"Lin Yue, you bastard, what the hell did you create?!"
Sensing the terrifying pressure surging through the air, Yu Xiaogang immediately gritted his teeth and summoned Luo Sanpao. Yet he had no idea whom to attack. His legs trembled as his frantic gaze swept wildly around.
Among the countless ancient texts he had read, there had never been any mention of such a horrifying creature!
What was this? Where had it come from?!
"Ah Yin, come help me! It has too many roots."
The situation was far more troublesome than he had expected. Lin Yue's expression tightened as he dodged the earthen mounds and pointed underground.
"Look, these are their true bodies. They're also called bamboo rhizomes—the real lifeblood of a bamboo grove. That vast stretch of bamboo you see isn't made up of countless individual plants. They're merely different branches of the same organism."
"Kid, aren't you afraid of dying?"
Feeling his Soul Power gradually vanish into the bamboo grove under the bizarre force of Absorption in the air, Su Yan's expression changed drastically. Yet he still stood around the two children. His Spirit Rings lit up as he activated his soul skill, intending to shatter every bamboo spike stabbing toward them.
This Soul Beast was extremely difficult to deal with!
Simply cutting down one Jade Bamboo earlier had already taken quite a bit of effort. With so many Jade Bamboos growing together, they had no way to deal with them all!
"Don't worry. It only covers around thirty meters. Even if we can't beat it, can't we still run?"
While dodging the bamboo joints' attacks, Lin Yue frantically swung the hoe in his hands, digging up more and more roots.
"I've got flint in my backpack. Worst comes to worst, I'll burn the whole thing down. Let's see what it can use to act so smug then."
The corners of Lin Yue's lips lifted, his eyes filled with determination. He was determined to win.
"Brother Lin, but why doesn't it react at all when we attack its bamboo?"
Swinging her hoe alongside Lin Yue, Tang Yin's face was filled with alarm as she sensed the Soul Power within her body draining away as well.
"Because bamboo is optional to it in the first place. Cutting down one stalk is like plucking a single hair from a Titan Giant Ape. Forget one stalk—even if you cut down every last piece of bamboo, its countless bamboo shoots buried deep underground can break through the soil at any time and continue absorbing sunlight for it."
Lin Yue raised his left hand. As he sliced through a bamboo joint, he continued speaking:
"Of course, if you pluck a hair from a Titan Giant Ape, it'll pound you to death. But if you cut one stalk of its bamboo, it can't even be bothered to acknowledge you. It certainly won't expose itself willingly, either. There's no point."
Only when their roots were threatened would they erupt in a hysterical frenzy, because that was what could truly take their lives.
"Good, we finally dug it out."
Looking at the endless roots below the ground, trembling without stop, Lin Yue wiped the sweat from his face. Yet his expression only grew more troubled.
It looked as though they had suppressed the entire bamboo grove, but in truth, the battle had only just begun.
At the moment, Lin Yue could not think of any way to kill this bamboo grove Soul Beast. The underground roots of this Jade Bamboo Grove were far more troublesome than he had imagined. Not only did they extend more than ten meters underground, they covered over seven hundred square meters.
Lin Yue couldn't possibly dig up all that soil, could he?
Even fire could only burn away all the roots within this one pit. With the vitality of a bamboo-type Soul Beast, even if they truly managed it, they would only weaken the Jade Bamboo Grove somewhat. They could not touch its foundation.
Anxious, Lin Yue turned his head and saw Su Yan nearly facing the increasing number of bamboo spikes alone. His heart tightened.
Clearly, this Soul Beast was not especially aggressive, but its vitality was utterly terrifying. If this dragged on, they would not come out of it well.
Damn it, if only Teacher Su Yan's martial soul were fire-elemental. Ordinary Soul Masters simply couldn't deal with plant-type Soul Beasts with such powerful vitality...
"Brother Lin, do we just need to kill its roots now?"
Blinking her big, watery eyes, Tang Yin suddenly tilted her head, a sweet yet dangerously brilliant smile appearing on her face.
"That's right. We just need to completely destroy its roots. Hm? Ah Yin, do you have a way?"
Lin Yue had barely raised his head when he saw Ah Yin, smiling beautifully, reach into her pocket and take out a tiny vial of medicine.
The liquid gleamed with a deep azure light. Though it was as dazzling and translucent as a gemstone, the instant Lin Yue saw it, he felt a trace of chill beneath the blazing sun. It sent a faint shiver down his spine.
The girl smiled brightly. With a flick of her slender hand, the entire vial of azure liquid fell into the pit and splashed across the bamboo grove's roots.
The next moment, gray decay began spreading from where the poison had seeped in. Like a plague, it continuously extended along the roots.
The previously violent Jade Bamboo Grove seemed to have suffered a devastating injury. The growth rate of its bamboo spikes suddenly slowed.
In less than a few breaths, the more than twenty Jade Bamboos that had been waving their branches and leaves were stained with decay and yellowing. Like elderly men nearing the end of their days, they had nearly lost all vitality. Their movements became slower and more difficult.
This high-level Hundred-Year Soul Beast, famed for its vitality, was actually on the verge of collapse from a single vial of poison from the girl! Its life force was severed!!!
"How was that? I'm amazing, right?"
