"Roar!" The Crocodile Lizard struggled even more frantically, its sharp jaws gaping wide as foul-smelling saliva splattered everywhere.
Its thick, long tail thrashed wildly in the relatively narrow balcony, smashing against the remnants of the metal security grating with thunderous bangs.
Yet the vines still held it firmly, restricting its range of motion.
The two were locked in a pure contest of strength.
Han Ning could feel his Spiritual Power draining rapidly.
[Spiritual Power: 8/10]
[Spiritual Power: 7/10]
[Vine Manipulation proficiency +1, current 99/100]
Under the threat of death, the Crocodile Lizard erupted with unprecedented strength.
One of its hind legs kicked violently against the wall as it tried to wrench its neck free from the vines.
One of the vines coiled around its neck creaked ominously, the dark green glow on its surface flickering intensely, showing signs of snapping.
"Can't let it break free!"
A fierce glint flashed in Han Ning's eyes. Suddenly, he remembered the meat cleaver in the kitchen.
He diverted a sliver of focus to tighten the vines around the beast while his body shot toward the kitchen like an arrow.
He yanked open a drawer and grabbed the cleaver.
Riiip—
A sharp tearing sound rang out.
The vine wrapped around the Crocodile Lizard's neck finally snapped under its brute strength and the razor-sharp edges of its scales.
The lizard's head gained momentary freedom. Its yellow vertical pupils locked onto Han Ning as he charged forward, and it lunged for his knife-wielding arm.
"Get lost!" Han Ning didn't retreat—instead, he surged forward, grabbing a small wooden stool he usually used to hang clothes or as a stepstool. He wedged it into the lizard's snapping jaws.
Then, raising the cleaver, he drove it deep into the beast's throat.
The inside of the Crocodile Lizard's mouth was relatively soft and vulnerable.
Instantly, a spray of foul-smelling liquid gushed out, which Han Ning barely dodged.
"Roooar!"
The intense pain drove the juvenile Crocodile Lizard into utter frenzy.
It stopped trying to escape the vines and instead threw its full weight forward.
The tremendous force slammed into Han Ning, sending both man and beast crashing into the balcony's sliding glass door.
BANG!
Han Ning felt as if his organs had been jolted out of place.
"Damn thing, you're hard to kill."
Gritting his teeth, he gripped the knife handle with both hands and, with all his strength, twisted and churned the blade inside the lizard's wildly thrashing throat.
"Die! Just die!"
The Crocodile Lizard's struggles grew even more violent, its slick tail slamming against the ground repeatedly.
With its limbs immobilized, it could only twist its body like a crocodile, performing a desperate "death roll."
Crack!
A faint, brittle sound came from the base of the blade.
Then—
Ping!
The relatively fragile cleaver couldn't hold up any longer. The section near the handle snapped off instantly.
Only a small, sharp fragment of the blade remained lodged deep in the Crocodile Lizard's throat.
In Han Ning's hand, only the bare metal handle was left.
Seizing the opportunity, he controlled the vines to coil tightly around the wounded area, constricting relentlessly.
"Grrr…"
The juvenile Crocodile Lizard's movements froze. A wet, gurgling sound bubbled from deep in its throat.
Thick, dark-red blood gushed from its injured windpipe.
The body convulsed violently a few times, the yellow vertical pupils flickering with savage ferocity like a dying candle in the wind, rapidly dimming and growing unfocused...
Finally, its slimy body went completely limp, ceasing all movement.
[Vine Manipulation proficiency +2, current 100/100, skill level upgraded!]
[Basic Vine Manipulation → Intermediate Vine Manipulation]
"Whew... it's finally dead. Even killing a juvenile was this exhausting."
Seeing the Crocodile Lizard stop moving, Han Ning kicked its head aside and could no longer hold himself up. Leaning against the glass door, he gasped for breath.
His pajamas were soaked with sweat as the cold night wind and rain blew in through the broken security mesh, making him shiver.
Then, an abrupt change occurred.
A wisp of pure blue light unexpectedly drifted out from the Crocodile Lizard's corpse.
As if alive, it seeped into Han Ning's chest.
"Huh?"
Before Han Ning could react, his entire body stiffened.
Immediately afterward, an indescribable warmth exploded from his heart and surged through his limbs.
Wherever this warmth passed, the muscle soreness from battle and the exhaustion from intense mental strain... all rapidly faded away.
Every cell in his body, as if parched land receiving sweet rain, greedily absorbed the warmth.
He felt the ever-present "Spiritual Power" within him begin to slowly grow.
A translucent panel automatically appeared:
[Druid Growth Progress +14]
[Druid Level Up, Lv1 → Lv2, Current Progress 1/200]
[Spiritual Power Limit Increased! 10 → 15]
[Current Spiritual Power: 7/15]
[New Skill Unlocked: Animal Companion]
"Killing these monsters... actually gives benefits like this?" Han Ning was astonished by the changes in his body.
"And after leveling up, the Druid's growth progress doesn't overflow but resets to 0, starting accumulation anew..."
Previously, diligently practicing skills to increase proficiency had also contributed to Druid experience, but the progress was relatively slow.
Yet the experience from killing a juvenile Crocodile Lizard had directly pushed him past the Lv1 bottleneck.
This meant that to grow stronger quickly, aside from relentless training, hunting these monsters from another world was a shortcut.
"Killing just one juvenile nearly cost me my life—I can't afford to be reckless!"
Thinking of those ferocious Crocodile Lizard adults, Han Ning grimaced, realizing this energy wasn't so easily obtained.
Next, Han Ning turned his attention to Vine Manipulation.
Vine Manipulation had upgraded from Basic to Intermediate—he wondered how effective it would be now.
Eager to test it, Han Ning slowly stood up, carefully avoiding the Crocodile Lizard corpse and the murky blood on the floor, and walked to the center of the living room.
With just a thought, the now more robust Spiritual Power within him surged toward his arms like soldiers obeying orders, gathering in his palms.
"Vine Manipulation!"
At his mental command—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sharp whistling sounds echoed through the air.
Instantly, ten vines shot out violently from the void two meters ahead of him.
The dark green vines were covered in needle-like, razor-sharp wooden thorns.
If an ordinary person were scratched by these thorns, wouldn't they lose a layer of skin instantly? Bruised black and blue?
The thickness of each vine clearly exceeded the initial stage's limit, reaching nearly the width of two adult male fingers.
The maximum number that could be released was ten, two more than at the peak of the initial stage.
Moreover, the speed at which these ten vines appeared was astonishingly fast.
Of course, this was the peak thickness and hardness. If the vine quality was slightly worse, made softer, thinner, and longer for tool-like purposes, more could be released.
Han Ning did the calculations.
The time from mental activation to the vines fully materializing had shortened by nearly one-third!
What delighted him even more was the further improvement in his control over the vines.