Lin Fan moved, instantly becoming a blurred afterimage as he skimmed swiftly along the dense treetops.
However, the instant he entered within a hundred meters of the Purple Blood Vine, the purple branches that had lain motionless, disguised as ordinary vines, suddenly erupted into motion.
More than a dozen thick vines instantly straightened like giant purple pythons. Trailing a nauseating stench and sharp whistling sounds, they attacked Lin Fan from every direction!
Their skins were covered in dense, vicious barbs. If they wrapped around him, they would likely tear his flesh from his bones in an instant.
These were the plant monsters of Mist Island, far more savage and bizarre than the monsters in the Wilderness Zone.
Faced with this overwhelming attack, enough to make an ordinary warrior despair, Lin Fan's expression didn't change.
His gaze remained cold. He merely stirred his thoughts.
Whoosh!!
Dozens of feather blades from Sky Splitter shot out from behind him like shattered silver, transforming into circles of cold, silver Flowing Light that spun swiftly around him.
Then, guided by Lin Fan's Spiritual Force, the feather blades spread apart and shifted out of alignment, like interlocking invisible gears. Their short, sweeping arcs met the vines head-on.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The first pass swept by.
The surfaces of the dozen thick purple vines instantly erupted with countless fine cuts.
The second pass followed.
The cuts immediately split into gaping wounds, spraying purple sap into the air and filling it with a sharp, sour stench.
Then the third pass swept through.
The incredibly tough vines, which even large-caliber bullets couldn't pierce, snapped apart in midair!
Thud, thud...
The severed pieces crashed into the bushes and dirt, still writhing frantically like earthworms.
In just a few seconds, every vine that had attacked Lin Fan was cut apart.
"Waaah!!"
The Purple Blood Vine let out a strange, anguished cry like a baby wailing.
Then its remaining vines frantically pulled back, trying to burrow underground.
"Heh, you even know how to run."
Lin Fan's gaze sharpened. His wings beat fiercely, and he appeared beside the vine's main trunk as if he had teleported.
"Mountain Collapse!"
Lin Fan let out a low shout, and his full strength erupted.
There were no fancy techniques—just pure weight and overwhelming force.
Calamity swept down on the vine's main trunk with the force of a thousand tons.
Squelch!!
The bone-chilling baby's wail abruptly stopped.
The enormous vine convulsed violently a few times, then split cleanly in two and quickly lost all vitality.
Lin Fan raised a hand and beckoned. As his Spiritual Force swept over them, several ruby-like fruits detached and flew into his palm.
They felt warm to the touch and brimmed with energy, as if he were holding several burning flames.
He didn't even look at them, casually tossing them into the backpack on his back. From now on, he couldn't let anyone discover that he had a Space Ring.
Lin Fan didn't linger. He turned toward the next red dot marked on the radar.
"Next."
Whoosh!
His wings beat, and his figure became a blur before disappearing from the spot.
For the mutated plants on Mist Island's outskirts, this day was an absolute nightmare.
Like a swarm of locusts sweeping across the land, Lin Fan began at the island's perimeter and steadily advanced toward the inner region, harvesting its plant monsters as he went.
Ten minutes later, at the edge of a swamp.
Several flowers that looked exquisitely beautiful but could spray highly corrosive poison, the "Rotten Bone Flowers," spread their petals, waiting for prey to approach.
But what arrived wasn't food. It was a rain of silver blades.
Sky Splitter's feather blades became dozens of silver streaks, easily slicing through the gelatinous petals they took such pride in and grinding their flower cores into a pulp.
After collecting the nectar from the Rotten Bone Flowers, Lin Fan rushed onward without pausing.
Twenty minutes later, at a rocky field.
Boom!!
The seemingly level ground suddenly caved in. Countless Iron Thread Vines, hard as steel, burst from the earth, trying to pierce Lin Fan's feet.
But Lin Fan seemed to have anticipated it. His body shifted three meters sideways in midair.
"Die!"
