Chapter 1780 – Sky Reaching Vine
Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang! A melodious bell echoed in a valley. The cultivators in this valley wore yellow robes and were stunned upon hearing the bell. They knew what this bell meant. It was the early warning alarm of the sect.
After being stunned, the people in the valley immediately finished what they were doing. Those who were cultivating also stopped. All of them flew out of their cave residences and then rushed towards the valley.
It was a very huge valley. The entire valley covers an area of 10 thousand mu(6.7 sq km). Constructed on both mountain walls of the valley were cave residences. Then at the bottom of these cave residences were yellow buildings. These yellow buildings looked very special. There were long vines crawling through the buildings. The vines seem to be arranged in a special manner. Those who understood the pattern would know that the vines weren’t simple. These vines were headaches among anyone who encountered them. And this valley was the Withered Vine Sect’s headquarters.
And just like what Zhao Hai and the others thought, the Withered Vine Sect had known that the Wandering Soul Group had been extinguished. They were also aware of the attacks against the Iron Blade Sect. This was crucial information for the Withered Vine Sect. More importantly, they obtained information that the Black Tiger Gang’s target was the Withered Vine Sect. Therefore, they immediately sounded their alarm.
With the alarm sounded out, the entire Withered Vine Sect took action. Cultivators in the Withered Vine Sect practice a wood-element cultivation method. This method has a special ability that allows control over sky reaching vines. Therefore, when necessary, the cultivators of the headquarters could use the sky reaching vines to deal with the enemy.
When the alarm sounded, the disciples immediately took their stations. They were arranged to operate sky reaching vines to deal with the enemy.
As the Withered Vine Sect was preparing with all their strength, the Black Tiger Gang’s fleet entered the sect’s territory. But they were still a distance away from the headquarters.
However, this wasn’t important. Zhao Hai already knew about the Withered Vine Sect’s situation. He was even able to get seedlings of the sky reaching vine for the s.p.a.ce.
Naturally, the Withered Vine Sect also had its own mountain guarding formation. However, their formation was very special. It wasn’t as strong as the guarding formations of other sects since they depended on the sky reaching vines. Because of this, it became easy for Zhao Hai to sneak in several silver needles inside the sect.
There were vines all over the Withered Vine Valley. Almost all of the vines in the valley grow from one root. When one vine dies, there would be new vines that would come up to replace it. But at the same time, the roots of the dead vine would stop growing.
Because there were too many sky reaching vines, the Withered Vine Sect wasn’t very strict in guarding the vines. In any case, in the entire Great World of Cultivation, only the Withered Vine Sect could grow them. n.o.body could steal a sky reaching vine.
However, what the Withered Vine Sect doesn’t know is that Zhao Hai’s s.p.a.ce can grow anything as long as it’s a plant. Seeing that n.o.body was watching the vines, then there’s no need for Zhao Hai to be polite. He also didn’t dig the plant out. He only took out a small cutting. It was enough to grow sky reaching vine seedlings.
Naturally, Zhang Feng and the others didn’t know this. He plans to dig up a root when he arrives at the valley and pretend to a.n.a.lyze it before dealing with the sky reaching vines.
Zhao Hai also thought about how many people he would kill in the Withered Vine Valley. For people of the Withered Vine Sect, a ruined sky reaching vine was equal to breaking their arms. The sect loved their vines more than their disciples.
Zhao Hai had a plan set up, but he didn’t tell Zhang Feng and the others about it. Although he trusted them, the s.p.a.ce was a secret that could only be known by a few people. As much as possible, Zhao Hai wouldn’t reveal its existence.
Zhang Feng didn’t return to his treasure s.h.i.+p. Instead, he stayed with the Zhao Hai on the h.e.l.l King’s s.h.i.+p. Seeing the fleet entering the territory of the Withered Vine Sect, Zhang Feng couldn’t help but turn to Zhao Hai and said, “Little Hai, be careful. We now entered the territory of the Withered Vine Sect. If they know our movements, then they might take action.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “They already know. There’s no need to worry, Senior Brother. I’m afraid they won’t take the initiative to attack. After all, we just exterminated the Wandering Soul Group. They won’t be that courageous to face us.”
Zhang Feng nodded. Then he looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Little Hai, have you thought about how to deal with the Withering Vine Sect? When we arrive, it would be difficult for us to do anything with our large artifacts. The sky reaching vines were also known as large artifact hunters. And this nickname didn’t come out of thin air.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “We’ll take a look when we arrive. Actually, my goal isn’t the Withered Vine Sect, but the sky reaching vines instead.”
