178: Chapter 178 Is there a second one?

Silence!

At this moment, the surroundings became eerily quiet.

All the parasites stared blankly at Xu Yan.

Blood Vines also possess intelligence and exist as a civilization; they are not mindless beasts.

They also know fear and dread.

At this moment, the terrifying momentum generated by Xu Yan's punch left all the Blood Vines and parasites trembling in fear.

Because they clearly saw that under Xu Yan's punch, the Lord Level existence, which had been entrusted with high hopes by the Mother Empress and bestowed the name "Thorn," was instantly evaporated into nothingness!

The Blood Lake at this moment—no!

It could no longer be called the Blood Lake now.

Because the blood in the Blood Lake had been completely evaporated by that full-power punch from Xu Yan.

As for that 6th Tier Blood Vine Lord, only a few huge vines remaining in the dried-up lake proved that it had indeed existed.

"Flashy and useless!"

Xu Yan retracted his fist and strolled toward the center of the lake.

There, because the 6th Tier Blood Vine Lord had died, wisps of silver threads were converging.

Having had experience, Xu Yan knew that this was the precursor to the formation of an source crystal core.

However, just as the source crystal core was about to solidify and Xu Yan was about to reach out to touch it,

Boom!!

The dried-up lake bed beneath his feet suddenly exploded!

A giant vine covered in strange patterns suddenly burst out from the ground.

Its target was precisely the source crystal core that had just finished forming!

"You're courting death!"

Xu Yan's eyes turned cold. Without hesitation, he swung his fist, striking at the giant vine that had suddenly appeared.

Although he was somewhat surprised that there was another 6th Tier Blood Vine here, Xu Yan's movements were not slow.

Almost the instant the vine broke through the ground, he had already swung his fist at it.

Boom!

Another loud noise erupted, but this time, the giant vine was not instantly obliterated by Xu Yan's punch.

Instead, it emitted a loud clanging sound like metal striking metal, then recoiled while trembling.

This newly appeared Blood Vine had actually withstood his punch head-on!

Xu Yan noticed that the main reason the opponent could withstand his punch was the strange patterns on its vine.

In the instant they collided, those strange patterns had seemed to come alive, blocking most of the damage for the giant vine.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Xu Yan raised an eyebrow, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

But it wasn't because he was surprised that the opponent hadn't been killed by his punch.

It was because he suddenly felt a Mental Power fluctuation that was even more massive and clearer than the previous 6th Tier Blood Vine, transmitting into his perception.

"Human Lord, leave now, and I will treat the matter of you killing 'Thorn' as if it never happened!"

Xu Yan knew that "Thorn" must be the name of the 6th Tier Blood Vine he had killed earlier.

At the same time, he could feel from this Mental Power fluctuation that the opponent truly meant it.

But what a joke!

Why did he travel thousands of miles to Borneo?

Not to mention the source crystal core he missed at the edge of the Blood Vine Forest earlier.

At that time, he didn't know that Blue Star had 6th Tier Secret Realm creatures, and in his surprise, he had missed the opportunity, allowing Thorn to swallow that crystal core.

But now, you want me to leave something I've already obtained?

Xu Yan smiled.

Because just a moment ago, he sensed that the source crystal core, which had condensed after Thorn's death, had already been absorbed by the giant vine in front of him and had sunken into the interior of the vine.

"You're courting death!"

Xu Yan didn't bother with more nonsense. You stole his things and still want him to leave? Do you think you're 7th Tier?

Although this suddenly appeared 6th Tier Blood Vine had blocked his punch, Xu Yan could tell that it was only slightly stronger than Thorn.

What was truly formidable was not the opponent's strength, but those strange patterns on its vines.

These were the means by which it could block his attacks!

"Let's see how many punches you can block!"

For Xu Yan now, his basic attacks were his ultimate moves.

He didn't have any fancy techniques; he just threw punch after punch, constantly raining them down on the giant vine.

This 6th Tier Blood Vine clearly hadn't expected Xu Yan to act like this.

He didn't waste any words and just started fighting without a second thought.

After a few punches, the strange patterns on its surface became much dimmer.

Finally, after taking three consecutive punches, the patterns on the Blood Vine completely dissipated.

With the fourth punch, Xu Yan smashed the vine that had extended out of the lake bed into pieces.

"Human! You are courting death!"

A Mental Power fluctuation containing intense anger and fear appeared in Xu Yan's perception.

However, Xu Yan ignored it completely. Looking at the bottomless pit in front of him, he leaped straight down.

