The Wizard's Pursuit of Truth

「Futu Kingdom.」

Vast green vines clung to the massive city walls, entwined like a spiderweb. They were even denser at the city gates, where a huge, drooping flower bud grew at the heart of the cluster.

Human skeletons were tangled in the vines, hanging on the city walls. They had clearly been drained of their flesh and blood, pierced through the throat and abdomen.

The entire city had fallen into a dead silence. Not a single sound could be heard, and even birds gave the sky above the city a wide berth.

’It seems I’ve arrived too late.’

A figure in a black Wizard Robe stood not far from the city. He pulled back his hood, revealing a pair of beautiful eyes, as deep and dark as a starry sky. A beauty mark near the corner of one eye added a touch of bewitching charm to his fair and handsome features.

In the mortal world, he would have easily been acclaimed as the most handsome man in the kingdom.

Combined with the natural presence and unique charisma of a Wizard, both men and women would find their gazes drawn to him.

The figures standing behind Wang Ya, despite their wandering thoughts, did not dare to look for too long. Fear was etched on their faces as they kept their heads lowered to show respect for the Master Wizard.

The Royal Guard from the Capital City, clad in Armor and wielding Cross Longswords, were battle-hardened veterans. Yet, upon seeing the state of the city, their faces turned pale with fright, and they dared not approach.

A young, blond-haired man from among those they were protecting stepped forward. He bowed slightly and said, ”Respected Master Wizard, we can’t determine when the vine monster in the city first appeared. It has been growing continuously, apparently absorbing the flesh and blood of the citizens over time to become what it is now.”

”Furthermore, this vine is completely impervious to blades; Sharp Weapons are useless against it. We even tried using fire and managed to burn a portion of it, but there are simply too many vines. The green fluid they secrete extinguishes the flames directly.”

”I cannot be certain how many people are still alive inside the city, but please, Master Wizard, do what you must. The Futu Kingdom will fully support your actions.”

Wang Ya glanced at the young, blond-haired man with some surprise. ’His name is Tucson, and it seems he’s the Crown Prince of the Futu Kingdom. He’ll surely be the next King.’

’In terms of Ability, he is indeed outstanding. He knew to try and deal with the problem beforehand, and when he couldn’t, he recorded its characteristics.’

’If this Tucson Futu takes the throne, this Mortal Kingdom should prosper.’

His current location was within the Illusion Illusory Dream Territory. His new assigned task was to handle this incident, a rampage suspected to be caused by the Low-tier Extraordinary Creature, the ’Blood-sucking King Vine’.

The intelligence seemed to be accurate. Based on his current observations, he could confirm that it was indeed the ’Blood-sucking King Vine’.

Whether someone had caused this intentionally or if it was an accident remained to be seen.

He held a True Sight Ball in his hand, recording the scene, as information about the Blood-sucking King Vine surfaced in his mind.

[Blood-sucking King Vine: An Extraordinary Creature evolved from a large aggregation of blood-sucking vines. Extraordinary Properties: Blood-sucking regeneration, secretion of a hallucinogenic fluid, secondary hardness, secondary toughness.]

[Weaknesses: Ordinary fire can cause damage, but the Effect is not significant. Energy Flame and Fire Elemental Particle Energy Witchcraft can inflict fatal damage that is difficult for it to self-extinguish.]

[Value: 1. Can be used as a primary or auxiliary ingredient for Extraordinary Potions such as ’Sea Moon Heart’, ’Echo’, ’Brandy’, and so on. 2. The secreted green fluid can be used as a lubricant in the alchemical forging of certain special Witchcraft Artifacts. 3. Low-tier Extraordinary Essence can be extracted and redeemed at the Dark Land Headquarters for a corresponding amount of Magic Stones.]

Wang Ya’s eyes lit up. ’This is good stuff. The Blood-sucking King Vine should have a main core, or a core seed, so to speak.’

With the tenacious Life Force of the Blood-sucking King Vine, as long as it’s planted and given enough nutrients and flesh, it can grow endlessly.

Of course, profiting from it this way would be difficult. Only one Blood-sucking King Vine can exist at a time.

The idea of planting it, harvesting it at maturity to extract the essence, then leaving the seed to plant and harvest again flashed through Wang Ya’s mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

The cost in time and resources was too high. Even if he did manage it, the Magic Stones he’d acquire wouldn’t be worth as much as just taking on a few more Wizard Tasks.

The reward for completing this assigned task was 80 Magic Stones and 50 Dark Points.

What he was thinking was that his Wizard’s Garden at his Wizard’s Residence didn’t have any Magical Plants yet.

Furthermore, the current progress of his Gundas’ Dog experiment was still focused on fusing Harak’s flesh with Gendas Flesh.

He had encountered some difficult problems and had tried many solutions, but all had failed. It was similar to the rejection phenomenon in Extraordinary Bloodline fusion.

Considering the variables from multiple angles, perhaps he could try fusing the Gendas Flesh with a Magical Plant to see if he could find a breakthrough.

”You’ve been thorough,” Wang Ya said with a slight nod.

He started walking toward the city gate. The green vines, which had been dormant, clearly sensed Wang Ya’s presence. The unique fluctuation of his Particle Energy made the Blood-sucking King Vine both intensely covetous and fearful of the threat he posed.

At the gate, the massive flower bud formed by the convergence of countless vines began to lift its head slightly, like a cold, venomous snake flicking its tongue at Wang Ya.

Wang Ya’s expression was perfectly calm. To him, an assigned task like this posed no real difficulty.