"Buzz."
Just as Lu Yang was about to enter the dense fog, a vine suddenly shot up beneath his feet, its sharp thorn stabbing straight at his throat.
If Lu Yang had only been at the second rank, he would have died without question against such a thorn. But he was now at the fourth rank. Neither its speed nor sharpness could harm his body.
Lu Yang grabbed the thorn with one hand. Flames burst from his palm, reducing the entire vine to ash. He looked around and found nothing unusual on the ground, but the moment he took another step forward, another vine drilled out.
After burning the vine again, Lu Yang said to the Blazing Demon God, "Strange. Why can't I sense their presence?"
The Blazing Demon God said, "The fog here suppresses our senses. Dig into the soil and find the roots. Follow them, and you'll see an especially large tree. The fog and vine attacks are all created by that kind of tree."
Lu Yang nodded and punched the ground. The explosive force of the flames blasted a huge crater thirty meters across and more than ten meters deep in front of him.
At the bottom of the pit, Lu Yang saw a dense mass of roots. Many vines grew above them, and upon closer inspection, he could see that the roots all pointed straight ahead.
Lu Yang looked down the road ahead and felt that walking over there would be too much trouble. He said to the Blazing Demon God, "I want to try my new skill."
The Blazing Demon God rolled his eyes. "Go ahead. Your true form is a Phoenix anyway."
Lu Yang laughed. He could practically feel the Blazing Demon God's envy and resentment. Upon advancing to the fourth rank, every fire-type