Chapter 613: Subdue! Eva

Amid Eva's excited voice, Xu Jingming walked toward the Thorn Sword Grass, protected by the Thunder Barrier.

Swish swish swish!

The tough stems of the Thorn Sword Grass whipped about, accompanied by sonic booms, as another volley of leaves shot out and slammed into the Thunder Barrier.

Ding ding ding~~

The crisp clashing sounds rang out in succession, but Xu Jingming felt these leaves were far weaker than before.

"The Thorn Sword Grass can cultivate special 'Sword Leaves'—their power is vastly greater than ordinary leaves."

"These must be the regular leaves after the Sword Leaves have been expended."

Eva explained softly.

"I see." Xu Jingming's eyes glinted slightly.

This Thorn Sword Grass was practically a perfect ambush weapon!

Imagine this:

If you suddenly fired off a few Sword Leaves mid-intense battle with an enemy…

The result? At best, severe injury; at worst, instant death!

It was utterly unpredictable!

"But first, I must subdue it."

His right hand lifted slightly, and thunder roared deafeningly.

Wild golden lightning surged forth, engulfing the entire Thorn Sword Grass.

Zzzz!

The leaf attacks continued, but all were blocked within the lightning barrier.

The Thorn Sword Grass suddenly grew wildly, as if trying to break through the lightning seal.

Yet the moment its leaves touched the lightning, they blackened instantly—as if scorched by thousands of degrees Celsius!

Even so, new leaves kept sprouting endlessly from the Thorn Sword Grass, attempting to breach the lightning.

"Its aura is only at the peak of sixth rank, even weaker than the seventh-rank Black Purple Vine beside it."

"But its regeneration is impressive—its roots and leaves keep growing endlessly."

Xu Jingming stroked his chin, observing closely.

"Thorn Sword Grass is a rare plant life; its attack power and regeneration far surpass the Black Purple Vine."

Eva strode over, her long legs carrying her forward, and hesitated before speaking:

"Without you, the Thorn Sword Grass's flying leaf attack would've seriously wounded me."

Logically, this plant life should've been handed over to you outright."

"But this plant life is extremely useful to me—name your price. I'll buy it from you."

Normally, Eva could easily dodge the Thorn Sword Grass's attacks at its peak sixth-rank level.

But the Black Purple Vine's slime had paralyzing effects, and she'd ingested a fair amount earlier.

That's why her reaction slowed just a fraction—nearly costing her dearly.

"Sorry."

Xu Jingming shook his head bluntly: "To be honest, I've been following you for half a day."

"I wanted a plant life—so I'm not giving up this Thorn Sword Grass to anyone."

"Following me?" Eva's expression changed slightly.

No wonder she'd felt something off since the afternoon.

She hadn't expected someone had been tailing her the whole time!

Thoughts churned across her face.

After a long pause, her red lips parted again:

"I'm outmatched—this is my fault. The Thorn Sword Grass is yours."

Though she despised the thought, she had no choice now but to take the slippery Black Purple Vine.

"Thank you." Xu Jingming grinned.

The storm of lightning receded, revealing the Thorn Sword Grass, which had struggled for hours yet failed to break free.

In less than half a minute, the once-lush Thorn Sword Grass had become partially barren, its top charred black.

Hum—

Powerful spiritual energy surged out, encountering slight resistance.

But Xu Jingming successfully imprinted his spiritual mark onto the Thorn Sword Grass.

"Its spiritual strength is too low—it's a peak sixth-rank lifeform, yet its actual spiritual power is below fourth rank."

Xu Jingming thought silently.

But he didn't need the Thorn Sword Grass to launch spiritual attacks.

As long as its physical attacks were strong and it could provide defense, that was enough.

Barely had he left the imprint when he felt a wave of affection emanating from the Thorn Sword Grass.

He reached out, and the once-seven-to-eight-meter-tall Thorn Sword Grass shrank rapidly.

It climbed up his body, and within mere breaths, formed a layer of plant armor over his battle suit.

Adding a touch of emerald green to the originally pitch-black armor.

The originally pitch-black battle armor gained a touch of emerald green.

Xu Jingming directed the Divine Thunder to strike himself.

After being dampened by both the plant armor and his SS-class battle suit, the Divine Thunder's power dropped significantly.

"Given this defense level, it still falls short of SSS-class armor—but it's far superior to most SS-class suits."

No one ever complains about having too much defense.

With dual armor protection and his own formidable physique,

As long as attacks didn't target his head or other vital spots, he was confident he could tank seventh-rank beast attacks bare-handed without injury!

As long as it wasn't a vital area like the head, he was even confident he could withstand a seventh-rank ferocious beast's attack with his bare flesh without injury!

The Thorn Sword Grass's powerful "Void Sword Leaves" totaled six, requiring over ten days to regrow.

"At normal growth speed, this Thorn Sword Grass will take two to three years to reach seventh rank."

"But I have a formula to accelerate its growth—I'll brew it when we return."

"With sufficient resources, it'll break into seventh rank in under a month!"

Eva's excited voice echoed in Xu Jingming's mind, as if she'd already claimed the Thorn Sword Grass as a pet.

"Fine. I'll judge you when we get back."

Xu Jingming smiled inwardly, then turned to look at Eva on the other side:

"I've taken the Thorn Sword Grass. Let's meet again at the Yuan Energy Pool."

Eva had already subdued the Black Purple Vine, but she hadn't transformed it into armor like Xu Jingming.

After all, that slimy fluid, though healing, wasn't something everyone could tolerate.

Seeing Xu Jingming leave, Eva hurriedly called out: "Wait."

"What? Something else?" Xu Jingming turned back.

"Nothing much."

Eva bit her red lip, hesitating before asking:

"I just want to know—if you hadn't saved me, would you still have taken this Thorn Sword Grass?"

"What do you think?" Xu Jingming didn't answer directly, but countered with a question.

"What do you think?" Xu Jingming did not answer directly, but asked in return.

Eva exhaled deeply, extinguishing the last flicker of hope in her heart.

Seeing this, Xu Jingming said nothing further; his brilliant Thunder Dragon Wings unfurled behind him, and he swiftly flew out of the cave.

"Without this incident, he'd still have seized the Thorn Sword Grass…"

Watching Xu Jingming's towering figure vanish from view, Eva's face was filled with helplessness.

She could only blame herself—her strength fell short, and she hadn't even noticed she was being followed.

Fortunately, she still had over ten days left in the Qingfeng Secret Realm.

With luck, she might yet find another plant life.

Lucky for us, we might even find other plant life.