Su Xiaoyang

At this moment, the Chat Channel erupted once again in fierce debate over the terrifying surge in speed of the three individuals.

However, Han Xing did not enter the Chat Channel, nor did he know what was happening inside.

Han Xing had just finished a battle and checked his ranking: 802 points, currently ranked 9th.

At that moment, he noticed someone's name on the leaderboard.

Rank 17: Clever Little Sheep, Territory Points 612.

Clever Little Sheep had actually rushed onto the leaderboard as well, and her rank was so high, which came as a huge surprise to Han Xing.

He manipulated his floating island to approach another cloud while sending a private message to Clever Little Sheep.

"Not bad, you've climbed so high on the leaderboard."

Clever Little Sheep replied very quickly.

"Ah... Is it high?" Clever Little Sheep said, as if she had only just realized it.

Han Xing praised, "Yeah, you've even broken into the top twenty. That's really good."

"Really? It's not that impressive, hehehe..." A naive chuckle came from the other end.

Hearing Han Xing's praise, Clever Little Sheep seemed to be extremely happy, and then she said rather shyly, "It's all thanks to you giving me so many Life Elixirs. With them, I don't have to be afraid of getting injured, which is why I was able to explore so quickly."

Yet Han Xing replied, "Don't be modest. Life Elixirs only serve as assistance; in actual combat, one must rely on a survivor's own strength."

With that, he didn't want to continue dwelling on the topic, so he asked, "By the way, did you choose the Hunter class?"

"Yeah, yeah, I chose the Hunter class," Clever Little Sheep replied.

Han Xing went straight to the point: "I just dropped a formula for an elixir that increases strength. For our Hunter class, it can also boost a good amount of attack power."

"I'll trade it to you." Han Xing sent a trade request to Clever Little Sheep.

Then, as usual, he put up 20 bottles of Berserker Bear Potion.

"Ah? Are these all for me?" Clever Little Sheep's tone was somewhat uncertain.

Han Xing replied, "Yes, consider it repayment for that Life Elixir formula you gave me."

Clever Little Sheep hesitated for a moment before clicking accept.

She said earnestly, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Han Xing replied casually.

After finishing the elixir trade, Han Xing prepared to close the private chat and continue his sprint.

At that moment, Clever Little Sheep asked tentatively, "Uhm, um..."

"Is there anything else?" Han Xing asked.

Clever Little Sheep didn't reply right away, as if she were hesitating.

A moment later, she spoke as though she had mustered up her courage: "Uhm, can I add you as a friend?"

Hearing this, one could clearly sense the nervousness in her voice, as if she were deathly afraid that Han Xing would refuse.

Han Xing was stunned for a moment.

To add someone as a friend meant knowing their real name.

Han Xing thought about it and figured it wasn't a big deal, so he agreed, "Sure, my name is Han Xing. Go ahead and add me."

"Phew..."

Hearing Han Xing agree, she naturally let out a sigh of relief and said, "Th-thank you..."

Next moment, a system prompt appeared.

"Survivor 'Su Xiaoyang' has sent a request to add you as a friend."

So this girl's name was Su Xiaoyang. This name...

Han Xing's expression became a bit peculiar.

He clicked accept.

Su Xiaoyang successfully added Han Xing as a friend, appearing extremely excited.

At that time, Han Xing said, "I'm going to continue climbing the ranks. We can talk about anything else next time."

"Okay, okay. I won't disturb you anymore. Good luck!" Su Xiaoyang replied happily.

After closing the chat interface.

Han Xing resumed his climb up the leaderboard.

Meanwhile.

On a large platform measuring over 600 square meters, a beautiful young girl was staring blankly ahead.

She was dressed in a set of green Hunter gear, her form-fitting leather armor accentuating the proud curves of her body.

Her tall figure, fair skin, and angelic face combined to create a truly adorable, pale-and-slender appearance.

At that moment, beneath the young girl's beast-skin skirt, a pair of blindingly white, slender legs were pressed together cutely and rubbing back and forth, while her substantial breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing, making her look quite agitated.

This girl was none other than Su Xiaoyang. After adding Han Xing as a friend, she had remained in a state of continuous excitement.

"So... your name is Han Xing... What a truly lovely name..."

At this moment, a thrilled smile appeared on Su Xiaoyang's delicate face.

"I never thought... that even someone like me would have someone willing to be my friend. I'm so happy!"

"I really want to tell Mom and Dad about this right away. They'll definitely be happy for me too, right?"

Because she was overly excited, Su Xiaoyang seemed to accidentally crush an item in her hand, and fresh blood instantly spurted out.

"Ah..."

Su Xiaoyang gasped subconsciously. Looking at the mass of internal organs from some beast in her hand, she said regretfully, "I actually accidentally smashed the beast heart I just dug out. This was supposed to be fed to Xiao Qian. What a pity..."

She curved her pretty eyebrows, her gaze shifting to glance at the pale tree within her territory.

This tree was barely two meters tall and resembled a willow tree from Blue Star, but it looked exceptionally eerie. The surface of its bark was as pale as paper, and its branches were the exact same shade of pale.

Even more bizarrely, the branches of this small tree were covered in barbs that resembled animal teeth.

Then, Su Xiaoyang moved her legs, which could be described as works of art, walking gracefully over to the side of this bizarre plant, and said softly, "Even though I crushed it, it shouldn't go to waste. Hurry up and eat, Xiao Qian."

As her words fell, the branches of the eerie plant began to tremble slightly, and one of the branches slowly extended in front of Su Xiaoyang.

Next moment, the branch snapped back, and the beast heart in Su Xiaoyang's hand vanished without a trace.

"Good girl, Xiao Qian."

Su Xiaoyang praised. Before her eyes, the information of this bizarre, demonic tree appeared.

Heart-Eating Tree (One-Star Elite Organism)

Level: lv5

Strength 25, Agility 28, Spirit 31, Constitution 32

Skill 1: Venomous Kiss (The Heart-Eating Tree lashes out with its branches to attack enemies, inflicting severe poisoning on the attacked organism.)

Skill 2: Life Forbidden Zone (The Heart-Eating Tree releases internal gases to form a large-scale life forbidden zone. Any lifeform entering the gas range will suffer from multiple negative status effects.)

Skill 3: Rampage of Flowers (The Heart-Eating Tree enters a berserk state, flailing thousands of branches to launch indiscriminate attacks against enemies.)

Talent: Heart-Eating Demon (The Heart-Eating Tree devours the hearts of other organisms to increase its own stats. The more hearts it devours, the stronger it becomes, and the higher its stats will rise. When the devoured hearts reach a certain quantity, the Heart-Eating Tree will undergo a metamorphosis.)

This was actually an Elite Grade plant-type monster, the Heart-Eating Tree!

Not only did it possess three powerful skills, but it also had a growth-type talent skill that boosted its strength by devouring the hearts of various animals.

When the animal hearts devoured by the Heart-Eating Tree reached a certain quantity, it could even complete a metamorphosis!

Naturally, these animals included humans; it would attack any creature that invaded its territory.

Yet Su Xiaoyang had used some unknown method to plant such a ferocious monster right inside her own territory!