After letting Eno go back, Perry took a deep breath, stretched out his hand, called out the plant scan again, and quickly looked around. The scanning results showed that there were indeed target plants deep in the cave, but their location was farther than he expected, and they needed to go deep into an area where the cold was stronger.
"It's so cold. I hope I won't freeze to death." Perry complained in a low voice, but there was no time to hesitate. He walked deeper into the cave step by step, the surrounding coldness piercing his skin like a knife blade, and every step made him feel that his limbs became stiff.
The interior of the cave is unusually quiet, even unsettling. The cold rock wall is covered with strange runes, emitting a faint blue light, like eyes quietly staring at the intruder. Between the runes, there is a thin layer of silver-white moss dotted with a cold light. Perry touched the moss with his hand and found that it was so cold that it seemed to pull the heat right away from his fingertips. He immediately retracted his hand, secretly deciding not to touch these seemingly harmless things.
"These runes...seem to be of the same type as those just now, seals or something?" Perry looked up at the wall with a hint of doubt in his eyes, but quickly shook his head and returned his attention to what was in front of him. on task.
"It's better to complete the mission first and leave here as soon as possible." He said to himself, his pace slightly accelerated, but he always remained vigilant.
Not long after walking, Perry finally found the target plant on a sunken rock wall - several small plants shaped like antlers, growing quietly on a frost-covered rock. The surface of their leaves is covered with lavender veins, exactly as described by Eno.
"There are ice deer grass and ice crystals!" Perry's eyes lit up, and he was filled with joy. He quickly approached the rock wall and knelt down to observe the plants carefully. They exude a faint chill, as if the entire plant is made of frost. He reached out and tried to pick it, but found that the roots of the ice deer grass were deeply embedded in the frozen rock wall, making it difficult to pull them out directly.
Perry quickly decided to summon vines to help. He took a deep breath, quickly formed seals with his hands, and recited a summoning spell. Soon, several slender vines slowly rose from the ground and stretched towards the ice deer grass.
However, as soon as the vines approached the rock wall, the cold air in the cave suddenly intensified as if it was irritated. The icy frost spread rapidly along the vines, climbing up every inch of its surface as if it were alive. In an instant, the vines were frozen stiff, and the crystal ice covered their surfaces. They even made a slight cracking sound under the cold wind, turning into ice shards and floating in the air.
Perry witnessed all this, his brows furrowed and his fists clenched involuntarily. "You can't even get close to the plants...the cold is so suppressed." He gritted his teeth, feeling that the situation was far more complicated than he imagined, but the ice deer grass in front of him was the first step to complete his mission. No matter what, he would Can't give up.
He looked around, trying to find other ways to help himself. On the ground near the Ice Deer Grass, he found a few loose-looking ice stones and suddenly had an idea. He quickly made a new plan in his mind: If it couldn't be picked directly, then try to knock off the ice deer grass together with the attached ice cubes.
"It seems I can only rely on myself." Perry took a deep breath, slowly stretched out his hand, and summoned a water sword condensed from the water element. The water sword flickered slightly in the blue light of the cave, but the cold air quickly climbed up the sword's body, causing a thin layer of frost to form on its surface. Perry tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword and felt the chill pass through the blade into his palm, but it was still within the bearable range.
He cautiously approached the rock wall, adjusted the angle, and gently tapped the rock with ice deer grass attached to it with his water sword. The range of his movements was very small, fearing that too much force would damage the roots of the ice deer grass. Every strike was accompanied by a crisp echo, which was the sound of the sword blade coming into contact with the frosty rock wall.
However, the hardness of the rock wall was beyond his imagination. Every strike of the water sword was like hitting an iron plate, making his wrist gradually sore. The cold wind in the cave kept blowing, and he could clearly feel that the cold air was eroding the water sword bit by bit, freezing its blade, but fortunately, the water sword still maintained its basic functions.
"This ice is more stubborn than I thought...but there is no time to hesitate." Perry gritted his teeth and continued to adjust the angle, using the water sword to constantly try to split the attached ice. His movements became faster and faster, but he always maintained precision, for fear of accidentally injuring the rare ice deer grass.
Finally, after he swung his sword for the tenth time, a slight "click" came into his ears. He looked up and saw that the rock with the ice deer grass attached finally cracked. With the final blow, the ice on the rock surface completely shattered, and the ice deer grass fell off together with a small piece of attached frost.
