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"What?" Sword Elder subconsciously looked into the distance, and his expression immediately changed.

In the distance was a massive, deep pit, dozens of zhang wide and seemingly bottomless.

Sword Elder and Li Tiannan had long shared a question.

’Where did the Dark Ghost Vine come from?’

And now, upon seeing the massive pit, they understood.

It was just as they had suspected.

This Underground Swamp was not the Dark Ghost Vine’s territory. The evolved specimen before them also did not belong to Restricted Zone No. 317.

However, Li Tiannan and Sword Elder had never imagined that a pit this enormous could exist within Restricted Zone No. 317!

Before, this area had been a swamp, so naturally, no one knew what lay hidden beneath it. But because of Gao Neng, all the mud from the swamp had been extracted.

The deep pit was thus exposed for all to see.

The Dark Ghost Vine had crawled out of that pit!

So, this pit...

...where did it lead?!

Li Tiannan and Sword Elder exchanged a look as countless thoughts flashed through their minds. With every new possibility, their expressions grew more grim.

"Not good! The Dark Ghost Vine is about to rush in!"

"It’s heading for the pit!"

"..."

A series of shouts erupted.

Prompted by Li Tiannan and Sword Elder, the other Dragon List Geniuses and members of the adventure teams on the ground now also spotted the massive pit in the distance.

It was just that the battle had been too intense before.

Everyone’s attention had been focused on the Dark Ghost Vine, and since the Underground City was shrouded in darkness to begin with, no one had noticed the pit’s existence.

But now, everyone saw it.

"Trying to run? Where do you think you’re going?!" Although Li Tiannan was completely drained, he charged forward without hesitation the moment he saw the Dark Ghost Vine trying to flee.

"Vile creature, don’t you dare run!" Sword Elder charged forward as well.

The two figures moved like lightning.

However, the injured Dark Ghost Vine was also incredibly fast.

Furthermore, withered vines recklessly threw themselves at Sword Elder and Li Tiannan, and for a short moment, they actually failed to intercept the Dark Ghost Vine.

If you had to say who was closest to the Dark Ghost Vine right now...

...it would undoubtedly be Gao Neng and Shen Ning’Er.

After all, the two of them had just been engaged in close-quarters combat with it.

But in his heart, Gao Neng didn’t really want to stop it.

’As the saying goes, even a cornered beast will lash out in desperation.’

’This Dark Ghost Vine might be severely injured, but it’s still not something I can handle. Most importantly, the Flying Earth Dragon I manifested has already been destroyed.’

’Am I supposed to block it with my own body?’

Just as he was thinking this, he felt something wrap around his leg. A powerful force then yanked him forward.

"What is this?!" Gao Neng raised his blade and slashed down.

The blade struck.

It felt like he had struck solid metal.

’It’s too tough.’

Of course, by now, he knew what had entangled his leg.

It was a vine, only as thick as an arm.

’A vine this small?’

’It belongs to the Dark Ghost Vine?!’

Gao Neng looked over and saw that the vine was indeed connected to the Dark Ghost Vine. This shocked him, not because this vine was different from the others.

’But because... this Dark Ghost Vine... still wouldn’t let him go, even at a time like this?’

’What kind of grudge is this?!’

’So I killed a few of your little spawn and stabbed you a couple of times?’

’Is that really worth fighting to the death over?’

"Master, help me!" The moment Gao Neng’s blade failed to cut through the vine, he knew it was special. So, without any hesitation, he used his "ultimate technique."

This was his true ultimate secret technique.

Nothing, not even Triple Slash, could compare to it.

"Vile creature, release my apprentice!" Sure enough, Gao Neng’s shout drew Li Tiannan’s attention. At the same time, he drew a long black blade made of a material almost identical to the one in Gao Neng’s hand.

BOOM!

One slash descended.

The vine was split in two.

But almost immediately, another vine wrapped around Gao Neng’s waist.

The Dark Ghost Vine was absolutely fixated on Gao Neng.

It wouldn’t let him go, even in death.

However, Sword Elder’s sword arrived as well.

SWISH!

A flash of sword light.

The vine around Gao Neng’s waist was severed once again.

"Vile creature, you still dare to act so viciously?!" Sword Elder’s gaze was sharp. He then flew up, transformed into a gigantic sword, and plunged straight into the Dark Ghost Vine’s body.

"SKREEE!!!"

The Dark Ghost Vine shrieked wildly again.

Then, its head tilted back once more.

It looked as if it was roaring in fury.

Of course, that wasn’t the important part.

The important part was that as it roared, a white light suddenly shot out from its ’mouth,’ landing on the ground like a bolt of lightning.

It was a silvery-white cat.

Its fur was as bright as silk.

Its two deep blue eyes emitted a faint glow.

It was an absolutely bizarre and incredible scene.

A cat had just emerged from the Dark Ghost Vine’s ’mouth’? What did this mean? It meant that this cat had once been swallowed whole by the Dark Ghost Vine.

And yet, after all this time...

...the cat hadn’t died?

Not only had it not died...

...it had even burst out from inside the Dark Ghost Vine’s body.

Everyone was stunned.

Most importantly, the cat looked extremely familiar. A good number of them actually recognized it.

"It’s Gao Neng’s cat!"

"..."

