Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse
Chapter 148 - 147 Burning Arrows and Explosive Arrows

Chapter 148: Chapter 147 Burning Arrows and Explosive Arrows

After the Red Mist dispersed, the devastation it had concealed was fully revealed.

The cracked ground did not recover, and the originally smooth surface was now fissured with lines, covered with small holes.

The Blood Patterned Vines killed by Xu Xin, and the Thorned Vines that died in mutual conflict, lay in pieces on the fractured ground.

The scene before him strongly resembled land ravaged by war.

Xu Xin attempted to step forward. Sure enough, without the cover of the Red Mist, there were no longer those strange underground creatures emerging.

Kicking at the vine underfoot, Xu Xin discovered that these vines hadn’t become brittle, not shattering with just a kick.

"Fresh vines?" Xu Xin’s eyes lit up.

He squatted down and gripped the broken vine, pulling it upwards.

The Blood Patterned Vine’s tendrils were very smooth, though they appeared to be only two fingers thick, their overall weight was not light. Even Xu Xin, whose strength had been enhanced many times, found it somewhat strenuous to pull the vine from the ground.

There was no improvement noted, seemingly not a resource.

Xu Xin frowned, thought for a moment, then took out a boning knife and sliced the vine. Instantly, a milky-white viscous liquid flowed from the wound of the dead vine.

Xu Xin hurriedly took out a glass bottle that previously held mutant beast serum, attempting to collect this liquid.

[Mutant Vine Sap (Green): Flammable and fire-resistant, it burns continuously once ignited. It can be used to create incendiary arrows and crossbow bolts. Also one of the raw materials for making explosives.]

Xu Xi: "!!!"

Incendiary arrows! Explosives!

This vine sap is so powerful! It turns out to be a material for crafting incendiary arrows and explosives!

Xu Xin quickly opened his watch and checked the crafting list, but did not find the formula for explosives.

"Not there?" Xu Xin was a bit disappointed. Suddenly he smacked his forehead, "Explosives definitely belong to weapons. Even if there’s a crafting formula, it should be in the weapons and armor crafting station!"

This is absolutely a strategic resource!

Compared to regular arrows, incendiary arrows add flame damage, able to deal tons of damage to plant-type mutant creatures and hairy mutant beasts!

As for explosives, needless to say, explosion damage is far superior to the piercing damage of cold weapons!

Xu Xin couldn’t wait to return to the treehouse to check if he had unlocked the formula for explosives.

However, he didn’t expect that the sap of the mutant vine would be flammable. Plants are naturally afraid of fire, and their sap is flammable. Doesn’t this mean that these mutant vines can be easily dealt with using fire?

After thinking about it, Xu Xin temporarily dismissed the idea.

Unless they appeared outside the jungle, such as in the previous underground maze, Xu Xin could try using fire against them. Otherwise, it would be mutually destructive.

Using fire attacks in the jungle is sheer madness. He didn’t want to experience another forest fire.

Finally, the vine stopped oozing viscous sap, and the glass bottle in his hand was filled nearly halfway.

This sap is significantly heavier than water, with just half a bottle weighing about the same as three bottles of water, feeling heavy in his hand.

He threw the fluid-drained vine to the ground, and Keke immediately jumped off his shoulder, curiously poking at the now slightly shriveled Blood Patterned Vine with her tiny paws.

With the boning knife in hand, Xu Xin began to collect mutant vine sap, and also retrieved all the crossbow bolts he had shot.

There were at least a hundred severed vines on the ground. Except for the less than fifty Xu Xin killed, the rest were basically the result of their infighting.

Cutting a long groove along the vine, the sap would flow out in large quantities.

Initially, he used a glass reagent bottle to store it, but found there was just too much, so he simply crafted a wooden barrel and poured all the sap into it.

Ultimately, he reaped a full small barrel of milky-white sap, weighing over a hundred kilograms.

As for the sap-drained vine skin, it was of no use, not even a white-grade resource.

Satisfied, he placed the entire barrel of mutant vine sap into his backpack and noticed he was now very close to the entrance of the salt mine cave.

"Keke, is there still danger in the cave now?" Xu Xin asked Keke, who had been watching him collect sap beside him.

"Ying!" Keke nodded.

It seems that the mine is still not protected by the treehouse. He looked up at the hill, at the two holes like eye sockets, their faint white light had disappeared.

Mustered up his courage, Xu Xin climbed the hill in a few steps and arrived before the "eye sockets".

Upon closer inspection, it was just a slightly larger hole on either side of the hill’s rocky ridge, looking quite ordinary.

Unable to find anything glowing, Xu Xin dared not linger, quickly descending the hill.

After taking one last look at the hillside resembling a giant’s mouth wide open, and the mine that shrouded all hills in Red Mist, Xu Xin didn’t stay any longer. He mounted Silver King and hurriedly returned to the treehouse.

By the time he returned to the treehouse, it was already past one in the second half of the night.

But Xu Xin didn’t feel sleepy at all; he rushed to the weapons and armor crafting station and opened the crafting list.

The first new crafting options to appear were the incendiary arrows and crossbow bolts.

[Incendiary Crossbow Bolt (Green): A simple yet practical incendiary crossbow bolt, weak in penetration, combusts upon hitting a target. Cannot be recovered. Magic attacks can sometimes be more effective than physical ones! Incendiary Crossbow Bolt (Green) *20 requires Wood (Green) *4, Feathers (Green) *2, Mutant Vine Sap (Green) *1kg]

Although they can’t be recovered, the incendiary crossbow bolts only require wood and vine sap, which is quite economical in terms of materials.

