Jiang Chen dove straight into the mass of Cannibal Vines.
He chose to enter the vines because he was confident he could survive inside them.
He was betting that Tang Yuan’s men wouldn’t dare follow him in.
However, once he was inside, he found himself surrounded by a dense thicket of Cannibal Vines.
His presence seemed to jolt them from a deep slumber.
POP... POP... POP...
The Cannibal Vines began to squirm, one after another.
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, they instantly swarmed and surrounded Jiang Chen.
All the vines rushed toward Jiang Chen, and in the blink of an eye, they had completely cocooned him inside a sphere.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The tendrils of the Cannibal Vines shot out, aiming to pierce straight through Jiang Chen’s body.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen hastily unleashed his Spirit Art.
Spirit Art was one of the Divine Techniques he had been extremely proficient with in his past life.
It allowed him to communicate with plants and even accelerate their evolution.
In his past life, it had been incredibly useful for cultivating things like Spirit Grass.
In this life, he hadn’t had the means to cultivate Spirit Grass, so he had rarely used his Spirit Art, save for a few times when he was injured.
Now, he was using his Spirit Art once more.
As he channeled the Spirit Art, it immediately released a peculiar aura that enveloped the surrounding Cannibal Vines.
He attempted to communicate with them through his art.
The moment he unleashed the art, the Cannibal Vines reacted.
They seemed to know that his Spirit Art could help them evolve.
They immediately ceased their attack.
Each tendril was incredibly tough and pliable, so much so that not even a Magical Treasure could sever it.
But now, they had stopped.
Knowing it was working, Jiang Chen poured all his energy into his Spirit Art, trying to control the vines and make them release him.
He knew Tang Yuan’s men wouldn’t have left yet, and he wasn’t foolish enough to walk right back out.
However, something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, the Cannibal Vines began to move.
The sphere of vines cocooning Jiang Chen suddenly started moving at high speed, rushing toward some unknown destination.
Jiang Chen was astonished.
’What’s happening?’
’These Cannibal Vines seem almost sentient. Where are they taking me?’
He felt that these Cannibal Vines were somehow different from the ones inside his Ghost Temple.
They seemed more numerous, and far more powerful.
After some time, Jiang Chen felt the vines come to a halt.
He had kept his Spirit Art active the entire time.
Now, the Vine Wood slowly began to unfurl.
Although they were still eagerly drawing on his Spirit Art to evolve, they were no longer constricting him.
Once the vines had fully retracted, Jiang Chen found himself sitting in a massive stone cavern.
The space was vast and empty.
In the next instant, his pupils contracted violently.
He saw an old woman with a full head of silver hair sitting cross-legged in the center of the cavern.
The old woman’s eyes were filled with a desperate craving as she stared intently at him.
A shiver ran down Jiang Chen’s spine.
Frightened, he scrambled to his feet, ready to flee.
But he quickly realized there was no way out.
The most bizarre thing, however, was her lower body. It was a dense, writhing mass of vines.
She had no legs at all; the Cannibal Vines served as her lower half.
"The Mother of the Man-eating Vine?"
Jiang Chen froze, staring at the old woman as he let out a shocked gasp.
That’s right. The moment he saw her, Jiang Chen understood everything.
This old woman wasn’t human. She was the Mother of the Man-eating Vine.
In other words, all the Cannibal Vines in Cannibal Valley were merely extensions of this old woman—her avatars.
The old woman’s gaze burned as she looked at Jiang Chen.
"Boy, what was that you just unleashed?"
She wasn’t interested in Jiang Chen himself, but in the Spirit Art he had just used.
Jiang Chen understood her meaning perfectly. She was after his Spirit Art, which could cause any plant to evolve.
Even she, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine, could evolve through his Spirit Art.
But Jiang Chen remained wary of her.
"A Divine Technique," he said, not daring to move any closer to the Mother of the Man-eating Vine.
"Excellent. I like this Divine Technique of yours. Hand it over to me at once."
"Do so, and I will let you live."
Although she hadn’t revealed her cultivation level, Jiang Chen knew that a being like the Mother of the Man-eating Vine had to possess a Martial Emperor Cultivation at the very least.
She was terrifyingly powerful.
Especially with so many Cannibal Vines under her command; even someone like Xiaotian would find it nearly impossible to escape.
The true terror of the Cannibal Vines was that as long as their Mother was alive, she could create a never-ending supply of them.
And now, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine coveted his Spirit Art.
She clearly knew what a tremendous boost it would give to her evolution.
If she obtained it, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine could evolve endlessly, eventually becoming the most fearsome Ancestor of Man-eating Vines.
Jiang Chen was silent for a moment.
He shook his head. "I will give you the Spirit Art, but only if you acknowledge me as your master."
In that instant, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine flew into a furious rage.
"Insolent whelp! You don’t know what’s good for you."
"You dare bargain with me? You’re courting death!"
"In that case, I’ll just suck you dry today! Once I’ve drained you, I’ll obtain your Divine Technique all the same."
With that, the entire cavern erupted. Countless Cannibal Vines filled the air, whipping about in a demonic frenzy.
They all lashed out toward Jiang Chen.
’Now that the Mother of the Man-eating Vine is involved,’ Jiang Chen thought, ’my Spirit Art is useless. No matter how powerful it is, it won’t work if she’s determined to kill me.’
At that critical moment, with but a hair’s breadth to spare, Jiang Chen’s body flickered and vanished from the cavern.
"Hm?"
The Mother of the Man-eating Vine was utterly stunned.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
’He escaped?’
She found it impossible to believe. Under her encirclement, not even a Martial Emperor Expert should have been able to escape.
Yet now, this boy with a mere Martial Arts Cultivation had vanished into thin air.
She was left completely dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen had appeared inside the Dragon-locking Realm.
He was no match for the Mother of the Man-eating Vine, but escaping was still within his power.
Inside the Dragon-locking Realm, Jiang Chen took a moment to observe his family. The Jiang Family had already established a firm foundation here.
The Demon Beasts from Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain were also living in harmony with them.
With a Primordial Vein, his Dragon-locking Realm was no different from a normal world, aside from its lack of plant life.
Primordial Qi was plentiful, so Cultivation was not an issue.
Jiang Chen, however, did not linger.
He headed straight for the Ghost Temple.
If he were to leave now, he would just reappear in the Mother’s cavern, with no hope of escape.
So, he needed to come up with a plan.
Inside the Ghost Temple, Jiang Chen devoured the newly spawned Ghosts and Corpse Heart Insects.
He went directly to the fifth level—the world of the Cannibal Vines.
There were Cannibal Vines in the outside world, and there were Cannibal Vines in his Ghost Temple as well.
Gazing at the vines, Jiang Chen casually strolled into their midst.
He sensed the Cannibal Vines, but he couldn’t detect the presence of a Mother.
The Cannibal Vines here were clearly of a lower grade than the ones outside.
Jiang Chen weaved his way through the world of dancing vines. There were a great many of them here.
But they were all separate individuals.
Suddenly, an idea sparked in Jiang Chen’s mind.
A brilliant idea.