Amid the chaos, more than one strongman had the same absurd thought flash through his mind.
They saw Lu Chen hopping and darting about like a startled rabbit, but failed to notice that with his help, the team's defenses had miraculously stabilized.
"ROAR—!!!"
Just as everyone thought they were safe for the moment, a deep, furious roar suddenly came from far beneath the ground!
The entire earth trembled violently!
The severed black vines seemed to have received some kind of summons. They writhed wildly, then burrowed back underground.
Immediately afterward, a patch of open ground ten zhang in front of the camp abruptly bulged into a gigantic mound!
"RUMBLE!"
With a thunderous crash, earth and stone exploded!
A colossal shape slowly rose from underground amid billowing clouds of dust!
It was a gigantic plant demon, like a twisted ancient tree!
Its trunk was as thick as a bucket and covered in overlapping layers of hard bark, like black scales.
Countless black vines as thick as arms lashed wildly around it like writhing snakes.
At the top of its trunk, a huge, grotesque maw had split open. Layer upon layer of dark-red fangs, sharp as blades, filled its mouth. As it opened and closed, a thick stench of decay and Corpse Qi poured out.
"A... an Entry-Grade Demon Plant! The Corpse Vine Demon Tree!"
For the first time, Leader Liu's voice trembled.
The Corpse Vine Demon Tree's appearance was like a moving mountain of death, crushing the camp's last shred of hope.
The stench of rotting plants mingled with the dense Corpse Qi, almost suffocating everyone.
"Spread out! Use fire against its roots!"
Leader Liu was a veteran Imperial Guard, hardened by countless battles. After his initial shock, he issued the first—and perhaps last—order.
His voice was hoarse with tension, but still clear.
Yet the order seemed utterly futile.
The Corpse Vine Demon Tree seemed to understand him and let out a low growl.
The next moment, hundreds upon hundreds of black vines on its trunk surged toward them like a black flood bursting through a dam, blotting out the sky!
This attack was far more vicious and violent than before!
The vines lashed like whips, tearing through the air with sharp whooshes. They carved deep trenches into the ground, sending shattered stone flying!
"Ah!"
A strongman was too slow to react. A vine whip knocked the torch from his hand, and then several black vines coiled around his limbs and yanked sharply in four different directions!
"SPLURT!"
The sound of flesh tearing made everyone's teeth ache.
Before the horrified eyes of the others, the burly strongman was ripped apart, his body torn into four pieces!
Warm blood and chunks of viscera sprayed everywhere like a downpour, staining the despairing ground an even deeper crimson.
The bloody, brutal sight shattered the remaining strongmen's resolve.
"Monster! It's a monster!"
"Run! Run for your lives!"
The scar-faced strongman was the first to break. He tossed away his torch and turned to flee beyond the barrier of light, toward the boundless darkness.
"Get back here, idiot!" Leader Liu's eyes nearly split with rage. He cut through the vines striking at him and roared, "Leave the formation and you'll die even faster!"
But fear had already swallowed reason. The scar-faced strongman paid no heed and charged wildly for the edge.
He had barely taken three steps when the earth beneath his feet exploded. A black vine thicker than any of the others burst from the ground like a giant python, instantly coiling around him from ankle to chest. Then it yanked him backward!
"NO—!"
The scar-faced strongman let out the last anguished scream of his life as he was dragged bodily underground, leaving behind only a collapsing pit and a wisp of dust that slowly faded away.
In the blink of an eye, the team had lost two men.
The two remaining strongmen were ashen-faced, trembling like leaves. They could only wave their torches on instinct, putting up a futile resistance.
Leader Liu was in just as dire a predicament.
His swordsmanship was superb; every strike landed precisely on a vine's joints. But the Corpse Vine Demon Tree had far too many vines, an endless supply of them. For every one he cut down, three more came at him, pinning him in place as his room to maneuver shrank by the moment.
The barrier of light formed by the bronze formation plate also began to flicker violently under the vines' relentless barrage, its brightness wavering. It clearly wouldn't hold much longer.
A dead end!
A dead end in every sense of the word!
Amid the chaotic slaughter, only Lu Chen remained absolutely calm.
His figure flickered through gaps between the vines. Every dodge was perilously close, every step perfectly timed.
Under the pressure of life and death, his beginner-level Shadow Step was improving at an astonishing rate, growing more and more polished.
Lu Chen did not try to save anyone, because he knew he couldn't.
All his attention was fixed on the enormous Corpse Vine Demon Tree.
"Bark tough as iron; ordinary blades can barely scratch it... The vines regenerate extremely fast; there's no end to them... Fire works, but its range is too limited to reach the source..."
Countless pieces of information flashed through Lu Chen's mind as he analyzed the situation with perfect composure.
"All its attacks come from those vines. And all the vines connect to its trunk. Its core must be inside the trunk!"
"But the trunk is wrapped in thick bark. How can I break through its defenses?"
In the end, Lu Chen's gaze locked onto the huge, fanged maw at the top of the Corpse Vine Demon Tree's trunk, opening and closing without pause.
He noticed that whenever the Corpse Vine Demon Tree roared or unleashed a large-scale vine attack, a faint, dark-green light pulsed deep inside its maw like a beating heart, appearing for only an instant!
That was where its Demon Core lay! Its vital point!
But that spot hung three zhang above the ground, surrounded by countless guarding vines. There was no way to get close.
Unless...
A flash of utter madness and resolve crossed Lu Chen's eyes.
He glanced at Leader Liu, backed into a corner by the cliff and struggling to hold his own, then at the two strongmen who could be torn apart at any moment.
The time was almost right.
"Beast! This old man will fight you to the death!"
Leader Liu roared. Knowing he had no hope of survival, he chose the most unflinching course. He bit through the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of vital blood onto the saber in his hand!
VMMM—!
After absorbing the blood, the ordinary-issue saber burst into brilliant red light, and a fierce surge of astral energy shot skyward!
"Demon Suppression Division secret art: Blood Burning Slash!"
With his hair and beard bristling, Leader Liu became a whirlwind of blood-red light and charged fearlessly at the Corpse Vine Demon Tree's trunk!
It was a supreme strike, unleashed at the cost of burning his own blood and life force!
"CLANG—!"
A deafening clash of metal rang out!
Leader Liu's saber struck the Corpse Vine Demon Tree's trunk dead-on, bursting into a dazzling spray of sparks.
The black bark, harder than steel, was cleaved open by that strike, leaving a huge gash half a chi deep!
Foul-smelling, dark-green sap gushed out like a spring!