25: eerie little tree

Jiang Hao and his group continued to delve deeper along the route Liu Da had planned. Besides their weapons, Jiang Hao had temporarily stored away their extra bags.

As the number of Martial Artists they encountered along the way dwindled, Jiang Hao and the others pressed on towards the center of the battlefield, traversing a path strewn with broken rocks and dead branches.

They came across a swamp.

In that swamp, about a thousand meters wide, Jiang Hao discovered a large nest of new exotic beasts.

A nest of third-tier Corrosive Crocodiles.

Dozens of Corrosive Crocodiles surrounded a small tree in the middle of the swamp, which was covered in white and purple flowers.

It was about two meters tall.

Various other types of exotic beasts also quietly waited around the small tree.

There were several hundred of them.

Even some small exotic beasts, almost submerged by the swamp, still quietly gazed at the small tree.

Jiang Hao asked, "What kind of flower is that? Why does it smell so comfortable?"

"And these exotic beasts, why can they stay together when they clearly belong to hostile species?"

Liu Da was different from usual.

No answer came.

Jiang Hao turned to look at Liu Da and the other three.

He saw their eyes glazed over, staring intently at the small tree, as if they were seeing the most beautiful thing.

Hou Si had even lifted his foot and was slowly swaying towards the swamp!

Jiang Hao shivered instantly, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

That was close!

He almost fell for it!

Fortunately, Jiang Hao's Mental Energy was far stronger than that of a third-tier Martial Artist, and his willpower would also be enhanced.

Even so, Jiang Hao hadn't felt anything amiss the first time he saw the small tree; he even had the thought of whether he could take it back and plant it in his community.

Jiang Hao first knocked the four of them down, tied them with ropes, and took them a few hundred meters away from the swamp area.

Watching the four slowly regain their clarity and come back to their senses, Jiang Hao took out a bucket of ice water and said with a smile:

"It's a good thing you all came to your senses, otherwise I would have had to splash you with ice water."

As he spoke,

Jiang Hao pointed towards the swamp at the bewildered group: "Look, what kind of strange tree is that over there? It's a bit demonic!"

Liu Da, who had broken free from the ropes first, took out his binoculars, looked for a while, then rubbed his head and said:

"I've never seen this kind of plant before, and there's no related information in the exchange. But I feel like this plant can absorb a Martial Artist's Mental Energy."

"Oh?" Jiang Hao looked at the pale-faced group and asked again:

"How much Mental Energy do you have left?"

Hou Si, his face ashen and unable to stand steadily, said with a bitter expression:

"Ugh, we Weapon Combat Style Martial Artists don't rely on Mental Energy to survive, so we don't have much to begin with. After this absorption, I won't be able to watch Young Master Jiang slaughter everyone today."

Good thing I'm the persistent and hardworking type of Weapon Combat Style.

And you should just lie down honestly, I'm really afraid you'll die in front of me.

Jiang Hao inwardly complained as he watched Hou Si, whose legs were trembling and needed Zhang San's support to stand steadily.

"Young Master Jiang, that small tree definitely has a big problem. How about we take a detour? Anyway, there aren't many Martial Artists coming this way."

Liu Da looked at the 'Death Swamp' a few hundred meters away with lingering fear.

"No need. That tree doesn't affect me much. I'll go alone and see if I can collect it. Maybe it's some Heaven And Earth Treasure."

Jiang Hao confidently took out his spirit weapon.

Standing a hundred meters from the edge of the swamp, he used Saber Qi to strike and kill exotic beasts, which not only reduced danger but also allowed him to gain some points.

Isn't that a win-win?

What's more, can that tree grow legs and run away?

Dozens of light blue Saber Qi strikes successfully rescued most of the exotic beasts from the harmful evil tree.

He left some cheap first-tier exotic beasts to serve as a control group.

Satisfied with the more than nine hundred points he had gained, Jiang Hao walked towards the evil tree.

As he got closer to the edge of the swamp, Jiang Hao once again smelled that comfortable scent, though it wasn't as obvious as the first time.

