316: Chapter 316 Strange Willow Vine, Lord of the Secret Realm!

"That is... a space bodhi seed?!"

"Hiss! It really is! The Bodhi Seed has finally appeared! I thought no one would find it until the end of the assessment!"

"It's truly miraculous! But why would it appear inside that fruit? Isn't this thing artificially crafted? Can it really appear inside a natural fruit?"

"How ignorant can you be? This is a space bodhi seed. Without an owner, it initiates spatial jumps on its own. In other words, it appearing inside a coffin lid would be perfectly reasonable!"

"Never mind the Bodhi Seed for now. This giant tree looks a bit strange too. Even if the species is one we've never seen before, why would it suddenly appear on this icy plain? It's really quite abrupt."

"It is indeed a bit strange, but it's understandable, right? This is a secret realm created by the Cosmic Cloud Company Headquarters. Isn't it normal for there to be things we don't understand?"

"Exactly. If you ask me, we should start guessing which prodigy will claim this Bodhi Seed. Currently, Li Fan, Jiang Yunxu, and others are all heading that way!"

"Don't let Li Fan take it again, or he'll truly be the undisputed number one!"

"What are you thinking? So many top-tier prodigies are gathering this time. Even for Li Fan, seizing it will be extremely difficult. Moreover, he's marked with golden points. It'll be good enough if he isn't teamed up against and robbed of his Crimson Lotus Calamity Flame seed."

...

In the main channel.

The Wushan Seat Public watched the appearance of the space bodhi seed, each one feeling both shocked and excited.

The long-awaited second golden opportunity had finally appeared!

And its location was quite excellent, almost perfectly positioned to gather a significant portion of the top-tier prodigies for a competition on the same stage!

Although that scene hadn't appeared yet, just thinking about it was thrilling.

Back inside the secret realm.

Unlike the Wushan Seat Public who had a god's-eye view, Li Fan and the others didn't know that a space bodhi seed awaited them ahead. Therefore, not everyone was urgently heading towards the direction of the light pillar.

On the contrary, more people were focused on Li Fan's movement trajectory.

Seeing Li Fan's movement path getting closer to them and the light pillar, they then began to accelerate their advance.

Looking at all the top-tier prodigies, the one closest to the light pillar was an Outer Domain Prodigy.

His name was Ba Shang.

During the second stage, he ultimately ranked in the top ten.

However, compared to the other top-tier prodigies, he was relatively low-key and very solitary, so he received less discussion than fellow Outer Domain Prodigies like Kun Yun.

But no one dared to underestimate his strength.

"Getting closer and closer."

"It seems he's heading towards this light pillar."

On a rock platform covered in ice and snow, Ba Shang watched the golden point in his mind getting closer, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

That's right. His target had always been the golden point, which was Li Fan.

Although he was somewhat curious about what this suddenly appearing light pillar was, it still wasn't as tempting as the golden point.

After all, the golden point was confirmed to be carrying a golden opportunity.

And now, the golden point's movement path was heading straight for that light pillar. That was perfect—he could both check out the situation at the light pillar and intercept the golden point.

Immediately.

Ba Shang quickened his pace, charging directly towards the direction of the light pillar.

...

"No, it looks like the space bodhi seed will be taken by Ba Shang."

"Indeed, I didn't notice him earlier. I didn't expect him to be so close to that giant tree!"

"Ba Shang, this person is too low-key. If he hadn't appeared here, I would have almost forgotten about him."

"I've observed Ba Shang before. He's the steady and solid type. Though inconspicuous, he's probably obtained quite a few opportunities. If he can seize this space bodhi seed, he'll have a very good chance of taking second place!"

In the main channel, Ba Shang's movements had clearly been captured by the Wushan Seat Public.

And Ba Shang's appearance had indeed disrupted their previous expectations.

Going by this situation, the scene of Li Fan and the others gathering under the giant tree to compete for the space bodhi seed probably wouldn't happen.

The space bodhi seed would most likely be taken by Ba Shang.

While the public was thinking this.

At this moment, Ba Shang had already seen the giant tree within the light pillar from afar.

"That is!"

Ba Shang first noticed the space bodhi seed hidden within that enormous fruit. His originally vigilant gaze immediately turned excited.

He never expected there would be an unexpected harvest!

If he could seize this Bodhi Seed first, and then later seize the Crimson Lotus Calamity Flame seed from the golden point carrier, he would undoubtedly be the number one!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but breathe rapidly.

Having kept a low profile for so long, it was time for him to be in the spotlight!

Immediately.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ba Shang immediately increased his speed to the limit, heading straight for the Bodhi Seed at the very top of the giant tree.

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred!!

Several green willow vines descended from the lush foliage of the towering giant tree.

The willow vines shimmered with a faint fluorescent light, like terrifying deadly ropes, shooting towards the approaching Ba Shang with extreme speed!

"Not good!"

Seeing this, Ba Shang's face changed drastically. He swiftly dodged, intending to avoid this attack first.

However, he dodged the willow vine coming head-on but failed to dodge the ones attacking from all other directions.

*Sshhk!*

*Sshhk!*

With several terrifying tearing sounds, Ba Shang was directly cut into three segments. His blood turned into a thick mist of blood, creating a truly horrifying scene.

Fortunately, the cuts weren't in immediately fatal locations. Ba Shang still had a breath left.

At this moment, Ba Shang's pupils were filled with terror, despair, and unwillingness.

"It's alive... a ferocious beast!"

Ba Shang stared fixedly at the dozen or so pairs of eyes slowly opening on the trunk of the giant tree and couldn't help but utter a whisper.

That's right.

An ancient tree gaining sentience.

This giant tree actually possessed intelligence; it was a terrifying giant beast!

Facing such a terrifying ferocious beast, his unguarded approach leading to this outcome was perfectly reasonable.

If he had been more cautious, perhaps he would have had a chance to notice this earlier and wouldn't have ended up like this.

Of course, judging by its aura, even if he were more cautious and knew in advance that the giant tree possessed sentience, he still wouldn't have had a chance to obtain that Bodhi Seed.

"Is it ending just like this?"

Ba Shang's face was full of despair. His broken body was slowly falling, his vitality rapidly draining, and the willow vines' next attack was already on the way.

In the blink of an eye, he would be completely struck down.

Fortunately, at this critical moment, a golden streak of light flashed brilliantly.

The next second.

Ba Shang was caught and brought to a safe location.

Taking a closer look, the newcomer was a Middle-aged Man wearing a Cosmic Cloud uniform.

Ba Shang immediately guessed this person's identity.

This was the so-called 'mediocrity envoy' mentioned by the Cosmic Cloud official personnel before departure, responsible for occasionally rescuing them.

"You brat, daring to charge forward recklessly in the face of the Secret Realm Lord?"

"You're eliminated!"

The Middle-aged Man looked at Ba Shang with full of disdain and said with annoyance.

Ba Shang wore a bitter smile, not daring to offer the slightest rebuttal.

But it was visible that his eyes held joy and gratitude.

Because even though he was eliminated, he had at least kept his life.

As the saying goes.

As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!

Staying alive is more important than anything!

On the other side.

In the main channel, the Wushan Seat Public who had just witnessed this scene were now all wide-eyed with shock and terror. The sound of their discussions erupted like a tidal wave.