The airflow emitted a faint yet unsettling hiss, like the sound of a high-speed rotating saw blade.
Han Ning's instincts screamed warnings. With no time to recall his vines, he swiftly sidestepped while activating [Tree Skin Art] in a flash of thought.
Brown-green woody textures rapidly spread across the outer side of his right arm.
Sssshhk!
A pale cyan Wind Blade slashed viciously into the bark-covered arm.
The tough wooden skin was instantly split open upon contact with the Wind Blade, wood chips scattering everywhere.
The sheer impact sent Han Ning stumbling back several steps, his right arm burning with pain as the Tree Skin Art was nearly shattered in a single strike.
[Tree Skin Art (Intermediate) Proficiency +2, Current: 14/200]
"Not bad reflexes," Chen Feng remarked, having landed the first blow. Instead of pressing the attack, he retreated again, his figure flickering through the rain, leaving behind afterimages as his voice drifted unpredictably.
"But you won't last three minutes just by taking hits."
As if to prove his point, he accelerated once more, transforming into a near-invisible cyan blur, weaving and darting within a ten-meter radius around Han Ning.
Seizing every opportunity, he launched sudden strikes.
Sssshhk! Sssshhk! Sssshhk!
Razor-sharp Wind Blades sliced toward Han Ning from all directions like the scythes of death.
"He probably needs time to recover after releasing a Wind Blade..."
Recalling how Chen Feng had retreated immediately after his failed initial strike, Han Ning deduced.
Focusing his mind to the extreme, he controlled his vines to frantically whirl around him—blocking, parrying, and counterattacking.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Vines and Wind Blades clashed repeatedly.
Sssshhk! Sssshhk! Sssshhk!
Though the vines were incredibly tough and couldn't be completely severed, each collision left deep gashes on their surfaces from the high-speed rotating airflow, wood chips flying as Spiritual Power rapidly drained.
Meanwhile, the Wind Blades, dispersed by the vines, quickly reformed in Chen Feng's hands.
[Vine Manipulation (Advanced) Proficiency +3, Current: 8/500]
Han Ning's expression was grave as he carefully countered Chen Feng's onslaught.
"What? Is this all you've got?"
Chen Feng effortlessly dodged the vines' encirclement again and again, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Too slow, too slow! I'll finish you in 30 seconds!"
With a flick of both hands, he unleashed several 20-centimeter-long Wind Blades in a triangular formation, sealing off Han Ning's escape routes left and right.
"Tch. Even with Vine Manipulation at the advanced level, I still can't match this guy's speed."
"Not every Awakened is as useless as Chen Yan."
Just as the Wind Blades were about to strike, a glint flashed in Han Ning's eyes.
"Rapid Growth!"
Abandoning the futile chase, he locked onto the area where Chen Feng's true body stood.
In an instant, his Spiritual Power surged, accelerating the growth of the vines under his control.
[Spiritual Power: 12/25 → 7/25]
[Rapid Growth (Intermediate) Proficiency +1, Current: 79/200]
.
The vines controlled by Han Ning suddenly emitted an eerie green glow, slowly steaming and burning like gas, releasing a low, resonant hum.
Their speed skyrocketed—some skimmed the water's surface in a straight pursuit, others arced down from the sky, and a few thrust upward from below, aiming for Chen Feng's vulnerable spots. They writhed like dragons, their trajectories nearly impossible to track.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One after another, the vines pierced through the air, closing in on Chen Feng from all directions at terrifying speeds.
Like an outstretched hand, they enveloped him completely.
Then, the densely packed, razor-sharp wooden thorns covering the vines' surfaces—glinting with a metallic chill—were precisely manipulated by Han Ning's will. Like springs compressed to their limit, they suddenly detached from the vines.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, hundreds of sharp wooden thorns transformed into a dense, dark-green storm of death, akin to the legendary Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle. They rained down on Chen Feng's position with horrifying speed, covering every possible angle.
"Such an astonishing attack… This destructive power, this speed… It's almost on par with those leaders."
Not far away, Lu Yunping stared blankly at the demonic dance of vines and the storm of thorns filling the sky.
This sudden turn of events completely caught Chen Feng off guard.
The mockery on his face froze, replaced by sheer shock and terror.
"What?!"
His pride in his speed now seemed utterly futile against this absolute death zone of high-speed wooden thorns, spanning several meters.
And behind the thorns, over a dozen vines were rapidly closing in.
"No way to dodge…"
Seeing the thorns sealing off every possible gap, panic finally surfaced on his face.
He barely had time to summon a gale, forming a rapidly spinning pale cyan Wind Shield in front of him.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
A relentless barrage of impacts rang out, chilling to the bone.
The sturdy Wind Shield endured over a hundred terrifying punctures in the blink of an eye.
The pale cyan shield rippled violently, groaning under the strain.
Though most of the thorns were shredded or deflected by the swirling winds, at least twenty sharp wooden spikes, driven by sheer piercing force, broke through the shield's defenses.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of thorns embedding into flesh followed in rapid succession.
"Argh!"
Chen Feng grunted in pain, his body reeling as if struck by a heavy blow.
His work jacket was torn open in over a dozen places, blood seeping from the wounds and staining the shredded fabric.
The most dangerous thorn grazed his temple, taking a lock of hair with it and leaving a deep gash on his cheek.
Bang!
Whoosh—
Fifteen vines spread like outstretched fingers, their tips aimed at various parts of Chen Feng's body, looming over him like a shadow of death, poised but not yet striking.
Chen Feng crashed heavily into the murky water beneath him, sending up a spray.
He struggled to rise, but the searing pain made him falter, leaving him half-kneeling in the water, gasping for breath.
His gaze, fixed on Han Ning, was filled with disbelief as he reluctantly spat out, "I yield!"
"That's it?" Han Ning's expression turned disappointed. With a casual wave, the wooden thorns dissolved into particles of energy, leaving only the faint scent of blood lingering in the air.
The fifteen Vines, having expended their Energy and shed their thorns, appeared somewhat listless, their surface sheen noticeably dimmed as they slowly retracted back to Han Ning's side, swaying gently like loyal guardians.
Snowflake, who had been lying in wait nearby, finally saw her chance to act. She dashed between Han Ning and Chen Feng, baring her teeth at the latter, poised to attack at any moment.
Han Ning maintained his Vines' deployment as he strode forward, stopping a few paces from Chen Feng. Looking down at him with an impassive voice, he said:
"Seems we won't need three minutes. Twenty seconds should be enough to take you down."
Chen Feng clutched his profusely bleeding wound, forcing a bitter smile:
"Cough... cough... Impressive. I misjudged you. Your strength... exceeds my expectations."
Taking a deep breath to suppress his churning blood, he conceded straightforwardly:
"You win. Test passed. I, Chen Feng, keep my word!"