Having navigated past the perilous period where his meridians nearly ruptured, the surge of vital energy from the Zhu Guo began to wane. With a steadier heart, Ye Qin dismissed all extraneous thoughts and commenced circulating the Zuo Wang Sutra, focusing all his effort on absorbing the vital energy.

Several days later, Ye Qin finally finished absorbing the entirety of that small piece of Zhu Guo flesh.

Ye Qin slowly concluded his cultivation, his eyes slowly parting. A faint divine luminescence seemed to swirl within them—a clear sign of profound cultivation depth. After a considerable pause, this radiance vanished, retracting and ceasing to leak outward.

“Nascent Soul Stage, Layer Two, Mid-Phase.”

“From Layer One to the Mid-Phase of Layer Two. Just one sliver of Zhu Guo flesh advanced my cultivation by nearly one and a half layers! And there are dozens of Zhu Guo remaining; it seems enough to propel me to the peak of the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul Stage. What a pity. Consuming them consecutively would destabilize the foundation of my realm, leading to severe repercussions. Otherwise, I could potentially reach the Late Nascent Soul Stage in one go.”

Ye Qin’s spirits soared.

Cultivation surging too rapidly was not necessarily a good thing for a Nascent Soul cultivator. Insufficient realm foundation coupled with a sudden spike in strength could easily disturb the mind and invite the emergence of inner demons.

Ye Qin dared not consume another Zhu Guo; he needed to wait for some time until the realm of Layer Two, Nascent Soul Stage, stabilized. This would likely take several months at minimum before he could consume a whole Zhu Guo safely. Otherwise, he risked being overloaded and killed by the sheer influx of vital energy.

The stone chamber was secured by the restrictive formation he had laid down; not a trace of the spiritual energy inside leaked out. Over several days, this activity caused no external disturbance.

Ye Qin was in no hurry to leave. With a mere thought, he surveyed the condition of the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine within his Zifu (Purple Mansion).

Previously, Ye Qin had planted a foot-long segment of the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine in the nursery plot within his Wood Mansion, sparing no expense, using tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones to nurture its sprouting.

This sprout of the blood vine had already exploded in growth to dozens of zhang long, rapidly expanding within the designated plot.

The Blood-Devouring Demon Vine possessed vigorous vitality and grew extremely fast; it had already branched out, and one of its tendrils had bloomed, bearing a fruit.

The petals were a pale, blood-tinged color, and the fruit itself was a faint red, bristling with sharp thorns and barbs, its skin rough.

With a flicker of Ye Qin’s divine sense, the vine fruit detached from the blood vine and floated before him.

He then channeled his magic power, peeling open the rind, and extracted over ten seeds of the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine from the fibrous pulp.

After observing closely, Ye Qin examined the newly grown Blood-Devouring Demon Vine and felt something was amiss.

“The seeds are only tenth-tier in quality—early Nascent Soul level!...”

“This Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine has already flowered and fruited, yet its rank only reached the tenth-tier Nascent Soul level, far short of the Soul Transformation stage rank of the external Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine. Why has it topped out at tenth tier and cannot advance further? The spiritual energy produced by these spirit stones here is absolutely abundant, not inferior in the slightest to that in the Demon Realm.”

Ye Qin was puzzled.

He continued adding massive amounts of spirit stones to the nursery plot, cultivating the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine further.

The vine began to flower and fruit continuously, but there was no indication that its rank would ever improve.

Simply by observing the color of the vine’s outer skin, Ye Qin could perceive the vast difference between the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine inside his Zifu and the one guarding the Zhu Guo.

The vine guarding the Zhu Guo tree was deep crimson; once it emitted a bloody light, a baleful aura would shroud several li. The vine in his Zifu was pale red, emitting almost no sense of bloody malevolence. Compared to the external one, this vine was as pure as an infant.

Ye Qin could not immediately decipher the reason for this disparity.

However, fortunately, what he truly desired was not this vine, but the seeds.

