I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield

Chapter 518: Chapter 421: Three Heavenly Tribulations of Plants, Jie La—Stage 7

Bang~

The crimson Fire of Tribulation spread quickly along Jie La’s vine like a parasitic fly, its high temperature twisting the ripples of energy in the subspace.

Qin Tian clenched his fist, his gaze firmly locked onto the vine in the air — fire is the natural enemy of plants, let alone the Fire of Tribulation with its rules of destruction. Even with the Center of Wood Marrow protecting, he couldn’t help but feel tense and worried.

But the next second, Qin Tian was stunned.

Although Jie La’s vine was charred and curled, and many small branches were reduced to ashes, the main vine and the sturdy branches did not collapse. Instead, they trembled slightly in the Fire of Tribulation, as if… absorbing the flames?

This is… the talent of the Soul-Devouring Demon Vine!

Qin Tian’s eyes lit up. The Soul-Devouring Demon Vine can devour any energy, even the Fire of Tribulation, as long as it’s within Jie La’s tolerance limit, it can be converted into her nutrients.

It seems he has greatly underestimated Jie La’s strength.

Just as the thought fell, Jie La’s vine suddenly burst with a stronger suction, and the originally rampant crimson Fire of Tribulation found an escape, being rapidly absorbed by the vine.

Beneath the charred surface, new green buds constantly sprouted, the vine becoming tougher and thicker than before, and even a faint fire pattern appeared on the surface, with life force spreading like a tide.

In just the time of half an incense stick, the crimson Fire of Tribulation was completely devoured, Jie La’s aura not only did not weaken but grew stronger — the first Fire of Tribulation refining, successfully endured!

The residual warmth of the crimson Fire of Tribulation had not completely dissipated, the chaotic air flow in subspace was still slightly twisted by the high temperature, yet, the anomaly on Jie La had already suddenly descended.

The vine, which had become tougher in the Fire of Tribulation, suddenly lost all its luster in an instant, the emerald green surface rapidly losing color, first turning gray, then quickly to a dark brown, like dead wood deprived of all moisture, fragile at a touch.

Then, wisps of black smoke emerged from the vine’s patterns, not ordinary ashes from burning, but carrying a strong “decay” aura. As soon as it appeared, it wrapped around the vine’s surface, burrowing into the veins beneath like a parasitic fly, leaving the veins once filled with life energy instantly withered, becoming black lines.

The leaves that had spread began to yellow and curl, like vegetation struck by severe frost. In mere breaths, the yellow spread across the entire leaf, drying up and becoming brittle.

“Rustle rustle—” Amidst the faint sound, the dry leaves fell like autumn leaves, upon contact with the chaotic air flow in subspace, instantly turned to powder without leaving a trace.

In just a few moments, all the leaves on Jie La’s thousands of branches had fallen, leaving only the bare vine, appearing particularly desolate in subspace.

Even more frightening, the withering trend continued towards the main vine. Originally robust like a barrel, its surface glowed with health, but now, the life was rapidly being extracted from beneath the surface, the once full vine began to cave in, wrinkled with deep folds, like an old man’s withered skin.

A faint “crack” sound came from inside the vine, the sound of veins breaking from losing energy support, each one sounding like life’s departure.

“It’s the Withering Calamity!” Dongfang Mingyue’s voice grew heavy again, “It specifically targets spirit plants’ life essence, many spirit plants endure the Fire of Tribulation, yet fail at this stage!”

Instantly, Qin Tian’s heart leapt to his throat.

Jie La’s vine was withering at an astonishing rate, within less than a quarter of an hour, nearly half of the branches were completely shriveled, the withering range still extending towards the main vine.

Jie La’s consciousness transmitted a wave of pain, she exerted all her energy to resist the withering force with her life force.

Just as the main vine was about to show signs of withering, the Center of Wood Marrow, entwined at the center of the main vine, suddenly erupted with dazzling green light.

A vast spiritual energy far exceeding before burst out like a volcano, quickly spreading along the vine.

