Undead Sinkhole

After the great battle, Bai Xiaowen collected another batch of Drowning Bone and Netherworld Grass, attempting to strengthen his Undead Disguise.

A Drowning Bone and a bunch of Netherworld Grass were thrown into the Undead Disguise in pairs, and naturally, a gloomy energy spread out, enveloping the two materials and slowly devouring them.

Bai Xiaowen could feel that the thickness of the Undead Disguise on his body was slowly increasing.

Once all the Drowning Bone collected on Yinwind Ridge were used for enhancement, Bai Xiaowen's Undead Disguise had changed from a tattered raincoat to a large cloak without a hood.

[Undead Disguise (Intermediate): In Ghost Mist Zone, you are immune to the effects of the Yin Aura, and your stamina regeneration rate is increased by 10%.]

"So, the intermediate level of Undead Disguise can also add a buff. Although the effect of this buff is not great, it's just right for the physical exertion I experience when using the Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts," Bai Xiaowen thought. "If it were an advanced level of Undead Disguise, the buff effect would definitely be even more powerful."

However, upgrading the Undead Disguise requires two materials: Drowning Bone and Netherworld Grass.

The Drowning Bone are nothing special; once taken out of the Dead Spirit Lake space, the resentment they contain will dissipate, rendering them worthless. However, the Netherworld Grass is a genuine spiritual energy medicinal herb that can be taken out of the Dead Spirit Lake space, preserved for a long time, and has considerable trading value.

Therefore, Bai Xiaowen needs to weigh the pros and cons in this regard: whether to consume the Netherworld Grass to upgrade to a higher level of Undead Disguise, or to keep the Netherworld Grass and take it out to sell.

With her eyes closed, Bai Xiaowen sensed Li Shuyi's location through the team's connections.

Compared to the first time they sensed each other, Li Shuyi was a little closer to him, but the sensation was still blurry, indicating that the two were still quite far apart.

Bai Xiaowen unfolded a map of the Dead Spirit Lake. He was currently located in the southeastern part of the Dead Spirit Lake, at Yinwind Ridge of the Netherworld Rift, while Li Shuyi should be located in the northeastern part of the Dead Spirit Lake.

If the two are to meet, they must cross the central region of the Dead Spirit Lake — the Undead Sinkhole.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi were originally connected by a connection and should have been among the first awakened individuals to reunite, but their initial coordinates were too far apart, making it difficult for them to meet.

"In that case... let's meet at the entrance of the Undead Sinkhole. It's a pity that the Team Storage Space Storage Space bound to me, so I can't send messages through it. However, Shu Yi and I should have that understanding."

The team's Shared Storage Space is tied to Bai Xiaowen. Other team members must be within 5 meters of Bai Xiaowen to view or retrieve items from the Storage Space.

Without this restriction, Bai Xiaowen could write a note beforehand and place it in the Shared Storage Space. Li Shuyi could then retrieve the note from the Shared Storage Space and read it, thus achieving intelligence exchange over long distances or even across dimensions.

Bai Xiaowen abandoned this unrealistic idea, left Yinwind Ridge, walked out of the Netherworld Rift, and headed straight for the central region of the Dead Spirit Lake, the Undead Sinkhole.

The Undead Sinkhole is a giant pit, hundreds of meters deep and covering an area of tens of square kilometers. A thick layer of Ghost Mist has accumulated inside the sinkhole.

This is the central area of Dead Spirit Lake, where the Ghost Mist is much denser than the surrounding area. Even awakened beings will have their vision reduced to within ten meters after entering the Undead Sinkhole.

The walls of the sinkhole are all steep cliffs. There is only one narrow mountain path that winds down the sinkhole walls like a circular staircase.

The entrance to the mountain path is located on the east side of the sinkhole. There is only one entrance to the Undead Sinkhole —unless you can fly.

According to the information, the Undead Sinkhole is filled with damp silt and thick white Ghost Mist. Therefore, the interior of the Undead Sinkhole also has another name: the Pale Mire.

In the Pale Mire, there live a large number of Marsh Hydra. Some of these Many-Headed Snake mutated during their juvenile stage due to the erosion of the Ghost Mist, turning into Ghost Hydra, just like the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile mutated into Nightmare Alligator.

Bai Xiaowen's mission on this trip is to collect the eyeballs of the Ghost Hydra, which was commissioned by Yan Xiaoxin.

After several hours of travel, Bai Xiaowen arrived at the central region. He circled the Undead Sinkhole for a while and finally found the entrance Undead Sinkhole.

