"Both of you, I came here for this Spirit of Vegetation. There's no need for you to risk your lives with me."
Zheng Lei turned to Chu He and Zhou Haichao and tried to talk them out of it.
Whether to go down there shouldn't have been a question.
Zheng Lei had come for this Spirit of Vegetation, so of course he was going down.
But fighting a vine-type Spirit of Vegetation in a place like the Underground Garage meant he had to consider what might happen if it collapsed.
He would be fine, and Zhou Haichao probably wouldn't have a problem either, but Chu He couldn't handle it.
An Intermediate War General Level Warrior wasn't strong enough to withstand the collapse of the entire residential district.
When they'd first entered Mist Residential District, Zheng Lei had heard the thudding footsteps and realized something was wrong underground.
But even after warning Chu He, he hadn't encountered any threat from below.
He hadn't expected that the footsteps had been caused by this vine.
Now that they were facing the vine living in the Underground Garage, Zheng Lei had no choice but to try to stop the two of them.
"It's fine. I've wanted to see what a Spirit of Vegetation looks like for a long time."
"Besides, a little collapse won't hurt me."
Zhou Haichao raised his shield.
After noticing the cracks in it, he gave an awkward laugh and said, "Though I probably won't be able to help you fight."
Chu He was thinking about the other materials on the vine, too, so he asked, "I want to take a look down there, too. A vine this big and long can't all be a Spirit of Vegetation, can it?"
"Hahaha, of course not." Seeing that both men wanted to go down with him, Zheng Lei felt a surge of confidence. They weren't going to help him, but their trust in him still heartened him.
"Spirit of Vegetation refers to plants that have developed intelligence, but only some parts of them are useful, like Millennium Willow Heart, Green Grass Dew, and Iron Armor Spirit Pearl."
"This vine is quite rare, but it's mentioned in the Martial Arts Dojo Forum. The first person to discover it named it Moon Nether Vine. Its Spirit of Vegetation, the Moon Nether Vine Heart, is a piece of its tuberous root."
As they headed underground, Zheng Lei explained it all to Chu He.
This was the kind of information that could only be accessed on the Martial Arts Dojo Forum with War God privileges.
After catching sight of the vine, Zheng Lei had immediately looked up the relevant information on his wristwatch.
Chu He didn't have the clearance for it yet, but Zheng Lei could still tell him about it with his Elementary War God Level Spiritual Force.
Of course, Chu He already knew most of this, apart from the details about Moon Nether Vine. He'd only made an excuse so he could go down with them.
That way, after Zheng Lei took the Spirit of Vegetation, Chu He could ask for some of the remaining parts, like Moon Nether Vine leaves and Moon Nether Vine stems, and try using them as the main ingredients for brewing wine.
The moment they stepped into the Underground Garage, the three of them came under attack from the enormous vine.
The Fluorescent Sticks in their hands immediately became the vine's first targets.
The vine's brown stalk was thick, more than a meter in diameter, its surface covered in rough bark. Its leaves were deep, inky green, with edges sharp as blades.
"Hmph!"
Zheng Lei stepped forward, the muscles in his arms tensing as his Giant Axe swept through the air in a perfect arc.
Boom!
The Giant Axe came down with the force of a mountain and cleaved through the vine. The air exploded with a sharp crack, and the vine snapped.
The severed vine spun through the air before crashing into a distant wall with a thud. Green sap sprayed from the cut end, staining the wall dark green.
Once they entered the Underground Garage, they finally saw the full size of the enormous vine.
Its branches twisted and coiled like gigantic dark-green pythons, winding between the garage's concrete pillars and abandoned vehicles. Some even pierced through the walls, reaching out into the world beyond the garage.
The entire Underground Garage looked like a twisted jungle.
As soon as the three entered, the light from the Fluorescent Sticks seemed to agitate the vines. All the nearby tendrils lunged at them.
In an instant, countless vines lashed out like giant serpents, winding toward them from every direction.
Whoosh!
Zheng Lei raised his Cold Iron Giant Axe. Its blade gleamed in the firelight as it cut through the air with a thunderous roar and swung down at the vines.
But there were too many vines for Zheng Lei to handle by chopping them one by one.
With the vines closing in ever tighter around him, Zheng Lei gave a cold snort. No longer concerned about Chu He and Zhou Haichao, he gripped the long haft of his Cold Iron Giant Axe and spun around at full speed.
The pair of Cold Iron Giant Axes spun with him, forming a huge whirlwind that swept up the vine tendrils around him.
The axes whirled through the air, drawing silver arcs as the wind roared and fragments of vine flew everywhere.
At the sight of this, Moon Nether Vine attacked even more furiously.
The enormous vine thrashed through the garage like a giant serpent gone berserk. It ripped concrete pillars from the ground, twisted rebar into bizarre shapes, and flung cars into the air. They crashed down with ear-splitting metallic clangs.
The vine's tendrils lashed and tore, ripping the sturdy concrete walls to pieces. Rebar snapped as easily as dry grass.
Huge chunks of concrete crashed from the ceiling, slamming into the ground with deafening booms as dust and rubble flew in every direction.
Before long, Moon Nether Vine had reduced the entire Underground Garage to ruins, leaving behind only broken walls and twisted metal.
Even so, it hadn't harmed any of the three men.
There had never been any doubt about who would win.
With his Giant Axe in hand, Zheng Lei charged like a leopard. The axe traced a dazzling arc through the air and struck straight at the vine's main stalk.
Moon Nether Vine seemed to sense that death was near. Its tendrils thrashed wildly, trying to block the fatal blow.
Bang!
A deafening boom rang out like thunder.
The vine's main stalk split open, spraying dark green sap.
Its body convulsed violently before crashing to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust that spread like fog.
"Senior Brother Zheng is as fierce as ever!" Chu He had barely lifted a finger during the fight. Looking at Mist Residential District, now completely reduced to ruins, he couldn't help but praise Zheng Lei.
A War God alone could already unleash such incredible destructive power, enough to tear apart mountains...
And when he thought of Hong's battle against Cloud-Touching Vine, which had completely destroyed Mist Island and turned it into a vast ocean...
Zhou Haichao's face was flushed with excitement.
After this, he would have a chance to break through to War God as well. How could he not feel his blood racing?
Zheng Lei paid no attention to either man's reaction.
He was using his pair of Giant Axes as shovels, digging out a piece of emerald-green tuber from the vine's roots.
This was Moon Nether Vine's [Moon Nether Vine Heart].
"Good! Good! Excellent!" Zheng Lei exclaimed again and again.
With this piece of [Moon Nether Vine Heart], he could break through to Advanced War God.
And with his pair of Cold Iron Giant Axes, he could then reach four times his normal strength. Perhaps he could even compete for the title of Invincible War God.
In high spirits, he noticed Chu He gathering Moon Nether Vine stems, leaves, and dark green sap nearby. He couldn't help asking, "Junior Brother Chu, you want this stuff, too?"
"What's it good for?"
"Oh, it's not good for anything," Chu He replied casually. "I'm just thinking of soaking it when I brew some wine. Maybe it'll be useful."
But his Spiritual Force was already circulating the Spirit Guiding Technique, sensing the spirit energy in the materials. He could hardly keep from drooling.
The Moon Nether Vine's stems and leaves, and even its dark green sap, could all be added to Antler Wine made with Crystal Antlers as the main ingredient.
It could help calm the mind and improve Spiritual Force.
Before you continue