Mist Heart Fruit and Deformed Monsters

Although its attack and speed had skyrocketed, that came at the cost of its intelligence.

Seeing Ji Xinghe holed up in the tree, it just rammed its head against the trunk, never once considering what its own strengths were.

Wooden arrows flew one after another into the White Wolf King.

[Hit monster HP -36.4, -36.4, Star Feather Repeating Crossbow triggers bleed, HP -1, -2...]

[Xiao Xi hits monster, HP -0...]

[Xiao Xi activates skill Devour, monster HP -5, -5...]

No time to pay attention to the barrage of system messages.

The White Wolf King was down to half HP, and with the Mist Heart Fruit tree about to fall, Ji Xinghe jumped down on her own.

After all, it only had 10 points of speed now.

For ten minutes, she could keep kiting it.

Seeing her jump down, the White Wolf King immediately turned and lunged at her.

But as it ran, the figure kept getting farther and farther away?

What, did it feel like it couldn't run properly?

The next moment, the White Wolf King stopped.

Staring at Ji Xinghe's silhouette and the endless stream of wooden arrows, it finally remembered it had a skill.

Seeing the White Wolf King stop, Ji Xinghe stopped too.

She couldn't run any farther—partly because she didn't know the terrain, but more importantly, any farther and the Star Feather Repeating Crossbow's attack range wouldn't reach.

She raised her hand, and two wooden arrows whistled out.

Just then, the White Wolf King suddenly lifted its head, opened its jaws wide, and let out a long, piercing wolf howl.

"Awooo..."

The surrounding leaves trembled and fell to the ground, leaving the already bare Mist Heart Fruit tree completely stripped, a lone commander with no troops.

At that moment, the gray mist around the White Wolf King churned and rapidly gathered together.

Seeing this, Ji Xinghe's eyes sharpened, and she instantly recalled the skill on its stat panel: Wolf Howl.

[Wolf Howl: When encountering an enemy it can't defeat, summons three wolf cubs. The cubs' stats are half of the original.]

"Calling in the little brothers, huh?"

With that thought, she jumped back into the tree.

The next second, Ji Xinghe clearly saw three white wolf cubs drop from the gray mist.

They bared their teeth and ran toward Ji Xinghe.

A clatter of crossbow bolts flew at them, while Xiao Xi stayed guard beside her.

As the three cubs closed in, before they could pounce, Xiao Xi's vines bound them together, stringing them up in a row.

The arrow slot of the Star Feather Repeating Crossbow was hot from her constant use.

She fired bolts while using skills.

Three minutes later, the White Wolf King in front of her finally fell.

The three wolf cubs turned into a puff of gray mist, drifting away into the air, leaving nothing behind.

[Defeated level 9 White Wolf King (Semi-Deformed) above your level. Experience Points +5, Wow Coins +2, Raw Wood Treasure Chest +1]

[Decompose White Wolf King (Semi-Deformed)?]

Not yet. Ji Xinghe used the Drain Talent on the White Wolf King's corpse.

[Drain failed. No attributes drained this time.]

[Drain successful. Agility +0.2]

With the attribute points secured, Ji Xinghe looked at the vine hanging on her shoulder.

"Xiao Xi, that Devour skill you just used—can it eat living things?"

"That monster was a Semi-Deformed. You can eat it too?"

The two leaves on the vine nodded, and a soft, sticky voice came through: "Xi da, Xiao Xi... can!"

"Xi... strong."

"Master... also... strong!"

Ji Xinghe patted Xiao Xi. "Since you can eat Deformed Monsters, I'll pack the meat for you as emergency rations."

With that, she directly decomposed the White Wolf King.

[Decomposed White Wolf King. Obtained: Deformed Wolf Meat 500g × 80, Deformed Wolf Bone × 4, Deformed Wolf Hide × 1.]

The system-decomposed supplies were automatically stored in her backpack.

Ji Xinghe stood beneath the Mist Heart Fruit tree, replaying the battle just now in her mind.

Xiao Xi, meanwhile, clung to her shoulder, using its vine to stir the gray mist nearby.

Watching the mist scatter and then gather again, Ji Xinghe suddenly recalled the vortex of gray mist that had formed on the ground when Xiao Xi plucked the Mist Heart Fruit.

She hadn't had time to think about it then.

Now that she considered it, the vortex had appeared exactly when Xiao Xi picked the Mist Heart Fruit.

Ji Xinghe held the Mist Heart Fruit Xiao Xi had brought her, rubbing her thumb against its hard, smooth skin.

So, was the vortex's appearance purely random?

Or... was it because of the Mist Heart Fruit?

Since she wasn't sure, she'd just try again. She was determined to get these Mist Heart Fruits!

Deformed Monsters?

She'd kill every one that came, one or a pair, it didn't matter.

She had plenty of time and energy now!

This time, Ji Xinghe jumped straight onto the Mist Heart Fruit tree.

"Xiao Xi, let's pick one first and see."

The vine tapped lightly. Xiao Xi didn't understand why its owner only wanted one when there were so many fruits.

But it obeyed her unconditionally.

Ji Xinghe watched her surroundings warily, one hand holding the Star Feather Repeating Crossbow, the other with a skill already at her fingertips, ready to attack the moment a monster appeared.

Thump.

Xiao Xi coiled around a Mist Heart Fruit and pulled it off.

The next second, the gray mist vortex appeared again.

Ji Xinghe let out an "oh," her expression turning knowing.

This time, the goat-shaped monster in the gray mist had barely landed before it took a skill from Ji Xinghe and two wooden arrows.

It was also a half-Deformed Monster, but this time Ji Xinghe was fully prepared.

In less than two minutes, she took it down.

[Killed a level 6 Blue Antelope (half-Deformed) above your level. Experience Points +5, Wow Coins +1]

[Decompose Blue Antelope (half-Deformed)?]

After using her Talent, Ji Xinghe stored the half-Deformed Blue Antelope's corpse in her backpack.

If she decomposed it now, the other materials would take up backpack space. To avoid waste, she decided not to decompose it for now.

Over the next period of time, she and Xiao Xi worked together to finish picking all ten Mist Heart Fruit trees.