The moment the withering vine touched the spiritual energy, it was rejuvenated, the shriveled skin beneath filled again with emerald “juices,” new branches and leaves growing wildly visible to the naked eye, fiercely combating the still-spreading withering black gas — like two armies strangling each other, one representing vitality, the other destruction.

Finally, with the support of the Center of Wood Marrow, the spiritual energy completely suppressed the withering black gas, gradually expelling and devouring it.

Jie La’s vine grew crazily, the diameter of the main vine grew several times larger than before, the branches extending thousands of meters away, the burgeoning life force impacting the surrounding energy clouds like a tsunami, pushing the purple cloud clusters several miles away — the second Withering Calamity, safely passed!

However, the most perilous test followed immediately.

Without the scorching heat of the Fire of Tribulation, without the visible traces of withering, but at the same time Qin Tian and Dongfang Mingyue felt a piercing chill.

The next second, Jie La suddenly let out an extremely sharp scream — the sound didn’t travel through the air, but resounded directly in the two’s sea of consciousness, carrying heart-wrenching pain, as if her soul was being forcibly torn.

Then, the vine in the air completely lost control, starting to twist and flail madly.

The originally spread main vine, like a giant snake caught in a whirlwind, violently rolled in the subspace, its body colliding with the energy cloud, scattering the purple cloud dregs everywhere.

Thousands of branches acted like whips out of control, wildly lashing in all directions, some smashing floating energy crystals, others leaving fine cracks in space, some entangling, strangling each other, as if venting the internal pain through destruction.

Their movements were much like a human struggling and rolling under extreme torture, each twist carried a force of despair, each lash delivered soul-level pain.

Even more alarming, Jie La’s once steadily rising life fluctuation was now drastically fluctuating and chaotic like a lake under a storm, sometimes soaring to the extreme as if breaking free, sometimes plunging to a trough, weak to the point of almost completely vanishing, each fluctuation challenged the threshold of existence.

Qin Tian’s heart clenched again, he could clearly sense Jie La’s condition through the soul link — her soul’s core seemed to be thrown into a meat grinder, countless invisible forces fiercely swirling and crushing her soul’s core, those forces filled with cold destruction aura, targeting the fragile soul structure of spirit plants, intending to obliterate her consciousness completely.

“It’s the Soul Tribulation!” Dongfang Mingyue’s voice was heavy, “Spirit plants’ souls are naturally fragile, the soul impact of the Celestial Plant Tribulation directly targets the source, if they can’t withstand it, their soul will be scattered!”

At this moment, Qin Tian could even feel Jie La’s panic and pain in her consciousness, her soul as if a small boat in a hurricane, poised to capsize at any moment.

Just then, the Center of Wood Marrow glowed again, but this time not vast spiritual energy, instead a strand of gentle green light, directly permeating Jie La’s soul level.

The green light acted as a warm shield, holding Jie La’s soul firmly. The invisible soul impact pounded the shield like waves, the green light dented once and rebounded each time, gradually diminishing the impact.

The energy of the Center of Wood Marrow was rapidly consuming, its surface green light gradually dulling, but it staunchly supported, shielding Jie La’s soul from one lethal impact after another.

Seeing this, Qin Tian and Dongfang Mingyue both breathed a sigh of relief.

No one knew how long it took, but when the final soul impact was defused by the green light, the surrounding space finally returned to calm.

Jie La’s vine stopped twisting, slowly relaxing, golden spirit patterns emerged on the main vine, rich life energy and soul power intertwined, forming a dazzling pillar of light, shooting deep into subspace.

“Qin Tian, she broke through! Jie La reached Tier Seven!” Dongfang Mingyue excitedly grabbed Qin Tian’s arm.

Qin Tian also breathed a sigh of relief, a gratified smile appearing on his face.

After experiencing the baptism of the three Celestial Plant Tribulations, Jie La not only successfully broke through, her soul and spiritual body underwent a qualitative leap, at this moment, she has truly become a Tier Seven spirit plant.