Native creatures

The stalemate and tug-of-war underground slowly revealed a clear winner in silence.

The Mycelium of the Blood Taisui has firmly grasped the upper hand in the battle.

The previous standoff was merely the Mutant Bloodthirsty Vine relying on its massive, recently established root system and the extraterrestrial energy flowing through the Green Demon Plane to struggle on. The difference in their fundamental nature was undeniable and could not be bridged by mere size. Countless milky-white veins pierced, coiled, and took root along the vine's texture, slowly devouring and assimilating it, gradually draining the vitality accumulated within its root system.

The tremors beneath the soil gradually transformed from a balanced collision of two forces into a one-sided dismantling and crushing.

The dense lateral roots of the Bloodthirsty Vine withered and disintegrated one after another, turning into dried debris in the soil. The crimson patterns flowing on the surface of the vine gradually faded in brightness, and the violent vitality of the entire Vine Nest disappeared at a visible speed.

The foundation is about to crumble.

In dire straits, the Bloodthirsty Vine unleashed its final survival instinct.

It no longer focused all its energy on fighting the Mycelium underground. Thousands of dark red vines suddenly burst out of the soil and surged forth, like countless long whips, sweeping wildly outwards to capture and seize.

Near the Vine Nest, there were still many Goblin Warrior and Green Demon who had just emerged from the teleportation rift and were busy investigating the unusual activity.

The barbs at the tips of the vines pierced deep into the monsters' flesh and armor, firmly locking their struggling bodies. Blood, bodily essence, and the mixed, mutated power flowed back along the vines. One by one, the Green Demon quickly withered and died. Several Goblin Warrior swung their axes, roaring and struggling, but they could not break free from the layers of entanglement. After a moment, they lost their strength and collapsed onto the decaying leaves.

By devouring this fresh flesh and blood, the Bloodthirsty Vine forcibly stabilized its life force, which was on the verge of collapse. Its dim blood-red patterns briefly regained their brightness, barely managing to withstand the Blood Taisui's complete strangulation.

Hidden in the thick fog, Lu Heng watched this scene quietly, his mind clear.

The Bloodthirsty Vine's counterattack was nothing more than a futile, death throes.

Its method of prolonging life is too crude and inefficient. It hunts and kills living beings and absorbs their blood, flesh and essence. Ultimately, it is plundering from the outside. The energy absorbed is impure and requires its own source to refine and harmonize it. It cannot make up for the huge loss caused by the continuous devouring of its underground root system.

The Blood Taisui takes a completely different path.

Mycelium does not need to hunt living creatures or feed on blood.

It takes root directly in the core of the Bloodthirsty Vine, plundering the underground resources, anatomical energy, and root vitality accumulated by this Silver Tier vine, directly assimilating, absorbing, and replacing it.

One struggles to gain from the outside, while the other plunders from within, from its very foundation.

The way they draw power and the efficiency of their recovery are not even on the same level.

The Bloodthirsty Vine desperately hunted monsters to prolong their lives, and their surface vitality briefly recovered, but their underground roots continued to be relentlessly gnawed away. As one weakened while the other strengthened, the overwhelming trend remained unchanged.

Lu Heng stood silently in the mist, guarding the outer defensive line. He did not interfere in the battle between the underground alien species, but simply stopped all the monsters that tried to approach the Vine Nest to support the Bloodthirsty Vine. The outcome was already decided; the destruction of the Bloodthirsty Vine was only a matter of time.

Soon, the life-giving boost that the Bloodthirsty Vine gained from sucking blood quickly faded. The muffled cracking sounds of roots breaking from the ground grew more and more frequent. The Mycelium of the Blood Taisui had penetrated most of its secondary roots, and countless white threads intertwined into a giant net, converging and strangling the Bloodthirsty Vine's core root.

The entire Vine Nest trembled violently, the force of the vines swaying gradually weakened, and the blood-red patterns flickered, indicating that it had reached the point of exhaustion.

Just as the Bloodthirsty Vine Vine's essence was about to completely dissipate, and the hidden teleportation node was about to collapse.

From deep within the rock strata, a faint, continuous sound of digging could be heard.

Rustle, rustle.

The soil was ripped apart by sharp claws, the sounds of stones rubbing together carrying the dirt to the ground little by little through the gaps in the root system.

