The Cannibal Vines of the Ghost Temple were naturally under Jiang Chen’s complete control.
They would never harm him, the Master of Ghosts. In fact, the Cannibal Vines were terrified of him.
It was as if an invisible pressure emanated from him, striking fear into the Cannibal Vines.
Such were the benefits of being the Master of Ghosts—everything in the Ghost Temple was his to command.
’With so many Cannibal Vines, if I make them devour each other, they should be able to evolve.’
This was Jiang Chen’s goal.
Although these Cannibal Vines lacked a Mother, Jiang Chen had his Spirit Art. His goal was to create one.
The idea was somewhat insane.
But it was achievable, thanks to his miraculous Spirit Art.
With this in mind, Jiang Chen stood amidst the world of Cannibal Vines and suddenly commanded, "Begin. Devour each other and evolve."
"I need a ruler to emerge."
The moment Jiang Chen finished speaking, all the Cannibal Vines on the fifth level began to writhe madly.
Jiang Chen then stood amidst the Cannibal Vines and witnessed a horrific, brutal war.
SQUELCH!
One by one, the Cannibal Vines began to devour their companions.
They consumed each other.
The Cannibal Vines that survived the mutual slaughter were noticeably stronger than before.
The devouring continued unabated.
The slaughter was exceptionally brutal.
Jiang Chen remained, observing the Cannibal Vines’ evolutionary slaughter.
Over the course of several days, Jiang Chen watched the number of Cannibal Vines plummet.
But those that remained grew increasingly powerful.
The tendrils of each Cannibal Vine had grown as thick as pillars.
After another day passed, the Cannibal Vines’ war finally began to subside.
By now, only ten Cannibal Vines remained.
But each one was a terrifying sight, stretching over a hundred meters in length.
New tendrils constantly sprouted from their main bodies.
These survivors even seemed to be gradually gaining sentience.
"Continue."
Jiang Chen issued his command again, without a moment’s hesitation.
The ten remaining Cannibal Vines launched into a final, desperate battle.
They devoured one another until, at last, only a single Cannibal Vine remained.
Looking over, Jiang Chen noticed that the final Cannibal Vine had actually grown a head.
That head had the face of an old woman with grayish-white hair.
It was just a head, lacking even an upper torso—a truly bizarre sight.
Below the head were nothing but writhing tendrils.
"Mas... ter..."
The woman’s head looked at Jiang Chen with a hint of fear, its voice a low whisper.
It knew Jiang Chen was its master.
Jiang Chen was stunned.
Through mutual consumption, all the Cannibal Vines on the fifth level had been reduced to this single Mother of the Man-eating Vine, which had just grown a head.
This was not a complete Mother of the Man-eating Vine.
There was still a massive gap between it and the one outside, which possessed a full upper body.
Escaping the domain of the Mother of the Man-eating Vine outside was going to be difficult.
But now, an opportunity lay before him: to have his own Mother of the Man-eating Vine evolve and surpass the one outside.
Then he could fight his way out. At that point, the other Mother of the Man-eating Vine would be powerless to stop him.
With this in mind, Jiang Chen nodded and said to the new Mother of the Man-eating Vine, "I will now impart to you a Divine Technique. I need you to evolve as quickly as possible."
The Mother of the Man-eating Vine nodded, not daring to refuse.
Jiang Chen then imparted his Spirit Art to the Mother of the Man-eating Vine.
Having just received the Spirit Art, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine seemed a bit stunned.
After circulating the art for a moment, it was overjoyed.
"Thank you, Master, for your gift."
Jiang Chen urged the Mother of the Man-eating Vine to quickly cultivate the Spirit Art.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen used his own Spirit Art to aid it.
As they both channeled the Spirit Art, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine truly began to evolve once more.
And its evolution was anything but slow.
Gradually, the upper body of the Mother of the Man-eating Vine began to change.
First, it grew a neck.
Perhaps because this was its first time receiving the Spirit Art, its evolutionary speed was astonishing.
Eventually, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine evolved to resemble the one outside.
Though their faces were different, both had an ancient, wizened look.
However, Jiang Chen could sense that his own Mother of the Man-eating Vine was no weaker in terms of presence.
It was even more agile.
Once it achieved this form, its evolutionary pace clearly began to slow.
It seemed to have reached the limit of its evolution in this place.
"Alright, that’s enough."
"Come with me and we’ll fight our way out. If you devour the Mother of the Man-eating Vine outside, you should be able to evolve further."
Jiang Chen finally set his sights on the Mother of the Man-eating Vine outside.
The creature outside wanted to kill him, and now, Jiang Chen was just as eager to kill it and let his own creation evolve.
This was a game between hunter and prey.
As for who would win, Jiang Chen did not yet know.
But he had faith in his creation, because even outside, he could still use his Spirit Art to aid his Mother of the Man-eating Vine.
SWOOSH!
Now fully evolved, tentacles constantly sprouted from the Mother of the Man-eating Vine’s body.
In a short time, its tentacles completely enveloped the fifth level, sealing it off so tightly that nothing could pass through.
Afterward, the Mother of the Man-eating Vine suddenly changed shape, turning into a monster resembling an octopus, and flew onto Jiang Chen’s shoulder.
It shrank to the size of his palm.
So it could change its size.
Jiang Chen glanced at the Mother of the Man-eating Vine and said, "I’ll give you a name. From now on, you will be called Teng."
Teng was overjoyed.
"Thank you for the name, Master."
Jiang Chen didn’t linger. He checked on his parents, who were on the sixth level of the Ghost Temple, struggling up the gravity stairs.
Their Cultivation was incredibly diligent.
He did not disturb his parents.
He left the Dragon-locking Realm.
SWOOSH!
In the rocky space of the original Mother of the Man-eating Vine, a figure flashed into existence.
The Mother of the Man-eating Vine’s eyes shot wide in surprise.
"Well, well. It’s you, boy."
"I knew it. You must have just turned invisible."
"Now, just hand over your Divine Techniques."
Seeing him reappear, she was certain that he had been unable to escape her rocky domain.
She grew excited. Today, she would definitely obtain his Divine Techniques.
However, her excitement was met with a cold snort from Jiang Chen.
"You’ll have to ask Teng if it agrees first."
With that, Jiang Chen snatched the palm-sized Teng from his shoulder and flung it at the Mother of the Man-eating Vine.
SWOOSH!
Sensing the other Mother of the Man-eating Vine, Teng tensed as if facing a mortal enemy. But it was also filled with a crazed frenzy as it lunged forward.
The Mother of the Man-eating Vine stared, wide-eyed, as another Mother of the Man-eating Vine appeared out of thin air before her, rapidly growing in size.
"AH...!"
She cried out in alarm.
Sensing Teng’s aura, she let out a shriek, which was immediately followed by an enraged roar.
"Damn it, where did this invader come from?"