At this moment, there were only a few Awakened Ones on the entrance ramp. They had arrived at the entrance of the Undead Sinkhole a step ahead of time but did not choose to enter, clearly waiting for someone. Once inside the sinkhole, it would not be so easy to reunite in the dense Ghost Mist.

Bai Xiaowen wasn't in a hurry to enter. After the great battle at Yinwind Ridge and the subsequent non-stop journey, he was quite exhausted. Besides, Li Shuyi hadn't arrived yet, so he might as well take this time to rest, study the skills of the two newly acquired Elite Tier summoned creatures, and think about tactical coordination.

However, among the several Awakened Ones he saw at the entrance to the Undead Sinkhole, Bai Xiaowen unexpectedly found one of them to be somewhat familiar, and that person's gaze towards Bai Xiaowen was somewhat evasive.

Bai Xiaowen quickly remembered that the familiar-looking person was named Ruan Chong, a student at Jiangnan University, whom he had also seen in the Broken-Spine Mountain Grand Rift.

At that time, Ruan Chong and several people from Jiangnan University, in order to compete for the treasure chest dropped by the Bloodmarked Earthwalker Dragon Leader, even resorted to a strategy of first deliberately provoking Li Shuyi and then retaliating, besieging her. Although their strength was not great, they certainly had a lot of malicious intentions.

Ruan Chong felt a pang of panic when he saw Bai Xiaowen. He was afraid that Bai Xiaowen would rush up and beat him up without thinking, driving him out of the Dead Spirit Lake space.

However, Bai Xiaowen only glanced at him before looking away, closing her eyes to rest, and did not make a move.

Ruan Chong breathed a sigh of relief, his heart filled with mixed feelings. He felt a sense of relief at escaping unscathed, but also a strange sense of loss. He understood that Bai Xiaowen hadn't made a move because she didn't see Ruan Chong as a threat and had ignored him like he was invisible...

Gradually, more and more Awakened Ones gathered at the entrance of the Undead Sinkhole, including familiar faces like Wang Jin and Geng Chen, who were also the captains of the University Team.

However, this exploration of the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space attracted more universities than last time. Wannan University and Shandong University are both top-tier key universities. There were more than five Hero Class among them. Elite Tier level 6 experts like Wang Jin and Geng Chen are no longer considered the most outstanding.

The attention of awakened individuals from all sides was more focused on Hero Class like Bai Xiaowen. The appearance of each Hero Class would cause a murmur of discussion, with everyone gossiping about which of these Hero Class was the strongest.

Duanmucheng, from Wannan University, looked quite sunny and handsome in his white tracksuit.

Bao Yiming, from Shandong University, is a burly fat man, or rather, a big, strong man with chest muscles bigger than a girl's. His face trembles slightly with every step he takes.

Bai Xiaowen's old acquaintance Qi Ruifeng also appeared. He seemed to have emerged from the shadow of his previous defeat. Upon seeing Bai Xiaowen, he gave a calm smile and nodded slightly in greeting.

Bai Xiaowen nodded in response. Qi Ruifeng showed great magnanimity. As the victor, he was certainly not petty.

"Qi Ruifeng, the strongest player from the Jianghai Division, has arrived. I wonder who is stronger, him or Duanmucheng, the No. 1 player from our Lujiang Division," some Awakened Ones whispered among themselves.

"Your information is outdated. Qi Ruifeng is no longer the strongest. In the Jianghai Division qualifiers, he lost to Bai Xiaowen, the ace of Jinghai University. Everyone in the Jianghai Division knows that..." An awakened individual from a university in the Jianghai Division secretly spread the news.

"Really? Who's Bai Xiaowen? I've never heard of him..."

"Wow, your village just got internet access? You don't even know National Exam Top Scholar..."

The whispers were low, but the hearing of the awakened was far superior to that of ordinary people, especially for those with Mental Specialty like Qi Ruifeng. His smile froze for a moment.

Ruan Chong, standing next to Qi Ruifeng, coughed. At this moment, he felt it necessary to step forward and say something. He quickly approached the group of Awakened Ones who were discussing the matter:

"One win or loss doesn't mean anything. The captain didn't even use his full strength in the qualifiers; he just lost one game due to a moment of carelessness."

Several awakened individuals who were chatting and laughing in hushed tones were taken aback by Ruan Chong's words, but quickly realized that Ruan Chong must be a student from Jiangnan University.

These Awakened Ones didn't want to start a fight over casual conversation. When Ruan Chong approached, one of them smiled and said, "Yes, we were just saying. We all know how strong Jiangnan University is; they were in the top four last year."

