Chapter 260

Chapter 260

In the Bloodthirsty Forest, there grows a demon vine that thrives on blood, feeding on any flesh and blood creature.

Whenever cultivators or demonic beasts accidentally wander into the Bloodthirsty Forest, their fate is to be drained of all their blood by the bloodthirsty demon vines within, and very few manage to escape unscathed. Over time, the Bloodthirsty Forest became known as a perilous place on the Pleiades Continent, and no cultivator would venture there unless absolutely necessary.

One day, two people arrived at the Bloodthirsty Forest.

"Is this the Bloodthirsty Forest?"

Wen Qiao looked curiously at the forest ahead, a dense expanse of dark green trees entwined with dark green vines that climbed endlessly upward.

This vine-covered forest stretched all the way to the mountains in the distance, disappearing behind them.

The forest was quiet, looking ordinary, giving no sense of danger, making one wonder if this was truly the infamous Bloodthirsty Forest.

Ning Yuzhou glanced at the map and said, "It should be here."

Upon reaching the Bloodthirsty Forest, they did not rush in. Ning Yuzhou took out a puppet mouse he had made casually before, inserted a spirit crystal into a slot in its belly, and placed it on the ground.

The puppet mouse soon started moving.

Though it was a puppet, Ning Yuzhou's perfectionist nature ensured it looked lifelike, except for the lack of a life force. It resembled a real rat.

The puppet mouse quickly darted into the dense forest, disappearing swiftly. Ning Yuzhou had imbued it with a sliver of his primordial spirit, allowing him to perceive the forest through its eyes.

The puppet mouse traversed the Bloodthirsty Forest like an ordinary demonic rat, making rustling sounds as it moved through the thick foliage. These sounds were particularly loud in the quiet forest, easily attracting the attention of the bloodthirsty demon vines.

Soon after, Ning Yuzhou said, "The puppet mouse was caught and destroyed by the vines in the forest."

Wen Qiao asked hurriedly, "Was it the bloodthirsty demon vine?"

"The vine looks ordinary; apart from being able to ensnare things, it doesn't seem lethal," he said, his face showing signs of contemplation as he analyzed the information from the puppet mouse.

Wen Qiao blinked and said, "Husband, why don't we just charge in? If we encounter those bloodthirsty demon vines, we'll destroy them completely."

Ning Yuzhou: "..."

Seeing her eager expression, Ning Yuzhou silently wondered if all these demonic beings were so violent.

However, Wen Qiao's boldness also inspired him, igniting a desire to charge in directly without hesitation. Why fear when the bloodthirsty demon vines dare appear?

Without further delay, the two flew into the Bloodthirsty Forest, releasing Wen Guangun from their storage space.

If they encountered the bloodthirsty demon vines, Wen Guangun's defenses could withstand them, so they had little to fear.

Wen Guangun climbed onto Ning Yuzhou's shoulder—this was Wen Qiao's instruction. If danger arose, Wen Guangun would use its earth eggshell to protect them.

Neither Wen Guangun nor Ning Yuzhou excelled in combat; they only needed to protect themselves, leaving the rest to Wen Qiao.

Their flying sword glided over the Bloodthirsty Forest.

Looking down, Wen Qiao saw that the Bloodthirsty Forest was indeed a vast expanse of trees intertwined with dark green vines, forming a dense network that covered the entire forest. The vines hung from tree branches, trunks, and twigs, creating a web-like structure.

The forest floor was also densely packed with intertwining vines, making it impossible to discern their roots.

The deeper they ventured, the more vines they encountered.

Wen Qiao was somewhat surprised; there was no path beneath the trees, only flight above the forest.

A whooshing sound echoed, accompanied by Ning Yuzhou's warning, and Wen Qiao twisted around to grab a dark green vine that attacked from behind.

She wore golden silkworm gloves, thin as cicada wings, glowing faintly with spiritual light. Her slender fingers tightly gripped the dark green vine, preventing it from breaking free despite its struggles.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Her actions seemed to enrage the demon vines, causing countless dark green vines to surge up from below, attempting to drag the cultivators from the air.

Wen Qiao held the vine firmly, pulling herself forward rapidly.

The vines followed her, and suddenly the entire forest came alive. The dark green vines hanging from the trees writhed like serpents, chasing the cultivators overhead. From a distance, it appeared as though a wave of dark green was sweeping through the forest, following the fleeing cultivators.

Wen Qiao ran, leaving Ning Yuzhou and Wen Guangun behind.

He too was attacked by the vines. Before the dark green vine touched him, a yellow eggshell appeared beneath his feet, enveloping him. This yellow eggshell clung fiercely to the treetops, resisting the attacks of the dark green vines.

