Chapter 81

【Ten-Thousand-Year Withered Tree】

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Effect: formed by combining three thousand-year-old ancient trees, it can seize the vitality of all living things around, causing their flesh to rapidly decay.

……

「Third Tier? ！」

Su Hao grinned, excitedly waving his arms.

If using a Supernatural Grade Third Tier Ten-Thousand-Year Withered Tree combined with a Supernatural Grade Second Tier Curse Scarecrow as the main materials, then would the Supernatural Grade of the constructed Withered Ancient Tree be able to reach Third Tier?

A First Rank shelter, if it could construct a Supernatural Grade Third Tier building, nobody would believe it even if told.

Thinking this, Su Hao immediately ran upstairs and moved the Construction Platform down from the shelter.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Withered Tree's height is nearly a hundred meters; obviously impossible to bring into the shelter.

Moreover, the Ten-Thousand-Year Withered Tree's ability to seize vitality gives off an aura as if it could rot everything; if too close to the shelter, Su Hao worries Xiao Anni couldn't bear it.

After taking the Construction Platform out of the shelter, Su Hao gripped the roots of the Withered Ancient Tree, lifted it slightly, and shoved the Construction Platform inside.

Then he took out 2000 units of wood, the blueprint for the Withered Ancient Tree, and a Second Tier Curse Scarecrow, placing them all on the Construction Platform and began constructing the Withered Ancient Tree.

【Please select the construction site for the Withered Ancient Tree.】

Just like when building the fireplace and water purifier, a prompt tone first sounded in Su Hao's ear, and then a 3D model appeared before his eyes.

But this time, besides the shelter and the Withered Ancient Tree model on the 3D model, there was also a 3D model of the surrounding environment.

The reason is simple: this Withered Ancient Tree's size is truly huge.

Looking at the 3D model, the trunk of the Withered Ancient Tree is three to four times larger than the eight-story small building beneath the shelter, and its roots are absurdly large, to the point that the 3D model cannot fully display them!

「This Withered Ancient Tree is also too big, huh! 」

Su Hao slightly furrowed his brow; such a huge Withered Ancient Tree is inevitably too conspicuous.

Even without considering the root issue, a Withered Ancient Tree over a hundred meters tall, even if coated with discoloration paint, would probably not have a good invisibility effect.

By then, waves of monsters running over would be somewhat annoying.

In the Dark Forest, just the goblin tribes that Su Hao knows of number several dozen, showing how many goblins there are.

Basically every day, dozens of goblins roam near the shelter; if it weren't for the shelter and the eight-story building painted with discoloration paint, goblin corpses could pile up several stories high.

However, the Withered Ancient Tree is a prerequisite building for shelter upgrades; no matter how conspicuous, it must be built.

Moreover, Su Hao feels that a Withered Ancient Tree built using Third Tier Ten-Thousand-Year Withered Wood plus a Second Tier Curse Scarecrow will definitely possess extraordinary power.

Probably even ordinary goblins without any rank wouldn't have the qualification to approach the Withered Ancient Tree!

Thinking this, Su Hao redirected his gaze to the 3D model.

Since the Withered Ancient Tree is an annex building of the shelter and cannot be too far from it, after a moment's thought, Su Hao dragged the 3D model of the Withered Ancient Tree to the edge of the eight-story building.

【Are you sure to construct the Withered Ancient Tree at this location?】

「Yes! 」

Without hesitation, Su Hao immediately made the choice.

The next moment.

The Construction Platform emitted a blinding golden light, wrapping all the materials inside, turning into a golden light sphere that flew to Su Hao's designated position, landing on the edge of the eight-story building and beginning to expand and deform.

「Ababa! 」

At that moment, just as usual, from behind a grass patch over a person's height nearby, five goblins wielding wooden sticks emerged.

Upon seeing Su Hao, they let out a strange cry, brandishing their wolf-tooth clubs and charging forward.

Su Hao glanced at the goblins indifferently and paid no further attention.

