He was out of options!

Then,

Tang Yuan, son of the Five Poison Wanderer, stepped forward.

With a flash of light, an entirely emerald-green Crystal Stone appeared in his hand.

"This is a Cyan Wood Elemental Crystal, an excellent choice for cultivating Spirit Plants."

This Cyan Wood Elemental Crystal was a Treasure no less valuable than Beast Blood Wood. A single fist-sized piece was worth over ten thousand Spirit Stones!

And the one in Tang Yuan’s hand was significantly larger than an average fist.

He also chose to use it as bait, attempting to lure the Demon Plant away.

This time,

the attempt went better than when Jiang Yunsheng had used the Beast Blood Wood.

The Demon Plant actually detached more than halfway, appearing to desperately covet the Cyan Wood Elemental Crystal, but it ultimately retreated.

’This Demon Plant is so cautious.’

Tang Yuan looked displeased.

He didn’t give up, however, as he had come specifically for this Demon Plant and intended to take it with him.

Next,

he took out numerous Treasures, even borrowing the Beast Blood Wood from Jiang Yunsheng, and tried to lure the Demon Plant with multiple items at once.

But no matter what he tried, the Demon Plant refused to completely leave Wu Ming’s body.

Finally,

Tang Yuan had no choice but to give up.

"Daoist Wu, my skills are lacking. I can’t do anything more!"

A flicker of regret crossed his eyes as he put away his Treasures and retreated to one side to recover his Magical Power.

In the hidden chamber,

only Li Chang’an had yet to act.

But after the other three had failed, Wu Ming no longer held out any hope.

Any one of those three had a greater reputation than Li Chang’an.

’If even they were helpless, what could Li Chang’an possibly do?’

"Daoist Li, would you like to give it a try?"

Wu Ming asked Li Chang’an casually, his expression grim.

Li Chang’an considered it for a moment.

"Alright, I’ll give it a try as well."

With that, he remained motionless, only extending a wisp of his Divine Sense to slowly approach the Demon Plant.

Imbued within this wisp of Divine Sense was his conviction for eternal life.

Seeing this,

the others were somewhat puzzled.

Tang Yuan’s pupils glowed emerald green as he stared at Li Chang’an.

"Daoist Li, are you planning to use yourself as bait to attract the Demon Vine?"

"Not at all. I’m merely communicating with it."

"Communicating?"

Tang Yuan found the idea absurd but kept his thoughts to himself.

’This Demon Plant is bizarre and extremely wary. How could it possibly be easy to communicate with?’

He simply said flatly, "Well, I wish Daoist Li success, then."

’In his view, this attempt at communication was doomed to fail.’

The other two thought so as well.

Wu Ming was even more disappointed, sighing to himself, ’It seems this Li Fan has only just reached Foundation Establishment. He must not have any Treasures, so he can only resort to this kind of method to deal with the Demon Vine.’

’If communication actually worked, I would have been free long ago!’

’Why would I have needed to risk my life entering the Black Dragon Mountain Range?’

Sure enough,

for the next quarter of an hour,

the Demon Vine showed only a faint reaction to the conviction for eternal life that Li Chang’an was transmitting; it was not a strong response at all.

Wu Ming couldn’t help but send a private Sound Transmission: "Daoist Li, this Demon Vine was already difficult to handle. After the luring attempts by Daoist Jiang and the others, it’s become even warier than before. It’s perfectly normal to be unable to communicate with it."

He was saying this to give Li Chang’an a graceful way out.

But Li Chang’an didn’t seem to grasp the underlying meaning of his words.

He said in a low voice, "Daoist Wu, don’t be hasty. Just wait a little longer."

As he spoke,

he released a sliver of Evergreen Magical Power.

This sliver of Magical Power was far from simple; it contained a full day of his lifespan!

Cultivators of the Ancient Wood Evergreen Technique could consume their own lifespan to ripen Spirit Plants or heal the sick, but Li Chang’an had never used this ability before, simply because he had never deemed it worthwhile.

Today was the first time he had ever used this ability.

The moment this sliver of Magical Power touched the Demon Vine,

it suddenly froze.

Then,

it reacted with unprecedented violence, as if it had gone mad!

"CHH... CHH..."

It frantically tore out its own roots, rapidly detaching from Wu Ming’s body and lunging toward Li Chang’an.

Upon seeing this,

everyone present was utterly shocked.

’They simply couldn’t comprehend how Li Chang’an had done it.’

Amidst his shock, a look of joyous surprise washed over Wu Ming’s face. The roots that had pierced his Meridians, Dantian, and internal organs had all been withdrawn!

"Daoist Li, just hold on a little longer!"

He hurriedly sent a Sound Transmission, terrified that Li Chang’an would give up now.

But Li Chang’an had come for the Evergreen Vine from the very beginning; he had no intention of giving up halfway.

Just a few breaths later,

the Demon Vine had completely detached from Wu Ming’s body. It transformed into a thrashing, scarlet monstrosity that lunged wildly at Li Chang’an.

Clearly,

it wanted to make Li Chang’an its new host!

But what Li Chang’an wanted was not a parasitic relationship, but the symbiotic one mentioned in the Spirit Ascension Technique!

With a flicker of movement, he dodged it and unleashed streams of Evergreen Magical Power to ensnare the Demon Vine.

Then,

he transmitted more of his conviction for eternal life.

Enveloped by wisps of this conviction, the Demon Vine gradually grew calm.

Its scarlet vines slowly turned gray—similar to how they looked when affected by the Hundred Withering Talisman’s power—and began to crumble into ash.

This scene left everyone present even more stunned.

"The Demon Vine is withering on its own!"

’None of them understood what was happening.’

Only Li Chang’an himself knew the truth.

Under the influence of his conviction, the Demon Vine had abandoned its current twisted, bloodthirsty power. It had chosen to be reborn, to grow into a true Eternal Green Vine!

「A moment later.」

All the Demon Vine’s tendrils and roots had turned to ash.

In the pile of ash, only a single, emerald-like, bluish-green seed remained.

"Come!"

Li Chang’an beckoned with his hand.

The seed flew into his palm.

’He felt a surge of excitement. This was, after all, a Heaven and Earth Spirit Root—his hope for improving his own Spiritual Root.’

But he concealed his excitement well.

"Daoist Wu, it seems this Demon Vine and I share a certain affinity. Would you be willing to sell it to me?"