That was the hiding place of this 6th Tier Blood Vine.

Earlier, Xu Yan had wondered why, with his perception and Mental Power, he hadn't discovered this 6th Tier Blood Vine.

Later, he realized that the opponent had been hiding underground the whole time, while his perception and Mental Power had remained on the surface.

It was normal that he hadn't discovered it.

Meanwhile, just as Xu Yan leaped into the pit to hunt down the 6th Tier Blood Vine, outside the Blood Vine Forest, several figures were rushing toward this direction.

Leading them was a tall, muscular man.

This person was none other than Lord Amit, who had been mentioned by the captain of the previously annihilated Self-Rescue Association squad.

"Faster! A little faster!"

Lord Amit was burning with anxiety.

But he was not worried about the squad that had already been annihilated.

"The last direction Divia and the others' life signals disappeared from was the outer perimeter of the Blood Vine Forest!"

Lord Amit, this top figure of the Self-Rescue Association, an S-Rank Esper who had long held a high position, was revealing his true feelings, which was rare.

His tone carried irrepressible irritation and urgency, "Damn it! A bunch of trash!"

The people around him remained indifferent upon hearing this.

Or rather, they were already accustomed to it.

Although this was the era of the arrival of the extraordinary, the strong were respected, and combined with the caste system, it had long been deeply rooted in this land.

No one felt there was anything wrong with Lord Amit speaking that way.

In fact, many people believed from the bottom of their hearts that Divia and the others, who had failed to bring back the "Holy Crystal," deserved to die.

You have to know, for this "Holy Crystal," they had successively sacrificed dozens of elite A-Rank Esper organization squads before successfully intercepting this one!

"My Lord, we've arrived!"

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "The place where Divia and the others' life signals last disappeared is right here!"

Lord Amit frowned, his massive Mental Power instantly sweeping across the surroundings.

Soon, everything around him was laid bare to his view.

However, when he saw the situation around him clearly, Lord Amit's expression instantly became even gloomier.

"There is no Holy Crystal!"

Lord Amit's face was as gloomy as water.

He looked at the passage leading straight into the depths of the Blood Vine Forest, which had been pierced through by Thorn's vines, and said coldly: "It was that 6th Tier Blood Vine that made a move!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around Lord Amit sank in expression.

"My Lord, then we…"

Lord Amit looked toward the depths of the Blood Vine Forest with an uncertain expression.

A 6th Tier Blood Vine was simply not something he could deal with.

Otherwise, how could he have sent people to the Blood Vine Forest one after another, trying to intercept the Holy Crystal?

If he had the strength to snatch it directly from the 6th Tier Blood Vine, he would have come himself long ago.

But he didn't!

"Prepare…"

Boom!

Just as Lord Amit was about to say the word "retreat," a heaven-shaking roar suddenly came from the central area in the depths of the Blood Vine Forest.

Even Lord Amit and the others, who were a hundred kilometers away, heard it clearly.

Lord Amit and the others' expressions changed.

However, before they could react, continuous roaring sounds followed, constantly coming from the core of the Blood Vine Forest.

Boom, boom, boom!!!

The sound was deafening.

Everyone present was not an ordinary person; they could clearly feel that as the roaring sounds intensified, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently.

"Is this… an earthquake?"

Someone looked bewildered.

"Idiot! This is clearly a battle!"

The people below were shocked and confused.

But only Lord Amit's face first showed a look of uncertainty.

But immediately after, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face.

"Someone is fighting that 6th Tier Blood Vine!"

He had once seen with his own eyes the scene of a 6th Tier Blood Vine swallowing a Holy Crystal and evolving, so he was very familiar with the aura of a 6th Tier Blood Vine.

He wouldn't mistake this feeling. It was that 6th Tier Blood Vine!

Although he didn't know who was fighting that 6th Tier Blood Vine, Lord Amit knew.

His chance to pick up a bargain had arrived!

If it were a one-on-one fight, he would definitely not be a match for the 6th Tier Blood Vine.

But now, someone was fighting the Blood Vine, bearing the pressure in the front.

Then, as long as he was careful and launched a sneak attack when it was caught off guard, it was not impossible to severely injure or even kill that 6th Tier Blood Vine!

As long as he killed that 6th Tier Blood Vine, he could then unscrupulously snatch the Holy Crystal that the Blood Vine Secret Realm would send out afterward!

Thinking of this, Lord Amit couldn't help but feel moved.

The roaring sounds continued, and Lord Amit knew he couldn't hesitate anymore.

After all, he was the leader of a faction; he had at least that much decisiveness.