With his current strength, even if he stood still, these goblins could hardly break his defense; he continued to focus his gaze on the golden light sphere still expanding and deforming.

In a short while, the basketball-sized golden light sphere turned into a gigantic withered tree over a hundred meters tall, with a diameter of nearly ten meters, completely withered yellow.

Almost at the moment the Withered Ancient Tree was just completed, the weeds on the surrounding ground seemed to have their moisture drained, turning yellow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Even those five goblins, like the ground weeds, had all their blood turn into vital energy flowing from their feet into the ground, their bodies rapidly withering.

After a few seconds, these goblins below First Rank turned into dry corpses lying on the ground.

But it wasn't over yet; after all vitality had dissipated from the goblins' bodies.

One of the goblins' bodies quickly fibrous, turning into a dry scarecrow with an eerie smile, feet together, arms straight out, standing on the ground.

No need to think; it's obvious that the changes in the goblins and surrounding weeds and trees are definitely related to the Withered Ancient Tree.

Immediately, Su Hao's thought moved, and he opened the information panel of the Withered Ancient Tree.

………

【Withered Ancient Tree】

Type: Shelter Building

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Effect 1——Withering Curse: releases a withering curse on all species within a 5-kilometer radius around it, absorbing their flesh and vitality, accelerating the decay of their flesh.

The closer to the Withered Ancient Tree, the stronger the curse effect.

Only units belonging to the shelter or marked units can be immune to the withering curse.

The more vitality the Withered Ancient Tree absorbs, the larger its size, the wider the range of its roots and stems, and the broader the coverage of the curse.

At the same time, it can spread the shelter's effect of isolating ominous curses to the range covered by the roots and stems of the Withered Ancient Tree.

Effect 2——Weak Scarecrow: releases a weakness curse on all species within a 5-kilometer radius around it, lowering their physical strength.

Any unit that dies near the ancient tree has a certain chance to transform into a weak scarecrow, increasing the effects of the weakness and withering curses.

……

「Holy shit?! Such a huge range! 」

After reading the detailed information about the Withered Ancient Tree, Su Hao couldn't help but widen his eyes.

A diameter of five kilometers is no small number; converted to mu, that's 117,700 mu of land—this area is larger than some hills.

As long as one enters the five‑kilometer radius of the Withered Ancient Tree, whether it's plants without sentience, monsters that have fallen after infection by an ominous curse, or sentient beings such as humans—

Anything with flesh and vitality will be infected by the Withering Curse, causing the Withered Ancient Tree to siphon its inner vitality and speed up the decay of its flesh.

The closer one is to the Withered Ancient Tree, the stronger the Withering Curse becomes.

Even a monster weaker than First Rank, like a goblin, merely approaching within a hundred‑plus meters of the Withered Ancient Tree will have all its vitality sucked dry in just a few seconds, turning into a desiccated corpse.

This shows how mighty the Withering Curse of the Withered Ancient Tree is—probably many First‑Rank supernatural monsters would struggle to reach its edge alive.

Moreover, after absorbing vitality, the Withered Ancient Tree can increase its own size, expand the spread of its roots and stems, and widen the range of its Withering Curse.

Besides the effect of releasing the Withering Curse, after the Withered Ancient Tree uses the Cursed Scarecrow as another primary material to complete its construction, it gains an additional effect: the Weakness Scarecrow.

Likewise, within a five‑kilometer diameter, any species that enters this range will have its physique weakened by the Weakness Curse.

Moreover, once any species dies within this range, its corpse turns into a scarecrow, further strengthening both the Withering Curse and the Weakness Curse.

The Withered Ancient Tree's absorption and upgrade increase the curse's range; the Weakness Scarecrow converts corpses, boosting curse strength.

If given enough time to grow, perhaps the Withered Ancient Tree could really spread its roots and stems throughout the entire Dark Forest, turning the whole Dark Forest into Su Hao's own territory!

"Oh no!"

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Su Hao saw that the weeds on the surrounding ground and the trees not far away had vanished in a large patch.

Scarecrows of various sizes but identical in appearance had sprung up, standing on the ground.