"So it’s just Bronze level, no wonder we didn’t encounter a single guardian tree spirit. Let’s just let it off this time and not pick on the little guy."

Su Ran decided on the spot not to go after the young sprout and continued on his way forward.

The trees ahead became denser and denser, to the point where they were almost touching one another, their branches and leaves intertwining so much that their crowns clumped together, blocking out the sunlight and the darkness hindered the vision of Su Ran and his companion.

"Overturning Water bro, can you handle this? We elves have a night vision boost and aren’t much affected by the dark."

Banana stopped walking; the environment ahead was too gloomy, giving off an ominous vibe and making even his mood tense up.

"Don’t ask a man if he can handle it!"

Su Ran glared at Banana irritably. What a question, lacking any finesse!

However, he knew that torches couldn’t be used in the forest, but that was no issue for Su Ran. He pulled out an Elf Illusion Stone and transformed into an elf, his Night Vision Ability activated, making the scenery ahead brighten up considerably.

"Ah ha, I almost forgot you had that Elf Illusion Stone, bro. That makes things much easier."

The Elf Illusion Stone was a gift from the Elf Queen to Su Ran. Banana had been there when it was given and had seen its attributes, so he wasn’t very surprised and took the lead into the depths of the forest.

"Bro, do you think Pet Island is a bit of a letdown? We’ve come all this way and only encountered some crappy critters. Haven’t seen a single powerful pet. They use the New Year event as bait to fool players, isn’t this just scamming?"

Banana looked around but couldn’t find a pet to his liking, which made him quite disheartened, his voice sounding dull and listless.

"What’s the rush? With such a big mountain, it’s not like you can get a super beast right off the bat. The event lasts several days, and if you can get a high-level pet during it, that’d be pretty good!"

Seeing Banana look so dispirited, Su Ran said with amusement, "Be content. The Pet Island just refreshed, and you managed to find an island with pets that match your affinity. That’s like hitting the jackpot, something many people envy but can’t get!"

"Besides, these pets are randomly refreshed. Who knows, maybe you’ll run into one in the next moment. Such chances can’t be forced."

The pets on this refreshed Pet Island were all of the wood element, which wasn’t up Su Ran’s alley. Naturally, he didn’t feel any anticipation for top-tier pets. In plain terms, this whole trip for Su Ran was purely to help Banana find a pet, a volunteer effort on his part.

"Sigh, just gotta rely on luck, then."

Banana sighed and carefully continued forward after scanning the surroundings.

But what they didn’t expect was that danger had already descended upon them before they had taken a few steps.

"Bang!"

A tree root shot out from the ground like a spike, ferociously striking Banana and sending him flying.

Facing this sudden attack, Banana had no time to react and slammed hard against a tree trunk, nearly breaking his back.

"Cough cough, what the hell? That was brutal!"

Banana scrambled up from the ground, rubbing his sore waist while cautiously scanning ahead, wanting to catch the nasty assailant and teach it a lesson on the consequences of angering him!

"Weird, why didn’t the Undead skeletons scouting ahead run into any trouble, but it attacked you?"

Su Ran looked at Banana in surprise, "Could it be that this creature has detection abilities and can tell that only you are of the same origin, and that’s why it specifically targeted you?"

"Come on, they play like that?"

Banana’s face turned green. Seeing the summoned skeletons ahead unharmed only made him more inclined to believe Su Ran’s guess was correct.

"Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet; I’ll give it a try."

Su Ran activated his Sand Shield and voluntarily walked towards the front, but before he could reach the group of Undead skeletons, the ground began to tremble slightly.

"Here it comes!"

By then, Su Ran had already been on guard. As soon as the ground started trembling, he leaped back to escape from the area. Immediately afterwards, a tree root burst through the ground, aiming for Su Ran but hitting nothing.

"Phew, that was close."

After Su Ran dodged this sneak attack, he confirmed his suspicions, "Banana, this tree monster only actively attacks us, the players. As for the Summoned Beasts, it doesn’t go after them, because they aren’t eligible to capture it!"

"Man, the system’s really slippery with this, huh?"

Banana looked around the dark forest in surprise, unable to find the assailant, his expression filled with frustration, "What do we do now? The tree monster’s method of attack is to ambush, and we can’t even find its real body. We can’t possibly cut down the entire forest, can we?"

"It should be nearby; the range of the tree monster’s attack isn’t too far. Let my Undead skeletons probe around, and we should be able to find the tree monster’s position pretty quickly."

Su Ran didn’t seem to think it was a problem and instead appeared very excited, "Banana, your pet might soon be within grasp. With a guardian tree spirit present, the rank of a wood-element pet is definitely not low!"

"Yeah, that makes sense!"

Banana’s eyes began to shine, and he raised his longbow, with an arrow already nocked. He watched his surroundings vigilantly, just waiting for the guardian tree spirit to appear, silently swearing to himself that he wouldn’t let it off easily!

"Clack, clack."

Under Su Ran’s command, the skeleton troops started attacking the trees fiercely, launching magical bolts at the trunks, waiting for the guardian tree spirit to slip up.

"Swish, swish!"

As expected, the full harassment by the Undead skeletons had an effect; the guardian tree spirit inevitably came under attack. Driven by hatred values, the tree spirit finally made its move. Five or six branches lashed out with lethal speed towards the skeletons, which could not react in time and were sent flying, their health plummeting by a third.

"Found it!"

Banana’s eyes narrowed as the arrow whistled out, targeted at the deeply hidden guardian tree spirit.

"Hurry up, don’t let the pet spawn slip away!"

As Su Ran attacked the tree spirit, he also searched for the pet’s location, but to his surprise, he found no trace of the pet and couldn’t help asking, "Banana, have you found the pet?"

"It shouldn’t be missing; the guardian tree spirit has shown up, how could the pet not be here?"

Banana hadn’t found it either, making him extremely agitated. He stopped attacking and took the chance to slip past the preoccupied tree spirit, heading straight for where the pet might be.

But still,

No matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find any trace of seedlings, which sent Banana’s heart into an instant chill.

"Overturning Water, no need to keep fighting, there’s nothing here."

In Banana’s eyes, even if they went through the trouble of killing the guardian tree spirit, it wouldn’t matter; there was neither experience to gain nor was there any point—it was purely a waste of effort!

"That doesn’t make sense. If it’s not on the ground, have you looked up..."

As Su Ran’s gaze shifted upwards, he was momentarily stunned, a flicker of delight crossing his eyes, "Look up there!"

"That’s... Haha, turns out it’s a parasitic tree!"