"Watch out!" Evan Chu shouted urgently, feeling just as baffled by the sudden appearance of the vines.
Alex Xiao dodged the vines in a flash, her face full of surprise as she stared at the nearby tree and said, "Big bro, there aren't any monster beasts here, but there are tree demons. I didn't expect the real danger here to be this kind of thing."
"Tree demons? Are they even tougher than monster beasts?" Evan asked, summoning the Frostbane Sword and quickly swinging it to slash the vines apart.
Evan and Alex Xiao watched as the vines began to ooze red liquid, almost like human blood—eerily strange, with a faint metallic tang in the air.
"Is that really blood? No way!" Evan thought, his mind whirling. What kind of freaky tree demon was this?
Just then, several more vines shot out from the nearby tree, whipping toward them with a faint sound of air being sliced.
Evan glared at the vines and exploded: "Damn it, even a puny tree demon wants to bully me? You picked the wrong guy—eat this!"
Evan grinned with swagger. "Heh, you tried to attack us—now you know what kind of guy you’ve messed with. However many tree demons show up, I’ll burn every last one!"
Before long, the big tree was reduced to ash. Strangely, the flames didn’t spread to the other trees, but after the tree burned away, a green stone—later revealed as a Life Essence crystal—was left behind in the ashes.
"Big bro, I can't use any Stellar Power at all!" Alex Xiao suddenly exclaimed.
Hearing this, Evan suddenly remembered what the Vice Hall Master had warned about this place. He quickly circulated the Chaos Dragon Force in his body and found his situation was much like Alex Xiao's—except he wasn't completely unable to use it; it just moved much slower than normal.
"Are you sure you can't use it at all?" Evan asked, just to be sure.
"Not even a trace—I’m basically just an ordinary person now," Alex Xiao replied nervously.
"Don’t worry, big bro will protect you. My Chaos Dragon Force isn’t completely suppressed—I can still use it, just much weaker than before. But it’s more than enough to handle these tree demons," Evan said.
He remembered what Luna had said: water beats fire, fire beats wood. A fireball should be all it takes—and these tree demons probably never expected a pyromaniac like him to crash their turf.
With that thought, Evan quickly conjured a fireball in his hand and hurled it right at the big tree.
A thunderous boom rang out as the fireball ignited, and the tree started squealing, its trunk shaking like crazy in the flames. The whole scene was almost funny—if it wasn’t so freaky.
Evan grinned with swagger. "See? Try to mess with us and you’ll learn real quick who you shouldn’t pick a fight with. However many tree demons there are, I’ll roast every last one!"
Before long, the big tree was reduced to ash. Strangely, the flames didn’t spread to the other trees, but after the tree burned away, a green stone was left behind in the ashes.
Evan picked it up and saw that the green stone was suffused with a powerful aura of life, though he had no idea what it actually was. (Later revealed as a Life Essence crystal.)
"Alex Xiao, do you know what this is?" Evan asked.
"No idea, I've never seen this before. But it’s definitely something good—maybe it’ll help with cultivation," Alex Xiao said.
Since Alex Xiao didn’t know either, Evan put the green stone into his storage ring. Just as he was about to move on, Sword Spirit Luna’s voice suddenly appeared.
"Evan, that green stone isn’t a real stone—it’s the tree demon’s Life Essence crystal. Absorbing it can extend your lifespan and massively boost your strength. It’s a rare treasure!"
"Is it really that miraculous?" Evan’s heart stirred. If that was true, then using the Timewheel Bracelet wouldn’t be so risky. He remembered the Azure Gale Hall Master’s promise to tell him something important after he used the bracelet one more time. His mind was racing.
"I know exactly what you’re thinking. You must never use the Timewheel Bracelet unless absolutely necessary—especially with your current strength. If you use it now, breaking through will be even harder. This Life Essence crystal isn’t just for you; your contracted beasts can absorb it too, and their power could skyrocket," Luna said.
Evan’s heart leapt with excitement. If the Life Essence could really help Alex Xiao, Goldwing, and Shadow break through several realms, it would be a tremendous boon for him.
"But I have no idea how many tree demons there are here. Their defense is insane—even the Frostbane Sword, which cuts iron like mud, couldn’t slice through. If we run into a whole pack of them, we’re in trouble," Evan said, shaking his head.
He wasn’t worried about himself, but about Alex Xiao. If he got tangled up by vines, he could just unleash fire to escape—but Alex couldn’t. Who knew what would happen if she got caught?
Some of the trees here were several meters thick—just thinking about it was terrifying. Evan glanced over at Alex Xiao, worried.
"Alex Xiao, is there any way you could attach yourself to me like Goldwing and Shadow do? It’s dangerous here without Stellar Power, and we don’t know how strong these tree demons really are—we need to be prepared," Evan said.
"Of course I can. Did you forget I attached myself to Claire Ouyang a few days ago? It’s a special ability of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox clan," Alex Xiao replied.
"Then attach yourself to me now. You can come out again when it’s safe," Evan said, keeping his tone light.
A flash of light flickered over Alex Xiao, and she vanished. Evan had no idea where she was attached to him, but he didn’t ask—his focus now was gathering as much Life Essence from the tree demons as possible.
Evan pressed deeper into the grove, burning down every tree demon he encountered and collecting their Life Essence. But he soon noticed the Life Essence came in different sizes.
Some were only the size of a thumb, others as large as an egg—probably depending on the tree demon’s strength and age. The bigger ones looked especially tempting.
Evan had no idea how long he’d been walking, but the life aura around him kept growing denser—he felt he was getting closer to the Wood Spirit Pearl. The anticipation was killing him.
There were fewer and fewer monster beast corpses on the ground, but the number of tree demons kept increasing. Sometimes five or six would appear at once—several times Evan was nearly caught, and always in utter silence, making it incredibly dangerous. Evan felt a chill run down his spine.
Looking up, Evan realized it was already dusk. No way he was going any deeper—if he ran into a real boss-level tree demon, he’d be toast.
He found an open spot and sat down, planning to count how much Life Essence he’d collected. He was stunned—his storage ring held over fifty pieces. He could hardly believe it; this was unreal.
Just as Evan was celebrating his haul of Life Essence crystals, Sword Spirit Luna’s voice suddenly appeared again...