Looking at the only well-preserved statue of the God of the Ocean, Chen Changan felt fearful. But on the surface, he still maintained a considerable degree of respect and found a good excuse for his actions.
"To the respected three gods, I am a believer of Mazu. Forgive me for not being able to offer a sacrifice. Farewell." Chen Changan took half a step back seriously.
The temple took half a step toward him.
?
When I type out a question mark, it is not that I have a problem. It is that I think you have a problem.
Chen Changan's face darkened as he rubbed his eyes. 'The strange thing I just saw was not an illusion. The temple is indeed half a step closer.'
Just now—
Chen Changan saw with his own eyes that several dozen tentacles crawled out from the bottom of the divine temple. They lifted the divine temple and took half a step toward him.
An unknown fear enveloped Chen Changan's entire body.
"Run!!!" Chen Changan turned around and ran. The fear that came from deep within him spurred him to stimulate the full potential of both of his legs, allowing him to run faster and faster.
Hiss! Hiss!
A hissing sound like that of a poisonous snake came from behind!
Chen Changan didn't have the time to turn around, nor did he dare to look back to see what had happened. He only gritted his teeth and ran for his life.
Crack! Crack!
On both sides of the path, the green vegetation trembled crazily as leaves fell. No wonder there was a thick layer of decaying vegetation on the ground.
Chen Changan couldn't help but cast his gaze at the trees on both sides. In just a breath's time, their leaves had changed from a green color that symbolized life to long black spikes, which looked like a group of monsters with black fur.
The trees were alive; they had turned into a group of true monsters. One by one, they let out ear-piercing screams.
The long and thin spikes quickly grew and extended, proficiently stabbing at Chen Changan's thighs.
The monsters were quite smart. First, they had to cripple Chen Changan's ability to escape.
'F*ck!' Carrying his long axe, Chen Changan chopped all the incoming spikes.
The trees screamed and withdrew their spikes.
At the moment of life and death, Chen Changan's running speed increased a few notches; he used all his strength to sprint forward.
Something even more terrifying happened—the trees rose from the ground. They were plants, but they stood up.
While shocked, Chen Changan's dodging speed slowed down a little, and a slender spike took the opportunity to stab Chen Changan.
Although Chen Changan immediately used his axe to chop the sharp spike, his thigh was injured. Thus, his movement speed inevitably decreased.
Before Chen Changan could escape, the trees and monsters in front of him blocked his path.
The road ahead was cut off, and there were pursuers behind!
The only good news was that the system came online at the right time and displayed the tree monsters' specific information.
Wilted Old Tree
Status: Treant Mode
Creature Description: The tree is 3.1 meters tall, and it originally had ordinary vines. After absorbing the polluted sea spirit's remaining flesh and blood all year round, it gradually evolved into a terrifying creature that thirsts for flesh and blood. Due to the lack of blood food on the island, it had to disguise itself as a tree all year round. Once it senses the existence of flesh and blood, it will gradually transform into a treant.
Ability 1: Treant Mode/Photosynthesis Mode. The Wilted Old Tree can freely switch between two forms. Treant Mode grants movement ability and consumes 20 points of flesh energy per minute. Photosynthesis Mode increases the flesh energy by one point every day, and cooldown time is two hours.
Ability 2: Thorn Vine. It allows all the branches on its body to grow sharp wooden thorns, which can be inserted into the prey's body to obtain large amounts of flesh energy.
Ability 3: Flesh and Blood Growth. Every 100 points of flesh energy consumed, the height of the tree can be increased by 10 centimeters.
Ability 4: The Curse of Flesh and Blood. As long as they have flesh and blood, they can revive infinitely. However, they will also become slaves of flesh and blood.
Evaluation: Legend has it that the flesh stored by a Wilted Old Tree has the ability to increase one's length, not just their height.
"F*ck!" Chen Changan wielded the Mountain-Beheading Axe and slashed at the Wilted Old Tree's branches.
It really cut into the wood! However, the branches of the old tree were more than ten centimeters in diameter.
They ignored Chen Changan's attacks, and a few sharp branches stabbed into Chen Changan's calf. If he hadn't felt the pain and promptly cut off the sharp branches, he would've lost the ability to escape on the spot.
"F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck!"
(Continuous swearing)
Chen Changan was furious. "Sharp Spell, activate!"
A wave of green light swept up, giving the Mountain-Beheading Axe immense destructive power once again.
The Mountain-Beheading Axe struck out again! This time, it easily cut apart all the monsters' branches!
It was a wild slash!
Chen Changan had successfully cleared a path!
Blood trickled down his calf, but Chen Changan couldn't care less. He could only endure the pain and continue running.
However, Lady Luck did not help Chen Changan. Not far from the road, two more Wilted Old Trees were about to surround him.
With Chen Changan's escaping speed, it was impossible for him to escape before the encirclement was formed. Moreover, the Sharp Spell had long surpassed its usage duration.
Without the Sharp Spell, the Mountain-Beheading Axe was like a toothless tiger. It was impossible to cut off the tree branches.
The situation was critical!
Facing such a dangerous situation, Chen Changan forced himself to calm down and seek a way to break out of this situation.
The Wilted Old Tree's specific information echoed in Chen Changan's mind. 'The Wilted Old Tree is a slave of flesh and blood? Their primary target is not me, but my flesh.'
After seeing through Wilted Old Tree's true nature, Chen Changan shouted, "Is there no end to this? Do you want blood? I'll give it to you, alright?"
Chen Changan took out two large fat fish from the market and threw them to the left and right of the path.
The two large fat fish had their bellies split open, and large drops of fish blood fell to the ground.
The encirclement of the two Wilted Old Trees slowed down for a moment. They instinctively extended most of their slender, sharp branches toward the big fat fishes and stabbed them.
In just six or seven seconds, the big fat fishes' flesh and blood were completely sucked dry. However, the sacrifice of the fat fishes was worth it.
Chen Changan took the opportunity when the Wilted Old Trees' attention was diverted to the fat fishes' flesh and successfully broke out of the encirclement that the Wilted Old Trees had yet to form.
He rushed out of the forest.
In the distant sea, Chen Changan could even hear the anxious cries of Orange.
Chen Changan frantically ran toward the shore, and the Wilted Old Trees followed closely behind.
When Chen Changan's feet touched the sand again, he immediately took out the raft from the trading market and shouted, "Orange, dive quickly!"
Orange understood. The moment Chen Changan jumped onto the raft, Orange tacitly bit the rope in front of the raft.
Orange's first ability, Rapid Diving, was activated instantly. Its speed was as high as 150 kilometers per hour, and it only took 2.4 seconds to swim 100 meters.
Even with the raft's weight, Orange was far faster than the slow Wilted Old Trees.
Chen Changan collapsed on the raft, breathing heavily as he looked back at the shore.
The Wilted Old Trees waved their branches on the shore as if they were trying to catch their prey with the sharp vines. However, it was futile.
The divine temple fled, escaping with its life!