Chapter 471 - 470-

In the sky, the black vortex spun at an even faster speed, its enormous form twisting and churning as if the heavens themselves were being devoured. The aura of divinity emanating from the Heavenly Vine had also become several times more overwhelming and intense, spreading throughout the entire land like an invisible pressure.

The Heavenly Vine had allowed Grey and Violet to use its divinity after their strange chant and hand seals, but Grey could still feel a hungry gaze being directed at him from an unknown direction.

It was impossible to see the source of that gaze.

Yet Grey could clearly feel it.

It was as if an invisible pair of eyes was staring directly at them, observing them and the divinity covering their bodies with an almost palpable hunger. The feeling was extremely dangerous.

It was as though the moment they showed even the slightest sign of weakness, the existence hiding somewhere within the Heavenly Vine would pounce on them and devour them completely.

Grey did not need anyone to tell him where that gaze came from.

He already knew.

It was the Heavenly Vine.

"The hunger and anger it has toward us is so great that it actually wants to devour us whole while we’re still covered in its own divine aura!"

The moment Grey realized this, his pupils dilated slightly.

He could feel the terrifying hostility hidden beneath the overwhelming divine aura.

It was strange.

The Heavenly Vine was lending them its divinity, yet at the same time, it seemed to regard them as prey.

Perhaps the strange chant and hand seals had temporarily allowed them to borrow its power, but that did not mean the Heavenly Vine had truly accepted them.

Eventually, the shadow struggled to suppress the blood-red divinity.

Its form trembled violently as it continued devouring the divine power, its body constantly swelling and contracting under the immense pressure. It was only after it had devoured close to eighty percent of the blood-red divinity that Grey finally released the suppressive power of the Purple Crystal.

The terrifying pressure immediately weakened.

Grey exhaled softly before turning toward Violet.

Violet was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.

For a brief moment, she seemed completely stunned by what she had just witnessed.

However, she quickly realized that she was the older sister here and immediately recovered her composure. She straightened her expression and calmly spoke.

"Let’s go. Now that we have suppressed the divinity, we can go closer without facing the danger of being instantly devoured."

As soon as she finished speaking, Violet took to the skies in a flash of blood-red light.

The mould of flesh in her hand squirmed and twitched violently. Its strange body continuously distorted as its own divinity battled against the blood-red divinity surrounding it, fighting desperately for dominance.

Grey similarly took to the skies.

The purple phantom finally caught up to him after struggling through the terrifying divine pressure. Its body flickered several times before transforming into a shadow that stepped forward and overlapped with Grey’s body.

In the blink of an eye, the purple phantom had returned to Grey’s sea of consciousness.

However, the moment Grey looked at it, his expression changed.

Heavy cracks and tears covered the purple phantom’s body.

Its once-solid form had been damaged badly, and within those cracks and tears, a foreign aura was slowly spreading through its body.

Grey immediately recognized that aura.

Divinity.

His expression became solemn.

The divinity had actually seeped into the purple phantom’s body.

He had not expected that even after the purple phantom had devoured so much of the Heavenly Vine’s divinity, a portion of that strange power would still remain inside it.

However, before Grey could do anything, something happened.

The moment the purple phantom entered his sea of consciousness, the instincts of the Purple Crystal were immediately triggered.

It was as though the Purple Crystal had sensed that a foreign substance had entered Grey’s body.

Without requiring Grey’s command, it immediately began circulating on its own.

A profound purple radiance spread throughout the sea of consciousness as the Purple Crystal released its suppressive power.

The foreign divinity within the purple phantom immediately began to tremble.

It tried to spread further, but the invisible suppressive force descended upon it like an enormous mountain.

The divinity was forcefully suppressed.

Seeing this, Grey finally let out a sigh of relief.

At least for now, the divinity would not be able to take over the purple phantom.

He no longer hesitated and immediately accelerated toward the Heavenly Vine.

A faint blood-red radiance surrounded his body, blending with the divine aura that covered him. Yet beneath that blood-red radiance, a domineering purple hue could faintly be seen glowing underneath his skin.

