Park Su knew very well that he had little chance of breaking through the pothos's defenses, especially since the plant was constantly supplied by the energy stone, while he had to keep expending his own abilities.
The battle was already unfair, and with the pothos's high combat prowess, combined with his own injuries, the odds were clearly not in his favor.
At this point, he could only take a risk. With this in mind, he didn't hesitate, using his wood energy shield and wielding his dagger to charge directly at the pothos. Sensing the danger, the pothos immediately formed a complex network of leaf blades at its roots.
However, its reaction was slightly delayed, allowing Park Su to seize the moment and grab the roots wrapping the energy stone. As soon as he touched it, he knew this part, though seemingly delicate, was much tougher than the vines he had been cutting through earlier.
Having spent so many years in the apocalypse and being a wood-based ability user, Park Su had encountered both ordinary and mutated plants many times. He understood that all plants regarded their roots as most vital. Even if he could strike it now, the pothos would surely strengthen its defenses, making subsequent attacks much harder. Without the force of physical attacks, he doubted he could extract the energy stone or kill the pothos directly.
By the time he had the opportunity to attack, it might be enough for the pothos to absorb the wood energy from the stone and advance to the next stage. If it reached the second level, not only would taking the energy stone be out of the question, but Park Su would be facing certain death.
So, he didn't have time to think much; there was only one path left—to compete with the mutated pothos for the energy within the stone. Although absorbing the energy from the stone so rashly was a risky move for Park Su, given that he had only heard of ability users directly absorbing energy from stones, not having the firsthand experience.
In his past life, he was at best a cannon fodder, never having seen a real energy stone, let alone absorbed one. He had no idea what to prepare for or what would happen. His original plan was to take the energy stone back home, study it, and absorb it slowly over time.
But circumstances forced his hand, leaving him with two options: either take the risk or give up. However, the advantage was that this was a wood-based energy stone, which should be easier for him to absorb compared to other types, with a lower chance of something going wrong.
Moreover, since his rebirth, he had been determined to become stronger, and now, with this opportunity before him, how could he refuse? Plus, many others had absorbed energy stones without incident; what could go wrong for him?
With these thoughts in mind, he reached out without hesitation, grasping the cluster of vines wrapped around the energy stone and immediately channeled his wood energy into it.
Instantly, he felt a surge of pure and vigorous wood energy flow from his hand into his body. He wasted no time in quickly absorbing it, all the while wary of further attacks from the pothos.
The pothos, sensing Park Su's actions, was also somewhat irritated and wanted to throw him away for taking its treasure, but the intruder's presence actually made the absorption process faster, and even the wood energy in the air began to gather around them.
Moreover, this person was now holding onto its lifeline, and it was concerned that any mistake might injure itself. Since absorbing together was beneficial to it, the pothos decided to let Park Su be for now. After all, getting distracted would harm its own breakthrough. It would be more perfect to wait until they had fully digested the energy stone and then devour this human.
With such thoughts, the pothos didn't attack further but instead quickened its pace to absorb the energy stone wrapped around its roots. Sensing the change in the pothos's behavior, Park Su wouldn't back down. After all, the opportunity he had fought so hard for was now being largely taken by this plant; he was already frustrated enough.
If, under equal conditions, he absorbed less energy than a plant, it would be even more embarrassing. More importantly, he was very aware that if he lost this race for energy absorption, his fate might only be to serve as nourishment for the pothos!
He could only keep accelerating the circulation of his wood-based energy to hasten his absorption of the energy stone. Knowing that their lives depended on who could reach a higher level once the stone's energy was depleted, Park Su was already at a disadvantage.
If he didn't put in the effort, he wouldn't stand a chance, especially since he didn't know when the pothos might decide to attack.
He felt the wood energy continuously flushing through his meridians, pushing his level up rapidly. It wasn't long before this surge of energy brought him from the early first stage to the peak of the first stage, on the brink of breaking through to the second.
However, advancing through stages so quickly wasn't easy, especially now that Park Su's body was saturated with wood energy, making it impossible for him to absorb any more. Yet, the external wood energy was still enveloping him and the mutated pothos, drilling into their bodies.
Park Su knew that if he didn't break through soon, he might explode from the energy overload. He had no desire to die in such a manner; he still had goals to achieve, like becoming stronger and finding his mother. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as the energy stretched his meridians to their limits.
What Park Su didn't realize was that the mutated pothos was also enduring similar agony. Without Park Su's interference, it would have absorbed the energy stone gradually, not recklessly as it was doing now.
Moreover, with Park Su as a competitor, its level was already higher, and the challenge of advancing was not much less than for humans. However, it could store more wood energy than a human could, but even that couldn't withstand such relentless absorption.
It also wanted to break through with this influx of energy, but it faced the same problem as Park Su. The abundance of energy promised opportunity but also crisis. What made it even more agonizing for the pothos was that it had wanted to stop but couldn't; the pace of energy absorption had been set by Park Su.
Despite the danger, it couldn't stop. The mutated plant's intelligence wasn't high, and now, in its terror, it just wanted to kill Park Su to alleviate its own pain.
Thus, its vines, now adorned with cold, sharp leaf blades, lashed out at Park Su. Even in his own agony, Park Su sensed the danger from outside. He couldn't understand why the pothos was attacking before absorbing all the energy.
However, he knew that doing nothing would mean certain death. He forced out a portion of his nearly shattered mental strength to create three layers of protective barriers around his body. Perhaps because of the energy output, he felt some relief.
The other part of his focus, enduring even more pain, was aimed at breaking through to the second stage. His meridians were at their limit, fine blood vessels bursting, making him look even more disheveled. But maybe because he was at his mental limit, this attempt actually began to loosen the barrier.
Seeing this gave him hope for survival. He believed that with the three barriers he had just set up, the mutated pothos would need some time to break through them, so his primary focus now was to concentrate on breaking through. Only by reaching the second stage would he have any hope of fighting back.
He focused all his attention, using his energy to repeatedly strike at the barrier to the second stage. Finally, on the third attempt, a crack appeared in the barrier. The energy, which had nowhere to go, found an outlet and surged towards the barrier, instantly shattering it!
At that moment, Park Su officially entered the ranks of second-stage ability users. The agony he felt moments before was now replaced by a sense of immense relief as he circulated the energy within him, absorbing all the abilities into his body. The mutated pothos sensed that the human before it had changed. It had just broken through Park Su's third barrier when it felt the oppressive aura emanating from him.
This made it uneasy. How could this human, whose level was inferior to its own just moments ago, suddenly surpass it? They had been absorbing the energy from the stone together, yet it had only reached the peak of the first stage, its body in so much pain that it couldn't continue, while this human had broken through to the second stage?
It was well aware that attacking Park Su now would have a low success rate. Even when this person was weaker, he had managed to compete with it for the right to absorb energy. Now that he was stronger, the pothos feared it might not even be able to protect its own life.