Chapter 82: Blackflame Vine

This collection task had many kinds and a large quantity. Xu Feng had to find a different way, thinking of methods to gather more high-quality materials, so he could complete the mission issued by Earth’s Will. The Blackwater Swamp just met the conditions.

Xu Feng prepared to go to the Blackwater Swamp, but before leaving, he needed to buy some supplies.

In the gathering place of the Thunder Martial Hall, there was no Fate Store. Luckily, here Fate Points could be exchanged for Contribution Points, and then used to buy things from the hall’s own storage warehouse.

Xu Feng spent several thousand Fate Points to buy some daily food and water, medicine, and cooking materials, then left the gathering place.

The gathering place of the Thunder Martial Hall was not very close to the Blackwater Swamp. Xu Feng could only walk there on his own two feet.

The Thunder Martial Hall’s warehouse had a few cars, but the purchase price was too expensive. If he rented one, the Blackwater Swamp was not a safe place—once he went there, he couldn’t expect to drive the car back. Also, Xu Feng’s Storage Ring was already packed full and couldn’t fit a car.

Along the way, Xu Feng did come across a few unmanned cars, but none of them could be started. In the end, he could only sigh and keep walking on his own two feet.

“Now, going somewhere is really troublesome. Later, when there are teleportation points, it will be much more convenient,” Xu Feng thought to himself.

In the future, when Earth’s Will no longer fell into deep sleep and received information from the wider universe, places like shelters, gathering places, and camps could build Teleportation Arrays.

Besides, later on, some people would hunt monsters and keep the young ones or unhatched monster eggs, taming them from a young age to become mounts. That would be much faster than walking on foot. Some might even tame flying monsters and ride them soaring through the sky.

In his past life, Xu Feng had hunted a six-legged mechanical overlord crab from the Mechanical Tribe. He swapped its control chip and made it his mount. Sitting on top of a three-meter-tall mechanical overlord crab felt even more impressive than driving a Land Rover or Bentley before the apocalypse.

Xu Feng followed the road toward the Blackwater Swamp. After walking for several hours, at first, he could still see the road. But the further he went, the less obvious the asphalt road became, covered by a stretch of thick grass.

The farther away from the city, the faster the traces of civilization disappeared. Xu Feng remembered that in his past life, this place was called Horned Wilderness because the area was taken over by a type of Void Insectoid Race called the Horned Beetle.

But now, there were no signs of Horned Beetles here. Occasionally, a few Black Armored Beetle Insect Humans roamed the wilderness. When they spotted Xu Feng, these Insect Humans didn’t rush toward him all at once. Instead, they hesitated, sizing him up, and then quickly fled into the distance.

These were only One-Star Insect Humans. Seeing Xu Feng, who had already reached Three-Star strength, was like meeting their natural enemy, so they quickly ran for their lives.

The wilderness had now become a paradise for monsters. Xu Feng walked for three to four hours without seeing any other human figures.

At noon, Xu Feng came to a muddy swamp. The swamp was full of short bushes and puddles with black bubbles. A layer of thin mist floated over the whole swamp. When he stepped into it, the mist slowly drifted apart, making it feel like walking through clouds.

This mist was highly poisonous. If an ordinary person entered, they wouldn’t get far before losing their life. Only those with at least One-Star Strength could enter safely.

In the distance, figures of monsters about two to three meters long could vaguely be seen. They dashed across the swamp’s dirty water, their shapes somewhat similar to crawling lizards.

After a glance at the backs of the monsters leaping through the swamp, Xu Feng continued deeper into the Blackwater Swamp.

The further in he went, the thicker the mist floating above the swamp became. Within the white mist, a deep, eerie green gradually appeared.

Crack!

Xu Feng stepped on a human skeleton. The white bones were already decayed, lying quietly in a shallow puddle.

It was unclear whether this was an adventurer who came to explore the Blackwater Swamp or prey captured by the swamp’s monsters and brought here.

“The Blackwater Swamp is full of dangers, but it also has many valuable things not found elsewhere,” Xu Feng thought to himself.

Just as he was thinking that, whoosh—a thorn-covered, menacing vine shot out from a puddle. The vine was as thick as an adult’s arm, covered with black mysterious patterns. At a glance, the patterns looked like burning flames, which was how the Blackflame Vine got its name.

Snap, snap, snap!

Several cracking sounds rang through the air. Xu Feng drew his sword and continuously executed the Drizzle Sword Technique, blocking all the vine’s attacks.

While defending, Xu Feng looked toward the puddle from which the vine had emerged.

When a Blackflame Vine first grew, it had only one vine. At that time, it wouldn’t reveal itself, quietly hiding instead. Even if a creature entered its attack range, it wouldn’t strike. Only when it grew a second vine would it actively hunt and attack.

Many people encountering a Blackflame Vine were deceived by its cunning nature, thinking it had only one vine, and ended up suffering badly.

Clang, clang, clang!

The sword and the vine clashed repeatedly. From time to time, some dark green fragments fell. With a Silver Quality sword and Xu Feng’s natural talent bonus, the Blackflame Vine’s vine couldn’t hold off his attacks for long.

Whoosh!

Another vine suddenly shot out from the puddle, like a poisonous snake lunging at Xu Feng.

Xu Feng had kept most of his attention on the puddle. When he noticed the water rippling slightly, he became alert. As the second vine stabbed toward him, Xu Feng’s figure suddenly dashed forward.

Swift Wind Thrust!

Clang, clang, clang!

Three clear clangs were followed by a deafening explosion.

The first vine was blown apart in the middle. The upper half twisted as it was thrown into the air, like a dying snake.

Without even looking at the severed vine, Xu Feng turned around and used the Drizzle Sword Technique to block the second vine’s renewed attack.

After attacking a while longer, the vine slowly retreated toward the puddle.

A Blackflame Vine with only one vine left was no match for Xu Feng and prepared to give up this attack.

Xu Feng gave a cold laugh, leaped toward the puddle, and thrust his sword into its center.

“Eeeeeeek—”

A stream of bubbles rose from the puddle, and a sharp screech came out from within.

A half-meter-wide crawler emerged from the puddle. This crawler resembled a disk, with short limbs. Two vines extended from the center of the disk, one of them now just a short stub.

The Blackflame Vine was both like a plant and an animal, and its exact classification was unknown. It attacked using its vines, but to kill it, one needed to strike the vine’s roots—the disk-shaped crawler.