Chapter 56: Restless agitations

Passing by two entangled ferocious beasts, Lu Ye had not yet stabilized himself when a reddish snake tail whipped towards him like a lash, bringing a gust of wind.

Unable to turn, Lu Ye hurriedly activated his spiritual power to protect his body.

With a *smack*, he was sent flying, his shoulder blade throbbing with a dull ache as he rolled several times on the scorching ground.

He stood up and looked around, somewhat surprised.

His strike, amplified with a sharp edge, had failed to sever the large snake in one go. It had only sliced open most of the snake's body, causing blood to flow and the snake demon to writhe in pain on the ground.

Taking advantage of the situation, Big Tiger broke free from its restraints and pounced fearlessly, biting precisely into the wound.

It ripped off a large chunk of flesh.

The snake's head rose high, its mouth wide open, a faint red glow brewing within. Aimed at Big Tiger, the heat in the entire溶洞 (molten cave/cavern) intensified sharply.

Big Tiger's primal instinct sensed the danger. It let out a low growl and agilely darted to the side.

The next instant, a burst of flames spewed from the snake's mouth, causing the air in front of it to distort from the heat.

Seeing this, Lu Ye's eyes twitched. He knew this snake demon was much stronger than Big Tiger. It was fortunate that Big Tiger had drawn the aggro; otherwise, if that fiery breath had been aimed at him, he would have had to use a Golden Body Talisman to block it.

Big Tiger dodged in time, and the flames failed to injure it. Lu Ye seized the opportunity to strike the snake demon from behind, aiming a blow just below its head.

This strike also only severed most of the snake's body, the blade stopped by its spine. Having suffered two heavy losses at Lu Ye's hands, the large snake immediately turned its head towards Lu Ye, another red glow brewing in its mouth.

Lu Ye did not retreat. Instead, he thrust his saber into the snake's mouth, simultaneously falling backward.

As flames surged out, the long saber pierced through the snake's head, exiting from the back of its skull.

A snowy white figure pounced from the side, colliding with the snake's body and causing it to list sideways. The flames spewing from its mouth went off target, scorching the air.

Lu Ye, who had fallen, quickly scrambled up, pulling a spiritual talisman from his storage bag and gripping it. He eyed the side, maintaining vigilance.

However, he quickly put away the talisman, standing still and waiting.

His final strike had directly pierced the snake's head, a fatal wound. Although the large snake was writhing and rolling on the ground, it was clearly not going to survive. The long saber, lodged in its mouth, inflicted more damage with its movements. The ground was covered in splattered snake blood, which sizzled as it evaporated in the high heat.

Big Tiger also got up, shaking its body. Its snowy white fur was a mess, with large patches of scorched marks, making it look very disheveled.

From Big Tiger's initial attack until now, only a dozen or so breaths had passed. Victory and defeat were decided, life and death determined. Yet, in this extremely short time, their battle had been fraught with extreme danger.

To Lu Ye's surprise, his first collaboration with Big Tiger was perfect.

Especially at the end, when Lu Ye delivered that fatal blow and was already falling backward to avoid the incoming flames, Big Tiger's charge provided an even greater guarantee of Lu Ye's safety.

Lu Ye mused that if he had come alone to face such a snake demon, it would undoubtedly have been a hard fight, perhaps even requiring the use of several spiritual talismans.

But with Big Tiger's cooperation, they took it down in just a short moment.

He suddenly felt that his earlier agreement to Yi Yi's request was indeed not a bad thing.

"Well done," Lu Ye nodded to Big Tiger, not stinting on his praise.

Big Tiger let out a soft growl, a form of response. Although this fellow couldn't speak and wasn't particularly strong, after several interactions, Lu Ye found its intelligence to be remarkably high. It could understand human speech, which was excellent.

The large snake finally stopped moving. Lu Ye kicked it, confirming it was completely dead.

Looking at the long saber stuck in the snake's mouth, Lu Ye felt a bit troubled. The saber had been burned red by the snake's flames; picking it up now would likely result in scorched skin.

He could only wait a while.

While waiting, Lu Ye walked to the barrier-breaking fruit tree and carefully picked the two barrier-breaking fruits, placing them in his storage bag.

As for the fruit tree, Lu Ye decided not to touch it; it wouldn't survive if he took it.

Just as Lu Ye was about to retrieve his saber, his mind suddenly drifted, and something stirred within him.

This sensation reminded him of what he had experienced months ago…

He quickly said, "Amber, you go out first. I'll find you later."

Big Tiger let out a growl and patted the dead snake with its paw.

Lu Ye immediately understood: "I know, this is good stuff. How could I leave it behind?"

Only then did Big Tiger depart contentedly. Before leaving, it even picked up a piece of flesh it had torn from the large snake earlier.

Once Big Tiger's figure disappeared, Lu Ye looked at the barrier-breaking fruit tree again.

That stirring sensation returned.

He quickly focused his mind. To his surprise, this time the silhouette of the Talent Tree didn't appear in his vision. Instead, there was something unusual in his Prime Spirit Aperture.

He quickly closed his eyes, sensing carefully.

Vaguely, he seemed to see a phantom image of a large tree, precisely the Talent Tree, appearing in his Prime Spirit Aperture.

The roots of the Talent Tree extended into tendrils, just like what happened months ago in the Evil Moon Valley mine.

Those tendrils burrowed into an unknown place, and the next moment, a fiery red power was drawn out along the tendrils.

As the fiery red power surged in, he clearly saw a leaf on the Talent Tree begin to glow with fire, then burst into intense flames.

Then came the second leaf…

By the third leaf, it merely glowed but did not ignite.

The tendrils slowly disappeared, and Lu Ye opened his eyes, realizing his hand had unknowingly covered the barrier-breaking fruit tree.

The fruit tree had completely withered, and the intensely hot molten cave had completely changed, with no trace of heat remaining.

Lu Ye fell into contemplation.

He recalled the first time the Talent Tree changed. At that time, he was examining Steward Yang's belongings and found an unknown ore. The Talent Tree then sprouted tendrils that burrowed into the ore, causing it to crack open and reveal a cluster of orange-yellow flames inside.

After the Talent Tree absorbed the power of those flames, a leaf that bore the Sharpness Spiritual Mark burst into flames.

This time was even more extraordinary. The Talent Tree had absorbed some power, causing two leaves on its trunk to burn, and a third leaf showed clear changes.

It seemed his long-held suspicion was correct: the Talent Tree needed to absorb some fiery or scorching power to undergo changes. The recent experience undoubtedly proved this point.

The underground of this molten cave undoubtedly contained the energy the Talent Tree needed. After the Talent Tree absorbed it, the place was no longer hot.

And with the barrier-breaking fruit tree's living environment destroyed, the fruit tree naturally died. In fact, the fruit tree itself might have contained some scorching power that was completely extracted by the Talent Tree, so how could it have continued to live?