"Xiao San. Is it ready?"
"All good!"
At the mouth of the cave, hearing Tang San's voice confirming it was ready, Xiao Lin tightened the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his waist with both hands.
It was indeed good to go—wrapped three to four layers thick, more than enough to pull him back if needed.
Xiao Lin then slightly leaned his head in and gently fanned his hand, wafting the cave air toward his nose.
Sniff sniff—nothing unusual.
Xiao San hadn't issued any particular warning either—shouldn't be poisonous.
Next, Xiao Lin summoned his Great Strength Bull Demon Horn, which nudged aside some of his black hair. A faint silver glow emitted from the horn and merged into his body.
He positioned the Qiu Long Staff horizontally at his right waist, tilting it forward.
At the first sign of danger, he would instantly extend the staff to press against the ground and propel himself out.
Xiao Lin moved quickly. The moment he confirmed the air wasn't toxic, he stepped into the cave.
To preempt any attack from the Demon-Eyed Devil Tree manipulating vines, Xiao Lin struck first. He used the Qiu Long Staff to instantly slash apart several green vines near the cave entrance and then advanced further.
What Xiao Lin didn't know was that once those green vines were cut, some sap oozed out, releasing a faint stench.
But he paid it no mind.
Outside the cave, Tang San noticed what was happening and was about to pull Xiao Lin back. But seeing that Xiao Lin kept going forward, he summoned his Blue Silver Grass as well.
"Blue Silver Grass—Present!"
Tang San scattered a pile of Blue Silver Grass seeds, using Controlling Crane Catching Dragon and hidden weapon techniques to launch them into every nook and cranny of the cave.
Even the blind spots in the cave's interior twists and turns were seeded.
In the next second, countless Blue Silver Grass plants rapidly sprouted at Tang San's command, surging into the cave.
The foul-smelling gas released by the green vines was completely absorbed and purified by the vast swath of Blue Silver Grass.
"That Xiao San guy…"
Xiao Lin blinked in surprise at the sight, then gave a faint, amused smile.
However, the moment Xiao Lin stepped deeper into the cave and saw what lay ahead, his eyes widened in shock.
The scene before him rendered him speechless.
It was a Demon-Eyed Demon Tree, a mutated one at that.
And it specialized in spiritual power.
The instant Xiao Lin laid eyes on it, he felt his body become sluggish and hard to move.
Paralysis. It was the tree's eye.
He had looked into the eye of the Demon-Eyed Devil Tree.
Only then did Xiao Lin realize he'd already fallen into its trap in an instant.
Even the connection between his mind and body had been forcibly severed by paralysis.
Such a powerful control ability… This Demon-Eyed Devil Tree had at least 5,000 years of soul power cultivation.
In the very next moment, before Xiao Lin could react, the tree released countless gases—corrosive ones—emitting sizzling noises as they hit the air.
As the corrosive gas was about to touch his skin, the Indestructible Vajra soul power around Xiao Lin's body provided ample protection.
Immediately after, Xiao Lin's whole body was flung backward.
"Brother Lin, are you okay?!"
Seeing that Xiao Lin still hadn't responded from inside the cave, Tang San panicked and pulled him out.
When Tang San saw the stunned look on Xiao Lin's face, clearly still in shock, and noticed the Blue Silver Grass tied around his waist had been slightly corroded, his concern deepened.
"No way… What happened to Brother Lin?"
"The Blue Silver Grass was well-protected by Brother Lin… Only slightly corroded… He should be fine physically…"
Tang San crouched beside Xiao Lin, used his Mysterious Jade Hand to take his pulse at the wrist, then checked his breath. Seeing signs of normalcy, he slightly relaxed his furrowed brows.
Then Tang San looked into the cave.
Inside, previously hidden from view, some slightly yellowish, translucent gases were now drifting out.
The moment they touched the Blue Silver Grass, the plants were nearly half-corroded.
Such potency shocked Tang San.
His Blue Silver Grass had been enhanced with life energy—even when rapidly grown from seeds, it shouldn't be corroded so easily.
Tang San had never believed gas corrosion could rival that of liquids.
The soul beast inside is a major threat—there's no way I can let Brother Lin take the risk.
"Damn… Is the mutated Demon-Eyed Demon Tree really that strong?"
Finally able to speak, Xiao Lin cursed under his breath.
Once he realized he could talk again, he began regaining control of his body.
"Paralysis lasted for thirty seconds. This kind of ability is basically cheating."
Xiao Lin propped up his lower body and sat on the ground to rest, though he kept talking.
"Paralysis? Brother Lin, what happened?"
"What happened? Something good, of course."
Seeing Tang San's anxious expression and the concern in his eyes, Xiao Lin burst out laughing.
Then he told Tang San everything he had observed inside the cave.
"There's a small room inside the cave—someone used to live there."
"That Demon-Eyed Demon Tree is mutated, and in the middle of its trunk is a head-type soul bone."
"That head bone is fused with the tree's body—not sure what kind of ability it holds."
"The tree's eye in its trunk—don't look at it. You'll be paralyzed, with your spirit and body forcibly disconnected."
"The Demon-Eyed Demon Tree is sentient and has at least 5,000 years of cultivation."
"You want to train your spiritual power by using the Demon-Eyed Devil Tree's paralysis ability?"
Hearing this, Tang San's shocked expression morphed into complete disbelief—his pupils dilated to the extreme.
"There's no better way to train split-consciousness control than the Demon-Eyed Demon Tree's paralysis."
Xiao Lin nodded seriously, deciding on this course of action.
After all, their split-consciousness control was the most useless on the continent. Without a special method, how could they ever improve?
"If its paralysis separates mind, brain, nerves, and body, then we must use our spiritual power to break through that control, until we can completely ignore the paralysis effect."
Hearing Xiao Lin's logic, Tang San fell silent.
It was a crude, straightforward method—but extremely effective.
In a world where even a Soul Douluo struggled to control spiritual power, if they could master it early, even reaching four rings and ten-thousand-year soul rings wouldn't be a problem.
"Alright—then let's do it together."
Tang San was now fired up. If Brother Lin was training, he would too.
"Oh right—about that head-type soul bone on the mutated tree. It doesn't look like great quality, but I want to try something."
Xiao Lin smiled faintly. He planned to throw in the blood-red agate dropped by the black-robed elder and let the mutated Demon-Eyed Demon Tree try to fuse with it.
He wasn't sure if this low-grade external soul bone could merge with the tree's head bone and evolve into something stronger.
As for the cave itself, Xiao Lin had a suspicion.
It might have belonged to that Soul Saint from Holy Soul Village.
The Demon-Eyed Demon Tree could be a soul beast he raised—or even a transformed martial soul.
(End of Chapter)