Brushing past the two entangled fierce beasts, before Leaf Gray could even steady himself, the reddish snake tail whipped towards him like a lash, bringing a gust of fierce wind.

Leaf Gray couldn't turn around at this moment and could only hastily channel spiritual power to protect his body.

With a smack, he was sent flying, his shoulder blade aching sorely, and he rolled several times on the scorching ground.

Getting to his feet and looking up, he was somewhat surprised.

His slash, enhanced with Sharpness, had actually failed to cut the large snake in two, only slicing through more than half of its body. Blood flowed out, and the snake demon writhed in pain on the ground.

The big tiger took advantage of the situation to break free from its restraints and pounced forward with fearless ferocity, biting directly at the wound.

It tore off a large piece of flesh.

The snake head rose high, its mouth opened, with a red light faintly brewing inside, aimed at the big tiger's position. The heat in the entire cavern suddenly intensified.

The big tiger's bestial instincts made it sense danger. It growled low and agilely darted to the side.

The next moment, a burst of flame shot out from the snake's mouth, scorching the air ahead until it distorted.

Seeing this, Leaf Gray's eye twitched. He knew this snake demon was far stronger than the big tiger. Luckily, the big tiger had drawn its aggression; otherwise, if that burst of flame had been directed at him, he would have needed to use a Golden Body Talisman to block it.

The big tiger dodged in time, avoiding the flame. Leaf Gray seized the opportunity to attack from behind the snake demon, slashing at the area below its head.

This slash also only cut through more than half of the snake's body; the blade was blocked by the snake's spine. Having suffered greatly twice at Leaf Gray's hands, the large snake immediately turned its head towards Leaf Gray, red light brewing in its mouth again.

Leaf Gray didn't retreat. Instead, he thrust his knife into the snake's mouth and threw his body backward.

As flames surged out, the long knife pierced through the snake's head, emerging from the back of its skull.

A snow-white figure lunged from the side, slamming into the serpent's body and knocking it askew. The jet of flame erupting from the snake's mouth went wide, scorching the empty air harmlessly.

Leaf Gray, who had fallen to the ground, quickly got up, took out a talisman from his storage bag, held it ready, and looked intently towards the side, remaining highly vigilant.

However, he soon put away the talisman and stood quietly waiting.

His final thrust had pierced the snake's head directly—a fatal wound. Although the large snake twisted and rolled on the ground, it was clearly not going to live. Moreover, the long knife was stuck in its mouth, causing more damage as it writhed. The ground was covered with splattered snake blood, which evaporated due to the high heat, making sizzling sounds.

The big tiger also rose to its feet and shook its body vigorously. Its originally snow-white fur was now disheveled, with large patches visibly singed, presenting a thoroughly disheveled appearance.

From the big tiger's initial attack until now, only about ten breaths had passed. The outcome was decided, life and death determined. Yet, in this extremely short time, their exchange was extremely perilous.

What surprised Leaf Gray was that his first coordination with the big tiger was nearly perfect.

Especially at the end; when Leaf Gray thrust that fatal blow, his body was already falling backward, intending to avoid the opponent's flame breath. But the big tiger's charging strike further ensured Leaf Gray's safety.

Considering this snake demon, Leaf Gray thought to himself that if he had come alone, it would inevitably have been a tough fight, perhaps requiring the use of several talismans.

But cooperating with the big tiger, they subdued it in just a short moment.

He suddenly felt that agreeing to Evie's request earlier was indeed not a bad thing.

"Well done." Leaf Gray nodded to the big tiger, not stinting on his praise.

The big tiger let out an 'Awoo!' in response. Although this guy couldn't speak and its strength wasn't particularly high, from their previous interactions, Leaf Gray found its intelligence to be very high. It could understand human speech, which was wonderful.

The large snake finally stopped moving. Leaf Gray stepped forward and kicked it, confirming it was thoroughly dead.

Looking at the long knife stuck in the snake's mouth, Leaf Gray felt troubled. The knife had been heated red-hot by the snake's flames; picking it up now would probably cost him a layer of skin.

He could only wait a while.

Taking advantage of this time, Leaf Gray walked to the Barrier Breaking Fruit tree and carefully picked the two Barrier Breaking Fruits, storing them in his storage bag.

As for the fruit tree itself, Leaf Gray didn't plan to move it; it wouldn't survive if taken away.

Just as Leaf Gray was about to retrieve his knife, he suddenly felt dizzy, and something within him seemed to stir restlessly.

This feeling reminded him of his experience several months ago...

He quickly said, "Amber, you go out first. I'll find you later."

The big tiger growled and lifted a paw to pat the dead large snake.

Leaf Gray immediately understood: "I know, this is good stuff. How could we leave it behind?"

Satisfied, the big tiger left. Before going, it picked up a piece of flesh it had torn from the large snake earlier.

Once the big tiger's figure disappeared, Leaf Gray looked again at the Barrier Breaking Fruit tree.

That restless stirring feeling returned.

He quickly concentrated his mind. To his surprise, this time, the shadow of the Talent Tree didn't appear in his vision. Instead, there was something unusual in his Origin Spiritual Aperture.

He hurriedly closed his eyes, perceiving carefully.

Vaguely, he seemed to see the phantom of a large tree appearing in his Origin Spiritual Aperture—it was the Talent Tree.

Roots grew from the Talent Tree, just like the scene months ago in The Lunar Blight mine.

The roots pierced into an unknown place, and the next moment, a fiery red power was drawn out along the roots.

As the fiery red power surged in, he clearly saw a leaf on the Talent Tree begin to bloom with flame, then burn fiercely.

Followed by a second leaf...

By the third one, the leaf only emitted light but didn't catch fire.

The roots slowly disappeared. Leaf Gray opened his eyes and found his hand had, at some point, covered the Barrier Breaking Fruit tree.

The fruit tree had completely withered. The originally extremely hot cavern had completely changed, no longer having any trace of scorching heat.

Leaf Gray fell into deep thought.

He recalled the scene when the Talent Tree first changed. At that time, he was examining Manager Miller's belongings and found an unknown ore. Then the Talent Tree grew roots that pierced into the ore, resulting in the ore cracking open, revealing a mass of orange-yellow flame inside.

After the Talent Tree absorbed the power of that flame, a leaf bearing the Sharpness spirit pattern burst into fierce flames.

This time was even more remarkable. The Talent Tree absorbed some unknown power, causing two leaves on the tree to burn, and a third leaf showed obvious changes.

It seemed his guess from long ago was correct: the Talent Tree needed to absorb some flame or scorching power to undergo changes. The recent experience undoubtedly proved this point.

Undoubtedly, the ground beneath this cavern contained the energy needed by the Talent Tree. After the Talent Tree absorbed it, this place was no longer hot.

And the living environment of the Barrier Breaking Fruit tree was destroyed, so the tree naturally died. One could even say the tree itself originally contained some scorching power, which was completely drained by the Talent Tree. How could it continue to live?