Chapter 216: Nightmare Man-Eating Flower, A Battle of Utter Destruction (6000)

Cao Xing watched the direction in which the group of militiamen departed.

Liu Muxue also noticed his unusual behavior and asked softly, "Ah Xing, what's wrong?"

Cao Xing calmed the emotions in his heart and slowly shook his head, saying, "It's nothing. Let's continue moving forward."

Cao Xing did not fully believe the story in this letter either.

Only by actually going to [Varis Village] to take a look could he know what had truly happened.

However, he still had things to do right now.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xing decided to go and check it out later.

On the road ahead, they didn't encounter any accidents.

An hour later.

Cao Xing led his people to a halt.

In front of them appeared a vast and deep forest covered in ice and snow.

The Witch's Forest.

Compared to the last time he entered the Witch's Forest, when Cao Xing only had the strength of level ten-something.

Their improvement now could be described as something that "qualitative change" wasn't even enough to express.

The increase in strength also made Cao Xing feel more confident.

If he encountered that Tier 4 boss-level black snake again this time, Cao Xing would not let it escape.

They walked straight into this frost-covered, breathtakingly beautiful Witch's Forest.

Thump! Thump-thump!

Heavy footsteps approached.

Dabai and Volibear were clearing the path ahead.

It is worth mentioning that Volibear also used a [Intermediate Heart of Strength] last night and became a Tier 3 creature.

It had now reached level 25.

He checked its attributes as usual.

[Cao Xing's Pet: Volibear]

[Race: Beast]

[Level: Level 25 57516 / 200000 (Tier 3 Leader-level creature)]

[Detailed Attributes: Click to view]

…

"Not bad, not bad."

"Volibear's HP has now reached 47,000. At this rate, breaking through 50,000 after level 30 will be easy."

"Once it completes the Tier 4 advancement, that will be at least 90,000 HP!"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing felt very satisfied.

Although Volibear's HP was slightly lower than Dabai's.

But its attack power was higher than Dabai's.

With the blessing of [Blessing of Courage], its attack power was almost reaching 3,000!

Although Cao Xing wouldn't compare the combat power of his pets.

But if the two giant beasts really fought.

Dabai would indeed not be a match for Volibear.

"I wonder, if Dabai gets knocked down by Volibear, will it feel a sense of frustration?"

Cao Xing smiled, then signaled for everyone to continue moving forward.

Not long after entering the Witch's Forest, they once again encountered a group of Tier 3 Ice Crystal Face Trees blocking their path.

The moment they saw the group, a large number of branches attacked them.

"Swish! Swish, swish!"

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing was somewhat puzzled.

"Huh? Why does it feel like these Face Trees have an even higher desire to attack than last time?"

But he didn't overthink it and directly ordered, "Attack!"

Upon receiving the order, Assam and the others, whose strength had skyrocketed, instantly charged forward!

"Zzz… Zzz…"

The sound of electric currents rang out.

Volibear stood up on its hind legs, condensed a ball of lightning power, and slammed it down fiercely.

"Boom!"

[ – 3917 ]

[ – 4072 ]

[ – 3863 ]

[ – 3623 ]

…

Instantly, terrifying lightning-attribute damage numbers appeared above the heads of those Ice Crystal Face Trees.

This move was exactly Volibear's area-of-effect skill: Thunderous Earth-Shattering Strike!

At the same time.

As Assam raised his King's Battle Blade high, he condensed a ball of light filled with a majestic aura!

The next moment, a system prompt appeared.

[Your territory member: Assam used the skill [Glory Tribute]. Influenced by the talent [Eternal Power], this skill has become permanent.]

At this moment, under the blessing of [Glory Tribute], Assam's weapon radiated an intense light!

He slashed out one blade after another.

[ – 2614 ]

– 1307

[ – 2619 ]

– 1309

[ – 2714 ]

– 1387

…

Because the effect of [Glory Tribute] was that all subsequent attacks would carry 50% light-attribute damage.

Therefore, every time Assam's blade fell, it would cause two damage numbers.

Equivalent to nearly 4,000 damage, it could already completely compare with Sarah in output!