Throwing her arms open, Tang Yin pounced beside Lin Yue. She tilted her head up, her large eyes eagerly fixed on his face as she waited for praise.
"Yes, yes, Ah Yin is the best."
Lin Yue helplessly rubbed the little girl's head. He had nearly forgotten.
Although this Tang San had been renamed Tang Yin and looked adorable in her dependence and attachment toward him, she was still, at heart, the cold-blooded killer from the Tang Sect. She carried countless hidden weapons and poisons on her. Like a Fury Tang Lotus, she was beautiful and dangerous.
"I secretly made this poison at school. But it's not the poison I truly want—the strongest poison."
Held in the arms of the one she loved, the girl's cheeks burned. She only dared bury her head against his chest, peeking at him with a pair of clear, bright eyes.
"Brother Lin, do you know what my ultimate goal in refining poison is?"
"What is it?"
Lin Yue froze. He only knew that Xiao San had once wanted the Fury Tang Lotus more than anything as a hidden weapon, but he did not know the name of the most powerful poison.
The girl's cheeks flushed crimson, and a mesmerizingly obsessed love shimmered in her eyes.
"I want to refine a poison that will make Brother Lin love only me forever. Forever and ever, forever and ever, one that can never be cured..."
Seeing the shining hope in her large eyes, Lin Yue sighed softly and patted her back. He answered without thinking:
"Silly girl, aren't you one already?"
Noticing the mist instantly welling in her eyes, Lin Yue pinched her soft cheek and said:
"Alright, absorb the Spirit Ring first. Teacher Su is still watching..."
As the more than twenty Jade Bamboos in the grove yellowed and shattered, turning into dust across the ground, it signified that the endless roots beneath the soil had also been completely corroded and destroyed by the poison.
The next moment, an incomparably dense yellow Spirit Ring slowly rose from beneath the ground, gleaming with brilliant light.
[ Ding, battle kill: seven-hundred-year Jade Bamboo Grove Soul Beast. Battle reward obtained: Fixed Enhancement Coupon ×2 ] [ Fixed Enhancement Coupon: Upon use, increases the target's enhancement level by +1. Guaranteed success ]
Hiss... He had not even used that +9 Enhancement Coupon yet, and now he had gotten two more?!
Unexpectedly, high-level rewards could occasionally drop not only from commissions, but from battles as well!
Lin Yue's face lit up with delight. Just as he was about to examine it further, Yu Xiaogang's startled cry rang out beside him.
"Oh no, this Spirit Ring's color has clearly surpassed five hundred years. No, it may even be over six hundred years, nearing seven hundred! No, Xiao San, you cannot absorb this Spirit Ring!"
Ignoring Yu Xiaogang's nagging entirely, Tang Yin smiled and skipped forward two steps. In an instant, she arrived before the Spirit Ring and sat down cross-legged. Without the slightest hesitation, she closed her eyes, began regulating her breathing, and circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
Because Brother Lin said she could absorb it, she definitely could.
Drawn by her Soul Power, the yellow Spirit Ring in the air flew toward the little girl's head without any resistance and began to rotate slowly.
"Xiao San!"
"Enough, Master. The Spirit Ring absorption has already begun. There's nothing you can say now that will change it."
Su Yan interrupted Yu Xiaogang as he tried to step forward and stop her. Panting, he wiped the sweat from his brow and circulated his meditation technique to restore the Soul Power within his body.
Although Su Yan also felt this was inappropriate, absorbing a Spirit Ring beyond one's level was far too risky. But the little girl had insisted, and since the absorption had already begun, there was no stopping it.
After that fierce battle just now, protecting the two children while they dug through the dirt had exhausted him badly.
Fortunately, this bamboo spirit-type Soul Beast focused primarily on vitality and was relatively weak offensively. Otherwise, if they had rashly begun an encounter battle like this, all of them would likely have been injured.
Besides, this Soul Beast seemed even more terrifying than he had expected.
Wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, the dean of studies looked at Lin Yue with increasing astonishment.
This bamboo grove Soul Beast was likely nearing seven hundred years old. Its attacks were not particularly powerful; even someone at Yu Xiaogang's level could dodge them.
But its most terrifying qualities were its horrifying vitality and resilience.
Earlier, merely cutting off one section of Jade Bamboo had already left Yu Xiaogang gasping for breath. Even he would have needed to expend some effort.
Yet judging by the speed at which this bamboo grove grew bamboo spikes, if it wished, it could grow several complete Jade Bamboos within a single minute.
Its life force was nearly inexhaustible. Especially when it awakened, that terrifying sucking ability seemed capable of encompassing every Soul Master within the bamboo grove's range, continuously absorbing their Soul Power to nourish itself.
According to what that little fellow Lin Yue had said, unless all its roots were completely destroyed, this Soul Beast would not die. In a prolonged battle of attrition, let alone a Soul Elder like him—even a Soul Ancestor who had surpassed level forty, unless they were specifically a fire-elemental Soul Ancestor, could only return defeated. If they insisted on pressing on—
There was only death!
With a Soul Beast possessing such terrifying vitality, what kind of terrifying soul skill could it possibly produce?
Muttering this, Su Yan looked at Tang Yin, who sat cross-legged absorbing the Spirit Ring, and anticipation shone in his eyes.
This astonishingly talented little girl had to succeed!