The Demon Island Vine devoured the Spiral Flame Flower like a dam had burst, consuming it frantically.
Hundreds of crimson vines, each fifty meters in diameter, lashed wildly, some coiling around the Spiral Flame Flower like tentacles.
"Damn it! Attack!"
Several Universe Level experts from the Black Soul Tower attacked the Demon Island Vine with D-grade weapons.
Several beams of light and white specks shot toward the Demon Island Vine.
A black dot suddenly appeared above the Demon Island Vine and rapidly expanded into a 64-meter-wide sphere resembling a black hole. Space warped along its edges.
To everyone's shock, the sphere resembling a black hole absorbed every attack.
Demon Island Vines were rare, and those present knew little about their habits or abilities. They only knew that they were extremely difficult to cultivate and very expensive.
"It absorbed them?"
"The Demon Island Vine can do that? If I'd known, I'd have gotten one too."
"Could you even afford one?!"
The crowd looked on with envy and jealousy. Some even hoped Chen Beixun would die here.
The people from the Lotte Family stared at the Black Soul Tower's fighters and shouted furiously.
"Come on!"
"You sons of—!"
"Brothers, get them!"
Both sides surged into action. Their battle cries shook the heavens.
The Lotte Family had 654 people, while the Black Soul Tower had 501.
Ice and fire, barren lands and other domains collided, creating a dazzling spectacle.
Chen Beixun raised his head slightly to look at the sky. A snowflake drifted past his eyes.
The black sandy ground had taken on a strange appearance. Flames burned in water, their opposite, while a few bizarre fragments flickered through the absolute darkness.
At that moment, a powerful pressure swept over them! Everyone, from the Lotte Family to the Black Soul Tower, stared at the Demon Island Vine in disbelief.
"That plant life-form broke through?!"
"The Demon Island Vine broke through!"
When cultivated by conventional methods, a Demon Island Vine took 650 years to advance from Domain Lord Level One to Level Three. Breaking through to Domain Lord Level Four was a major hurdle, as was advancing to Level Seven. Though the Demon Island Vine devoured everything, cultivating one to World Lord Level cost far more than the net worth of an average undying. An average undying was worth around 10,000 Hunyuan Units, while even a poor one was worth about 1,000.
"Those plans Qishan gave me back then nearly scared me to death!" Chen Beixun gazed at the transformed Demon Island Vine, his heart full of emotion.
He had chosen Plan Three at the time. The price was 130,000 Hunyuan Units, and he still hadn't used it because he couldn't afford it.
The Demon Island Vine had now devoured most of the Spiral Flame Flower.
"Damn it!" Zhen Jin was close to tears. The Spiral Flame Flower had been his greatest asset in the World Lord World, but now the Demon Island Vine was devouring it, turning it entirely into nourishment.
"Let's retreat..." The Black Soul Tower's people looked grim. There was no point in continuing this fight.
The longer they fought, the more reinforcements both sides would bring in. They knew there was no need to let the conflict escalate, especially since the Spiral Flame Flower's destruction was already inevitable.
Zhen Jin slowly flew into the air and called to Chen Beixun, "I don't know if you're competing in the Hero Tournament—or the Warrior Tournament—but if you are, you'd better pray you don't run into me!"
"Barking dogs," Chen Beixun replied with a mocking smile. He deliberately amplified his voice with psychic energy so everyone present could hear him.
Chen Beixun's voice rang across the area. Zhen Jin's face darkened. He swore to himself that he would kill Chen Beixun, then stepped onto his psychic weapon and flew away.
"That guy seems to be from the Longke Race." Chen Beixun watched Zhen Jin's figure recede into the distance.
The Longke Race ranked among the top thirty human bloodlines. Its people stood around three meters tall and had two flexible antennae on their foreheads.
"Mm." Chen Beixun smiled. "I could also take over the bodies of members of a powerful bloodline."
"There's no need to obsess over finding a race with clones."
Races capable of producing clones were incredibly rare, and their price was naturally astronomical! Of course, body-snatching secret arts weren't exactly common either, and even if one had such an art, success wasn't guaranteed.
Every race had its own unique traits. Some couldn't be taken over, while others had powerful souls that made them difficult to possess.
