His luck seemed to be holding out. As Zhang Deming propelled himself dozens of meters upward using the attacking Vines, they seemed to reach their limit.

Zhang Deming broke completely free of the tentacle-like expanse of Vines.

He first looked back toward the area the Vines were guarding. An endless Light Curtain was there, enclosing a Flower Sea of unknown size.

That must have been where Zhang Deming had come from earlier.

Outside the Light Curtain were the Vines below, which guarded it impenetrably.

There was no telling how long the mass of Vines was; it simply stretched on, following the Light Curtain.

Its thickness was also ridiculous, but not to the point of being hopeless.

The entire wall of Vines was about ten-odd meters thick.

Given the density of the wall and the fact that each Vine had the strength of a Tai Chi Demon Beast, trying to get through from below would be incredibly difficult.

But for Zhang Deming, who had the Feather Fall Technique, it wasn’t very difficult from his position atop the wall of Vines.

The Light Wings on his back vibrated rapidly. Zhang Deming whipped at the Vines below with the tendrils he held in his hands, using the countless swaying Vines to gain purchase.

He floated away from the wall of Vines like a feather.

After a few bounds, Zhang Deming floated clear of the wall of Vines and drifted down toward the ground.

Outside the wall of Vines was a barren zone. A few sparse weeds grew there, but not a single tree, giving it a desolate appearance.

In the distance, starting about dozens of meters away, was a primeval jungle that stretched as far as the eye could see.

As Zhang Deming drifted down, the wall of Vines behind him began to give chase.

The Light Wings on his back vibrated, and Zhang Deming floated directly toward the forested area.

By the time Zhang Deming landed in the forest, the Vines behind him had failed to catch up. They extended to their absolute limit and writhed for a moment before retracting as if they had lost their target.

Zhang Deming looked at the treeless, barren zone before him. ’These strange Vines must be the cause,’ he thought.

He glanced around and found it surprisingly quiet. He couldn’t hear his fellow apprentices who had entered with him, not even the chirp of a single insect.

’This Secret Realm can’t be a dead zone, can it?’ Zhang Deming thought.

’No, that’s impossible,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’If it were a dead zone with no living creatures, the plants couldn’t have survived on their own. After all, the Secret Realm has been sealed for thousands of years. Without creatures to complete the life cycle, the trees wouldn’t have survived either.’

’Looking at the wall of Vines behind him, he figured they were what caused the dead silence in the area, like some kind of forbidden ground within the forest.’

Zhang Deming observed his surroundings. For now, he was completely in the dark.

So, his eyes began to flicker with the Spiritual Light of Reconnaissance. He picked a random direction and plunged into the forest.

After traveling at high speed for over half an hour, Zhang Deming began to hear the chirping of insects.

He breathed a small sigh of relief. At least this confirmed the forest wasn’t completely dead, which meant it might not be lethally dangerous.

Still, Zhang Deming hadn’t found any sign of human activity.

The one thing that did please him was that the entire forest seemed to be suffused with dense Spiritual Qi.

It was as if the entire forest was a One-Star Spirit Vein. It was truly worthy of its reputation as a legendary Grotto Heaven Secret Realm; the Spiritual Qi in the environment alone was exceptional.

After traveling for a good while at a moderate pace, not only was Zhang Deming not short on Spiritual Power, but the Spiritual Power he had consumed earlier had even refilled on its own.

In this environment, he could travel at full speed with his Agility Technique without any net consumption of Spiritual Power.

However, uncertain of the dangers lurking in the forest, Zhang Deming didn’t dare to be so reckless.

He just kept his Feather Fall Technique active, leaping cautiously through the woods.

A long moment later, Zhang Deming’s expression flickered.

He twisted slightly to the side as a jade-green Tree Python scraped past his Shield.

A jade-like Vine shot out from his shoulder and, in the instant their paths crossed, wrapped around the python with lightning speed.

The Tree Python was about three meters long. Once ensnared by the Vine, it instantly tensed its body, trying to escape.

A cold light glinted at the tip of the Vine, which then shot out and pierced the snake’s head.

The Tree Python twitched stiffly a few times, and its life force faded.

Zhang Deming looked at the Tree Python, sizing it up for a moment.

A Junior Apprentice-level Demon Beast. It was no challenge at all, but he was glad that Demon Beasts were finally appearing.

’It seems that area back there really was some kind of forbidden ground, turning the entire vicinity into a restricted zone.’

He examined the Tree Python, then casually butchered it. He discarded most of it, keeping only the Snake Skin and Snake Bones, which could just barely be used as materials.

He casually tossed them into his storage bag. Without pausing, Zhang Deming continued on his way.

The farther he got from the wall of Vines, the more active his surroundings became, and the Demon Beasts he encountered grew progressively stronger.

’Or rather, this was how it should have been all along. He was clearly deep in the forest now; the previous dead zone must have been an effect of the forbidden ground created by the wall of Vines.’

As Zhang Deming pressed onward, his expression suddenly changed. The Spiritual Light in his eyes sharpened, and his gaze seemed to pierce through the trees to look in a specific direction.

’What’s this?’

’A Spirit-Storage Tree? And it’s bearing fruit?’

’No way... This thing is only a One-Star Spirit Wood of the Tai Chi Stage.’

’But with the recent, meteoric rise of Spirit Nurturing Masters, the Spirit-Storage Tree has become invaluable for their cultivation. Forget the Spirit-Storage Fruits—even Spirit-Storage Branches now sell for far more than Two-Star Spirit Wood.’

’More importantly, this stuff is almost impossible to buy, especially the fruits and their seeds.’

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Deming headed directly in that direction.

Within a few bounds, Zhang Deming arrived in the vicinity of the Spirit-Storage Tree.

In the dense forest, a solitary tree, no more than six or seven meters tall, was growing all by itself.

The tree was surrounded by a clearing. In a radius of ten-odd meters, there were no shrubs, let alone tall trees—only a few weeds.

Hanging among the Spirit-Storage Tree’s branches were a full six Spirit-Storage Fruits, all of them ripe.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming didn’t approach rashly. The surrounding terrain didn’t look natural at all.

The Spirit-Storage Tree wasn’t large; at least, compared to the surrounding trees in this primeval jungle, it was quite small.

Although it was a One-Star Spirit Wood, it naturally possessed a Spirit-Storage effect; it didn’t have the encroaching nature of other Spirit Woods.

Therefore, not only would it not naturally create an environment like this, but anywhere a Spirit-Storage Tree grew, assuming no outside interference...

...tall trees were bound to grow around it. In fact, due to the tree’s unique Spirit-Nurturing properties, other plants might even slowly gain sentience and become Tree Demons.

This current environment, however, was clearly the result of ’human’ interference—and I use the term ’human’ loosely.

Zhang Deming observed for a moment more, then his expression suddenly sharpened.

The Spiritual Light in his eyes intensified.

At that moment, within the clearing, fine, transparent threads that had been invisible before slowly came into view one by one.