"So that's how it is. There's no intoxicating scent at all; this is purely a Mental Energy attack!"

Jiang Hao retreated about twenty meters and found that apart from the swamp's inherent stench, the previous scent that made his spirit want to soar had disappeared.

"A wide-range, strange Mental Energy attack?" Jiang Hao looked at the small tree, troubled. The school hadn't taught them about this situation!

After a brief thought, Jiang Hao decided to just chop it down with a single strike.

He casually unleashed a Saber Qi strike, severing the small tree.

The white and purple flowers on the tree instantly withered, and even the tree trunk itself rapidly turned into ash!

The first-tier exotic beasts that Jiang Hao had specifically left behind died instantly when the small tree was cut down.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Mental Enhancement!]

[Mental Energy: 40→41]

"Hmm? Don't I only get rewards for instantly killing opponents? Is this small tree an exotic beast? But if so, it should give points!"

Jiang Hao was utterly confused. When did the system panel's judgment become so strange?

Never mind, the future is promising, let the future take care of it!

He might as well leave the worrying to his future self.

He casually picked up the nearest first-tier exotic beast and felt its stopped heartbeat.

"According to the Xianxia novel trope, the Souls of these exotic beasts were slowly devoured by that small tree the moment they smelled the 'fragrance'."

"As long as the small tree doesn't die, these exotic beasts will maintain their most basic vital signs."

Then these extremely weak exotic beasts would attract other powerful predators, who would also end up being controlled.

This cycle would repeat endlessly!

"Strange! How can such a peculiar plant not be recorded in the Hunter Exchange? Have those old hunters never ventured deep into the battlefield?"

That's impossible! Jiang Hao knew very well that the entire No. 1 Exotic Beast Battlefield had been explored by now, after all, this place was artificially created!

Except for... that Small World connected to it! Could it be a new alien species that recently appeared?

Jiang Hao made a mental note to ask Old Li about it in the evening.

Liu Da and the others had almost recovered. After all, they were physically interrupted by Jiang Hao right after being controlled. Besides their slightly pale faces, their elemental energy fluctuations were all normal.

"Young Master Jiang, you've seen us at our worst."

Liu Da walked over awkwardly.

He hadn't expected that he, an old hunter, would repeatedly choose the wrong locations on the battlefield, finding no exotic beast gatherings. And now, an unknown plant had almost wiped out his team!

Liu Da believed it was because he was too weak, lacking power.

Young Master Jiang, who was only at the third-tier, was already much more formidable than them.

When encountering the same small tree, he could resolve the anomaly while saving them.

"It's fine, this was just an accident. Let's keep going!" Jiang Hao noticed Liu Da's apprehension and comforted him: "Actually, it doesn't matter if we don't find a lot of exotic beasts."

"The experiences and insights from these seven days are equally important!"

Jiang Hao truly thought this way. Although there wasn't a large influx of points, it wouldn't prevent him from entering Shenzhou Martial Arts School!

Anyway, once he got to the Martial School, he could still go on a rampage in team battles and rack up points like crazy.

At worst, he just wouldn't spar with those top Prodigies until closer to the start of the semester!

Moreover, the past two days on the battlefield had made Jiang Hao, who hadn't left Yunlan City for eighteen years and had always diligently Cultivated, very happy.

It was a change in mindset.

It was just like when he first got the system panel and took off, he went on a crazy Fish Fry spree in the second-tier area, earning him the nickname Fish Fry King in that area.

At that time, Jiang Hao hated being called a 'fish fryer' who bullied newcomers.

But as he continued fighting, he found great pleasure in seeing those who recognized him at the start of a match begin to tremble or curse.

Yes! I'm here to fry fish, so what? If you don't like it, come and fight me!

Fighting above my rank and frying fish within my rank with my own ability. This proves that I, Jiang Hao, am the true Genius!

...In the deepest part of the battlefield, some eerie small trees were covered in white and purple flowers.

Circles of exotic beasts quietly waited around them, numbering over a million!

One of these eerie trees, towering ten meters high, suddenly cracked open.

It sprayed seeds in all directions...