Chapter 229: Chapter 211: Strengthened Underground Mutant Creatures

The Blood Patterned Vine before them was extraordinarily thick, much thicker than the ones they had encountered in previous battles!

The Blood Patterned Vine they dealt with before had a diameter of about five or six centimeters, which was already rather thick compared to those with a diameter of two or three centimeters.

But the vine covered with blood thorns in front of them was at least ten centimeters in diameter! If it weren’t bent, Xu Xin would even think it was the trunk of a small tree!

Silver King bared its fangs at the vine, its low growl growing louder, its red eyes fixed on the vine, as if ready to attack at any moment.

“Xu Xin, what’s wrong with Silver King!” Li Wenxi shouted anxiously to Xu Xin.

“Silver King, don’t be impulsive!” Xu Xin turned and saw Silver King’s state, feeling it looked like a mid-tier mutated beast in a frenzy after being injured. He was startled and hurried over to stroke its head a few times.

“Ying, ying!” Keke also jumped onto its head, giving it a pat as if warning it not to be reckless.

Only then did Silver King slowly retract its fangs.

“Howl?” It seemed confused about why it suddenly got so excited.

Seeing Silver King calm down, Xu Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“What is this…” Li Wenxi asked worriedly.

“The emotions of a mid-tier mutated beast are not stable, and this vine seems to have triggered its desire to fight, right?” Ji Chaoyang came over and asked.

“…That’s probably it.” Xu Xin turned to observe the vine again.

“Why is it so thick?” Xu Xin murmured to himself, “After the treehouse upgrade, have the underground creatures also gotten stronger? And how did it even make Silver King so impulsive, why?”

Ji Chaoyang stepped forward, examining the Blood Patterned Vine with a serious expression, “When I went out yesterday, I hadn’t encountered such a thick vine.”

Li Wenxi also cautiously approached, hiding behind Xu Xin, looking at the vine in awe, “It’s so much thicker than the previous Blood Patterned Vines, fortunately, it still can’t reach into the protection zone.”

Though the vine was thick and looked intimidating, it still hadn’t attacked Xu Xin standing inside the protection zone, instead circling in place, unable to reach its intended target. It began to sway slightly and retract underground.

Since it had shown up, there was no way they’d let it go back.

Xu Xin immediately swung his long halberd, sweeping towards the root of the Blood Patterned Vine.

The halberd was very long, a full three meters, and this Blood Patterned Vine was right at the edge of the protection zone. Thus, he could attack the vine, but the vine couldn’t strike him.

“Crack.”

With considerable force and enhanced strength, the halberd cut through the base of the Blood Patterned Vine like slicing tofu.

A surge of warmth much stronger than when he chopped down poplar trees rushed through the handle he was gripping, instantly restoring his somewhat fatigued body from long moments of riding the wolf to peak condition.

The vine, swaying slightly, stiffened, its once-bright red thorns turning dull, then it leaned towards them.

All three of them were experienced in battle, unfazed, and swiftly dodged the falling vine.

With a “bang,” the thick, heavy vine crashed to the ground, scattering dry leaves.

“Ying!” Keke ran to the side of the vine, scampering around it, examining the massive vine, and with its small claw gave it a scratch.

Keke’s claws were actually very sharp, capable of making deep scratches on human skin, but couldn’t even scratch the vine’s skin, leaving only a white mark.

This vine’s defense was significantly higher than before. Fortunately, Xu Xin’s weapon was far superior to before, making the battle manageable.

[Killed Blood Patterned Vine, points gained: 50.]

Previously, Blood Patterned Vines only gave 15 points, but this one granted 50 points.

“You actually sliced through it in one go!” Li Wenxi exclaimed.

“Mutated vines are quite easy to handle, as long as you attack their roots before they retract completely; once their roots are destroyed, they’re generally easy to kill,” Xu Xin explained to Li Wenxi.

“I see.” Li Wenxi scrutinized the vine on the ground, even though it was already dead, it continued to twitch and twist.

In the defense battle, she had only killed large ants that entered the treehouse, never having killed a mutated vine, so she didn’t know its weak point.

“How is it? This vine, how many points?” Ji Chaoyang squatted down to closely examine the vine, asking without lifting his head.

“50 points, thankfully not reaching the level of a mid-tier mutated creature.”

A mid-tier mutated creature scores 100 points, so this vine was far from that level.

However, they could not underestimate the danger, as unlike mid-tier mutated beasts, which usually wandered alone, these vines appeared in numbers. Riding Silver King out for a run, dozens or even hundreds could be drawn out without a problem.

If another defense battle like before occurred, the vines would surely swarm.

If they were mid-tier mutated creatures, that would be troublesome.

“That’s good. Well, apart from growing bigger, these vines haven’t changed much, not advancing to mid-tier mutated creatures. Moreover, this could be a good way to rack up points. The point store has blue-level fertilizers, and many people haven’t even seen fertile soil yet,” Ji Chaoyang mused, standing up, stroking his chin thoughtfully.