When people are sensitive, they tend to misinterpret everything they hear. Ruan Chong, seeing the smiling face in front of him, misunderstood and thought the other person was being sarcastic. He snorted and said, "Our captain's strength doesn't need anyone else's comment. In the previous world, our captain completed an A-Tier Elite Quest! That's not something just any Hero Class can do."

"A-Tier Elite Quest?" The other Awakened Ones all showed expressions of surprise. Most Awakened Ones would find it difficult to even trigger a mission of this caliber, let alone complete it.

Even Bao Yiming and Duanmucheng looked at Qi Ruifeng with a hint of seriousness in their eyes. They had completed Elite Tier missions before, and that's why they knew what A-Tier Elite Quest meant.

Generally speaking, Elite Tier missions require facing at least one Boss Tier, and the Boss Tier level in the Spirit Realm Plane matched with awakened individuals is at least 1-2 levels higher than the awakened individual's level. Qi Ruifeng is level 6, so the Boss Tier he faces in the Spirit Realm is at least level 7, or even Boss Tier 8!

A-Tier Elite Quest likely involve facing more than one Boss Tier. For example, Bai Xiaowen's medicine-finding mission in the Jiajing Plane World required him to kill the Black Zombie King and the White Ghost Queen he could finally complete it.

"Ruan Chong, come back." Qi Ruifeng said calmly, without a trace of pride. The more composed he was, the more unfathomable his strength seemed.

The chatter started again.

"Qi Ruifeng is indeed a veteran powerhouse."

"Yes, I've only ever completed A-Tier Elite Quest in my dreams."

"It seems that Bai Xiaowen's victory over him in the qualifiers was just a fluke."

Bai Xiaowen's lips curled slightly, revealing an enigmatic smile.

Wang Jin noticed the smile on Bai Xiaowen's face and said, "What's wrong? You don't seem very surprised by Qi Ruifeng's achievements."

"No way, I was quite surprised. A-Tier Elite Quest, that's amazing." Bai Xiaowen tried his best to put on a solemn and respectful expression.

Wang Jin: "..." What's with this exaggerated acting?

Just then, a clear female voice rang out from the northeast. "A-Tier Elite Quest, what's so great about it?"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a girl in a white kendo uniform walking quickly towards them.

She was tall and slender, with two swords hanging at her waist. Her cascading black hair was tied into a simple ponytail with a thin rope. Although the fluctuations in her Psychic Field indicated that she was only around level 5, the aura she subtly exuded and her calm demeanor commanded respect.

Bai Xiaowen smiled and walked up to the girl in the white kendo uniform, "You've come."

The person who arrived was none other than Li Shuyi.

A happy smile appeared on Li Shuyi's beautiful face. Amidst the envious and jealous gazes of a group of boys, she reached out and took Bai Xiaowen's hand, and the two held hands.

Li Shuyi and Ruan Chong had a history of conflict, so when she heard Ruan Chong praising Qi Ruifeng, she couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

Ruan Chong felt a little guilty, but he wasn't willing to lose face, so he sneered and said, "You're not Hero Class... What, have you done A-Tier Elite Quest?"

Li Shuyi glanced at Ruan Chong sideways. "We run into each other often, but I don't really think much of them. Compared to that, Hero Quest are much more challenging."

"Anyone can brag," Ruan Chong.

Li Shuyi raised her eyebrows, about to retort, when Bai Xiaowen gently patted her shoulder.

"Alright... there's no need to argue over such empty fame. A-Tier Elite Quest is indeed remarkable," Bai Xiaowen said, her gaze shifting from Li Shuyi to the others, finally settling on Ruan Chong after a quick glance around. "However, my Shu Yi never brags. You'd better take back what you just said."

Ruan Chong was a little afraid of Bai Xiaowen. He dared to confront Li Shuyi, but he didn't dare to confront Bai Xiaowen. He shrank back and didn't continue arguing.

"Excuse me, everyone, we'll be taking our leave now."

Bai Xiaowen waved to Wang Jin and the others, then walked side by side with Li Shuyi and stepped into the entrance ramp of the Undead Sinkhole.

Bai Xiaowen was mainly waiting for Li Shuyi. If the other students from Jinghai University could arrive at the same time, forming a team together would be fine. However, since Li Shuyi had arrived but the others hadn't, he didn't need to waste his precious time waiting any longer.

Although she is the captain of the University Team, Bai Xiaowen is not a nanny.

Others were waiting for alumni to gather and strengthen their own universities' ranks. But Bai Xiaowen didn't need that; all he needed was Li Shuyi.

Shared Storage Space: the effective range for team members is within five meters of the team leader. (Corrected)