These half-plant, half-metal tentacles squirmed, and the chain links rubbed against each other, making a clicking sound that was almost like a chuckle.

The sky presented a kind of vast curtain.

A pale flash of lightning split the darkness. The lightning took the form of a twisted dragon horn, illuminating the entire space in the instant of its explosion.

Only then did Blore see clearly that the ends of those "vines" had split into countless tiny black tentacles, which were greedily wriggling towards the giant dragon-shaped tree in the center.

The surface of each tentacle is covered with dense eyeball-like protrusions, which rotate strangely in the electric light.

The air was filled with the stench of rust and rotting plants, and faintly there could be heard some sticky sounds coming from deep underground, like a giant beast licking flesh.

After hesitating for a moment, Blore slowly took a few steps back.

Then the scene suddenly turned around.

In an instant, golden lightning poured down like a joyful spring, instantly illuminating the entire space.

Those hideous chains didn't seem so scary in the golden light. Instead, they looked like a group of snakes warmed by the sun, stretching their bodies lazily.

Only then did he discover that this "Dragon Tree" was actually astonishingly beautiful - the black trunk was flowing with an iridescent metallic luster, and the rugged bark looked like it was inlaid with millions of tiny gems under the illumination of lightning.

Even the twisted branches reveal elegant curves, just like the vigorous and powerful strokes of a calligrapher.

"Good boy," Blore whispered, and the chain vines in his mental image suddenly burst into tiny golden flowers.

"If this tree were moved to the Interstellar Botanical Garden, it would surely become the garden's treasure."

The fishy smell in the air had somehow turned into the freshness of a forest after rain, and one could faintly hear the crisp sound of metal colliding like wind chimes.

But before he could relax, he suddenly felt a piercing chill on the back of his neck, as if a cold spider silk was slowly crawling down his spine.

Turning suddenly, golden light flowed like mercury on the edge of the shadow, but it could never illuminate that corner - there stood a slender figure, the edges of the outline were strangely distorted, like a phantom seen through the heat wave.

The man stood quietly at the junction of light and darkness. Although he was very close, his face seemed to be covered with a flowing black veil.

Blore noticed that the other party's shadow was extending abnormally. The slender black shadow was winding on the ground like a living thing, and it was entangled with the roots of the dragon tree.

Suddenly, a faint rotten fragrance wafted through the air, like aged sandalwood mixed with withered roses.

"Who's there?"

Blore's voice set off a strange echo in the empty underground space.

The figure seemed to chuckle, but the sound seemed to come from all directions at the same time, with the texture of some kind of metallic friction.