Dark Blood Path

As the group continued their journey through the forest, another group of black wood demons appeared.

These wood demons had black trunks, and their leaves had grown quite lush; they were no longer tender shoots. Black wood spirits were much more powerful than the green ones, with a strength equivalent to the late stage of the elementary level, causing some injuries to several people. They didn’t provide any decent spoils except for one thing.

“Black Wood Demon’s essence.” a low-grade gray item—a substance used in alchemy that had a 2% chance of increasing the quality of the final product!

Xiao Yu accepted it with a smile.

He had previously killed the dryad and received the “Century Old Dryad Essence” and some leaves as a reward. Wood demons and dryads were essentially different monsters and not at the same level. The essence of a wood demon or its leaves, unlike those of the dryad, could only be used in the process of refining first-grade items.

First-grade potions and magic items were all essential in the early stages.

This part of the forest was quite vast, and the team had been traveling for three days straight, during which they had slain numerous wood demons. Almost half of the team had advanced to the late stage of the elementary level, with dozens of people reaching the peak of the elementary realm. Everyone’s fighting power continued to improve, and they finally arrived at the edge of the forest on the fourth day.

The dense forest gradually became sparse, and the path became increasingly rugged and winding. The mountain range ahead loomed closer, and several peaks could be seen towering into the clouds like sharp swords, with enormous and powerful giant birds hovering in the sky thousands of meters above.

The furthest point that the scouts sent out by Zhao Changping had reached was probably only this far. No one had gone any further or had ever returned from deeper within, indicating the level of danger in this area. The group dared not be careless and became even more cautious as they approached the mountain range.

In front of them, there was a group of black wood demons hovering under a large tree.

In this situation, everyone had developed a kind of tacit understanding. Immediately, a group of relatively weaker individuals rushed to engage the wood monsters. Since this batch of wood monsters was not large, the humans overwhelming numbers resulted in the monsters’ utter defeat in the blink of an eye. Their deaths were sufficient to improve everyone’s strength to a certain extent.

Xiao Yu and the others watched the battle unfold from a short distance away. One after another, the black wood monsters fell under the human siege. It seemed that there was no unexpected occurrence in this battle. However, at this moment, Xiao Yu suddenly noticed the large tree next to the wood demons moving. Yes, it was moving!

Could it be a dryad?!

With a slight change in his expression, Xiao Yu’s eyes turned blood-red. He pulled out his blade from his storage ring and immediately shouted, “There’s a situation; everyone back off!”

The large tree did indeed move again. Immediately, a powerful magical force spread in all directions, and countless emerald roots surged out from the ground, entwining all the humans within its range.

This was a magic skill called “Entangling Roots”!

Zhao Changping had once obtained a scroll of Entangling Roots, so he immediately recognized the skill. He didn’t have time to think much when he suddenly noticed the large tree, which had seemed unremarkable in the forest, suddenly come to life. It exerted tremendous force, and its massive feet lifted off the ground, bringing with them a large amount of soil. As it heavily stomped on the ground, it caused the earth to shake.

The tree, which was only six or seven meters tall, underwent another transformation. Two cold lights suddenly lit up on the trunk, resembling two cold eyes. The tree creaked as a pair of giant arms suddenly sprouted from its branches.

“It’s a Treant!” Xiao Yu’s pupils shrank.

Boom!

It was too fast!

The Treant’s fist came crashing down, causing several square meters of ground to collapse. The two people entangled by the roots were smashed into a pulp, their bloody remains resembling those of a mutilated corpse that had been run over by a truck dozens of times. The scene was too gruesome to bear.

When such a huge creature appeared before them, everyone was stunned.

“Roar!”

The Treant let out a deep roar, swinging its giant arm to strike again.

Bullet time!

Xiao Yu’s body swayed, instantly disappearing from his original location. The next second, he appeared in front of the Treant, and a sharp cyan light streak struck it. Before the Treant’s fist could land, it let out a sharp grunt and was pushed two steps back, yet the attack left only a shallow wound on its body. Xiao Yu’s feet touched the ground, and like a shadow, he chased after the Treant, slicing through the air with another blade strike.

At this moment, a large number of vines and roots suddenly appeared on the ground, crazily rushing towards Xiao Yu from all directions.

Zhao Changping transformed into a swift shadow and rushed forward at the next moment. His long sword swept across, breaking the vine roots inch by inch. A powerful lightning bolt shot straight at the Treant, causing it to take a step back from the violent impact.

“Be careful, it’s falling.”

Xiao Yu said calmly, “Just take care of yourself.” With that, he conjured a ball of green flame in his hand and hurled it towards the Treant with all his might. The basketball-sized green flame collided with the Treant, causing its six-meter-high body to tremble as it was enveloped by the flames. However, in the next moment, the green flames dissipated into the wind, leaving no trace.

The “instant disintegration” attack had failed!

The treant was a monster in the late stage of first order, and its strength was indeed very powerful! This attack alone consumed 60% of Xiao Yu’s spiritual power.

While Xiao Yu was fighting the treant, everyone took the opportunity to cut the roots that bound their limbs with their weapons and then launched another round of attacks on the monster.

