Chapter 158: Picking Ice Luan Flowers, Mammoth Transformation!

After Cao Xing left.

Xu Haocheng gritted his teeth and said, "It's truly hateful. It was clearly us who gave him the intel; otherwise, how could he have found this forest?"

"Damn it, what kind of stinking Great Lord? I think he's just an ungrateful bastard!"

"You Shengwu is right. He's just a petty person who got lucky. Relying on a little bit of strength, he acts like an expert in front of us."

Beside him, You Shengwu chuckled and said, "I knew it just by looking at him. If we were back on Blue Star, this kind of person wouldn't even be qualified to be a security guard at my family's company."

"I bet he doesn't even dare to continue into the forest and just found an excuse to leave."

"Exactly, exactly!"

Qiu Yating was just about to tell them to shut up.

Just then, the Mammoth returned.

Thump! Thump-thump!

The heavy footsteps made everyone's expression change.

Moments later, Cao Xing reappeared before them.

Sitting on the Mammoth, Cao Xing squinted at these two guys. "Did you think I couldn't hear you?"

"Or did you think I was easygoing, so you could talk about me behind my back?"

Cao Xing was at least an 18th-level Frost Mage now, with extremely keen hearing, plus he had Sarah, a Tier 3 Leader-level subordinate.

Naturally, they heard the gossip from these guys.

Seeing Cao Xing's figure, Xu Haocheng and You Shengwu were instantly terrified, their faces turning as pale as death!

"Ca… Great Lord Cao Xing… We were just joking, I didn't mean that…"

"I meant…"

Xu Haocheng hadn't even finished speaking.

The next moment, a flash of cold light slashed across his neck.

[-5793]

Critical Hit!

A terrifying damage number appeared.

Xu Haocheng's head tilted, and he died on the spot.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance killed Survivor Xu Haocheng…]

Then, Cao Xing looked at You Shengwu.

The arrogant boy, who had initially been unconvinced, realized his life was in danger after seeing Cao Xing kill Xu Haocheng!

He knew that since Cao Xing had killed Xu Haocheng without hesitation, his begging would be useless!

So, You Shengwu turned and ran without hesitation.

However, his speed could not compare to the attack speed of Cao Xing and the others.

"Swish!"

A piercing sound rang out as an arrow flew instantly.

It struck the back of his head directly.

Plop!

[-1224!]

Blood sprayed as this arrow scored a direct headshot.

[Your territory member: Renice Hawkeye killed Survivor You Shengwu…]

The turn of events was too fast; they hadn't expected Cao Xing to strike as soon as he said he would.

Looking at the two cold corpses on the ground, everyone gasped in fear!

Their gazes toward Cao Xing were filled with terror!

Cao Xing said indifferently, "This forest is dangerous. Staying with people like this, you'll eventually be dragged to your deaths by them."

"Not everyone can be recruited into a team."

Cao Xing's last sentence was directed at Qiu Yating, serving as a piece of advice.

After speaking, Cao Xing took his people and turned to leave.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the group of Survivors let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Qiu Yating had a complex expression, understanding that what Cao Xing said made sense.

These two had always been tumors in her team, but due to classmate friendship and insufficient strength, Qiu Yating couldn't drive them away.

Now, Cao Xing had killed them, which actually gave Qiu Yating a sense of relief.

A young girl in the team looked at Qiu Yating, her face deathly pale.

"Squad… Squad leader, Xu Haocheng and You Shengwu are dead, killed by Great Lord Cao Xing!"

A moment later, Qiu Yating took a deep breath. "I know."

"These two idiots, I told them their mouths would cause trouble. They deserved to die."

"Great Lord Cao Xing is right. People who can't see the situation clearly will die sooner or later, and might even drag us down!"

Hearing this, the other Survivors nodded.

"That's right, those two were too stupid. Even though Great Lord Cao Xing is easy to talk to, being able to survive in this world and develop so well means he's definitely not as gentle as he looks."

"Exactly, they deserved it!"

