Six-Hundred-Year-Old Evergreen Vine

From the thickness, color, and markings of its stem, Tang San could tell that the Evergreen Vine was around six hundred years old.

A six-hundred-year-old Plant-type Soul Beast was just the right target for Tang San as he was now.

Tang San believed that if he could obtain this six-hundred-year-old Evergreen Vine's Soul Ring, not only would his Blue Silver Grass's vitality undergo a qualitative leap, but its toughness would also improve tremendously.

First, though, Tang San had to deal with the Mandala Snake behind him.

A flash of inspiration struck Tang San.

Soul Beasts were territorial. The stronger the Soul Beast, the larger its territory and the less mercy it showed intruders.

A plan quickly took shape in Tang San's mind.

Tang San charged straight at the Evergreen Vine. The instant he approached its attack range, he abruptly swerved, sliding along almost flush with the ground and circling behind the Evergreen Vine's main stem.

The Evergreen Vine's tendrils stirred slightly, as though startled awake, but soon grew still again.

The Mandala Snake also reached the edge of the clearing.

Pain had made the Mandala Snake even more ill-tempered. Its eyes were filled with killing intent, and its tongue flicked wildly in and out as it picked up Tang San's scent in the air.

Without hesitation, the Mandala Snake plunged headfirst into the Evergreen Vine's territory.

The Evergreen Vine fully awoke the instant the Mandala Snake entered the clearing.

The vines that had hung quietly suddenly sprang into action. Dozens lashed out at once from every direction, slicing through the air with a piercing shriek.

Some whipped at the snake, others coiled around it like ropes, and still others stabbed straight at it like javelins.

The Mandala Snake's reaction was anything but slow. It twisted sharply and swept its tail across, knocking aside the first few vines.

But there were too many vines, coming from every direction, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. There was simply no way to defend against them all.

One vine wrapped around the Mandala Snake's tail and tightened sharply.

The Mandala Snake hissed, twisting its body around and opening its great maw. Its fangs sank viciously into the vine, injecting dark green venom from their tips.

But the vines seemed completely unaffected by the Mandala Snake's venom. They wound around it layer upon layer, binding it tightly from tail to neck.

The Mandala Snake struggled desperately, its four-meter body unleashing astonishing strength. Its muscles rippled violently as it tried to snap the vines.

The vines creaked under the strain, and cracks even appeared in a few of the thinner ones.

But the Evergreen Vine's tendrils were astonishingly resilient. As soon as cracks appeared, new vines came in to replace them, winding tighter and more densely.

The Evergreen Vine began to contract.

The Mandala Snake's body was squeezed out of shape. Its scales began to split under the immense pressure, and blood seeped through the gaps.

Its struggles grew weaker and weaker.

From the moment the Mandala Snake entered the clearing to the moment it was completely subdued, only a dozen or so breaths had passed.

Hidden behind the Evergreen Vine's main stem, Tang San watched through the gaps between the vines, marveling inwardly.

The Evergreen Vine's fighting power was far greater than Tang San had imagined.

A little while later, the Mandala Snake stopped moving altogether.

Its body sagged limply, the light faded from its eyes, and its tongue drooped helplessly from its mouth. A Yellow Soul Ring slowly coalesced and rose from its body.

Only after quite some time did the vines slowly loosen and drop the Mandala Snake's corpse onto the ground.

Then all the vines withdrew at once, returning to the way they had hung quietly before, as though nothing had happened.

Only the mangled snake corpse on the ground bore witness to the brief, deadly battle.

Tang San slowly emerged from behind the giant tree. His gaze swept over the snake's corpse before settling on the Evergreen Vine.

Now, the Mandala Snake had been dealt with.

And this Evergreen Vine was Tang San's true target.

Tang San took a deep breath, took the Vajra Hammer out of the Oriental Pearl, and slowly approached the Evergreen Vine, stopping a few steps short of its attack range.

How large was the Evergreen Vine's detection range? How fast could it attack? What was the maximum length its vines could extend?

Tang San had already gotten a basic grasp of these questions by watching the Evergreen Vine fight the Mandala Snake.

Tang San waited for the right moment and suddenly charged forward. The instant the Evergreen Vine's tendrils sprang up, he swung the Vajra Hammer out with a howl of wind.

"Clang!"

The hammerhead struck a vine, snapping it with a crack. Bright green sap seeped from the break.

But before Tang San had time to rejoice, a new shoot sprouted from the broken vine's wound. It grew, stretched, and thickened visibly, and in less than two breaths, a brand-new vine had grown.

Tang San's pupils contracted slightly. He swung the hammer again, aiming for the main stem this time.

"Thud!"

With a muffled bang, the hammerhead struck the main stem, sending a numbing jolt through Tang San's arm. The blow left a dent in its surface, but did not break it. The bark around the dent swelled and healed before his eyes, and new tissue quickly filled it in.

Then more vines lashed out at him.

Tang San hurriedly blocked with his hammer while retreating at speed, withdrawing beyond the Evergreen Vine's attack range.

Tang San stood where he was, panting heavily. He watched the Evergreen Vine grow still again, his brow tightly furrowed.

Physical attacks were far too ineffective. The Evergreen Vine's regenerative ability was too terrifying; ordinary blunt strikes were practically useless against it.

Even if he used the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, building up power with one hammer blow after another, he would probably still have a hard time completely destroying the entire Evergreen Vine in a short time.

And what he would be whipped into by the vines in the process was anyone's guess.

After a moment of silence, he had no choice but to use his trump card.

Tang San put away the Vajra Hammer, then took a clay jar full of lamp oil out of the Oriental Pearl, followed by a firestarter.

Tang San did not approach the Evergreen Vine again. Instead, he stood outside its attack range and hurled the oil from the jar with all his might, splashing it evenly over the Evergreen Vine's tendrils and main stem.

Then Tang San blew the firestarter alight and threw it.

"Boom!!!"

Flames shot into the air, tongues of fire licking the vines with a crackling sound.

The Evergreen Vine writhed wildly, all its tendrils twitching violently in the flames like a fish thrown into a pot of hot oil.

Fire was the bane of Plant-type Soul Beasts.

No matter how strong their regenerative abilities, they could not withstand sustained scorching heat.

Tang San kept adding kindling to the flames, making the blaze fiercer.

The Evergreen Vine's tendrils blackened and curled one after another, turning to ash.

The Evergreen Vine struggled for a long time, its tendrils whipping deep furrows into the ground. Sparks flew in all directions, setting the surrounding wild grass alight and turning the clearing into a sea of fire.

But Tang San had long since retreated to a safe distance and watched quietly.

More than two hours later, the flames finally went out.

The clearing was blackened. The giant tree's trunk was dark with soot, the surrounding wild grass had burned to ash, and the air was thick with the choking smell of smoke and scorched vegetation.

And the Evergreen Vine had become a pile of charcoal.

Its tendrils had burned away completely, and all that remained of its main stem was a charred stump. Its surface was covered in cracks, and it would crumble to powder at the slightest touch.

No matter how tenacious the Evergreen Vine's vitality, it could not withstand the raging fire in the end.

Tang San approached, drew his shortsword, and forcefully chopped through the remaining section of the Evergreen Vine's main stem.

A yellow Soul Ring slowly rose from the charred remains, giving off a soft glow in the night sky.