Once the ink-black Shadow power subsided, Su Chen, having fled the Strangling Vine area, ceased his spatial leaps.
After confirming his safety, he raised his binoculars and peered into the distance. He saw that the multiple Rune Essences that had dropped from the elite tiger-leopard’s corpse hadn’t been absorbed by the Strangling Vines upon landing. Instead, they were gradually sinking into the ground.
Through the clear view from his binoculars, he finally identified a Lv3 Earth Splitting Skill Rune composed of Earth, Gold, and Water, along with a Lv2 Healing Rune. Yet, even a tiger-leopard with such an impressive loadout had been mercilessly killed by the Strangling Vines.
The soil rippled like liquid mud, silently swallowing them as if they were being completely accepted and absorbed by the land.
"This..."
Su Chen paused to watch, somewhat astonished by the scene.
He had earlier witnessed this place generate a Light Element Essence.
And now, this Mysterious Forest seemed to be reclaiming that gift.
’Could there be an energy network under my feet, like elemental ley lines, running through the entire Divine Secret Forest like a root system?’
It was all completely unfathomable.
Su Chen lowered his binoculars, temporarily shelving the speculations in his mind.
"You did a great job."
He turned his gaze to Xiaoye, who was standing guard nearby.
A moment ago, he had considered recalling his summon. But it turned out Xiaoye, capable of erasing all its biological signals and briefly detaching from the physical plane, was completely in its element when escaping danger.
Unlike a giant bear, which was all about heavily armored Power, the Netherworld War Dog’s role was definitely more akin to an agile assassin.
Su Chen patted the dog’s head encouragingly.
The spiritual substance looked like a small, cohesive ball of mist. It was difficult to separate and felt as soft as cotton candy to the touch.
Xiaoye could barely hold it in its mouth, and it was now covered in slobber.
After giving it a quick wipe, he placed it in a vial.
While packing, he also restocked his Small Straight Knives. After hanging three on his tactical belt, Su Chen set off again with Xiaoye.
Relying on Xiaoye’s highly developed sense of smell, no hidden cave they passed in the dense forest was safe.
As soon as one was discovered, they’d block the entrance.
For caves with wider entrances, he sent the Netherworld War Dog’s clones inside to rip and tear. Ordinary creatures like foxes and badgers were done for.
Low risk, high reward.
’This is no different from fishing with dynamite.’
However, they also encountered some relatively stronger ones.
A Fire Attribute Fierce Rabbit from one nest kicked out with its hind legs. The force was not only terrifying but also imbued with a Flame Burst effect, instantly blasting a Phantom Clone at the entrance into nothingness.
The Fierce Rabbit, as if it had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, charged furiously at Su Chen. However, it was easily ambushed by Xiaoye, who had merged with the shadows. A single Soul-Splitting Claw pierced mercilessly through its midsection.
’There should be more.’
Rabbits are typically social animals; a single nest should have at least a few more.
Su Chen casually picked up a hard rock, infused it with the power of Flame Burst, and tossed it inside.
The ground shook violently, and half the tunnel collapsed. Three red blurs shot out one after another from a hidden gap in the grass ten meters away, but they were quickly run down by the keen-nosed Xiaoye.
’A cunning rabbit has three warrens.’
One managed to escape into another burrow, but the other two were killed.
Su Chen didn’t bother going to great lengths to pursue the last one, considering not every Fierce Rabbit would drop an Essence.
The first large, ferocious Fierce Rabbit alone had yielded a Lv2 Flame Burst Rune.
’If this forest weren’t filled with natural predators, these rabbits would probably multiply uncontrollably and become a plague.’
Su Chen was reminded of the situation with rabbits in Australia. This was the first time he had encountered a rabbit-type monster despite being in the forest for so long.
He had seen plenty of deer, yet the forest’s vegetation remained lush and abundant.
This reminded him of the ecological balance in Earth’s forests. Through countless years of evolution, plants, deer, and wolves had formed a marvelous dynamic equilibrium, one that was only shattered by the rise of humanity.
So the question was, now that Dongfu City had been inexplicably transported to this Otherworld, what role were they supposed to play?
Considering the scene just now of the Mysterious Forest actively reclaiming its elemental gift...
’Are we an invasive variable, about to spiral out of control like Australia’s rabbits?’
’Meant only to completely destroy the balance of this world?’
’Or are we sustainers, chosen by some higher will and placed here to mend a broken link in the ecological chain?’
At that moment, Su Chen looked up. Through an opening in the dense forest canopy, he gazed toward the northern sky. If not for the blinding light, he might have been able to see the silent, magnificent Broken Star Ring.
’Something huge must have happened to this world.’
For the next two hours, he advanced through the dense forest in stops and starts, continually relying on Xiaoye’s keen Perception.
During this time, they intercepted and killed a Wind Tiger, two groups of wild boars, three Flying Mantises whose ambushes failed, and cleared out six nests. With such a bountiful harvest, the upgrade progress for his five main Runes naturally moved forward a good deal.
Although none had actually leveled up, three of the Runes were on the cusp of a breakthrough.
The Water Mirror Rune was only short one Light Element Essence.
The Jingzhe Rune was short one Wood Element Essence and one portion of Spiritual Dust Sand.
And the most pleasant surprise was...
Thanks to Xiaoye consecutively finding the lairs of Fire Foxes and Fierce Rabbits, after some gathering, his Flame Burst Rune was now only one Fire Element Essence and three portions of Spiritual Dust Sand away from an upgrade.
’The progress is much faster than I expected. Flame Burst Lv5 is really close now.’
This was a goal Su Chen had expected to complete today.
He still had two unabsorbed portions of Spiritual Dust Sand in the vial in his hand.
As long as he encountered another powerful elite monster, getting his hands on one more portion of spiritual substance would be a simple matter.
Earlier, Xiaoye’s search had led him very close to a swamp.
Out of caution, Su Chen didn’t venture in. He took out his high-powered binoculars to observe from a distance and spotted several enormous hippos in the swamp.
Their size was immense, far beyond reason.
The upper half of their bodies visible above the water was over two meters tall, and their heads alone were as large as millstones. Their sheer size and weight were far more exaggerated than even a giant bear’s.
Their bodies were covered in a layer of rock-like keratin that had a dark yellow luster, as if they were clad in heavy armor. No matter how he looked at them, they seemed incredibly sturdy and difficult to take down.
Leaving aside their sheer physical bulk, the dense, earthy-yellow aura they radiated suggested they likely had a Lv5 Earth Element Rune.
He could only be thankful that these armored hippos were semi-aquatic. They were reluctant to move during the day, preferring to cool off in the water, and didn’t stray too far from it at night to head toward his city.
Since they were known to be extremely ill-tempered creatures, Su Chen had no desire to get any closer and led Xiaoye away from the swamp.
’If I ever have to fight them for real, I’ll definitely need more powerful offensive tools.’
Therefore, Su Chen, who suffered from a touch of firepower anxiety, would naturally prioritize upgrading his Flame Burst Rune.
From all this frequent hunting, besides making progress on his five main Runes, the vials in his hiking pack were now mostly full, and he still had twenty Small Straight Knives in his inventory.
Before 12 o’clock, this monster-slaying spree had been quite efficient.

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