Zhang Feng stared. He looked at Zhao Hai in confusion as he asked, “The sky reaching vines? And how do you deal with them? I heard that in order to protect their sky reaching vines, the Withered Vine Sect adjusted their defensive formation to accommodate them. Those vines cannot be dealt with fire, water, or blades. It wasn’t easy to damage the vines.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “I know that. That’s why I said that we’ll see when we get there. If we can kill the sky reaching vines, then the Withered Vine Sect wouldn’t be able to do anything even if they cry.”
Zhang Feng smiled bitterly and said, “Your plan looks good. However, for as long as the Withered Vine Sect existed, people have always targeted the sky reaching vines. In the end, they all failed. I think we should make another plan.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “It’s just an idea. If we fail, then we can forget about it. In any case, as long as we attack the Withered Vine Sect, they would have to command their troops outside to return.”
Zhang Feng nodded. As the two were talking, the fleet already penetrated deep into the Withered Vine Sect’s territory. Along the way, Zhao Hai and the others came upon medicinal fields and mines of the sect. Naturally, Zhao Hai wasn’t polite and looted them all before destroying them. He came here to cause trouble to the sect, there was no need to hold back.
They destroyed anything along their path all the way back to the Withered Vine Valley. Just as Zhao Hai said, the Withered Vine Sect was terrified by their approach. All of the Withered Vine Sect cultivators were concentrated on their headquarters, preparing to guard against Zhao Hai and the others.
Before long, the Black Tiger Gang’s fleet arrived in front of a mountain. The mountain looked very strange. From top to bottom, the mountain was yellow, like it was a pile of dead leaves. However, Zhao Hai knew that these weren’t dead leaves, but sky reaching vines.
Sky reaching vines were yellow from the moment they became a seedling to a full grown plant. But when the sky reaching vines die, they would turn black. Therefore, the mountain looked like a huge pile of leaves when it was actually a huge pile of sky reaching vines.
Zhao Hai knew this, so he immediately raised the alt.i.tude of the fleet to more than 10 thousand meters.
Behind this mountain was the valley of the Withered Vine Sect’s headquarters. The mountain wasn’t tall at only 5 thousand meters long. In fact, there were no vines planted on the mountain. All of the sky reaching vines grew in the valley. But because the vines were 10 thousand meters long, their entire bodies were able to cover the entire mountain.
Zhang Feng was also looking at the mountain. Then he said, “Beyond this mountain is the valley of the Withered Vine Sect. They are clearly preparing for a protracted battle. They wouldn’t be easy to attack. Little Hai, what do you think?”
Zhao Hai thought for a moment and said, “I’m going to head down first to take a look. I want to see if I’m able to make a couple of vines take action.”
When Zhang Feng heard Zhao Hai, he couldn’t help but freeze for a moment and then his expression changed as he said, “No, that’s too dangerous. The valley has been controlled by the Withered Vine Sect for many years. We don’t know how many sky reaching vines there are. If you go down, then we won’t know what will happen. That is absolutely not a good idea.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’m confident. I just want to go down and take a look.” After he finished talking, he disappeared from the h.e.l.l King’s s.h.i.+p and went down. Seeing Zhao Hai, all of the people on the h.e.l.l King’s s.h.i.+p couldn’t help but worry about him.
As soon as Zhao Hai crossed the 10 thousand-meter line, the people from the Withered Vine Sect reacted immediately. Countless yellow vines, like the tentacles of an octopus, flew up from the mountain and charged towards Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai immediately took out ten thousand flying swords to surround his body. The flying swords were like a school of fish as they swam around Zhao Hai, blocking the attacks of the sky reaching vines.
What surprised Zhao Hai was the strength of the sky reaching vines. Although the flying swords weren’t using too much energy nor were they reinforced with faith power, they were still very strong artifacts. Despite this, they were unable to cut the sky reaching vines.
Moreover, Zhao Hai knew that the closer the vine is to the root, the tougher it would be. According to legend, mature sky reaching vines could block attacks from Nascent Soul Experts with its body up to the 3000 meter height. The vine could even block attacks of transcending tribulation experts up to the 1000 meter height.
Zhao Hai dropped to around the 8000 meter height of the vines and allowed it to wrap around his flying swords. This caused the spectators to lose sight of him.
Zhang Feng was originally anxious when he saw Zhao Hai going down. But when he saw the situation, he calmed down. Then a strange smile appeared on his face as he said, “It seems like the people of the Withered Vine Sect still know little about Little Hai. He might really be able to get a few vines.”
Zhang Feng already knew Zhao Hai for some time. He didn’t believe that Zhao Hai would make any unnecessary actions. Being surrounded by sky reaching vines wasn’t something that Zhao Hai would do. He must have other plans.