Emperor Auspicious Beast?

"Moving plant? A Mandala Snake?"

Those two questions had been lingering in his mind. If it was classified as a plant, then it should have been a Snake Vine Flower.

But how could a Plant Spirit Beast possess the ability to move freely?

Wasn't that something only possible after breaking through one hundred thousand years of cultivation and successfully taking human form?

According to the feedback from the Blue Silver Grass, it should have been around Eight Thousand Year.

With those two questions in mind, he rapidly approached the territory of that Mutated Plant, only to abruptly stop at the entrance to the forest.

In the Dense Forest ahead, dozens of Mandala Snakes lay draped across the tree trunks. It looked like a gathering place for a snake colony.

Yao Yan swallowed unconsciously as several drops of cold sweat slid down from his forehead.

"Is... is it a Snake Vine Flower?"

He did not dare be certain. If one was really hiding in there and suddenly launched a sneak attack, the consequences would be unthinkable.

His spiritual power spread out sharply, connecting with the Blue Silver Grass within.

After receiving definite information, his first Soul Ring suddenly lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Blue Silver: Tree Realm Birth."

He controlled Blue Silver Grass seeds and sent them drifting into the Dense Forest. Blue Silver Vines immediately burst from the ground, surrounding him in a cage.

With an extreme fear of snakes, he carried his spear and slowly stepped into the "Mandala Snake" swarm.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong. The farther in he went, the fewer Snake Vine Flowers there were. Instead, he saw some Spirit Beast corpses, all of them already shriveled dry.

Yao Yan's wildly pounding heart gradually calmed as well.

Very soon, he reached the deepest part of the forest. He stopped beside the corpse of a Ten Year Baboon and looked around, yet found no trace of the Mutated Snake Vine Flower.

"Did it move its nest?"

At that moment, Xiao Ying crawled out of the Backpack, gave a soft cry, and darted away.

Yao Yan hurried after him and stopped beside the corpse of a three-meter-tall rhinoceros. A heavy Bloody Scent filled the air.

The rhinoceros looked completely intact. If it had not been lying on the ground with its eyeballs ruptured, no one would have been able to tell that it was dead.

Xiao Ying pointed at the rhinoceros.

An absurd thought instantly rose in Yao Yan's heart.

"Inside the rhinoceros's belly?!"

To confirm his suspicion, Yao Yan picked up Xiao Ying and retreated seven or eight meters.

He fiercely threw the Blue Silver Overlord Spear in his hand, driving it into the rhinoceros's body.

"Boom—"

The rhinoceros's body suddenly exploded, but instead of flesh and blood flying everywhere, an arm-thick blood snake over ten meters long appeared.

"It really was inside." Yao Yan could not hide his shock.

"What was it doing in there?" He glanced at the separated chunks of rhinoceros flesh, and a bold guess surfaced in his mind. "It was drinking blood."

This Mutated Plant actually obtained nourishment by sucking the blood of animal Spirit Beasts.

The discovery left him incredulous.

Seeing that it had been exposed, the Mutated Snake Vine Flower dragged its ten-meter-long body and slithered into the distance.

As it fled, it was no different from a real Mandala Snake.

"Trying to run?" A cold glint flashed through Yao Yan's eyes.

He stomped down with one foot, and green light instantly lit up across the ground. The surrounding Blue Silver Vines grew wildly and wrapped directly around the Mutated Snake Vine Flower.

Seeing this, the Mutated Snake Vine Flower actually severed the portion bound by the Vines on its own.

Then it sprang into the distance.

Yao Yan hurried after it, only to see that the severed "Snake Tail" had actually regrown a head. A Mandala Flower-shaped fleshy crest bloomed at its tip.

Right after that, it flicked out a tongue like a snake and made hissing sounds.

"This is..." Yao Yan was horrified!

At this moment, if someone claimed it had transformed from a Snake Vine Flower, who would dare believe it?

"Real or fake, I'll find out once I test you!"

A cold gleam flashed through Yao Yan's eyes. He condensed another Blue Silver Overlord Spear and charged forward.

The Mandala Snake was completely fearless. It opened its bloody maw and met Yao Yan's spear head-on.

"Thud—"

When the spear collided with the snake's head, it actually made the sound of wood striking wood.

