BXBX NOVEL Chapter 64 - 64: The Mutated Tree Spirit
Swish swish swish-
A few flashes of silver light, dozens of tree roots around Song Jian were cut off and fell around him, constantly twitching. In no time, they stopped moving.
Boom-
Seven or eight meters away from Song Jian, a robust and lush tree shook violently, as if trying to break free from the earth and emerge from the ground.
An old face slowly emerged on its gnarled trunk, looking eerie.
Thump thump-
Countless tree roots surrounded the tree, drilling out from the ground one by one. The tree looked like a giant octopus with countless tentacles, buried underground.
Song Jian stared attentively, and at the top of the tree, a red light-emitting attribute description appeared.
“LV5 Mutated Tree Spirit, Vitality: 320/320, Characteristics: Mutated Tree Root, Super Recovery”
Song Jian took out his gun, aimed at the Mutated Tree Spirit, and pulled the trigger.
Bang bang bang-
Bullets hit the Mutated Tree Spirit’s body, raising a flurry of sparks as if striking steel. Single-digit damage floated above the Tree Spirit’s head.
As the Mutated Tree Spirit was injured, it struggled more violently. It soon emerged from the soil with countless mutated roots twisted around each other, forming two thick legs. At a glance, it looked like a seven or eight-meter tall, muscular human.
“Its skin is pretty thick!” Song Jian felt a toothache – his bullets could only cause five or six points of damage, and for a Mutated Tree Spirit with more than three hundred Vitality Points, this damage was like being bitten by a mosquito. Moreover, it had a “fast recovery” characteristic. If the damage didn’t reach a certain level of power, it would be impossible to kill this monster.
Earth Teeth Assault!
Song Jian used his only ranged attack skill. A sharp-toothed air mass emitted a screeching whistle and rushed towards the Mutated Tree Spirit, which couldn’t react in time and was hit.
Thud-
Large chunks of wood splintered, and one of the Mutated Tree Spirit’s legs was blasted in half by the energy assault. Dozens of tangled roots snapped and scattered around.
Rumble-
As one of its legs couldn’t support the massive body, the Mutated Tree Spirit fell to the ground with a thunderous crash.
Splash-
Its other leg also suddenly broke apart, transforming into dozens of Mutated Tree Roots, sweeping towards Song Jian.
Song Jian rushed forward instead of retreating, swinging his dagger while continuing to approach the Tree Spirit’s main body.
The Mutated Tree Spirit struggled, trying to stand up again. However, it was impossible for a seven or eight-meter tree to get up after losing half of its roots.
Song Jian swung his dagger, cutting off five or six roots with each strike. But more roots surged towards him, confounding him for a moment.
Clang clang clang-
Some Mutated Tree Roots that escaped his attack pierced his body like spears but were blocked by the Zombie Commander Armor. Single-digit damage floated above Song Jian, whose 250 Vitality Points made him not concerned about the injury.
Enduring the attack of the Mutated Tree Roots, Song Jian rushed to the base of the Tree Spirit and furiously stabbed the firm trunk with his dagger.
Clang-
The dagger blade penetrated only a third of the way before it couldn’t go any further. A damage of more than ten points floated above the Tree Spirit’s head.
Frowning, Song Jian straddled the Tree Spirit and kept stabbing the trunk.
The Mutated Tree Spirit bellowed, its huge body rolling around trying to shake Song Jian off. The remaining dozen tree roots harassed Song Jian, making him feel irritated.
Jumping off the trunk, Song Jian rushed to the Tree Spirit’s base and swung his dagger, cutting off the remaining Mutated Tree Roots. Now, the base of the Mutated Tree Spirit was bare, with no roots longer than a foot, posing no threat to Song Jian.
Though the Mutated Tree Spirit was a level 5 ordinary monster, its high defense, fast recovery, and swarming mutated roots put it on par with an elite-level monster. Its only weakness was its low attack power and limited attack methods.
Song Jian kept swinging his dagger at the tree trunk.
Clang clang clang-
Burst!
After stacking five layers of Poison Mark, Song Jian released the dagger’s built-in skill “Poison Nova.” Over a hundred points of damage floated above the Mutated Tree Spirit’s head.
Following two consecutive Poison Novas, the Mutated Tree Spirit’s Vitality was reduced to about twenty. At this moment, a green light suddenly appeared around it, and its Vitality rapidly increased, reaching 50% in no time.
However, this recovery wasn’t without a price. Nearly all of the leaves on the Mutated Tree Spirit withered and fell, and even its branches became withered and fragile.
“Dying breath…” Song Jian murmured, continuing to swing his dagger at the Tree Spirit.
This recovery only delayed the Mutated Tree Spirit’s demise. In the end, it couldn’t withstand Song Jian’s onslaught. It let out a low, mournful cry as the light in its eyes went out and the tree turned into a huge, dead piece of wood lying horizontally on the ground.
The moment the Mutated Tree Spirit died, several glowing orbs jumped from its body and scattered around the corpse.
“Three Vitality Recovery Fruits, a plantable Tree Spirit sapling, and 500 units of wood. Wow, this Tree Spirit is generous, dropping so many things!” Song Jian’s eyes lit up when he saw the items on the ground.
Although the items were all white quality, each had its usefulness.
“Vitality Recovery Fruit (White), Food, Usage Effect: recovers 50 Vitality Points upon ingestion, Usage Requirement: None, Can it be brought out of the game: Yes”
“Tree Spirit Sapling (White), Rare Item, Usage Effect: can be planted in Spiritual Land, occupying 2 standard Spiritual Lands, might grow into a Tree Spirit, and very rarely into a Guardian of Withered Wood; Usage Requirement: Own Safe House Spiritual Land (2); Can it be brought out of the game: Yes” These two items delighted Song Jian. In the absence of Blood Replenishing Elixirs, Vitality Recovery Fruits could be used as medicine. The Tree Spirit sapling also increased the defense level of the Safe House, raising Song Jian’s confidence in completing the main mission.
As for the 500 standard units of wood, it could be simply stacked with the previously gathered wood.
“There must be more than one Mutated Tree Spirit in this forest.” Song Jian looked at the dark depths of the woods, a profound smile on his face.