The treant hammered the ground, causing the earth to crack. Xiao Yu and Zhao Changping dodged at the same time, and a green energy burst out from the spot where they had just stood. The treant turned around and kicked, sending three people flying who were unable to dodge in time, while the others had already approached the treant and inflicted some damage with their weapons.

A flaming arrow shrouded in hot energy flew through the air and landed on the monster’s body, but even though it was a powerful arrow capable of piercing through metal, it only penetrated a few inches into the treant’s body, setting some areas on fire and causing some trouble for their enemy.

Yun Yun once again pulled back the bowstring, and countless chaotic flames appeared in the air, swiftly and wildly condensing around the arrow.

This time, she was imbuing it with her “Berserk fire elemental blessing” skill.

She immediately loosened the bowstring.

Whoosh!

With a loud blast, the treant, which was locked in combat with Xiao Yu, suddenly exploded from behind. Countless branches and leaves were shattered and cascaded from its body, and charred patches appeared all over its form, with flickering flames still burning.

The treant stomped its foot in anger, causing the ground beneath Yunyun to surge. Her face changed drastically as she attempted to jump away, but more than a dozen wooden spikes suddenly shot out of the ground. One of them pierced her thigh, while another pierced her abdomen, piercing her body through.

“Yunyun!”

Jiang Xiaowen had been about to charge forward to fight the treant, but when she saw Yunyun get severely injured, she quickly flew over to rescue her. Yunyun was heavily injured, but as a first-order warrior, she had strong vitality and wouldn’t die easily. She had only temporarily lost her fighting power.

The treant waved its hand fiercely and, as if swatting flies, sent seven to eight people flying in midair. Then it punched at Wang Chao, who was swinging his mace toward it. With a muffled bang, the treant’s fist collapsed, and Wang Chao was sent flying dozens of meters away.

The treant wanted to pursue, but several bolts of lightning exploded behind it. Zhao Changping successfully caught the treant’s attention, leaving several wounds on its body with his long sword. Xiao Yu jumped up and stomped on the treant’s knee, then bounced off with force, gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands and stabbing fiercely into one of its eyes.

The treant reached out to grab him, but Xiao Yu had already anticipated this and kicked off with both legs, flying out while throwing a burst of flames at it.

Boom!

The treant stumbled and almost fell down. Han Kexin seized the opportunity to launch another blast flame, causing the treant’s massive body to collapse like a mountain. Jiang Xiaowen saw this and unleashed the power of her Ring of Spikes, causing a huge spike to rise from the ground and directly pierce through the treant’s body, avenging Yun Yun.

Jin Shi and Sun Dazhu led a group of warriors, all at the peak of the elementary level, and charged towards the treant. In an instant, various weapons rained down on the tree shaped monster, leaving scars all over its body. Despite being pinned to the ground, the treant thrashed its arms and attempted to sweep its attackers away. However, most of the people around it were highly skilled, and they jumped on its body one after another, hurling weapons and thorns at it.

Despite its efforts, the treant couldn’t hold back against the onslaught of the sea of people. Its body was broken, and pieces of wood flew everywhere.

“Roar!”

Suddenly, the treant grabbed the spike that had pierced its body and twisted it with sudden force. It roared and stood up once again, throwing all the people on its body away with immense strength. Its right arm was broken, and there was a huge hole in its chest. It was covered in wounds and had more than a dozen weapons sticking out of its body. However, although severely injured, it remained fierce.

But just then, Jiang Xiaowen flapped her wings and swooped down from the sky, fiercely thrusting a spear into the gaping chest of the treant. The latter let out a loud roar, and from its severed arm sprouted countless thin vines that bound Jiang Xiaowen’s limbs, wrapping her up like a dumpling and slamming her to the ground. Han Kexin leapt up just in time, tearing through the air with her toxic claw, slicing through the vines and shattering them one by one. Jiang Xiaowen fell heavily to the ground, creating a pit with a bang.

The treant let out a frantic scream, lifting its foot and stomping the ground. Countless green vines sprouted from the ground within a radius of a dozen meters around it, climbing up its leg and seeping through its wounds before solidifying and becoming part of its body.

“It’s healing its body; don’t let it succeed!”

Zhao Changping yelled out and launched the first attack, causing a thunderball to explode on the treant’s body. Jiang Xiaowen gritted her teeth and, despite her injuries, threw a sealed scroll and controlled the half-abomination to swing its sickle at the monster, cutting a deep wound in its body. The half-abomination’s other hand wielded a war hammer, which slammed into the treant’s face while a sharp sword pierced through its body.

The opposite party retaliated by punching the half-abomination’s face, causing it to stagger two steps back. Though dazed, the creature remained unharmed. and it then opened its mouth and spewed out a stream of blood-red energy, which blasted onto the monster’s body, shattering all the vines it was using for healing. With a massive force of impact, the treant was pushed back several steps, and its body was stripped of a layer.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiao Yu stomped on the half-abomination’s head, then shot like a bullet towards the treant wielding a cyan streak of light that swept across and forced the other party to retreat several steps. Right afterward With a hand gesture, he sent a burst of flames into the gaping hole in the trant’s chest.

Boom!

An explosion sounded as the monster’s body was blown into countless pieces, becoming scattered fragments that rained down from the sky. Large chunks of burning wood fell to the ground.