Moreover, every one of Assam's sword strikes would inflict a negative status on the enemy, so the damage would become higher and higher.

After three or four strikes, these incredibly tough Face Trees died on the spot.

[Your territory member: Assam killed Ice Crystal Face Tree Guard Lv27, Tier 3 Elite creature, obtained experience points: 0]

[Combatants obtained experience points: 675]

[Your…]

…

Sarah, on the side, was even more terrifying.

She was already a Tier 4 boss-level existence.

She had over 3,700 attack power on her own!

Combined with [Blessing of Courage], her attack power officially broke through 4,600.

The Silent Blade swung in her hand, leaving afterimages as it landed on these Face Trees.

Terrifying damage numbers appeared one after another.

[ – 4329 ]

[ – 6493! ]

[ – 8742! ]

Coup de Grace!

Over 40% critical hit rate, plus the [Coup de Grace] skill.

So Sarah's attacks could easily deal high damage.

It only took two or three seconds to take down a Tier 3 Face Tree.

This was literally like slicing melons and vegetables.

Plus, Hilda, Isabelle Gospel, Andrew, and other Tier 3 max-level bosses on the side were all unleashing terrifying attacks.

System prompts appeared continuously.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance killed Ice Crystal Face Tree Lv28, Tier 3 Common creature, obtained experience points: 840]

[Combatants obtained experience points: 420]

[Your territory member: Isabelle Gospel killed Ice Crystal Face Tree Lv27, Tier 3 Common creature, obtained experience points: 0]

[Combatants obtained experience points: 405]

[Your…]

…

It took less than a minute.

They had killed this group of Ice Crystal Face Trees, which were at least level 25.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue sat on the back of the Mammoth without even moving.

This was true crushing combat power.

A moment later, after they finished cleaning the battlefield, Cao Xing went down and collected everything on the ground.

[Obtained: Ice Crystal Face Tree Heart (Green) * 21]

[Obtained: Ice Crystal Face Tree Heart (Blue) * 2]

[Obtained: Intermediate Heart of Strength * 4]

[Obtained: Tree Sap (Green) * 114]

[Obtained: Medium-grade Tree Sap (Blue) * 8]

[Obtained: Ancient Face Tree Bark (Green) * 16]

[Obtained: Face Tree Bark (Blue) * 2]

[Obtained: Intermediate Elemental Crystal * 15]

[Obtained: Intermediate Attribute Books (Strength, Agility, Spirit, Constitution) * 17]

…

A huge pile of materials, including two blue-grade Face Tree Hearts.

Dabai and Volibear had already eaten their fill of this grade of Face Tree Heart three times, so it was of no use to them anymore.

Only by finding Face Tree Hearts from Leader-level or above could they continue to make them grow.

Then, he collected the vines on the ground.

He led everyone to continue moving forward.

This time, Cao Xing decided to go straight into the depths of the Witch's Forest to specifically deal with those high-level monsters.

To see if he could get a few Advanced Hearts of Strength.

So he didn't linger in the outer area, but instead went deep inside.

More than an hour later.

They had penetrated about thirty kilometers deep into the [Witch's Forest].

This already exceeded the depth of Cao Xing's previous exploration.

During this time, they encountered several battles, but they were all easily resolved by Cao Xing's subordinates.

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

Moreover, Cao Xing also discovered that the plants inside were becoming increasingly thick and sturdy.

Giant trees over a hundred meters tall could be seen everywhere.

The dense branches and leaves almost blocked all the light from above, with only sporadic rays of light falling down.

Making the entire forest appear gloomy and cold…

If an ordinary person were to enter here, they would probably be scared to death!

But fortunately, they were all Tier 3 existences with very powerful eyesight, so it didn't affect them.

Cao Xing looked up at the top, then exclaimed, "Tsk tsk, I really don't know how these trees grew so tall in such a harsh environment."

Andrew chuckled, "Nature is very magical, Lord."

"Some plants are born to adapt to cold weather and can even grow magical fruits."

"Moreover, in this forest that hasn't been stepped in by anyone for many years, we might be able to encounter some magical plants."

