The journey from the Anxin Inn to the location indicated by the treasure-seeking pearl required crossing a small hill.
Su Yao drove over the small hill, and on the other side, there was still a forest. She stood on the slope, gazing into the distance, and it seemed she could faintly see the coastline.
[All the way to the coastline belongs to the boundaries of the Misty Forest.]
"The Misty Forest is actually this vast!" Su Yao had thought the Misty Forest was large when she looked at the map before, but seeing it in person today, she found it even more astonishing.
It feels like the Misty Forest could be half the size of the entire southern region.
[The clue to the treasure is just ahead, please be careful, host.] During the task, the system couldn't help Su Yao too much; it could only subtly hint that Su Yao would encounter danger next.
Su Yao parked the car and took out her sword, readying herself.
After taking just three steps forward, a long snake suddenly darted out from the side, its long fangs aiming straight for Su Yao's neck. Both the small snake and Su Yao reacted simultaneously upon sensing the danger. Su Yao didn't draw a weapon but instead chanted a spell, sending a beam of magical light towards the snake. Meanwhile, the small snake opened its mouth, revealing its own fangs, and collided with the oncoming snake in a clash of fangs.
The result came quickly; the snake's venomous fangs were broken, its body severed, lying on the ground.
But this was only the beginning. As one snake was finished, another one rushed out. The sound of trees collapsing echoed, and another snake king behind also crawled towards Su Yao.
[Level 5 Beast One-Eyed Serpent King: Massive physique, capable of swallowing a tiger whole, its venom attack is slightly inferior to its subordinates, but it excels at constricting enemies to suffocate them.]
The little snake and the man-eating flower began to attack the nearby snakes. The snake king also understood its opponent and charged directly at Su Yao.
The enormous snake stood in front of Su Yao, blocking out a large swath of sunlight.
Su Yao raised her sword and charged forward. The blade sliced through the Snake King's body, peeling back its flesh. The Snake King felt the pain and thrashed its tail wildly. Just as it was about to bite Su Yao, it was struck again, causing its aim to falter and it ended up biting and killing several of its own minions.
The level-five beast clearly had some intelligence. After biting its own subordinate to death, it felt anger, and the pain in its body made it even more furious. The Snake King's venomous fangs appeared, and its tail and head moved together, trying to either entangle or bite Su Yao to death. Seizing the moment when it lowered its head, Su Yao swung her sword, thrusting it straight into its eye. At the same time, she continuously chanted spells, sending waves of magical energy towards the Snake King's vital spot.
Strike a snake at its seven-inch mark, so goes the ancient saying. This holds true for the wild serpents of the otherworldly continent as well.
The one-eyed creature was injured, blood flowing incessantly. The Snake King wanted to attack Su Yao but truly couldn't see its opponent.
Su Yao cast a teleportation card on herself, controlling the distance of her movement. While evading the frenzied Snake King, she continued to attack its weak spot. The snakes on the ground, however, couldn't match Su Yao's speed, and nearly half of them were wiped out by their own king.
The seven-inch thick skin of the Snake King was tough, but it couldn't withstand multiple attacks from a Level Six Mage.
Over ten minutes later, the teleportation card was used up, and the Snake King also fell to the ground.
Once the Snake King fell, the snake swarm lost their will to fight. More than half of them quickly fled, and those that were slower were killed by the little snakes and the man-eating plants.
Su Yao dared not stop; the Snake King's body was too enormous, and there was too much blood. The scent of blood had already begun to spread across this land, and the rustling of leaves and branches around her indicated that more wild beasts were on their way.
Hugging the little snake and the man-eating flower, Su Yao hurriedly ran.
However, the concentration of evil spirits and beasts here was too dense, and she encountered quite a few while running. Su Yao defeated level one spider swarms, level three bumping foxes, level four leaf monsters and five-clawed wolf packs, level five skeletons, as well as level six extreme foxes and level seven brittle bone evil spirits.
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Finally, after using up all three chances of the defense card, they reached their destination.
Since crossing the mountain, the glow of the treasure pearl had begun to fade. Upon reaching this land, its light became so faint that it was barely visible, and Su Yao had to cup it with both hands to see even a glimmer.
Following the faint light for several hundred meters, Su Yao saw it completely vanish, turning into a small, dull gray bead.
Su Yao stomped on the ground; this should be the final treasure location.
57 gold coins were exchanged for a shovel and a pair of gloves, and Su Yao began the task of digging.
The soil here is very moist, and a shovel goes in effortlessly.
It's just..
Su Yao squatted down to take a closer look. The color of the soil was very dark, somewhat resembling black earth.
[Congratulations to the host for discovering fertile black soil. Reward: fertilizer synthesis clue *1, card draw chance *1, gold coins +3000.]
[Next Task: The fertile black soil awakens the farming gene. Which flower grower could resist planting a field here? Please develop this land in a sustainable manner as soon as possible.
