391: Chapter 391 Creepy Vine

"Watch out!" Ye Tian shouted sharply, and sword unsheathed.

Chaos lightning exploded upon the blade as he slashed at the first two approaching vines!

Sizzle!

Chaos lightning naturally countered evil things; the tips of the two vines were struck, emitting large clouds of black smoke.

The vines recoiled in pain, leaving charred sword marks where they were hit, yet they did not break; instead, they began absorbing the surrounding Yin Qi to repair themselves!

"So tough!" Ye Tian's heart skipped a beat.

Although he hadn't used his full strength in that strike, even with sword's lightning power, he had only managed to wound the surface! The toughness of these ghostly things far exceeded his expectations!

Simultaneously, several other vines attacked Dongfang Xinghe and the other two.

Dongfang Xinghe reacted quickly. With a low shout, his longsword erupted with emerald light, slashing down on an incoming vine.

Clang!

The longsword was knocked high into the air, leaving only a shallow mark on the vine.

The vine twisted with the momentum, whipping toward Dongfang Xinghe's waist and abdomen.

"Senior Brother Dongfang, be careful!" Shui Qingdie cried out. With a wave of her delicate hand, a water screen appeared in front of Dongfang Xinghe.

Bang!

The vine struck the water screen, causing violent ripples. It barely held, but the light of the screen dimmed significantly.

Shui Qingdie let out a muffled groan and retreated two steps, her pretty face turning even paler.

Her water-attribute Cultivation Technique focused on flexible protection, but facing this extremely Yin and evil attack, the consumption was immense.

On Pei Tieshan's side, he let out a roar, his fist the size of an alms bowl smashing hard against an incoming vine!

Thud!

With a dull sound, Pei Tieshan retreated three steps. His fist was bruised purple, sending waves of numbing Yin cold through him.

The vine was knocked aside, but it immediately coiled back up flexibly, lunging straight for Pei Tieshan's heart!

"Damn it, what kind of ghostly thing is this!" Pei Tieshan was both shocked and angry. He was an accomplished Body Cultivator with immense strength; a single punch was enough to shatter stone tablets, yet he had only managed to knock this ghostly vine off course!

Seeing the vine stab toward him, he had no choice but to dodge, appearing quite disheveled.

In just one exchange, all three of them were at a disadvantage! Only Ye Tian was relatively at ease.

These vines were not only tough and powerful but also fast, and they contained an evil Death Qi that eroded True Essence and froze blood, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

"Don't fight them head-on! These things have been soaked in evil energy for too long; they are nearly indestructible and can absorb Yin Qi to heal! Attack their ends!"

Ye Tian warned urgently while swinging his sword to parry the pincer attack of two vines.

He noticed that the vines' attacks mainly relied on their tips for piercing and whipping, and after every attack, those distorted faces would converge toward the ends of the vines.

"Understood!" Dongfang Xinghe gritted his teeth. His sword technique changed, the sword light becoming like silk threads specifically coiling around the vine tips.

He cultivated a wood-attribute technique full of vitality, which had some restraining effect on Death Qi, but his cultivation was limited. The sword light landing on the vines could only leave faint marks, yielding little result.

Shui Qingdie was also struggling to hold on. Water screens and ice walls manifested continuously to block the vines, but each collision made her blood churn and her True Essence deplete rapidly.

Pei Tieshan roared repeatedly, relying on his thick skin and tough flesh to go head-to-head with a vine, but the purple bruising on his fist grew larger, and his movements gradually slowed.

"Jie jie... struggle... fear... your essence will become the nourishment for my escape!"

The overlapping raspy voice sounded again, filled with cruel delight.

The vines' attacks became increasingly fierce, pushing the four of them into a life-threatening situation.

Ye Tian knew they couldn't go on like this.

Dongfang Xinghe and the others wouldn't last long. Once someone was injured by a vine and the evil Death Qi entered their body, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He had to end this quickly!

"Hold them off for a moment!" Ye Tian shouted to the three of them. He backed away, temporarily leaving the center of the vine siege.

The vines, realizing their target was lost, immediately abandoned Shui Qingdie and the others, pouncing toward Ye Tian to kill the most threatening human first.

"You want to touch Junior Brother Ye? You'll have to get through me first!" Pei Tieshan roared. Ignoring the sharp pain and numbness in his fist, his body erupted with earthen yellow light as he slammed his body hard into one of the vines!

He was a Body Cultivator who believed in using absolute strength to overcome any technique. Now that he was fighting for his life, his Aura was staggering.

"Bind them!" Dongfang Xinghe also became ruthless. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto his longsword. The blade erupted with emerald light, transforming into green phantoms to hinder the vines' movements.

Shui Qingdie pushed her True Essence to the limit, setting up several overlapping deep blue water walls in front of Ye Tian.

Bang, bang, bang! The vines whipped against the water walls, shattering them layer by layer, but successfully slowing their speed.

Pei Tieshan was like a wild bull, death-gripping a vine. No matter how it whipped or coiled, he refused to let go, even as blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.

It was only for a brief breath or two of time bought!

Ye Tian's eyes closed slightly. The Chaos Thunder Emperor Sword Scripture inside him operated frantically, pouring all of his massive Chaos True Essence into sword.

The Chaos lightning upon the blade instantly surged!

Zzzzt!

Dazzling lightning coiled around the sword, and a vast Sword Intent rose from Ye Tian's body! His clothes billowed and his hair flew; his entire presence became incredibly terrifying in an instant!

The frantically dancing vines seemed to sense the threat as well, their movements freezing simultaneously. The distorted faces on the vines let out piercing shrieks.

"Chaos · Expel!"

Ye Tian's tightly closed eyes snapped open, lightning exploding within them!

He gripped the sword with both hands and slashed at the center of the dancing vines!

In the next second, a shrill scream erupted from deep underground, shaking the entire small valley.

The frantically dancing vines, as if all their strength had been drained, instantly went rigid and then began to shatter inch by inch starting from where the gray sword light had struck!

At the same time, the sound of something completely breaking apart came from deep underground. The deathly Aura permeating the valley quickly receded, vanishing completely within a few breaths.

Peace returned to the valley.

No, it should be said it was even "cleaner" than before; not even a trace of Yin Qi could be felt.

Only the emerald sapling seemed to have exhausted its final strength. Its nine branches drooped slightly, and the light of the bi ning fruits dimmed. One of them even quietly fell off, dropping into the soil beneath the tree and quickly losing its luster.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Dongfang Xinghe, Shui Qingdie, and Pei Tieshan all lost their strength at the same time, collapsing to the ground and panting heavily, their faces full of lingering fear.

Pei Tieshan in particular had arms that were pitch black where he had held the vine, and they were still trembling slightly—clearly, he had been heavily eroded by the Yin Qi.

Ye Tian also slowly sheathed his sword, his face slightly pale.

Although that strike was peerless in power, it had also consumed a great deal of Chaos True Essence and mental energy.

He walked to the emerald sapling, looking at the dark soil that had returned to tranquility, and then at the skeleton that had left the warning nearby, reaching a realization.

This Senior had likely discovered the abnormality here years ago and wanted to deal with it, but eventually ran out of strength. He could only use his remaining power, combined with some method, to barely suppress and Seal the evil thing underground.

Leaving the warning before death was in the hope that successors would not repeat his mistakes, nor release this calamity out of greed.

Thinking of this, Ye Tian couldn't help but feel lucky. If he hadn't possessed Chaos True Essence, which happened to counter such evil, and if his three fellow disciples hadn't fought desperately to buy time, he might have truly perished here today.

This Taichu Secret Realm truly held killing intent at every step.