The Chef Rules the Last Days
Chapter 378 - 377: Level 6 Wood Element Crystal Stone

Chapter 378: Chapter 377: Level 6 Wood Element Crystal Stone

Su Mo glanced behind him at the dark, turbulent Dark River that seemed bottomless and swallowed hard, "Are you sure?"

"Afraid?"

Seeing her small gesture, the man chuckled and adjusted the coat that had slipped off her shoulders.

Su Mo shook her head, "I’m just afraid there might be some unknown creatures below. If something swallows us again, that would really be bad luck."

"You should be worried about the currents below," he said, flicking her forehead, then his eyes turned cold as he hugged her waist and dodged to the side.

A very thick root system "snapped" down right where they had just been standing.

The wilting willow tree came to life in that instant.

Countless roots began to crazily stretch toward them.

Su Mo immediately took out her knife to chop at them, a huge Ice Shield formed in front of her and then shattered in an instant.

The monster, surpassing Su Mo by two levels, was not something she could combat. Lu Chen wanted to jump into the Dark River with her, but the frenzied roots left them no chance to retreat and aimed for their heads.

Due to the Protective Shield, the Level 6 Mutated Tree could not harm them for the time being.

Su Mo swung her knife as best she could to cut off the roots, when a flash of green light caught her eye, "Lu Chen! Over there!"

Within the massive group of roots, a Crystal Stone emitted bursts of green light.

A Plant Element Crystal Stone!

Noticing the situation, Lu Chen took out a can of gasoline, knowing the age-old truth that plants fear fire. Although the area was damp, it was much better than the rain and mire above.

Seeing him retrieve the gasoline, Su Mo immediately snatched it, "I’ll go, the Protection Shield still has time, just start the fire."

Her speed was fast, and with the Protection Shield, Lu Chen agreed.

Su Mo, holding the oil, stepped out of the protective circle and charged toward the dense roots of the willow.

She didn’t resist at all on her way, letting the roots engulf her. She doused the roots with gasoline, getting ever closer to the green-glimmering Crystal Stone.

Lu Chen also took his chance, pulling a gun from Space and firing several shots at the oil-soaked roots.

A great fire was ignited within the cavern, and sparks continuously fell from the flying roots.

Although protected by the Shield, the layers of heat waves made Su Mo extremely uncomfortable; the flames made the roots brittle, and she fiercely swung her knife, chopping at the roots attacking her, reaching the Crystal Stone.

Without hesitation, she plunged her hand into the gap at the base of the roots and grasped the Crystal Stone.

Countless thin, thread-like things climbed onto her hand, tightly entwining her and the Crystal Stone together.

"Ah!" Su Mo cried out in pain, her palm visibly beginning to separate from her wrist.

[Warning, life signs threatened]

[Initiating Level 1 Protection]

[Automatically deducting 10,000 points, remaining debt 8,000 points]

[Initiating fusion, protecting the host]

[Data merging in progress...]

The moment the flesh of her palm began peeling away, numerous system warnings exploded in Su Mo’s ears, meanwhile, her previously tearing wrist automatically started pulling back.

The Crystal Stone was embedded bit by bit deep into her palm.

The willow, still flying and sparking, seemed as if it had been drained of its spirit, and began to wither gradually.

Lu Chen’s body shuddered on one side, and he rushed over to help her, but after taking only a few steps, he was blocked by an invisible barrier.

No matter how he attacked, it was completely useless.

At that moment, Su Mo was in so much pain that she couldn’t care about the man outside; tears flowed nonstop as a Crystal Stone was forcibly inserted into her palm, causing unbearable pain that connected all her fingers.

When the Level 6 Mutated Crystal Stone completely fused into her hand, a dazzling green light erupted from her body, and then she lost consciousness.

As the Elemental Light began to emit, Lu Chen, with reddened eyes, exhausted all his superpower and finally shattered the invisible barrier.

He staggered to steady his step, but he did not proceed forward; Su Mo had leveled up.

With his heart almost leaping out of his chest now calming, Lu Chen grasped his own hand, which was still tingling from the impact, and his tense face relaxed slightly as he intently watched the burst of light.

It was like being surrounded by a warm ocean, a feeling as if he had returned to his mother’s womb, warm and comforting.

The green energy emitted by the Crystal Stone in her palm circulated through her entire body’s channels and was then forcibly contained in her abdomen, immobile.

All the damage she had sustained was completely healed.

As the embers from the burning willow gradually extinguished around them, Su Mo slowly opened her eyes, and the surrounding green light also faded.

The first thing she saw was Lu Chen’s handsome face, his eyes focused intensely on her, unblinking. Seeing her awake, he embraced her upper body like a fish finding water, burying his head in her neck and taking a deep breath.

"Are you okay?"

His voice carried a slight, barely noticeable tremble.

Su Mo’s heart melted; she embraced his head and rubbed his slightly disheveled silver hair with her face, "I’m fine."

She extended her right hand and inspected her palm; the Crystal Stone was gone, and her palm was smooth, showing no signs of abnormality.

She tried to mobilize her superpower; it was still Level 4, but there was an additional green unknown energy at her abdomen’s energy group, which she couldn’t control, probably suppressed due to her insufficient level.

"You didn’t level up?" Lu Chen looked up, scanning her from head to toe, then pulled her to her feet.

Su Mo nodded, then opened her panel again. All the points at the bottom were reset to zero, and it even showed a negative of eight thousand points, shocking her.

Despite her numerous mental calls, the system absolved itself of responsibility with silence.

Su Mo’s face fell, "This damn thing actually deducted eight thousand points from me."

Lu Chen ruffled her hair, "Nothing is more important than you being alive."

If he had known that the Crystal Stone would cause harm to her within the Protective Shield, he would never have allowed her to proceed.

"It’s good that I was the one who took it," Su Mo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been Lu Chen, without a system and not at the same level, he might have been in danger. Thinking of this, her expression brightened; looking at it this way, the eight thousand points didn’t matter; she could earn them back eventually.

At that moment, both were thinking of each other.

"Can you still walk?"

"Of course, I’m full of strength!"

Su Mo slapped her arm, her face full of vigor, "We need to hurry and meet up with the others."

Lu Chen led her to the edge of the Dark River, where they renewed their Pumpkin Protection Shields. Su Mo removed her outer coat made of Xiong Xiong’s hide as it would become a significant burden underwater.

Lu Chen also removed his outer garment along with hers and placed them in the Space.

The waves in the Dark River were tumultuous, and the man dove in first.

In an instant, his clothes were soaked by the black river water. Although the Protective Shield could block all dangers, it couldn’t prevent the contaminated water.

"I’ll go ahead and check," Lu Chen pointed to the gap that was only the size of a crack.