. A pool of water had accumulated on the ground.

Guo Shier exclaimed in wonder, “There’s actually a Soul Spring below!”

Li Ran smiled and said, “What’s so strange about that? There must be a Soul Spring beneath the Soul Vine Tree—otherwise, how could it grow? Moreover, this Soul Spring is bound to the main roots and moves with them.”

As the vines swung, the sound became even sharper. Fan Zhen also felt overwhelmed and asked, “How do we kill this?”

Li Ran replied, “We can only wear it down slowly. There’s no way to kill it in one go. Mutated plants are the hardest to kill; their vitality far exceeds that of humans and mutated spirit beasts.”

The mutated Soul Vine Tree was indeed a top-tier existence, but Li Ran was even more powerful. So when it attacked, its fate was already sealed. If it hadn’t moved around after Li Ran and the others arrived, it might have escaped—after all, they couldn’t search the entire forest thoroughly and would never have known about such a precious Soul Vine Tree.

Guo Shier and Yang Miluo wisely retreated. Both knew that with their own sacrificial treasures, they couldn’t even cut through the branches of the roots, let alone those of the main roots. It was better for them to just watch and take advantage of the situation.

Yet even as the two stepped back, the mutated Soul Vine Wood didn’t give up. Countless vines sprouted from the ground and lashed out frantically. Guo Shierou screamed in anger, moving around while blocking with his Moon Blade. Yang Miluo also dodged repeatedly.
Li Ran said, “Be careful on your own!”
Fan Zhen replied with a wry smile, “And me… This thing is terrifyingly hard; I can’t even cut through it!” He too began to dodge.
Li Ran suddenly summoned an altar, with a magnificent canopy hanging above his head, rotating slowly as countless ornaments hung down. He said, “Meeting me is your misfortune… Slash!”
The mutated Soul Vine Wood was strong enough to withstand professionals at the eighth level of the altar, and even those at the ninth level could hold their own for a while. But against Li Ran, a freak who surpassed the ninth level, it was utterly doomed.