Chapter 611

Xu Jingming used the Concealment Technique to suppress his aura to an extremely low level.

Even his heartbeat dropped to fewer than ten beats per minute.

To an ordinary person, this would be tantamount to suicide.

But for Xu Jingming, aside from slight physical discomfort, he felt almost nothing.

This was the formidable physique granted to him by the SS-class Body Strengthening Art, "Divine Thunder Indestructible Body."

Thus, he trailed behind Ailin without her noticing a thing.

What surprised Xu Jingming was that Ailin truly seemed to have her own method of locating plant life.

But it appeared inaccurate—each time she found only those strange plants with no psychic energy signature they had encountered earlier.

Even so, this was far more efficient than Xu Jingming randomly searching the forest himself.

Time swiftly passed, and it soon shifted from past two in the afternoon to nine at night.

The Qingfeng Secret Realm had no distinction between day and night—it was always daylight.

At nine at night, the forest remained bathed in light.

During this time, Ailin had found five special plants.

But unfortunately, not a single one was a plant life.

And now, Xu Jingming's patience was nearly exhausted.

"Follow for two more hours—if we still haven't found plant life, I'm giving up."

Xu Jingming said inwardly to Eva.

"Huh? You're not following anymore?"

Eva was puzzled, thinking Xu Jingming doubted her judgment, and swore confidently:

"Keep following Ailin—I guarantee we'll find plant life!"

"If we don't… I'll cook and wash your clothes for a whole month!"

"If we don't find it, you do it anyway," Xu Jingming said coolly.

Ever since returning from the Wild Zone, he always had Eva clean his bloodstained battle robes.

Sometimes when he didn't feel like eating at the martial arts gym cafeteria, he had Eva cook—even though she always complained bitterly.

"Other people treat their intelligent lifeforms with careful care.

Who else treats theirs like you do—dumping every dirty, exhausting task on me and overworking me to death!"

Eva grumbled angrily.

Though she could easily delegate all these chores to one of her sub-entities, she still felt annoyed.

It felt as if she were just a low-end vacuum cleaner or washing machine.

Intelligent lifeforms were already so rare across the entire Blue Planet.

"What? Now you're picky? Should I send you back to Magic University?" Xu Jingming raised an eyebrow.

"No no no, my beloved master, I was just joking a moment ago.

From now on, whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it—no complaints!"

Eva immediately changed her tone, clearly well-versed in the art of shifting demeanor.

"That's more like it."

He pushed off with his feet, leaping lightly between the tree branches.

As he continued tracking Ailin ahead, he explained inwardly:

"Trailing is too wasteful—if it takes seven or eight days to find plant life, I'd rather not bother."

To avoid revealing himself, he hadn't killed a single beast in the past few hours.

That meant his ability points on the system panel hadn't increased at all.

Short-term, this was acceptable; long-term, it was impossible.

Plant life was far less important than ability points.

Though Eva really wanted to ask why he killed so many beasts.

Most beasts were obliterated by the Divine Thunder, leaving no materials to collect.

Aside from satisfying his killing urge, it served no purpose whatsoever.

But she ultimately said nothing, only obediently replied:

"Understood."

Over an hour later, the two tree-men behind Ailin emitted strange sounds.

Ailin seemed to receive some message, her face lighting up with surprise.

She then sprinted swiftly in one direction through the forest, her long legs moving with speed.

"S-rank! Something's happening—hurry up!" Eva's excited voice echoed in his mind.

Xu Jingming also accelerated, following after her.

As a mid-tier sixth-rank ability user, Ailin didn't possess a Qianghua -type ability, yet her sprinting speed was still extremely fast.

Even within this dense jungle, she moved faster than thirty meters per second.

But Xu Jingming was far faster—he easily kept pace behind her, maintaining a distance of roughly five hundred meters.

His Heart Net's passive perception reached two kilometers; even hundreds of meters away, he still fully tracked Ailin's status.

They moved through the jungle for about three or four minutes before Ailin's slender figure vanished into a cave.

And Xu Jingming's Heart Net perception abruptly cut off.

Heart Net's passive perception wasn't invincible—it was like a Wi-Fi signal.

It failed when encountering powerful psychic users, or thick mountain rock or walls.

Shhh—

With Ailin gone, Xu Jingming no longer needed to conceal his form.

His Lei Long Wings unfolded behind him, and he shot skyward, instantly crossing hundreds of meters.

He landed before the cave Ailin had entered.

The moment his battle boots touched the ground, a feminine cry rang out from inside!

It sounded as if she had encountered danger.

"Caves like this usually harbor beasts—Ailin probably ran into the real thing."

Crackling—

Thunder roared as Xu Jingming immediately entered Thunder Extreme Mode, his feet slamming the ground as he vanished in a golden blur.

The cave was dark and damp, visibility poor, and it blocked his Heart Net perception.

Plus, the tunnels branched in all directions—he had no idea where anything led.

Fortunately, Ailin's voice remained audible; following it, Xu Jingming quickly reached the deepest chamber of the cave!

As lightning flashed, the entire cave was illuminated.

The cave walls were covered in green vines, each dripping with viscous fluid.

In the center of the chamber, the two tree-men were tightly bound in place by the vines.

Ailin was suspended midair, bound and constricted by the vines, which continued tightening.

Combined with her flushed, indignant expression, it reminded Xu Jingming of scenes from manga he'd seen in his past life.

"So it's not a beast—it's a special plant: Lei Yu!"

Even as he thought this, Xu Jingming moved swiftly—golden lightning erupted violently!

Crackling—

The restriction technique "Lei Yu" was used as an offensive technique, flooding the cave with electricity.

All vines and sticky fluid in the cave were obliterated!

The once dark, damp atmosphere vanished, replaced by the vast, brilliant radiance of thunder.

Boom!!

With the vines gone, Ailin fell from midair and crashed onto the ground.

She still seemed shaken, not rising to her feet, gasping heavily.

Her graceful figure rose and fell slightly with each breath.