231: Chapter 231 There's something else in the tree, climbing the tree

Although this last item—the only purple, excellent-quality item they had encountered so far—was just a piece of wooden material that couldn't be used for anything for the time being, the harvest from the previous two items was significant. Xiao Niao had obtained a dark blue-quality staff, and Tang Yao had learned a defensive skill, also of dark blue quality, that could generate a mental protective barrier. Both of these provided an immediate boost to their individual and team strength. Thus, the rewards from this boss battle were already quite substantial. Even if this final purple-quality material couldn't be used immediately, they didn't particularly mind. Furthermore... for Hu Gualing, this 'millennium ethereal hardwood' might soon prove to have an unexpectedly useful purpose.

Therefore, no matter which of the three—Hu Gualing, Tang Yao, or Xiao Niao—it was, they were all quite satisfied with this boss battle. Although the Millennium Tree Demon boss had burst out with strength in its final phase that left them scrambling, the thrill aside, the actual price paid was just that Hu Gualing and Tang Yao had died once each. Their Resurrection cost a total of 4 fantasy points, which was much easier compared to the battle with the Mutated White Wild Boar. As for the unfortunately sacrificed Sharp-toothed Piglet, it would be able to resurrect itself after 24 hours. Overall, this cost was acceptable, and compared to the rewards they had reaped, they had made a huge profit.

Since it was difficult to split the consumption of 4 fantasy points evenly among the three people, after some discussion, they decided to record it in the team's ledger first and settle it later when the numbers could be rounded off.

After finishing all this, Xiao Niao still hadn't forgotten the arrow he had shot into the canopy of the Millennium Tree Demon.

Earlier in the battle, when the Millennium Tree Demon's HP dropped below ten percent, he had taken out his bow and arrow to speed up his damage output and prevent any accidents. He used the Lob Shot technique he had only recently learned to aim at the eyes above the Millennium Tree Demon's crown, hoping to contribute at least a little bit of extra damage for the team.

To Xiao Niao's surprise, his first arrow had struck one of the Millennium Tree Demon's eerie, dark red eyes, dealing over 20 points of weak-point damage.

However, good things didn't last long. Before the second arrow could even touch the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk, it was blocked by a pale white shield that had suddenly appeared around the creature's body. The arrow, guided by the weight of its steel arrowhead, had taken quite a while to pierce through the dense, lush foliage before falling to the ground. Only now, with the Millennium Tree Demon dead, did Xiao Niao dare to walk up, pick up the arrow, and store it in his backpack.

However, the first arrow he had fired was still embedded in the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon. Even though the creature was now dead, the arrow hadn't fallen from the tree. Xiao Niao craned his neck to look up, but the canopy was more than ten meters above the ground, and the Millennium Tree Demon's leaves were far too dense. Even though many leaves had fallen since the Millennium Tree Demon had died and lost its vitality, the remaining foliage was still thick and dense, blocking out the sky. Xiao Niao stared for a long while but simply couldn't see the arrow.

"Sigh..." Xiao Niao felt his neck growing sore from looking up. He sighed helplessly, massaged his neck with his palm while twisting it, and thought to himself, 'This tree is so thick and tall, with so many branches. I could definitely climb it, but is it really worth all this effort for a mere arrow? Maybe I should just forget it? It's just an arrow, after all. Now that I have a staff, I might not even need these arrows in the future.'

Just as he was thinking this, Xiao Niao, while shaking his neck, suddenly felt a flash of purple light appear in his line of sight. Since the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon was a near-black brown and surrounded by dense foliage, his entire field of vision was a deep green. Although this flash of purple light was small, it was extremely conspicuous. Xiao Niao's expression froze slightly, and he frowned, sensing that something wasn't quite right. He immediately stopped moving his neck, narrowed his eyes, and peered deep into the canopy formed by countless leaves, wanting to see clearly if there was truly something unusual in there.

