95: The guardian is a Wood Spirit? That's a huge salad!

"Rumble—"

Accompanied by that roar, the most lush Spiritual Forest in the center of the herb garden seemed to come alive.

Countless roots of ancient, sky-high trees pulled themselves from the ground, intertwining and weaving together. In the blink of an eye, they converged into a green giant standing a hundred zhang tall.

Its entire body was composed of Spiritual Wood as hard as iron, draped in armor woven from vines. On its face was only a single, massive eye, emitting a cold, eerie green light.

Herb Garden Guardian—Ten-Thousand-Year Wood Spirit (Soul Transformation Mid-Stage)!

This was a spirit of vegetation that had been nourished by Spiritual Qi for ten thousand years to gain sentience. In this vibrant Secret Realm, it was the Dominator, possessing nearly endless vitality.

"Mere ants, you dare touch Master's Spirit Medicine?"

The Wood Spirit giant waved its massive hand, and the vines filling the sky transformed into countless green giant pythons, sweeping toward Gu Yang with overwhelming force.

Every vine was covered in barbs, shimmering with an eerie purple light.

"What a big mouth you have! I think you're tired of living!"

Gu Yang tossed away the half-eaten ginseng in his hand and stomped hard on the ground. Extreme Dao Burst Step activated, and he shot forward like a golden drill, charging straight into the sky full of vines.

"Break for me!"

His hand-blade struck like lightning, slashing fiercely against a thick vine.

Snap!

The tough vine, capable of trapping a Late Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, snapped instantly, spraying a thick green sap from the break.

But the next second, Gu Yang's expression changed.

The severed vine regenerated instantly, becoming even thicker, and wrapped around his waist as if it had a mind of its own.

Sizzle—

The barbs on the vine dug viciously into Gu Yang's golden body. Although they couldn't break his defense, a strange suction force came from them.

Gu Yang felt the Qi and blood inside his body leaking out through his pores.

【Warning! Suffering Life Drain attack! Qi and blood are draining!】

"Draining my blood?!"

Gu Yang was furious. His muscles tensed, and his Extreme Dao Force Field erupted, forcibly shattering the vines wrapped around him.

But more vines surged from all directions, endless and impossible to kill off completely.

"This guy has an infinite healing hack on its own turf! Fighting head-on is a huge disadvantage!"

Gu Yang punched and shattered a wooden fist, only to find the opponent recover in the blink of an eye.

This kind of unkillable rotting wood was the perfect counter to a burst-type Body Cultivator like him.

"Ergou! Stop eating! Help me out!"

Gu Yang flipped, dodging a heavy stomp from the Wood Spirit, and shouted at Ergou, who was still digging in the distance.

"Awoo!"

Ergou was happily gnawing on a piece of Spirit Ore. Hearing the call, it reluctantly lifted its head.

It glanced at the giant wooden figure, then at the branches on its body emitting rich wood-attribute Spiritual Qi, and its eyes lit up.

"Is this... a large salad?"

Ergou transformed into a streak of starlight and instantly rushed to the feet of the Wood Spirit, taking a bite out of one of the thick tree roots.

Snap!

The teeth of a Starry Sky Giant Beast could even bite through the Void Realm. While these roots were hard, they couldn't withstand its bite.

"Ahhh!"

The Wood Spirit let out a muffled cry of pain, its massive body swaying.

"Damned beast! How dare you hurt my main body!"

It angrily lifted its foot, wanting to stomp this little dog to death.

Ergou nimbly dove, burrowing straight into the ground. A moment later, a series of "snap, snap" sounds came from underground—Ergou was frantically gnawing on the Wood Spirit's underground root system.

"Well done!"

Gu Yang's eyes lit up. "So your weakness is underground!"

Although this Wood Spirit was huge and had strong recovery capabilities, its Foundation was all in the soil. Once its roots were severed, let's see how it could still act so wild!

"Taste my power too!"

Gu Yang stopped tangling with the trunk above and took a deep breath, his body suddenly sinking downward.

Child of the Earth—Earth Escape Technique!

His body instantly submerged into the soil, like a shark swimming through water, heading straight for the Wood Spirit's core root area.

In the underground world, roots were tangled and knotted. Countless root systems formed a giant web, connecting to the Spiritual Vein of the entire herb garden.

At the center of these roots, Gu Yang saw a dazzling emerald light. It was a green crystal shaped like a heart, pulsing rhythmically. With every beat, it pumped massive amounts of Spiritual Qi to the Wood Spirit's entire body.

Heart of Ether-Wood!

This was a true wood-attribute Origin treasure! It was countless times stronger than that little bit of Divine Tree bark from before!

"Good stuff! This is the real main course!"

Gu Yang's drool instantly flooded the soil.

At this moment, the Wood Spirit realized Gu Yang's intent. The underground roots instantly rioted, turning into countless spikes that frantically stabbed at Gu Yang.

"Get lost!"

Although Gu Yang's movement was restricted underground, his strength was bolstered by the earth. He swung his fists, and the Great Dark Heaven Demonic Tiger Fist erupted with terrifying power in the confined space, shattering all the roots that blocked his path.

Braving the dense attacks, he approached the Heart of Ether-Wood step by step.

"No! That is my lifeblood! You cannot take it!"

The Wood Spirit's Divine Thought was filled with terror. It began to frantically contract its roots, wanting to relocate the Heart of Ether-Wood.

"Too late!"

Golden light shot from Gu Yang's eyes, his Extreme Dao Force Field fully activated, instantly locking down the surrounding space.

He reached out his large hand and grabbed the pulsing green heart.

"Give it here!"

Splat!

Accompanied by a shrill scream, the countless root hairs connected to the Heart of Ether-Wood instantly snapped. Above ground, the Wood Spirit giant let out a mournful cry, its massive body instantly withering and collapsing into a pile of rotten wood.

Gu Yang held the Heart of Ether-Wood in his hand, which felt as warm and smooth as jade and contained boundless vitality; he felt all the exhaustion in his body vanish.

"Good stuff, I really want to swallow it in one gulp."

He licked his lips, but his reason told him that this thing had too much energy. Swallowing it now would definitely make him explode, just like when he swallowed the taiyi essence gold last time and turned into a statue.

"Store it for now, use it as a battery!"

Gu Yang's thought stirred, and he pressed the Heart of Ether-Wood onto the "Danzhong Acupoint" he had just opened.

Hum!

The acupoint vibrated, transforming into a Small World, perfectly containing the Heart of Ether-Wood. In an instant, a continuous flow of vitality surged throughout his entire body.

Gu Yang felt like he was carrying a nuclear reactor. Not only was his stamina instantly restored, but his recovery rate had also skyrocketed several times over! From now on, when fighting, he would never have to worry about running out of mana again!

"Let's go! Retreat!"

Gu Yang burrowed out from underground and scooped up Ergou, whose belly was round from eating.

At this moment, the entire Secret Realm, having lost its guardian and core energy source, began to tremble violently. Spatial cracks spread, clearly signaling that it was about to collapse.

"This delivery run was worth it!"

Gu Yang laughed loudly, shouldering large bags of Spirit Medicine (the ones he didn't have time to eat), and rushed toward the swirling exit.