216: Chapter 216 Half-health Status

The Sharp-toothed Piglet was quite sensitive to danger. Whenever the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS targeted it, it would quickly wag its little tail, clearly sensing the aura of danger. However, perhaps because its body was too small—while the ground under Hu Gualing and Tang Yao only became soft when the tree demon attacked—for the Sharp-toothed Piglet, that same-sized area made it feel like it had encountered quicksand, causing its entire body to sink in. No matter how it wagged its little tail and thrashed its four little hooves, it couldn't escape. Then, an Earth Spike suddenly protruded from the ground, sending the Sharp-toothed Piglet flying into the air like it was on a trampoline.

Fortunately, although the Earth Spike was very hard, it wasn't sharp and didn't disembowel the Sharp-toothed Piglet on the spot. It only caused -30 impact damage when it was knocked into the air. Then, the Earth Spike crumbled into grains of sand and flowed back underground, filling the ground where it had just sunk and restoring it to its original appearance. After the Sharp-toothed Piglet fell to the ground and steadied itself, it snorted twice angrily and lowered its head to launch a 'Charge' skill at the Millennium Tree Demon.

Xiao Niao saw this and resisted the urge to cover his eyes. After all, his role in this battle was to observe the situation so he could make timely and specific changes to the pre-battle tactics based on the actual circumstances. So, even though he couldn't bear to see the Sharp-toothed Piglet's fate, he held back. At the moment the Sharp-toothed Piglet charged into the Millennium Tree Demon's stump, a Stun symbol appeared above the Millennium Tree Demon's head. However, the symbol was very faint and disappeared almost instantly, having no substantial impact on the Millennium Tree Demon. On the other hand, a Stun symbol actually appeared above the Sharp-toothed Piglet's own head, lasting for more than two seconds before disappearing... It looked like it had knocked itself unconscious?

'It seems the effect of Tang Yao's pet's Charge skill depends on the target's strength. This Millennium Tree Demon is massive and quite powerful, so even if a Stun effect appears, it's only a flash. Instead, under such a huge disparity in strength, Sharp Tooth knocked itself out.' Xiao Niao thought to himself as he watched the battle scene. Summarizing patterns based on phenomena was his specialty, and he believed that as long as he understood this game more deeply, becoming powerful was only a matter of time. One day, he might even understand the truth behind this game.

As for the Sharp-toothed Piglet's health, he didn't need to worry. This little guy's passive skill of recovering 2 health points per second wasn't for nothing. After being poked for thirty health points by that Earth Spike, green numbers of +2 +2 kept popping up over its head. Its health recovery speed almost caught up with the Millennium Tree Demon's. There was no need for Xiao Niao to use 'Recovery Spell' to heal it; it could quickly fill its own health back up.

Xiao Niao nodded in satisfaction at the sight.

Before long, Tang Yao also fully recovered her status and rejoined the battle.

With her joining, the output efficiency significantly increased.

Moreover, after passing the most perilous Early Stage of the battle, Hu Gualing, Tang Yao, and the Sharp-toothed Piglet—the two people and one pig—gradually adapted to the rhythm of the battle, and the situation became stable. Actually, for now, this Millennium Tree Demon BOSS just had high defense and thick health, and its size looked terrifying, seemingly much more powerful than that Mutated White Wild Boar. But after fighting for a while, Xiao Niao realized that this tree demon BOSS wasn't as scary as expected. This was mainly because the tree demon, though large, was stationary and didn't attack Gualing and Tang Yao with its branches or Vines. It was just a massive, stationary target. Aside from occasionally casting Earth Spike Technique to attack the players, it could only be hit passively at other times, without any means of counterattacking.

In this situation, although the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS's health didn't drop quickly, it fell steadily without any twists or turns, following Xiao Niao's reports.

“...”

“Five hundred and twenty health.”

“Five hundred and fifteen.”

“Five hundred and four. Watch out, the BOSS is about to reach its Half-Health State!”

Xiao Niao stared at the health bar above the Millennium Tree Demon's head, which was about to drop to half, and suddenly became nervous.

This was because BOSSes generally unlocked new forms or skills when their health dropped to a certain stage, and the probability of unlocking forms or skills at half-health was very high, just like the Mutated White Wild Boar BOSS they killed earlier, which unlocked its 'Using Hands and Feet Simultaneously' form at half-health. Now, this Millennium Tree Demon hadn't shown enough strength, and the difficulty didn't match its incredibly massive trunk at all. So even though its health bar had dropped by half, Xiao Niao didn't let down his guard, deducing that it would definitely show its true power after reaching half-health!

Hu Gualing and Tang Yao, who had been fighting the tree demon BOSS methodically, also vaguely realized this. After Xiao Niao reported the BOSS's health bar, Tang Yao immediately withdrew her sword and stepped out of the combat circle. Hu Gualing glanced at his status bar and the nearby Sharp Tooth. Seeing that both Tanks were at full health, he then threw a punch. -4, -4. A double-fist combo dropped the BOSS's health below fifty percent. He instantly withdrew his fists and stood still, his muscles tensed and his mind fully focused, constantly on guard for whatever new moves the BOSS might use.

“Gualing, dodge quickly!”

Almost as Xiao Niao shouted, Hu Gualing felt the ground beneath him soften. Without needing to look, he already knew this was the Earth Spike Technique he had dealt with many times. Almost as a physical instinct, Hu Gualing lifted his leg to dodge. However, at that moment, he suddenly discovered that his lower body was trapped in a green cage and he couldn't move at all. It was many Vines or similar things that had grown out of the ground at some unknown time; the thick Vines were intertwined and bound his legs tightly.

Hu Gualing was startled and twisted his body frantically, but those Vines seemed like some kind of organism, actively tightening. The more his legs twisted, the tighter the Vines wrapped around him. Soon, they bound him so tightly that his legs hurt and he couldn't move. He couldn't even pull them apart with his hands. While he was struggling, the yellow sand beneath his feet dispersed, and a hard Earth Spike shot out. -70! A blood-red Critical Damage number jumped out, and Hu Gualing's health bar, which was originally full, instantly vanished by half.