Book 2 - Chapter 135: Entrance
Chapter 135: Entrance
Mo Lihan did not choose to allow Su Chen to retaliate with a strike.
He did not want the 40 Ferocious Race youths to be reduced to 39 yet. Not only would they lose one of their members, but it would also damage their morale.
However, he could not possibly allow Su Chen to bring in another item worth ten thousand Origin Stones just like that.
After a period of fierce negotiation, they finally settled on allowing Su Chen to bring in an item worth more than three thousand Origin Stones.
In other words, Su Chen exchanged his light injuries for this privilege.
If he encountered little-to-no danger upon entering the ruins, then Su Chen’s alchemy skills could turn these extra three thousand Origin Stones worth of medicinal herbs into medicines that were worth much, much more.
But if he were to run into battle, the injuries he had sustained would at the very least hinder him a little bit.
Regardless, this kind of exchange was still well worth it.
Because of this, after both sides had finished their negotiations, Mo Lihan said to the Ferocious Race youths behind him, “If you see that brat, kill him first no matter what the cost, understand? That guy is an alchemist. He didn’t bring any Origin Tools, but he brought a lot of medicinal ingredients. If you let him concoct enough medicine once he’s in there, he will have raised their combat ability as a whole.”
“Yes, sir!” All of the Ferocious Race youths yelled simultaneously.
Even without Mo Lihan’s urging, Su Chen’s inflammatory words had invoked a lot of hatred towards himself.
On the other hand, those on his own side had much more respect for him.
Xiao Feinan watched Su Chen and laughed, “What a brave young man. You aren’t worried about digging yourself into a hole if a big battle breaks out within the ruins?”
“In theory, I shouldn’t be,” Su Chen replied. “The stability of this kind of half-isolated void is questionable, so all of those who enter will be randomly distributed and won’t arrive in the same place. I also have the confidence to deal with any battles that I might face. Of course, there are still some risks, but if we aren’t even willing to take these risks, then how could Mo Lihan have given me the right to bring in an extra three thousand Origin Stones? If you want them to suffer a loss, you need to give them a reason for it. It’s worth it as long as the potential benefits are greater than the risks.”
Xiao Feinan nodded in satisfaction. “Very good, it seems like you’ve thought this through very carefully. Since that’s the case, as the person who is in charge of the exploration of the ruins, all that I can do for you is to allow you to enter the ruins first.”
Being the first to enter meant that he could find a safe location as quickly as possible, allowing him to avoid any battles.
Su Chen naturally wouldn’t turn down this kind of special treatment.
Very quickly, both sides had finished their preparations.
The void node above the pile of rubble began to slowly open under the efforts of both sides. A distorted space that rippled like water appeared.
“Enter!” Su Feinan yelled.
Su Chen took the lead and entered.
Upon entering the void node, his sight began to blur. Suddenly, he appeared on a piece of grassy ground.
The void was overcast. Off in the distance was a large mountain, and grey, cloudy wisps floated through the air. Gentle white light shone from outside of the void as if it had come through a filter.
The fog was quite thick, restricting his sight.
There were no enemies nor strange creatures – just an empty grassland and the majestic mountain in the distance. Su Chen let out a sigh.
Even though he had already made preparations, Su Chen still hoped that he could avoid doing battle at the very beginning.
Now, it seemed like his luck was pretty good.
Su Chen pulled out an item from within his Origin Ring.
It looked like an eye, spinning around in Su Chen’s hand as if it were alive.
Su Chen tossed it into the air. The eye began to scan the surroundings, and what the eye saw directly appeared in front of Su Chen’s eyes.
This was the Scanner Eye, which possessed incredibly visual acuity. Su Chen needed to use it to examine his surroundings and find a suitable place to concoct medicine. Simultaneously, he could use it to avoid the Ferocious Race and search for his own people.
This item was extremely practical. Even though it could be only used three times, it was still valued at 500 Origin Stones.
By utilizing the Scanner Eye, Su Chen very quickly spotted a forested area to his right, where he was likely to find concealment.
Su Chen stowed away the Scanner Eye. Instead of hurrying there immediately, he first pulled out his workbench and some ingredients, beginning to concoct medicines in the middle of the open. At this point, no one had entered yet; they were probably sent to different locations.
He very quickly concocted a recovery medicine and downed it.
His wounds began to slowly heal.
It would take some time for his wounds to completely recover, so Su Chen concocted a few more recovery medicines as backups. He then stowed away his items and began heading for the forest.
As he walked, he didn’t run into a single human or Ferocious Race individual.
This meant that the void was most likely very large, since eighty people had been dispersed into this place and had yet to run into each other.
The bigger the better.
The larger size meant that there was more to be explored and more opportunities to be discovered.
Su Chen liked to be prepared for battle. He believed that not many people were better than him at exploiting their surroundings and circumstances to their own benefit.
Thus, he trusted that time was always on his side.
More precisely, the entire human race preferred this situation.
Thus, Su Chen very quickly ran into the forest, preparing to concoct some more medicines there.
However, he stopped immediately after arriving at the forest – a massive Mottled Python was coiled around a tree branch, staring at him as it stuck out its tongue.
The python was insignificant in and of itself, but more importantly, its presence implied that this void was a void that could support biological life and that a unique ecosystem had already evolved.
In other words, there were likely other types of lifeforms here apart from the Ferocious Race and the human race.
Everyone was already somewhat prepared for this type of situation. After all, the human race had discovered quite a few ruins in the past, and a few of them had also contained other life forms.
General evolutionary principles held that the more powerful a lifeform was, the more space it would need to grow.
A half-isolated void was still a restricted space no matter how vast it was. Thus, it was impossible for any extremely powerful lifeforms to be born.
The issue was that it was hard to say what constituted “extremely powerful”.
To mere Qi Drawing students, there were many lifeforms that were not “extremely powerful” that could still pose quite a danger to them.
In addition, just because there was no way for a powerful beast to be born in such a half-isolated void didn’t mean that there weren’t any powerful beasts present.
If some Arcana Master were to bring in a powerful beast from outside and that beast could produce offspring, then this became a possibility.
One time, humans discovered an extremely powerful Demonic Beast within an isolated void.
This was the worst outcome that could happen to any of those who tried to enter.
Because of this, Su Chen immediately stopped in his tracks upon finding the Mottled Python.
Before confirming that there was nothing in the forest that could harm him, it wouldn’t be a good idea to rashly enter the forest.
After thinking for a moment, Su Chen pulled out a few ingredients and his workbench again.
Very quickly, he concocted a vial of medicine.
The fragrance that this medicine emitted could stir up and enrage most non-Intelligent Race species.
Su Chen picked up the vial of medicine and tossed it off into the distance.
The vial of medicine shattered on the ground, immediately releasing an attractive fragrance.
An instant later, the sound of beasts roaring could be heard clearly, their howls clearly agitated.
One of those howls was particularly clear and loud, shocking his heart.
Dammit, it was a Demonic Beast!
He turned around and sprinted away!