Xu Xin immediately crafted forty additional rounds.

Continuing to scroll down, Xu Xin finally saw the item he had been searching for.

[Small Explosives (Green): Small explosives that detonate upon impact with considerable power. Can be used to craft explosive arrows and explosive crossbow bolts. Small Explosives (Green) *20 require Vine Juice (Green) *1kg, Niter (Green) *2kg, Charcoal (Green) *20]

Small explosives?

It seems a bit different from what he imagined, but...

Small explosives can actually be used as materials for crafting explosive crossbow bolts!

He did have niter; Li Wenxi had previously given him some green-grade niter, but he didn’t have any charcoal.

The furnace was right next to him, so Xu Xin immediately threw dozens of pieces of wood (Green) into the furnace. Charcoal burned quickly, after all, it’s a basic material for making torches. In just two minutes, twenty pieces of charcoal (Green) were completed.

With all the materials prepared, Xu Xin immediately crafted the Small Explosives (Green).

Twenty small firecracker-sized explosives appeared on the weapon crafting table.

Once the Small Explosives (Green) were crafted, the crafting list also unlocked explosive arrows and explosive crossbow bolts accordingly.

[Explosive Crossbow Bolt (Green): A simple yet practical explosive crossbow bolt with weak penetration. It explodes upon hitting a target and cannot be recovered. Explosions are art! Explosive Crossbow Bolt (Green) *20 requires Wood (Green) *4, Feathers (Green) *2, Small Explosives (Green) *20]

Craft immediately, Xu Xin now had 20 explosive crossbow bolts in his hand.

He took out his crossbow, carefully loaded an explosive crossbow bolt, and Xu Xin looked out the window, finding a poplar tree that was quite isolated from others. He aimed and pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh—" The crossbow bolt shot out, with the assistance of the advanced crossbow, the explosive crossbow bolt traveled at lightning speed, like a bullet towards the tree.

"Boom!"

In the instant the bolt hit the trunk of the tree, a blaze ignited, illuminating the surroundings followed by a deafening explosion. The entire tree was blown in half, wood chips flying everywhere, and the severed edge of the poplar started to burn with an intensifying blaze.

"Eek!" "Howl?" "Meow?!"

Keke, who was about to fall asleep on the couch, along with Silver King and Mimi, who were resting in the corner, were startled to their feet.

The bats hanging under the treehouse let out a piercing scream, flapped their wings, and flew to the window, warning Xu Xin inside the treehouse of an unexpected situation below.

"It’s okay, it’s okay, I did it, no need to panic!" Xu Xin quickly explained.

After hearing Xu Xin’s words, Silver King relaxedly lay back in the corner, and Mimi seemed to roll her eyes at Xu Xin but also lay back down. The bat tilted its head as it perched on the window, ensuring there was no danger before flying back under the treehouse to hang again.

Keke, however, became spirited, seeing that Xu Xin seemed about to go out, she immediately climbed onto his shoulder.

Xu Xin, with Keke on his shoulder, descended from the treehouse to the poplar that had been blasted in half. He doused a bucket of water to extinguish the flames that had ignited.

The poplar was not only blown apart but also shattered into pieces, with wood chips scattered everywhere, some even sparking. Fortunately, Xu Xin had specifically picked a tree somewhat distant from other vegetation.

However, he didn’t dare to be careless and doused several buckets of water in places showing sparks before he finally felt relieved.

The power was indeed immense, and the damage range was far more extensive than the ordinary penetrative bolts or the now nearly useless poison bolts.

"However, just like explosive arrows and incendiary arrows, it’s better not to use them unless necessary. The explosions can trigger fires as well."

Xu Xin was a bit troubled, having acquired two powerful weapons but finding them inconvenient to use in the jungle.

Looking at his watch, it was already 2 AM. The jungle at night was eerily quiet even after he shot an explosive arrow.

Returning to the treehouse, Xu Xin habitually used Blue Niter to cool down before lying on the bed.

This day, he really went through a lot.

...

Once again, Xu Xin was awakened by the mysterious voice.

[From today, all survivors officially enter the second stage of survival.]

[Next, we will introduce the event content.]

[The rainy season has ended, rejuvenating the jungle, and the treehouse has been nourished by rain and lightning.]

[For all the survivors who survived the rainy season, your treehouse will undergo a new round of growth and evolution for a day and a night.]

[Presumably, you all have noticed that the protective capabilities of the treehouse are now diminishing.]

[The event this time is: Treehouse Defense. Growing treehouses not only have weakening protection but are also much more fragile than before. This time, it’s up to you survivors to protect your treehouse!]

[Your task is to protect your treehouse for the entire upcoming day and night!]

[Friendly reminder: Even though the treehouse protection capacity is weakening, do not venture outside the treehouse defense perimeter, or extremely terrifying things will happen.]

[The time for this reward activity is from 6:00 today to 6:00 tomorrow.]

[After this task, the treehouse will undergo a brand-new upgrade and functionality.]

[Treehouse Defense, now begins!]

Listening to the event content, Xu Xin instantly became alert.

Treehouse Defense?!

This event starts at six o’clock, without even a prior warning!