CHAPTER 114: CHAPTER 113: TIANYI TOURNAMENT (PART 5)

Ten minutes later, the Tu Ling Team was teleported to the starting point. Looking at the mountain tunnels ahead, with something resembling blood vessels in front of them, their faces showed expressions of disgust and curiosity.

Pei Nan: "What is this? Giant earthworms?"

"It’s a kind of carnivorous plant’s root stem. Don’t move, I’ll study it for a bit."

Song Shurun walked up to a Carnivorous Rong and released his Battle Pet Spirit Plant.

In a flowerpot the size of a basin was a bulbous plant, with six fleshy leaves and a fifteen-centimeter-long flower stalk in the center, with thirty small flowers resembling hyacinths.

Song Shurun brought the Battle Pet Spirit Plant closer to the Carnivorous Rong, and the originally pink flowers suddenly turned black, with the stalk bending hard in the opposite direction.

Seeing this reaction from the Battle Pet Spirit Plant, Song Shurun’s expression became increasingly serious.

"The root stem has volatile toxins. Even if the root stem’s surface is damaged slightly, the toxins released can render us unable to fight."

In the live broadcast, the host was consulting Zou Huali about the Battle Pet Spirit Plant.

"Master Zou, what types are there in Battle Pet Spirit Plants?"

"Battle Pet Spirit Plants are divided into three main categories: combat type, defense type, and auxiliary type. The combat and defense types are easy to define, but auxiliary type Battle Pets are diverse, and even I wouldn’t claim to have seen them all. Often, you can only use an exclusion method."

The host magnified a close-up image of the hyacinth and asked Zou Huali: "Song Shurun’s Battle Pet Spirit Plant is delicate and small, so it probably isn’t the first two types."

Zou Huali nodded: "Indeed, this plant is called the Double-Layered Garlic, which can detect toxins and use the flower petal colors as warnings. It’s a rare auxiliary type Battle Pet. Due to the characteristics of the Double-Layered Garlic, it can assist Healing Masters in plant identification and alchemy potion making, often being kept as a Battle Pet Spirit Plant by Healing Masters."

"However, Double-Layered Garlic is difficult to cultivate, and fully growing it to eight leaves is highly rare. Song Shurun’s plant is already a six-leaf sub-mature form, which is no easy feat. I’m not very familiar with Song Shurun’s skills, but from the condition of his Battle Pet Spirit Plant, I surmise he must be a gifted and capable Healing Master."

The audience had been underestimating Song Shurun’s abilities because he relied on the Battle Pet Spirit Plant to determine the dangers of the Carnivorous Rong. However, after Zou Huali’s analysis, they quickly changed their opinion.

//I also once spent a fortune buying a two-leaf seedling of the Double-Layered Garlic, cared for it with the Wood Element Spirit every day, more attentively than treating a wife, yet it died before the third leaf bud even sprouted, wasting millions of star coins.//

//I heard you can only cultivate it from a two-leaf seedling when potted, so Song Shurun’s six-leaf form probably involved an investment of at least tens of millions of star coins?//

//Damn! If I had tens of millions of star coins, I’d rather buy a few Heaven Rank Crystal Stones to level up. These Healing Masters really have a ton of money.//

//Raising Battle Pet Spirit Plants is a pitfall; unless you’re drowning in money, don’t get involved!//

//Even having immense wealth doesn’t count if it’s rooted.//

//But back to the point, relying on Battle Pets is still an external aid, and Tu Ling Team’s Healing Master seems unfamiliar with our Rainforest Region’s plants.//

//That’s normal. The Qianyuan Continent is vast, with countless plants, and a five-year preparatory course can’t cover it all. Besides, Song Shurun is only in the second year, and the Carnivorous Rong is considered beyond the syllabus for him. Cold Smoke Pavilion is on the ice plains, so it’s normal for people there to be unfamiliar with rainforest plants. It’s like our Heavenly City team competing at Cold Smoke Castle; we wouldn’t be familiar with ice plain plants either. Everyone has their advantages, so don’t compare your strengths with others’ weaknesses.//

//Makes sense.//

//...//

The heavy rain outside drenched them to the bone. Since Song Shurun identified the Carnivorous Rong as toxic, the Tu Ling Team was at a loss, with their initial advantage slipping away with every passing second.

