After an hour of advancing, their kill progress had reached 54%.
However, up to this point, the only monsters they had encountered were still just Thorned Willow trees and Phantom foxes.
It wasn’t hard to guess that the dungeon’s monster roster likely contained only these two types.
The Thorned Willow trees outnumbered the Phantom foxes, and the two species existed in a symbiotic relationship.
A Phantom fox would choose a suitable Thorned Willow tree, dig a hole beneath its root system, and use it as a den.
Although it wasn’t clear what benefit the fox provided to the willow, the willow indeed would not attack the Phantom fox and would even avoid it at times—a detail Bai Qiu had sharply noticed.
For such a large instance, its resources were surprisingly few: only Thorned Willow trees, Phantom foxes, and Dreamy Blossoms.
On the outskirts of the dungeon, Thorned Willow trees were numerous, and Dreamy Blossoms were sparse—almost like weeds—protected behind a living “wall” formed by the tightly packed willows.
Deeper inside, the number of Thorned Willow trees decreased, Dreamy Blossoms increased, and Phantom foxes began to appear.
At this point, they encountered only a single century-old Thorned Willow trees and one Phantom fox every few hundred meters.
The densely packed Dreamy Blossoms left Bai Qiu and the others with almost nowhere to place their feet, as if they had stepped into an endless sea of flowers.
The rain poured down relentlessly, though without wind.
The Dreamy Blossoms, pelted by raindrops, only trembled despite their delicate appearance; none had their petals knocked loose.
At least, Bai Qiu hadn’t seen a single one damaged by the rain so far.
The irregular clustering of the Dreamy Blossoms varied—some square meter patches had nearly ten, others only one or two.
Nature’s handiwork was unpredictable yet filled with a quiet sense of romance.
If not for the downpour and the fog, perhaps everyone would have paused to admire this vast, beautiful field of flowers.
Bai Qiu and the others could only continue picking Dreamy Blossoms as they moved forward.
Before long, they spotted another century-old Thorned Willow trees—and a white fox standing upright on two legs.
Bai Qiu met its ghostly blue gaze.
In those eyes, he saw hatred and fury—yet also apprehension.
Two-Tailed Phantom fox — Level 25 Elite
Strength: D+
Magic: D+
Endurance: D
Agility: D+
Spirit: D+
Skills: (???)
Bai Qiu frowned.
He noticed that although the Phantom fox stared at them with deep resentment, it did not launch an attack or attempt a sneak strike.
Instead, it stood beneath the century-old Thorned Willow tree, staring fixedly at them.
The Thorned Willow tree had not yet detected their presence, but its branches and roots were subtly shifting.
Clearly, this Two-Tailed Phantom fox possessed some means of communicating with the willow, prompting it to prepare in advance…
“Shiyao, you see that?” Bai Qiu said, turning to look at Zhang Shiyao.
Her emerald eyes were already focused on him.
“Mm!” she responded.
Their gazes met, and Bai Qiu immediately dashed to the left with staff in hand.
The Two-Tailed Phantom fox’s attention snapped toward him.
Using some unknown ability, it commanded the Thorned Willow tree, causing its many branches to whip toward Bai Qiu.
But the next instant, an arrow pierced through the rain and fog, punching straight through the Phantom fox’s body.
The force hurled it backward, slamming it against the Thorned Willow tree’s trunk before exploding with magical energy.
“Hmph! A beast is still just a beast.” Bai Qiu sneered, watching the Two-Tailed Phantom fox get impaled and blasted apart before it even had time to react.
Dodging the lashing spiked branches, he counterattacked with a Water Cannon from his Tidal Staff.
After her successful ambush, Zhang Shiyao didn’t pause for even a moment.
While the Thorned Willow tree’s attention was entirely locked on Bai Qiu, she drew again, firing a second magic-infused mithril arrow.
It struck the same spot on the trunk—precisely where the Phantom fox had just died.
“Boom!”
The arrow exploded the moment it hit.
Amid the colorful streaks of flowing light, the elite Thorned Willow tree’s trunk was blown cleanly into two sections.
Only after Zhang Shiyao followed up with two more arrows did it finally die completely.
“Ding! Killed: Twin-tailed Phantom Fox!”
“Ding! Killed: Century-old Thorned Willow tree!”
“EXP +3765! EXP +3765!
Rare Regenerative Branches +15, Rare Vitality Core +1, Rare Beast Meat +5, Mental Crystal +1, Rare Fur +1
Obtained: Bracelet of Tenacity +1.”
Zhang Shiyao happily took out the Bracelet of Tenacity and inspected it.
Her gaze sharpened as the item’s information appeared before her eyes.
Bracelet of Tenacity (D-Rank)
Effect: Can resist a certain degree of mental shock and control effects.
Trait: Does not occupy an equipment slot.
The description of the white jade bracelet was short, but its value easily surpassed that of normal equipment.
Accessories that do not take up any equipment slots were among the most precious drops—rarer even than weapons.
After taking a look at its stats, Bai Qiu said,
“Shiyao, you should equip it. An elite Phantom Fox has already appeared—we don’t know if the Dreamy Blossom’s effect will continue. Just in case.”
Zhang Shiyao didn’t refuse.
She nodded and immediately put it on her wrist.
She understood what Bai Qiu meant.
He had both high mental strength and high tenacity, giving him strong natural resistance to control effects.
With the Dreamy Blossom boosting him further, he basically had no risk of being controlled by a Phantom Fox.
But she did.
She had no mental-strength stat, and her tenacity wasn’t that high.
If she relied only on the Dreamy Blossom, who knew whether she could resist control from an elite or even lord-level Phantom Fox?
If she got controlled, things would get messy.
Unlike Huang Qi—who could be pinned to the ground and pummeled—if she were controlled, she would instantly become a terrifying problem even for Bai Qiu.
For example, her mithril arrows could genuinely injure Bai Qiu, who currently had no defensive gear at all.
As for Ning Xingxue and the others, it was even worse—if they didn’t dodge in time and took a hit head-on, they’d practically be one-shot.
From the moment they first encountered a Phantom Fox, Bai Qiu had already dropped any playful attitude.
Now, whenever one appeared, his first thought was to kill it immediately, or else a single careless moment could lead to a full-team wipe.
The twin-tailed Phantom Fox hiding beneath the tree was easy to understand:
First, it allowed it to control the Century-old Thorned Willow tree for coordinated attacks.
Second, it could support the willow itself—throwing out control skills from time to time while being protected by the willow’s branches and catkins.
This combination made it infinitely more troublesome.
If Bai Qiu had tried to ambush it directly, the fox would have sensed him instantly and commanded the willow to intercept.
So instead, he deliberately dispersed his mana and rushed into the willow’s attack range to draw their attention.
At that exact moment, Zhang Shiyao secretly used her mithril shortbow to kill the fox, avoiding what could have turned into a brutal battle.
Of course, the successful ambush was thanks to the environment and Zhang Shiyao’s naturally silent mithril shortbow.
— The end of the Chapter–
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