Throughout the forest lay severed Tree Demons and trees riddled with holes.
Green blades of light floated in the air around Li Chen. He had basically mastered this power, and only needed to patiently hone it and eliminate its flaws. It would be one of his signature moves in the future.
"Not enough. One blade isn't enough. Right now, increasing the number would be the best choice, rather than constantly compressing them. That method is far too risky." Li Chen touched the condensed green blade and frowned. After so many experiments, he naturally knew its strengths and weaknesses. The blades could deal AOE damage, or be gathered into an extremely terrifying compressed bomb, but that method was extremely unstable.
Just like the compressed bomb he had used earlier.
He was wondering whether, by constantly compressing it, he could make it spread out.
It was like the Black Mist. Teacher Yu had said before that no humans existed within the Black Mist, because it could corrode the flesh and blood of most living creatures, dealing large-scale AOE damage. But if Li Chen could transform the energy he controlled into something like that, could it work like the Black Mist?
"Forget it... If I could get my hands on just a little Black Mist, perhaps I could give it a try," Li Chen thought. After all, it was still a little too early. He was only a Sequence User who had just entered the Dripping Water Realm, and being able to do this much was already quite good. He shouldn't think so much about it. Talent determined the upper limit, while realm determined the lower limit. Only with a higher realm could he perhaps develop more abilities. His talent naturally couldn't be like Jianping's, with a single path as its goal.
While he was still studying it, several pairs of eyes not far away had already fixed on him.
Five students crouched on a massive, deep-green tree trunk. Their expressions all seemed somewhat unpleasant, and they appeared to be discussing something.
"Lin Hua, did you see that damn fatty from before?" Di Li asked, her expression a little gloomy.
Lin Hua nodded and looked into the distance. The plants he had cultivated were sending him signals, indicating that they had found that damn fatty's group.
Ever since those two had tricked them yesterday, they had set their sights on Li Chen's group, ready at any moment to ambush them in the Secret Realm and avenge what had happened last time.
He said, "That fatty is being chased and beaten by a Tree Demon. The person carrying a box on his back from before is there too, and a few students from our class are cultivating not far from him."
Di Li's gaze was icy as she said coldly, "Let's go. We'll settle the score from last time and take all their rankings while we're at it, leaving them at the bottom."
As soon as she spoke, the tree beneath her moved. It was a Tree Demon whose mind had been erased, and it was enormous. As he uprooted himself, he seemed to drag quite a few surrounding trees along with him, and every Tree Demon close by was bound into his body.
Their movement immediately caused the ground nearby to shake.
Jianping, who was still cultivating, opened his eyes and looked into the distance. He could faintly feel the vibrations beneath his feet.
"It's coming. A big one."
Rumble~
Rumble~
The tremendous noise drew closer and closer. Jianping casually swung his sword, driving off the Tree Demon chasing Su Zhe. Luo Lin and Meng Xi had also gathered there by then; they had naturally noticed that something was wrong.
The Tree Demons that should have been attacking them had all scattered and fled, as though some great danger were approaching.
Li Chen walked over as well. He could clearly see a mass of gray mist floating in the sky. It was the energy he often saw inside Tree Demons, but this mass was enormous, larger than any Tree Demon he had encountered before.
"A Looking River Realm Tree Demon. I didn't expect there to be one in the Secret Realm. I still underestimated this place," Li Chen murmured with a frown.
By then, a wide swath of trees had collapsed. Vine-like tendrils uprooted the trees one after another, and a gigantic figure appeared before the group.
"Holy crap, that's a Tree Demon? Isn't that the damn big boss of the Secret Realm?" Su Zhe gaped slightly, staring at the enormous figure in shock.
Jianping had already gripped his sword. His expression was somewhat grave and indifferent, though he clearly wasn't too worried.
Before they could continue observing, the Tree Demon attacked. Thick vines lashed toward them in an instant.
Luo Lin's gaze was grave, and she didn't even use her ability. She could sense how powerful this force was; she couldn't withstand it.
But Telekinesis still activated in an instant. Rocks rose into the air one after another, attempting to block the enormous, whip-like vines.
Bang~
With only the slightest contact, the wall of rocks shattered, and the vines continued toward the group.
Seeing this, Jianping vanished in an instant. A flash of red light appeared as he unleashed a slash with his sword.
"Slash!!"
Blades flashed and blood flew as the vines were cut in two in an instant. But the Tree Demon's attack didn't stop. Countless enormous vines struck at them once again.
Li Chen stopped watching from the sidelines. Countless spheres of green light flashed into existence around him, all compressed energy bombs. He controlled them very well; after all, he hadn't compressed everything into a single bomb.
He lightly waved his fingers, and the spheres of light seemed to find their targets, charging toward the vines.
Explosions rang out constantly.
Fragments of vines fell everywhere like rain. In the end, these Tree Demons had only been generated in the Secret Realm, and their defenses weren't that formidable.
Otherwise, the academy wouldn't have allowed them to enter the Secret Realm to cultivate.
Di Li and the others atop the Tree Demon stared dumbfounded. They had naturally been attacked by the Tree Demon too, but they had used another method to tame it.
Di Li's expression grew uglier, and her face even turned a little pale. The Tree Demon was bound to her, as if by a contract; when either one was hurt, the other would be affected.
She slowly said, "No, we can't go on like this. We underestimated them. It's time for you to get involved, or the burden on me will be too great."
"This Tree Demon is like a bucket for mental power, constantly drawing out mine."
Lin Hua and the others naturally knew how great the burden of controlling a Tree Demon was. In an instant, they jumped down from it.
Below, Li Chen and the others stood still. The falling vine fragments were all blocked by Li Chen's energy barrier, and they stood inside as though watching fireworks. It was quite a spectacle.
"Chen-ge, isn't this a bit too ridiculous? You caused all this with just one attack?" Su Zhe was full of shock, even questioning his life a little.
But Li Chen said nothing. He simply stood there, silently absorbing the energy around him to replenish himself. After all, he didn't have unlimited mana, though his mental power recovered quickly.
That was how overpowered his talent was.