Chapter 31: Now that's strategy!

The next day.

The sky had not yet fully brightened.

The uninvited guests from last night had already slipped away.

They had no intention of provoking Lin Ye. They had entered the Frozen Forest for one target alone.

The eighty-thousand-year Glazed Vine!

So...

They had made no sound as they left, thinking they could slip away unnoticed.

Little did they know...

Lin Ye had watched their every move.

Lin Ye knew where they were going and had even overheard that their leader was named Wang Laoba.

The group had thirty members in all, every one of them a Soul King or Soul Emperor.

That was why they dared enter the Frozen Forest to hunt the eighty-thousand-year Glazed Vine.

Shui Bing'er noticed that Lin Ye had made no move for some time and asked, "Aren't we following them?"

"Don't rush."

"There are dozens of them."

"There's no way they'll escape our sight."

"If we follow too closely, we'll only draw their attention."

"I'm telling you!"

"Lying low is a form of cultivation too."

"..."

Shui Bing'er burst out laughing.

This guy...

He could even make tailing someone sound sophisticated.

And so it went.

Lin Ye and Shui Bing'er followed for half a day, rested for half a day, then spent their nights dual-cultivating.

When passion ran deep, they indulged in a round of peach-to-peach intimacy.

They followed the group for half a month straight.

Even Lin Ye was growing impatient.

He almost wanted to jump out and ask those people whether they knew the way. If they did not, he could share what he knew about the Glazed Vine.

"Lin Ye."

"Come and look!"

"I think they've found it!"

Shui Bing'er, who had been watching the group, suddenly called out.

Hmm...

They were too far away.

She could not be certain.

From where she stood, she could only see that the Soul Masters had suddenly grown excited, as though they had taken something.

"You're right!"

"Wang Laoba must have found something good."

Lin Ye was certain of it.

Even if those Soul Masters had not found the Glazed Vine, they must have found an exceptionally precious cultivation resource.

Shui Bing'er said, "Then do we keep lying low?"

"Bing'er."

"You're a quick learner!"

"You're getting the hang of this."

Lin Ye laughed.

Right now, they had no idea what lay ahead.

Was the eighty-thousand-year Glazed Vine still there?

How formidable was that Soul Beast?

Were there any other Soul Master groups nearby?

They knew none of it!

So...

They would let Wang Laoba's group scout ahead first. Then they could better decide what to do next.

"I've clearly picked up bad habits."

Shui Bing'er had noticed how much she had changed since marrying Lin Ye.

Take this matter, for instance...

In the past...

She, Shui Bing'er, would never have trailed along behind someone.

"This is called strategy!"

"If we didn't do this, where would all our cultivation resources come from?"

He did not need to keep explaining it to Shui Bing'er.

Hmm...

This woman had already been molded into a shape that belonged to him alone.

"You're right."

This time, Shui Bing'er did not argue.

She had soared from level thirty-eight all the way to Soul King, and she owed it all to Lin Ye.

Meanwhile...

"Boss!"

"Is that really the Glazed Vine?"

"Have we found it?"

"..."

A valley stretched before Wang Laoba and his companions. In the entire valley, there was only one plant.

It was a vine!

Its body was translucent, with the pale-blue luster of glazed glass, and it wound across the ice for dozens of yards.

"It should be..."

Wang Laoba could not be sure.

After all, he had never seen a Plant-type Soul Beast like the Glazed Vine before.

Still...

The plant before him looked almost exactly like the picture of the Glazed Vine he carried.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Let's go!"

"Fortune and riches are right in front of us."

Someone in Wang Laoba's group could no longer wait.

Whether or not the plant was the Glazed Vine, that diamond-like sheen alone meant it had to be valuable.

Pluck off a leaf...

And sell it to a wealthy lady in Heaven Dou City for a handsome sum.

"Wait!"

"That plant is an eighty-thousand-year Soul Beast. Everyone, be careful."

The others agreed aloud.

But in truth...

Greed had already quickened their steps.

One major reason was a belief shared throughout the Soul Master world.

Plant-type Soul Beasts were far less capable in battle than animal-type Soul Beasts.

The reason was obvious!

Plant-type Soul Beasts could not move and were afraid of fire.

Just then...

Someone had already plucked a diamond-like leaf from one of the Glazed Vine's tendrils.

"It's gorgeous."

"A leaf like this could fetch a hundred Gold Soul Coins from those wealthy ladies in Heaven Dou City."

"If we bring back every last leaf..."

"We'll be rich!"

Where one went, others followed.

Several more Soul Masters rushed forward to pick leaves.

Groups like theirs, who spent years roaming Soul Beast forests, had an unwritten rule: whoever picked up a trinket got to keep it.

Only the big prizes were split!

"Look at you, getting excited over scraps."

"The real treasure is all on the main stem."

"Everyone, be careful!"

"An eighty-thousand-year Plant-type Soul Beast won't be easy to deal with."

Their leader, Wang Laoba, warned them.

"Boss."

"Don't worry."

"We've all done this before."

"This Plant-type Soul Beast's main stem is still hundreds of yards away."

"If we want to reach its lair, we have to clear away the surrounding vines first, don't we?"

"Then we'll have nothing to worry about behind us!"

"Besides..."

"Plant-type Soul Beasts take a while to wind up their attacks."

"The moment it makes a move, we'll be ready."

"..."

Wang Laoba nodded when he heard that.

His companion was speaking from experience in dealing with Plant-type Soul Beasts.

Yet... in the very next instant!

A vine like black ice burst from the ground and pierced straight through the speaking Soul Master's head.

Fast!

Far too fast!

By the time the others reacted...

The man was already dead.

"Retreat!"

"Get out of here, now!"

"This place is dangerous!"

Wang Laoba had already sensed something was wrong.

Why would an eighty-thousand-year Plant-type Soul Beast let them pick its leaves so easily?

And another thing...

Why was it the only Plant-type Soul Beast in this valley?

Now he understood!

The entire valley was the Glazed Vine's territory.

The Glazed Vine was nothing like other Plant-type Soul Beasts.

It hid its tendrils beneath the ground, using them to kill prey that entered the valley.

Wang Laoba's warning came quickly.

But...

It was still a step too late!

The hunters had become the hunted.

Countless black-ice vines burst from the ground.

Each one took a life.

"How tragic!"

"This is a massacre."

Standing above the valley, Lin Ye spared Wang Laoba and the others one second of sympathy.

He had said it all along!

Never attack recklessly when you did not know what you were dealing with.