52: Key to the Sea of ​​Trees, the entrance to the dungeon!

After sorting through his gains and calming his emotions,

Jiang Yuan quickly digested his increased strength with his extraordinary comprehension.

On the other end, the Martial God Clone had also found its target. Prompts of killing Vicious Beasts kept ringing in Jiang Yuan's ears, and his experience bar slowly rose.

"More than half a day has passed, I wonder how the others are doing."

"Could they have already reached the deeper areas?"

Thinking of powerhouses like Lin Qingyan among the students, Jiang Yuan's expression turned slightly solemn.

With her strength, this dungeon had no difficulty at all; she might have already surpassed him by a lot and entered the deepest part.

"I can't dawdle anymore. If she clears the dungeon and gets the highest score, it won't matter how many Vicious Beasts I kill."

As he thought this, Jiang Yuan hurried along using [Divine Speed], his figure continuously flashing as he rushed toward the depths of the giant tree forest.

Not long after,

"Whoosh!"

Jiang Yuan's figure appeared in a brand-new area.

It was dead silent here, with no traces of students ever visiting. The light was extremely dim, the tree canopies of the giant trees were denser, and strange, eerie sounds constantly echoed around.

"Hmm?"

Jiang Yuan glanced sideways, his golden eyes sweeping across.

"Swish—!"

Suddenly, over a dozen thigh-thick, purple, thorny vines shot directly toward Jiang Yuan!

The green scythe in Jiang Yuan's hand swung out, slashing against the vines, but it produced a sound like metal clashing.

"Clank, clank, clank, clank!!!"

The blade light was shredded.

"Snap!"

The sharp scythe from the giant sickle bug completely snapped.

"I've finally encountered some decent Vicious Beasts."

Jiang Yuan casually tossed it aside and smiled, saying:

"Just right for me to test my skills."

"Whoosh!!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Over a dozen iron-hard, purple, thorny vines thrust straight like spears!

Jiang Yuan slightly sidestepped, dodging all the attacks with the minimal range of movement.

The dozen vines pierced deep into the ground, intersecting all around Jiang Yuan and trapping him within like a prison.

"Swish!"

The vines suddenly closed inward, their slender spikes carrying a cold glint, attempting to pierce through his body.

Jiang Yuan's expression was calm as his left hand formed a hand blade and swept out casually.

"Clang!"

Under the blessing of his terrifying stats, he used his flesh and blood to shatter those spikes bare-handed!

"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!!"

The dozen vines danced wildly like enraged spirit snakes, wrapping toward Jiang Yuan.

A gale blew away the bangs on Jiang Yuan's forehead. He slowly opened his eyes, which looked like two candles lit in the dark night, or an awe-inspiring, grim ancient dragon opening its golden pupils in the abyss.

"Ripples… Shock!"

"Boom!"

Crimson ripples suddenly exploded from his body, expanding like ripples, causing the vines' attack to pause.

Countless crimson ripples carrying terrifying vibrational force spread onto those vines, which trembled crazily as if struck by lightning, and then exploded violently!

"Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!"…

"Screech—!!"

A huge human face appeared on the trunk of a giant tree not far away, letting out a miserable and piercing screech from its mouth!

[Abyssal Beast]: Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree

[Grade]: Rare.

[Rank]: LV18.

[Skills]: Mental Destruction, Spore Parasitism, Vine Attack.

[Evaluation]: A dangerous and treacherous Abyssal Beast that can unpreventably turn its prey into its own nutrients.

It was the true main body of the vines!

The crimson ripples spread along the roots of the vines onto its body, acting like bone-gnawing poison and destructive red lightning, inflicting a massive amount of true damage to its main body as well!

"Screech—!!!"

Invisible mental tides surged in all directions.

Slamming into Jiang Yuan's Mental Domain, it was like sand blown by the wind against an iron door, having absolutely no effect at all!

"Hum!"

A golden light flashed in Jiang Yuan's blazing golden pupils.

Intermediate Mental Skill—[Mental Spike]!

The incomparably refined Mental Energy formed several piercing vines that ruthlessly stabbed into the Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree's Mental Domain, stirring it wantonly and causing it to let out increasingly painful and miserable screams.

The giant tree shook wildly, causing even the ground to vibrate along with it. Countless purple vines drilled out from the ground, whipping wildly without any pattern.

"[Divine Speed]!"

With a flash, Jiang Yuan arrived in front of the Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree, his right fist wrapped in blazing Qi abruptly blasting out!

"Black Thunder… Flash!"

This was a fist technique learned from Lin Qingyan, combined with ripple exertion techniques!