Chou Xiaoyuan had a sudden idea and asked Song Shurun, "Since we can’t use violence, can I use the Primordial Spirit to freeze them?"

"Unless you can guarantee freezing all volatile particles that have anesthetic effects, it’s better not to take the risk."

After Song Shurun spoke, his gaze turned to Lin Yin, though he didn’t say anything, the meaning in his eyes was clear enough.

Lin Yin sneered disdainfully, ignoring the live broadcast and giving no face to his teammates as he mocked, "If it weren’t for this group event, I wouldn’t team up with you all, a bunch of useless wastes. Move aside!"

Lin Yin’s blunt ridicule not only left the viewers stunned, but even the host didn’t know how to smooth things over.

Maybe understanding Lin Yin’s temperament or possibly being used to his taunts, Pei Nan, Chou Xiaoyuan, and Song Shurun didn’t argue but instead moved aside to let Lin Yin take the lead.

Though their teamwork period wasn’t long, Lin Yin’s manic personality and ruthless methods were well-known in Cold Smoke Pavilion.

When Lin Yin went crazy, he was capable of anything; Liu Ye was a previous example. Besides, they indeed needed to rely on Lin Yin’s strength to move forward, so no matter how angry, they had to suppress it.

Lin Yin stepped up to the entrance, raised his hands, and though he didn’t see him make any movements, the rain droplets falling vertically noticeably diverted near his palms.

And the Carnivorous Rong nearest to his palms was withering at an astonishing speed, its originally vibrant red tentacle roots turning dry and yellow in a blink.

Transitioning from lush and green to withered and dead took just a few seconds. Without the climbing power of the tentacle roots, the dried Carnivorous Rong fell off the mountain, dropping at Lin Yin’s feet, as his palms faced another Carnivorous Rong.

Plants have information networks too; after four Carnivorous Rong fell victim to Lin Yin, all Carnivorous Rong on the mountain received messages from their kind:

Everyone, quickly avoid! This two-legged creature is extremely dangerous!

A miraculous phenomenon occurred, as all the Carnivorous Rong’s tentacle roots quickly retracted into their bodies, avoiding Lin Yin.

Lin Yin lowered his hands, chuckled arrogantly, and strode into the tunnel, with Pei Nan, Chou Xiaoyuan, and Song Shurun quickly following.

Once they had moved far away, the Carnivorous Rong’s tentacle roots slowly drooped down again, waiting for the next batch of prey.

The host was very curious about Lin Yin’s methods and asked, "Mr. Lin, I didn’t understand. What did Lin Yin use to make the Carnivorous Rong voluntarily stay away?"

"He used the Dark Elemental Spirit to devour the Carnivorous Rong’s life force."

The host was astonished: "Wha, what! The Dark Elemental Spirit can also devour life force? If so, can it devour the life force of other opponents? If that’s the case, isn’t there no chance of winning against Lin Yin?"

Lin Zhian shook his head: "It’s not that easy. First, opponents wouldn’t stay still waiting to be devoured, and second, his Dark Elemental Spirit isn’t powerful enough to devour its kind."

Lin Yin’s Elemental Spirit is indeed rare, but also mysterious. Lin Zhian didn’t want to explain too much about the Dark Elemental Spirit, but the host wasn’t planning to drop the topic easily and kept probing:

"Lin Yin’s Dark Elemental Spirit is at Rank A, if given time to mature into Heavenly Armor, can it then devour its kind?"

Lin Zhian didn’t want to answer this question, but given the atmosphere, keeping silent wouldn’t please the audience, so he had to nod.

Lin Zhian knew Lin Yin’s Dark Elemental Spirit was an anomaly. Ideally, it could be used for righteous purposes, but used on dark paths, it would be catastrophically disastrous.

On the other side, Lin Yin and the team passed through Stone Mountain. The east side had already been seized by Tian Yi Team, forcing them to settle for the west side search.