Tang Sect Poison

"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 panicked eyes darted about.

Among the countless ancient texts he had read, there had never been any mention of such a terrifying creature!

What was this? Where had it come from?!

"Ah Yin, come help! 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 main bodies, also called bamboo rhizomes. They are the true lifeline of the bamboo grove. That vast stretch of bamboo you see isn't made up of countless individual plants—it's merely different branches of the same organism."

"Kid, aren't you afraid of dying?"

Feeling his Soul Power gradually being drained away by the strange Absorption force in the air and flowing into the bamboo grove, Su Yan's expression changed drastically. Yet he still stood around the two children, his Spirit Rings lighting up as he activated his Soul Skill, intending to shatter every bamboo spike aimed at them.

This Soul Beast was incredibly difficult to deal with!

Just cutting down one Jade Bamboo earlier had already taken considerable effort. With so many Jade Bamboos growing together, they had no way to handle them easily!

"Don't worry. Its range is only about thirty meters. If we can't beat it, can't we just run?"

While dodging the bamboo joints stabbing at him, Lin Yue frantically swung the hoe in his hand, digging up more and more roots.

"I've got flint in my backpack. Worst comes to worst, I'll set the whole thing on fire. Let's see what it can use to act so arrogant then."

The corners of Lin Yue's lips curled up, 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 sensed her own Soul Power draining away, and her face filled with confusion.

"Because bamboo is optional to it in the first place. Cutting down one stalk is like plucking a hair from the Titan Giant Ape. Forget one stalk—even if you cut down all its bamboo, the 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 and severed a bamboo joint as he continued speaking.

"Of course, if you pluck one hair from the Titan Giant Ape, it'll smash you to death. But if you cut down one stalk of its bamboo, it can't even be bothered to pay attention to you. It certainly won't expose itself voluntarily, because there's no point."

Only when their root systems were threatened would they erupt in hysterical fury, because that was what could truly take their lives.

"Good lord, we finally dug it out."

Looking at the endlessly spreading, trembling roots beneath the ground, Lin Yue wiped the sweat from his face, but his expression grew increasingly grim.

It looked as though they had suppressed the entire bamboo grove, but in truth, the battle had only just begun.

At present, 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. They extended more than ten meters deep and 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 inside this one pit. With the vitality of bamboo-type Soul Beasts, even if they truly managed it, they would only weaken the Jade Bamboo Grove somewhat. They could not harm 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 particularly aggressive, but its vitality was terrifying. If this continued, they would definitely come to no good end.

Damn it, if only Teacher Su Yan's Martial Soul were fire-elemental. Plant-type Soul Beasts with such powerful vitality were simply not something ordinary Soul Masters could handle...

"Brother Lin, do we just need to kill its roots now?"

Blinking her bright, watery eyes, Tang Yin suddenly tilted her head, a sweet yet dangerous smile appearing on her face.

"That's right. As long as we completely destroy its roots. Hm? Ah Yin, do you have a way?"

The moment Lin Yue looked up, he saw Ah Yin smiling sweetly as she reached into her pocket and took out a tiny vial of medicine.

The liquid gave off a deep blue radiance. Though it was dazzling and translucent like a gemstone, the instant Lin Yue saw it, he felt a chill beneath the blazing sun. It made him shudder faintly.

The girl smiled beautifully. With a flick of her delicate hand, the entire vial of deep blue liquid fell into the pit, splashing onto the bamboo grove's roots.

The next instant, a gray decay began spreading from where the poison had seeped in. Like a plague, it extended continuously along the roots.

The previously berserk Jade Bamboo Grove seemed to have suffered a massive injury. The rate at which its bamboo spikes grew abruptly 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 withering yellow. Like elderly trees nearing death, they had nearly lost all vitality, their movements becoming increasingly slow and difficult.

This high-level Hundred-Year Soul Beast, renowned for its vitality, was actually on the verge of collapse from a single vial of poison from the girl! Its life force had been cut off!!!

"So? Aren't I amazing?"

