Chapter 77: Cursed Scarecrow

【Construction Diagram for the Cooling Ice Pillar】

Materials required for construction: Frost Stone×50, Stone×5000, any First Rank Supernatural Material×10, or Second Rank or higher material×1.

Once the materials are ready, place the diagram together with the materials into the Construction Platform to complete the construction.

Introduction: The Cooling Ice Pillar can lower the surrounding temperature and dispel the fire toxin in the air.

……

"This really came at just the right time!"

Looking at the information displayed on the diagram, Su Hao was slightly startled, then immediately showed a faint smile.

In five days, the Extreme Heat Disaster will arrive, just like the Extreme Cold Disaster; the Extreme Heat Disaster is also a disaster containing supernatural power, besides the continuous high temperature, it also carries a fire toxin that can scorch the flesh for a long time.

If there is no special cooling item or building, even if one hides in a shelter, they must endure the scorching heat and the burning of the fire toxin.

Moreover, once the fire toxin enters the body, it is not so easy to remove; those with weaker constitutions may need to wait a month or two before the fire toxin can be completely cleared.

However, as long as the Cooling Ice Pillar is built, Su Hao will no longer need to worry about this.

"It's just that Frost Stone is a bit troublesome…"

Su Hao shook his head; according to his knowledge, only the Extreme Cold Snow Mountain produces Frost Stone in this vicinity.

But the problem is that the Extreme Cold Snow Mountain is the territory of a Fifth Rank Snow Woman; ordinary people can't even think of mining Frost Stone, and even just approaching will turn them into ice sculptures.

Even though Su Hao's strength is a notch above ordinary people, he doesn't dare to go play on the Fifth Rank Snow Woman's territory!

"Looks like I can only go to the group to purchase it."

After joining the God Summer Doomsday Investigation Group, Su Hao gained an additional channel for resources.

Moreover, his communication bracelet already has the trading module loaded; even if no one nearby has Frost Stone, he can conduct remote trade with others in the initial group chat.

Hmm……

As long as the other party also has the trading module.

After that, Su Hao stopped thinking about it, took ten diagrams, and then handed the remaining stack to Ling Xue'er.

"According to the hint from my supernatural item, within the next week an Extreme Heat Disaster will occur; at that time the temperature will spike sharply, and there will also be a fire toxin containing supernatural power."

"Try, during this period, to collect as much water as possible, and preferably build the Cooling Ice Pillar as well."

"Extreme Heat Disaster?!"

Hearing this, Ling Xue'er and the others' faces instantly changed.

The Extreme Cold Disaster a few days ago brought huge losses to God Summer; if no preparations are made beforehand, this Extreme Heat Disaster will definitely cause even greater losses.

Not to mention anything else, just the temperature rise accelerating water evaporation is enough to be fatal.

After realizing the importance of this news, Ling Xue'er and the others solemnly thanked Su Hao.

"Thanks for the reminder, boss; I will report this to the leadership!"

"It's fine; you can also put away the other things in the cabinet; they're just some First Rank trifles, consider them as travel expenses."

Su Hao waved his hand, searched the rest of the room, confirmed there was nothing else, and then walked over to that treasure chest.

"Boss, I have a lock‑picking skill; why don't I open this lock for you?"

After Ling Xue'er and the others stored the cabinet's items into their Storage Bags, they followed Su Hao to the side of the treasure chest; Sun Wu, who is an assassin, volunteered and said:

"No need, no need; I also know a bit of lock‑picking."

Su Hao took out a piece of iron wire from his Storage Bag, recalled a bit, then inserted the wire into the lock's bolt, and without looking back said:

Before the strange phenomenon arrived, Su Hao had watched a lock‑picking tutorial video; at that time he had also bought two cheap lock cores to practice, and without much effort he opened the lock core.

He considered that such an ordinary lock core would not be able to stump him.

Ling Xue'er and the others, seeing Su Hao's professional demeanor, couldn't help but be slightly startled.

"Boss, you know so much; you even have experience with such an obscure skill as lock‑picking!"

