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**
"Seeking death! A mere Ghost Vine dares to launch a sneak attack on me?"
A voice filled with mockery rang out.
Instantly, a powerful fire-attribute aura surged, and dark red soul power brilliance erupted violently alongside the release of a purple thousand-year soul ring. Terrifying, violent flames exploded outward, soaring into the sky.
The sphere originally formed purely of plant vines was suddenly enveloped in dark red fire and instantly ignited.
It was Yan's third soul skill: Hellfire.
The moment the dark red flames touched the Ghost Vine, they became even more violent. The fire grew higher and higher; the Ghost Vine was visibly reduced to ash at a speed detectable to the naked eye.
It could no longer restrain Yan, and his figure finally emerged.
Looking at the frantically retreating Ghost Vine with a sneer, Yan gave a cold laugh.
"Trying to run now? It's a bit too late for that."
"Purgatory Flame!"
Yan struck out with a punch.
Dark red fire blossomed from his right fist. Driven by his Martial Soul, a dark red fireball was instantly fired. It grew with the wind, rapidly transforming into a massive fireball at least several meters in diameter.
The flames within were extremely condensed, swirling like liquid lava.
Boom!
The fireball formed by the Purgatory Flame slammed into the giant tree where the retreating Ghost Vine had coiled itself.
An astonishing explosion shook the air, sending sparks flying in every direction. The scorching fire energy erupted instantly, and the massive tree—over several meters in diameter—was actually blown apart and snapped in two.
With the tree as the center, the surrounding dozen meters were turned into charred earth where no grass remained. The Ghost Vine entwined upon it was likewise blown to pieces by the explosive fire energy, eventually turning to ash.
At this moment, the natural suppression that a top-tier fire-attribute Martial Soul like the Flame Lord held over plant-type soul beasts and Martial Souls was displayed to the fullest.
Although there were plant-type soul beasts or Martial Souls with naturally high fire resistance in the worlds of soul beasts and Soul Masters, or certain plant species with bloodlines so powerful that their own strength could resist strong flames.
As plants, they ultimately feared the power of fire and were easily suppressed.
Even some fire-attribute plant soul beasts claiming to possess Ultimate Fire—whose fire energy quality was high enough to grant immunity to most fire-attribute powers—found that such "immunity" was merely built on the foundation of their own energy level and cultivation strength.
Once they encountered a fire-attribute existence stronger than themselves, they would still be wounded by the power of fire. After all, Ultimate Fire does not refer to a single type of flame, but rather a classification of levels, and even within that level, there are higher and lower tiers.
Seeing the Ghost Vine on the giant tree turn to ash, Yan stopped exerting that startling fire power. The dark red flames quickly receded, and his Flame Lord Martial Soul reverted to its usual magma and lava form.
However, the eyes of Xie Yue beside him flashed. He suddenly thought of something: the Ghost Vine appeared to be dead, yet no soul ring had manifested.
This meant it wasn't dead yet.
Xie Yue scanned the surroundings.
Suddenly, his expression shifted.
A flash of blade-light erupted as a silver-white blade-qi slashed out, hitting a spot roughly ten meters behind where the giant tree had stood. It instantly carved a massive gouge into the ground, nearly three feet deep.
Yan's expression turned solemn.
At that moment, a large cluster of purple-black vines jolted at the site of the gouge and burst from the soil. Clearly, while the vines above ground had indeed been turned to ash during the violent explosion, there were still parts hidden underground.
It had remained hidden to trick the two of them, but now it had been discovered.
As soon as the Ghost Vine appeared, it seemed to realize Yan's lethality.
It no longer tried to devour the two men; instead, it shrunk rapidly, its purple-black vines retreating into the earth at high speed, attempting to burrow back into the deep underground.
"Yan, quick! Grab its roots!"
"Trying to run?!"
Before Xie Yue could even finish his sentence, Yan had already charged forward.
The ground shuddered violently as Yan unleashed his strength, utilizing a burst of flames to propel himself off the forest floor and accelerate. In a flash of dark red light, Yan reached the spot where the Ghost Vine was retreating.
A massive hand, appearing as if molded from molten lava, lunged out and finally seized the mass of purple-black vines just before they could vanish entirely into the earth. The vine's retreating momentum came to a grinding halt.
Gripping the cluster of vines with both hands, Yan held on tight. Though the terrifying thorns on the vines released potent toxins, they were unable to breach the formidable defense of his Flame Lord Martial Soul.
On the contrary, the vine itself was scorched by the high temperatures of his transformed body, sending wisps of acrid green smoke curling into the air.
"Did you think hiding underground would save you? Today, I'll destroy you down to the very roots!"
Yan spoke sternly as he channeled his soul power to drive his Martial Soul.
A surge of dark red soul power erupted from his body, and a massive amount of fire rapidly converged upon his arms, extending toward his hands.
With a low roar, Yan condensed his dark red Fire Mountain Rock Flame into a single mass. Restricting its explosive force, he turned it into a liquid-like state that actually flowed along the vines and into the ground.
The unique flame controlled by the Flame Lord Martial Soul inherently integrated a certain degree of earth-attribute power into its fire essence, allowing it to exert its power even deep beneath the soil.
Under Yan's control, it didn't take long for the fire to follow the Ghost Vine down to its primary root system. Suddenly, the purple-black vines began to thrash frantically with such immense force that Yan nearly lost his grip.
At that moment, a muffled thud rang out, sounding like a clap of thunder from beneath the earth. Though it didn't produce a spectacular visual display, it caused the ground to lurch violently.
Aftershocks rippled through the area like a localized earthquake.
Soon, a soul ring drifted upward, indicating that this Ghost Vine had been utterly destroyed by Yan's power—leaving nothing, not even the roots.
"I have to say, this Ghost Vine picked the wrong target. It tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. With your powerful fire-attribute strength, you are essentially its natural nemesis."
"Its famed toxicity couldn't even breach your defenses, let alone take effect," Xie Yue said as he walked over with a faint smile.
"Hmph, a mere Ghost Vine is nothing. If it were a Ghost King Vine of this cultivation level, it might have made me take things a bit more seriously."
"But Ghost King Vines are as rare as the people in the Ghost King Sect who awaken the Ghost King Vine Martial Soul. They aren't that easy to come by," Yan replied dismissively.
To him, killing a Ghost Vine was truly not worth mentioning. Whether it was the Ghost Vine's parasitism, toxicity, or its so-called binding control, it was all decorative against him—nothing more than a meaningless struggle.
Suddenly, both Xie Yue and Yan's expressions shifted. Simultaneously, they turned their gaze toward the jungle behind them.
"Someone is coming. Two people, and they're strong."
"Indeed. One of them has immense strength, not inferior to ours. The other... their raw power might be slightly below ours, but their spiritual power is far beyond ours. Could it be...?"
Though they could have been strangers, this specific combination made Xie Yue lean toward a certain possibility.
Soon, the sound of footsteps echoed clearly through the woods. When they saw the two figures emerging from the foliage, Xie Yue and Yan couldn't help but look delighted, and the vigilance they held moments ago vanished instantly.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday