Cave Refuge

As the gray-green liquid droplets landed on the Spiritual Power Shield, protecting his body like an upright oval rugby ball, the liquid immediately slid off the smooth surface of the Spiritual Power Shield and fell to the ground around him.

Once the thorns from the vines had all dissolved into liquid and completely vanished, the vines had exhausted all means of attack.

Standing within the Spiritual Power Shield, Dong Tianyu didn't resort to other means of attack either. Drawing a Flying Sword from his Storage Space, he made a light swipe, and the cocoon of vines that had enveloped him was instantly split in two.

When Dong Tianyu emerged from the cocoon of vines and saw the daylight once more, he suddenly noticed that the wild grasses on the ground, which had previously stood erect as if they were gleaming with a metallic sheen, were now swaying gently in the breeze like ordinary wild grass.

The malicious intent that had surrounded him had also completely vanished. Were it not for the abundance of tree leaves at his feet and the remnants of the vines that the Flying Sword had cleaved in two, Dong Tianyu might have thought his recent experiences were nothing but a dream.

Even if someone could anticipate the danger lurking in a suddenly emerging forest, who could have foreseen that all the plants in the forest—down to the simple blade of grass underfoot—would attack humans who entered it?

However, if someone, like Dong Tianyu, managed to survive the successive attacks from various plants, the malice the forest had directed at them would disappear, and the plants would no longer initiate attacks.

Apart from this scenario, perhaps the only possibility lay in not concealing one's strength, as Dong Tianyu had when he first entered the forest.

The plants in the forest must possess an ability to sense the strength of creatures that enter, and if one's power exceeds a certain threshold, the plants probably wouldn't attack on their own initiative either.

But as Dong Tianyu's recent episode revealed, though the plants had the ability to sense, they lacked the ability to think. They were like Mechanical Puppets set with predetermined targets—once the targets were met, all the plants in the forest would attack.

However, once he had successfully breached their defenses, any subsequent moves within the forest wouldn't attract further assaults from the plants.

Despite the disappearance of the intense malice that had encircled him, Dong Tianyu still did not dispel the Spiritual Power Shield protecting him.

As Dong Tianyu continued to walk deeper into the forest, before long, he started to discover a variety of plants all around him that had not been there before.

Before the attack from the plants, even after an hour of walking in the forest, Dong Tianyu had only encountered wild grass, wildflowers, and trees of unknown species.

But after fending off the plants' attacks, merely a few minutes of walking forward suddenly brought him into contact with a continuous array of different plants.

Although Dong Tianyu's understanding of most plants was basic, he was surprised to find that many plants, which shouldn't bear fruit in the same season, were all fruiting at the same time, and from appearances alone, those fruits seemed fully ripe.

Faced with this peculiar sight, Dong Tianyu wasn't overly surprised; considering his own Cave possessed similar abilities, this kind of phenomenon, while wondrous in the eyes of others, was nothing extraordinary to him.

Looking around at the variety of plants, from staple crops and vegetables commonly seen before the Natural Disaster, to the fruit trees he discovered as he ventured further, Dong Tianyu at first thought he might have fallen into an illusion. But considering the Spiritual Power Shield he maintained for protection had not shattered, it was unlikely he was trapped in any illusion.

Including the meticulous use of "Divine Sense" to inspect the surrounding environment, Zachary confirmed that the plants appearing around him were real and that there were no traps or so-called "Guardian Beasts" near them. He speculated that this might be the reward for passing the recent test.

For others, such a reward might be very enticing. After all, facing the mature crops ready for harvest—whether grains, vegetables, or the hundred different kinds of fruit—it was hugely attractive to most of the survivors who had made it this far.

It was like the old saying went, "If I never saw the light, how would I know that I am in darkness?"

Although the "Natural Disaster" had been occurring for several years now, most survivors had still experienced the blissful life before the disaster. They had tasted most of the vegetables and fruits that now appeared around them. It was precisely because they knew how they tasted that they went crazy upon seeing them again.

But for Dong Tianyu, who never lacked these things and even produced better fruits in his "Cave," the fruits and vegetables around him held almost no allure.

Ignoring the plants around him, Dong Tianyu continued towards the depths of the forest.

He walked on for an unknown distance until he noticed a very distinct boundary line ahead.

This so-called "boundary line" had no signs or markers, but just by looking, one could feel a clear difference between the two sides.

The difference was like using a media player to play two identical videos, where the resolution of one video was 480p and the other 1080p. While it might be hard to describe the difference in words, it was easy to distinguish just by feeling it.

Faced with this situation, Dong Tianyu instantly turned serious from his previously relaxed demeanor. Nonetheless, without any hesitation, he stepped into the other area of the boundary line.

No sooner had he stepped over the line than he was greeted by the "enthusiastic hospitality" of the plants living in that area.

Upon entering this area, Dong Tianyu immediately noticed that the outside of his "Spiritual Power Shield" was, unbeknownst to him, bristling with many hair-thin "Flying Needles," which on closer inspection appeared to be long spines from plants similar to cacti.

Compared to the leaves that had simply bounced off the "Spiritual Power Shield," doing it no harm, these "Flying Needles" had actually managed to stick into the shield.

Although they had only penetrated less than two micrometers deep into the "Spiritual Power Shield," it was a true strike that reached the "Companion Spiritual Treasure," signifying that the shield could no longer repel attacks from this area unscathed.

Accompanying the "Flying Needles" on the shield, a pale green mist gradually enveloped Dong Tianyu's surroundings.

Even though his entire body was completely encased by the "Spiritual Power Shield" and didn't directly come into contact with the pale green mist that suddenly appeared, the scene itself hinted that the encircling mist was likely poison gas.

Regardless of the strength of the toxic fog in the air, facing the all-encompassing "Spiritual Power Shield," it was almost impossible for the mist to inflict even the slightest harm upon Dong Tianyu.

Continuing onward under these attacks for not much further, Dong Tianyu suddenly found his path obstructed by a giant "Banyan Forest."

"Banyan Forest" referred to what was commonly known as "a forest from a single tree." Upon discovering that the area ahead was occupied by a "Banyan Forest," Dong Tianyu's first thought wasn't to bulldoze his way through, but to survey the surroundings to see if he could detour around it.