Chapter 592 - Chapter 592: Chapter 592: Guarding the Devil Vine

Chapter 592: Chapter 592: Guarding the Devil Vine

Song Jian felt a bout of dizziness, and upon recovering, he found himself standing on a stone platform;

“Phew~” He took a deep breath, rubbing his brows. “No matter how many times I experience this, I can never get used to it. It’s simply too uncomfortable.”

“Song Jian, this place is so beautiful!” exclaimed Anna, her bright eyes radiating surprise as she surveyed their surroundings.

From their perch on the stone platform, wilderness teeming with lush plants spread before them, and flowers of all colors vied for attention. A sweet scent permeated the air.

Song Jian looked up, the sky above seeming as clear as a flawless sapphire, the brilliant sunlight warming everything beneath it.

“Didn’t we infer this place to be dangerous? It seems more like a tourist spot to me.” murmured Song Jian. No place, be it this apocalyptic world or the real one, could compare to the beauty before his eyes.

“Anna, can you sense the location of the item we seek?” Song Jian asked.

“No.” Anna shook her head. “I know it’s in the Mysterious Garden, but I have no idea where exactly.”

“We might as well look for it while exploring then.” Song Jian shrugged and suggested, “Since this place used to be a lab, we should find that first. Maybe there are some clues.”

Anna nodded in agreement, and the two descended the stone platform via the stairs.

Just as they stepped off the platform, Song Jian suddenly felt a strong threat approaching him.

Almost instinctively, Song Jian summoned the Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword, held defensively in front of his chest, performing the “Sacred Parry” skill.

The moment he completed the skill, a purple-black vine as thick as an arm suddenly sprung from the ground. Like a sharp spear, it aimed straight for his chest.

Clang~

Feeling a great force through his sword, Song Jian involuntarily stepped back.

Gold light flashed and the purple-black vine that sprung out suddenly split, foul smelling liquid sprayed out from the wound, filling the air with a pungent smell.

Song Jian’s face darkened. The intensity of that strike was not weaker than that of a full-force strike from a level 30 elite boss. If he had not leveled the “Holy Sword” skill during his times with the Blackhoof Tribe and gained many attribute points, this strike, even with his “Sacred Parry,” would have left him in disarray rather than as composed as he was now.

“Anna, you best stay on the platform!” Song Jian said in a low voice.

He suspected that the platform might be the only safe zone in the area, given they were attacked the moment they stepped off it.

As Song Jian was on high alert, the ground suddenly began to rumble.

With a sloshing sound, dozens of purple-black vines rose from the ground, twisting and coiling into a creature resembling a python in mid-air;

“Guarding Devil Vine, Level 30, Vitality Points: 3500/3500”

“A level 30 regular monster!” Song Jian readied himself as the Guarding Devil Vine paused in mid-air, before launching itself towards him.

In mid-air, the Guarding Devil Vine shot several purple-black vines from its surface, striking at Song Jian like long whips.

The silhouette of Song Jian flickered as he swung his sword at the incoming vines;

Clang, clang, clang~

His Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword clashed against the vines, creating a sound reminiscent of metal on metal. Remarkably, these vines were as hard as steel.

Sword Silks!

In an instant, three strands of fine Sword Qi appeared around Song Jian’s body. The three strands of Sword Qi traced an arc in the air as they each wrapped around a vine. Once they tightened mercilessly, they issued a series of sounds like cracking and three purple-black vines as thick as a man’s arm dropped to the ground. After twitching like a snake twice, they grew still.

Smack~

A vine coiled around to Song Jian’s back and hit him hard, causing him to stumble forward. Song Jian’s heads-up display showed a damage of over a hundred points from the hit.

Song Jian swung his sword backhand, unleashing a golden Invisible Sword Qi. His Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword now looked as if it was coated with a layer of gold, bursting with dazzling brilliance.

Whoosh~

This time, the Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword cut through the vine like a hot knife through butter, unopposed by any resistance.

Song Jian was taken aback. Had his Invisible Sword Qi become so powerful after his promotion?

Inspecting the battle log, Song Jian understood. His last strike had activated the “Indestructible” effect.

“It seems that adding Invisible Sword Qi makes it easier to trigger this effect,” Song Jian speculated.

However, now his maximum Invisible Sword Qi was only a hundred points and most of his sword techniques consumed it, so maintaining it all the time was impossible.

While fending off the vines’ assault, Song Jian moved closer to the Devil Vine’s main body, even if it meant taking a few hits along the way.

He realized that severing the tentacle-like vines inflicted only minimal damage on the vine. To defeat it, he had to damage its main body.

Swish~

A ray of white light poured down on Song Jian. His Vitality Points, which had dropped by a third, were fully restored. With Anna at his back, Song Jian boldly rushed to the front of the Devil Vine’s main body.

The main body of the vine was formed from dozens of vine stems as thick as arms. Transformed and entwined in the air, it resembled a ferocious python.

Broken Wing Dance!

His long sword darted up and down, leaving multiple scars on the Devil Vine’s main body. The tentacle-like vines kept shooting out at Song Jian, but he was fearless. He was willing to take a damage exchange, to risk his life in this fight.

In the heat of the battle, the “Indestructible” effect was triggered occasionally. Soon, cut vines were scattered all around him.

Although severing the vines caused minimal damage to the Vine’s main body, the Vine’s sole means of attack was through these vines. After losing a significant number of tendrils, the Vine’s damage to Song Jian decreased drastically. Finally, after triggering the “Indestructible” effect once more, Song Jian slashed through the Vine.

A look of joy crossed Song Jian’s face as he observed the vine pieces scattered all around.

Not counting the enhanced Invisible Sword Qi he had gained after his promotion, just the activation of the Indestructible effect of the “Holy Sword” delighted Song Jian. No matter how infrequent the effect was triggered in a battle, it was enough to make a decisive impact.

“Song Jian, are you okay?” After the battle ended, Anna came down from the stone stage to ask.

“I’m fine. With you here, how could I be in danger?” Song Jian replied with a smile, picking up the blue equipment dropped by the Devil Vine.

“Robe of the Vine Guardian, cloth armor, quality: blue, equipment effect: physical defense +7, spell resistance +5, Intelligence +3, Spirit +2, special effect 1: improves all spell damage and healing effect, up to a maximum of 10%; special effect 2: recover 600-800 mana points immediately upon use, with a cooldown of 5 minutes; item level: 32, required level for use: 28.”

“Anna, this equipment is for you,” Song Jian handed the blue-quality item over to Anna.

…