Inside the eggshell, Ning Yuzhou and Wen Guangun observed the situation.

Realizing the eggshell was tough, the vines ceased attacking and retreated.

Ning Yuzhou's divine sense expanded, revealing several thick vines emerging from the forest below. These demon vines were thicker and darker than those hanging from the trees, adorned with sharp thorns that gleamed with a dark red luster.

These thorny demon vines coiled tightly around the eggshell, their sharp thorns piercing through it.

Ning Yuzhou watched as the thorns deeply penetrated the eggshell, yet the five-rock soil's elasticity prevented it from breaking, maintaining its integrity.

Seeing this, Ning Yuzhou understood.

Indeed, these were the bloodthirsty demon vines. The forest was their hiding place, with their bodies spread throughout. Any living creature entering the forest would become their prey.

When the bloodthirsty demon vines were still weak, the master of the Pleiades Valley discovered them and decided to use them as a northern defense, allowing them to grow unchecked. Over time, the bloodthirsty demon vines grew stronger, turning the area into their domain, creating the infamous Bloodthirsty Forest.

The bloodthirsty demon vines feed on the flesh and blood of creatures, preferring those with greater strength. The blood and flesh of demonic beasts and cultivators are their favorite food.

Through their thorns, the bloodthirsty demon vines pierce the bodies of living creatures, extracting their blood and power.

It was a pity that even though the Five Rock Soil was pierced by the vine, there wasn't much power for it to absorb, almost frustrating the blood-sucking demon vine.

Seeing the tightening blood-sucking demon vine, Ning Yuzhou chuckled and fed Wen Guangun a Yang-Yuan Pill, asking, "Can you hold on?"

Wen Guangun opened its mouth to swallow the spirit pill, making sounds of affirmation.

Of course, it could hold on; absolutely no problem! It was a rare opportunity to show off in front of Big Brother Ning, so Wen Guangun naturally had to put in its best effort and couldn’t let a mere blood-sucking demon vine break through its defense.

The eggshell of earth indeed withstood the pricks and pressure from the demon vine’s tendrils. Despite being riddled with holes, it remained firmly in place.

***

On the other side, Wen Qiao was running around above the Blood-Sucking Forest, pulling on a vine.

Initially, it seemed ineffective until she ran around for a long time. Eventually, the speed of the surging vines toward her slowed down. The densely packed dark green vines in the forest tangled and pressed against each other, almost knotting, resembling intertwined snakes from a distance.

If someone afraid of snakes saw this scene, their face would likely turn pale.

The vine in Wen Qiao's hand had lost all its vigor.

It lay limply in her palm, motionless, far from its earlier ferocity during the ambush. Wen Qiao casually tossed it down, and the vine quickly retreated into the forest, not daring to show itself again.

After dealing with these tail-chasing vines, Wen Qiao hurried back to find her husband and Wen Guangun.

Finding them was easy; the spiky dark green giant cocoon hovering above the forest was very conspicuous. Round and covered with countless blood-sucking demon vines, their bodies adorned with sharp thorns, they gleamed black-red under the sunlight, evoking fear at first sight, stained with an unknown amount of blood.

As Wen Qiao approached, two thick blood-sucking demon vines burst out from below, their spiky tendrils like giant snakes, sweeping toward her with a whistling sound.

This time, Wen Qiao dared not grab them barehanded. She leaped up, whipping out her stone python whip, which coiled around the incoming vine and threw it away.

Although cultivators could fly using tools, their height was limited and did not exceed the range of the blood-sucking demon vines’ attacks. This is why even when flying over the forest, cultivators were still attacked and dragged into the forest to become food for the demon vines.

The spiky blood-sucking demon vines were even more troublesome than those without spikes!

After a few rounds of fighting with them, Wen Qiao found she couldn’t handle these demon vines.

So she ran forward, with the spiky demon vines chasing closely behind.

After running some distance, Wen Qiao spun around and threw an explosive bead at the blood-sucking demon vine.

A loud explosion echoed, creating a large crater in the Blood-Sucking Forest. Broken branches and leaves mixed with dirt littered the ground, chaotic and disordered. In the crater lay two limp blood-sucking demon vines, their thorns broken, oozing dark green sticky liquid from their wounds.

Wen Qiao stared at the two vines; the explosive bead caused minimal damage, only breaking some thorns, causing them no real pain.

Sure enough, after recovering, the blood-sucking demon vines continued attacking her.

Wen Qiao threw several more explosive beads in succession.

