Little Shrubby swiped his claws at the circling vines, cutting a few of them but they simply grew back.
~HISS~
His claws roared with flames, trying to burn away the vines, making the water around them boil instantly. More vines were charred and crumbled to dust, but more replaced them.
Lin Mu and the Saintess watched from the side, as Little Shrubby fought against the Immortal Tribulation.
'This is certainly different than others. It doesn't seem to have strong power directly, but it's very persistent.' Lin Mu thought as he observed the tribulation.
The vines kept on growing and wrapping around Little Shrubby while the beast tried to get free from them.
~GROWL~
But that wasn't all, as the vines actually did a lot more than could be seen.
"It's… Draining Little Shrubby's Vitality!" Though their link, Lin Mu could tell that the vitality of Little Shrubby was falling.
He could also sense the vitality being drawn away by the vines, and flowing through them allowing them to grow even more.
"If this keeps on going, Little Shrubby would have a difficult time." Lin Mu furrowed his brows.
The Wood elemental Immortal Tribulation was something that tested the vitality of the immortal. Since the wood element was from plants that were representative of vitality, their test was similar.
One needed to either repel the vines, or have enough vitality to sustain the draining of their vitality.
"Such is the Wood Elemental Immortal Tribulation. It is not something that most immortals would take in their latter years or if they were nearing the end of their lifespan.
It is something they should take when they still have a lot of vitality and lifespan left, or they might just die from its loss." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu took note of it, and wondered if he should also go for the Wood Elemental Immortal Tribulation for his next Immortal Tribulation. After all, he had more than enough vitality to get through it.
'But Little Shrubby still needs to get through it…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
He stood there along with the Saintess for about thirty minutes, while Little Shrubby continued its battle against the vines. By now the vines had drained away a significant portion of the beast's vitality.
It was such much that it was now reflecting on Little Shrubby's body.
His fur was stained with blood, where the thorns of the vines had dug in. The smooth luster of his fur was also getting weaker, with the fall in vitality. Not just that, but Lin Mu could feel the internal Vitality of Little Shrubby falling too.
~WHOOSH~
A burst of flames burned away a portion of the vines, but soon more replaced them.
Exhaustion could be seen in the eyes of Little Shrubby who was facing his toughest trial so far.
As much as Lin Mu wanted to help him, he knew that Little Shrubby needed to do this on his own. He could only watch nervously and grit his teeth as the beast suffered.
The Saintess's expression couldn't be seen through her veil, but a heavy feeling surrounded her as well.
Little Shrubby was now tightly wrapped in the vines, its sharp thorns digging into his flesh. With the constant drain on his vitality, he was unable to heal it in time and his defense was also lowered.
But all this only led to the beast getting furious.
~GRRR~
All the fur on Little Shrubby's body ignited at that moment as the power of Dao Traces could be felt from him.
~HONG~
A shining object rose from his body, and hovered over him. It was in the shape of a V and was something Lin Mu was familiar with.
"His Dao Shell…" Lin Mu watched as the Dao Embryo within it emitted the power of the Dao Traces.
The Dao Embryo was in the shape of a clawed hand and was red and orange in color. There were many runes tattooed on the hand as well and they were all glowing in a yellow light now.
"Sky Scorching Claw Dao Embryo!" Little Shrubby called out as his Dao Embryo showed its strength.
The Dao Shell along with the Dao Embryo was coated in a layer of flames that were orange in color. A searing heat was emitting from them, and was affecting the surroundings.
Even the protective runes and formations of the courtyard were being affected as they flickered non stop. It was clear that they were burning too, and their durability was falling.
Lin Mu could feel the heat too that was actually able to get through his defenses!
He took a few steps back, and circulated his qi, enhancing his defense against the heat. Only the Saintess was unaffected, but that was to be expected.
~SHUA~
The large flaming claw's heat burned away the vines, before tearing them away from Little Shrubby's body.
Freed from the vines, Little Shrubby was now able to move. But not long after, more vines grew out from the air, trying to wrap around him again. This time though, Little Shrubby let the claw continue its work.
It kept on spinning around his body, burning and tearing away all that came at him.
This continued for five minutes, after which a certain change happened.
~HUALA~
"It's getting stronger!" Lin Mu's eyes widened.
Instead of getting weaker, the wood elemental tribulation had just increased its intensity.
~SLAP~
~WHIPS
~CRACK~
The vines grew rapidly and whipped away at Little Shrubby, inflicting long gashes on his body. Wherever the vines struck a line of grey and red could be seen.
The red was the blood that was leaking out from his flesh, while the Grey was the flesh that was dying due to the drained vitality. It was certain that the vines were rather deadly now.
Lin Mu's expression fell as Little Shrubby's vitality started to plummet. Even his Dao Shell and Dao Embryo slowed down, before finally coming to a stop. Little Shrubby's eyes dulled as well, before closing.
"No…"
