The Attack of the Wastrel

Translator: Coca5156

Editor: Drea

The Thousand Mountains Range was widely acknowledged as the most dangerous place in the Realm of the Gods as many Demon Plants lived there. No one knew how these Demon Plants came about but anyone who entered the Thousand Mountains Range would have their lives sucked out of them a short while after they entered.

As such, when the crowd saw Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan enter the forests in the Thousand Mountains Range, they gave up on chasing them. Although the reward for capturing them was generous, their lives were more important.

Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan did not know that they had entered such a dangerous place but they were annoyed by the non-stop flurry of attacks that came at them in all directions. They had a suspicion that this was the reason why the crowd did not chase after them.

A few dozen tree branches were cut by Gu Lingzhi’s blade. However, a wider mass of tree leaves shrouded the area soon after the branches were cut. Rong Yuan frowned deeply and shot a fire arrow at the tree branch Gu Lingzhi cut down. He urgently yelled, “Attack its main body!”

“Mm!” Gu Lingzhi lifted her head and observed more branches growing out of a large tree beside her. The Phoenix Sword sliced it down with a smooth strike.

Shoosh!

Compared to the weaker branches that she faced before, Gu Lingzhi could only slice down half the tree even with her full strength. The remaining half of the tree waved its way around her like a snake, threatening to strangle her with its branches.

Just as Gu Lingzhi was about to release a fire spiritual energy attack at the tree, she realized that she could not activate her spiritual energy. Could it be...

“These plants can seal our spiritual energy. Don’t get caught by it!”

However, Rong Yuan helplessly shouted, “I see that too!”

Gu Lingzhi turned around and saw that Rong Yuan was in the same predicament as her, having been bound tightly by the tree branches. His sword was pointed towards her and it was obvious that he had wanted to help her.

Seeing the disapproval in Gu Lingzhi’s eyes, Rong Yuan retrieved his sword. When he saw how Gu Lingzhi was bound by the tree branches, he had bravely sacrificed his sword to help her. However, he had not expected that his spiritual energy would be sealed the moment he touched a tree branch.

“Tch!” Gu Lingzhi laughed and was just about to chide Rong Yuan when suddenly her body jerked and she realized that her life essence was slowly diminishing. She looked down at the tree branches that strangled her. The branches were alive and the leaf veins on the leaves seemed to float up and down as though it was breathing. Every time it took a breath in, Gu Lingzhi felt her life essence dip. On the other hand, the leaves turned greener and greener with every breath it took.

“These things are taking in our life essences as food!” Rong Yuan’s pupils contracted in fear and he stared closely at the branches. He mustered his strength of a Deity to repel the branches from his body with all he could. Once he was freed from the branches, his thick spiritual energy returned to him. The Dragon Sword roared and Rong Yuan helped Gu Lingzhi to escape the bind she was in. The pair swiftly escaped, avoiding the attacks from the branches.

However, they escaped from one tree, but there were many other trees in the forest waiting for them.

At the same time as they ran away from the tree, a thick purple colored vine shot towards them. Rong Yuan anxiously activated his fire spiritual energy to burn the vein. However, the vine seemed to be fire resistant and Rong Yuan quickly used another type of spiritual energy to attack it. ƒ𝑟𝙚e𝔀𝗲𝒃n𝒐𝘷𝗲Ɩ.c𝗼𝚖

As such, the two fled for their lives, avoiding attack after attack by the Demon Plants. Soon, they realized that they had lost their sense of direction. They could find the exit to the forest.

Three days passed by. The golden hue surrounding Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan disappeared, but they were still lost in the forest. As she avoided an attack by a tree, Gu Lingzhi pulled out a large, shiny crystal from its sap. She played with the crystal for a while and was surprised when she felt a clear, pure spiritual energy from it.

Gu Lingzhi tried to suck in the spiritual energy from the crystal like how she used a spiritual stone. She was stunned when she realized that the spiritual energy from the crystal was purer than the spiritual energy that she gained when she cultivated.

Gu Lingzhi excitedly shared this discovery with Rong Yuan. From then on, they obtained more crystals and this became their next motive besides finding the exit of the forest. However, not every Demon Plant had crystals in them. Typically, only one of ten Demon Plants killed would have a crystal. Despite that, the two collected these crystals with much excitement. After all, the entire forest was filled with Demon Plants and they could not find anything else to do.

If the people from the Realm of the Gods knew what was happening, the bounty on Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan’s heads would increase sharply. Demon Crystals were used for Weapon Forging and Alchemy, it was a waste for them to be used for cultivation.

Another half a month passed by. That day, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan were about to change the direction they were walking in when they encountered other people in the forest.