The explosions continued, breaking the demon vines’ thorns, yet they stubbornly chased her, as if determined to devour her flesh and blood.

After another round of explosions, Wen Qiao quickly jumped into the Blood-Sucking Forest and transformed into her demon form.

A tender green sprout appeared, trembling slightly, looking particularly innocent and weak.

The pursuing blood-sucking demon vines slithered around, seemingly puzzled by the disappearance of the delicious flesh.

Wen Qiao, watching the demon vines ignore her demon form, felt somewhat strange and cautiously released a few wisps of primordial spirit energy.

The blood-sucking demon vine instantly stopped, sensing the primordial spirit energy and slithered over, surrounding the tiny sprout in the pit.

Being encircled by the thick, spiky demon vines made Wen Qiao wary.

Her demon form was different from her human body; it was just a fragile sprout, unable to move, making her look particularly pitiful. Under any circumstances, she should never transform into her demon form during combat.

But the blood-sucking demon vines were too tenacious, impossible to kill, leaving Wen Qiao with no choice but to use her demon form to test them.

The blood-sucking demon vines quickly surrounded the sprout in the pit. Fortunately, the sprout was so slender that it wasn’t pricked by the thorns.

Wen Qiao slowly expanded her perception, attempting to establish a shared sensory connection with the demon vine.

Soon, Wen Qiao’s tense mind finally relaxed.

The blood-sucking demon vine was powerful, having taken root here since ancient times, making it a very old demon vine. However, due to its blood-sucking nature and the limitations of Daoist laws, it could neither awaken its intelligence nor cultivate into a humanoid form.

Yet, because of its long lifespan, its consciousness was stronger and richer than those of ignorant spirit plants, allowing it to convey simple thoughts to her.

Feeling the unending appetite the demon vine transmitted, Wen Qiao wanted to cut off the connection immediately.

Fortunately, upon sensing her impatience, the demon vine hurriedly offered some plant essence to help her grow stronger.

Demon plants and spirit plants both possess plant essence.

This powerful blood-sucking demon vine provided a lot of plant essence, pouring it in, nearly overwhelming her. She quickly blocked the influx, as the essence contained strong blood qi and karma, which Wen Qiao didn’t want to accept, fearing it might affect her spiritual body.

Wen Qiao acted like a heartless person, rejecting its offering, showing indifference.

The blood-sucking demon vine was deeply hurt, wondering why this fellow creature, whose aura made it feel comfortable, refused its gift?

Wen Qiao thought to herself that she was not its kind; they followed different paths, how could they be the same?

Wen Qiao didn’t linger with the demon vine, establishing a connection and indicating that it should not hinder their passage through the Blood-Sucking Forest.

The blood-sucking demon vine was reluctant, having encountered a fellow creature whose aura made it feel comfortable, and this creature even brought it food. How could it let them leave?

Wen Qiao: “...”

Wen Qiao wanted to hit it, for considering her husband as food it brought. What nerve!

Wen Qiao expressed her anger, telling it that if it didn’t listen, she would... ignore it!

Using this childlike method to threaten the bloodthirsty vines, Wen Qiao felt as if her divine bloodline seemed somewhat useless.

The bloodthirsty demon vine suddenly felt a bit listless. With its limited spiritual intelligence, it didn't quite understand why it should obey her commands, yet it subconsciously complied.

Wen Qiao finally reached an agreement with the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine. To reward its obedience, she channeled some Spiritual Power into it.

The bloodthirsty demon vine absorbed joyfully, and after it was done, it wanted to give back some essence of plants to her.

Once again, Wen Qiao turned him down.

The bloodthirsty demon vine was very sad, why didn't this fellow creature want it?

Wen Qiao could not possibly explain to it, not to mention that the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine had limited intelligence and could not understand the explanation clearly. So, he simply chose to ignore it.

Wen Qiao transformed back into a human form.

Human bodies and demon bodies are not the same, at least in the perception of the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine. How could the flesh and blood of cultivators be the same as that of plants? The former is its food, while the latter is its kin.

However, after Wen Qiao squeezed its vine body and infused it with some Spiritual Power, the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine suddenly realized that the flesh and blood creature that had aroused its appetite was actually its kin.

Its peers have suddenly become its prey.

The bloodthirsty vines almost became entangled in knots due to the peculiar equation.

Wen Qiao ignored it, and after making sure the bloodthirsty demon vine would not attack again, she went back to find her husband.

Still a giant cocoon bound by the bloodthirsty vines, coiled above the Bloodthirsty Forest, exceptionally conspicuous.

Wen Qiao ran over and called out to the giant cocoon, "My lord, are you in there?"