The Black Soul Tower had retreated, and the Lotte Family's people were gathering the spoils. The Black Soul Tower had withdrawn in a hurry, leaving many bodies behind. Those corpses were a fortune in themselves.
Chen Beixun hovered in the air, looking down at the people below as they gathered the spoils.
"Becoming undying is the only way forward." Chen Beixun sighed.
Becoming undying granted one an endless lifespan. But even after reaching that stage, one still had to withstand the test of time. After comprehending a Lower Origin Law, one had to begin studying the higher-level Origin Laws of Space and Time. The difficulty rose along a geometric curve! Many undyings made no progress over the endless years and gradually fell into complacency.
Becoming undying was a major trial, and so was what came afterward.
"How many become undying across the long river of time? How many become Universe Country Lords?" Chen Beixun closed his eyes. "The future is uncertain."
Meanwhile...
The Black Soul Tower's base.
"Damn it!" Zhen Jin sat on the sofa and angrily pounded the alloy wall behind him. A bewitching woman was performing oral sex on him to ease his stress.
Beep!
Zhen Jin raised his arm. His pupils contracted, and he said, "My master wants to see me?"
He frowned, reached out to grab the bewitching woman, and shouted, "Get off!" Then he sent a strand of consciousness into the Virtual Universe.
The Virtual Universe, Longwen Island.
"Zhen Jin." An old voice reached his ears.
"Uh..." Zhen Jin pressed his lips together, turned toward a thin old man, and knelt. "Master!"
The old man carried the distinctive air of a seasoned veteran, like a vicious tiger nearing the end of its years. Yet even in old age, he could still fight!
The old man stepped forward, helped Zhen Jin to his feet, and said, "I know what happened to you."
"Master, I'm useless." Zhen Jin lowered his head, his eyes brimming with tears. Like a child who had been wronged, he sought comfort in an elder's embrace.
The old man—Tuyi—coughed a few times and said, "Crying won't change anything!"
Zhen Jin took a deep breath. "There's nothing I could do. That guy has a Domain Lord Level Three Demon Island Vine, and now it's at Domain Lord Level Four."
"Oh." Tuyi's eyes shifted. His wrinkled old face was covered in dark brown spots resembling age spots.
Suddenly, Tuyi erupted with a terrifying killing intent.
Zhen Jin shuddered. He didn't understand what had come over his master.
"Could the undying treasure I've been searching for all these years be on him?" Tuyi wondered. "I may be a World Lord, but my time is running out!"
"Look into him!" Tuyi said, his face fierce.
Seeing Tuyi stand there without a word, Zhen Jin cautiously asked, puzzled, "Master?"
"Zhen Jin, keep a close eye on Chen Beixun," Tuyi said quietly, while thinking, I'll take a gamble!
Zhen Jin was delighted. "Yes, Master. I'll go plant some people right away." Then he left the Virtual Company.
Tuyi smiled, in high spirits. "Heh heh, time to try out those sisters who just arrived."
Chen Beixun had no idea danger was approaching. He was at the Lotte Family's base, cultivating the Twilight Art.
Inside a room about ten meters high.
"Almost there!" Chen Beixun sat cross-legged, sweat beading on his forehead. The Twelfth crystal in his sea of consciousness was slowly taking shape.
"Form!"
A sphere coalesced in Chen Beixun's sea of consciousness. He clenched his teeth, making them grind with a "crunch, crunch." "I just need to carve it!"
This step was incredibly difficult! One mistake and all his efforts would be wasted. He would have to condense the Twelfth crystal all over again.
"One!"
"Two!"
Chen Beixun counted silently to himself. Somehow, it seemed to lessen the pain a little.
The condensation was going relatively smoothly, but it took far longer than the previous crystals—45.6 hours, a little over two full days!
"Whew!" Chen Beixun exhaled sharply. "That was brutal!"
"Two days of torture!"
Chen Beixun wiped his forehead, then flicked the sweat from his hand.
"Though it was painful, the gains were substantial!" Chen Beixun's eyes shone brightly. "I can feel that my soul strength, consciousness, and will have all improved considerably!"
"Heh heh heh! My Soul Attack has just advanced a whole level!" Chen Beixun clenched his fist and laughed. "How about I go out and test it?"
Once he'd made up his mind, Chen Beixun quickly rose, left the room, and walked out of the Lotte Family's base.
He headed for the area where the fighting had taken place.