258: Chapter 258 Secret

Qin Yan had long been on guard. The moment the flower bud moved, he made an evasive maneuver, his figure darting rapidly toward the rear flank!

His reaction could not be said to be anything but swift.

However, in the battle to the east, Jia Shan had been a closer and more "tempting" target.

Because Jia Shan drew most of the flower bud's attention and devouring range, Qin Yan had managed to escape by the narrowest of margins.

But this time, the flower bud was specifically targeting him!

Its devouring range and speed had been adjusted to the absolute limit!

Qin Yan only felt his vision darken as a foul-smelling, malicious wind nearly submerged him.

Even pushing himself to the limit, he only barely managed to break through half the coverage of the flower bud's giant maw.

"Oh no!"

Just as the thought arose, boundless darkness and a terrifying suction descended upon him!

In the final instant before being completely swallowed by that bottomless darkness, Qin Yan's gaze pierced through the gaps of the closing flower bud's teeth, looking into the distance.

He saw that Su Liuli had been surrounded by over a dozen ordinary Vine Evil Spirits that had swarmed in from other directions at some unknown point!

They attacked her frantically; although they couldn't do anything to her for the moment, they kept her firmly pinned in place.

"Boom!"

The last sliver of light was cut off.

Qin Yan's vision plunged into a pure, suffocating darkness.

His body was plummeting uncontrollably at high speed!

Before him was endless black; only the gold and red light naturally flowing over the Ink-Marked Spear in his hand barely illuminated a foot around him.

Beyond the light was a thick, churning black mist.

He swung the long spear, stabbing at the churning "walls" of black mist.

The Spear Light pierced through, splashing clusters of dark red "sparks" and making a "sizzling" sound, yet it failed to cause any significant damage.

"I can't be trapped here!"

Qin Yan was anxious.

Setting aside the unknown dangers that might be hidden in this bizarre space, the seemingly endless rapid fall alone was enough to be fatal.

Falling at this speed, even with a Third-Rank Peak physique, he would definitely be smashed to pieces!

Time seemed to lose its meaning.

Qin Yan could only grip the long spear tightly; the Spear Light struck the inner walls, kicking up sparks to slow his descent.

He didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps just an instant, or perhaps an eternity.

In the depths of the eternal darkness below, a tiny, extremely faint yet persistent speck of light suddenly appeared!

At first, the light was like a small bean, barely perceptible in the boundless darkness.

But as he fell, it rapidly enlarged and brightened, like an exit leading elsewhere.

Qin Yan's spirit rallied. He gripped the long spear, adjusted his posture, and went on high alert.

"Whoosh—"

It felt like passing through a layer of viscous water or breaking through an invisible barrier.

The darkness before his eyes suddenly receded, and the sensation of falling vanished instantly.

"Thump!"

With a dull thud, he fell heavily onto a relatively solid ground.

The massive impact sent his blood churning, and he felt a sweet metallic taste in the back of his throat.

He quickly rolled up, assumed a defensive stance, and warily surveyed his surroundings.

This was an underground space.

The space wasn't particularly large, but the ceiling was extremely high, lost in the gloom with no sign of where he had come from.

The surrounding "walls" weren't rock but were formed by countless thick, ancient, slowly writhing black vines tightly interwoven, their surfaces flowing with a faint, dark luster.

The air was filled with a black mist even denser and purer than the one above.

Most notably, four deep, dark, circular openings of unknown destination were evenly distributed across the surrounding vine walls.

The edges of the openings were also made of vines.

Qin Yan himself had fallen out of one of these openings.

"These four openings... could they correspond to the four main vines above?

Or perhaps some kind of 'energy interface' or 'core channel' for those four Vine Evil Spirits?"

A suspicion surfaced in Qin Yan's mind.

He tightened his grip on the ink trace.

The place was terrifyingly silent, save for the faint "rustling" sound of the vines writhing extremely slowly.

Just then, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a small area not far below the opening on the eastern side.

There lay a mostly complete skeleton, resting quietly.

The bones were an unusual grayish-white and seemed exceptionally thick.

Beside the skeleton lay a familiar, crack-riddled... heavy shield!

That was Jia Shan's shield!

Qin Yan could never be mistaken!

Jia Shan's remains...

This meant that after being swallowed by the flower bud, Jia Shan hadn't died instantly but had also been transported to this core location.

Since the flower bud of the eastern Evil Spirit had swallowed Jia Shan, it seemed logical for his remains to appear near the corresponding eastern opening.

But how did he die here?

Alarm bells rang in Qin Yan's heart, and his dread of this seemingly peaceful underground space deepened.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart.

He stopped looking at Jia Shan's sorrowful remains.

He began to walk, extremely slowly and cautiously, venturing deeper into this mysterious and dangerous Vine Cavern.

The deeper he went into the underground space, the thicker the black evil mist in the air became.

Only the gold and red light flowing over the Ink-Marked Spear served as a flickering lantern in the endless darkness, barely illuminating a few feet ahead.

Beneath his feet was a writhing vine "floor," each step making a slick, slimy sound, while the vine walls around him felt as though they held countless invisible eyes watching him.

Finally, Qin Yan reached the central area of the space.

The view before him suddenly opened up.

In the very center stood a black Vine Evil Spirit that was more "exquisite" than any of those on the surface, yet its aura was deeper and more condensed.

Its main body wasn't particularly massive, standing about three meters tall.

The color of the vines was a pure black, almost metallic, with patterns that were clearer and more complex.

Most notably, four main vines—significantly thicker than the other branches and tightly connected to the surrounding vine walls—extended from its trunk.

They stretched toward the east, south, west, and north, disappearing deep into the darkness.

At this moment, these four main vines were acting like four massive energy conduits, continuously channeling vast amounts of pure black evil energy.

From deep within the vine walls and from the direction of those four openings above, energy was being transported and infused into the body of this central Evil Spirit!

With every influx of energy, the central Evil Spirit's aura fluctuated slightly, and the black light on its surface flowed more smoothly.

It seemed to be the ultimate convergence point and processing core for all the energy in the entire Vine Forest!

"This..."

Qin Yan's pupils shrank, and a storm of shock surged in his heart. "All the energy from the four main vines above is actually flowing into this Evil Spirit's body?

Could it be that the four Third Grade Limit guardian Evil Spirits on the surface are merely its 'clones' or 'tentacles'?

The true main body and core... are here?!"

He felt that he might have accidentally stumbled upon the most central and terrifying secret of this bizarre Vine Forest!