It was a team consisting of a few dozen men. From the spiritual energy emitting off the men, they were mostly True Gods with a few Demigods. The group was currently fighting against a Demon Plant. 𝒇𝗿𝙚ℯ𝑤ℯ𝑏𝒏𝑜ѵe𝙡.c𝐨ｍ

“We finally met someone. We can go out now.” Gu Lingzhi exclaimed with joy. Their clothes appeared similar to the group of men and this would hide the fact that they had just arrived from Tianyuan Continent. Gu Lingzhi pulled Rong Yuan’s hand and walked over.

“Senior! This Blood-sucking Vine has the powers of a True God, should we...” A plain, skinny looking man asked his senior behind him.

They were the elders of the Tianxin Clan that was situated from the east of the Thousand Mountains Range and were here upon an order from their higher ups. They had not expected to face a Demon Plant that was as strong as a True God right from the start.

This Demon Plant was much more powerful than they thought. Typically, when a Martial Artist met with a Demon Plant of the same rank, they could kill ten of it. However, the group of ten were only on par with the demonic beast and hence, the man was worried. It seemed like the Demon Plant had powers exceeding that of a True God.

“It is just a Two Stump Demon Plant. Junior Qin managed to subdue it, why can't we?” Wu Ang gritted his teeth.

It was a tradition of the Tianxin Clan to lead their peak-level Demigods to the Thousand Mountains Range for the breakthrough to become a True God. Junior Qin was the leader of the last excursion and it was rumored that the last excursion group met two Demon Plants that had the powers of a True God on their way back. Not only did he risk his life for the group, he also killed the two Demon Plants and obtained a large number of Demon Crystals that were used to craft a middle grade Godly Weapon.

This made everyone jealous and they were hungry for success. Now that they met a similar circumstance, they were determined to get through it.

Guo Xian kept silent after Wu Ang’s words.

The competition between Wu Ang and Qin Tianyun implicated them. Demon Plants were not easy to go against. Qin Tianyun dragged his way back to the sect with half a foot into his grave.

However, Wu Ang was the son of the leader of the Tianxin Clan and he refused to lose to his rival.

Everyone else was like Guo Xian and they were displeased with Wu Ang’s decision to continue. However, they still chimed in together, “Senior Wu is right. If Qin Tianyun managed to do it, we can too!”

“Of course.” Wu Yang confidently smiled and he assumed an attacking pose, ready for any enemies that came his way.

However, posing did not mean power. The Demon Plant was a plant, it needed food only and was not at all deterred by the stance Wu Yang was in. When it sensed that the group was about to attack it, it became even fiercer in its attacks.

“Ah! Save me!” Not long later, one of the men was bound by the branches of the Demon Plant. His spiritual energy was sealed and his life essence was sucked away.

“Useless thing!” Wu Yang shouted and ran towards the man to try to save him. Unfortunately, another branch from the Demon Plant gripped him by his leg and blocked him from moving forward. The man was pulled towards the Demon Plant and as he spotted the network of veins at the mouth of the plant, Wu Yang could only give up on the man.

The piercing scream from the man reverberated through the forest and the group that had ten True Gods was reduced to nine. This placed the group in a disadvantageous position and in the span of a few minutes, the men were one by one captured by the Demon Plant. More than half of the original group were captured and sucked dry by it. Their faces turned pale as their life essence was sucked from them and the rest of the group could only watch this occur with horrified looks.

Those who were not captured yet were scared out of their wits by now and they ignored the fact that Wu Yang was the son of the Clan Leader. Immediately, they surrounded themselves with a layer of spiritual energy and dashed out of the attacking range of the Demon Plant.

Pss!

The howl of a strong gust of wind and a steaming hot fireball was shot towards them. The men that were about to run away turned towards their savior and were stunned. A young lady bravely dashed in their direction without any regard for her safety. The long sword in her hand had turned into a fiery dragon. The Demon Plant in the area did not dare to attack her.

The scorching hot flames easily cut through one of the branches and saved a man who had his life essence sucked away from him.

“T-thank you.” The man shed tears of gratitude. He was on the brink of death when he was saved.

“Don’t waste any time. Go and save that man.” Rong Yuan barked out to the man from behind Gu Lingzhi.

“Okay.” Momentarily shocked, the man nodded. He quickly regained his senses and used his spiritual energy to save another group that was stuck in the Demon Plant.

Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan continued to attack the Demon Plant, skilfully defending themselves against its attacks. A few strong attacks from the two towards the Demon Plant infuriated it and it directed all its attention towards attacking them.

Wu Yang’s eyes narrowed when he observed that the Demon Plant was restricted by Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan. He shot a glance at his men before he turned to attack the Demon Plant as well, disregarding his comrades who were still captured by it.

Guo Xian could only instruct the other men in the group to save the disciples trapped by the Demon Plant and reorganized the men to conduct a coordinated attack at the Demon Plant.

“Why are you assigning so many men to save the disciples? If we kill the Demon Plant, they would be saved!”

Guo Xian leaped in fright. Could the Demon Plant be killed so easily? Did Wu Yang care about the lives of the disciples trapped at all?