The tree was massive, so large it would take several people hand-in-hand to encircle the trunk. Its canopy was thick, and its base was tangled with thorns and creeping vines. From the outside, it looked no different from any of the surrounding trees—no slash marks, no signs of disturbance.
Clearly, the evil soul master hiding within had become an expert at erasing his tracks.
It was only thanks to Yunchuan's plant domain, which allowed him to sense the tiny flicker of life hidden within the tree trunk—like a candle in the night—that anyone discovered the hiding place at all.
Without even making a sound, Yunchuan appeared.
He had transferred directly into the area by leaping through the domain's connection with local plant life. His aura merged seamlessly with the surrounding trees and plants, making it impossible to differentiate him from the vegetation around him.
Even now, the evil soul master nested inside the tree remained completely unaware of his arrival.
Yunchuan looked around at the mass of thorns crowding the area and frowned. With a thought, the power of the domain surged.
Silently, the thorny vines and wild undergrowth began to slither out of the way, revealing a clear space around the tree's base. It was as if the plants, sensing the will of a ruler, moved aside in reverence.
At the center of the clearing, that tree still stood—alone.
But then, the pulse of life inside the trunk suddenly spiked.
The evil soul master had realized he'd been found out.
BOOM!
The entire tree exploded into splinters.
A sickly red light, rolling with the stench of blood and decay, shot toward Yunchuan like lightning. The force behind it was like a tide of venomous madness.
Yunchuan didn't flinch. The moment the energy lashed out, he simply vanished.
Using the power of his domain, he teleported—reappearing silently somewhere else within its reach.
The red blast crashed into the ground, carving a deep pit and spraying black-red liquid in every direction.
The plants it touched began to sizzle and smoke instantly.
Clearly, this blood energy was steeped in destructive, corrosive power.
From within the shadows of a nearby tree, Yunchuan finally saw the attacker's true form—and a single word popped into his mind:
Vampire.
The soul master appeared barely older than twenty. His skin was pale and his features were sharp, traditionally handsome in a predatory way. His soul was now fully manifested over his body—ears elongated into points, fangs protruded from under his lip, bat-like blood-red wings unfolded from his back, and his hands had formed into sharp, clawed talons.
Two yellow, two purple, and three black rings spun slowly beneath him. Tier: Soul Sage.
"A seven-ringed Soul Sage," Yunchuan noted calmly. "Not bad…"
The man looked around warily, eyes flicking from tree to tree, unnerved by Yunchuan's voice echoing from all directions.
"You're quite the talent—for an evil soul master." Yunchuan's voice floated in the air, cold but not mocking. "To improve this much, in such a short time, simply… by drinking blood…"
Yunchuan's tone turned slightly colder.
"But exactly because of that, if I let you escape, how many lives will be torn apart tomorrow?"
He gave no further warning.
BOOM!
The entire landscape lurched.
From the earth, vines rose—thick as snakes, long and covered with thorns sharp enough to tear metal. They burst from below like hunting beasts, all charging toward the red-winged figure at once.
"Seventh Soul Skill—Blood Bat True Body!"
The man bellowed and erupted in red light. His seventh soul ring gleamed.
A shockwave exploded outward.
The vines were pushed back momentarily, buying him just enough time.
In a flash of light, he transformed—his body twisting, growing, warping.
Moments later, a massive bat hovered above the forest canopy, wings wide enough to blot out the moon. Its glowing red body spiraled upward in a flash, leaving behind a trail of gory contrails as it soared into the skies.
"You think flying means you can escape me?" Yunchuan's voice followed him.
Within seconds, the entire mountain grove responded.
All around, trees began to shake.
Branches convulsed. Leaves twisted and reformed.
The mountain's full wrath awakened.
Above, in the sky, the giant blood bat flapped wildly, soaring through the air—but then froze as a barrage of sounds rushed toward him.
Whistling. Slicing. Splitting wind.
His echolocation kicked in—and what he sensed made his blood run cold.
Leaves.
Thousands of leaves.
But these weren't ordinary leaves—they were huge, blade-like, and jagged at the edges. Each over a meter long, spinning through the air with the force of a thrown axe.
The bat squealed and rolled to the side.
He dodged the first set.
Barely.
But then—another volley came from the opposite direction.
And another—then another.
The sky had turned into a shredded dome of cutting wind.
Nowhere to hide.
Nowhere to flee.
From his perch at the top of a cluster of trees, Yunchuan stood with hands behind his back, unmoved. He looked like he weighed nothing—white robes fluttering gently on a single bobbing leaf, completely at ease.
"Hm. You dodge well," he mused. "Well, bats are built for it. Poor eyesight, sure, but that echolocation reflex makes up for it."
He observed as the giant bat twisted, dodged, spiraled—barely avoiding barrage after barrage.
Years ago, his approach to flying enemies was to make flowers bloom and fire seeds like projectiles, but it had been inefficient. Too slow. Too soft.
So he'd evolved the method.
Now, he controlled the leaves directly—mutating them into flying blades. Controlling their shape and flinging them using the branches like trebuchets. Less pretty. More deadly.
Simple. Brutal. Very effective.
The blood bat seemed to realize that evasion alone would eventually doom him.
He shrieked.
A sharp, keening cry echoed across the valley.
Then—but this time he didn't try to dodge.
The next wave of slicing leaves slammed toward him, but he faced them head-on, body glowing blood-red.
SPLASH. SLICE.
Leaf after leaf pierced his hide. He shrieked, bleeding from dozens of wounds.
Yunchuan raised an eyebrow.
"What, you're just tanking it now?"
Still—the blood bat's skin began to glow stronger. The embedded leaves were corroded almost instantly, and the wounds rapidly closed.
The next wave arrived. He paid it no mind.
More blood.
More holes.
More healing.
His red light didn't just resist—it regenerated.
"That recovery rate… impressive."
But Yunchuan's thoughtful smile stayed.
"Interesting. But... I wonder how long that'll last?"
(End of Chapter)