Xu Yuanhui rejected Ling Jiu’s request.
He had seen Ling Jiu and his team’s data before and knew what their strengths were.
Although he was surprised that Ling Jiu had become a Level 4 Arcanist at just 16 years, he was uncertain that Ling Jiu could kill a Class 5 Direbeast.
A Level 4 Arcanist.
A Class 5 Direbeast.
That was two totally different levels!
Not to mention that there was not one Class 5 Direbeast in Meizi Town, but three, and there were also 41 Class 4 Direbeasts and countless Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 Direbeasts.
How could Ling Jiu’s squad of 11 destroy such a terrifying Direbeast pack?
However, he could not resist Ling Jiu’s pestering, and in the end Xu Yuanhui ordered the maglev airship to come to Meizi Town. Without any delay, Ling Jiu took his team members down to the bamboo forest around Meizi Town.
A bamboo forest?
The bamboo forest before him was very different from Ling Jiu’s memory. Bamboo should be long and thin, but the bamboos in this bamboo forest were thick and long instead.
Each bamboo—at its thickest was the size of an adult wrapping both arms around a tree—grew out the ground, and were like giant canopic trees as the fallen leaves had piled up into a thick layer.
It was clear that the bamboo forest had evolved!
“I never thought that in 30 short years, the bamboo forest had grown till like this.” Zhou Dun looked at the forest as he was awed.
“Zhou Dun, you’ve come here before?” Huang Hailong asked with a smile.
“I’m a native of Meizi Town!” Zhou Dun explained. “Thirty years ago, before the Direbeast incursion, I spent my childhood in Meizi Town.”
“Back then, in order to stop soil erosion and to protect the environment, the government had planted over 6,000 odd acres of bamboo forest, 8,600 acres of chestnut trees, and about 2,500 acres of mulberry trees.”
“Back then, we would dig out bamboo shoots during spring, have mulberries during summer, and chestnuts during winter. Every day was carefree and joyful!”
“However, everything changed when I was seven. The Direbeast incursion happened, and the entire town was evacuated, and I left the Meizi Town that I have spent my childhood!”
“I never thought once I left it would be thirty years since. By the time I got back to my hometown, I’ve already grown from a boy into a boomer now. Sigh!”
Everyone nodded and fully understood how Zhou Dun was feeling. All of them were in their thirties, and had experienced the same thing as Zhou Dun, so they could feel the same thing as him.
Whooosh!!
Just as everyone was reminiscing, a sudden rip of the air rang out as a sharp bamboo was raised and came crashing down.
The bamboo was the size of an adult’s thigh, and its root was extremely sharp, as it stabbed at Meng Lijun like a spear.
Dush!
The bamboo spear stabbed through Meng Lijun’s shoulder in an instant, and the stab went through him as the bamboo spear stabbed into the ground.
“Lijun!”
Chen Feng yelled as he pulled out the war knife on his back into a slash. A loud crack rang out and the bamboo was cut into two, with green blood spewing out of the wound.
“Grurrruhhh!”
A shrill scream came from the top, and everyone looked up. Above them was a 10 meter long bamboo pole as thick as an adult wrapping their arms around a tree.
A bamboo pole?
A scream?
This scene was somewhat terrifying!
“Sh*t! It’s the Long-legged Phasmid!”
Huang Hailong yelled. “Watch out! It’s the Long-legged Phasmid!”
“The Long-legged Phasmid?”
Ling Jiu could not help but take a few more looks. From the outside, this Long-legged Phasmid was no different than a bamboo pole in terms of its color and its shape…
If it stood still or did not move, it looked literally the same as the bamboos around it, totally indistinguishable.
“Ol’ Meng, how are you faring?”
Chen Feng asked concernedly.
“I’m fine!”
Meng Lijun endured the piercing pain and pulled out the bamboo spear that pierced into his shoulder before activating his Tungsten Form.
When lightly injured, he could transform into this form to heal his wounds. This was part of his ability.
“You dare to hurt me. Die!”