"But thankfully, Great Lord Cao Xing didn't implicate us…"

The group of Survivors gradually calmed down.

After all, in this world, death was far too normal.

At the same time, they couldn't help but feel lucky that they hadn't been like those two idiots and spoken disrespectfully to Cao Xing.

Another girl nearby said, "Squad leader, what do we do now?"

Qiu Yating said, "What can we do? Either bite the bullet and keep moving forward, or turn back now."

The girl said hurriedly, "Then let's go back now, it's too dangerous here!"

Qiu Yating was about to nod.

But at this moment, another girl raised an objection.

"How can we turn back? We finally made it here!"

"The native said that if we complete the task, he'll give us an Epic-grade item!"

Hearing this, the other Survivors seemed to hesitate.

After all, Epic-grade is an orange item; you don't see this stuff on the entire trading channel, the temptation is too great!

The girl pressed on, "After what just happened, don't you understand? In this world, having power is having everything."

"If we don't fight, we'll end up like Xu Haocheng and the others, dying worthless in this world…"

The girl beside her retorted, "Epic-grade items are great, but you need your life to take them. I don't support moving forward."

Watching them, the two sides began to argue.

A helpless look appeared in Qiu Yating's eyes again.

This is the downside of having over a dozen lords in one territory…

Come to think of it, they were all 17 or 18-year-old boys and girls.

Qiu Yating became the team leader because of her status as class monitor.

But now, it was obvious they didn't really recognize Qiu Yating as their leader.

Helplessly, Qiu Yating could only let them vote.

Whether to continue forward or turn back…

At this moment, Cao Xing continued walking in the forest.

Just as he said before, the life or death of those Survivors had nothing to do with him once the agreement was fulfilled.

It was just cleaning up some idiots along the way.

This matter didn't cause any psychological fluctuation for them, including Liu Muxue behind him, who was also vigilantly watching the surroundings.

They continued searching in the forest.

At this time, Renice pointed ahead and said, "Great Lord, there are some Ice Luan Flowers there too!"

Cao Xing immediately perked up. Following the direction Renice pointed, he really saw a few Ice Luan Flowers growing next to a giant tree!

This giant tree was bigger than any they had seen before.

And below it, at least a dozen Ice Luan Flowers were growing.

Just as Cao Xing was about to approach.

A thick branch shot out instantly!

The previous waves of battles had already given everyone experience.

They instantly realized that there might be Ice Crystal Face-Trees nearby!

Braum used [Leaping Guardian], jumping directly in front of Cao Xing.

Bang!

That branch hit his shield directly.

But it only shattered a layer of Holy Shield.

Braum laughed heartily.

"With me here, don't even think about hurting the Great Lord."

Seeing the attack failed, the Face-Tree began to dance its branches.

Not only that, more Face-Trees nearby woke up.

And Cao Xing also saw that the 100-meter-tall giant tree in front of him was slowly rotating its body.

"Crack! Crack!"

The sound of branches breaking rang out one after another.

On the trunk, a painful human face appeared.

At the same time, the others quickly entered combat mode.

Cao Xing scanned the attributes of this Face-Tree.

[Ice Crystal Face-Tree Guard]

[Race: Face-Tree]

[Level: 28, Tier 3 Elite Creature]

[HP: 22150/22150]

[Attack: 1132~1178]

[Skills: Tough Branches, Frigid Touch, Frigid Dance (Stats same as above), Blood-Sucking Vines (Extends multiple vines, binding enemies for 1~20 seconds, and draining 1% of the enemy's HP per second, cooldown 5 minutes).]

[Talent 1: Longevity]

[Talent 2: Vibrant Life]

[Bond: Face-Tree (20 activated)]

"Oh, an Elite-level Face-Tree?"

Cao Xing's eyes lit up.

No wonder this Face-Tree looked much taller, and the branches on it also looked thicker and tougher.

"Elite-level Face-Trees should drop better stuff, right?"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing felt expectant.

Then he ordered directly, "Kill it."

Following the order, Cao Xing's eight generals, plus one Mammoth, all charged up.

