Chapter 137: Mountain Fire

The storage bags held varying amounts of items, and quite a few of them were good things.

But Lin Yifan had no time to sort through them right now, so he strung the storage bags together with a cord and hung them at his waist.

All being spatial-type items, storage bags cannot be placed inside a Space Ring, so they could only be hung on his body for now.

As for the one in Ai Xi Er's hand, after Lin Xifan took it, he examined it carefully and found there actually wasn't much inside either.

Besides six or seven Spirit Crystals, there were only some scattered small objects, part of which were food.

Apart from these, all that remained was a pile of unknown creature's droppings.

Lin Yifan carefully plucked a leaf, took out a bit of the droppings to look at, and said with some exasperation:

"This is what you absolutely must take with you?"

Ai Xi Er had said that what he wanted to take was precisely the things Lin Yifan had no use for.

The things Lin Yifan had no use for happened to be exactly these droppings!

Ai Xi Er, however, gazed at that small pile of droppings with a pained expression and said anxiously:

"Yes, yes, yes, this is what I need to take. These are Saber-Toothed Tiger droppings, found only in your Initial Domain. This thing is useless to you, but it's vital to our clan, so please let me take it."

To say the droppings were truly useless wouldn't be entirely accurate—at the very least, they could serve as fertilizer!

But it was just a pile of droppings; he was even prepared to let Ai Xi Er go, so why would he insist on snatching a pile of droppings from him?!

As for the other things in Ai Xi Er's bag, apart from those few Spirit Crystals, Lin Yifan took nothing else.

Those items were mostly physical objects, but they had been stored together with a pile of droppings—looking at them was genuinely nauseating.

He tossed the storage bag back and waved his hand, saying:

"Alright, you can go now!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Ai Xi Er carefully put away his storage bag, thought for a moment, then said:

"Oh right, although I don't know if we'll meet again in the future, I'd like to do you a favor."

"About your pet getting injured—I suggest you investigate this area carefully. Your pet's feathers are quite extraordinary, and its flying speed is extremely fast. Whatever injured it must be no weakling!"

"Also, that bird of yours seems to have some spirituality. It's probably already evolved into a Spirit Beast. A Spirit Beast is a treasure from head to toe, and many people will covet it. If you want to keep it safe, you'll need to put in a lot more effort!"

After saying this, Ai Xi Er didn't linger any longer. He closed his eyes, and soon his entire body turned transparent and vanished.

And those elven corpses were the same—apart from the storage bags he had previously taken and those bows and arrows, nothing else was left behind.

At this point, Lin Yifan had no doubts whatsoever about Ai Xi Er's words!

He tossed all the dropped items into his Space Ring, then temporarily pushed all thoughts to the back of his mind.

Because what mattered most to him right now was the Qingling Fruit Tree not far away.

Even the elves from the Intermediate Domain valued the Qingling Fruit so highly—it was clear this thing was truly extremely precious.

Now that it was right before his eyes, he had to get it no matter what!

However, with the elves' departure, the Bloodsucking Vines along the edges of the fire path grew increasingly frenzied, writhing about like long serpents, giving Lin Yifan a creeping sensation on his scalp.

And the closer he got to the Qingling Fruit Tree, the more frenzied the Bloodsucking Vines became.

He could only carefully keep lighting bonfires, making them larger and larger, and only just barely managed to approach the Qingling Fruit Tree.

But when he stood two meters from the Qingling Fruit Tree, all the Bloodsucking Vines went completely berserk!

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

The Bloodsucking Vines, which had originally feared fire, overcame their instinctive terror at this moment and surged madly toward Lin Yifan.

Lin Yifan's brows furrowed into a deep crease—but would this make him back down?

Absolutely not!

Looking at the position of the Qingling Fruit Tree, Lin Yifan roughly calculated that if he burst forth at double speed, he would only need about two seconds to pluck the fruit and get back.

And his Swift Wind Boots skill had just finished cooling down.

However, once he plucked the fruit, these Bloodsucking Vines would very likely go completely berserk!

When that happened, retreating wouldn't be easy.

Should he take the gamble?

Lin Yifan thought for only one second before immediately making his decision.

Gamble!

He had to bet!

Take a gamble, and a bicycle becomes a motorcycle!

Lin Yifan gritted his teeth, instantly activating his double-speed sprint, and charged toward the Qingling Fruit Tree.

His figure almost became a bolt of lightning; in less than three meters, in the blink of an eye, he had already arrived.

He swiftly reached out, plucked two fruits, tossed them into his Space Ring, and then tried to turn and flee.

But at that moment, all the Bloodsucking Vines were thoroughly enraged and instantly surged toward Lin Yifan.

Countless Bloodsucking Vines had almost woven themselves into a vine net, completely shrouding Lin Yifan's path forward.

He couldn't get out!

In just an instant, Lin Yifan had made his judgment.

This filled him with some despair, but despair aside—would he give up just like that? Of course not!

When he chose to gamble, Lin Yifan had actually thought of another escape route.

That was the Qingling Fruit Tree itself!

All the Bloodsucking Vines grew from the giant tree, and the giant tree happened to be the companion tree of the Qingling Fruit Tree.

The two companion bodies often share the characteristic that they flourish together and fall together.

If he could chop down the Qingling Fruit Tree, perhaps everything would be solved!

Of course, cutting down the Qingling Fruit Tree is a pity, but survival must take priority.

So when Lin Yifan realized he couldn't escape, he decisively took out his Machete and hacked fiercely at the Qingling Fruit Tree.

Although that giant tree was enormously massive, the Qingling Fruit Tree itself was extremely slender—its main branches were only as thick as a finger.

With that one slash, the fruit tree snapped clean in two!

And the moment his blade came down, the countless Bloodsucking Vines behind him instantly enveloped him.

The instant the Bloodsucking Vines touched Lin Yifan, his entire body lost all sensation.

But in the very next second, those Bloodsucking Vines that had been about to coil around him all dropped to the ground, turning into withered vines one by one.

And before him, that originally lush green giant tree also instantly began to yellow and wither!

The leaves on the tree fell rapidly; some dropped into the fire and were quickly ignited.

In the blink of an eye, the fire that had been burning on its own directly set all the leaves ablaze, surrounding Lin Yifan completely.

Watching the mountain fire burn ever more fiercely, Lin Yifan suddenly panicked!

He truly hadn't anticipated this—if this mountain fire kept spreading, countless living creatures would suffer, and even he would likely be burned to death here!

What should he do?

Watching the flames roaring wildly in the wind, Lin Yifan felt helpless for the very first time!