Cao Xing said happily, "Oh? Are they magical plants?"

Andrew nodded.

Hearing this, Cao Xing also became interested.

Before he could speak.

Renice suddenly said, "Lord, there is a situation ahead!"

Hearing this, everyone immediately became alert and looked over.

They saw some strange plants appearing under a few big trees ahead.

It seemed to be a kind of peculiar flower, and these flowers were unusually tall.

Each one was over a meter tall.

They were all currently in a budding state, looking like white vases standing upright.

Looking around, this area was full of these flowers, at least forty or fifty of them.

Assam directly drew his longsword.

Andrew, who was beside him, also said, "There is an evil aura on these plants."

Hearing this, Cao Xing naturally realized that these flowers were problematic.

So, he said directly, "Renice, Elisa, shoot an arrow and see."

After receiving Cao Xing's order, the two archers simultaneously pulled back their bowstrings.

Creak! Creak!

The bowstrings were pulled into a full moon shape.

The next moment, a gust arrow and an arrow containing chill instantly shot out.

"Swish! Swish!"

[ – 2147 ]

[ – 1772 ]

Elisa's damage was a notch lower than Renice's.

However, this was also normal.

This also showed that the flowers in front of them were indeed problematic.

Following the two's attack actions.

Everyone saw that these dozens of huge flowers in front of them all began to rotate slowly.

Like a vortex.

Their petals gradually unfolded.

However, unlike those white petals.

When the petals fully opened, everyone saw that the color of the inner petals was actually black and purple!

They were covered with sharp thorns, looking like a monster's teeth!

Not only that, in the center of the petals, there was a green-purple tentacle, like a monster's tongue, dancing in mid-air.

Just looking at this appearance, one knew that these flowers were not something good!

Cao Xing quickly cast his gaze over.

[Nightmare Man-Eating Flower]

[Race: Man-Eating Flower]

[Level: Level 31 (Tier 4 Elite creature)]

[HP: 41067 / 41067]

[Attack Power: 1732 ~ 1786]

[Armor: 378 ~ 412]

[Skill: Nightmare Strike (Extends tentacles from the pistil to attack enemies within 30 meters, injecting Nightmare Venom into hit enemies, causing a 1~30 second stun, and dragging them into the petals to be devoured)]

[Feeding State (After a Man-Eating Flower devours an enemy, it closes its petals, enters a defensive state, increases armor by 300, and recovers 5% HP per second for 30 seconds)]

[Nightmare Spikes (Erupts poisonous spikes from the petals, dealing 76% piercing damage to surrounding enemies, inflicting one stack of Nightmare Poison, reducing enemy movement speed and attack speed by 10%, and causing the enemy to lose 261 HP per second, stacking up to 3 times)]

[Talent ①: Root Absorption (After entering combat, absorbs life force from the soil, recovering 1% HP per second)]

[Talent ②: Giant Plant (Increases HP by 30%)]

(Description: A Man-Eating Flower from the Witch Forest, transformed into a Nightmare Man-Eating Flower due to being tainted by a certain dark aura.)

…

[Nightmare Man-Eating Flower Leader]

[Race: Man-Eating Flower]

[Level: Level 32 (Tier 4 Leader-level creature)]

[HP: 53270 / 53270]

[Attack: 2613 ~ 2708]

[Armor: 472 ~ 533]

[Skills: Nightmare Strike, Feeding State, Nightmare Spikes (Attributes same as above)]

[Nightmare Pollen (Erupts hypnotic pollen, causing enemies to enter a psychedelic state, reducing attack speed and armor by 30%, with a chance to cause hallucinations, duration 60 seconds, cooldown 120 seconds)]

[Talent ①: Root Absorption]

[Talent ②: Giant Plant]

…

Seeing the attributes of these Man-Eating Flowers, Cao Xing's gaze tightened, and a thoughtful expression appeared.

"Is this another creature eroded by dark aura?"

"The wild boars from before, and that black snake, all became berserk because they were tainted by dark aura."

"These Man-Eating Flowers are the same."

"What exactly is this dark aura?"