"Gao Xiaomeng?!" Fang Tangtang also got a clear look at the silver cat. She had been searching for Gao Xiaomeng this whole time, never imagining that she had been eaten by the Dark Ghost Vine.

’What happened?’

It wasn’t just her...

Gao Neng was also stunned by the scene unfolding before him.

’Gao Xiaomeng was eaten?’

’And then she just popped out of the Dark Ghost Vine’s mouth?’

’What kind of insane move was that?!’

Before he had time to think, he saw Gao Xiaomeng pounce toward the Dark Ghost Vine again.

"MEOW!" Gao Xiaomeng was also incredibly fast. Her two claws seemed capable of slicing through metal and stone as they instantly tore two gashes into the Dark Ghost Vine’s trunk.

"SKREEE!!!" The Dark Ghost Vine shrieked again as its body shrank once more, going from just under forty zhang to a mere ten zhang in size.

Watching this, a thought suddenly occurred to Gao Neng.

’Could it be that this Dark Ghost Vine only became an evolved specimen after eating Gao Xiaomeng?’

’Judging by the timeline...’

’...when the Dark Ghost Vine first appeared, it kicked up a huge amount of mud.’

’Then, Fang Tangtang discovered that Gao Xiaomeng was missing.’

’After that, the Dark Ghost Vine suddenly became immense, a full hundred zhang tall, and seemed determined to fight Li Tiannan and Sword Elder to the death.’

’Thinking about it that way...’

’...the timing seems to fit.’

Most importantly, Gao Neng now also noticed the size of the pit in the distance.

It was a pit only dozens of zhang wide.

’What does that mean?’

’It means the Dark Ghost Vine only evolved *after* it came out.’

"..." Sweat poured down Gao Neng’s forehead. Although it was just a guess, if his theory was correct, then the reason the Dark Ghost Vine was so hell-bent on killing him would become clear.

’Because when he was extracting the mud, he had used his Spiritual Power to connect to the Magnetic Mountain, thereby drawing upon some kind of "special energy" from within it.’

’This must have made the Dark Ghost Vine mistakenly believe that he, like Gao Xiaomeng, was some kind of "Energy Body."’

’And so, after evolving, the Dark Ghost Vine was too large to return to the pit. Its only option was a desperate gamble: eat Gao Neng and evolve one more time.’

Once this thought arose...

...Gao Neng felt like he’d been royally screwed over.

’So, I was mistaken for an Energy Body, huh?’

’No wonder the Dark Ghost Vine wouldn’t let me go, even as it was trying to escape into the pit.’

"Dammit, so you won’t let me go, huh? Well, now I won’t let you go either!" Gao Neng was furious, yet the feeling of being treated as prey was strangely exhilarating.

Of course, the main reason was...

...the Dark Ghost Vine was only ten zhang tall now!

’The Dark Ghost Vine is at its absolute weakest right now. If even Gao Xiaomeng can break through its defenses, what do I have to be afraid of?’

"Witness my Three Slashes as One!" Gao Neng leaped high into the air, once again manifesting a Flying Earth Dragon that carried him skyward. He then slashed down at the Dark Ghost Vine’s head.

BOOM!

Lightning flashed.

With this slash,

another gash appeared on the Dark Ghost Vine’s body.

Moreover, its entire trunk began to tremble violently.

It was filled with grief and indignation.

It was unwilling to accept this.

But this time, it didn’t hesitate. It began to flee frantically, no longer trying to fight Gao Xiaomeng and Gao Neng. Its mind was consumed by a single thought: escape with its life.

"MEOW!" Gao Xiaomeng let out a cry and gave chase at top speed.

"Gao Xiaomeng, don’t chase it!" Fang Tangtang shouted anxiously from behind, but it was too late. Gao Xiaomeng had already pounced onto the Dark Ghost Vine’s body again.

"MEOW!"

"MEOW!"

Amidst a flurry of meows,

Gao Xiaomeng’s claws continuously ripped into the Dark Ghost Vine’s body.

Large splatters of green liquid flew out.

But the Dark Ghost Vine had lost all will to fight back. It single-mindedly bolted forward, finally reaching the edge of the deep pit and preparing to leap in.

"Where do you think you’re going?!" Taking advantage of his Flying Earth Dragon, Gao Neng successfully blocked the Dark Ghost Vine’s path and slashed down again.

BOOM!

The Dark Ghost Vine was forced back.

It let out a series of cries, sounding extremely unwilling to give up.

And just then, Li Tiannan and Sword Elder arrived.

The two of them attacked at the same time.

BOOM!

With a thunderous explosion,

the Dark Ghost Vine’s body burst apart.

The Dark Ghost Vine was slain.

A huge spray of green liquid gushed out.

"We won!"

"It’s finally dead!"

"Gao Neng stopped it at the last second!"

The Dragon List Geniuses and adventure teams watching from behind broke into cheers.

Li Tiannan and Sword Elder also let out a sigh of relief.

In the end, they had managed to stop the Dark Ghost Vine from escaping back into the pit.

The battle had come to a perfect conclusion.

And a great deal of the credit for this victory belonged to Gao Neng’s bravery.

"Gao Neng, you did well this time!" Li Tiannan’s complexion wasn’t good, as he was clearly exhausted, but he still had a smile on his face.

But just as his voice fell,

a golden object resembling a ’Ginseng Doll’ shot out from the pool of green liquid and leaped straight into the deep pit.