32: Azure Wood Spirit Flame

If these bat-type exotic beasts were to directly come into contact with Xu Yan, it would probably take less than a breath to completely drain him into a dried husk.

Facing such a large number of bats, even Zhu Yan would be unable to protect Xu Yan, not to mention the presence of a considerable number of General Rank bat exotic beasts among them.

In the face of such a crisis, Xu Yan showed no fear. Just as the bats were about to reach him, he softly uttered two words.

"Uncle Qing."

As his voice fell, a gentle breeze appeared from behind Xu Yan, softly caressing him, sweeping away the fatigue from days of exploration, and then blew towards the bat swarm.

Unlike its gentleness towards Xu Yan, when facing the bats, the originally mild breeze seemed to transform into a deathly wind from the Nine Netherworlds. Wherever it blew, large numbers of bats fell from the sky, completely losing their life force.

Those who were lucky enough to survive because they flew slower, upon seeing this scene, instinctively gave frantic warnings of danger, immediately performing a 360-degree mid-air reversal.

Some with poorer flying skills directly suffered severe wing damage from such high-speed reversals and plummeted from the sky. With wing injuries compounded by fall injuries, yet fearing the aura mixed within that deathly wind, they could only lie on the ground and play dead.

Ignoring the trembling bats, Xu Yan followed his instincts deeper into the cave. After walking for a long time along the winding path, he finally saw a glimmer of light in the distance.

He walked towards the light, and upon getting closer, he discovered it was another exit of the cave. The entrance was covered by layers of vines, with only a few gaps revealing faint specks of light.

He summoned Zhu Yan from his shadow and instructed her to deal with the vines at the cave entrance.

However, to Xu Yan's surprise, Zhu Yan's spider leg only penetrated about halfway into one of the vines.

Moreover, as Zhu Yan retracted her spider leg, the vine that had been pierced by it rapidly grew back, quickly returning to its original state.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Yan was a bit confused but once again raised her spider leg, striking out with greater force.

This time, Zhu Yan's attack did manage to sever the outermost vine, but it only pierced through that single one, with layers upon layers of vines still blocking the cave entrance.

Furthermore, the severed end of the vine that Zhu Yan had pierced earlier began to rapidly grow back. In about a minute, the vine that Zhu Yan had cut returned to its original state.

Seeing this, Xu Yan also became interested and began to observe the vines at the cave entrance.

He finally discovered that these vines seemed to be the handiwork of a wood-element spirit beast or exotic beast. Some entity on the other side was using wood-element energy to reinforce and restore these layers of vines.

Moreover, this reinforcement didn't start when Xu Yan and his companions arrived; it had begun a long time ago. This caused these originally ordinary vines, under the impregnation of wood-element power, to be filled with vitality.

These vines in front of him could all serve as primary ingredients for restorative potions or food for herbivorous spirit beasts.

Of course, this referred to the section cut off by Zhu Yan, not the part that regrew after being cut by Zhu Yan. The regrown part was merely similar to a wood-element skill like "Vine Whip"; to become like the other vines, it would still require years of impregnation.

Just as Xu Yan was contemplating how to package and take these vines without damaging their inherent vitality, the Azure Sky Luan, which had been hidden as a gentle breeze beside Xu Yan, suddenly appeared at this moment.

The black and green bird-type spirit beast looked at the layers of vines at the cave entrance, closed its eyes to sense them for a moment, then spoke four words from its beak with a hint of shock.

"Azure Wood Spirit Flame."

Hearing the Azure Sky Luan's voice, Xu Yan also fell into shock.

As a Cultivator, Xu Yan's knowledge base was quite profound, especially regarding various materials and spiritual items. Although Xu Yan had never seen some of the top-tier items, he had drooled over their descriptions, and the Azure Wood Spirit Flame was one of them.

The Azure Wood Spirit Flame is a special flame nurtured by heaven and earth, an extremely rare wood and life attribute flame. Unlike the destructive and violent nature of conventional flames, while the Azure Wood Spirit Flame also possesses considerable power, its greatest ability is restoration.

Wherever the flame burns, all pain and chronic ailments disappear, belonging to a type of healing with a powerful purification effect. In addition, the Azure Wood Spirit Flame also has the effect of cultivating and accelerating the growth of spiritual plants.

For fire, wood, and life attribute spirit beasts, the Azure Wood Spirit Flame is definitely one of the top-tier resources.

And it's the same for Cultivators like Xu Yan, who need various materials, medicinal herbs, and spiritual plants.

However, after a careful perception, the Azure Sky Luan continued, "It has only formed a prototype; it will probably take hundreds or thousands of years to truly mature."

Hearing the Azure Sky Luan's words, Xu Yan, who had been incredibly excited by the news of the Azure Wood Spirit Flame on the other side of the cave entrance, suddenly became somewhat disappointed.

Compared to a fully formed Azure Wood Spirit Flame, a nascent spirit flame prototype that still requires a vast amount of time to mature has only a negligible effect. Xu Yan's original fantasies of endless medicinal ingredients were instantly shattered.

After a slightly disappointed sigh of "What a pity," he continued to direct Zhu Yan to cut the vines at the cave entrance.

Negligible, that was only in comparison to a fully formed Azure Wood Spirit Flame. For Xu Yan now, this negligibly effective Azure Wood Spirit Flame prototype could still bring him great rewards.

For example, there should be many special spiritual plants on the other side of the cave entrance, similar to the vines in front of him, which have undergone long-term impregnation and mutation.

Even if these only possess the single advantage of abundant vitality, like the vines before him, the potions and spiritual items made from them could significantly increase Xu Yan's savings.

However, unexpectedly, the Azure Sky Luan, hearing Xu Yan's lament, shook its slender bird head and continued to speak:

"For me, this is not a pity; rather, it's just right. This nascent state of the Azure Wood Spirit Flame is actually most suitable for me right now.

Only a spirit flame in this nascent state can be fused with the innate flame of a phoenix-bloodline spirit beast like me, growing together with it, and purifying my own bloodline as it grows.

And the Azure Wood Spirit Flame happens to be extremely compatible with my own attributes. Xiao Yan, your Uncle Qing here might have to take advantage of you this time, but I will repay you with other things later."

As it spoke, the Azure Sky Luan's gaze towards Xu Yan became even gentler.