Bulbasaur Is Dead!?

Lin Xia's heart nearly leaped out of his chest as he instinctively reached out to catch it!

However—

The instant that young vine was pulled out of the protective aura!

It was as though some absolute silence had been shattered!

Several gigantic vines, terrifying beyond measure, shot explosively from the several ten-thousand-year Ghost King Vines at the core like collapsing mountains!

They instantly locked onto... the direction the young vine had flown! And the... culprit who had pulled it out!

Lin Xia's outstretched hand froze in midair, his heart seized by unprecedented terror.

Looking at the massive vine so close at hand, Lin Xia realized he probably could not evade it. Seeing Bulbasaur beside him, he had just started to bend down to shield it when, at that critical instant, Bulbasaur, which had remained pressed against Lin Xia's leg, suddenly contracted its scarlet pupils, made especially sharp by Swords Dance!

Its perception of danger far surpassed Lin Xia's.

That danger was like the sharpest alarm in a cold night, instantly igniting the instinct to protect buried in its bloodline.

"Bulba!!!!"

A short, utterly anxious shriek burst from Bulbasaur's mouth!

It did not want to see Lin Xia die. Without the slightest hesitation, Bulbasaur's tiny body erupted with strength beyond its limits!

Bulbasaur did not charge the enemy, nor did it evade. Instead—it slammed fiercely and resolutely into Lin Xia's waist!

Bang!

A dull impact rang out.

Lin Xia, who had just bent down, felt an enormous force strike him. His entire body flew sideways and backward beyond his control, and he crashed awkwardly onto the thick emerald lichen.

The violent impact made Lin Xia's vision go dark, and his mouth filled with the taste of blood.

He had escaped the core range of the vine's attack.

However, taking Lin Xia's place and directly facing the attack of the ten-thousand-year Emerald Ghost King Vine...

Was Bulbasaur!

Its blue-green body, tempered in the Poison Institute and covered in a tough metallic sheen, was completely exposed beneath that gigantic vine the instant Lin Xia was sent flying!

Boom—

Bulbasaur's entire body was struck as if by a massive hammer. The strange seed on its back trembled violently, and even its deep purple radiance dimmed in an instant!

Pfft!

A large mouthful of liquid mixed with dark-purple poison and blood sprayed from Bulbasaur's mouth, staining the glistening emerald lichen beneath it red.

The next second, its body flew away like a kite with its string cut, violently hurled upward by the immense impact!

Its tiny body traced a powerless arc through the air, heading straight toward a giant tree root not far away!

"Bulbasaur—!!!"

The sight of his companion being struck head-on and sent flying with grievous injuries to save him instantly overwhelmed all his previous fear, shock, and unease. All that remained was volcanic fury, agonizing pain, and endless panic!

Ignoring his battered body, Lin Xia scrambled to his feet on hands and knees and rushed madly toward where Bulbasaur had fallen.

His vision instantly blurred with tears, and it felt as if an icy giant hand had crushed his heart!

All of this had happened in the span of a spark. Until now—

"You beast! How dare you—!!!"

A furious roar like thunder exploded through the air, carrying the vast, unmatched pressure of a Soul Saint!

Yue Hongsheng moved! He was so fast that only an afterimage remained! At last, he had acted!

The Evil Shadow Nether Poison Chrysanthemum martial soul in his withered hand instantly solidified and bloomed in a dark-purple glow!

A wave of pure, tyrannical dark-purple poisonous miasma Soul Power, as if capable of corroding everything, surged forth like an enraged tide and instantly formed a tangible barrier.

It forcibly stood between Lin Xia and the flying Bulbasaur, while also blocking the even deadlier follow-up attacks that the several ten-thousand-year Ghost King Vines in the core area might unleash!

At the same time, his other hand shot out like lightning and, precisely—not to catch Bulbasaur—made a grasping motion through the air!

Buzz!

