Anthony gasped in horror. This was nothing like the carnivorous hawthorn in the ghost island where he was once kidnapped. This one was more dangerous and terrifying. The worst part of it was that Anthony could feel spiritual energy swirling around the vine. And the spiritual energy wasn't just any conventional type of spiritual energy, it was the dark aura, the source of all evil. The dark energy was born from chaos, resentment and blood. It was forged by collecting negative energies to form a different kind of power.

However, that was still not the most terrifying aspect. The dark aura was so powerful and waxed strong. The vine had cultivated to the point of near immortality, and was at the verge of gaining sentience. It would soon gain a physical body if it swallowed a few more powerful existences, preferably cultivators. It was stealthily creeping towards Anthony when it felt his abundant spiritual energy, despite the presence of the seal. However, the unfortunate monkey got in its way and was eaten first.

"The birth of a demon. This carnivorous plant has absorbed resentful energy, connecting it to the ghost realm. Once it absorbs a few more living beings with abundant spiritual energy, it would be able to gain a corporeal body or shell resembling a human. But it would be filled with a terrifying aura of darkness. One of the plants here took advantage of the spiritual energy. But instead of cultivating immortality like a proper spiritual being, it chose the dark path of gathering resentful energy and feeding its bloodlust. This might be as a result of its innate nature as a cannibalistic entity. This thing must never complete its rebirth process. Otherwise it will be fatal. With every being it kills, it becomes more powerful, which will birth an obsession. It will continue killing, wiping out communities, the entire first heaven may not be too difficult for it. There could be masters powerful enough to subdue it, but it's better not to take any chances. Nature is truly terrifying, it doesn't give birth to only good things." Anthony whispered, retracing his steps.

The strange vine plant finished with the monkey at that moment and turned to him. Anthony felt as if he saw the semblance of a blood-red pair of eyes, terrifying him.

"What? It's already growing body parts. In a few days or weeks, it would be able to complete the revolution and develop a complete shell. When that happens, it will devour everything here before going on to the next target. I must not allow it to achieve that." He muttered and quickly punched out at the vine once he was a safe distance away.

To his greatest surprise, the vine engulfed his attack and changed it to one filled with the aura of darkness. As Anthony was still staring wide eyed at the strange phenomenon, the thick black ball of smoke composed of resentful energy was thrown back at him.

There was no time to think, so he quickly dived to the side, avoiding the vicious attack from the demonic vine. Just as he rolled the side, the attack landed on a tree behind his original position. Anthony groaned in pain. When he rolled on the ground to avoid the attack, the basket he was carrying on his back had dug into his ribs, causing him a substantial amount of pain.

He turned to look at his previous position and his eyes went wide with horror. As for his mouth they were wide open, such that flies would have had a field day if there was any around. The tree that blocked the attack for him had totally wilted. The shrubs, grasses and bushes around it were not spared either. Even worse was the fact that the black smoke was quickly spreading, killing more life forms. Small rodents like squirrels were forced out of their holes in the ground, setting them off on a race which could be deemed the survival of no one, for no matter how much they ran, they never did manage to outrun the dark smoke. Without exception, they were all engulfed.

Before Anthony's eyes, the rodents were all transfixed in the posture they had when the dark smoke caught up with them. As he was still watching, the rodents dried up and became skeletons, then ashes.

"Oh my goodness. The aura of darkness it produces is not just destructive, it is extremely poisonous and toxic. This thing must absolutely not be allowed to completely transform. Otherwise, another 'devour the world' evil technique might happen once again. But how do I destroy it? I'm currently no match for it. What should I do? Eish! Damn it! At this rate the dark smoke will corrode the entire forest in no time. How many precious herbs will be lost? What about other life forms? Even worse is the fact that it gets stronger with every thing it devours. And I inadvertently enabled him to discover this ability. By now, it knows it's not only sentient beings and animals that can boost its energy. It will begin to devour plants too. The old man will soon find out. Should I call him for help?"

Anthony forced himself to stand again, and looked at the devastation.

"No. The old man would not be able to do much. We have the same fighting method depending on physiques. And this thing just returned my attack creating this devastation. Assuming it reflected the old man's attack, the destruction caused would be even bigger than this. Besides, his techniques are useless against poison. I might be able to do something with my spiritual energy, but it's currently sealed."

The rate of destruction suddenly accelerated because the vine was getting stronger from swallowing the vitality of the things around it.

"Anti poison."

An idea suddenly occurred to Anthony and he tossed out a lotus-lily. At once, the black smoke surrounding the area where the lotus-lily fell began to recede as if it just met its nemesis.

A bright smile formed on his face and he sighed in relief.

"Sure enough, it's effective. The lotus-lily is born from the purest of sacred light energy, and light is the perfect antagonist of darkness. Not just that, it also has detoxification properties. However, it's not a permanent situation. The most it can do is contain it for a while before it breaks out. It doesn't matter, I will just contain it before it goes out of control. And I can then think about how to destroy it."

A thousand thoughts went through his mind in that minute, and he quickly made a decision. There was no time to think. The black smoke was gathering momentum, and the amount of things being corroded was multiplying.

Anthony quickly summoned a basketful of the lotus-lily which he stored in an artificial pond located inside his storage ring. He had used a special kind of wood beside the original sacred lotus-lily pond to create a bathtub, poured water from the pond into it and stored it in his storage ring alongside the sacred lotus-lilies. He dashed off in and swirled around in a fast arc, rushing around the edges of the perimeter affected by the dark smoke.

As he ran, he tossed the lotus-lily around in an arc, stopping the advance of the black smoke. He continued until the entire perimeter was covered with the lotus-lily, circling the vine and cutting off all routes for advancement.

As if it was not enough, Anthony gathered spiritual energy and called out the tub of sacred water and poured half of it on the ground, making the black smoke which crept into the ground to quickly recede into the vine. An even bolder idea occurred to Anthony and he lowered the tub beside him. He grabbed a bowl from his storage ring and began to splash water around the vine to chase back the dark aura.

The vine began to swish around dangerously, expressing its displeasure. Anthony immediately poured the remaining water on the vine, called back the tub into his ring and immediately ran away at top speed.

The vine screeched, the sound was eerie and bone chilling, reminding Anthony of the resentful ghosts he encountered in the perilous lands. He chuckled and patted the dust away from his hands. But in the next second, the smile froze on his face, making his exposed teeth resemble that of a goat being roasted.

The vine which he thought he vanquished was swirling around dangerously, and it had assumed the posture of a viper ready to strike while pointing towards Anthony. Black smoke was emerging from its body, and it was doing everything to reach Anthony, going to the extent of braving the sacred water.

"Damn it. That didn't go too well."

Anthony immediately turned around without hesitation, knowing not to pick an impossible battle. He needed to stay alive to fight another day, and also save the living entities in the forest.

He ran without looking back, knowing that the vine would come for him once it broke past the barrier created by the lotus-lilies he threw out. He jumped over a patch of herb and turned to see if the thing was still chasing him. The ground beneath him shook and rumbled at that moment, distracting him for a split second. Before he could check what happened, the ground opened up and swallowed him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.