“Among Wood-elemental spells, one of the most common offensive spells is the ‘Entangling Spell.’ The cultivation of the Entangling Spell differs completely from that of ordinary spells. Its power does not rely on the spell itself, but rather on the type and quality of the seed used. I wonder how powerful the Entangling Spell would be if cast using the seeds of the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine!...”

Ye Qin withdrew his divine consciousness from the internal Zifu, holding a single Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine seed in his hand, his mind working furiously.

When he was still in the Qi Refining stage, he had used Thorn Seeds to cast the Entangling Spell, finding it quite handy. Later, as his own cultivation advanced too quickly, the Thorn Seeds’ rank was too low, and their power too weak, so he had abandoned this method after failing to find a suitable replacement seed.

This unexpected encounter with an ancient exotic species like the Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine during his trip to the Demon Realm, and obtaining its seeds—a tenth-tier quality equivalent to the early Nascent Soul level, possessing power comparable to a Minor Divine Ability-level flying sword—meant he could naturally take up the Entangling Spell attack method once more.

Holding the seed, Ye Qin rose and left the stone chamber.

He looked up; outside, the Demon Realm was already deep in twilight. He glanced at the map scroll, determined his bearing, and swiftly moved toward the Saluo Trench. Because of the delay caused by the Zhu Guo, he wondered if the Holy Emperor, the Ghost Lord, Old Man Hen Shan, and the others had already reached the Saluo Trench to gather the Purple Spirit Yang Return Grass.

A profound silence reigned; the chirping of insects and birds was almost nonexistent.

This was not a good sign. There were too many lurking demon beasts in the jungle, and any sound could attract the notice of high-level ones.

After stealthily traversing several hundred li, passing through a dense thicket, Ye Qin suddenly stopped, his vigilance spiking. A Nascent Soul cultivator’s instinctive alertness was extremely high; any danger would trigger an immediate, inherent reaction.

There was a dangerous aura ahead.

A spiritual light flashed in Ye Qin’s eyes as he cast the Spirit Eye Technique, sweeping over the bushes ahead. “Demon cultivator!”

As Ye Qin scanned the area, his heart clenched.

In the dark woods ahead, a human-shaped shadow emerged, its two eyes glinting with brutal light. It was concealed perfectly in the treetop canopy.

But no matter how well hidden, it could not entirely mask its demonic aura. Demon cultivators differed from East Sea cultivators; they were not skilled in various concealment techniques, relying solely on innate talent for hiding. Unless the beast was naturally inclined toward stealth, some trace of its presence would inevitably leak out.

With a slight shift in thought, Ye Qin judged the demon cultivator’s strength. This was a Metamorphosis Stage demon cultivator, not a Demon Sage. A Demon Sage would never stoop to lurking in a small thicket for an ambush; they could traverse the Demon Realm openly and fearlessly. Demon cultivators were numerous in the Demon Realm; encountering one or two was not unusual.

Had this been before he acquired the Blood-Devouring Demon Vine, Ye Qin might have been wary and chosen to retreat, avoiding conflict with this cultivator.

But now, with the Blood-Devouring Demon Vine in hand, Ye Qin revealed a faint sneer.

Whether a tenth-tier or a twelfth-tier demon cultivator, they fell within his capacity to handle. Even if he could not win the fight, he possessed the ability to escape.

Ye Qin flipped his right hand; his palm held a ball of cyan light, within which was encased a pale, blood-tinged seed.

“Die.”

Seeing that Ye Qin had discovered it, the demon cultivator let out a low hiss and suddenly lunged out, transforming into a gust of foul wind rushing toward Ye Qin.

In the dim light, Ye Qin clearly made out the cultivator’s appearance: leopard markings on its cheeks, two savage fangs protruding from its mouth—it was clearly a demon cultivator of the Leopard Clan.

“Entangling Spell.”

Ye Qin swiftly pulled back while simultaneously waving his right hand. The cyan light in his palm shot forward, aimed directly at the charging demon cultivator.

The Leopard Clan cultivator roared, its massive palm flashing with yellow light as it struck toward the cyan light, attempting to bat it away.