Calamity swept across, severing the vines. Riding the momentum, Lin Fan dove down, becoming a blur as he shot straight into the earth, the tip of his blade striking the throbbing, heart-like core with pinpoint precision.
With a muffled burst, the wildly writhing vines instantly stiffened, then slumped to the ground.
He pulled a green-glowing "sinew" from the Iron Thread Vine's trunk. Then his figure flashed, and he continued onward.
In just three hours.
Dozens of energy-rich plant materials had already accumulated in Lin Fan's backpack.
There were Heart-Clearing Lotus Seeds that could cure any poison, Blood Jade Ginseng that could restore his stamina in an instant, and Ancient Wood Cores that gave off a faint glow.
Along the way, no matter what kind of plant monster he encountered, none could withstand even a single exchange with him.
This was the overwhelming advantage of superior cultivation and equipment—a complete dimensional crushing.
But Lin Fan also knew that not all the plants on the outskirts were true Spirits of Vegetation. Most were merely plant monsters.
They were valuable, but still fell well short of the level of a Spirit of Vegetation.
"Tsk, tsk..."
Lin Fan sat on a protruding boulder, calming his breathing as he counted the spoils in his backpack.
"Any one of these things would make the War Gods outside fight tooth and nail for it."
Even with his current perspective, he was extremely satisfied with what he'd gathered.
This was the joy of monopolizing resources.
Treasures worth a fortune outside could be found here like cabbages, just waiting for him to harvest them.
"But the real feast is still ahead."
Lin Fan raised his head and looked through the layers of mist toward the heart of Mist Island.
The fog there was so thick it seemed almost solid, with an eerie milky-white hue.
Within the dense mist, the holographic map showed dozens of conspicuous red dots.
They were the real Spirits of Vegetation, unlike the scraps on the outskirts.
Among them were more than ten even brighter red dots.
"Spirits of Vegetation on the same level as the Ten-Thousand-Year Willow Heart..."
Lin Fan murmured to himself.
"In the original story, Luo Feng relied on the Ten-Thousand-Year Willow Heart to break through directly to the peak of the War God level with his Spiritual Force. He even touched the threshold of the Planetary Level."
"My physique has been enhanced by the system, so my absorption efficiency will only be higher than his—and more absurd."
"I've already tempered my foundation to the utmost. As long as I consume a large number of Spirits of Vegetation and Wood Bud Crystals, refine my understanding of the way, and draw on that vast medicinal power..."
"I can definitely break through the barrier in one go and enter the Planetary Level!"
With that thought, Lin Fan didn't hesitate. He pressed the communicator by his ear and said,
"101."
"Master, I'm here."
101's calm, elegant voice rang out.
"Move the spaceship to the outer area above me. Keep it cloaked and on standby nearby."
"If anything happens that I can't control, be ready to pick me up at any time."
"But remember, don't fire. Conserve energy."
"Yes, Master."
After confirming the instructions, Lin Fan took a deep breath and composed himself. But just as he started toward the core of Mist Island,
suddenly—
Rumble...
A distinct, earthquake-like sound came from deep within the white mist. It was as if something enormous was rolling around beneath the earth.
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes and looked toward the most conspicuous, deepest crimson dot on the holographic map.
On Mist Island, the greatest trouble had never come from the Spirits of Vegetation alone.
It was the Cloud-Touching Vine, which had already reached the Planetary Level and was a formidable opponent even among Planetary Level beings!
It was the true ruler of the island, and a nightmare to anyone like him who hadn't yet reached the Planetary Level.
"But as powerful as the Cloud-Touching Vine is, it's still wild and untamed."
Lin Fan calmly analyzed the situation.
"It isn't very intelligent, and it hasn't been carefully cultivated. It's just a beast acting on instinct."
"As long as I stay away and don't provoke it, it shouldn't pose a fatal threat to me."
Once he'd thought it through, Lin Fan's gaze hardened.
Fortune favored the bold.
Whoosh!
He shifted, transforming into a streak of Flowing Light as he rushed into the denser white mist.
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