Chapter 40: Obtaining the Mo Yun Vine

"You all leave first," Xiao Yu said.

"Alright." Liu He nodded, "Luo Feng, go."

Liu He, the inspection envoy, flew toward the blood‑red fighter in the sky, and Luo Feng also stepped on a shield and flew in.

Xiao Yu's perception was extremely sharp; he immediately pinpointed where the movement occurred and rushed over.

The golden‑masked man, Bing Shan, fled in a flustered manner from a large lake, and far away a black‑purple vine about twenty centimeters in diameter shot up, directly chasing Bing Shan's back.

The vine's length was endless to the eye; the visible portion was already five or six hundred meters long, with an unknown length shrouded in distant mist.

The long vine kept extending, its speed far surpassing Bing Shan's flight; it swiftly coiled around the panicking Bing Shan.

Bing Shan held in each hand a blade as thin as a cicada wing, like a transparent ice sword, and he slashed fiercely at the coiling black‑purple vine. Instantly a visible shockwave burst outward in all directions, shattering the towering trees below, and in the distance the bald eagle Li Yao, Katelan, Blood Shadow Yi Fan, and Giant Bear Kai Ta all fled in panic.

Yet the black‑purple vine, twenty centimeters in diameter, was only cut a centimeter deep by the ice sword, and in the blink of an eye that wound healed.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu judged that the Mo Yun Vine's strength was roughly Planet‑level Sixth Tier.

Seeing that Hong's personal guard Bing Shan could not break the Mo Yun Vine's black‑purple vine defense, Xiao Yu did not intend to stand by.

A micro‑planet inside his body spun wildly, his internal Force surged, and in an instant he appeared behind Bing Shan. A bolt of thunder flashed, snapping the twenty‑centimeter black‑purple vine; purple liquid gushed from the cut, coiling around Bing Shan's vine and gradually loosening.

"Stay back," Xiao Yu said.

Bing Shan immediately left, flying toward the fighter in the sky. Though he didn't know Councilor Xiao Yu's strength, as Hong's guard he was aware of Xiao Yu's sparring with Hong.

After Bing Shan entered the fighter, the craft quickly ascended to a higher hover altitude.

At the same time he noticed that a scene of Xiao Yu battling the purple vine materialized out of thin air inside the dim cabin, while Liu He and Luo Feng watched.

Occasionally, words of admiration were uttered.

After rescuing Bing Shan, Xiao Yu immediately flew downward along the vine.

Suddenly a kilometer‑long vine appeared behind Xiao Yu, snapping through the air like a whip toward his back; when the vine reached a meter behind him, Xiao Yu instantly moved half a meter to the side, and the vine kept lashing along his battle suit.

At the same time, the Force Sword in Xiao Yu's hand swung its blade backward, severing the vine, which fell into the lake, sending spray that rose hundreds of meters high.

A massive shockwave surged outward in all directions.

Simultaneously, vine after vine extended, each black‑purple, each twenty centimeters in diameter, equally indestructibly tough, each over a kilometer long.

A total of fifteen vines coordinated closely, some thrust like long spears, others lashing like long whips.

Xiao Yu constantly dodged, cutting off a vine whenever an opening presented itself.

Soon Xiao Yu entered the water; underwater his strength was reduced by twenty to thirty percent.

Even a Planet‑level warrior can fight without breathing air, but Xiao Yu's special ability is not water; underwater he suffers great resistance, his speed is suppressed.

In this era, speed directly augments combat power; a loss of speed means a loss of strength.

In the underwater fight, Xiao Yu stopped being cautious, unleashing a Thunder Domain; his speed instantly surged, and he almost immediately reached the Mo Yun Vine's Main Root.

While Xiao Yu fought the Mo Yun Vine underwater.

A black‑haired man approached the blood‑red fighter.

Liu He, Bing Shan, and Luo Feng hurried out and said, "Hall Master."

Councilor Fa Er, whose injuries had partially healed on the ground, also flew forward, bowed slightly, and said, "Honored to see the First Chairman!"

"I already spotted your fighter earlier, guessed you were coming here, so I wasn't in a hurry to get there before you," the black‑haired man's voice was calm.

The black‑haired man turned his head toward Liu He and the others and asked, "How's the situation below?"

"Councilor Xiao is battling that purple vine; we can't see the scene clearly for now," Bing Shan replied.

"That kid's here too! Then we can relax; let's just stay here and watch the show," the black‑haired man laughed.

On the distant ground, Katelan, Yi Fan, Li Yao, and Kai Ta worshipped the figure in the sky from the depths of their hearts, revering Earth's number‑one strongest.

At this moment, the entire Wu Island continued to shake, countless shockwaves raging, intermittently interspersed with arm‑thick bolts of thunder.

Suddenly, the black‑haired man said, "Enough."

Wu Island suddenly ceased shaking, the shockwaves stopped forming, leaving only the lingering ripples, the sound of water's agitation, and the noise of mud‑rock landslides.

A blue‑purple figure, as if dragging an octopus, rapidly approached from below.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A huge sound kept echoing; the octopus finally settled down a bit, its more than ten tentacles continuously retracting.

When the blue‑purple figure flew close, the octopus shrank to just over a meter in length, yet its black‑purple tentacles looked unusual.

"Eighteen tentacles—this is the Mo Yun Vine. Earth actually has Mo Yun Vine too," the black‑haired man exclaimed excitedly. "Xiao Yu, you kid, this time you've hit the jackpot."

