Chapter 125: Grade Two Spirit Stones

But it was not over.

The ground continued to churn violently, as if a minor earthquake had been unleashed.

Lu Chen stood at the epicenter, unable to maintain his footing.

Above his head, countless branches seemed to come alive at that moment, shooting down like sharp arrows, intent on piercing him into a hedgehog.

At the same time, dense roots surged through the cracks in the stones and the thickets around him, like countless pythons racing forward, blocking his path tightly.

The taller the tree, the longer its roots.

This giant tree’s root system extended far beyond imagination.

Damn… Lu Chen was truly shocked!

Neither the range nor the speed of these attacks could be compared to those of the giant algae forest.

“Pft…” He immediately fired a compressed energy blast in response.

Amid the fierce roar, countless branches shattered into fragments.

Taking the opportunity, he retreated twenty or thirty meters, finally escaping the tree’s attack range.

Watching the still-swinging roots and branches not far off, a shiver ran through his heart. It was too dangerous—luckily he sensed something amiss in time, or he would have been caught!

Though he wasn’t sure what strange properties the tree’s attack held, it was clear that being trapped by branches and roots would be unbearable.

This sparse misty forest was riddled with traps and lurking death at every step.

No wonder Jindian refused to enter it at all costs—he must have suffered heavy losses here before.

When he had launched his attack earlier, the shockwave from the explosion briefly dispersed the surrounding mist.

Lu Chen then clearly saw what those gray-white objects on the tree were.

They weren’t leaves, but huge silken cocoons, though what lay inside was a mystery.

Driven by curiosity, he fired another shot into the air.

Several branches snapped, and a white cocoon fell from the treetop.

Lu Chen swiftly cast “Swamp of the Earth,” transforming into a gigantic muddy claw to snatch it.

Aside from its enormous size, this thing resembled a cocoon, its surface wrapped in sticky strands of silk.

Tearing open the cocoon, a strong stench of rot hit his nostrils.

At last, Lu Chen understood what was hidden inside—a mostly digested animal carcass, with only a few bones and some fur remaining.

It seemed this entity, like the giant algae forest, fed on animal flesh and blood.

Moreover, it was intelligent, capable of thought and using its own advantages to capture prey.

For now, Lu Chen had no intention of destroying the giant tree; the energy cost would far outweigh the benefits, wasting his strength.

Besides, he held a small hope—what if this creature eventually bore spiritual fruit?

After exploring just a few hundred meters, Lu Chen realized the misty otherworld here was far more dangerous than the waterfall realm.

He had initially thought there might be spiritual stone veins here, so he planned to return to Tianshan Mountain with the three bay crocodiles later.

But now it seemed he had to abandon that idea for the time being.

As always, the unknown was the most terrifying.

Though the waterfall realm also harbored dangers, at least there they knew their adversary.

Within this mist, if danger struck, one wouldn’t even know how they died.

Better to stay near the rift, dig for spiritual stones, and be cautious.

The rift—had it disappeared?

When Lu Chen arrived near the marker, a look of shock flashed in his beast eyes.

Before him was a thick, gray-black mist, no sign of the spatial rift.

If not for repeatedly confirming the marker’s accuracy, he would have thought he’d gone the wrong way.

He had been a bit careless, assuming this rift, like the waterfall realm, would remain stable indefinitely.

Now it seemed that was not the case.

However, a few seconds later, Lu Chen regained his composure.

Since Jindian had managed to return to the Blue Star world, this spatial rift couldn’t remain closed forever; most likely, it opened periodically.

The only troublesome issue was food.

At his current size, Lu Chen needed to consume hundreds of pounds of animal flesh every meal.

But with spiritual stones around, that wasn’t a major problem.

From the giant tree’s cocoons, it was clear many animals lived nearby.

As for how to hunt in the dense mist—it was simple.

Lu Chen believed the local beasts, like Blue Star animals, were almost greedily attracted to spiritual stones.

So as long as he found a spiritual stone vein, all problems would be solved.

Cautiously bypassing the strange giant tree, he soon sensed the presence of spiritual stones again.

He fired a few compressed energy blasts to clear the area before digging.

Soon, chunks of azure spiritual stone appeared in the pit.

After unearthing seven or eight pieces, Lu Chen suddenly felt that one of the stones was different.

Its energy radiated more intensely, its surface appeared purer.

Even his instinctual consciousness sent him a long-missed yearning.

He decided to trust his heart and swallowed it eagerly.

“A second-grade spiritual stone, providing 4,369 energy points…”

A second-grade spiritual stone!

Seeing the latest data on the system panel, Lu Chen was ecstatic.

Though he had suspected that if first-grade stones existed, second-grade ones must too, he had never found one before despite all his consumption.

Unexpectedly, this space had given him a pleasant surprise.

With such gratifying results, Lu Chen no longer paid attention to when the spatial rift might open.

He buried himself in blasting and digging for spiritual stones.

Unfortunately, his luck seemed to have run out.

After a hard night’s work, he had only managed to dig out more than thirty first-grade stones.

As night slowly faded, the sky brightened, though the mist remained thick, visibility barely improving.

With his current eyesight, Lu Chen could see only about thirty meters ahead.

He swallowed most of the newly extracted stones and left a few scattered on the open ground.

After setting simple traps, Lu Chen lay in a shallow pit, waiting patiently.

Not long after, rustling sounds came from within the mist.

Upon careful sensing, he detected faint tremors in the ground.

Turning his head, he realized the giant tree’s roots were silently creeping toward the spiritual stones.

Damn!

Could this thing also devour spiritual stones?

Then he realized why the tree had grown so tall and sturdy—it was likely connected to the spiritual vein.

To prevent his traps from being destroyed by roots, he had no choice but to move farther away.

This time, he waited a full hour before hearing the fluttering of wings above.

After several seconds, a flying bird with glowing red eyes appeared.

It was entirely white, with a wingspan over five meters, its body almost blending into the mist.

Its appearance somewhat resembled a bat from his previous life, only this one was albino.

Unsure of its mutated abilities, Lu Chen chose to strike first.

Before it could land, he fired an energy blast.

Amid the explosion, the great bird fell, shrouded in bloody mist.

Not a bird at all, but truly an albino bat.

In his past life, this creature was a carrier of countless bacteria and viruses…

Yet to simply give up like this felt somewhat unsatisfying.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Chen decided to cut off a piece of its flesh and swallow it.

If it was poisonous, the system would identify it.

“Prehistoric mutated blood bat, provides 12 energy points.”

(=)