Lu Heng's heart tightened, his gaze fixed on the direction from which the sound came. The Survival Bracelet on his wrist suddenly lit up with a cold white light, and a line of identification text clearly unfolded in his field of vision.

[Mist Badger, Silver Tier. A terrifying predator in the Mist Forest, living in groups.]

A single line of text, without any unnecessary embellishment.

Lu Heng's pupils contracted slightly, and he instantly became extremely vigilant.

Terrorist attacker, social, Silver Tier.

This is a native, highly aggressive, social predator of this Mist Forest.

He had initially thought the unusual activity coming from underground was either the final burst of the Bloodthirsty Vine's essence or an energy shock caused by the collapse of the teleportation channel. But now, it was this group of Mist Badger he had never seen before.

Dozens of gray-black figures emerged one after another from the cracks in the soil, following the crisscrossing root system.

They are similar in size to adult badgers, with thick, dark fur that has a matte, grayish sheen. Their limbs are short and sturdy, and each paw has a sharp, gleaming claw. Their jaws are prominent, their canines are sharp, and a faint grayish-white mist constantly emanates from their mouths and noses. They are familiar with every inch of rock and every crevice in the root system, and they roam the underground of this forest year-round.

Lu Heng stared at the swarm of Mist Badger, instinctively gripping his Star Blade, ready to fight.

His first thought was that the predators had been attracted by the commotion of the underground battle and had come to hunt.

The Bloodthirsty Vine is on the verge of death, monsters are dead and wounded everywhere, and there is an atmosphere of turmoil all around, making it an excellent hunting ground for social predators.

But what happened next completely exceeded his expectations.

The pack of Mist Badger neither pounced on the fallen monster nor charged toward the fog area where he was hiding.

They changed direction and all gathered towards the trembling main root of the Bloodthirsty Vine.

Lu Heng's brows furrowed, a hint of surprise flashing through his mind.

Are they here to help?

The thought had barely formed when the scene before him confirmed his suspicions.

A slightly larger Mist Badger, presumably the leader of the pack, lowered its head and exhaled a thick, cold mist from its mouth and nostrils, which enveloped the most severely damaged section of the Bloodthirsty Vine's main root. The other Mist Badger followed suit, exhaling mist one after another, layer upon layer of grayish-white mist covering the roots of the entire Vine Nest.

At the same time, many Mist Badger leaped into the cracks in the soil, their sharp claws tearing and ripping at the milky-white Mycelium spreading underground. They did not attack the Bloodthirsty Vine; all their attacks were directed at the Blood Taisui was devouring the vine roots.

Standing amidst the churning fog, Lu Heng felt an increasing sense of unease.

The Bloodthirsty Vine is an invasive mutated plant that has not been rooted here for long. It relies on the energy of the Green Demon Plane to build a teleportation channel.

The Mist Badger is a native predator of the Mist Forest, a native creature of this woodland.

Logically, native predators should instinctively reject foreign invasion and be hostile to this Bloodthirsty Vine that brings ectopic contamination.

But now, this group of gregarious Silver Tier beasts, marked as terrifying attackers, have taken the initiative to help the Bloodthirsty Vine resist the invasion, just when it was about to be completely devoured by the Blood Taisui.

Lu Heng watched the Mist Badger darting and colliding among the Mycelium, and the dark red Vine Nest that was supported by the mist and barely maintained its original state, his thoughts churning.

There is no logic to explain what is happening.

Underground, the Blood Taisui's strangling momentum was abruptly interrupted.

The milky-white Mycelium continued to coil around the main root, but the Mist Badger kept digging and disturbing the soil, and the mist it spewed carried the native obstructive force of the woodland, constantly interfering with the parasitic rhythm of the Mycelium.

The battle, which had seemed to be settled, suddenly became deadlocked again.

Lu Heng's knuckles tightened slightly as he gripped the knife.

He originally thought that as long as the Blood Taisui devoured the Bloodthirsty Vine, he could sever this interdimensional teleportation node.

Now he realized that things were far more complicated than they seemed.

Thick fog billowed, and the sounds of fighting underground, the low growls of beasts, and the muffled rustling of vines mingled together, echoing quietly deep within the forest.

Lu Heng did not rush forward.

On one side is the parasitic devouring of the Blood Taisui, on the other side is the Bloodthirsty Vine on the verge of collapse, plus this group of fearless, social Mist Badger.

A new standoff has begun.