Tang Yin spread her arms and pounced beside Lin Yue. Tilting up her head, she looked eagerly at his face with her large eyes, waiting 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 changed her name to Tang Yin and looked adorably dependent and attached to him, she was still, at heart, the cold-blooded killer from the Tang Sect, carrying countless hidden weapons and poisons. Like a Fury Tang Lotus, she was beautiful and dangerous.

"I secretly made this poison at school, but this isn't the poison I ultimately want—the strongest poison."

Holding the one she loved, the girl's cheeks burned. She only dared to bury her head against his chest, revealing a pair of clear eyes as she looked at him.

"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, but he did not know the name of the strongest poison.

The girl's cheeks flushed crimson, and intoxicatingly obsessed love flickered in her eyes.

"I want to refine a poison that will make Brother Lin love only me forever. Forever and ever, forever and ever, with no cure..."

Looking at the shining hope in her large eyes, Lin Yue sighed softly and patted her back. He responded instinctively.

"Silly girl, aren't you already that poison?"

Seeing mist instantly rise in her eyes, Lin Yue pinched her tender cheek and said,

"All right, absorb the Spirit Ring first. Teacher Su Yan is watching..."

As the more than twenty Jade Bamboos in the grove withered and shattered into powder across the ground, it signified that the endlessly spreading roots beneath the soil had also been completely corroded and destroyed by the poison.

The next instant, an incomparably dense yellow Spirit Ring slowly rose from beneath the ground, flashing with brilliant light.

[Ding, battle kill: seven-hundred-year Jade Bamboo Grove Soul Beast. Battle reward obtained: Fixed Enhancement Coupon ×2]

[Fixed Enhancement Coupon: After 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 another two?!

Unexpectedly, it was not only commissions that could occasionally drop high-level rewards. Battles could as well!

Joy appeared on Lin Yue's face. Just as he was about to look into it further, Yu Xiaogang's shocked 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, approaching 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, instantly appearing before the Spirit Ring. She sat down cross-legged and, without the slightest hesitation, closed her eyes and began breathing rhythmically, circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Because Brother Lin Yue 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 rotating slowly.

"Xiao San!"

"Enough, Master. The Spirit Ring absorption has already begun. It's too late to say anything now."

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 method to restore his Soul Power.

Although Su Yan also felt this was inappropriate, absorbing a Spirit Ring beyond one's level was too much of a strain. But this little girl insisted, and since the absorption had already begun, there was no way to stop her.

After that fierce battle, protecting the two children while they dug through the soil had exhausted him.

Fortunately, this bamboo spirit-type Soul Beast focused on vitality and was relatively weak in attack. Otherwise, if they had rashly initiated such an encounter, all of them would likely have been injured.

Moreover, this Soul Beast seemed even more terrifying than he had expected.

Wiping away the sweat on his brow, the dean of instruction looked at Lin Yue with growing astonishment.

This bamboo grove Soul Beast was likely close to seven hundred years old. Its attacks were not especially powerful; even someone at Yu Xiaogang's level could dodge them.

But its most terrifying aspect lay in its horrifying vitality and resilience.

Earlier, merely cutting off one section of Jade Bamboo had left Yu Xiaogang gasping for breath. Even Su Yan himself would have needed to expend some energy.

Yet, at the speed this bamboo grove could grow bamboo spikes, if it wished, it could grow several complete Jade Bamboos within a single minute.

Its vitality was nearly inexhaustible. Especially when it awakened, that terrifying sucking force seemed capable of encompassing every Soul Master within the bamboo grove's range, continuously draining their Soul Power to nourish itself.

According to what that little fellow Lin Yue had said, unless every part of its root system was destroyed, this Soul Beast would not die. In a prolonged war of attrition, let alone a Soul Elder like him, even a Soul Ancestor who had broken through level forty would have to retreat in defeat unless they were a fire-elemental Soul Ancestor specifically suited to counter it. If they insisted on fighting—

There was only death!

With a Soul Beast possessing such terrifying vitality, who knew what kind of terrifying Soul Skill it might produce.

Muttering this, Su Yan looked at Tang Yin, who was sitting cross-legged in absorption, and a trace of anticipation bloomed in his eyes.

This astonishingly talented little girl absolutely had to succeed!