Chapter 21: Life Drain (Part One)

«Vermilion Bird Wings.»

With a thought, fire magic energy infused his back. A pair of crimson wings tattooed on his back suddenly came to life when the magic energy entered them. These broad, fiery, and immaculate wings unfurled behind him.

With a leap, he soared into the sky. A gentle flap of his wings sent him flying towards the direction of the cat's cry, like a signal. Even Lingling in the villa could clearly see the pair of bright red flaming wings rising into the night sky, leaving a beautiful crimson trail.

He could easily use the Vermilion Bird Wings once he reached the intermediate mage level, and flying with these wings consumed very little magic energy. He had never used winged magic tools, but he felt as if these wings were a natural extension of his body, controlled effortlessly and with perfect harmony.

The Vermilion Bird Wings were the inheritance wings of the Vermilion Bird. With his current intermediate level magic energy, no bird below the commander level could match his speed!

In an instant, he arrived at the source of the cat's cry. Flying in the air, he looked down and saw two pairs of shining cat eyes watching him warily. The two black cats resembled servant-level black cats, except their fur was darker and they were twice the height of ordinary servant-level cat demons.

«Two warrior-level black cats, and they seem to be a pair. Looks like catching fish requires a team effort and they brought enough food for two!»

He immediately recognized the true level of the two cat demons below. To his surprise, warrior-level cat demons were directing their minions to steal fish. How much must these cats love fish to come up with such an idea? With so many fish and seafood in the ocean, wouldn't it be better to catch fish in the sea? Why steal from human fish ponds?

«Meow!!!»

«Meow!!!»

The two black cats, seeing Qin Chen, did not flee. Instead, they watched him warily from below, seemingly unwilling to abandon their minions or their midnight snack.

«If you love fish so much, I'll treat you to some roasted cat tonight!»

A scorching aura burst from his body, crimson flames enveloped him, perfectly complementing the Vermilion Bird Wings behind him. Fiery stars quickly connected beneath his feet, forming a flawless constellation diagram, which then shaped into a fist.

«Fiery Fist — Sky Blast.»

As the constellation diagram completed, the surrounding fire elements frantically gathered to his right hand. The intense fiery aura swirled around his right hand, and as he punched forward, all the flames shot out, forming a ten-meter-diameter crimson fire fist that blasted towards one of the cat demons below.

The massive fire fist burned the air with explosive sounds. Before it even reached the ground, the lush green grass below ignited, and the soil cracked from the heat. The cat demons felt fear as the descending fire fist threatened them, and they quickly dodged out of its path.

The farther black cat narrowly escaped the fire fist's range, but the black cat targeted by Qin Chen was not so lucky. The fiery fist struck the black cat's body, the immense impact slamming it to the ground. The Vermilion Bird's flame, as powerful as the highest-grade spirit seed, burned the black cat's fur, cooking it with intense heat. The black cat nearly lost its fighting strength with just one punch. Even in the sky, Qin Chen could smell the scent of roasted meat.

«Forest of Kun — Prison Cage.»

As the fiery fist dissipated, the fiery aura vanished from his body, replaced by a clear, natural forest scent. An intense life force emanated from him, green stars radiating peaceful, natural energy, connecting in the air to form a prison-like constellation diagram. As the diagram completed, the grass on the ground grew wildly as if watered by life, wrapping around the fallen black cat. Simultaneously, countless vines sprouted, forming a 36-cubic-meter vine cage, trapping the injured black cat inside.

«Meow!!!!»

The trapped black cat let out a sudden cry, and Qin Chen saw from the air that all its minions rushed over. Meanwhile, the black cat wrapped in vines used its sharp claws to tear at the vines, trying to break free.

«If I let you escape, where would my dignity go?» Qin Chen sneered, activating his plant element talent.

«Life Drain.»

In an instant, the struggling black cat suddenly seemed to be sedated. Its movements slowed, its strength waning. In less than ten seconds, the black cat was panting heavily, as if most of its strength had been drained. Even its fur began to fall off unknowingly.

Meanwhile, the vines absorbing the black cat's life force became tougher. Some of the drained life force remained in the vines, while another portion flowed through the vines into his spiritual world's plant element nebula, then into his magic wand sword. In the groove beside the chaos-colored bead on his wand sword, a green, phantom bead formed, storing the absorbed life force.

«Life Drain is an incredible plant element talent. Even though this black cat is the weakest among warrior-level demons and was injured by the Fiery Fist, it is still a warrior-level demon. Draining its strength in such a short time is truly miraculous!»

This was his first time using Life Drain against an enemy. Before, he had only drained life from plants, never from other creatures. He was astonished by its effectiveness.

«With such a powerful talent, I should focus more on enhancing my plant element abilities in the future.»

He planned to strengthen his plant element power. First, he would seek out special plants and spirit seeds, then use the devour seed's characteristics to integrate their effects into his plant element. He also needed to drain more life force to level up his plant element, which was currently just common vines, equivalent to basic seeds in elemental systems, not even a spirit seed.

(End of Chapter)