Mist Forest

After briefly introducing the situation on the Second Layer, Riko brought up the issue of the Ascension Curse, saying, "On this Second Layer, the Ascension Curse will cause people to experience intense dizziness and vomiting."

Everyone understood that the so-called Ascension Curse had increasingly severe effects on the body with each layer, but for them, the so-called curse was not scary.

As he descended to the bottom of the Second Layer and his feet touched the ground in the woods, Zhou Qing gazed at the thick fog and tall plants around him and began to imagine the hunting and survival methods of the wild beasts in this forest.

First point: Choose a high altitude.

Avoid plants that obstruct your view, hover high in the sky, spot your prey, and give chase.

Speaking of which, can non-human beings resist the Ascension Curse?

Or are they unaffected by the curse?

Second point: Infiltration.

Use natural features to conceal yourself, quietly approach the enemy, and then launch a swift attack to defeat them in one blow.

Third point: temptation.

With both sight and smell disrupted, hearing becomes the basis for judgment. The predator imitates sounds to lure prey into its attack range and quickly captures it. Considering the Strange Bird that Riko mentioned earlier, it's likely that the predators on this Second Layer also consider humans as prey.

Fourth point: Living in groups.

Even if the Heaven and Earth Energy is abundant in the Second Layer of the environment, it is often cloudy and rainy all year round, without any light shield. Although plants can grow, most of them should not be able to bear fruit, so they cannot evolve powerful creatures that can act alone.

Living in groups is the only way to survive.

As I was pondering, a soft sobbing sound came from the misty woods, like a girl crying.

"This must be the sound that the Strange Bird you mentioned, the one that imitates a girl's crying, Riko, right?" Wang Sheng asked.

"I think so."

Riko wasn't entirely sure, since this was her first time on the Second Layer, and her knowledge of the Abyss Ruins below the first level came from the knowledge taught to her by Abel.

"Let's go take a look."

Zhou Qing made a decision.

Perhaps the crying really did come from some kind of fierce, Strange Bird, but they were all highly skilled and daring, so there was no harm in going to take a look.

And--

What if she really was a girl in trouble?

This possibility cannot be ruled out.

The first level of the Abyss Ruins, the Place of Relaxation, is inhabited by residents of Abyss Town. It is likely that some residents of Abyss Town also settled in the Second Layer, the Mist Forest.

"No problem."

Riko agreed and took out a short black rod about forty centimeters long from the exploration bag on her back. "This is a melee self-defense Soul Tool that uses Soul Power. It is the latest creation of Abel. When you inject Soul Power, lightning will Entangling the tip."

As she spoke, Riko released a burst of energy, and with the faint Soul Power within her body, a Sisi blue arc of electricity flickered on the front half of the black short rod, about twenty centimeters from the tip.

Judging from the crackling sound, even a fully grown water buffalo could probably be stunned by the electric shock.

[Electric Rod?]

Zhou Qing was surprised. He hadn't expected that Abel was so smart. Perhaps he could work with Tang San to research Soul Tool in the future.

Tang San had similar thoughts.

"Riko, judging from your behavior, you don't seem to mind if we investigate the truth behind that girl's crying?" Zhou Qing asked about it.

"This one?"

Riko smiled and explained, "The quality an Explorer should have is to personally verify whether what is written in the book is true."

"Abel said, the knowledge in books, no matter how correct it is in theory, is based on the elimination of all external factors. Therefore, it is still somewhat different from reality and needs to be experienced personally."

"And also—"

"In the process of constantly exploring the Abyss Ruins, if one is preconceived that the so-called 'crying' is a trap and does not investigate, then people's hearts will become cold, to the point that everyone only believes in themselves and no longer trusts others... If this continues, people will be wary of each other and will be unable to explore further. In the end, they will be swallowed by the Abyss, and even their souls will not be able to escape."

Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised, but they all agreed.

If people were to scheme against each other when it came to exploring uncharted territories, the residents of Abyss Town would probably never have reached the Seventh Layer.

Of course, necessary vigilance is still required.

The fact that Abel developed a melee Soul Tool similar to Electric Rod and gave it to Riko self-defense is the best proof of this.

"Your teacher Abel, is very wise," Zhou Qing praised sincerely.

"Professor Abel is indeed very clever, but this is not just Professor Abel's idea, it's the idea of the vast majority of the townspeople in Abyss Town," Riko a smile.

"Not all of them?" Wang Sheng asked.

"No."

Riko shook her head. "Some people in the town have never been down to the Abyss Ruins, so they scoff at this theory. But they are all good people. They are mainly responsible for trading with the guards stationed at the foot of the mountain in Tianming City, purchasing basic materials such as food, cloth, and metal."

"Do we need to mine it from outside? There's some in these Abyss Ruins..."

It was Xiao Wu who spoke, but before she could finish, she realized that this place had a so-called Ascension Curse. Even if there were a lot of resources in the lower levels, it would be impossible to transport them up in large quantities to meet the living needs of the entire Abyss Town.

This is why most Abyss People are subject to restrictions on external resources.

Certainly.

The Abyss People also had another option: to migrate en masse to the Abyss Ruins and settle down on each level.

However, even the Abyss People living near the Abyss have a natural awe for the unexplored Abyss Ruins the abyss.

"There's nothing we can do about it. After all, the main ascent route of the Abyss Ruins is built around that Black Pillar that runs through the entire Abyss. Even the Adventurer's Guild can't transport large quantities of supplies from below to above."

Riko also began to explain, "In addition, some adventurers in the Adventurer's Guild believe that since the Abyss People come from the Abyss, they should return to the Abyss, that is, live in the Abyss. As long as each layer that has been explored is reasonably allocated, it will be enough for all the Abyss People to live there."

"As long as you don't go upwards, you don't need to worry about the curse, and you won't be limited by the outside world in terms of resources."

"But the Town Chief thinks this is the stupidest idea, because once we lose contact with the outside world, it's no different from being trapped in a self-imposed prison. Moreover, the Abyss Ruins have only been explored up to the Seventh Layer so far. Currently, no one has fully explored any level below the Third Layer. There are likely still many unknown dangers. No one can guarantee that the entire population of Abyss Town will not be wiped out by some danger after migrating to the Abyss Ruins."

As they spoke, the group parted the mist and arrived at the edge of the forest. The mist dissipated ahead, revealing a lush meadow before them.

"This should be the remaining three-tenths of the Second Layer, excluding the Mist Forest; it's a relatively open grassland..."

Riko explained in a low voice.