Illusory Dream Nether Vine
Time flowed silently, like a stream through the woods.
Tang San had been traveling through Sunset Forest for a month.
During that month, Tang San had crossed mountains and deep valleys, passed through dense forests and marshes, weathered fierce winds and torrential rain, and faced several brushes with death.
If not for the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone and Blue Silver Grass's extraordinary perceptive abilities, Tang San could never have survived here.
Every narrow escape made Tang San more keenly aware of how insignificant his strength was in this vast forest.
But Tang San did not retreat.
Though the month of training had been fraught with danger, Tang San's gains had been enormous.
His combat experience had grown at a pace visible to the naked eye. From the nervousness and awkwardness he had felt when first facing Soul Beasts to his present composure, Tang San had learned how to find the slightest chance of survival between life and death.
He had also grown more adept at controlling Blue Silver Grass. The speed at which the vines extended, the angles at which they coiled, and the timing of their release and retraction—every detail had been honed again and again in actual combat.
One day, Tang San came upon a valley he had never seen before.
The valley was small, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with only one narrow entrance.
Tang San stood at the entrance, frowning slightly.
Tang San sensed a strange presence drifting out of the valley. It was so faint as to be almost imperceptible. If his Blue Silver Grass's sensitivity to life force had not far surpassed that of ordinary people, he could never have detected it.
It was a cloyingly sweet scent, something like flowers and something like fruit, and smelling it brought a comfortable feeling of drowsiness.
Tang San immediately took a mask out of the Oriental Pearl and put it on.
That month of training had given Tang San a habit: whenever he entered unfamiliar territory, he put on a mask first. Heaven knew how much poisonous miasma, pollen, spores, and the like there were in this forest.
Tang San slowed his steps and carefully entered the fissure.
The passage was about twenty meters long. Moss and ferns covered the stone walls on either side, and the earth beneath his feet was soft and damp, making almost no sound when he stepped on it.
The moment he emerged from the passage, the view before Tang San suddenly opened up.
The inside of the valley was much wider than the entrance, covering several hundred square meters. Vines climbed the surrounding cliffs, covering them in a curtain of emerald green. Sunlight streamed through gaps between the mountaintops, casting shafts of light into the valley.
At the very back of the valley, growing close against the cliff, was a plant Tang San had never seen before.
It was a vine, its main stem as thick as an adult's calf. Its entire body was a deep, inky purple, covered in fine silver patterns that glowed faintly in the light.
The vine climbed the cliff from the ground, reaching all the way to the mountaintop tens of meters above. Along the way, it sprouted dozens of branches, each bearing several palm-sized leaves. The leaves were shaped like butterfly wings, their color fading from inky purple at the center to silvery white at the edges. They were too beautiful to look like part of a real plant.
At the very top of the vine, two flowers were in bloom.
The flowers were as large as the mouth of a bowl, with layer upon layer of petals. They were an extremely pale purple, almost transparent, and shimmered dreamily in the sunlight.
At the center of each flower, a pale purple halo slowly circulated, flickering between light and dark.
Tang San's gaze fell on the two flowers, and his pupils contracted slightly.
This vine was a Plant-type Soul Beast at least a thousand years old.
Tang San quickly searched his memory.
An inky purple main stem, silver patterns, butterfly-shaped leaves, purple flowers...
"Illusory Dream Nether Vine," Tang San murmured.
The Illusory Dream Nether Vine was an exceptionally rare Plant-type Soul Beast, known for its tenacious life force and hallucinogenic abilities. Its pollen contained potent hallucinogens that could trap anyone who inhaled it in an illusion. In mild cases, they would lose their way; in severe cases, their minds would become clouded, leaving them at the mercy of others.
The Illusory Dream Nether Vine's life force was also extremely strong. As long as its main stem survived, it could grow back within a month, even if all its branches and leaves were destroyed.
Tang San's gaze moved from the two flowers to the main stem as he quickly estimated the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's age.
The thickness of the main stem, the density of the silver patterns, the size of the flowers, and the brightness of their halos... Judging from all these features, this Illusory Dream Nether Vine was approximately three thousand years old.
A three-thousand-year-old Plant-type Soul Beast.
The corners of Tang San's mouth curled up slightly.
This was what he had been looking for.
Its tenacious life force suited Tang San's core approach of building up the life force of his Blue Silver Grass. A hallucinogenic skill was one of the abilities a control-type Soul Master needed most, capable of sowing chaos on the battlefield, disrupting opponents, and creating opportunities to strike.
Moreover, at three thousand years old, it should have been just right for Tang San as he was now.
Tang San believed his chance of successfully absorbing a three-thousand-year Soul Ring was at least seventy percent.
But first, he had to deal with this Illusory Dream Nether Vine.
That was no easy task.
The trickiest thing about the Illusory Dream Nether Vine was not its offensive power, but its hallucinogenic ability.
Those pale purple halos signaled that it was releasing pollen. Once it sensed a threat, it would immediately release a large quantity of pollen, blanketing the entire valley in purple mist. Any creature that inhaled the pollen would fall into an illusion within a few breaths.
Tang San stood at the valley entrance without rashly venturing in. He needed to learn the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's attack range and reaction speed.
Tang San crouched down, picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground, and hurled it toward the Illusory Dream Nether Vine.
The stone landed about ten meters from the Illusory Dream Nether Vine, but it did not react.
He threw another to a spot five meters away. Still, there was no reaction.
Tang San took a deep breath and picked up a third stone. This time, he aimed at the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's main stem itself.
The Illusory Dream Nether Vine finally moved.
The silver patterns on its main stem suddenly lit up with a dazzling glare. Both purple flowers blossomed at once, the halos at their centers swelling abruptly. A dense cloud of purple mist gushed from the flowers and spread in all directions at an astonishing speed.
The mist spread with astonishing speed, covering an area thirty meters in radius almost instantly.
Tang San stood at the valley entrance, about fifty meters from the Illusory Dream Nether Vine, and was unaffected by the mist.
After about a quarter of an hour, the purple mist began to slowly dissipate. The Illusory Dream Nether Vine's silver patterns dimmed, and its flowers closed again, their halos returning to their previous state of slow circulation.
Tang San already had the beginnings of a plan.
His gaze fell on the two flowers.
Those two flowers were the source of the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's pollen. If he could destroy them first, its hallucinogenic ability would be greatly diminished.
Tang San took a bow and arrows out of the Oriental Pearl.
He nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and aimed at one of the flowers.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow struck the flower precisely, sending petals flying in all directions. The halo at its center flickered violently several times, then grew much dimmer.
The Illusory Dream Nether Vine shuddered violently, all its silver patterns lighting up at once. The two remaining flowers released purple mist simultaneously, but it was noticeably less dense than before.
Tang San did not stop.
A second arrow, a third arrow, and more than ten arrowheads flew out in succession, striking the two flowers precisely. The flowers finally succumbed to the relentless attacks and withered completely.
With both flowers destroyed, the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's offensive capabilities were greatly weakened.
But Tang San knew this was only the beginning. The Illusory Dream Nether Vine's life force was extremely strong. Even without flowers, it could still attack physically with its vines. Their lashes were powerful enough to snap a small tree in half, and if they coiled around someone, breaking free would not be easy either.
Fire remained the most effective approach.