Crack!

The giant palm struck the cyan light, but the light immediately burst open. The seed grew madly, instantly transforming into a hundred-zhang-long Blood-Devouring Demon Vine. It wrapped around the giant palm, completely enveloping the Leopard Clan cultivator’s arm and body, coiling around it dozens of times, immobilizing it on the spot.

“Roar! Entangling Spell—you are not of the Demon Race... you are an East Sea cultivator?!”

The Leopard Clan cultivator had clearly not anticipated this sudden turn of events. Once entangled, it slammed heavily onto the ground, its expression furious and shocked. It channeled demonic power into both palms, grabbing the Blood-Devouring Vine that constricted its body, desperately tearing and trying to shred the clinging vines into pieces. Crackling sounds. The Blood-Devouring Demon Vine was snapped into sections.

But at that moment, a mass of blood-red barbs erupted from the vine. Pfft. They plunged fiercely into the Leopard Clan cultivator’s flesh and blood.

Essence blood and shredded flesh were frantically sucked into the core of the Blood-Devouring Demon Vine along the barbs.

The Blood-Devouring Demon Vine immediately intensified its bloody glow, wrapping the Leopard Clan cultivator even tighter.

The vine grew stronger while the Leopard Clan cultivator weakened.

The Leopard Clan cultivator shrieked, visibly wasting away at an alarming rate, completely enveloped by the Blood-Devouring Demon Vine, gradually ceasing to move; the screams vanished.

After a short while, the blood vine slowly retracted, leaving behind only a pile of crushed white bones.

The Blood-Devouring Demon Vine swayed gently, its color shifting from pale red to a deeper intensity, gaining a touch of eerie, malevolent blood aura. Having absorbed a demon cultivator’s essence blood, its strength had clearly increased significantly, perhaps reaching the mid-tenth tier.

Ye Qin retreated several hundred zhang away, remotely controlling a set of Minor Divine Ability-level Silver Flood Dragon Flying Blades artifacts, watching the brutal scene with a look of shock.

The Entangling Spell was originally a supportive spell meant to restrain an enemy, binding them with vines to create an opportunity for attack. This Wood-elemental spell typically lacked intense offensive power, serving only for auxiliary combat.

He had intended to use the Entangling Spell to trap the Leopard Clan cultivator and then finish it off with the Silver Flood Dragon Flying Blades. He never expected that the Blood-Devouring Demon Vine’s Entangling Spell would directly eliminate the cultivator, negating the need for his own intervention.

“This Blood-Devouring Demon Vine can absorb essence blood to strengthen itself and increase its rank. When attacking, it is indeed terrifying!...”

Ye Qin marveled inwardly.

Only now did Ye Qin understand the true, monstrous power of that Blood-Devouring Ancient Demon Vine guarding the Zhu Guo tree, which was of the thirteenth-tier Soul Transformation level or higher. If a cultivator of the same level were caught by it, the frenzied draining of blood meant certain death. Only by attacking from afar, never making contact, could one defeat it.

It was no wonder that the Fox Maiden Demon Sage also preferred not to provoke the Blood-Devouring Demon Vine.

While thinking this, Ye Qin’s hands were not slow. He quickly deployed the Spirit Capturing Bottle, storing the demonic spirit of the Leopard Clan cultivator, which was attempting to flee, inside the bottle.

After securing the demonic spirit, Ye Qin turned and headed directly toward the Saluo Trench.

As for the blood-red Blood-Devouring Demon Vine, there was no need to recall it.

Casting the Entangling Spell overdrafts the seed's life force, forcing it to erupt with all its vitality and lifespan in a brilliant, fatal strike, after which it quickly withers and dies. After all, the seed’s vitality and lifespan were finite; its sudden, massive growth had exhausted its entire life essence. Even absorbing the demon cultivator’s essence blood could not compensate for that loss.

A single seed could only cast the Entangling Spell once, without exception.

In this regard, a tenth-tier Blood-Devouring Demon Vine seed was no different from a first or second-tier Thorn Seed.