And he himself entered the [Demon Transformation] state.

He continuously threw out balls of Demonic Fire, then started carpet bombing.

Bang! Bang-bang!

[-554] [-532] [-517]

Despite the defense reduction from these Face Trees, they still dealt impressive damage.

When his mental energy ran low, Cao Xing simply took out a drop of tree sap and drank it.

The cool sensation instantly rushed to his head, making him lively and energetic again!

Whenever those branches tried to attack Cao Xing, they were either intercepted by Liu Muxue.

Or they were blocked by the holy shield on Cao Xing, leaving him completely unharmed.

A few minutes later, the dozen or so Face Trees here were all taken out by Cao Xing and his team.

Cao Xing exited his Demonic Transformation state.

He couldn't wait to go to the Elite Face Tree and gathered everything on the ground.

[Obtained: Elite Face Tree Heart (Blue) * 1]

[Obtained: Elite Face Tree Bark (Blue) * 1]

[Obtained: Mid-grade Tree Sap (Blue) * 7]

[Obtained: Intermediate Elemental Crystal * 3]

[Obtained: Medium Strength Tome * 1]

…

"Haha! As expected, the materials dropped by an Elite-level Face Tree are of a higher grade!"

Cao Xing did not rush to check them.

Instead, he first collected all the Ice Phoenix Flowers on the ground.

One by one, he shoveled the Ice Phoenix Flowers along with the surrounding frozen soil and stored them all in his backpack.

[Obtained: Ice Phoenix Flower (Blue) * 13]

Cao Xing clapped his hands.

He checked his backpack; the number of Ice Phoenix Flowers inside had reached 27.

The harvest this time was quite good.

Then, Cao Xing had Assam and the others cut down the vines of this Elite Face Tree.

Compared to ordinary Face Trees, the vines of the Elite Face Tree were indeed tougher.

Assam even needed two or three strikes to cut through a single vine.

A moment later, over a hundred vines lay on the ground.

He walked forward and collected them all.

[Obtained: Tough Face Tree Vine (Blue) * 87]

"Not bad, not bad. These vines are thicker and longer!"

"87 vines, that's over a thousand meters in total!"

Then, he began to check the attributes of the materials he had just obtained.

[Elite Face Tree Heart (Blue): A tree heart containing abundant life force.]

[Effect 1: Increases maximum HP by 500 points upon consumption. Can only take effect once.]

[Effect 2: Accelerates the growth time of certain magical plants or special creatures, ranging from 1 to 3 years.]

…

[Elite Face Tree Bark (Blue): A tough material that still contains some of the Face Tree's life aura.]

(Can be used to craft Excellent-quality leather armor or other items; has a chance to add special effects.)

…

[Mid-grade Tree Sap (Blue): Tree sap containing a hint of magic; tastes clearer and more refreshing.]

(Consuming it restores a moderate amount of mental energy.)

…

[Tough Face Tree Vine (Blue): A more resilient vine that also contains a trace of life force.]

(This vine contains the life aura of the Face Tree and can slowly recover after being damaged.)

…

After reading the attributes of these materials, Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, not bad. This Face Tree Heart can actually increase the growth cycle by one to three years; it's almost comparable to a Snow Demon's heart."

"According to Juliette, the same item can take effect three times."

"If I can bring back a few more Face Tree Hearts this time, I might be able to make the Pale Tree grow directly."

Not only that, but the other materials also had different effects.

What surprised Cao Xing was that the blue vines actually had self-healing capabilities; that was quite impressive!

Just then, Dabai looked at the pale Face Tree Heart in Cao Xing's hand, a look of longing appearing in its eyes.

Then, it walked over and gently rubbed its head against Cao Xing's arm.

Cao Xing was stunned. "Dabai, do you want to eat this?"

"Woo…"

Dabai nodded.

Cao Xing held the heart, lost in thought.

Because according to the system's description, this type of Face Tree Heart could be used not only for plants but also for special creatures.

Did this "special creature" refer to creatures like Dabai?

