Chapter 481: The Monarch Piranha Flower Makes a Move

It was not only Lan who was surprised upon hearing Xue Wei's words, but his friends were also shocked.

Xue Wei knew that Lan was originally treating him as a tool, but he still trusted him enough to consider him part of their group?

Upon thinking about it a bit more, they understood his reasons. Lan was a Deity, and if he truly wanted to treat Xue Wei as a tool, then he had no reason to open up to him.

The friends Xue Wei had did not possess a low intelligence, and after considering it for some time they understood that he was actually sincere to Xue Wei now.

Their displeasure reduced by more than half due to this, and while they still held a bit of a bad impression, they were much more polite and friendly, even their expressions turned softer.

Lan smiled mirthfully, his eyes glistening with amusement. He understood that they were able to see that he was no longer as arrogant as before, and thus they accepted him. Being accepted was a surprisingly good feeling.

The group was suddenly lighthearted as they continued their journey, but they had not come far before Xue Wei's heart began aching. His face went pale in an instant, and he stopped in his tracks.

It had been months since the Monarch Piranha Flower had edged itself into his heart, and during all this time, it had been well-behaved and silent, but now it seemed as if it had gathered enough strength to try and take over it's host body once more.

Feeling the immense pain that wreaked havoc in his body, Xue Wei gritted his teeth, and he slowly began feeling how sweat was beading on his forehead.

His friends also stopped in their tracks and turned around to see the sweating and pale Xue Wei, who was grasping his chest with his hand.

Everyone frowned and hurried back to his side, they were worried about him but dared not touch him out of fear of making it worse.

"Everyone back off!" Lan said, his voice was solemn and his eyes observed every change that happened to Xue Wei.

The vines of the Monarch Piranha Flower suddenly erupted from the ground and wrapped Xue Wei within them, taking the shape of a wooden cocoon.

His friends took out their weapons and wanted to cut open the cocoon, only to be stopped by Lan.

"He has to overcome this tribulation on his own," he said seriously, his eyes shining with wisdom. "This is a battle between himself and the Monarch Piranha Flower, and he will encounter them more frequently. He was lucky that the flower did not decide to attack during, or right after a battle."

The others nodded their heads and observed Xue Wei worriedly. They knew that the Monarch Piranha Flower was not to be belittled, and that it was a ruthless and cruel flower that consumed the essence blood of cultivators to grow.

Being embedded inside Xue Wei's heart, it was able to slowly consume some of his essence blood, but it also knew that it could not consume too much, as that would end up killing itself instead by proxy.

However, the essence blood of Xue Wei was so rich, that even after being seriously injured in the last attack, it only needed several months to recuperate.

Inside the wooden cocoon, Xue Wei slowly closed his eyes and put his focus into his body.

When he looked at his heart, his eyes grew cold, and he was furious. The heart was encapsulated in vines, they had fully taken over the entire heart area, and he could feel the powerful fluctuations of energy coming from within. The Monarch Piranha Flower was stronger than it was the previous time it had been encountered.

Xue Wei guided the wood and fire elemental Qi in his system, and began a slow siege on the Monarch Piranha Flower, which had barricaded itself inside his heart.

Wave after wave of green and red energy rolled towards his heart, but Xue Wei had to be careful. He could not use too much power, as it would cause his heart to also be injured, but he could not use too little either, as it would not be enough to get through the barrier made by the Monarch Piranha Flower.

Xue Wei was not unconscious this time compared to the previous attack. He was slowly entwining the energies together. The Azure Dragons and the Vermilion Birds that the Qi was made from were entwined, and their beast-like shapes slowly vanished. Instead, they took on the form of needles, which barraged the Monarch Piranha Flower's vines.

Xue Wei had an exceedingly strong control over his Qi, and he could manipulate it as he wished. Previously, when the energy of the two elements had battled it out with the Monarch Piranha Flower, it had been entirely devoid of a commander. Although it was powerful, it was not being used smartly, but now that Xue Wei was awake, he was able to grasp the weak point of the Monarch Piranha Flower swiftly, and return the agony that he had experienced.

The Monarch Piranha Flower was unable to withstand the thousands of small needle-like energy bursts that Xue Wei had used. It slowly withdrew back into the heart, the vines that had previously encapsulated the whole heart also retreating.

Xue Wei felt weak all over. His heart had a dull ache from the battle, but he could also feel a strange exhaustion in his mind. Controlling Qi like this required an exceeding amount of spiritual energy to shape it into small needles, and then command thousands of those needles at once.