Chapter 46: The Growth of the Vines

By chance, he witnessed the scene of the Five Bead Vines hunting.

He saw a wild boar weighing several hundred pounds stroll from the riverbank into the patch of weeds where the vines were.

Lowering its head, it began to root around with its snout, digging up the weeds' roots and munching on them.

These weeds, nourished by ample nutrients and spiritual energy, were indeed a rare temptation for these omnivorous wild boars.

As it continued to approach, five vines, each as thick as a fist and several meters long, suddenly emerged from the thicket.

Sharp thorns grew along the branches of the vines.

These five vines quickly bound the wild boar, with the sharp thorns easily piercing through its tough skin.

The wild boar barely had time to let out a scream before its mouth was ensnared.

Then, countless streams of blood gushed from the thorn punctures, staining the vines red.

However, the vines paid no mind to this, dragging the boar deeper into the underbrush.

Fang Yun followed the vines into the thicket, quietly watching as they tightened their grip on the wild boar, while the thorns injected a substance that dissolved flesh into its body, consuming everything inside.

As he watched the wild boar gradually transform from a blood-filled carcass into a pile of white bones, Fang Yun could only lament the ferocity of the vines.

However, he wasn't pleased with this method of attack.

It wasn't that the vines were overly vicious, but rather that their demonstrated abilities lacked significant lethality.

While they were effective against ordinary creatures, using them against cultivators or demon beasts was simply out of the question.

Fang Yun had high hopes for these vines.

Not only did he hope they would provide him with more life energy, but he also hoped they would become a means for him to confront enemies.

Yet now, it seemed that using them for combat might be quite difficult.

While Fang Yun pondered these issues, the spirit insect perched on his shoulder suddenly took flight, swirling above the vines.

It radiated a desire towards the vines.

The vines also noticed the little creature above them, their tendrils raised, ready to attack the spirit insect in the sky.

Seeing the two creatures suddenly in opposition, Fang Yun could only shake his head, then focused his thoughts to stop them and called the spirit insect back.

However, looking at the spirit insect returning to his shoulder and then at the vines before him, an idea suddenly formed in Fang Yun's mind.

That was to use the life energy to nourish the vines and see if there would be any different results.

From his previous experience of using life energy to heal the spirit insect, it was evident that life energy had many functions he had yet to discover.

Now, since he was dissatisfied with the attack power of the vines, perhaps he could use the nourishment of life energy to bring about some changes.

In the past, when Fang Yun had too little life energy, he wouldn't have dared to experiment even if he had ideas.

But now, he had over two hundred points of life energy on him, so he didn't need to be so cautious.

With this thought, Fang Yun approached the vines, grasping one of the branches.

The vine offered no resistance and gently wrapped around his arm.

Fang Yun glanced at the vine in his hand as the life energy from his body began to flow into it.

As the life energy flowed, Fang Yun was astonished to feel a sense of a plant just sprouting.

And it was even clearer than before.

It was as if the life energy, infused with his mental strength, entered the vine's body.

Fang Yun could distinctly sense the vine's emotions and the details within its body.

He could see the blood and other substances absorbed from the wild boar circulating within the vine.

He could also observe how the corrosive substance stored in the vine's root system reached the thorns, entering the prey's body.

Although sensing all of this didn't seem to have a significant impact on him, it gave him absolute control over the vines.

If the vines could grow stronger, then with this level of control, he could add a powerful means of confronting enemies.

Thinking this, Fang Yun glanced at the other vines, contemplating whether to bring them under his control as well or to continue infusing the life energy into the vine in his hand.

After considering, he realized that controlling these vines wouldn't significantly enhance his own power.

The main reason was that the vines themselves weren't particularly strong; they could deal with wild beasts but were incapable of confronting cultivators or demon beasts.

So, he decided to continue infusing life energy into the vine and see if there would be any changes.

Thus, the life energy from Fang Yun's body continued to flow into the vine.

The condition of the vine continued to be clearly displayed before him.

Every energy flow within the vine and the channels of that energy were laid out before him.

Simultaneously, the appearance of the vine began to change, becoming thicker and longer, while its color gradually deepened.

It was as if the cultivated crops were influenced by a growth spell.

Fang Yun stopped the infusion of life energy once he sensed that the vine had reached its growth limit.

He opened his status panel.

Cultivation Level: Qi Refinement Level 3

Mana: 66

Life Energy: 240

Spells: Earth Strengthening Technique (Proficient 55%), Spirit Rain Technique (Proficient 59%), Growth Technique (Entry 96%), Metal Energy Technique (Entry 2%)

Control over Plants: Vines (5), Soybeans (2 million) …

The data on the panel hadn't changed much; he had merely gained a new entry-level spell, the Metal Energy Technique.

However, he noted that he had consumed twenty points of life energy, several of which were likely used on the spirit insect, while most were spent on the vine in front of him.

Seeing this amount of consumption, Fang Yun felt a twinge of pain and hesitated to use life energy on the other vines.

Otherwise, he would find that over two hundred points of life energy wouldn't be enough.

Nonetheless, the effect of the life energy had some similarities to the Growth Technique; perhaps he could try using the Growth Technique on the other vines.

However, that would have to wait until the current vine yielded results.

The vine had absorbed enough life energy and had clearly entered its mature stage.

It wouldn't be long before it was completely matured.

Fang Yun was quite looking forward to it.

He wanted to see how much life energy this vine, which had cost him over ten points, could ultimately provide him.

However, like those crops that had been stimulated by the Growth Technique, the final maturation period still required some time.

Fang Yun did not intend to interfere during this maturation period to avoid any issues, like those encountered with the previously stimulated crops.