With quick eyes and quick hands, Perry reached out to catch them and breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully inspected the ice deer grass and after confirming that it was intact, he couldn't help but smile.
"Finally got it." Perry exhaled softly and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He carefully put the ice deer grass and the attached ice cubes into his cold-proof bag to ensure that it would remain intact in the low-temperature environment.
Ding ding——
The familiar system prompt sounded in the silent cave, and a blue light screen appeared in front of his eyes.
Mission has been triggered: Chill
Mission goal: Make a pot of hot soup to resolve the coldness in the body.
Mission materials:
1. Ice deer grass (5/3)Done
2. Ice crystal water Done
3. Flame Fruit (0/5)
Mission reward: unknown
Duration: two hours
Perry was relieved after seeing the prompt. "Oh, this task can also report completed materials? This is much more convenient." He whispered to himself, feeling that this function was very practical.
However, his eyes quickly fell on the third material - the flame fruit. He had never seen the plant, let alone knew its exact location. He raised his eyes and looked into the depths of the cave, realizing that in order to find the Flame Fruit, he had to continue deep into this cold place.
He put the ice deer grass and ice crystal water into his schoolbag. Although he was worried about whether the ice cubes would melt in the schoolbag, he didn't care too much at the moment. "There's no other way. You can't keep walking with ice cubes." He whispered, picked up his schoolbag, and walked deeper into the frozen soil.
As he stepped closer to the depths of the cave, the cold air around him gradually subsided, and the temperature in the air began to rise slightly. This made Perry feel a little surprised. The flame fruit would emit heat around it.
His eyes kept searching among the rock walls, and finally found a clump of strange plants in a hidden corner. It was a piece of twisted vines, their shapes undulating up and down like flames, with a dark red light glowing on the surface, and several small reddish-brown fruits hanging from the top of the vines, which looked like mini lanterns.
"Flame fruit..." Perry narrowed his eyes, feeling secretly happy in his heart. He approached carefully and tried to pick the fruits. However, as soon as his feet stepped into the range of the vines, a sudden change occurred - the originally static vines suddenly seemed to be alive, stretching out and quickly wrapping around his ankles!
"What?!" Perry's pupils shrank suddenly and he hurriedly backed away, narrowly avoiding the attack of the vines, but the frozen soil under his feet caused him to stumble and almost fall to the ground. He looked down at the vines winding towards his position, and couldn't help but feel nervous. "This plant can actually move?! I almost got stung!"
Perry took a few steps back, staring at the vines, trying to think of a countermeasure. He tried to summon plants to fight, but every time he finished forming the seal, the lingering power of the cold air interfered with his movements, causing his plants to be suppressed as soon as they emerged from the ground.
"This can't go on like this!" He gritted his teeth and growled, deciding to change his approach. He summoned the water sword again, and the blue blade condensed into shape in the air, and the cold air seemed unable to do anything about it. He gripped the hilt of his sword and aimed at the vines to chop down quickly.
"See if you can block it!" Perry swung his sword and slashed at the vines with dazzling water. The vines immediately shrank as if they were spiritual, and quickly wrapped the hanging flame fruit tightly, forming a thorny ball-shaped protective layer.
Perry's eyes widened as he watched as the vines not only retracted, but the thorns on the surface became thicker and sharper, as if to warn him not to get closer.
He tried to continue attacking, but when the water sword hit the vine again, the blade bounced back. He felt helpless for a moment, took a few steps back, and complained in a low voice: "Why didn't Eno tell me that this thing would become like this?!"
He stared at the vine thorn ball in front of him, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. The situation was more complicated than he imagined, and time was passing by. He must come up with new countermeasures as soon as possible, otherwise the two-hour deadline will become impossible to meet.
Perry tried several methods, but still couldn't break through the defense of the vine spike ball. Whether it was slashing with a water sword, trying to freeze its movements, or trying to smash it with the surrounding ice, those vines always maintained a defensive state, and even as time went by, the spikes on the thorn balls became denser and sharper.
He was breathing heavily and stood a few steps away from the spiked ball, his heart full of anxiety. "Is there no way to deal with this thing?" He gritted his teeth, knowing that wasting time would cause him to freeze to death here.
