Devouring-The Power of Plants and Trees

"Lin Chuan, what's wrong?" Bu Lianshi saw that Lin Chuan's face had changed after he plucked the Crimson Flame Lotus and immediately asked anxiously.

"It's nothing. We need to leave here as soon as possible..." Before he could finish speaking, Lin Chuan's expression changed again. He could feel the drawing force from the Fruit of the God Tree in his dantian growing stronger.

"Damn it!! Devouring it should be a good thing, but in a situation like this..." Lin Chuan gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly. But the power in his body gave him no time to think. The Fruit of the God Tree even released a wisp of purple mist, which rushed along his meridians toward the Crimson Flame Lotus in the palm of his right hand.

"Guard me!" Lin Chuan sat cross-legged on the ground, shoved the Crimson Flame Lotus into his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi were both badly startled by this. "Lin Chuan, that's an herb used by alchemists at the Foundation Establishment Stage. You can't eat it directly..."

But before they could finish, they saw Lin Chuan's throat move. He had obviously already swallowed it.

"This is bad. Although swallowing herbs usually isn't very harmful, the herb Lin Chuan ate is beyond his cultivation level. Even if his body is different from others' and can digest Spirit Cores, the power of herbs is different from the spiritual energy inside Spirit Cores. What are we going to do..." Bu Lianshi said anxiously, her face turning deathly pale.

"The power of plants and trees in herbs has to be refined by an alchemist before cultivators can absorb it. If he eats it like this, there's no guarantee that the power of plants and trees won't run rampant inside him. But the problem is, he's already swallowed it. There's nothing we can do. We should do as Lin Chuan said and guard him."

After a moment of silence, Qin Lang spoke with resolve.

"Don't forget, Lin Chuan said that as long as he can face things calmly, he'll definitely have a backup plan. All we can do now is protect him!" Qin Lang's fist clenched abruptly. His normally languid gaze sharpened as he swept his eyes across their surroundings and took up a defensive stance. "He's always been the one protecting us. Now it's our turn to protect him!"

After hearing Qin Lang, Bu Lianshi glanced back at Lin Chuan, who sat with his eyes closed, then resolutely stepped in front of him, forming his final line of defense.

At that moment, a vast torrent of energy surged through Lin Chuan's body. It was made up of both natural energy, such as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the power of plants and trees unique to vegetation. The moment these energies appeared, they flowed along his meridians toward his dantian, completely beyond his control.

"Why does the Fruit of the God Tree want to devour the Crimson Flame Lotus? What's going on?" Lin Chuan furrowed his brow, not daring to move at all.

Although the power of plants and trees was beyond his control, it had already surpassed the limits of what he could normally handle. If something went wrong and this energy stirred even slightly, he might not die, but he would be skinned alive.

"As expected, the power of plants and trees contained in an herb used for alchemy at the Foundation Establishment Stage is far too rich for someone like me, who's only at the Qi Refining Stage, to control. It's a blessing I haven't been crushed to death. I hope the Fruit of the God Tree settles down after devouring this energy, and I hope I'll gain even more power once it's done!" Lin Chuan thought to himself.

To everyone's surprise, this time Lin Chuan's devouring took very little time. It was over in less than three minutes, and he had completely absorbed the power of the Crimson Flame Lotus.

When Lin Chuan opened his eyes again, even he couldn't believe that his body had completely dissipated such an enormous amount of energy in such a short time.

"Lin Chuan, you're awake! That's wonderful!" Bu Lianshi felt a stir behind her and turned around, just in time to see Lin Chuan awaken. "What happened to the Crimson Flame Lotus you swallowed? If there's any energy you can't absorb, expel it from your body quickly. Absorbing the power of plants and trees directly without an alchemist refining it is dangerous!"

"The Crimson Flame Lotus... I've absorbed all of it..." Lin Chuan's next words nearly made Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi's jaws hit the ground.

"Absorbed... all of it? How is that possible!!" The two of them felt that, during their time with Lin Chuan, they had already made every expression of astonishment they could in their entire lives. But even that wasn't enough. Lin Chuan had left them not merely astonished, but horrified. He had shattered so many of their common beliefs.

Lin Chuan could understand exactly how they felt. It was like telling his past self that water flowed uphill and fire was cold—things that challenged everyone's most basic assumptions.

What Lin Chuan had done to Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi's understanding of the cultivation world was no less unbelievable. And these things had really happened right before their eyes. It would have been a lie to say they weren't shocked.

With no time to sort through all this, the first thing Lin Chuan did after coming to was activate his Byakugan to check his surroundings. Only after confirming there was no danger did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and stand up.

"You're really all right?" Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi finally put away their expressions and looked at Lin Chuan with concern, their faces still strange.

"I'm fine. I've already absorbed..." Before he could finish, Lin Chuan's face changed abruptly once more, and he cursed loudly to himself.

"Are you messing with me?" The Fruit of the God Tree in Lin Chuan's dantian was now giving off an even stronger force, drawing in and devouring everything. It was like the terrifying greed of someone who had been desperately hungry, bursting forth after a single taste of an unparalleled delicacy. In that instant, the most primitive instinct—to eat—surpassed every other thought, becoming frenzied and savage.

"How could this happen??" Lin Chuan's eyes widened in horror. He could clearly feel a terrifying devouring force erupting from his dantian. Its craving for the power of plants and trees had surpassed everything else. When it couldn't be satisfied, it even began devouring Lin Chuan's flesh directly. He had no doubt that if this continued, he would be sucked dry!

"Damn it! Could it be that since they're both plants, the Fruit of the God Tree needs to absorb the power of plants and trees to grow? Damn it, why didn't I think of this earlier? Now..." Lin Chuan cursed inwardly. He seemed unable to hear Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi's anxious voices beside him.

"I have to find more Crimson Flame Lotus quickly... Otherwise, I'll really die from the Fruit of the God Tree's devouring..." Lin Chuan gritted his teeth. In the next moment, his Byakugan transformed directly into the Tenseigan, and he began frantically searching the surrounding area on a much wider scale for Crimson Flame Lotus.

The next moment, Lin Chuan spotted a Crimson Flame Lotus and hurried forward. As he passed Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi, all he could do was grit his teeth and say, "Stay close!" Then he disappeared into the depths of the cave.

Bu Lianshi and Qin Lang exchanged a glance and immediately hurried after him. Whatever happened, they would never abandon their companion!