"What are you looking at? Can this tree even bear fruit?" During the battle, Hu Gualing hadn't seen the moment Xiao Niao's Lob Shot had steadily struck the Millennium Tree Demon's dark red eyes, so he naturally didn't know what Xiao Niao was staring at. He patted Xiao Niao's body and asked curiously.

As it turned out, Xiao Niao didn't pay him any attention at all, continuing to stare very intently at the canopy of the Millennium Tree Demon, as if there really was something extraordinary inside attracting him. Hu Gualing, refusing to believe it, followed Xiao Niao's line of sight, but no matter how wide he opened his eyes or how much he squinted them into slits, he saw nothing but a patch of mottled, deep green leaves. This only made him more interested. He puffed out his chest, stood in front of Xiao Niao, and with his tall, large frame directly blocking Xiao Niao's view, he stared at Xiao Niao with an expression determined to get to the bottom of it, asking: "Is there... really something on that tree?"

Xiao Niao rubbed his slightly sore and dry eyes. He had just instinctively activated his Eagle Eye skill, which was the only reason he had managed to catch that glimpse of purple amidst the countless green leaves that were enough to dazzle anyone's eyes.

He nodded and said to Hu Gualing and Tang Yao: "Yes, I did indeed see something purple hidden in the canopy..."

"Purple!? Could there be another purple, excellent-quality item that dropped but just got stuck in the tree?" Before Xiao Niao could finish speaking, Hu Gualing excitedly gripped Xiao Niao's thin shoulders with his thick, powerful hands, not realizing his own strength. It was no wonder he was so excited; he had just personally harvested that purple, excellent-quality hardwood material from the stump of the Millennium Tree Demon. Upon hearing the word "purple," his first thought was naturally of excellent-quality loot radiating purple light!

"Ah, ow, ow, ow, take it easy!" Xiao Niao grimaced as Hu Gualing's thick, powerful hands pinched him. Once Hu Gualing let go, he took a breath and said solemnly: "I don't know if it's loot, because the distance is just too far, and it's blocked by so many leaves. I can only see a small flash of purple light, and I'm not sure if it's a purple light orb. But what I can be sure of is that there is definitely something there."

"Hiss—!" Hearing Xiao Niao confirm it so definitely, Hu Gualing immediately sucked in a breath of cold air. However, the next second, he looked at the thousand-year-old tree in front of him, which was thick enough for a dozen people to wrap their arms around, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Even if he knew there was something on the tree, how was he supposed to get it down?

At this moment, Tang Yao leaned in, an expectant look on her face, and said to Hu Gualing: "You should know how to climb trees, right? If there really is some good stuff hidden on this tree, why don't you climb up and get it down?"

Hearing her words, Hu Gualing was stunned. He looked at the incredibly thick millennium-old tree in front of him, rubbed his cheek in thought for a while, and a look of suspicion appeared on his face. He tried kicking the trunk of the millennium tree with force. The rebounding force made his thigh feel slightly numb, but the tree remained motionless, not even shaking down a single leaf. Faced with this, Hu Gualing was secretly shocked, but he soon felt relieved. After all, earlier, when he had used Tang Yao's longsword to hack at the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon, sending wood chips flying, the main trunk hadn't budged in the slightest. Trying to shake the purple object off the top of the canopy using this method was likely impossible. But that was fine; since this thousand-year-old tree was so sturdy even after death, he could climb up safely and boldly.

"Pah, pah." Hu Gualing spat twice onto his left and right palms, rubbed his hands together, and then spread his fingers and palms as wide as possible, pressing them against the trunk of the dead Millennium Tree Demon. He felt the friction from the surface, nodded with satisfaction, left Tang Yao and Xiao Niao with the words, "Wait for me, I'll be right back," and then kicked off with his legs, leaping up. His limbs hooked onto the tree trunk, and then, at a speed that did not match his muscular build, he scurried up the tree, leaving Tang Yao and Xiao Niao—who didn't know how to climb trees—watching with envious eyes.

