Chapter 83: Swamp Lizard Beast

The Blackflame Vine was the main body. This disc-shaped crawler that could move on its own was actually a parasite of the vine. It had no consciousness of its own; all its actions were controlled by the Blackflame Vine.

However, once parasitized, the disc crawler at the root became the most vulnerable part of the Blackflame Vine.

As long as the disc insect body remained unharmed, no matter how many vines were cut, they would quickly grow back. But once the disc insect body died, no matter how many Blackflame Vines there were, they would all perish together.

“Only two vines. It seems this Blackflame Vine is just a newborn, with only One Star strength,” Xu Feng thought to himself.

In his previous life, Xu Feng had seen a vast expanse of Blackflame Vines from afar in the Blackwater Swamp. At a glance, it seemed endless, like a dark green continent slowly writhing.

Such an existence, even a Nine-Star Expert would have no choice but to retreat upon encountering it. Back then, Xu Feng had only taken one look before quickly fleeing, afraid that if he were even a moment too slow, the super Blackflame Vine would notice him.

With his right hand, he used the Drizzle Sword Technique to block the vine’s desperate attacks. With his left hand, he took out a crossbow and aimed at the disc insect body.

Each short arrow that hit made the disc insect body spurt a stream of dark green fluid. The Blackflame Vine’s Health Points continuously dropped. It let out sharp, piercing screeches but could do nothing. The severe injuries caused the vines to tremble uncontrollably.

Soon, the vine’s attacks grew weaker and weaker until finally, it lay on the ground like a dead snake, limp and motionless.

The most frightening thing about the Blackflame Vine was not its attack, but the uncertainty of how many vines it had. During combat, one had to devote most of their attention to sudden ambushes.

Although it was only One Star, it was more troublesome than some Two-Star monsters. But once it revealed all its vines, it was like showing all its cards, greatly reducing the threat.

The Blackflame Vine did not drop Insect Crystals. One could only gather materials from its corpse. Without the Gathering Art, one had to take the entire Blackflame Vine corpse to a settlement and sell it at a low price to Earth’s Will.

Xu Feng used the Gathering Art on the vine. A ball of white light enveloped it, and after a short while, two piles of wood glowing with green light appeared on the Blackflame Vine’s corpse.

Xu Feng collected the two units of high-quality wood, and a mechanical voice prompted in his ear.

“One unit of high-quality wood can actually replace ten units of building wood. That’s a great deal,” Xu Feng said joyfully.

“Roar!”

A burly figure emerged from the bushes and pounced toward Xu Feng.

Xu Feng instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding the pounce.

Looking up, a monster with a massive body over three meters long appeared before Xu Feng.

“Swamp Lizard Beast!”

Xu Feng recognized this monster.

The Swamp Lizard Beast was not an Earth species. Like the Blackflame Vine, it appeared along with the emergence of the Blackwater Swamp.

The Swamp Lizard Beast looked very similar to Earth’s jungle monitor lizard. Its body was over three meters long, with dark green skin covered in fist-sized bumps. Bone Spikes protruded from its spine, like sharp long swords pointing diagonally toward the sky.

The lizard beast’s claws and teeth contained strong poison that could slow the target’s attack and movement speed, making it one of the most hated monsters by close-combat professions.

“Three-Star!” Xu Feng thought, looking at the crystal between the lizard beast’s eyebrows that glowed with a faint red light.

A white crystal meant One Star, black meant Two Stars, and red meant Three Stars.

Judging by the lizard beast’s pale red Insect Crystal, it had clearly just advanced to a Three-Star monster, just like Xu Feng.

A glow flickered in Xu Feng’s eyes as he activated his detection skill.

Blackwater Lizard Beast, Three-Star, Health Points: 780/780

The Blackwater Lizard Beast missed its pounce. Its large body landed on the ground, splattering filthy water everywhere. With a loud roar, the lizard beast twisted its body and turned to charge at Xu Feng again.

As Xu Feng finished his roll, he swung his sword and stabbed the lizard beast’s body, then pulled it along, causing a stream of blood to spurt out.

Swift Wind Thrust!

The long sword propelled his body. Xu Feng’s figure flashed as he delivered three consecutive thrusts deep into the lizard beast’s body.

A muffled boom sounded as the final explosive attack erupted inside the lizard beast’s body.

The lizard beast’s Health Points dropped sharply to the bottom. The last explosive attack churned its insides into a mess; it had actually resulted in a critical hit.

The lizard beast’s body twitched and then collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

The Blackwater Lizard Beast had sharp attacks and additional poison damage, but its defense was average. As long as one avoided its attacks, killing them was not difficult.

Xu Feng dug out the Three-Star Insect Crystal and used the Gathering Art on the lizard beast’s body.

“Ding!”

A crisp sound rang out as a palm-sized mini Treasure Chest appeared out of thin air.

“A Fate Treasure Chest?” Xu Feng’s eyes lit up.

Just like in online games, when killing wild monsters, there was a small chance of dropping such Fate Treasure Chests, which could contain any item.

“This is the first time I’ve obtained a Fate Treasure Chest in this lifetime.”

Xu Feng reached out to grab it, but before he could touch the chest, it automatically opened, emitting a dazzling light.

The Treasure Chest disappeared, leaving behind a fingernail-sized red gem and a card.

Cracked Red Gem, can be embedded, attribute: enhances equipment potential, Health Points +50, can be synthesized.

Mage Job Card, can be used, attribute: using this card grants a job quest; after completing the quest, one obtains the profession on the card.

Gems could enhance an item’s attributes, but using gems required the equipment to have sockets. Inlay masters could create sockets on equipment without them, but there was a chance of failure. The lower the level of the inlay master, the higher the failure rate.

Gems were also hard currency in the post-apocalyptic world, with prices remaining high. Many people liked to hoard them.

Xu Feng glanced at the red gem and casually tossed it into his Storage Ring. His gaze then fell on the newly appeared card.

Job cards; when human Chosen Ones reached Three-Star Strength, they had a high chance of obtaining job cards by hunting monsters, thus gaining their respective professions. Later, there would be opportunities to obtain job change cards…

But unfortunately, this job card was for the Mage profession, which did not match Xu Feng’s talent.

Both items were good, but Xu Feng could not use them at the moment, so he simply stored them in his Storage Ring.

He continued to advance deeper into the Blackwater Swamp. Both the Mine Cave and the Village of Sacrifice were located in the deepest part of the Blackwater Swamp.

The further in he went, the more monsters he encountered, and the stronger they became. Xu Feng no longer dared to rush forward boldly as he had when he first entered the swamp. Instead, he proceeded cautiously, using his strong Perception to continuously scan the surroundings as he slowly made his way inward.

In his previous life, several major forces around Linhai City had organized teams to enter the Blackwater Swamp, but they soon retreated. In the end, the Doomsday Ark Alliance acquired a great advantage because the Blackwater Swamp’s environment was harsh, and the monsters inside were powerful. With heavy casualties, they had no choice but to withdraw.