Green-Ring Dodder ~ The Ultimate Use of Rule

Almost instantly, Su Mu felt several crossbow bolts shoot out from beside him, striking toward the Rock Snake.

"It's a century-old Rock Snake. It was hiding inside the rocks just now, and we actually didn't notice it." As Tang Ya spoke, several strands of Blue Silver Grass burst from the surrounding bushes, soil, and rock walls, winding toward the fleeing Rock Snake.

The Rock Snake, already struck by several crossbow bolts and wrapped in Blue Silver Grass, seemed to go berserk. Its head smashed through the rock wall and burrowed into the stone layer.

Continuous rumbling echoed all around them.

The next moment, the Rock Snake emerged again, and this time, its target was the rope above Su Mu's head!

Its body pierced through it, and the slender steel cable snapped instantly. A sensation of weightlessness hit Su Mu.

Several strands of Blue Silver Grass barely managed to suspend him against a cliff wall in midair.

Su Mu's hand reached for the pouch at his waist, which was filled entirely with Gold Soul Coins!

In that instant, he had nearly summoned an employee.

At a life-or-death moment like this, no one would begrudge spending a little money.

He let out a long breath and sat on a tree branch.

The Rock Snake above was also forced back by several crossbow bolts, temporarily vanishing from sight.

Seeing the surroundings fall quiet, Bei Bei and Tang Ya relaxed their guard as well. They began climbing down faster, trying to get closer to Su Mu.

Su Mu was still ten meters from the ground. That fall had nearly sent him plummeting eight meters.

If he had fallen any faster, Tang Ya would not even have had the chance to release Blue Silver Grass. He would have hit the ground and turned into a pile of mangled flesh.

"Are you okay, Boss Su Mu? We'll be there to save you soon. Don't be scared!"

"The treetop is dangerous. Move closer to the thicker part of the trunk!" Bei Bei's voice drifted through the wind, sometimes strong, sometimes faint.

Just as Su Mu rose to listen more closely, he suddenly felt the branch beneath his feet shift. A crack split through the middle of the tree branch, and it snapped at once.

...Ah...

Glug glug glug.

Water flooded into Su Mu's nose, forcing him to open his eyes beneath the lake.

Before him was light refracted in pale green water.

Su Mu forcibly held his breath, swallowed the last mouthful of lake water in his mouth, and made himself calm down.

Seeing the cold gleam beneath his feet, his instinct upon opening his eyes had been to swim toward the light.

If he had truly done that, he would probably not have been far from death now—and would have wasted most of his strength.

He saw sunlight refracting through the surface and shining onto the stone slabs. The lake surface, which should have been full of sunlight, instead looked dark and unfathomable.

Meanwhile, the smooth rocks lurking below were clear and bright like the lake surface. If he had swum instinctively just now, he would have headed deeper toward the lakebed.

Realizing this, Su Mu raised his head and looked at the unnatural, slightly dark lake surface rippling above him. He slowly swam upward.

Using the last breath he had left, he crawled onto the shore. His clothes were completely soaked, and he collapsed onto the rocky bank, gasping for air.

That had nearly been the end of him.

Fortunately, his theoretical knowledge and strong will had forced him to recognize the "Rule" amid the panic.

The ultimate attribute of his Martial Soul was still at work!

Tang Ya and the others had also climbed down from the cliff wall. They crossed the river along a jutting stone ridge and reached the opposite bank.

Only then did Su Mu look up. The Rock Snake's attack had knocked him off course. If he had fallen straight down, he would definitely have landed squarely on the sharp rocks below. With bad luck, he might have been split in two down the middle.

That strike had instead knocked him toward the deep pool of the nearby river, saving his life.

He could not help sighing. The outer region and the fringe region truly could not be compared.

The danger level rose exponentially. Apart from the harsh environment, there were also those bizarre Soul Beasts.

He stretched, then suddenly felt as though he was slowly moving—or rather, Tang Ya and Bei Bei were getting farther and farther away from him.

"Below! Below! Look below!" Jiang Nannan said urgently as she released her Martial Soul and rushed toward him.

Only then did Su Mu lower his head. He was sitting on a crab shaped like a rock, and it was carrying him away at high speed!

Splash! It leaped forward and plunged back into the water.

"Holy shit, river crabs can get this huge?!"

Half an hour later, beside a campfire on the riverbank.