Then, under the admiring gaze of Ling Xue'er and the others, ten seconds quickly passed, and the lock core showed no movement……

Twenty seconds…… thirty seconds……

Soon, a minute passed.

"I didn't expect it to be a high‑grade lock; it seems I need to be more serious."

Su Hao expressionlessly pulled the iron wire out of the lock hole, a blood‑red flame ignited on his hand, then he squeezed hard and heard a 'bang', crushing the lock core.

"Done!"

Su Hao chuckled lightly, piled the lock core to one side, and began to undo the chains on the treasure chest.

"No matter how the process went, just tell me whether it's open or not!"

Watching this, Ling Xue'er and the others' eyes twitched twice, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.

"Boss, with your strength, why bother picking a lock…"

Su Hao didn't bother explaining; after undoing the chains on the treasure chest, he lifted its lid.

He didn't want to open it violently like that either; it's just that the lock core's internal structure is completely different from what the video said……

However, when Su Hao opened the treasure chest and looked at its contents, the corners of his eyes also twitched involuntarily.

"Are you fucking targeting me?!"

All that could be seen inside the treasure chest was a wooden box of the same material, also chained, but one size smaller.

Su Hao again expressionlessly stretched out his right hand and crushed the lock on top in one grip.

In this way, Su Hao opened eight boxes in a row, finally opening all the boxes and seeing what was inside.

On the left and right sides of the box each stood a scarecrow; in the center was placed a white skull containing a cluster of blue soul fire.

Below the skull was a pentagram drawn in fresh blood, with five black bones the size of a fist pressed on each of its five points.

Su Hao had never seen these items before, but from the aura they emitted he could tell they were both supernatural items, and their supernatural grade should be higher than First Rank.

Afterwards, Su Hao's mind moved; he first used the Item Appraisal Technique on the left scarecrow.

【Cursed Scarecrow】

Supernatural Grade: Second Rank

Effect: One must put a creature's hair or flesh into the scarecrow's mouth; within a certain distance, impose a curse on the target, draining their qi and blood.

If the target cannot dispel the curse in time, they will eventually wither from lack of flesh and blood and turn into a scarecrow.

Furthermore, the cursed scarecrow can slightly increase the curse effect of surrounding cursed items.

……

「Curse……」

Su Hao stroked his chin, revealing a thoughtful expression.

One of the Withered Ancient Tree's main abilities is to release the Withering Curse upon all surrounding species, causing their flesh and blood to wither.

If we use the cursed scarecrow as a material to construct the Withered Ancient Tree, then combine a millennium-withered tree, using it as another primary material to build the Withered Ancient Tree.

Then the Withering Curse effect will surely reach an astonishing intensity.

First-rank Supernatural creatures, without Su Hao's permission, if they dare intrude his territory, will likely not even reach his sanctuary before turning into a scarecrow.

Thus, Su Hao's sanctuary gains the ability to dominate a region, marking his initial foothold in the Dark Forest.

"When I return tonight, let's build the Withered Ancient Tree."

Su Hao lightly tapped the edge of the treasure chest, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

Once the Withered Ancient Tree is built, the sanctuary will have three structures, meeting the upgrade condition; then the sanctuary can be upgraded to Rank Two.

After upgrading to Rank Two, the sanctuary can unlock more building slots, arranging the construction of cooling stone pillars to cope with the forthcoming extreme heat disaster.

At the same time, after upgrading to Rank Two, the sanctuary can also unlock the contract feature.

Only after forming contracts do Da Xiong Mao and Xiao Anni truly count as members of the sanctuary; thereafter, if special structures are built, they can enjoy their bonuses.

The sanctuary's constructions are not limited to ordinary ones like hearths and water purification devices.

There are also structures that provide substantive bonuses to sanctuary members, such as raising mental power limits, increasing physical strength, gaining special skills, etc.

However, that's for later; to build such structures, one must first obtain the corresponding blueprints.

Subsequently, Su Hao turned his gaze to the interior of the treasure chest, where five black bones lay.