"Clang!"

A sound of metal striking metal rang out, and Su Ran was shocked to find that the withered tree had not been damaged at all. Instead, it was he who had felt the shock, his palms tingling from the recoil, almost losing his grip on the hoe.

"You’ve got to be kidding me?"

Su Ran’s expression became somewhat awkward, looking at the withered tree before him. If a hoe couldn’t do the job, he was really out of ideas.

Wait a minute?

On second thought, things might not be as bad as they seemed...

Su Ran looked down at the hard ground, his eyes gradually lighting up with a glint.

If the withered tree was impervious to damage, then attack its base!

He truly couldn’t believe it. Even if the ground was extremely hard, he should still be able to dig it up, right?

By digging this withered tree out directly, he’d see what it could still do. No matter how tall it was, he wasn’t pulling any punches!

Once he set his mind to it, Su Ran began to dig tirelessly.

Although the soil was hard, it couldn’t resist the sharpness of the beginner’s hoe. Soon, a hole had appeared under the withered tree, and Su Ran saw a glimmer of hope. He felt that the secret hidden by the withered tree was about to be unveiled by him—time to see whether it was a mule or a horse, take it out for a stroll!

"Clang clang clang."

...

To Su Ran’s surprise, he dug for over half an hour. The ground beneath his feet had turned into a two-meter-deep hole, yet the withered tree still hadn’t been excavated.

"What the devil, how deep is it?"

Having finally found a breakthrough, Su Ran couldn’t give up easily. At this point, he was all in, determined not to stop until he unearthed this withered piece of wood!

Let’s see which of us is more stubborn!

Another hour passed, and under Su Ran’s vigorous digging, the withered tree finally began tilting, looking like it could fall over at any moment.

"Haha, finally can’t stand up anymore, huh?"

The change in the withered tree gave Su Ran endless motivation. He dug even more vigorously—like a motor was turned on, his arms swung non-stop, deepening the hole increasingly.

Persistence pays off. Thanks to Su Ran’s strenuous digging, he finally uprooted the tree which fell with a crash.

"Phew, that was not easy. At last, the job is done!"

Seeing the withered tree finally excavated, Su Ran’s eyes were filled with a sense of accomplishment. He quietly used the Treading on Air Technique, easily returning to the top of the mountain, but to his surprise, the tree he had dug out was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a round wooden bead, its pale color sending a chill up his spine.

"Is this... a Pet Egg formed from the withered tree? Could this be any more ridiculous?"

Su Ran approached with some hesitation, picking up the wooden bead. He didn’t believe that the system would be so kind as to let him obtain a Pet Egg so easily.

"The Wood Core? What’s this for?"

After scanning it with the Detection Technique, Su Ran realized that this was not the Pet Egg he had imagined, but rather, a special item—The Wood Core. As for the use of this core, it remained a mystery to Su Ran.

"Who cares, this thing is bound to be a treasure. There will surely come a time when it’s needed!"

Regarding The Wood Core, Su Ran had no doubts about its value. The appearance of the withered tree had shaken the entire mountain, and from this alone, it was certainly a treasure of immense value!

After spending several hours and obtaining this mysterious Wood Core, Su Ran was satisfied. He looked around, saw nothing else worth lingering for, and walked on air, heading deeper into the sea.

...

"What’s that noise?"

Just after logging in, Banana, who hadn’t finished admiring his new pet, the Parasitic Tree, was suddenly startled by a rumbling sound coming from a distance.

"Haha, it must be a huge opportunity!"

Banana, like a monkey, swiftly scurried up the tree and happened to witness the moment the dead tree on the mountaintop collapsed. His eyes lit up—any anomaly occurring on Pet Island was definitely related to pets!

Perhaps, the search for his second pet was coming to an end!

Thinking this, Banana’s heart was filled with excitement, thumping vigorously. At this moment, where else could his mind be but racing towards the mountaintop.

By a twist of fate, Banana didn’t see Su Ran executing the Treading on Air Technique. His mind was completely focused on the mountaintop, still fantasizing about the formidable power of his new pet, and whether it would make a sensational debut—it all depended on it!

However.

When Banana reached the mountaintop, all that was left was a bottomless pit. As for the collapsed dead tree, its location was unknown.

"Eh?"

Banana circled around the pit, feeling it was extraordinary, and analyzed, "There’s no way a deep hole would appear out of nowhere on this mountain—there must be a mystery inside!"

With that thought, Banana took a deep breath and jumped down without hesitation.

"Ahh—"

"Plop!"

Banana never dreamed the pit would be so deep; he almost broke his legs. It took a while before Banana managed to get to his feet and cautiously scan his surroundings, even digging with his hands. After a moment, he had to admit he’d been thoroughly fooled by the hole.

...

The sea breeze was gentle, and the sunlight sparkled on the waves.

Su Ran walked above the sea surface, feeling the cool, moist sea breeze, enjoying an indescribable sense of comfort and pleasure.

"If only I could live by the sea all the time, that would be great."

Facing such a picturesque scene, Su Ran yearned for it, but now was not the time to think about that. He scanned the entire sea surface, hoping to find the second Pet Island.

However.

Su Ran was thinking too simply. With countless islands of various sizes scattered across the sea, it was impossible to discern which one was Pet Island. If he had to explore each one by one, how long would it take...

Envious, Su Ran couldn’t help but admire Banana’s dumb luck. On the very first Pet Island, Banana found a wood-affiliated pet that suited him well. Such luck was simply defying the heavens.

But as Su Ran searched aimlessly, waves surged one after another on the sea, creating a spectacular sight. Su Ran quickly jumped onto a small island below and used a large boulder to conceal himself, wanting to see what was happening.

"Splash, splash."

The sound of the waves grew closer to Su Ran, and along with the sea breeze came the boisterous laughter of players.

"Hm? What’s going on?"

Su Ran hadn’t expected the players to be riding the waves, almost as if they were using cheats!

When the group of players arrived in front of Su Ran, he realized that they were all grouped in twos or threes, sailing their boats forward at high speed, rivaling cheetahs running across a plain!

"Whoa, where did all these boats come from?"

Su Ran couldn’t believe that within half a day of the New Year event starting, the players had managed to get so many boats. Talk about exaggeration!

With this development, his early advantage was gone.