"This is just too tragic," Du Yu muttered under his breath.
In his line of sight, the Earth Bear was scratching itself contentedly, clearly enjoying the moment, but the Golden Leaf being squashed beneath it was being steadily ground into pulp.
Du Yu had gained a whole new understanding of the word "ravaged."
This was downright brutal.
As a pile of Golden Leaves was squeezed until juice oozed out, Du Yu finally understood why the Earth Bear insisted on rubbing against the Golden Leaf.
Of course, real water couldn't come out of the Golden Leaf, but Demon Breath could be squeezed from it.
As a Fire and Earth dual-attribute Demonic Plant, the Earth Attribute Demon Breath that oozed out from it was naturally the Earth Bear's favorite.
The more the Golden Leaf suffered, the more hyped up the Earth Bear got.
It waved its huge paws, twisting its body and shaking its head—like a chubby guy grooving at a nightclub.
Honestly, it was a nimble fat one, rocking out to the rhythm, wasn't it?
Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub~striking sparks~
Because the Golden Leaf also had the Fire Attribute, Du Yu genuinely felt the smashed leaves and vines could spark flames.
Little Fen Yang: "Du Yu, Du Yu~ let's help Golden Leaf, it's so pitiful."
Du Yu's face twisted strangely as he turned to look at Little Fen Yang. "Isn't it your turn to strip bark from trees?"
Little Fen Yang said matter-of-factly, "Golden Leaf isn't a tree."
"Well, that's true." Du Yu nodded. Golden Leaf's form was more like a type of climbing ivy in human society.
Exactly like the ones crawling all over Master Qing's house walls, really without branches or a trunk.
Little Fen Yang floated in front of Du Yu, hugging the Red Apple with its little hands. "This little thing is so sad, I can feel it. It's heartbroken."
"Let me think." Du Yu turned back, took out his phone, scrolled his contacts, and dialed Li Mengnan's number.
Since he messaged big bro and third sis yesterday, neither had replied.
Once he called, Du Yu realized both had their phones off.
Looks like the two of them must've been focused on some hard training in these deep mountains for a while.
"If that's the case, then we'll just have to rely on ourselves." Du Yu opened up the Demon Spirit Atlas again, scanning the distant trees.
"Earth Bear, Earth Element Demon Beast, Bear Race.
Named for the soft, downy fur on its belly. Earth Bears are naturally combative, highly aggressive, and have great growth potential.
Power level assessment in progress...
Spirit Level·Initial Stage. Actual power depends on circumstances; Atlas detection is for reference only.
Earth Bear's usual Demon Skills: 1, Earth Splitting Palm..."
Spirit Level·Initial Stage?
Du Yu nodded secretly. If the opponent was only at Spirit Level Initial Stage, Yan's damage output should be enough to hurt it.
But Du Yu's team only had the advantage in attack!
If the Earth Bear struck back, Du Yu and his Demon Pets could be slapped to death in one go!
This wasn't a joke: the damage output of a Spirit-level Demon Beast was something Du Yu absolutely couldn't withstand.
Also, don't be fooled by the Earth Bear's chubby appearance and clumsy-looking moves. It's actually not slow at all!
If it really got to the point of a chase, Du Yu had no chance of escaping its grasp.
Unless he bolted skyward?
Du Yu's eyes lit up as he carefully reviewed the Earth Bear's Demon Skills.
Before reaching Spirit Level, the Earth Bear could learn six Demon Skills:
Earth Splitting Palm, Earth Armor, Earth Cannon Heavy Strike, Mud Swamp, Earth Bear Charge, Triple Earth City.
Seems like only one skill, Demon Skill·Earth Cannon Heavy Strike, can attack upward?
"Bzzzt~"
The Red Apple suddenly gave a gentle shudder.
Du Yu instinctively looked up, only to see the Red Apple in Little Fen Yang's arms blinking its round, watery eyes, pitifully staring at him.
"Don't worry, we'll help you. I'm coming up with a battle plan." Du Yu raised his hand and patted the Demon Fruit Tree Heart gently.
Now that he had a potential escape route, Du Yu felt a bit more confident inside.
Little Fen Yang: "The Demon Fruit says, if we can't drive the big bear away, just rescuing Golden Leaf would be great, too."
Du Yu: "Rescue it?"
Little Fen Yang: "Yeah, Golden Leaf's main root stalk is on the ground, smack in the center of the golden carpet.
Golden Leaf has never been able to escape. No matter where it runs, even if it tunnels underground, the big bear would dig it out three feet deep and drag it back up.
So Golden Leaf can only struggle to grow every day, continuously giving the Earth Bear vines and leaves to crush, just to survive."
Hearing this, Du Yu couldn't help feeling a twinge of sympathy in his heart.
This was a truly miserable fate, wasn't it?
If these roles were switched and they were humans...
If the Earth Bear imprisoned and tormented someone this cruelly, wouldn't it get life in prison or even the death penalty?
"Mmmph~" Off in the distance, the muffled rumble of the Earth Bear's voice echoed again.
"Shh." Du Yu put his finger to his lips and cautiously peeked out.
He saw that the Earth Bear, now satisfied and full of Earth Demon Breath, was wiggling its massive butt and waddling towards the golden carpet on the open ground.
As a Spirit-level Demon Beast, an Earth Bear's need for food had dropped to almost zero.
With a Demon Soul, Demon Beasts could survive just fine by absorbing Demon Breath and taking in energy from the world around them.
So waiting for this Earth Bear to leave for food before rescuing Golden Leaf clearly wasn't realistic.
After all, Golden Leaf wasn't dumb. During all its days in captivity, if the Earth Bear ever left for a second, Golden Leaf would have run away long ago.
"Thunk!"
The Earth Bear's mountain-sized body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
The golden leaves covering the ground, piled in layers, had been treated by the Earth Bear as a soft carpet.
Du Yu watched carefully for a while, only to see the Earth Bear sprawled out on its back, raising a massive paw to scratch its soft belly, looking on the verge of sleep?