While he was contemplating this, the Man-Eating Flowers in front of him had already launched an attack on the group.

Their petals suddenly contracted.

The next moment, spikes as thick as a thumb shot out instantly!

"Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!"

Hearing the sound of breaking air.

Cao Xing decided to ignore all that and finish off the enemies in front of him first.

Thus, he directly gave the order: "Attack, take out these Man-Eating Flowers."

"Braun, block their attacks!"

After receiving Cao Xing's order.

Braun took the lead, rushing out with his shield raised.

Instantly, a dozen [Nightmare Pistils] shot toward Braun like tongues.

"Puff! Puff, puff!"

The holy shield on his body was broken layer by layer.

The remaining attacks all landed on Braun's great shield.

Boom! Boom, boom, boom!

[- 874]

[- 742]

[- 971]

[- 1024]

[- 732]

A dozen damage numbers appeared.

A single encounter wiped out over ten thousand of Braun's HP.

However, compared to his forty thousand HP, he was still in a healthy state.

Braun laughed loudly, "Haha, now it's my turn!"

Then, he jumped violently in front of this group of Man-Eating Flowers.

Ice Bloodline activated!

Frost Magic Shield erupted!

Source of Extreme Ice erupted!

Three layers of cold air exploded simultaneously!

"Crack!"

Visible frost froze the surrounding air.

With Braun as the center, a white mist appeared in a ten-meter radius.

A dozen Man-Eating Flowers were frozen in place on the spot!

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing praised: "Not bad, not bad. Combining different skills can unleash even more powerful effects."

"These dozen Man-Eating Flowers have all entered a 5-second deep freeze state!"

You have to know, Braun is still only a Tier 3 leader, and being able to control so many Tier 4 creatures for such a long time is extremely impressive.

The next moment, more Man-Eating Flowers launched attacks at Braun.

However, at this moment, Assam had already swung his Sword of Justice and rushed up!

"Swish! Swish, swish, swish!"

Four sword slashes swept past.

A large pile of damage numbers appeared.

Not only that, the targets hit by Assam all fell into various states of reduced armor, reduced attack speed, and reduced attack power.

The threat was greatly reduced!

Meanwhile, the others also unleashed various attacks.

Boom! Boom, boom!

Suffering concentrated fire from Isabelle and Sarah, one of the Man-Eating Flowers died on the spot.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance killed Nightmare Man-Eating Flower lv34, Tier 4 normal creature, gained EXP: 1360]

[Combatants gained EXP: 680]

…

Meanwhile.

The others also began to unleash various powerful attacks, and one Man-Eating Flower after another died.

Even though these Man-Eating Flowers had higher levels and greater numbers than Cao Xing's side.

They still quickly gained the upper hand.

At this moment, in the central area of these Man-Eating Flowers.

There was a huge Man-Eating Flower with wide petals, thick roots, and a height reaching two meters!

It was exactly that Man-Eating Flower leader!

It seemed to sense the threat, and its petals suddenly closed.

A wisp of black aura gradually released from its body.

Seeing this, Cao Xing realized it might be using some kind of move.

Thus, Cao Xing immediately ordered: "Jonard, use the Ice Dragon Spear to interrupt it."

After receiving Cao Xing's order, Jonard instantly gripped his long spear tightly!

A terrifying dragon might suddenly surged from his body!

"Hah!"

With a loud shout from Jonard, he pointed his spear!

At this moment.

A giant ice pillar, nearly 4 meters thick and 65 meters long, erupted violently!

"Boom!"

[- 5312]

[- 5741]

[- 5582]

[- 5212]

…

Instantly, over a dozen damage numbers as high as five thousand appeared!

All Man-Eating Flowers along the path, including the leader Man-Eating Flower in the middle, were all frozen into ice sculptures!

And the opponent's attack was directly interrupted.

"Not bad, the Dragon Blood Extraction skill has greatly increased the lethality of the Dragon Blood Warriors!"

"I wonder how powerful Leader-level, or even Commander-level Dragon Blood Warriors would be!"

Cao Xing thought with high expectations, and couldn't wait to claim the rewards for first place on the leaderboard.