Meng Lijun, who had now transformed into a Tungsten Giant was thoroughly enraged as he leapt up high, and slammed his fist onto the Long-legged Phasmid.
Crack!!
Meng Lijun’s fist shattered the Long-legged Phasmid’s body and a large amount of dark green blood gushed out.
“Grurrruhhh!”
The Long-legged Phasmid screamed as it brandished its remaining five legs as it stabbed at Meng Lijun in a frenzy.
Sadly, in this state, Meng Lijun was extremely tough, and the bamboo spears only managed sparks when they struck him.
Meng Lijun shot out several punches, and all five of the bamboo spear legs were broken. The Long-legged Phasmid let out a shrill scream as it fell from the sky onto the ground.
“Die!”
Meng Lijun aimed at its head, and then smashed it clean. The Long-legged Phasmid struggled for a moment before falling motionless.
“Watch out guys, there should be more than one Long-legged Phasmid in the forest.” Huang Hailong yelled a reminder.
The Long-legged Phasmid was not a high-level Direbeast, it was just a Class 2 Direbeast. However, with them hiding in the bamboo forest, their camouflage was perfect and was a threat. Any carelessness may see them getting stabbed into a pin-cushion as Meng Lijun had.
“Don’t bother!”
Ling Jiu said faintly as 8G gravity suddenly shrouded an area within a hundred meter radius.
Boom! Boom!
The sound of objects falling onto the ground rang out one after another. Everyone turned around and saw the bamboo poles that were falling onto the ground were all Long-legged Phasmids.
“Captain Ling, you’re quite the something!”
“Hahaha! Captain Ling’s 8G gravity is beyond a Class 3 Direbeast’s ability to resist, much less a Class 2 Direbeast like the Long-legged Phasmids!”
“The Long-legged Phasmid is probably the Class 2 Direbeast worst affected by gravity!”
“Hahaha, who asked them to grow legs that long!”
“Cut the chatter, kill them!”
Since they had been forced to appear, the Long-legged Phasmids’ threat was greatly reduced. Everoyne then went on the offensive and killed the Long-legged Phasmids one by one.
By the time the team crossed the 5,000-acre bamboo forest and came outside of the bamboo forest, hundreds of Long-legged Phasmids had died in their hands.
“We’re finally out!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked forward. A forest appeared before them, with thick trees growing from the ground.
All the trees were almost the same, and they had likely been artificially planted. The thick and tall trees were covered in watermelon-sized hairballs.
“What tree is this?”
Shi Hao asked incredulously.
“Everyone, we’ve struck gold!”
Zhou Dun licked his lips and laughed.
“Ol’ Zhou, stop being coy. Spit it out!” Bai Yue could not help but urge him.
“Didn’t I tell you guys earlier? Thirty years ago, our town planted chestnut trees across 8,600 acres of land, and behold, the forest in front of us is just that!”
Zhou Dun smiled and said, “But obviously, these chestnut leaves have evolved. Look, the chestnut they produce are as big as watermelons!”
“This is a chestnut? Bloody hell!”
“Chestnuts the size of watermelons?”
“My daughter-in-law loves fried chestnuts, but there’s barely any on the market so it’s difficult to buy them even if you have money. The last time I had chestnut was two years ago!”
“The chestnuts on the market are all grown in organic greenhouses, how can they compare with these evolved pure wild chestnuts?”
“Everyone, it’s December now, and it’s the season for chestnuts. How about we take some home?” Zhou Dun said with a smile.
“Of course!”
“This is something good, since we’ve ran into them, of course we should take them back!”
“Let’s go!”
The group all went into the chestnut forest to pick the chestnuts. Ling Jiu also picked a good chestnut tree as the ground under his feet swelled, lifting him to a place where he could reach the chestnuts and started picking them slowly.
It was December, and the chestnuts were riped. After breaking the outer shell, a golden chestnut appeared before his eyes.
Taking a hard bite, it was hard, sweet, and delicious. If it was taken back to be stir-fried or stewed in a soup, it would taste even better.