Upon the endless mountains with towering ridges, ancient trees rose in uneven but vast clusters, with their canopies blotting out the sky above. Everywhere they looked, the land was steeped in lush greenery and vibrant life, utterly at odds with the withered reputation of the place.

Five figures moved unhurriedly through the forest. Leading the group was Saberstorm, the seven-star demon hunter. He moved at the very front, steadily carving a path through the dense forest as though nothing could obstruct his advance. The Angler occupied the center of the formation, casually twirling the Sound-Capturing Bell between his fingers. To either side of him were Envoy Star Catcher and Huangfu Song, both wearing serious expressions that made it clear they were extremely alert to their surroundings. Bringing up the rear was Luo Chen, the lowest in cultivation among the five. Saberstorm leading the way was a testament to his overwhelming strength, yet Luo Chen was placed at the rear for much the same reason.

No one openly mentioned the title Devil Lord Azure Yang, yet everyone present clearly understood the weight it carried. The wary glances Huangfu Song occasionally cast toward Luo Chen alone were enough to make that obvious. Luo Chen, however, acted as though he noticed nothing at all. While spreading his divine consciousness outward to survey the surrounding terrain, he pondered on the information the Angler had shared before their arrival.

Under such circumstances, there was naturally no terrain advantage to speak of. According to the intelligence, this ridge housed not only a single Vine King but also countless lesser vines ranging from the second to the fourth tier. Under the Vine King's control, these lesser vines could unleash astonishing combat power, giving people the impression that Withered Blood Vines thrived in groups.

Yet that notion was, in truth, mistaken. On the contrary, Withered Blood Vines had an extremely strong territorial instinct, to the point that, within a radius of thousands of li, another of their kind could hardly exist. Those so-called lesser vines were not independent entities at all but merely offshoots of the Vine King itself. Most of the time, the Vine King remained dormant while absorbing spirit energy. Even when intruders entered its territory, it would only dispatch these offshoots carrying fragments of its consciousness to deal with them.

With that in mind, their objective was straightforward: sever as many offshoots as possible and weaken the Vine King. As for the strength of the offshoots, there was no need for worry. Even a fourth-tier vine was only comparable to a newly advanced Adept. Such opponents might be troublesome to ordinary Adepts, but to people like them, they merely required some extra time to handle.

But even with that in mind, Luo Chen did not relax his guard in the slightest. It was true that plant and mineral sprites generally had mediocre combat strength. Hidden Dust Sand was a perfect example. Despite reaching the peak of the third tier, the strength it could truly unleash was only comparable to an early-stage Adept. The real problem, however, lay in their numbers. After all, even ants could bring down an elephant once enough of them gathered together. If Withered Wood Ridge had been truly as manageable as it sounded, the Angler would not have needed to assemble a lineup of five late-stage Adepts for this mission. Clearly, things were more complicated than they appeared on the surface.

Just as Luo Chen was turning these thoughts over in his mind, he suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Envoy Star Catcher asked from ahead.

At almost the same moment, the Sound-Capturing Bell in the Angler's hand rang out as well. The Angler looked toward Luo Chen, and the two exchanged a glance before nodding together. “They're here.”

The attack did not come from the front but from behind. Within the dim forest, white vines resembling enormous serpents slithered toward them from every direction. At first, only faint rustling sounds echoed through the woods, but as more and more vines gathered, the noise gradually swelled into something like the roar of a surging river.

The Angler remained completely calm in the face of the danger, his aged voice ringing out steadily through the forest. “Continue forward! If it's trying to stop us, that means we're close. Let's go find it.”

At the very front, Saberstorm remained silent, but a massive saber appeared in his hand. With a single slash, a saber light dozens of zhang long erupted forth. Wherever the saber light passed, trees were chopped in twain, and the earth split open. The lesser vines, which had yet to close their encirclement, were instantly severed by that single strike.

Seeing that slash, Luo Chen could not help raising a brow slightly. The slash itself appeared plain and unremarkable, nothing but an ordinary swing, yet the power behind it was nearly comparable to his Solar Flare. More importantly, the casting time was virtually zero.

So that's how he earned his reputation!

Luo Chen's mind was busy with thoughts, but his hands moved practically by themselves. With a sweeping motion, countless fist-sized fireballs shot out and bombarded the vines rushing toward him. Yes, it was just a bunch of ordinary first-tier fireballs. There was no need to bring out the heavy artillery against a bunch of weeds. Besides, he could cast Fireball almost endlessly, with practically no delay whatsoever.

Thus, under the combined assault of Saberstorm at the front and Luo Chen at the rear, the group of five maintained their momentum as they charged deeper into the ridge. Meanwhile, countless white vines burst from beneath the earth and surged toward them from everywhere. Seen from above, the scene looked like a flood crashing down upon a mere handful of ants

*** 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

BOOOMM!

The arrogance on his face gradually faded, replaced by a trace of seriousness. Yet the moment he turned his head, his eyes abruptly widened. In the distance, Luo Chen stood out, clad in his crimson cloud robes and with a massive claw condensed from pure mana locked tightly around a fourth-tier vine. The thick vine twisted violently in his grasp like a giant python, thrashing without cease yet utterly unable to break free. At that moment, Luo Chen also turned and glanced toward Huangfu Song. With a slight nod, he casually severed the vine in his grasp and stored it away inside his storage ring. Even if it was merely an offshoot split from the main body, it was still a genuine fourth-tier spirit plant and undoubtedly worth a considerable sum.

Meanwhile, at the center of the group, the Angler remained the only one who had yet to join the battle. He kept his eyes fixed on the bell in his hand as it chimed without pause, and the delight on his face grew more obvious by the moment. “Our direction is right! Now that fourth-tier offshoots are starting to show up, it means we're getting closer and closer to the Vine King's nest. Everyone, get ready. The real battle is about to begin!”

The Myriad Immortal Society had no shortage of powerful demon hunters. So why had the Angler specifically chosen a mere five-star demon hunter like him? That question had been lingering in his mind ever since they set out. It was also one of the reasons he kept his distance from the others. For some reason, he always felt that the way Angler looked at him was a little off.