You have to know, even though Dabai was now five meters tall, it was still in its growth phase.

An adult Mammoth could reach over ten meters in length!

So, Cao Xing tossed the blue-quality heart in his hand to Dabai.

Dabai swallowed it in one gulp.

The powerful life force contained within the Face Tree Heart began to take effect inside Dabai's body.

A moment later, Cao Xing could feel the Mammoth's size increase a bit more.

Growing from its original length of over five meters to nearly six meters!

Its height also increased by a dozen centimeters or so.

A system prompt appeared.

[Your pet Dabai has grown to a new stage: Max HP increased by 10%.]

Cao Xing's eyes lit up. "Whoa, growing to a new stage actually increases HP too? That's too overpowered!"

The others also looked at Dabai's changes with surprise.

Andrew said reverently, "The child of nature has grown up…"

Dabai itself seemed very happy, emitting a low 'woo woo' sound.

At this moment.

Cao Xing checked his backpack; there were no more blue-grade Face Tree Hearts left, though there were still many green-grade ones.

And when he took out a green-grade Face Tree Heart, Dabai didn't seem interested in it.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Only blue-grade Face Tree Hearts can allow beasts like Dabai to gain growth effects?"

This also gave Cao Xing new inspiration.

Because in his territory, there was still a bear cub that was in its growth phase.

And as long as Cao Xing brought back more blue-grade Face Tree Hearts, Volibear would soon be able to possess combat power!

Cao Xing was overjoyed.

"Let's go, keep moving forward!"

"We won't do anything else today; just killing these Face Trees alone will bring huge improvements."

They began searching in this vast Witch Forest.

After advancing about five or six kilometers, they encountered three more waves of Ice Crystal Face Tree attacks.

During this time, there was also a wolf pack attack.

The beasts in this forest seemed to have gradually noticed Cao Xing and his group of intruders.

Among these three waves of Ice Crystal Face Trees, two of them were Elite-level Face Trees.

The deeper they went, the higher the level of the monsters inside became.

However, for them, as long as they didn't encounter Tier 4 creatures, they could handle anything easily.

Then, Cao Xing walked over and first picked up all the materials dropped by the Elite Face Tree on the ground.

[Obtained: Tough Face Tree Vine (Blue) * 91]

[Obtained: Elite Face Tree Heart (Blue) * 1]

[Obtained: Elite Face Tree Bark (Blue) * 1]

[Obtained: Mid-grade Tree Sap (Blue) * 6]

[Obtained: Medium Strength Tome * 1]

…

Looking at the Face Tree Heart in Cao Xing's hand, a look of longing appeared in Dabai's eyes again.

Cao Xing was not stingy at all and fed it the second Face Tree Heart.

Dabai swallowed it in one gulp, just like eating a snack.

"Gulp… Gulp…"

The life force contained in the Face Tree Heart began to take effect inside Dabai's body.

The Mammoth's body grew by another half a meter or so.

A system prompt appeared.

[Your Mammoth has grown to a new stage, Max HP increased by 5%.]

…

A thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes. "This time it only added 5% HP; it's just as Juliette said, the same item has the best effect when used for the first time."

"It will gradually weaken afterward, and by the fourth time, it will have no effect at all?"

However, Cao Xing didn't feel regret.

After all, if the Elite-level Face Tree Heart had no effect, weren't there still Chieftain-level and Boss-level Face Tree Hearts?

This forest was so big, and so far, they had only been wandering around the outer perimeter!

So, Cao Xing gave the third blue-grade Face Tree Heart to Dabai as well.

Cao Xing was never stingy with his own people.

A moment later, the system prompt appeared again.

[Your Mammoth has grown to a new stage, Max HP + 3%.]

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction.

Three Face Tree Hearts added up to a total of 18% increase to Dabai's Max HP.

He checked Dabai's current HP.

[HP: 41480 / 41480]

"Haha! It actually broke 40,000!"

A look of surprise appeared in Cao Xing's eyes!

…

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PS: After the Witch Forest arc ends, little Voli will also be able to possess combat power!!!