As the battle progressed, the number of Man-Eating Flowers gradually decreased.

This group of Tier 4 Man-Eating Flowers would be enough to easily wipe out a Survivor camp of hundreds of people.

However, for Cao Xing, it posed no threat.

He didn't even use his full strength.

His strongest beings, Sarah, Isabelle, Hilda, and others, were still just watching from the sidelines.

Cao Xing originally wanted to raise his staff to finish them off.

At this moment, he saw Tong Chuchu nearby, and a thought suddenly arose in his mind.

Then he said: "Chuchu, summon the Pursuit Robot and Self-Destruct Robot to see."

"Also, summon your Corona to take a look."

Tong Chuchu gripped her small pistol tightly, then nodded: "O… Okay."

"But Big Brother, summoning a Self-Destruct Robot requires 20 Iron, 5 Copper, and 1 Primary Elemental Crystal…"

"The Pursuit Robot requires 50 Iron, 20 Copper, and 3 Primary Elemental Crystals…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing laughed: "It's fine, just use them."

After speaking, Cao Xing traded her 2000 Iron, 1000 Copper, and 200 Primary Elemental Crystals.

These basic resources were not lacking for Cao Xing at all.

Tong Chuchu happily accepted them.

Then, under Cao Xing's gaze.

Tong Chuchu consumed some Mechanical Force and materials.

A robot about 1.5 meters tall, made entirely of iron, quickly took shape.

This robot's left hand was a pincer, which could clamp onto enemies.

The right hand was a chainsaw, which could use the [Thermal Cutting] skill.

Coupled with its blue pupils, it also had [Thermal Tracking] functionality, making it quite versatile.

This was the [Mark Pursuer].

It inherited 120% of Tong Chuchu's attributes and could only last for five minutes.

Cao Xing waited for a moment, but did not hear any prompt regarding [Eternal Power].

It seems these robots cannot exist permanently.

But thinking about it, it was normal.

After all, robots like this also belong to summoned creatures.

They are the same as summoning Griffons or summoning [Frost Spirits].

Then, Tong Chuchu summoned two [Improved Self-Destruct Robots] about 80 centimeters tall, shaped like iron boxes.

Following Tong Chuchu's instructions, the three robots, along with the [Corona] floating in the air, rushed up together.

Corona looked more like a floating iron sphere.

From its circular holes, energy shells were continuously ejected, dealing energy damage to those Man-Eating Flowers.

"Puff! Puff, puff!"

[- 1225]

[- 1221]

[- 1152]

The damage was not high, which was also related to the low quality of the equipment Tong Chuchu was wearing.

However, as those two self-destruct robots rushed into the crowd of Man-Eating Flowers, they suddenly self-destructed.

"Boom!"

A loud explosion sounded, and the terrifying heat wave instantly dispersed the surrounding cold air!

At least a dozen damage numbers appeared.

[- 2732]

[- 2658]

[- 2931]

[- 2523]

…

Seeing this damage number, a look of admiration appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"This damage is not bad. Later, when I get Chuchu some good equipment, the damage can be increased even more!"

Moreover, the cooldown of the self-destruct robot is not long, and two can be summoned at once.

It is one of the Mechanic's main output skills, besides [Mark Pursuer] and [Corona].

Of course, it also requires a lot of materials.

Two explosions cost 40 Iron, 10 Copper, and 2 Elemental Crystals.

Average Survivors simply cannot afford this consumption.

Meanwhile.

That group of Man-Eating Flowers, after being besieged by everyone, became fewer and fewer.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance killed Nightmare Man-Eating Flower lv32, Tier 4 normal creature: gained EXP: 1280]

[Combatants gained EXP: 640]

[Your territory member: Isabelle Gospel killed Nightmare Man-Eating Flower lv34, Tier 4 normal creature: gained EXP: 0]

[Combatants gained EXP: 680]

…

In less than two minutes, only the last leader-level Man-Eating Flower remained, resisting stubbornly.

However, with a [Black Smoke Impact] from Blot landing.

Boom!

[- 3014]

This leader-level Man-Eating Flower's HP was cleared, and it fell down.

…