Lord Amit immediately ordered: "Everyone, follow me into the Blood Vine Forest!"

"Yes!"

These people were all Lord Amit's trusted aides, so naturally, they had no objections.

Just as Lord Amit and the others were heading deep into the Blood Vine Forest, a one-sided beating was also taking place underground in the center of the lake.

After jumping into the deep pit, Xu Yan fell for about half a minute before finally hitting the ground.

"A thousand meters underground?"

Xu Yan frowned. This 6th Tier Blood Vine was actually hiding more than a thousand meters underground; no wonder his Mental Power and perception hadn't discovered it.

However, what somewhat surprised Xu Yan was that this 6th Tier Blood Vine was different from Thorn.

Thorn's main body was an unknown plant.

But the main body of this 6th Tier Blood Vine was a humanoid parasite.

It was not a human, but a humanoid creature covered in strange patterns.

Seeing this, Xu Yan immediately understood where the strange patterns on the Blood Vine's vines came from.

Previously, he had thought these strange patterns were the domain effect of this 6th Tier Blood Vine.

But now it seemed that this was not the opponent's domain effect. Rather, it was an innate ability obtained from its parasitic host?

At the same time, this also made Xu Yan realize that the Blood Vine's parasitism was not simply replacing the target.

It was more like directly plundering everything from the parasitic host, which even included racial talents.

"No wonder it can become a hegemon in the Secret Realm World!"

With the ability to directly plunder a target's talents, it would be hard not to become a hegemon.

"Human! You are bullying this vine too much!"

Intense Mental Power fluctuations pressed toward Xu Yan from all directions.

But Xu Yan just sneered.

The Mental Power pressure of the 6th Tier Blood Vine was indeed powerful, but to him, it was not worth mentioning.

Although his Mental attribute had been cut in half after the panel upgrade, that was because his current Mental attribute had fused with soul power.

In essence, his Mental attribute had not changed; it was just that because soul power had been added, there was some change.

However, from the Mental Power fluctuations of this 6th Tier Blood Vine, Xu Yan also saw a lot of information.

The most important point was that the Blood Vine had a very good understanding of human civilization.

Or rather, its understanding of the Dragon Country was far deeper than he had expected.

At the very least, the opponent still knew the phrase "bullying someone too much."

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes. From this point of view, the opponent seemed to have designs on the Dragon Country.

"Die!"

The Blood Vine's Mental Power fluctuations suddenly intensified.

Following this, countless thick vines covered in strange patterns rapidly coiled toward Xu Yan.

Xu Yan did not dodge or avoid. Having had the experience just now, he already knew.

These vines covered in strange patterns were not indestructible.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to jump down directly.

He threw a punch, colliding with the vines that were coiling toward him.

Rumble!

Because they were a thousand meters underground, every collision between the two caused the surrounding rock walls to tremble violently.

After a few times, this spacious cave felt like it could collapse at any moment.

However, neither the 6th Tier Blood Vine nor Xu Yan cared about this in the slightest, remaining focused on dealing with each other.

Just kidding, even if it really collapsed, it wouldn't affect them at all.

Boom, boom, boom!

Xu Yan's fists constantly collided with those vines attached with strange patterns.

Perhaps because this was where the opponent's main body was located, the strange patterns that could be dispersed with three punches before now required five or six punches.

Furthermore, the patterns on the vines, having finally dissipated, seemed to be replenished, and immediately recovered to their original state.

Seeing this scene, Xu Yan raised an eyebrow.

But he was not panicked in his heart.

Because until now, he had not truly used his full strength.

The reason for this was that just a moment ago, he had suddenly discovered something very interesting.

That was that this 6th Tier Blood Vine had always been using the vines attached with the talents of its parasitic host to attack him, but it had never used its own domain!

But Xu Yan could clearly feel that he was currently in the opponent's domain.

Every domain had its unique rules.

Back then, the Void Trace Jellyfish's domain rule, or rather effect, was those tentacles that filled the spatial rifts.

And for Thorn, because it died too early, Xu Yan didn't know the effect of its domain either.

But undoubtedly, the domain's enhancement to combat was still extremely obvious.

But why did the opponent never use its domain?

"Deliberately hiding, preparing for a sneak attack?"

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes; he could only think so.

After all, apart from this reason, there was no other explanation.

"Since you are not using your full strength, then I am going to use my full strength!"

A curve hooked up on the corner of Xu Yan's mouth.

Six punches per second, that was not his limit.

Sixty punches per second, that was his limit!