"Ha ha, Hall Master, that's all thanks to Luo Feng; I just bask in his light."

Luo Feng was still a bit confused; perhaps only after a year or so would he understand what Xiao Yu meant.

"Ha ha, indeed." Black‑haired man Hong also laughed heartily. "But Xiao Yu, do you know how to subdue it?"

Regarding the Mo Yun Vine, Hong Ye was eager; it's a rarity even across the universe, usable as an auxiliary combat asset, and cultivating it would be a huge boost.

"Of course I know." Xiao Yu didn't meet Hong's eager gaze, and said, "There's no danger below now; we can continue."

Earlier in the underwater battle, Xiao Yu had unleashed his full strength to subdue the Mo Yun Vine; now he only needs to shed a drop of blood to claim it.

Perhaps he struck the Mo Yun Vine a bit too hard; the vine almost drained nearly all his fresh blood before stopping. If not for a Planet‑level warrior's strong regenerative body and its frantic blood‑making, Xiao Yu would have been as weak as a kidney‑deficient person, mocked by everyone.

After recognizing the master, Xiao Yu sensed from the Mo Yun Vine a faint, friendly consciousness, though still very weak.

The Mo Yun Vine can not only aid its master independently in combat, but also transform into battle armor to increase defense, and the armor's defensive power is closely tied to its level.

"Bing Shan, Liu He, you continue!" Black‑haired man Hong said.

"Yes." Bing Shan and Liu He replied.

Bing Shan and Liu He delved deeper into Wu Island to continue harvesting the spirits of flora.

Hong and Xiao Yu hovered in the air watching, while Luo Feng stayed inside the blood‑red fighter, continuously viewing the video of Xiao Yu's recent battle with the Mo Yun Vine.

Meanwhile, Councilor Fa Er dared not move; with the unknown strength of Xiao Yu and the top warrior Hong present, he had no other thoughts. After waiting a while and seeing they ignored him, he flew into the fighter, took the four people from the HR Alliance below, and hurried away.

Hong Zhengzhong opened, "This Wu Island is very peculiar."

Xiao Yu laughed, "A small island, perpetually shrouded in mist, yet it contains so many Plant Spirits, and even possesses the Mo Yun Vine of the cosmos; that vine is certainly not an Earth product."

Hong continued, "Indeed, we should send people to study it thoroughly; perhaps here or nearby there are ancient civilization ruins or the like."

Xiao Yu fell silent, imagining that as long as the Extreme Martial Arts Hall has placed people here, the Thunder Martial Arts Hall will certainly follow up, and even the Five Great Nations and the HR Alliance would surely send representatives.

This place will gather forces from all corners of Earth.

After a long while, Liu He and Bingshan returned.

Inside the blood‑red fighter, five people sat cross‑legged.

Liu He sighed, "This time, Bingshan made a huge profit." Then he looked at Luo Feng and said, "Luo Feng, your haul this time is unlikely to be small either."

Bingshan removed his golden mask, and a rare smile appeared on his cold face: "This time I harvested 80 Plant Spirits, Councilor Liu He harvested 22, Luo Feng obtained 6, and Councilor Xiao obtained 2; together we have gathered 110 Plant Spirits."

"Discovering such a number of Plant Spirits in one go is something that hasn't happened in many years," Liu He added.

Although Luo Feng did not understand, he had seen on the Warrior Forum that Plant Spirits are considered legendary among warriors.

The black‑haired man Hong Ping calmly said, "This time Luo Feng's report was meritorious, and with the excavation he also earned credit; a 15% share can be allocated, and Xiao Yu this time…"

Before Hong finished, Xiao Yu interrupted, "Hall Master, I don't need a share; I've already gotten what I want. Just give me two Plant Spirits and that's enough."

Hong understood Xiao Yu's intent and continued, "Then it's settled: Liu He extracted a small portion, eligible for an 8% share, and Bingshan receives 27%."

Xiao Yu hadn't expected Hall Master Hong to allocate an extra 10% share this time, which showed Hong was very pleased.

After finishing, Hong glanced at Xiao Yu again, then went on, "The details will be discussed at headquarters. Luo Feng, you come along as well."

"Yes, Grand Hall Master," Luo Feng nodded.

After a while, Hong said, "Earlier you obtained a Black God Set; according to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's rules, you need to go to an ancient civilization ruin to acquire another set and sell it to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. You know this, right?"

"Yes, Inspector Wang, as mentioned before," Luo Feng replied.

"At the end of next month there will be an opportunity to enter Site No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins; you will go with us, and the exact time will be notified in advance," Hong said calmly.

"Mm." Luo Feng nodded; he had heard Xiao Yu mention Site No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins before.

……

Over two hours later, the blood‑red fighter slowly landed before the massive airship building of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall headquarters in Hongning Base City.

"Hall Master, I'll head back now," Xiao Yu said after bidding farewell to Hong, and boarded his Qiankun-class Intelligent Fighter to return to Jiangnan Base City.

Later, during a casual chat after sparring with Hong, Xiao Yu learned the exact allocation of Plant Spirits: Luo Feng, with his 15% share, obtained 43 stars, and he used 35 stars to exchange for a Tier‑3 Mind‑force Weapon Heaven‑Piercing Shuttle, 3 stars for the "Spiritual Mind Master Basics" manual, 2 stars for a Primordial‑class Intelligent Fighter, and kept a 1.5‑star Millennial Black Crow Root.

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(End of chapter)