Chapter 387: Crystal Core

The severed body of the Vine King twisted and coiled, its fibers, thin as ox hair, connecting to one another; it was actually attempting to fuse back together, which secretly shocked Meng Yifan.

The vitality of these vine demon plants was too formidable; as long as they had sufficient energy, they were practically immortal.

If it weren't for the fact that they didn't know the power of a Mushroom Bomb and dared to swallow it into their bellies, Meng Yifan truly wouldn't have been able to defeat them.

Striking while the enemy was down, Meng Yifan manipulated the Ghost Head Blade to crisscross, cutting back and forth hundreds of times in a second; coupled with the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals wreaking havoc from within, two seconds later, this section of the Vine King was sliced into tens of thousands of particles.

Even so, these tiny particles still possessed some kind of mysterious vitality, and it seemed they might still be able to resurrect.

Meng Yifan waved his hand, collecting all these tiny particles into his Space Ring; once the battle ended, these small particles would be excellent materials for alchemy.

"No Crystal Core; it seems the Crystal Core is inside this last section of vine."

After confirming that this section of the Vine King had been finished off, Meng Yifan withdrew the Ghost Head Blade and, coordinating with the Yin-Yang Millstone, besieged the final section of the Vine King.

"Puchi!" The Ghost Head Blade pierced through the Vine King's body, and the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals swarmed up again, wielding pins to destroy the Vine King's meridians from the inside.

Just like that, with the Yin-Yang Millstone crushing from the outside, the Ghost Head Blade cutting back and forth, and the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals destroying from within, the Vine King could no longer hold on under this triple assault and was finally ground into a pool of Green Paste by the Yin-Yang Millstone.

"Ding! Hunted a Grade 5 Peak demon plant, gained Experience Value."

The prompt sound of the Game Panel rang out, which finally allowed Meng Yifan to heave a sigh of relief.

It wasn't easy, but he had finally finished off these vine demon plants.

Although Meng Yifan knew the Secret Realm World was extremely dangerous, he hadn't expected to encounter such terrifying vine demon plants the moment he entered.

The strength of the Vine King was on par with Ao Bi'an, and with a group of Grade 5 vine minions, even a Grade 5 Peak Great Demon would die and vanish if caught in their siege.

The good thing was that although these vine demon plants were very powerful, their intelligence was somewhat lacking; they actually dared to eat a Mushroom Bomb.

Of course, this was also because there had never been human technological products like Mushroom Bombs in the Secret Realm World, and the Vine King had been a bit careless, allowing Meng Yifan to severely injure it with a single Mushroom Bomb.

Meng Yifan beckoned with his right hand, pulling a palm-sized, emerald-green crystal out of that pool of viscous paste.

The crystals inside the other vine demon plants were basically thumb-sized rhombic crystals.

But the crystal inside the Vine King was much larger, a full fist in size, and the energy contained within was far greater than the other crystals.

However, the Vine King's crystal appeared dilapidated and riddled with pits, as if a lot of it were missing.

"Eh! Do these rhombic crystals happen to fit into these gaps? Could it be that they were originally one piece, only to split apart later?"

Meng Yifan's heart stirred, and based on the shape of the cracks, he pieced these crystals together.

Very quickly, the crystals were all assembled into a strange object that was wedge-shaped, blunt on the right end and thin on the left.

"Could this be a liver?" Meng Yifan thought thoughtfully; the more he looked, the more he felt the object in his hand resembled human liver tissue.

"Categorized by the Five Elements, the liver belongs to Wood; these crystals combined together are exactly the shape of a liver."

"Could this really be the liver of that great expert? After falling, the liver shattered into over a dozen pieces, each evolving into a Grade 5 vine?"

"A single liver fragment could become a Grade 5 demon plant; the strength of this fallen great expert is unfathomable—they might not be Grade 6, but possibly Grade 7, or even a powerhouse above Grade 7."

"But how could such a powerhouse fall? And have their liver split into over a dozen pieces? Who beat such a powerhouse until they were smashed to smithereens and died?"

Meng Yifan's heart was filled with confusion, and he also felt that his own strength was still too weak; in front of a true great expert, he was merely a slightly stronger ant—perhaps a great expert could crush him into a meat patty with a single finger.

Meng Yifan gripped this special crystal and felt the abundant Wood Element energy contained within.

Most importantly, this special Crystal Core contained the Wood Element Rule of the Secret Realm World; holding this Crystal Core, Meng Yifan's ability to comprehend the Wood Element Rule increased exponentially.

In a trance, Meng Yifan seemed to hear the great expert preaching, expounding on that expert's understanding of the Wood Element Rule from back then.

"The Origin Core of the Secret Realm World has split apart; what I hold is the Wood Element Origin Core among them."

Meng Yifan was overjoyed; as long as he absorbed this liver-shaped Crystal Core, his Wood Element cultivation technique would certainly be able to rise to Grade 5 Peak, or even touch the Grade 6 realm.

"Fortune; there really is heaven-defying fortune within the Secret Realm World. I must find a safe place to refine these crystals."

The great battle just now had caused quite a stir, and this jungle was not safe; Yin Jiuji and Hu Mei'er had entered the Secret Realm World first, and there was no telling where those two fellows were.

Both of these fellows were Meng Yifan's enemies and could launch a fatal strike against him at any time.

Therefore, Meng Yifan did not linger; he put the Crystal Core into his Space Ring and, as he prepared to put away the Ghost Head Blade, he suddenly discovered that Zhang Butou and the other Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals were still lingering in that pool of Green Paste.

"What the! What is this situation?" Meng Yifan discovered in surprise that Zhang Butou and the other Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals were devouring the Green Paste in large mouthfuls, as if they had discovered some delicious delicacy.

"Don't just eat everything you see! Eh! That's not right; that Green Paste is physical matter, how can you eat it?" Meng Yifan frowned, puzzled.

Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals were Yin Soul Bodies, originally illusory and unable to manifest before people for long; at most, they could absorb some incense and wish-power, but they were fundamentally unable to eat physical entities from reality.

But now, this group of Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals was actually eating the Green Paste in large mouthfuls, and they were all eating with great relish, which made Meng Yifan very curious.

Could it be that this Green Paste had some special benefit for the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals?

Aside from unleashing mental shocks, the Ghost Soldiers' only means of attack was to wield pins to attack the enemy's weak points.

Even a Third Grade Ghost General like Zhang Butou existed between the virtual and the real, with limited offensive capabilities.

Especially as Meng Yifan's strength increased rapidly, the enemies he encountered became increasingly formidable, and this battalion of Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals appeared too weak.

In front of Grade 5 Great Demons like Ao Bi'an, the role played by the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals was almost negligible.

If the Ghost Head Blade hadn't first sliced open the Vine King's body this time, the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals' pins would never have been able to break through its defenses.