135: parasitic

"That Jiang Family kid's state seems a bit off. Have any of you noticed anything?"

Below, several principals were also discussing the abnormal situation that had just occurred.

However, because they weren't on the scene and their perspective was limited, they didn't see exactly what happened.

In the end, unable to reach a conclusion, they turned their gaze toward Lin Xi, who had been lying down drinking wine ever since he finished explaining to Xu Yao how to raise a Merman.

But seeing him lying on his rocking chair, fast asleep after getting drunk, he probably hadn't seen anything just now, so they could only drop the matter immediately.

"Perhaps it's some secret technique of the Jiang Family? After all, their Jiang Family Ancestor is an expert at controlling plant-type demon beasts. Let's just keep watching."

...Above, after a short rest, Su Ze and Jiang Ren had begun their climb once again.

The final branch wasn't considered far from them, but Jiang Ren's climbing speed was much faster than before, quickly leaving Su Ze behind.

Su Ze, trailing behind, saw clearly that many tiny vine tentacles had grown out of the other's hands and feet. Relying on these, he made his climbing speed incredibly fast.

These things gave Su Ze goosebumps, making him feel disgusted from the bottom of his heart. However, he also worried that Jiang Ren would immediately pluck the wutong fruit upon arrival, so he was forced to speed up as well.

Soon, the two arrived at the final branch one after the other.

But unlike the panting Su Ze, Jiang Ren looked as if he hadn't exerted himself at all.

"Come, let's fight!" Jiang Ren said, looking at Su Ze.

His state was extremely frenzied; he didn't seem to realize the changes in his own body. He only knew that after winning this match, he would be the champion, and the Jiang Family would consequently become the number one family among the Four Great Families.

"Don't you feel like something is wrong with your body?" Su Ze couldn't help but ask, thinking of the scenes he had just witnessed.

"Wrong? No, I feel more energetic than ever right now! If you're scared, hurry up and admit defeat. My time is running out, don't waste it!" Jiang Ren said impatiently, frowning.

"Time is running out?" Su Ze asked in confusion.

But Jiang Ren gave no explanation, only becoming increasingly anxious, even starting to speak incoherently.

His performance reminded Su Ze of a saying: 'Ever since I developed mental illness, I've become much more spirited.'

But the guy in front of him wasn't mentally ill. Without knowing what kind of mutation had occurred in his body, Su Ze cautiously chose to respond with his full strength.

Su Ze summoned all three of his beast tamings.

He didn't even let the Golden Feather Phoenix Bird fight on its own; instead, he chose to have it undergo Weaponization into the phoenix feather departing fire fan, which he hadn't used in a long time.

This was Su Ze's strongest form. The disadvantage was that he couldn't control the phoenix feather departing fire fan for too long, so he had to end the battle in the shortest time possible.

"Haha, good! I also want to see just what kind of strength this beast taming—which the elders at home coveted and even died at your hands for—actually possesses!"

"The final champion will definitely be me!" Jiang Ren laughed loudly and rushed over. His beast taming armor had not been deactivated since the previous battle.

Seeing this, Su Ze waved the feather fan in his hand, and a surge of Phoenix Fire gushed out.

He naturally knew that Jiang Ren wasn't someone who could be dealt with so easily; he only intended to block the opponent's path for a moment.

But to both their surprise, facing the Golden Feather Phoenix Bird's flames, Jiang Ren's body actually avoided them quite uncontrollably!

"What's... going on... Why do I feel such fear toward the flames? Why is my body so out of control? Move for me!" Jiang Ren roared unwillingly, yet he couldn't make himself take a single step toward the fire.

"Good opportunity!" Seeing this, Su Ze waved the departing fire fan even faster. Wherever the flames covered, Jiang Ren was uncontrollably fleeing.

Soon, more than half of the battlefield was covered in flames, leaving only a small area for Jiang Ren to hide.

He was like a hydrophobic rabies patient, fearfully avoiding the flames being released.

"This... seems like a bit of an easy win," Su Ze said in surprise.

The opponent was so afraid of fire that he couldn't even fight him; this was something Su Ze hadn't expected at all.

This should be related to whatever was parasitizing Jiang Ren. No matter what it was, it must be related to plants, and thus it feared fire.

However, Jiang Ren's previous opponents weren't without fire-attribute demon beasts. Perhaps it was because the parasitism wasn't deep enough back then, combined with the fact that few flames could compare to the fire created by Feng Qingyi's fusion of Dragon Flame and Phoenix Fire—two extreme flames.

However, Jiang Ren's own will didn't seem to want to give up. He still desperately tried to control his body to move forward, but it was all to no avail.

"No matter what is inside my body... please, let me win..."

Jiang Ren once again realized something was wrong with his body, but it was already too late.

He even caused dissatisfaction in the thing parasitizing his body because he was trying his hardest to get close to the Phoenix Fire Su Ze released.

A scream was heard from him once more, and then he became like a walking corpse, his eyes lifeless and his gaze hollow.

The mutation on his body also became undisguised at this moment. Many vines grew out of his limbs, and these vines propped up his body, which was like a broken sack.

The vines avoided the flames Su Ze released and plunged into the trunk of the wutong tree, then began to continuously grow thicker.

The wildly growing vines even crushed the beast taming armor on Jiang Ren's body, causing his Tree Emperor beast taming to deactivate its armor form.

Only then was it discovered that not only Jiang Ren himself, but his beast taming had also long since failed to escape this ill fate.

The Tree Emperor's body was tightly wrapped in dense vines. These vines also plunged into the Tree Emperor's main trunk and continuously sucked from it. As the Tree Emperor gradually withered, the vines grew increasingly thick.

Those black lines that had spread across the beast taming armor were these very vines!

Soon, these vines had grown to the point where they no longer feared the Golden Feather Phoenix Bird's flames. They even began to actively suppress the fire, filling every corner of this branch.

Su Ze could only continuously wave the departing fire fan in his hand to burn out a place to stand.

At this time, except for a head, Jiang Ren—whose other body parts had all turned into vines—suddenly lowered the thing that could perhaps no longer be called a "head."

Even his eyes had been replaced by two blooming flowers.

"Sigh, this child Jiang Ren... if only you had given me a little more time, I could have influenced his brain, woven an illusion for him where he successfully won the championship, and then let him sink into it."

"But he just had to realize something. He was so impatient, causing me to be stimulated by the fire and forced to wake up early. Why bother..."

Jiang Ren's "head" suddenly spoke these words.

"Who exactly are you?" Su Ze asked, looking at him warily. Clearly, this disgusting vine monster was the thing parasitizing Jiang Ren's body.

"Me? Let me think... You can call me Jiang Huairen, or you can also call me... the Jiang Family Ancestor!"