The two powers existed together in a strange balance.

At this point, Grey could already guess their next course of action.

And he was preparing accordingly.

Within his mind, the image of the Purple Sword slowly began to take shape.

It was no longer necessary for him to physically carry the sword.

As long as he could form its shadow within his mind, he could summon it instantly and unleash a slash at its full power.

Grey’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He had a feeling that whatever awaited them at the Heavenly Vine would not be simple.

As they flew through the air, the dark vortex above them suddenly spun even faster.

The already terrifying vortex became increasingly violent.

The darkness within it churned like an endless abyss, and faint crimson light began flashing inside its depths.

Then—

BOOM!

Red lightning suddenly descended from the heavens.

Countless streaks of crimson lightning fell from the black vortex like brilliant red serpents, tearing through the sky with terrifying speed.

The lightning struck the ground one after another, causing the entire land to tremble.

Several bolts fell dangerously close to Grey.

One streak passed directly beside his body.

The moment it did, Grey’s expression changed.

An intense sense of danger instantly flooded his mind.

His instincts screamed at him to avoid it.

Without hesitation, Grey twisted his body and narrowly avoided another streak of red lightning.

The crimson bolt passed only a few inches away from him before crashing into the blood-red land below.

BOOM!

The earth exploded.

Grey’s eyes narrowed.

Even while covered in the Heavenly Vine’s divinity, he still felt an enormous threat from the red lightning.

He became even more cautious.

"Don’t get struck by the lightning," Grey warned.

Violet did not respond verbally, but her movements immediately became more careful.

The two continued flying through the chaotic sky.

In the span of a few breaths, Grey and Violet shot past the blood-red land that had begun completely covering the surrounding area.

The world beneath them had already changed beyond recognition.

Everything was covered in crimson.

The ground.

The trees.

The distant mountains.

Even the air seemed to have been stained by the blood-red divinity.

And at the center of everything stood the enormous Heavenly Vine.

It had long since turned completely blood red.

Its massive vines stretched through the sky like enormous pillars supporting the heavens. Countless branches twisted together, while terrifying divine fluctuations continuously pulsed from within its body.

Grey and Violet finally arrived before it.

Without slowing down, they landed directly upon one of the enormous vines.

The moment their feet touched the Heavenly Vine—

Grey’s body trembled.

Violet’s body trembled as well.

Both of their eyes widened.

Their mouths opened slightly in shock.

A strange sensation instantly surged through their bodies.

Resonance.

A powerful and indescribable resonance.

It was as if something deep within their very existence had suddenly awakened.

Grey felt an invisible force pulling at his body.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

It was as though his very soul was being drawn toward the Heavenly Vine.

For a moment, he had the strange illusion that he was no longer standing upon the vine.

Instead, he was becoming part of it.

His flesh.

His blood.

His soul.

Everything seemed to be resonating with the enormous divine entity beneath his feet.

It felt as if, with just a single thought, his body could completely fuse into the Heavenly Vine.

Grey’s heart shook.

"What is this...?"

He could not explain the sensation.

It was neither pleasant nor painful.

It was simply overwhelming.

And the most frightening part was that the resonance was becoming stronger.

Beside him, Violet’s expression had also become extremely solemn.

She could clearly feel the same thing.

The Heavenly Vine was reacting to their presence.

It had sensed them.

And judging from the increasingly violent fluctuations coming from its enormous blood-red body, its reaction was far from ordinary.

The countless vines around them began to tremble.

The divine aura in the surroundings suddenly surged.

Even the black vortex above seemed to react to the change.

Grey slowly raised his head.

His gaze became increasingly serious.

The Heavenly Vine had allowed them to borrow its divinity.

It had even allowed them to approach its body.

But now that they had actually touched it, something else seemed to have awakened.

Something that had been sleeping deep within the enormous vine.

And as the resonance continued to intensify, Grey suddenly had a terrifying thought.

Perhaps the Heavenly Vine had never truly been lending them its divinity.

Perhaps...

It had been testing them.

And now that they had come this close, the real test was finally beginning.