Shen Jue approached Balsa's location according to the map's directions, and could hear Balsa's screams from a great distance.

The cry was somewhat shrill, as if the spine of the body had been removed.

Shen Jue's heart tightened, and his already blurry speed increased even further.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the small red dot, Shen Jue quickly scanned the area to determine its exact location, which was just two meters directly in front of her. The situation was worse than she had anticipated; aside from the black vines spreading wildly in all directions, she couldn't see Balsa anywhere.

Balsa has disappeared!

The thought instantly invaded Shen Jue's mind. From the time Balsa screamed to the time she arrived here, it was no more than two or three minutes. Even if this plant could suck a person dry, it should still leave some trace.

There was no blood, no signs of a struggle, and no sign of Balsa's clothes at the scene. It was as if Balsa had vanished into thin air. Because there were no traces, this was the reason why Shen Jue concluded that Balsa was missing.

Shen Jue had visited Balsa's island before and knew its size, so she saw that the black vines had spread to the area where Balsa lived, which was the center of the entire island.

At the very beginning, when Balsa video-called her, the black vines had not yet spread to the area where Balsa lived.

The fact that it could spread from such a distant location to the area where Balsa lived suggests that the black vines had covered one-third of the island, and their differentiation rate was extremely rapid. Judging from the situation, it was already a formidable mature form.

Anything that has even the slightest connection to dark matter becomes extremely powerful and monstrous.

The vines covered almost a third of the island, and they seemed to be alive, constantly absorbing all the energy on the island that they could devour.

For example, metal ore that is being absorbed by black vines.

These black vines absorbed too much metallic ore.

Having absorbed so much energy, the patterns on the black vines slowly turned golden.

It's easy to see at this point that the black vine is very sturdy.

"Fourth Sister!" Shen Jue called softly. At this distance, she was still some distance from the vines, so she kept her voice very low.

I want to see if the vines react to people and how much they have grown.

After Shen Jue made a sound, the vines that were crawling a few meters away from her paused. Then they moved towards Shen Jue's direction.

Shen Jue immediately went invisible and quickly changed his position, then remained silent.

Even so, the black vines still headed towards the new spot where Shen Jue had moved.

Once they hear the sound, they can pinpoint her location!

This is bad news; we need to get rid of these black vines as soon as possible.

In order to avoid being discovered, Shen Jue held his breath, concealed his aura, and tried his best to blend into his surroundings.

This makes it somewhat difficult for the mutated vines to find her.

After Shen Jue concealed her presence, the mutated vines suddenly halted their attack on her. Shen Jue even saw the vines' branches sway from side to side in the air before retracting.

Shen Jue naturally noticed this detail, and she naturally wanted to use card tactics to annihilate the opponent.

But considering Balsa's whereabouts, she can't do that now. What if she destroys the black vines and can't find Balsa anymore?

Shen Jue looked at the life energy sensor representing Balsa again. This time, the sensor had changed from a flashing state to a gray-white state, which was not a good sign.

This indicates that Balsa's physical condition is not very good.

She needs to deal with this black vine as soon as possible.

(Find the core of the vine and get it; only then can you save your friend.)

Just kidding, searching for the mother plant with a core among so many branches. This was truly a bit difficult for her, but for her fourth sister's safety, Shen Jue resigned herself to observing these vines and branches, trying to find the mother plant hidden among them. Although to the naked eye, the vines were all intertwined and indistinguishable.

But after she activated her Illusionary Eyes, the world she saw changed; the vines and branches were now completely visible to her.

With so many vines and branches, it will take some time to find the mother plant.

Moreover, what caused Balsa to disappear into thin air is likely related to the vine mother.

Shen Jue's gaze was fixed on the black vines, searching each and every branch.

After losing Chen Jue as its target, the vines only paused in the air for a moment before slowly retracting back to the ground and continuing to spread outwards.

Shen Jue surveyed the area before him, pushing his mental power to its limit.

This area is empty; continue to the next area.

Upon arriving at the new area covered in vines, Shen Jue's gaze, sharp as a hawk's, swept across everything she could see.

Perhaps because the vines here are close to their original origin, the vines in this area are thicker than those seen before, almost twice the size of the other vines.

The surface gleamed eerily in the light. At first glance, the vines looked like a giant snake slowly writhing.

She held her breath, raising her mental power to its limit. In the vision of her illusory eye, every branch of the vine was clearly visible. However, after a careful search, she still couldn't find any trace of the vine's parent plant. Neither did she find it in this entire area.

Shen Jue frowned slightly. The cunning of the vine mother was beyond her expectations. It seemed to be deliberately hiding its existence, and might even be interfering with her perception in some way.

However, Shen Jue remained unmoved. She knew that the more hidden the vine's mother body was, the more important it was. Once she found and destroyed it, everything would fall into place.

Shen Jue decided to stop wasting time on these diverging vines.

The vine's mother body is likely hidden in the vine's origin, where it first grows and where its power is concentrated.

Shen Jue quickly changed direction and headed towards the source of the vines. As she approached, the surrounding vines became denser, and a putrid stench filled the air. It was the smell of rotting corpses.

Just how many lives on the island have these vines devoured?

With this question in mind, Shen Jue finally arrived above the place where the vines originated.

But the sight before her made her hold her breath.

Because of the existence of the vine mother, there was no need for the Illusory Eye to confirm it. Its size was truly awe-inspiring.

The thick vines, as large as a tree that would take three people to encircle, sprawled across the ground, almost completely filling the field of vision. Compared to other branching vines, the mother vine was dozens of times larger.

However, compared to the movement speed of other vines, the vine mother moves much more slowly, so there's no need to worry about her running away when the fight starts.

But the next second, Shen Jue felt herself locked onto by the vine mother in front of her. And this feeling of being locked onto was like a shadow, no matter where she moved or how she tried to hide her aura, it was useless, the feeling of being locked onto was always there.

The vine mother's senses were extremely sharp; she immediately detected Shen Jue's presence the moment he stepped into the area.

Its branches, which had split off, slowly undulated, sniffing out the scent of the intruders.

Knowing he had been discovered, Shen Jue did not hesitate at all. He took out a card and flicked it lightly with his fingertip.

The card traced an arc in the air, instantly transforming into a blazing flame that fell towards the vine mother.

Flames exploded on the surface of the vine mother, producing a series of muffled sounds.

It sounds like quite a commotion, but in reality, the outer skin of the vine mother was only slightly charred and did not suffer any substantial damage.