January 3, 2058.
There were still more than eight months until the Extreme Martial Arts Gym announced Luo Feng's death.
County 0316, Mist Residential District.
Chu He arrived at the familiar place with ease. The journey had taken him two days.
Standing before the fog, Chu He couldn't help recalling the time he'd come here with Jackal Squad in November.
Two months had passed since then...
His strength had undergone a tremendous transformation in that time.
And after this trip, his strength would rise another notch.
After doing a quick calculation, Chu He knew he would definitely break through to Advanced War God this September. With the boost from his Spiritual Force, calling him an Invincible War God would be no exaggeration.
He even had some ideas about breaking through to Planetary Level.
"Before I left last time, I secretly cast a Spirit Nourishing Technique on the largest vine. I should've gotten here in time, right?"
"I just hope all that spirit energy hasn't completely dissipated!"
Muttering to himself, Chu He stepped inside.
Using his Spiritual Force to sense his surroundings, Chu He rushed toward the Underground Garage along the nearest route, passing the small park on the way.
Looking at the Mist Fruit Tree before him, Chu He couldn't help feeling regretful. He had no way to take the tree with him.
What he lacked most right now was a steady supply of raw materials.
"Forget it. Once I've cleared out the monsters, I'll transplant this tree back."
He continued toward the Underground Garage.
Boom!
The moment he stepped underground, several vines lashed toward him, swift and powerful.
"What's going on?"
Chu He was terrified!
He instinctively dodged the attack, then scrambled back to the surface.
"Why is there another vine here?" Chu He's expression darkened.
The good news: there was a new Spirit of Vegetation!
The bad news: he might not be able to beat it!
"Don't panic, don't panic. Stay calm!" Chu He muttered to himself. "First, think this through. What's going on with this new Moon Nether Vine?"
As he recalled the vine's sudden attack, Chu He abruptly noticed something strange!
Just now, he seemed to have... maybe... probably dodged the vine whip's surprise attack through sheer reflex, relying on his Intermediate Warlord Level physical abilities?
"How is that possible?" Chu He's eyes lit up. "Is this Moon Nether Vine that weak? It shouldn't be!"
"Let's test it again!"
Chu He made up his mind, prepared for anything, and entered the Underground Garage again.
Boom!
The vines came at him once more like giant green pythons, cutting through the air with a whoosh.
Ready for them this time, Chu He dodged with ease.
"Sure enough, its speed and intelligence both seem to have declined!"
Now Chu He felt much more confident!
His Jueying Battle Blade still couldn't pierce its defenses, but his flying daggers could.
He could just wear it down bit by bit!
Only after entering the Underground Garage did Chu He realize that the new vines had completely transformed the space inside.
Vines hung from the ceiling like upside-down stalactites. Some sections of the ceiling were beginning to sag, and a few had even collapsed, but the vines still held them firmly in place.
Cracks and dents covered the walls, but the vines' roots had burrowed deeper into them, poking through every crack.
Suddenly, a vine crept toward Chu He as silently as a lurking snake.
But it wasn't fast enough to outpace his reflexes.
He twisted sharply to one side, and at the same instant, a flying dagger shot diagonally past him.
Thwack!
The dagger traced a graceful arc through the air and cut off the vine's attack with perfect accuracy. The vine instantly went limp and dropped to the ground.
That attack seemed to enrage the new Moon Nether Vine.
In an instant, its attacks grew wilder and more erratic. Countless vine whips crisscrossed through the air, weaving nets of green in an attempt to catch Chu He.
Chu He's pupils contracted slightly, his body taut like a drawn bow. He darted across the garage floor, leaving a string of blurred afterimages.
Beneath the scattered fluorescent sticks, Chu He's figure flickered in and out of the dim light, seemingly blending into the surrounding shadows.
Thud!
Several vines swept through the air in green arcs, lashing the ground like whips and kicking up clouds of dust.
Suddenly, Chu He spotted a detail he knew all too well, along with a few familiar traces of spirit energy.
"Wait! Isn't that the section of vine I used the Spirit Nourishing Technique on?"
Before leaving last time, worried that the largest vine would lose all its spirit energy, Chu He had cast a Spirit Nourishing Technique on it to preserve as much as possible.
"Just as I thought..."
Seeing the familiar mark, Chu He finally let his guard down. He controlled the flying daggers with his Spiritual Force, sending them along silver arcs.
"Since you came back to life, I'll just kill you again!"
The nine flying daggers circled without pause, each streak of light cutting through a section of vine with perfect accuracy.
They kept at it until the last length of vine had been sliced apart by Chu He's daggers.
Standing amid the severed vines scattered across the floor, Chu He was breathing a little heavily, but his gaze burned with excitement.
With only the main vine remaining, Chu He examined it closely once more. It was indeed the section he'd used the Spirit Nourishing Technique on before leaving.
"Could the Spirit Nourishing Technique have awakened the mind of this remnant of the Moon Nether Vine, causing it to take root again? And did it absorb all the remains of the previous Moon Nether Vine?"
The more Chu He thought about it, the more convinced he became that his guess was right!
The Three Spirit Techniques, passed down alongside the White Jade Wine Pot as part of the Wine God Inheritance, had always seemed rather useless.
The Spirit Guiding Technique, Spirit Sealing Technique, and Spirit Nourishing Technique were nothing compared to the White Jade Wine Pot!
In Chu He's eyes, there had been no need to pass down the three techniques at all once they had the White Jade Wine Pot.
"So it's not that the Three Spirit Techniques are useless. I just never explored them properly!"
Now, as Chu He thought back over the Spirit Nourishing Technique, its incantation seemed to have changed slightly in his mind. Perhaps it was because he'd unwittingly realized it had a new function.
Its effect was to nourish intelligence!
"It can do that?"
Chu He stared intently at the vine's roots. "By the way... can this newly grown Moon Nether Vine produce another Moon Nether Vine Heart?"
Chu He hurried to the roots and began digging downward.
"There really is one!"
Looking at the tuber he'd dug up, Chu He couldn't contain his excitement and shouted aloud.
"Great! Great! Great!"
With the Spirit Nourishing Technique, he could mass-produce Spirits of Vegetation!
How could he not be excited?
After taking several deep breaths, Chu He finally calmed down and examined the Moon Nether Vine Heart in his hand.
"Wait, something seems off about this Spirit of Vegetation!"
By sensing it with his Spiritual Force, he could tell that both the spirit energy contained in the Moon Nether Vine Heart and its vitality were inferior to those of the one Zheng Lei had possessed.
"Sure enough, there's no such thing as unlimited duplication." Chu He sighed, though he couldn't say he was disappointed.
After all, a Spirit of Vegetation could only form when enough energy had accumulated.
The fact that the vine had revived as a new Moon Nether Vine and produced a Moon Nether Vine Heart was clearly thanks in large part to the environment and the abundant remains of its predecessor.
As for Chu He's Spirit Nourishing Technique, it had merely served as a catalyst.
Even so, Chu He was more than satisfied.
Setting aside the fact that he now had another Spirit of Vegetation, just discovering that the Spirit Nourishing Technique could nurture intelligence was enough to let him cultivate Spirits of Vegetation artificially!
It would take an artificially created energy-rich environment, and a long time to nurture them...
But he could still cultivate Spirits of Vegetation himself!
"If the Spirit Nourishing Technique can do this, what about the Spirit Guiding Technique and Spirit Sealing Technique?"
In an instant, Chu He's thoughts raced.
"Perhaps once I've fully developed them, I'll even be able to figure out what this spirit energy really is!"
Before you continue