A dark-purple chain of Soul Power instantly lashed out, targeting the young Emerald Ghost King Vine that had been flung away by Vine Whip and was still writhing weakly in midair, carrying a faint emerald glow and dark-purple toxic vapor!

This was the target Lin Xia and Bulbasaur had risked their lives to seize.

The chain coiled around the young vine with incredible speed. Yue Hongsheng yanked it backward, pouring powerful sealing Soul Power into it and instantly suppressing both its struggles and the intense fluctuations of life force and poison it emitted!

He had succeeded! The target was in hand!

But at this moment, neither Lin Xia nor Yue Hongsheng had any time to look at the young vine they had obtained.

The instant Yue Hongsheng seized the vine, he did not pause. Borrowing the recoil, he flashed past like a streak of purple light and, just before Bulbasaur was about to crash heavily into the giant tree root, caught it in midair with a gentle yet steady vortex of Soul Power!

Lin Xia had also stumbled and crawled his way over by then.

He saw—

Bulbasaur, supported by Yue Hongsheng's Soul Power, hanging limply in the air. Its usually bright, spirited scarlet eyes were tightly shut, purple-black bloodstains lingered at the corners of its mouth, and the seed on its back was completely closed. Its surface was terribly dull, with faint hairline cracks appearing and vanishing across it.

The tough blue-green skin covering its entire body, once gleaming with a metallic luster, now looked dim and lifeless. An extremely decayed aura of life, mixed with chaotic Soul Power fluctuations, radiated from it.

It did not move. Its small body was cold.

"No... no! Bulbasaur! Bulbasaur, wake up!"

Lin Xia's hands trembled. He wanted to touch it, but feared worsening its injuries. His voice choked and twisted as overwhelming panic and guilt nearly drowned him.

If it had not pushed him away, Bulbasaur could have relied on its speed and small size to try to evade that horrifying strike!

Yue Hongsheng's face was ashen as his withered fingers swiftly pressed against Bulbasaur's body to examine it.

After finishing his examination, Yue Hongsheng's expression turned utterly grim. The "Life Poison" contained within a ten-thousand-year Ghost King Vine was no joke!

Especially for someone who took the attack directly, it would frantically drain their life force while striking them at the same time. Bulbasaur might be extraordinarily gifted, but it was still young!

"More than half of its life force has been forcibly drained, and its internal organs have also been injured by the shockwave!"

Yue Hongsheng spoke rapidly, his tone graver than ever before.

"We must leave this place immediately, then find a way to keep Bulbasaur alive. Otherwise..."

Yue Hongsheng did not finish, but his meaning was painfully clear.

Rumble—!

At that moment, violent Soul Power erupted from the enormous basin's core behind them like boiling water!

Having lost the young vine and been blocked by Yue Hongsheng's poisonous-miasma barrier, the several ten-thousand-year Ghost King Vines had gone completely berserk!

The ghost-face crystals at their tips all lit up, while the twisted soul phantoms within let out silent roars!

Countless adult Ghost King Vine tendrils writhed like frenzied serpents, stirring up the life energy and poison throughout the entire space into a terrifying emerald tidal wave that swept toward them with the intent to destroy everything!

"Go!!!"

Yue Hongsheng could no longer care about anything else. He wrapped the nearly unconscious Bulbasaur in Soul Power, stuffed the sealed young Emerald Ghost King Vine into Lin Xia's hand with his other hand, and enveloped Lin Xia tightly in a surging wave of Soul Power.

Yue Hongsheng unleashed all his Soul Power, transforming into a terrifyingly swift streak of purple poisonous light. Holding nothing back and abandoning any pretense of stealth, he brutally charged toward the direction they had come from—the border of the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear's territory!

Lin Xia clutched that cold young emerald vine tightly. It radiated pure energy, yet also a deadly threat. He stared at Bulbasaur's tiny body, wrapped in Yue Hongsheng's Soul Power, utterly lifeless and seemingly ready to fade away at any moment.

His heart was filled with guilt and helplessness.