248: Chapter 248 Shocking!

To be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself; he had understood this truth long ago.

Since a blood feud had been formed, it was natural to pull up the roots and eliminate the source of future trouble.

Afterward, he began to inspect the packs carried by the two Ice Field Bears.

The harvest was quite bountiful: a considerable amount of high-energy jerky and specially-made dry rations, enough to sustain his survival for an extra month;

He gained 110 points, which, added to the points he had accumulated during this period, brought his total to 5,291 points.

In the Hidden Dragon Assembly, as long as you seize the opponent's bracelet, you can obtain all of their points!

What was most surprising was that he actually found a full ten drops of crystal-clear grandmaster true blood!

"An unexpected windfall indeed."

These supplies and resources seemed particularly precious in his current isolated and helpless environment.

After finishing all this, Qin Yan stood up and cast his gaze deep into the Vine Forest.

Yes, he had changed direction.

From the mouths of the Ice Field Bears, he confirmed that this black Vine Forest was indeed a giant "cage," its perimeter sealed by a mysterious black mist that was difficult to break through.

And deep within the forest, there likely existed some kind of "core" or "treasure."

It was this very thing that maintained the existence of the black mist.

"In the records of previous trials in the Canglin Ancient Peak given by Princess Anya, there were indeed similar cases."

Qin Yan recalled the information he had read.

"Certain special areas are shrouded in powerful black mist, and only by finding and destroying or taking away its energy core will the perimeter seal weaken or disappear."

This was a "formation-breaking" line of thought.

But the records also warned that the survival rate for falling into such fields was extremely low, often a case of "one life in ten deaths."

Qin Yan was now almost certain why this Vine Forest where he was located had not been marked on the map given by Anya.

It was very likely because all the prodigies who had entered this place in the past had failed to make it out!

A heavy pressure weighed on his heart.

"Whether it's a blessing or a curse, there's no avoiding it..."

He muttered to himself, as if speaking for his own ears.

"Since the way back is cut off, then the only way is forward, to carve out a path to life!"

He no longer hesitated, tightened his grip on his long spear, identified the general direction, and strode toward the unknown depths of the Vine Forest.

As Qin Yan continued deeper, he gradually encountered more prodigies of various races. Some were in groups of three to five, huddling together with their kin;

Others were temporary alliances formed between different races, their eyes filled with vigilance and calculation toward one another.

Solitary travelers like Qin Yan were indeed few and far between, often attracting sideways glances.

But whether they were in teams or alone, everyone's face was clouded with a layer of lingering gravity and anxiety.

Clearly, the news of the black mist seal on the perimeter had already spread within a certain range.

Everyone realized their predicament of being trapped, and the unknown core in the depths had become the goal everyone was forced to head toward.

However, as time passed and he delved deeper, an extremely abnormal phenomenon triggered Qin Yan's high alert.

According to common logic, the deeper one went into the core of a dangerous land, the stronger and denser the Evil Spirits should be.

But in the depths of this Vine Forest, the situation was exactly the opposite!

The strength of the Vine Evil Spirits he encountered was clearly weakening!

From the Third-Rank Peak level he first encountered, they gradually became third grade late stage, middle stage, and even occasionally third grade early stage ones appeared.

Their numbers also drastically decreased; he could often walk for a long time without bumping into one, forming a sharp contrast with the frequent attacks in the outer and middle sections.

The depths of the forest instead appeared exceptionally "quiet."

But this quiet, far from making Qin Yan feel relaxed, instead made the alarm bells in his heart ring loudly!

"When things are abnormal, there must be something sinister afoot!"

He was almost certain that this was definitely not because the depths of the forest were "safe."

Instead, it was more like... the calm before the storm.

Due to the sudden decrease in the threat of Evil Spirits, Qin Yan's advancement speed increased greatly.

He no longer needed to fight frequently and could put more energy into observing the environment and making progress.

Time flew by in the tense exploration.

...

April 3rd.

After several days of rapid travel and crossing countless terrifyingly silent vine areas, Qin Yan finally arrived at the deepest part of the Vine Forest.

His steps stopped.

Qin Yan's vision was completely occupied by the scene before him.

Before him was a picture that could be called a spectacle, yet carried an endless sense of eeriness and oppression.

In the center of the area was a black flower so massive it made the soul tremble!

Its giant rhizome was buried deep into the earth, as if it were one with the entire land.

Most eye-catching was its top, the position where the corolla should have been in full bloom; it now presented a state of deathly withered silence.

Shriveled and charred black, it showed a sense of ruin and decay after all vitality had been drained, emitting a thick aura of misfortune and the passage of ages.

However, the shock of this withered corolla was far less than the scene extending from the base of its rhizome!

Four incredibly thick, giant vines like black dragons extended in four directions from the base of the flower's rhizome.

The diameter of each main vine exceeded hundreds of meters, and their surfaces were covered with complex, eerie, and dull patterns.

At the ends of these four main vines—that is, the tips pointing East, South, West, and North respectively—

each had a fist-sized "Wood Heart" suspended there, completely emerald green and dripping with life.

Inside those Wood Hearts, liquid green light seemed to flow slowly.

They emitted an aura of life energy that was incomparably pure and concentrated to the extreme!

This aura formed an extremely strong contrast with the evil energy and deathly silence permeating the surroundings.

And from those four main vines, countless branch vines of varying thickness split off.

These branch vines extended, intertwined, and spread infinitely in all directions, up and down, left and right...

Looking outward along these branches, one could see they were like a living network of black rivers, covering the entire space in front of him.

And without stopping, they spread toward the further distance, the end of his vision, and even the entire "forest" beyond his sight!

A bolt of thunder instantly flashed through Qin Yan's mind, and a thought emerged that even he found hard to believe:

"Could it be... that the entire vast and boundless black Vine Forest is all... composed of the branches of this eerie giant flower before my eyes?!"

Had he not been able to perceive that this black flower itself, serving as the "source," had completely lost its biological activity, leaving only a structure like a massive "carcass,"

he would likely have been so terrified that he would have turned and fled immediately.

What kind of terrifying vitality, what kind of long ages, and what kind of incomprehensible rules would be needed to nurture an individual so massive it was almost an ecosystem?

Among the life forms he had seen, perhaps only the world tree in the ancestral land of the Elf Clan could compare to it.

Forcing down the shock and alarm in his heart, Qin Yan quickly pulled his attention back to reality.