Perry called Eno directly: "Eno, I need your help. Why are the flame fruit vines like this? I can't get close to it."
Eno then appeared, his tone as calm as ever: [I'm not sure, after all, the content of the mission only gave these introductions. ]
"Okay, so how do you remove this defense?" Perry asked impatiently.
Eno was silent for a second, and then said: [To understand its weaknesses, it is recommended to use the 'Analysis' skill for in-depth interpretation. However, this skill will consume 10 energy points, so you can only get general information. ]
Perry sighed helplessly and looked at the remaining energy points on the system interface. "It seems that I still need to use this..." Although he still had 980 energy points on hand, he always felt that he was getting closer to energy exhaustion every time he used it. Thinking of this, he twitched the corner of his mouth and comforted himself: "Anyway, there is still a lot of energy now. There is no need to be stingy. It is better than wasting time."
He nodded and finally made up his mind: "Let's use it."
As his choice was confirmed, a familiar blue light appeared on the system interface. Eno's virtual image approached the flame vine and began to perform plant analysis. A soft tone sounds:
[Analysis has started...]
The blue light shrouded the flame vine, swept along its curved vines, and finally stopped around the fruit. As the frequency of blue light flashes gradually slowed down, after a moment, Eno's voice echoed in the air:
[Analysis completed. ]
Perry waited with bated breath, staring at the information on the system interface, and detailed analysis results popped up on the screen:
[Flame Vine]
• Level: Lv 15
• Attribute: Fire
• Introduction: The flame vine is an extremely aggressive plant. Once it senses danger, it will curl up into a ball to protect its "heart" ——the flame fruit. Its defensive form cannot be destroyed, and the spikes covered on the rattan have a highly toxic flame effect. Once smashed or touched, it will trigger high-temperature combustion, leading to severe burns or death, so the rattan part must not be eaten.
• Weaknesses: Although the defensive form of the vine is powerful, its alertness cannot last indefinitely. When the surrounding environment returns to calm and no threat is perceived for a long time, the vines will automatically relax, revealing the flame fruit inside.
[Fire Fruit]
• Grade: D
• Properties: None
• Introduction: The core "heart" of the flame vine, its fruit contains a lot of energy and has a moderate temperature, which is the only weak part of the vine. The flame fruit itself is non-toxic and can be used as food. It has excellent cold resistance effect.
Perry frowned and asked, "So... I mean, I'm going to 'pretend to leave' to make it relax its vigilance?"
[Exactly so. ] Eno replied, his tone as calm as ever: [The vine needs time to return to its relaxed state, by which time its fruits will be exposed again. You can use your plant magic to grab the fruit quickly while it's slacking off. However, this state lasts for a short time and you need to seize the opportunity. ]
Hearing this, Perry sighed helplessly: "Okay, but how much time do we have now?" He looked up at the thorn ball entangled on the vine, with a hint of anxiety in his eyes, but also a determination. He knew that time was running out.
[Forty-five minutes left. ] Eno gave a clear answer, and then added: [If there are only ten minutes left in the mission, I will remind you. ]
"That's so thoughtful..." Perry knew in his heart that this reminder was indeed necessary. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, looked at the vine in front of him, and frowned: "I hope its vigilance disappears soon, otherwise I really don't have time to spend here."
He took a deep breath, adjusted his mentality, slowly backed away, retracted the water sword, and tried not to let out any offensive aura. His movements were extremely careful, and even his footsteps were deliberately made soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something. Step by step, he gradually moved away from the range of the flame vines, appearing as if he had given up picking the flame fruit.
About ten meters away from the vines, he found a huge rock as cover, squatted down, and hid himself in the shadows. He raised his head, held his breath, and stared at the curled-up thorn ball, waiting for its change.
Time passed little by little, and it was still cold in the cave. Perry felt that his fingertips were gradually becoming stiff. But at this moment, he noticed that the tight ball of thorns finally changed slightly. The outermost spikes began to slowly shrink, and the vines gradually expanded, regaining their previous twisting posture like flames. The few small reddish-brown fruits also hung on the top again as the vines relaxed, emitting a faint red light.
Seeing this scene, Perry's eyes lit up, and the tension in his heart that had been suppressed for a long time was slightly relieved. He took a deep breath and murmured softly: "The opportunity has come."