Yao Yan immediately understood. This was the Snake Vine Flower's illusion, an appearance created through Simulation.

Knowing there was no point in continuing to entangle with it, he pressed his palms together. A Grass Snake made of Blue Silver Grass burrowed out of the ground and attacked the Mandala Snake.

"You two take your time fighting. I'm leaving first."

Watching the two snakes twist around each other, Yao Yan called Xiao Ying out and chased directly after the Mutated Snake Vine Flower.

The Snake Vine Flower had not fled far. He quickly caught sight of its tail, roughly twenty meters ahead of him.

Yao Yan leaped and raced after it at top speed, spreading out his spiritual power to communicate with the Blue Silver Grass on the ground.

The Blue Silver Grass glowed with a faint Green Light, pouring their life force into their companions twenty meters away.

The Blue Silver Grass twenty meters away turned into Vines and wrapped around the Mutated Snake Vine Flower.

The Snake Vine Flower shuddered, and more than a dozen blade-sharp leaves shot out, instantly cutting through every restraint as it continued fleeing for its life.

If it could speak at this moment, it would surely have said in fury, "Born from the same roots, why must you torment me so harshly?"

They were both plants. Why did he have to press it so relentlessly?

Though it had only been delayed for an instant, Yao Yan had already used the chance to close the distance.

At that moment, it shook its body again. Dozens of sharp leaves flew out, flashing with cold light as they rained down like a storm.

Yao Yan pressed his palms together and shouted, "Blue Silver · Wood Locking Wall."

The Blue Silver Grass on the ground swiftly wove together into a semicircular arched wall, blocking all the flying leaves overhead.

The attack dispersed. Just as Yao Yan prepared to continue the pursuit, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to shake violently!

Right afterward came an earthshaking roar containing berserk power.

The surrounding Spirit Beasts instantly fell into extreme panic as though a pot had exploded, fleeing in all directions in utter disarray.

Alarm bells blared in Yao Yan's mind. He abruptly turned around and saw a giant ape ten meters tall walking toward him with heavy steps.

"This is...?!"

The giant ape was pitch-black all over. Its lantern-sized eyes gleamed like yellow crystals, and its bulging muscles contained terrifying power enough to split mountains and shatter rocks.

"Titan Giant Ape!!!"

Yao Yan was utterly shocked. Left with no choice, he stopped and flashed behind a rock, even unconsciously holding his breath.

As the acknowledged overlord of the Star Dou Great Forest and a terrifying one-hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast, the natural pressure emitted by the Titan Giant Ape alone filled every living creature in this area with suffocating fear.

Yao Yan glanced at the Mutated Snake Vine Flower, but it had already vanished without a trace.

He could not help gritting his teeth inwardly. Is this really an Eight Thousand Year Spirit Beast? It's almost at ten thousand years, isn't it?

"It's fine. It can't get far. Once Tai Tan leaves, I'll definitely be able to catch it."

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The ground continued shaking as the Titan Giant Ape moved steadily through the forest like a walking mountain.

Yao Yan pressed himself tightly against the back of the rock. Before it, he felt as tiny as a grain of sand, as though he could be crushed beneath one foot at any moment.

The Titan Giant Ape continued onward, heading straight toward the core region of the forest.

"Looks like it was only patrolling its territory." Yao Yan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Only after those terrifying Footsteps gradually faded did Yao Yan cautiously peek out from behind the rock.

He immediately called Xiao Ying out.

Without needing any instructions, the Little Fellow quickly caught the lingering scent of the Snake Vine Flower again.

With a soft cry, he was the first to dart into the nearby bushes.

Yao Yan followed closely behind. Pushing aside the dense branches and leaves, his view suddenly opened up to reveal a Forest Pond.

On a rock beside the pond lay a Spirit Beast with Golden Fur. Its overall form resembled a lion, but its four limbs were like Dragon Claws, each stepping on a cluster of Golden Flame.

Most unusual of all, it actually had a Third Eye growing in the center of its forehead.

Xiao Ying raised a paw and pointed at that Spirit Beast, letting out a soft cry.

Yao Yan stared at it with eyes full of horror. "You're telling me... to go after the Auspicious Beast?"