A Hole in the Small World
"What is this? What is this?!"
Almost everyone who saw this dark hole would ask this horrified question. Even the well-informed Jiang Zhuoxue and her companions fell silent at this moment.
The black hole continued to grow larger, and the land around it gradually disappeared before their eyes.
The howling wind seemed to be blowing from inside, making everyone even more certain that this strange sandstorm originated from here.
Jiang Zhuoxue and his group came to uncover the truth, so of course he wouldn't just stand by and watch this dark hole continue to spread.
He made his choice almost immediately: to approach the dark hole and find out what was inside.
But Lan Fusheng and the others refused. "We know you're powerful, but we haven't figured out what's in this hole yet. What if you get swallowed up as soon as you get close?"
Others might not know about Jiang Zhuoxue and Sang Ying's relationship, but how could they not?
Given Jiang Zhuoxue's importance in Sang Ying's heart, how could they dare let her take such a risk?
Under strong opposition from Dong Fuzhu and others, Jiang Zhuoxue had no choice but to abandon the idea of personally taking the lead. However, if he couldn't go, someone else could.
He pulled a tender green vine from his pocket, and after he threw it on the ground, it immediately transformed into a green plant half the height of a person right before everyone's eyes.
The plant, neither too big nor too small, wiggled its soft limbs, treating Jiang Zhuoxue with the utmost intimacy as if it had come to life.
"I got this from Green Vine before I left," Jiang Zhuoxue explained to everyone. "Green Vine is the vine that suddenly grew in your camp. It was originally a demonic plant that followed me, but it became wild and ran off to play with the ice dragon Cang Lian."
Jiang Zhuoxue originally disapproved of these two roaming freely in the wild. But Sang Ying persuaded him, saying that Green Vine and Cang Lian were not human after all, and they shouldn't confine them, depriving them of their freedom and wildness.
Jiang Zhuoxue thought that these two combined probably couldn't defeat any cultivator. If they really encountered any trouble, she could just have Cang Lian take Green Vine and run away.
He quickly convinced himself, which is why he and Green Vine have been separated for so many years.
Jiang Zhuoxue originally thought that after returning to the Lower Realm, she would have to go through some trouble to find Green Vine and get her help, but she didn't expect that Qingluo would take the initiative to appear and protect Sang Ying's relatives and friends.
Later, when they met again in the cultivator camp, Jiang Zhuoxue touched Green Vine's branches and praised it repeatedly.
Upon learning that Jiang Zhuoxue and the others were leaving the camp for an adventure, Green Vine deliberately gave a section of her branch to Jiang Zhuoxue to help them scout ahead, so that they might encounter some trouble and she wouldn't have to personally take the lead.
Demonic plants like the Green Vine are mostly characterized by their numerous branches. In critical moments, they can project their consciousness onto their branches to accomplish tasks that cultivators cannot.
The little demon plant seems to have inherited the original's abilities, and it is truly in sync with Jiang Zhuoxue.
Before Jiang Zhuoxue could even form a thought, the little demon plant staggered towards the dark hole. To ensure everyone could see what was inside, the little demon plant even carried Image-Retaining Stone with it.
Seeing that the little demon was helping, the group retreated further at Jiang Zhuoxue's command, fearing that something unusual might appear in the dark cave.
The cultivators had excellent eyesight, so even though they were quite far away, they were still able to see the little demon plant clearly.
The little demon plant had quite a few branches, one of which tightly gripped the Image-Retaining Stone, while the other branches dragged it closer and closer to the dark hole.
Because of the distance, all the people could see was that the little demon plant's originally proud steps suddenly slowed down, and the other branches on its body were fluttering in the wind.
Even though the journey was difficult, the little demon plant continued to move forward step by step. As a demon plant, when it could no longer move forward, it would deeply embed its roots into the soil beneath its feet.
With this ability, the little demon plant finally reached the edge of the dark hole.
Knowing that the black hole was constantly devouring everything around it, the little plant didn't dare to get too close. It cleverly stretched out its branches and held the Image-Retaining Stone above the black hole, trying to take a clear picture of what was inside.
But the wind blowing out of the dark hole was too fierce. The little demon plant held on tightly to the ground, barely managing not to be blown away. Even the Image-Retaining Stone was only able to be sent to the top of the dark hole by the little demon plant with all its might.
Even so, the Image-Retaining Stone couldn't hold the image for long. Soon, the ground beneath the little demon's feet began to loosen—the black hole had already swallowed it up.
The little demon plant realized something was wrong and tried to run away. But the ground beneath its feet, which had been solid, suddenly loosened and collapsed, and a huge suction force came from behind, as if it wanted to swallow the little demon plant whole!
The little demon was terrified. It scrambled and rolled, using all its strength, but the suction from behind was so powerful that it couldn't escape.
But the little demon plant was unwilling to be devoured like this. It flung out one of its branches, making it incredibly long, and flung it all the way to Jiang Zhuoxue's hand in the distance.
Although Jiang Zhuoxue didn't know what had happened to the little demon plant, he immediately understood its meaning. Before he could even think clearly, his hand had already instinctively tightened its grip on the branch, and he used all his strength to pull the little demon plant back!
The little demon plant felt a force surge through its body, and then it was pulled into the air by the immense force, tracing an arc in the air before landing steadily in front of Jiang Zhuoxue and the others.
This was truly a thrilling journey. The little demon touched its non-existent heart, and then another branch obediently handed over the Image-Retaining Stone.
Having done all that, the little demon felt its task was complete. It transformed back into the vine and then obediently fell asleep again in Jiang Zhuoxue's palm.
Once its power has accumulated, perhaps it can break free from the Green Vine and become a truly self-aware demon plant.
Jiang Zhuoxue was unaware of the changes in the little demon plant; he put it away and tucked it back into his bosom.
The dark abyss in the distance displayed its powerful devouring force, and the group dared not look at the Image-Retaining Stone from this spot, so they retreated a great distance before settling down.
Once she was sure there was no danger around, Jiang Zhuoxue summoned Demonic Qi to weave a cloud above their heads. Only then did everyone begin to view the contents of the Image-Retaining Stone.
Since the little demon plant has no eyes and its branches are quite soft, the image captured by the Image-Retaining Stone was shaky and unstable. However, the howling wind inside could still reach everyone's ears.
However, the image in the Image-Retaining Stone soon began to change. At this moment, Xiao Yaozhi had already placed the Image-Retaining Stone above the dark hole.
Inside, it was pitch black except for the wind. The group looked for a while, and just when they thought they couldn't find anything and were about to give up, several pairs of eyes suddenly lit up in the deep black void, and they were eyes of different colors...