Chapter 1360: Chapter 1269: Interstellar Life 40

"Since the school is having us conduct real combat exercises, it’s impossible that they wouldn’t let us face any life-or-death dangers at all. Of course, the school wouldn’t really let us die either.

The students in these giant eggs must have triggered their protective gear during a life-threatening crisis, so this place is truly dangerous. Even though it won’t threaten our lives, some of us will be eliminated."

Pei Shuangshuang’s explanation eased the fear of potential death in everyone’s hearts, as they finally remembered that they were equipped with protective gear and definitely wouldn’t die.

Just as the worry about life and death subsided, another worry took over: if eliminated here, it would certainly affect their credits. Having come this far, everyone really wanted to continue.

Since they were still some distance away from the red Bloodthirsty Vine and knew they had protective treasures, everyone’s sense of fear diminished significantly.

Gathered together, they began to study how to get past the Bloodthirsty Vine hurdle, brainstorming to see if it had any weaknesses.

"I remember reading that the Bloodthirsty Vine fears fire; maybe we can use fire to attack it," Chu Xinqiong suggested, touching her chin thoughtfully.

"Come on, that sounds like you only read half of the book. The book does say fire can be used on the Bloodthirsty Vine, but there’s a temperature requirement for that fire.

The flame that could threaten the Bloodthirsty Vine needs a temperature of at least oxygen-hydrogen flame level. It takes two or three thousand degrees to turn it to ashes.

Just lighting a fire here would only cause a fire, which burns at around four hundred degrees and wouldn’t affect the Bloodthirsty Vine at all. Instead, it might cause a forest fire, which would be counterproductive."

Cheng Yunxi dismissed Chu Xinqiong’s suggestion outright, with Liang Xuan nodding in agreement: "Yun Xi is right, besides, if we cause a fire here, we’ll be the first to suffer.

Moreover, arson is forbidden by interstellar law. If we really start a fire here, we might be eliminated before the Bloodthirsty Vine even gets a chance to move."

"Why would the school set up a mutant plant like the Bloodthirsty Vine at this level? Once it attacks, it covers the entire area; it’s an insolvable dilemma," Dong Yi complained, rubbing his face.

"It can’t be an unsolvable situation. Since the school arranged it, there’s definitely a way to overcome it; we just haven’t figured it out yet," Chi Ruiqiu pondered.

Shao Pengfeng bent down, carefully picking up a red Bloodthirsty Vine with a stick, which made Chu Xinqiong next to him pull him up angrily: "Why are you stirring it up for no reason? What if you alarm it and it attacks us?"

Shao Pengfeng frowned and pulled his sleeve out of Chu Xinqiong’s grip: "Why are you so nervous? Don’t you know that as long as it doesn’t come into contact with anything hot, the Bloodthirsty Vine won’t be disturbed?"

"You..." Chu Xinqiong choked on his words, then stubbornly added after a while: "What if it does get disturbed? Even if it doesn’t, why are you messing with it for no reason?"

"He probably wants to determine how old this Bloodthirsty Vine is. At the vine’s tip, there’s an indication of its age.

One ring represents ten years; a hundred-year-old Bloodthirsty Vine’s tip turns purple, and at that time, one ring equals a hundred years. The top of this Bloodthirsty Vine is still red and has two rings, meaning it’s about twenty years old."

Du Qiyue stepped forward, softly explaining to Chu Xinqiong on Shao Pengfeng’s behalf.

Shao Pengfeng nodded, looking at Du Qiyue with a gentle gaze: "The body of a twenty-year-old Bloodthirsty Vine isn’t particularly large.

This is good news; this patch of Bloodthirsty Vine shouldn’t be too difficult to handle, assuming there’s only this one Bloodthirsty Vine here."

"We actually face the worst-case scenario now, as there’s indeed not just one Bloodthirsty Vine here," Chi Ruiqiu interjected from the side.

Everyone was relieved when Shao Pengfeng mentioned it was a twenty-year-old Bloodthirsty Vine, but they were quickly dismayed by the bad news from Chi Ruiqiu, leaving them feeling panicked.

"Brother Chi, how do you know there’s more than one Bloodthirsty Vine here?" Cheng Yunxi asked Chi Ruiqiu reluctantly, since just one was already daunting, and more than one seemed impossible to pass through.

Chi Ruiqiu was observing the distance with binoculars, deep in concentration, and couldn’t immediately answer Cheng Yunxi. Pei Shuangshuang took the opportunity to explain.

"Naturally, it’s inferred from the distribution of the eliminated students. Although Bloodthirsty Vines are fierce and aggressive, their growth rate is very slow. A twenty-year-old Bloodthirsty Vine shouldn’t cover a range beyond two hundred meters.

But look at where the eliminated students are, the farthest being two to three thousand meters away from here, way beyond the attacking range of the Bloodthirsty Vine in front of us.

This suggests there’s certainly more than one Bloodthirsty Vine here; rather, it’s occupied by a cluster of them.

Moreover, this forest is devoid of birds and insect beasts, which can’t be achieved by just a twenty-year-old Bloodthirsty Vine. It must be a group of Bloodthirsty Vines causing this."

"One Bloodthirsty Vine is overwhelming; a group of them seems like they’re out to get us. Can this place even be crossed? Are they trying to wipe us out?"

Cheng Yunxi was utterly despondent, staring dejectedly ahead, feeling lost as if her credits were fluttering away like birds taking flight.

"Not necessarily. The school wouldn’t set up an insurmountable hurdle, but for now, the priority is to determine the range and number of the Bloodthirsty Vines. Liang Xuan, scout the terrain and draw a map."

Pei Shuangshuang contemplated, having some ideas about getting through this place, but knowing the terrain first was crucial for deciding the next step.

Liang Xuan readily agreed, closed his eyes, and transformed his spiritual power into a bird, which quickly flew out. Since spiritual power is lifeless, it didn’t attract the Bloodthirsty Vine’s attention, allowing Liang Xuan to confidently let his spiritual bird fly by the vines and observe.

It took an entire hour for Liang Xuan to retrieve his spiritual bird, looking pale. He quickly pulled out a notebook from his Space Button and began sketching a map of what he had observed about the Bloodthirsty Vines’ distribution.

It took Liang Xuan two hours to finish sketching, capturing the terrain, and the distribution, quantity, and size of the Bloodthirsty Vines.

After completing the sketch, Pei Shuangshuang sent Liang Xuan to rest. His spiritual power wasn’t particularly strong, and using it as a bird for so long had exhausted him.

The others gathered around to see Liang Xuan’s map. It was densely marked with the locations of the Bloodthirsty Vines, large and small in number, so much so that it was impossible to tell just how many there were!

Even Chi Ruiqiu despaired upon seeing it: "So many Bloodthirsty Vines! There’s absolutely no way to get through!"