Episode 9 of Kill the Dragon, Michael Deering's December 2016 Minecraft Hardcore Challenge, picks up on the plains at sunrise, with last night's arrow still stuck in Basket. "I have an arrow in my eyes still, or my nose, look, it's in my nose now." The plan hasn't changed: gather resources, then trade them with other villages. "So far, yeah, I think this is the same one I've already been in, so no luck there."
Back at the house
Before heading out again, Basket stops at the wooden house by the village farm. Seeds go into the farmland, spare loot goes into the large chest, and the old sword is wearing out. "I have another pickaxe, but I need a sword." Then the furnace gets a load of beef. Steak is the food for the road, because villagers won't buy it. "So we've got some steak that we can take with us to eat, because steak we can't trade with villagers." Everything else gets saved for trading.
Long, stringy plains
Basket sprints out past a swamp ("Swamp, interesting") to make ground while it's still day. "I want to trade with them, but I don't want to do it when it's almost dusk." Sugar cane gets picked up on the way. Feathers are no longer a worry. "I feel like I probably have enough feathers." The land is a puzzle, though. "So it is large biome, but it's not like a big clump. Like a long stringy plains."
A second village
Then houses come into view. "Hello, good people of this village." Basket goes house to house asking for a farmer, gets a fisherman first, and then finds one. The trade screen comes up, and wheat goes in for emeralds.
The hunt for a butcher goes less well: Basket finds a leatherworker, a shepherd, a fletcher, and a library with a librarian, but no butcher or priest turns up. "I don't see a cleric, which is kind of the hinging part of my plan." The village crops aren't grown yet, so Basket takes some of the village's wood instead and moves on. An inventory check shows 15 emeralds.
Endermen under a wooden roof
As night falls, Basket gets clear of the village and builds a wooden pillar with a roof to fight from. "Enderman hunting, I need to have blocks." A zombie villager comes first, then an enderman wanders in beside the cows and goes down in a burst of purple. A skeleton follows. "More arrows too, that's nice." The cows don't get a pass either. "The standard rules don't apply."
The plan for all that experience is enchanting. Basket wants "nearly 30 levels" to enchant the gear "really, really well." More cows go down for the experience, and the level ticks over on screen. "Cool, level 30."
A strategic retreat
The rest of the night is mobs. "Oh, creeper. Hello, creeper." More zombies close in, and an enderman despawns before Basket can finish it. "I want another village with a priest and a butcher." Basket decides to run rather than fight. "Strategic retreat." Through a flower forest, past a ditch, and getting shot at, Basket outruns the crowd. "I think I was too quick, too fast for you guys."
The episode ends with Basket alive at sunrise by the water, with a last look in third person. "I believe that's probably the next day." The search for a cleric and a butcher carries on next time. The end card follows with no gameplay after it.