Life Poison, Emerald Forest!

"Emerald Ghost King Vine?"

Lin Xia murmured the name again. It sounded anything but ordinary.

"That's right!"

A flicker of eagerness flashed through Yue Hongsheng's eyes.

"This plant-type soul beast is extraordinarily unique. It does not come into being through the pure absorption of life energy."

"It grows upon special 'life nodes' formed by the ancient trees that have stood for tens of thousands of years in the heart of the Emerald Forest, drawing upon the majestic life force of those trees as its foundation!"

"Yet its nature is not one of protective symbiosis, but tyrannical plunder and transformation!"

"To seize these precious life nodes and fend off the predators lurking everywhere in the forest, the Emerald Ghost King Vine developed an exceptionally domineering toxin over its long evolution—Life Poison!"

"Life Poison?"

Lin Xia's pupils contracted slightly. The term itself was filled with contradiction and temptation.

"Yes! Life Poison!"

Yue Hongsheng stressed the words.

"It is an extremely bizarre and powerful toxin! Its purpose is not to destroy life. On the contrary, it is formed through the extreme plundering of life force and the destruction of a living being's defenses, mixing, tempering, and condensing the immense life essence it steals into a virulent toxin of unique composition!"

"It possesses terrifying corrosive properties and the power to numb the nerves, while its core contains life energy that has been forcibly transformed into an incomparably pure, concentrated form!"

"Once poisoned, one's life force will be frantically plundered, and bodily functions will be broken down and eroded by the toxin. Yet at the same time, the stolen life essence may be forcibly absorbed by a strong will or a compatible martial soul, creating a tempering at the border between life and death!"

"This contradictory unity is the exquisite embodiment of Life-Poison Unity!"

Yue Hongsheng looked at Bulbasaur, then at Lin Xia, his eyes full of anticipation.

"The Emerald Ghost King Vine itself represents the life-origin trait of this soul beast species—rooted in immense vitality, yet giving birth to a tyrannical predator of life and a fatal poison containing the essence of extreme life force!"

"It is a miraculous product of conflict and fusion between 'life' and 'poison' in the most extreme environment!"

"This old man judges that this soul beast's traits are almost perfectly compatible with the essence of Bulbasaur's Life-Poison Unity!"

"The life force contained within its soul ring would be the finest nourishment for Bulbasaur's Life Seed, while the skill attached to that soul ring has a ninety-nine percent chance of being related to its tyrannical Life Poison!"

"This would be the best choice for unleashing the upper limits of Bulbasaur's poison talent while stabilizing and elevating its life foundation!"

"Go to Sunset Forest to seek out ordinary poison-type soul beasts? No! They cannot provide this kind of fusion and elevation at the very essence of life!"

Lin Xia's heartbeat quickened involuntarily.

The Emerald Ghost King Vine Yue Hongsheng described was practically a first soul ring source tailor-made for Bulbasaur!

It possessed both powerful life force and a one-of-a-kind poison, perfectly meeting the needs of Life-Poison Unity!

"Senior! When do we depart?"

Lin Xia's voice carried barely restrained excitement.

Yue Hongsheng smiled faintly, carrying the calm steadiness of an old hunter.

"Near the Eternal Domain deep within the Emerald Forest. But don't rush. Though Emerald Ghost King Vines are powerful, their age is equally important. We need to find one of precisely the right age."

At this point, a sharp gleam flashed through Yue Hongsheng's eyes.

"This old man will have the supplies prepared at once. At dawn tomorrow, we'll assemble a team of trustworthy guards, and we'll... venture deep into the Emerald Forest!"

Guards?

Lin Xia did not know what kind of arrangement this was. Yue Hongsheng was already a Soul Sage—was there really a need for guards?

But he was living under someone else's roof now, so Lin Xia did not say anything further. Filled with excitement over obtaining his first soul skill, he left Yue Hongsheng's courtyard with Bulbasaur.

The next morning, the sky had only just begun to brighten.

Outside the gates of Plant Academy, Lin Xia carried a simple pack on his back and held Bulbasaur in his arms as he spotted Yue Hongsheng, who had already been waiting there.

Yue Hongsheng was not alone.

At his side stood four guards in the academy's standard dark-green fitted uniforms.

They stood tall and straight, their auras steady, their gazes sharp yet restrained. Their entire bodies radiated a crisp, capable air.

Though their Soul Power fluctuations were not as vast and profound as Yue Hongsheng's, they were condensed and solid. They were clearly elite fighters.

The four stood in a faintly protective formation, keeping Yue Hongsheng and Lin Xia in the middle.

Lin Xia's heart stirred.

They were only hunting a first soul ring. Though their target lay deep in the Emerald Forest, this level of protection... seemed far beyond what an ordinary soul hunt required.

"Everyone's here. Move out!"

Yue Hongsheng did not waste words. With a broad wave of his hand, he took the lead.

The four guards followed silently, like the most loyal shadows.

Lin Xia took a deep breath, suppressing the doubts in his heart. Holding Bulbasaur, who was curiously looking around, he quickly followed after them.

After several days of travel, they soon plunged headfirst into the vast green ocean of the Emerald Forest.

The instant they entered the forest, it felt utterly different from the sense of order around its outskirts, which had been managed by Plant Academy.

A primitive, surging aura of life instantly enveloped Lin Xia.

The air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, the dampness of earth, and a distinctive scent... steamed up beneath the sunlight and mixed with the breath of countless plants. It was refreshing to the soul.

Light passed through layer upon layer of enormous broad leaves of all shapes and sizes, pouring down in countless mottled beams and creating a dreamlike scene amid the pale green mist drifting through the woods.

Ancient trees towered into the sky, their canopies blotting out the sun.

The trunks of some giant trees were wider in diameter than any building Lin Xia had seen at Notting Academy.

Thick, dragonlike roots wound and coiled across the ground like giant pythons before burrowing back into the soil in the distance.

Damp, dense moss covered every inch of the boulders and every groove in the deadwood. Walking over it felt like stepping on a soft carpet.

Overhead, massive vines twisted and intertwined like serpentine bridges across a green canopy.

At their sides, exotic flowers and strange grasses bloomed in competition, their colors astonishingly vivid. Some released peculiar fragrances, while others flickered with faint fluorescence.

"Bulba! Bulba~!"

Bulbasaur clearly loved this environment. The seed on its back stretched slightly, gleaming comfortably beneath the dappled sunlight as though it were instinctively breathing in the forest's denser life aura.

Lin Xia himself also felt the Soul Power within his body become noticeably more active.

Yet the deeper they went, the more apparent became the dangers lurking beneath that beauty.

The forest floor was uneven. Beneath the thick layer of humus, deep pits or poisonous marshes might be concealed.

Some flowers that looked bright and harmless could be releasing hallucinogenic fragrances.

The venomous snakes and scorpions winding through the branches and leaves often blended perfectly into their surroundings, making them difficult to detect.

Massive carnivorous plants opened thorn-filled traps and waited quietly for prey foolish enough to wander in.

The air gradually filled with more complex traces of scent—territorial markers left behind by powerful soul beasts, mixed with a faint smell of blood.

In some areas, thin violet or pink mist even drifted through the air. Lin Xia keenly sensed that Bulbasaur in his arms had developed a distinctly stronger "appetite" for those mists.

The four guards remained vigilant at all times, taking turns moving ahead to clear the way.

They were clearly extremely familiar with the forest's environment and always managed to avoid dangerous terrain and potential soul beast nests in advance.

Sometimes, merely releasing the faintest trace of aura or a slight fluctuation of Soul Power was enough to frighten off the dangerous creatures hiding in the shadows.