Su Mu was wrapped in a blanket, staring somewhat bashfully at the clothes Jiang Nannan had hung over the fire and repeatedly dried.

He had prepared two spare sets, but both had been damaged on the way here. Only this one remained intact, and today he had fallen into the water again.

On the other side, Tang Ya and Bei Bei had bound a giant rock-like crab tightly with Blue Silver Grass.

A dagger appeared in Bei Bei's hand. The instant he used Martial Soul Possession, it became wreathed in lightning.

Seeing this, Su Mu walked over wrapped in his blanket. Looking at the bound giant crab and the iron pot they had set up, he could not help sneezing.

He asked,

"Didn't you say we shouldn't eat random things in the forest? Aren't you afraid there's something wrong with this crab?"

As he spoke, he looked at the crab, whose legs were as thick as his little arms, in astonishment. He had thought he was sitting on a rock, but it turned out to be a ten-year Stone Crab sleeping on the riverbank.

"Well, little Su Mu, you're being too surprised by this."

Tang Ya rubbed her hands eagerly, added two more pieces of firewood beneath the iron pot, and said,

"This creature is called a Stone Crab. It sounds like a crab-type creature should be highly aggressive, but they're naturally timid and afraid of trouble."

"Their claws are round and plump like stones. They cannot hurt people and are usually only used to clip aquatic plants for food."

"What this creature loves most is sleeping quietly and waiting for moss to grow on its claws, then eating it."

"Besides, Stone Crab meat is famous for being nourishing and tender. It benefits Soul Beasts greatly, while ordinary people can eat it to prolong their lives. It can even improve certain functions."

As she spoke, she looked Su Mu up and down. Finally, she raised two fingers—her thumb and index finger—and held them close together beneath her eyes.

Su Mu tightened the blanket around himself. "You female hooligan!"

"I'm only six right now. Once I grow up, just wait and see whether I stab you!"

Before long, Su Mu put on the clothes Jiang Nannan had dried for him and sat beside the iron pot, watching the steamed crab inside.

"I never thought we'd run into a Stone Crab today. I figure we can last three more days in the forest."

Tang Ya gestured as she cracked open a crab leg and sucked out the soft, sticky meat inside, like rice cake. She scraped it clean with an iron spoon.

"Boss Su Mu really has good luck. It's one thing for him to make delicious fried chicken, but he can sit down anywhere and land on premium ingredients."

Bei Bei nodded as well. "The hunting operation originally consumes a tremendous amount of Soul Power and stamina, but after this meal, I think we'll be able to restore ourselves to peak condition."

After encountering the Stone Crab, cooking it seemed to become a higher priority than finding a suitable Soul Ring.

In the end, only the thoroughly cooked red crab shell remained piled beside the pot. Tang Ya even packed it away in her Soul Tool.

"Those are materials needed for crafting Soul Tools. They can fetch a decent price to some extent,"

"And they're usually crushed up to make pills or potions for repairing bones," Bei Bei added from the side.

This time, their luck was fairly good. After encountering only four Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, they found a suitable Soul Ring.

Su Mu looked at the tangled vines within a solitary bamboo grove in the valley, somewhat stunned.

After all, he did not know much about Soul Beasts.

But on the other side, the knowledgeable Bei Bei had determined at first glance that this was the most suitable one for Su Mu.

As they drew closer, Jiang Nannan also saw its true appearance clearly.

Dodder-like vines coiled around the solitary bamboo, their roots piercing into the bamboo to absorb nutrients. Like a spiderweb, they preyed on all kinds of passing birds and beasts.

"This is Green-Ring Dodder," Bei Bei explained. "Its vitality is incredibly tenacious. It can practically be called an immortal Soul Beast."

"Unless it is reduced to ashes with raging flames, once it splits apart, even if only a fingernail-sized piece remains, it can grow into a new dodder plant again in a short time.

"The more of it remains, the more cultivation it retains! And there is a certain chance that it will inherit all of its previous cultivation."

"Because of its unique nature, it is practically the first choice for any healing-type Soul Master.

"You can cut off however many years you want! So after finding one, there's usually no need to search again. You can come back when it's time to obtain your next Soul Ring."

"Practically immortal?" Su Mu was stunned. "A mere Hundred-Year Soul Beast can actually have such heaven-defying recovery abilities. This really suits me! Thank you, Brother Bei Bei!"