A plant with a big, fan-like leaf was protruding from fiery red rock crevice. Sparkling red lights flowed through its entire body.
Drops of bright red liquid dripped down from the hanging leaf of this odd plant. Crystal clear, the liquid drops looked like red diamonds as they fell onto the rock, emitting a sizzling sound as well as a plume of red smoke. The smoke then disappeared near the roots, as if absorbed by the latter.
Han Shuo's body moved with a speed much faster than Gilbert anticipated. In just a moment, he was already below the leaf, his mouth wide open to catch the dripping red liquid.
Drip… drip…
The blood-like red liquid fell onto the tip of Han Shuo's tongue with a soft plop. When the red smoke rose up with a sizzle, he took a deep breath and inhaled it all. Under the watchful eyes of Gilbert, Han Shuo's cheeks gradually glowed red.
Not knowing what was going on, Gilbert looked at Han Shuo's weird actions in perplexion, thinking that his master was becoming increasingly mysterious.
The plant had been originally hale and hearty. However, with every drop of crystal red liquid trickling down the leaf, crimson patches appeared on its body, which then slowly became one with the red rock.
By the time the liquid stopped trickling from the leaf, the strange plant became rock-hard, sticking firmly to the red rock below.
Han Shuo's whole body had turned blood red by this point. He immediately sat down on the spot, his whole being seemingly made of blood, a faintly bright, red layer of smoke surrounding his body.
Han Shuo slowly opened his eyes. He let out a long, low whistle and said with high spirits, "The depths of the Dark Forest are indeed unfathomable. To be able to encounter this Blood Essence Grass that strengthens my blood essence, it appears my luck isn't bad at all."
"What is it?" Gilbert asked with surprise as he stared at the rock-like plant.
"The Blood Essence Grass is a vile plant. It continuously absorbs the energy of the surrounding plants after formation. If it's surrounded by evil plants that feast on the flesh and blood of humans and beasts, then the blood of their victims will also be devoured and refined by the roots of the Blood Essence Grass."
"The process has to operate for a hundred years before the Blood Essence Grass can produce a fan-sized leaf. Once this leaf forms, it will then proceed to spit out the condensed blood refined during the past hundred years to be reabsorbed into its roots. It can then absorb the surrounding vitality even faster, and the radius it can absorb will also expand."
"After another hundred years, the Blood Essence Grass will give birth to another leaf after absorbing enough vitality from the surrounding carnivorous plants. This cycle repeats for a total of nine hundred years. If the Blood Essence Grass can successfully evolve each time, it will eventually become a blood essence that can move freely, possessing sentience just like humans. Every plant within a ten mile radius would be under its control. This is an incredible art!" Han Shuo smiled as he explained the origin of the Blood Essence Grass to Gilbert.
"So amazing. Then, what effect did the blood red liquid have on you? How old is this Blood Essence Grass?" Gilbert asked, surprised at Han Shuo's explanation.
Han Shuo gave a proud laugh and said, "When I absorb and refine the essence of the grass, I can transmute it into my essence blood. In the future, it'll prevent me from expending too much magical yuan. What a pity this Blood Essence Grass seemed to only be around three hundred years old. If it'd been nine hundred years old, after being transformed by my essence blood, it would possess the miraculous effect of bringing the dead back to life. If I suffer a cut, the healing speed of the wound will be visible to the naked eye!"
"It's that magical? Perhaps there are other Blood Essence Grasses inside the Dark Forest. We can search for them!" Gilbert exclaimed in excitement after being dumbfounded for a while.
Paying no heed to the excited Gilbert, Han Shuo took out the Demonslayer Edge, and carefully dug up the red rock on which the Blood Essence Grass had grown. He shook off the soil around it, and finally placed the clump of red rock into the space ring.
"What does the stone do?" Gilbert curiously asked.
"This is a Blood Essence stone. This is a valuable material, very useful!" Han Shuo knew that Gilbert wouldn't understand even if he explained everything, so he responded half-heartedly.
Taking a look around, Han Shuo saw nothing else worthy of attention. Only then did he proceed to the deeper depths with Gilbert, his heart growing increasingly curious about the Dark Forest.
However, the strong presence appeared again not long after they set off. Han Shuo couldn't help but frown, his body halting in place.
"Who or what are you playing at? Are you done yet?" Han Shuo shouted impolitely after he coldly took a look around.
Possessing such a strong presence and being able to avoid the three yin demons' eyes, it would at least possess intelligence, if it wasn't human. Such a powerful creature lurking around and eyeing him and Gilbert as if they were prey made Han Shuo extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but lash out violently.
His shout echoed through the ancient forest with no response. After listening for a while, there was still no additional sound. Evidently the powerful presence hadn't responded to Han Shuo's words.
"There really is something stalking us!" Gilbert could apparently sense the danger with his instincts and couldn't help but cry out.
Nodding, Han Shuo said softly, "Indeed, and we have no idea what it is. Even I have no way to trace it. It looks quite powerful too. We'll have to be careful; don't give it any advantage!"
No matter what this creature was, if it was confident in dealing with Han Shuo and Gilbert, it wouldn't be lurking around in the dark and would have gone on the offensive already. Yet, it chose to hide, which meant this creature didn't have confidence in defeating them both. As such, Han Shuo wasn't too worried.
With the three yin demons around, it was impossible for this creature to ambush them. Although Han Shuo was on the alert, he felt no fear at all. On the contrary, he was even curious, and more determined to lure this creature out and take a look at what it really was.
The clear moonlight shone down in the depths of the night. Under the rays of the moon, the shadows of the towering ancient trees were etched on the ground, looking like the capering limbs of demonic figures.
Han Shuo and Gilbert were resting in the branches of a ten meter high tree. Gilbert leaned lazily on the tree trunk as he napped, deeply asleep.
Han Shuo's posture was straight, his breathing even, his heartbeat slow. He sat cross-legged like an erect javelin with his eyes closed, silently refining the essence of the Blood Essence Grass that he'd taken in earlier in the day.
After who knew how long, Han Shuo's closed eyes suddenly snapped open from his meditation. His bright eyes shone in the night, pupils sparkling as they swept the area.
The three yin demons had taken positions around Han Shuo, to his back, left. and right. They were closely examining the surroundings for any anomalies. Suddenly, the yin demon at the back found ripples appearing on the surface of a nearby lake. It was followed by an enormous, transparent shadow that slowly rose from the surface of the lake.
The watery being was colossal, on par with Gilbert in his dragon form. Nine heads on slender necks slowly appeared out of its bulk. After emerging from the pool, the originally transparent watery body gradually turned more and more immaterial, until it completely disappeared.
However, a strong presence subtly radiated from that direction, giving off the exact same feeling from the past two days. Han Shuo watched attentively for a while and discovered the wind flowing a bit oddly from that direction, as if encountering an obstacle in the void.
Tapping the soundly sleeping Gilbert, Han Shuo abruptly woke up the dark dragon. Gilbert turned his head to look around, and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"
"The super rank magical creature, the Hydra!" Han Shuo responded lightly.
Hearing his words, Gilbert's face paled as he said in a stunned voice, "No wonder, my grandfather said that the Hydra has a skill that allows it to use the power of water to conceal its body, falling into a wondrous invisible state. In addition to its powerful presence, its whole body is also venomous. I can't believe that it's set its sights on us!"
"This Hydra has likely evolved only once, so no wonder it was following us but didn't dare to act! Make your preparations, we'll teach it a lesson!" Han Shuo whispered, his whole body remaining unmoving. He continued to sit there, waiting for the Hydra to arrive.
Gilbert understood and but still pretended to continue sleeping, snoring lightly.