Even though the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon was covered with countless branches and twigs, it couldn't stop the big guy Hu Gualing, whose movements were as agile and nimble as a monkey's. He kept appearing and disappearing from the sight of Tang Yao and Xiao Niao, getting smaller and smaller, and two or three minutes later, he appeared at the top of the trunk.

"Great, great, great!" Tang Yao craned her neck, watching Hu Gualing poke his head out from the very top of the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk, and couldn't help but clap and cheer for him.

Hu Gualing chuckled, put away his desire to show off, and turned his head to peer into the foliage, searching for the flash of purple that Xiao Niao had mentioned. On the main trunk of the tree, he really did find a purple object. To be precise, it was a plant growing on the trunk, emitting a purple light.

'Grass?' Hu Gualing frowned.

Because this little plant looked very ordinary—a stem stuck into the trunk, plus a single blade of grass. It was a vibrant green, and under the illumination of the purple light, it actually looked quite nice.

But no matter from what angle he looked at it, it was just a very ordinary little plant that did nothing but glow. It was completely different from what he had expected; it didn't seem like a rare treasure at all!

Regardless, he had gone to all the trouble of climbing up, and the fact that this little plant was emitting a purple light meant it was at least of purple, excellent quality. Even if it was just an unremarkable herb, it must have significant value. Thinking this, Hu Gualing put away his disdain. He carefully extended his fingers to pinch the base of the plant and gave it a gentle tug. Hey, it didn't even budge; who would have thought this little thing was rooted so deeply? Hu Gualing looked closely and discovered that the roots of the plant didn't have any soil; it seemed to be rooted directly into the body of the Millennium Tree Demon. This was a bit troublesome. He had grown up in the countryside and knew that for many plants, if you couldn't harvest the roots along with the plant intact, the value would be greatly discounted. So, he didn't dare to use brute force to pull it out. Instead, he first found a sturdy-looking, thick branch that could support his weight for a short time, lay on it, and then took out the tusk of the Fearless Black Wild Boar from his backpack, using the tip to carefully dig around the base of the plant.

After working for a while, when Hu Gualing felt both his hands growing sore, he finally managed to dig out some of the plant's roots. He pinched the base of the plant with his fingers and pulled, finally extracting the entire plant.

[soul-returning grass (Purple, Excellent Quality)]: A companion plant of the Millennium Tree Demon, said to have a mysterious effect on the Soul.

Looking at this short item description, Hu Gualing was a bit confused. Companion plant? Soul? Mysterious effect? It was all so vague; what on earth was this thing used for?

However, he didn't underestimate it, because the item attributes clearly stated that this unremarkable little plant was indeed of purple, excellent quality. So, whether it was to be eaten or used for alchemy, this 'soul-returning grass' was a very rare item. Thinking this, Hu Gualing put the 'soul-returning grass' into his backpack and searched the top of the trunk carefully once more. He did manage to find an arrow embedded in the trunk. Just as he was wondering how an arrow could be in a canopy over ten meters high, he looked closer and realized it was the wooden shaft steel arrow he had crafted himself for Xiao Niao to use. 'Xiao Niao, this guy is something else, actually shooting an arrow to such a high place,' Hu Gualing thought to himself. He pulled out the arrow, stored it in his backpack, and after looking around one last time and finding nothing else of value, he grabbed the trunk with his hands, stepped on the branches, and carefully climbed down the tree.

Climbing down a tree is actually more difficult than climbing up, but since this was a game, even if he did fall, it wouldn't be a big deal. Plus, this tree had many branches, so Hu Gualing stepped on the trunk step by step and managed to climb down from the ten-meter-high canopy in just three to five minutes.

"How is it? How is it? What did you find?" As soon as Hu Gualing came down, Tang Yao couldn't suppress her curiosity and asked impatiently.

Although Xiao Niao didn't ask out loud, it was clear from his expectant eyes that he was also very curious and looking forward to the results of Hu Gualing's tree-climbing search.