Snatching the Flower from the Serpent's Mouth

Objective: There is a Cold Pool four thousand meters to the right of the Old Poplar Tree. A Lotus Flower grows in the Cold Pool. Safely obtain the Lotus Flower and return.

Setup complete

"Loading!"

"Loading successful!"

"Route One: A Giant Python guards the Cold Pool. The Giant Python enjoys eating Bamboo Rats. Arrive at the Bamboo Forest four hours later and hunt three Bamboo Rats. Five hours later, place the Bamboo Rats within three hundred meters to the right of the Cold Pool. Use the Bamboo Rats as bait. You will have fifteen breaths of time; pick the Lotus Flower within fifteen breaths. Then head deeper into the Deep Forest. Run seven hundred steps and turn left, then two hundred steps and turn right. After another three hundred steps, there will be a deep pit. Jump down. Three hours later, quickly climb out. Continue forward for two thousand steps, then turn right and walk another two thousand steps to return to the village."

As the words appeared, there was only one option this time.

And this single option was the most complicated route so far.

It practically included every step he had to take.

Clearly, with his current strength, obtaining this Lotus Flower would be unimaginably difficult.

So much so that the system had no choice but to arrange such detailed steps. Only such detailed steps could ensure that he obtained the item safely and returned.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xuan looked over it once more before rising to his feet and heading toward the back mountain.

The forest grew increasingly silent.

Following his memories, Chen Xuan soon arrived at the Old Poplar Tree, then set off to the right according to his Conceptual Ability's instructions.

Four thousand meters was roughly eight li. Walking through the mountains would take three or four hours.

However, Chen Xuan did not head straight for the Cold Pool. Instead, he arrived at the place he had been yesterday.

The instant he arrived, his scalp began to tingle, because a huge, bottomless pit now lay ahead of him.

Its diameter was more than four or five meters across.

It had collapsed to a depth of three or four meters.

"Giant Python!"

Chen Xuan murmured, involuntarily recalling the description from his Conceptual Ability.

Such a huge hole, Bamboo Rats nearby, and only about a thousand meters from the Cold Pool—there was only one possible explanation: that Giant Python.

Even without seeing it, Chen Xuan could sense the terror of a Giant Python capable of causing such a disturbance. A chill even rose within his heart.

But having come this far, he could not turn back.

He quickly left the area and found another Bamboo Forest several hundred meters away.

The Bamboo Rats here did not seem to have been affected.

The scene from yesterday appeared once again.

Without hesitation, he swiftly drew his bow and fired.

Whoosh!

The arrow tore through the air, pinning a bamboo rat directly to the ground.

The Bamboo Rats around it immediately began to panic.

Chen Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest and swiftly nocked another arrow.

Whoosh!

Another bamboo rat fell.

This time, he had actually managed to kill two.

Without any delay, Chen Xuan quickly changed locations and hunted down another one.

At that point, he had finished hunting all three Bamboo Rats.

Chen Xuan did not hesitate. Carrying the three Bamboo Rats, he quickly headed toward his target.

Half an hour later, he spotted the sizable Cold Pool in the distance.

Compared to his current position, the Cold Pool lay in a relatively lower area.

That made it easier for Chen Xuan to determine which side was to its right.

After confirming the direction, he carried the Bamboo Rats swiftly toward the target. About a quarter of an hour later, he reached his destination.

With the forest cover, a distance of three hundred meters did not allow him to see the Cold Pool clearly.

After looking around, Chen Xuan found a large tree and hung the three Bamboo Rats from it.

Once they were hung up, he quickly headed to the left.

Only after walking several hundred meters away did he continue toward the Cold Pool.

As he drew near the Cold Pool, a wave of cold air washed over him. Chen Xuan also noticed the Lotus Flower there, as large as the mouth of a bowl.

The snow-white Lotus Flower, wrapped in chilling mist, possessed a soul-stirring beauty. Its faint fragrance drifted into Chen Xuan's nose, making him unconsciously lick his lips.

But before he could remain immersed for long—

The next moment—

Boom!

The water's surface exploded. An enormous black shadow burst from the Cold Pool, and a stench of blood so strong it nearly made one vomit spread through the surroundings.

Its gigantic body nearly blotted out the sky, while its massive head was as thick and imposing as a city wall.

At the sight of that enormous black shadow, Chen Xuan's heart seemed to stop beating. He instinctively held his breath as well.

Hiss!

Above that massive head, a scarlet tongue flicked out. Seeming to sense something, it instinctively looked toward where Chen Xuan had placed the Bamboo Rats.

Then it looked back at the Lotus Flower behind it.

After a brief hesitation, the enormous black shadow headed straight toward the Bamboo Rats.

Boom.

Rumble, rumble.

Deafening crashes rang out as towering trees along the way were violently smashed apart. Like a speeding truck, the Giant Python vanished from sight in an instant.

"Now!"

Chen Xuan shot to his feet in an instant, then plunged headfirst into the Cold Pool.

A bone-piercing chill surged from the Cold Pool, making his body shudder uncontrollably.

But he could not afford to care about that now.

He swiftly swam toward the center of the Cold Pool.

Fortunately, his body had been trained during this time, and both his former self and his past-life self had been decent swimmers. The twenty-meter distance vanished in only a few breaths.

Without time to look around or do anything else, Chen Xuan reached out with his right hand and grabbed the Lotus Flower.

The Lotus Flower snapped free at once. In that instant, warmth spread throughout his body, driving away the icy cold surrounding him, while a surge of power spread through every limb and bone.

Chen Xuan's eyes lit up, and his speed of return instantly increased.

In only ten breaths, he had made it back.

Without the slightest hesitation.

The moment Chen Xuan reached the shore, he followed the route's instructions and headed straight into the depths of the Deep Forest. Though the depths of the forest held greater dangers, running back the way he came should theoretically have been safest.

But he knew the power of his Conceptual Ability.

Since the Conceptual Ability had described it, this was his only path to survival.

And that was indeed the case.

Before Chen Xuan had even sprinted a hundred meters, a tremendous commotion suddenly erupted from the Cold Pool behind him.

Hiss!

Rage filled the Giant Python's huge scarlet eyes. At the Cold Pool, it kept flicking its tongue, and soon its eyes locked onto Chen Xuan's retreating figure.

Splash!

The water exploded as the massive body, more than forty or fifty meters long, charged directly after Chen Xuan.

As its enormous body crashed forward, trees toppled one after another.