Accompanied by a flash of black thunder, Jiang Yuan's fist landed on the trunk of the Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree!

"Boom—!"

"Bang!"

The incomparably refined vibrational Qi directly pierced through the giant tree's body, with the shockwave spreading over a dozen meters. Like an invisible spear, it pierced and tore through the hard trunk, directly blasting the entire giant tree in half at the waist!!

[Health Bar 17830 → 0]

"Thud!"

The nearly hundred-meter-tall giant tree collapsed heavily, and prompts rang in Jiang Yuan's mind.

[Ding! You killed (Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree), gained Experience +773]

[Ding! Points +30]

[Ding! You obtained Skill Book * 1]

[Ding! You obtained Rare Equipment—Ghost-faced Wood Staff.]

[Ding! You obtained Materials - Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree's Tree Heart]

[Ding! You obtained Materials - Human-faced Ghost Vine Tree's Spores]

[Ding! You obtained Item - Key of the Sea of Trees]

[Ghost-faced Wood Staff] (Rare): Mental Attack +10, Penetration +5, Spellcasting Speed +5, comes with a slow effect.

"The Golden Rule is indeed powerful, dropping rare equipment so quickly."

"Hmm… What is this?"

Jiang Yuan looked at the wooden key in his hand with some puzzlement.

[Key of the Sea of Trees]: An item leading to the dungeon's hidden map. When held, it can guide you to the entrance of the hidden map.

"Hum—"

The wooden key in his hand emitted a bright light, and a speck of fluorescent light flew out, hovering in front of Jiang Yuan before flying off in a certain direction.

Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up.

"Oh oh, a prop that can guide the way. Really nice."

"Take me to the entrance of the hidden map."

He followed the speck of light and walked deeper.

…

On the other side.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo…"

Kneeling on one knee, Guan Xiaoxiao gasped heavily, her small face dirty and her entire body covered in injuries.

Watching the Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle exhaling hot breath from its mouth and nose as it continuously approached, she bit her lip, a trace of unwillingness revealing itself in her bright eyes.

Has it come to an end…

Rather, it could only end here.

Her attacks were completely ineffective against it; what else could she do?

Guan Xiaoxiao's hand slowly lowered, and she lowered her head, her face shrouded in shadow.

First acting together with the team to kill five or six Vicious Beasts, and then relying on her own strength to solve four Tier-1 Vicious Beasts, she had worked hard enough, right?

This was already her limit…

This was fine…

To this extent, even her parents would be satisfied…

Let it be like this…

"Thud!"

The ground trembled. The three-meter-tall, RV-sized Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle arrived in front of her. Compared to it, the young girl's figure appeared so tiny.

Guan Xiaoxiao tightly gripped the teleportation stone in her hand.

"Roar!"

The Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle let out a roar, raising its thick front limbs.

"I wonder how he's doing right now? Has he rushed into the top one hundred?"

The image of the black-haired, golden-eyed youth surfaced in Guan Xiaoxiao's mind.

Just at the moment when she was about to crush the teleportation stone,

A black shadow suddenly and without warning appeared above the Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle. Its figure moved bizarrely, twisting its waist as it delivered a ferocious heavy kick downwards, slamming heavily onto the Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle's hardest tortoise shell!

"Bang—!!"

The air burst, and shockwaves swept out.

Caught completely off guard, under that terrifying force, the Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle's two heads coughed up blood, its tortoise shell cracked, its massive body sank downward, and even the ground collapsed by half a meter.

Guan Xiaoxiao blankly raised her head to look at the scene before her, the raging gale blowing her hair.

"…Eh?"

The young girl's tender face carried intense disbelief, her cherry lips parted wide, and her bright, round eyes stared blankly at the figure standing atop the Two-Headed Rhinoceros Turtle.

"You… Could you be…"

With a whoosh, the Martial God Clone disappeared once again.

"That figure, and that familiar feeling… It's definitely him!"

The young girl muttered to herself, her previously dim eyes sparkling brilliantly at this moment.

"He actually ran away again. Does he think I wouldn't recognize him?"

"What an idiot."

Guan Xiaoxiao said, placing her hand on her budding chest, though her heart still couldn't stop beating wildly.

"Guan Xiaoxiao, you really are something. Why is your heart beating so fast? How useless."

"It's not like I like him,"

The tsundere girl puffed out her small cheeks, talking to herself in self-deception to cover up her inner shyness.

After taking a deep breath,

Guan Xiaoxiao wore a smile on her face, looked up at the sky, and muttered:

"It's better to hold on a bit longer…"