Lin Jingge had never expected Gu Shu to do this.

Not only did it protect itself completely, but it also had extra vines to extinguish the little blue flame.

However, the little blue flame is not so easy to deal with.

Seeing that it couldn't do anything to the ancient tree in a short time, it didn't give up. Flames shot up high and engulfed the entire ancient tree.

The little blue flame seemed to be locked in a battle with the ancient tree. After exhausting its own energy, it began to use the spiritual power within Lin Jingge's body.

Lin Jingge felt somewhat helpless as she realized that her spiritual energy was being rapidly depleted.

He could only throw another handful of spirit stones at the little blue flame.

Vines sprouted along the way, attempting to steal the spirit stones.

However, having already learned from its experience, the little blue flame separated a small tuft of flame and completely enveloped the spirit stones, leaving not a single one for the vines.

With the replenishment of spiritual energy, the little blue flame swelled even more.

The fire burned for most of the day before it completely burned away the protective vines of the ancient tree.

The remaining ancient trees became much easier to deal with.

The fire raged until late into the night, turning the ancient tree into a pile of ashes.

The little blue flame proudly shook its own flame, which was then taken back by Lin Jingge.

The ancient tree blocking the way was gone, and the entrance to the cave behind it was revealed. This place had been scorched by the little blue fire for a whole day, turning the ground black and changing the color of the cave entrance.

Lin Jingge took two steps forward and saw a tiny wooden stake hidden in the ashes, with only a small part of it showing.

[Xiao Shi, is this ancient tree still alive?] Lin Jingge stared at the wooden stake and asked herself silently.

Xiao Shi: [Yes, plant roots rely on soil for growth. This ancient tree looks to be hundreds or even thousands of years old, and its root system is already well-developed. However, at this level, it probably can't be killed.]

Lin Jingge nodded.

With a thought, a longsword appeared in his hand.

She leaped into the air, and several streams of spiritual energy were released through her longsword, landing on the ground.

When the spiritual energy touched the ground, it made a loud noise.

"Bang—" The powerful spiritual energy exploded on the bottom.

They directly ripped up all the soil around the roots of the ancient tree, exposing a small section of the stump.

Just as Lin Jingge was about to use her longsword to split the wooden stake, she felt a resistance coming from within it.

When she sensed the resistance, Lin Jingge's eyes darkened, and the corners of her mouth slightly lifted.

As expected, the ancient tree was indeed not dead!

The ancient tree's energy had been almost completely depleted by the little blue fire, and what it had left was no match for Lin Jingge.

Under Lin Jingge's attack, he couldn't withstand three moves before being cleaved in two by Lin Jingge.

Logically speaking, a plant of this level should be able to revive even if only a few roots remain. Lin Jingge only cut off this small portion of the roots, so the ancient tree shouldn't care.

But it used its last bit of strength to resist.

Before Lin Jingge could even wonder, her gaze was drawn to a bright light in front of her.

A faint, pale green glow emanated from the split root.

[It's a spirit core! And it's wood-type!] Xiao Shi exclaimed first.

[It's rich! It's rich!] It jumped off Lin Jingge's shoulder with great joy and scurried to the tree roots.

I was thrilled to see that encouraging glimmer of light.

Lin Jingge hadn't expected such an unexpected gain.

For Lin Jingge, the wood-type spirit core produced from plants is the best cultivation material.

This thing is extremely rare and hard to come by; it's so valuable yet unavailable. It could be the grand finale item at any auction!

"I'm so lucky today!" Lin Jingge's face also showed a bit more joy.

Holding the wood-type spirit core, which emitted a faint light green glow, in my hand, the cool touch was invigorating.

All my fatigue vanished the moment I saw this thing.

No wonder.

No wonder that ancient tree fought back with its last bit of spiritual power. So that's why.

Lin Jingge smiled as she put away the spirit core. Just as she was about to enter the cave, she saw Xiao Shi still squatting by the wooden stake, grinning foolishly.

"What are you grinning about? Hurry up and find where the restriction is." Lin Jingge laughed as she pinched Xiao Shi's back and tossed him into the cave.

To everyone's surprise, instead of throwing Xiao Shi into the cave, he was blocked in mid-air by an invisible wall of air.

This invisible wall actually blocks out even the air.

Xiao Shi touched the air wall but made no noise; he was simply blocked at the very outside.

[What the heck is this?!] Xiao Shi quickly ran away to Lin Jingge's side, then looked back.

They found it was still a dark hole, as if the invisible wall they had just seen was just their imagination.

This was the first time Xiao Shi had encountered a place he couldn't enter.

It would be understandable if Lin Jingge couldn't enter this invisible wall, but it was just a string of data, yet it was also blocked!

Just as she was completely baffled, Lin Jingge bent down and picked up Xiao Shi, then took several steps back.

As she turned around, a burst of spiritual energy shone from her hand.

The pale green light was particularly bright in the darkness, and then it streaked across the sky and shot towards the cave.

This time, the barrier stirred.

The shimmering, transparent water ripples disappeared along with the spiritual energy.

This probing finally calmed Lin Jingge down.

"It seems to be a protective barrier that won't attack people," Lin Jingge concluded.

Xiao Shi nodded in agreement.

What puzzled it was: "But this is the first time I've seen a barrier that can prevent data from entering; there's no record of such a barrier in the Heavenly Book."

[GeGe, what should we do now?]

Lin Jingge stared at the barrier, pursed her lips, and gripped the longsword in her hand tightly.

"What else can we do but force our way through?"

Having said that, he raised his longsword and slashed at the barrier.

The feeling was, how should I put it, like hitting cotton; no matter how much force was applied, it was neutralized by the barrier and dispersed to both sides.

After such an attack, the barrier didn't make much of a fuss, but the surrounding plants and trees suffered considerable damage.

It was as if a strong wind had risen, and the canopies of the trees next to it were directly sheared off.

Lin Jingge landed on the ground, catching her breath.

Seeing that the barrier immediately stopped reacting after he stopped attacking, even the water ripples that had appeared before disappeared without a trace.

This really stumped her.

You know, those caves in the past didn't have these messy barriers.

She sat to one side recovering her spiritual power, but her gaze kept drifting towards the cave entrance.

The dark entrance seemed to possess a considerable allure.

I sat there for a while.

"I've got it!" A flash of inspiration struck Lin Jingge, and she sat up abruptly.

Xiao Shi: [...?]

Xiao Shi was momentarily confused, unsure of what Lin Jingge was up to.

But it soon found out.

Because it saw Lin Jingge take out the excavator robot.

It immediately understood Lin Jingge's intention.

There's always a solution to every problem.

Since we can't break through this barrier, why not dig a tunnel inside?