Disguised Monsters

A burly, four-meter-tall tauren skeleton stood up, and it emanated a deathly black aura. Upon its head sat the crystal of a Soul Rock.

Xia Chengfeng tried to control it and realized that the effort consumed a great deal of his mental energy.

He could control three [Skeleton Soldiers] with the present level of his mental energy. However, he could only control a single elite monster, and on top of that, it was limited to a radius of roughly eight meters. It also reflected the current state of Xia Chengfeng's mental perception.

But it was enough. Xia Chengfeng could get these skeleton puppets to do many things. He could get them to scout for dangerous traps, watch his back, act as a vanguard and absorb damage, among other mundane roles.

After he completed the crafting, Xia Chengfeng brewed more elixirs to prepare for the battles to come.

The success rate and speed of elixir creation were enhanced within the effective radius of the [Sacrificial Torch].

He adjusted his gear after he completed the previous tasks.

He was wearing a suit made of beast hide. Even though the level of his armor was low, he did not have any better defensive equipment to replace them with. He tossed aside the low-level [Elf Bow Lv3 (Common)] and [Beast Bone Dagger Lv2 (Good)], then put on his [Tauren Elder's Battle-Ax Lv8 (Great)] and [Iron Arm Lv10 (Exceptional)].

He also put on the [Evil Gnome's Numbing Ring Lv3 (Good)], [Charge Horn Lv6 (Good)], [Tauren Warrior Leggings Lv7 (Good)], [Tauren Elder's Power Belt Lv8 (Great)], and [Tauren Shaman's Wizard Technique Mask Lv7 (Good)].

Compared to others, this set of equipment was considered exceptional. Many survivors in the area thought of themselves highly when they only had a few pieces of beast hide gear and good-grade weapons.

Xia Chengfeng prepared to go exploring now that he had prepared everything.

He took out the divination crystal ball and sought an augury.

"What will I discover if I dig to the left?"

The divination crystal ball turned white and a line of words appeared: It will be a relaxing journey.

"So, there is no danger," Xia Chengfeng muttered, then began digging. He finished digging the tunnel an hour later.

This was a cave with ordinary monsters. They were Lv7 [Cavernous Magic Wolves] and Xia Chengfeng used them as practice targets to test out his [Iron Arm].

He easily conquered the cave and got a few [Blood Vapor Essences Lv7], [Energy Crystals Lv7], and [Soul Rock Fragments Lv7].

"Continue!" Xia Chengfeng made another divination.

The divination crystal ball turned slightly red. It even showed the figure of a winged creature, and the prophecy read: It is a cave occupied by evil tree elves. Poor little elves are being tortured!

"The danger level is not high. I can try digging there." Xia Chengfeng dug in the direction of the new cave.

He jumped into the cave the moment the tunnel bore through the cave wall.

Xia Chengfeng gasped with amazement the moment he entered the cave, and exclaimed, "It's so beautiful!"

The cave was a sprawling field of flowers. There were flowers of various colors like red, blue, green, and purple. It was incredible scenery!

A soothing fragrance wafted over to him and made him feel relaxed.

Xia Chengfeng had never seen such an uplifting sight ever since he came to the dusky Crypt World.

The only shortcomings were a few weirdly shaped trees in the middle of the field of flowers. The trees had no branches or leaves. Their barren, withered trunks contorted in unnatural ways and they visibly did not fit the scenery.

"Where are the monsters?" Xia Chengfeng searched throughout the cave. He could only see flowers and grass and did not detect any monsters.

There were insects and small creatures like gophers here. However, those were not monsters.

[Cymbidium Lv7]: A species of orchid. It can be used to create magic elixirs.

[Sweet Chrysanthemum Lv9]: A species of chrysanthemum. It can be used to create magic elixirs.

[Small Yellow Flower Lv6]: It is edible.

…

Xia Chengfeng flipped through the plant almanac and realized that many of the herbs found here were medicinal or edible.

"Could this be a resource cave?" Xia Chengfeng was deliberating when Xiaozi suddenly let out a cry.

"Roar!" She shouted as she used [Lightning Flame] on a withered tree.

The withered tree suddenly moved and let out a low rumble. It was a strange sound, like wind blowing into a hole in the trunk of a tree.