(Note: This task does indeed overlap somewhat with the hidden main quest, but the rewards do not overlap. Please do not slack off, Host.)
The last line made Su Yao feel very guilty; this system was constantly spying on her innermost thoughts!
[We have privacy services, so please don't slander us! As for why we can guess the host's thoughts, it's based on big data.]
"Oh—" the drawn-out sound expressed defiance.
The black soil was indeed excellent. Su Yao marked the location on the map and put some into a bag, preparing to go back and transform the farmland in the backyard of the inn.
The treasure-seeking pearl's glow faded here, but Su Yao was still unsure of the exact location below, so she could only dig a bit to the east and then a bit to the west.
At twelve noon, there was a breakthrough in the excavation progress. The shovel hit something hard, not very large, but immovable.
At this moment, more than half of her body had already submerged below the horizon. Su Yao roughly estimated that she had dug down more than a meter.
The shovel was difficult to use, so Su Yao tossed it aside and started digging with her hands.
The soil was thrown out handful by handful, and the appearance of the treasure slowly emerged.
It seemed to be a square box, crafted with an unknown technique, extremely hard. Su Yao knocked on it with her hand; the collision between her glove and the dust-covered box produced a dull sound.
Su Yao continued digging, and after clearing the surrounding area, she quickly retrieved the box.
After exchanging for a bottle of water to clean the box, the box revealed its true appearance.
It was a white cubic treasure chest, adorned with golden decorations along its edges. A series of blue patterns, resembling ocean waves, adorned the center of the top and the front.
[Successfully found the treasure box.]
The box had no lock, only a small hole. Su Yao looked at the shape of the hole and tentatively pushed the treasure-seeking pearl into it.
The treasure-seeking pearl was not a perfect sphere; it was somewhat uneven, like a pearl that hadn't been polished. And this hollow fit perfectly with those bumps and dents, making the treasure-seeking pearl fit just right when placed inside.
Su Yao tapped the treasure chest lid, and this time it opened immediately.
The box opened, and a pile of sand spilled out. Su Yao carefully searched through the sand but didn't find anything resembling a bead, only something that looked like a piece of string.
Su Yao simply poured all the soil onto the empty ground beside her. Indeed, there was nothing else in the box except for a rope.
"System, should I pull the rope?" Su Yao felt that the rope seemed to be able to move.
[You can try, but the host must be careful.]
Su Yao's hand had already touched the rope, but the system's words gave her an uneasy feeling.
Out of caution, Su Yao chose to draw a card. "Give me a defense card, and deduct the coins yourself."
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Level 4 Defense Card*1.]
With the defense card, Su Yao felt much more at ease. Although she was a transmigrator with a bit of a protagonist's halo, ensuring her safety was still preferable to facing danger head-on.
Su Yao reached out to pull the rope, and suddenly there was a loud bang from below. Before she could locate the source of the noise, she found herself in free fall, plunging into a dark pit.
"What's going on? System, are you still there?"
Su Yao was somewhat scared, but also a bit relieved. Fortunately, she hadn't tried to tough it out. If it weren't for the defense card, she would have definitely taken a hard fall, at the very least suffering a fracture.
[Current treasure hunting progress is at eighty percent. Please stay safe, host.]
"What? Didn't they say the treasure had already been found?" Su Yao asked, puzzled. "Could it be that the remaining twenty percent requires me to go out and find it?"
The host has just found a treasure box.
Treasure (×) Treasure Box ( )
The host needs to find the treasure (Water Repelling Pearl).
Treasure () Treasure Box (×)
Su Yao: .....
"Are you telling me a tongue twister?"
Faced with Su Yao's anger, the system chose to avoid the topic: [Please pay attention to your safety.]
Su Yao's punch landed on cotton, giving her the feeling of working for a heartless boss once again.
However, complaints aside, the treasure hunt couldn't stop. Su Yao exchanged for a fully charged flashlight to illuminate the way.
The light illuminated the large pit clearly; it didn't seem to be just a simple deep pit, but rather more like a cave.
Su Yao looked up; the hole she had descended from was no longer visible. Now, she had only one path to move forward, on her right-hand side. Holding a flashlight in one hand and gripping a sword in the other, Su Yao mustered her courage and advanced into the pitch-black path.
The path was smooth, but the surrounding stone walls were rugged and uneven, forcing Su Yao to bend over as she walked to avoid being hit.
After walking for about a dozen meters, Su Yao arrived at a fork in the road.
At the fork in the road, there were two lines of text, both saying the same thing, but one in Chinese characters and the other in the script of another world.
Su Yao shone her flashlight on it and read aloud, "When the flowers bloom, the leaves are not seen; when the leaves flourish, the flowers have already withered. Left is for flowers, right is for leaves. If suitable, you live; if not, you die. Please choose the correct path."
It seems like a question of gambling on luck.
Su Yao poked the system: "Is the virus still there? Can you help me choose an answer?"
[……]
[Please rely on your own efforts, host!]