He lowered his body, placed his palms gently on the ground, and began to summon plant magic. A dexterous green vine stretched out from the palm of his hand, gliding along the ground like a snake, quietly approaching the Flame Fruit. Perry didn't dare to relax at all. Every time the vine in his hand took a step forward, his eyes became more nervous.
One, two... until all five flame fruits were obtained, Perry finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, at the moment when the last fruit was picked, the flaming vines suddenly twisted violently, as if they had lost all life. The flaming rattan struggled in the air for a moment, and then turned into a dry tree trunk.
"Finally got the Flame Fruit." Perry murmured, with a hint of exhaustion and joy in his tone. He looked down at the cold-proof bag in his hand, confirming that the five flame berries were lying in it safe and sound, emitting a faint red light.
Just when Perry breathed a sigh of relief, Eno's voice suddenly sounded in his ears: [Congratulations, the materials have been collected. Earn an additional reward: the pot. ]
"Pot?" Before Perry could react, a silver-gray pot appeared in front of him out of thin air, floating gently and glowing slightly. He quickly stretched out his hand to catch it. The moment he took the pot, he felt a warmth, which made him slightly startled.
"This thing..." He lowered his head and looked at the pot carefully, and couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Although it doesn't look big, it exudes a strange energy. He couldn't help but ask: "Eno, what's so special about this pot?"
[This is a magic cooking pot, designed for use in extreme environments. The pot body can quickly absorb the surrounding energy, not only automatically melting the ice crystal water, but also maintaining heat to ensure the full release of the ingredients. ] Eno explained, his tone calm as usual.
Perry raised his eyebrows, and then gave a wry smile: "This reward is really thoughtful...but it really comes at the right time." As he spoke, he rubbed his stiff neck with one hand, feeling the pain in his shoulders. Come. The cave was still filled with cold air, but at this moment, he felt much more relaxed than before.
He looked around and found that the temperature of the cave seemed to have become even colder after the flame vines disappeared. The frost spreads more densely on the rock wall, as if announcing some hidden danger. Perry couldn't help frowning and asked Eno: "How much time is left now?"
[Remaining time: fifteen minutes. ] Eno's voice had no fluctuation, but it made Perry's heart tighten suddenly. He muttered in a low voice: "Fifteen minutes...there is really no time to waste."
Anxious but with a clear goal, Perry immediately took action. He took out all the prepared materials from his schoolbag one by one and checked them one by one. The ingredients of flame fruit, ice deer grass, and ice crystal water have been prepared, and there is only one last step left to complete the task. His eyes lingered on the dry vines, and he arranged them briefly, then placed the pot on a flatter stone and fixed it firmly.
Then, he carefully poured the ice crystal water into the pot. As the liquid fell into the bottom of the pot, there was no fluctuation in the water surface. The ice crystal water seemed to be guided by some mysterious force and instantly began to melt into clear and transparent water, exuding bursts of light.
"This pot is indeed extraordinary." Perry whispered, with a relaxed smile on his lips. Although his whole body was still surrounded by icy cold air, he finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the water could melt quickly. Putting aside his anxiety a little, Perry summoned a little more magic flame and accurately controlled the flame on the dry vines. He carefully lit the vines and watched as they crackled and gradually turned into a blazing fire. The heat of the flames instantly accelerated the melting rate of the ice crystal water in the pot.
The ice water in the pot gradually became scalding hot, steam rising from the mouth of the pot, illuminating the dim cave around it. At this moment, Perry finally felt a little more relaxed. The firelight and temperature in front of me seemed to bring a touch of warmth to this suffocatingly cold cave. He took a deep breath and felt the coldness in his body subside little by little.
Next, he focused on the remaining ingredients. He carefully chopped up the rhizome of the ice deer grass, using extremely careful movements to ensure that each piece was as even as possible.
Next came the flame fruit. He carefully cut open the fruit with a knife, revealing the bright red flesh inside. The pulp exudes a rich aroma that makes people twitch with their fingers. Perry put the ingredients into the pot one by one and watched them combine with the water.
"Okay, the next step is to put them in." He whispered. Although his tone was calm, he did not dare to neglect the movements of his hands. With the addition of ice deer grass, the liquid in the pot began to turn slightly purple, and the red light of the flame fruit also spread, forming a strange scene. The color of the soup gradually changed, from transparent water to translucent purple-red, exuding a warm atmosphere.