Xia Chengfeng could suddenly detect it, and the system notification read: [Evil Tree Elf Lv9]: A tree elf that an evil aura had infected. It survives by devouring the life force of other plants.

"Hm, fortunately for me, Xiaozi has [Elemental Perception]. Otherwise, their sneak attack on me would have succeeded!" Xia Chengfeng had noticed the withered trees from the very start but did not receive any information.

That meant that they were ordinary withered trees or had the skill [Disguise], which allowed them to hide their information.

[Lightning Flame] had an attribute advantage against the evil tree elves. The Lv9 [Evil Tree Elf] let out a pathetic cry after being hit by Xiaozi's attack and struggled for a few seconds before dying.

The rest of the trees removed their disguises and charged toward Xiaozi and Xia Chengfeng!

Their bodies were their greatest weapon. The tree elves did not move fast, but they had extremely devastating attacks. Their trunks, which were as thick as water buckets, could inflict enormous damage if they hit their enemies.

Other than that, they could also spawn branches to track and restrain their enemies, not unlike Xia Chengfeng's [VIne Slash] technique.

"Come, come, come. Come and give me battle experience!" At the level Xia Chengfeng was at right now, he no longer had to fear ordinary Lv9 monsters.

He raised his [Iron Arm] and activated a long-ranged attack. Energy from the magic crystals coursed into the runic array and shot out of the arm as energy bullets.

Not only did the [Evil Tree Elves] sustain damage when hit by the energy bullets, but the energy would also generate high temperatures that scorched their bodies.

Most of the tree elves did not even make it close to Xia Chengfeng before he killed them!

Xia Chengfeng was about to annihilate all the tree elves when he suddenly felt a strong sense of threat. He dodged instinctively.

A loud, familiar sound reverberated nearby and several spikes suddenly burst out from under the ground.

Xia Chengfeng was in the middle of his evasive action when the spikes curved in the air as if locking their sights on him. The spikes pierced through his beast hide garment and injured his back.

"Break!" Xia Chengfeng fought back the pain and snapped the spike with his iron arm.

He drank a hemostatic elixir. His wound recovered rapidly with the combined effects of the hemostatic elixir and the Life Alchemy Array.

By this time, Xia Chengfeng had also discovered the location of the monster that attacked him. A tree stump "stood up" from amongst the sea of flowers. It was not conspicuous, and it also used its "Disguise" ability. It was no wonder that Xia Chengfeng did not notice it.

[Vengeful Withered Stump Lv9 (Elite)]: Once a powerful evil tree elf, but it had been cleaved in two. However, its stubborn vitality and vengeful hatred sustained its will to survive. It will consume all the life force around it to restore its body!

"Roar!" Xiaozi immediately came to Xia Chengfeng's aid when she saw him sustaining an injury. She hit the withered tree stump with the lightning flame and caused it to tremble in pain.

"[Mental Attack]!" Xia Chengfeng adjusted his mindset. He did not use [Vine Slash] as the power of a technique that was the same element as the monsters would be greatly weakened.

The mental attack temporarily caused the [Vengeful Withered Stump] to become dazed. Xia Chengfeng seized the opportunity to retrieve the [Tauren Elder's Battle-Ax] from within his space bubble and flailed it around with his [Iron Arm]. He used [Heavy Cleave].

Xia Chengfeng cleaved the sharp ax downward and split the [Vengeful Withered Stump] in two. A green liquid sprayed out from within the wood. It was the monster's blood.

System Notification: You have killed [Vengeful Withered Stump Lv9 (Elite)] and received 2000 points of battle experience.

System Notification: Your level has increased to Lv9.

Xia Chengfeng easily massacred the rest of the evil tree elves after he killed the elite monster.

He decomposed the monsters' corpses and obtained materials like [Plant Essence] and [Energy Crystal].

The elite monster gave him a [Corrupted Tree Heart Lv9] that could create earth element magic elixirs or magic equipment.

"Are there no treasure chests here?" Xia Chengfeng searched for some time and noticed that these tree elves were extremely poor. They did not leave any treasure behind.

"Roar!" Xiaozi flew to an area and shouted toward Xia Chengfeng. She had noticed something.

Xia Chengfeng ran over and realized that there was an underground pit. The space in the pit was extremely vast.

Xia Chengfeng controlled a skeleton soldier and sent it to investigate the pit to avoid being caught in any surprise attacks.