Nether

Though he had some suspicions, when Li Wei actually saw those words, his heart still began pounding.

Ever since entering this world and seeing that the hearts on his health bar were ordinary red hearts rather than Hardcore Mode hearts, Li Wei had wondered whether he only had one life.

He had simply never had a chance to verify it. After all, he could hardly risk actually dying once.

But his mood quickly calmed.

"Bed" blocks are only effective within the Territory.

The Territory was Li Wei's domain.

He could only respawn within the Territory.

Well, no wonder he had received no prompt when sleeping elsewhere before. So this was what had been waiting for him.

If he did not expand his Territory to cover the entire world, he would practically be letting himself down.

Li Wei began to feel that this Territory might be a little too small.

However.

"No matter what, if I can avoid dying, I should avoid it."

Li Wei shook his head, ending his thoughts on the matter.

After all, this world ran deep. No one knew whether something unexpected might happen after death...

And honestly, death itself was rather unsettling.

No one knew whether the person who revived would still be the same person.

Like he said: if he could avoid dying, then he would not die.

Still, Li Wei placed several chests beside the bed and stored several sets of spare equipment and weapons inside.

That night, Li Wei slept for once.

At sunrise, Li Wei opened his eyes and felt full of energy, just as usual.

There was no particular sensation. If he had to name one, it was a slight sense of psychological satisfaction.

Sleeping after sleeping really did feel like sleeping.

Today was another day full of hope.

A man had to cast a few lines first thing in the morning!

Li Wei continued fishing, all the way until nightfall.

Another day passed.

Splash.

An enchanted book was reeled ashore.

"Mending."

Li Wei immediately applied it to the Ancient Elven Sword.

Though the sword did not really need it. Its durability was terrifyingly high to begin with, and it barely even wore down. Li Wei could not imagine what kind of chopping it would take to break it...

All he could say was that it truly deserved to be called the work of a top craftsman from the First Age.

Perhaps only Sauron at the height of his power could pose a threat to it.

After sitting all day, his Hunger Bar had not dropped much. Li Wei casually took a bite of food, then stared at the water's surface, feeling as though he had forgotten something.

He had already set up the smelting structure, had all the forging tools, and even had an Enchanting Table. What was he still missing?

Right.

The Nether Portal.

Li Wei slowly put away his fishing rod and went to the underground workshop to begin smelting lava.

As bucket after bucket of lava turned into obsidian, Li Wei felt his palms begin to sweat.

That was another world. If it truly connected, that one would certainly notice.

Li Wei could not guess the attitude of an existence he did not understand.

Yet things had reached this point. With every condition in place, he would never be satisfied if he did not give it a try.

He soon gathered ten blocks of obsidian.

Li Wei returned to the surface, chose a spot, enclosed it with a ring of fences, then took out the obsidian and began building the Nether Portal.

Click.

The final block was placed.

Li Wei took out Flint and Steel.

Crack.

At that instant, Li Wei's consciousness seemed to freeze.

The river continued flowing with a gentle rush.

A breeze rustled through the leaves. Horses whinnied in the pasture, while cattle and sheep called back and forth. The grass swayed gently, the stars twinkled overhead, and everything seemed so peaceful.

Yet to Li Wei, the tranquil starry sky above seemed to have collapsed, pressing down on him with its full weight.

A vast will descended upon Roadside Fortress, using Li Wei as its anchor and extending all the way to the newly constructed Nether Portal.

No one knew how much pressure Li Wei had endured. Even though that presence seemed to harbor no ill intent—in fact, it was even gentle.

The pressure Li Wei felt was merely an instinctive reaction to witnessing something immense.

Not long after, deep, low notes drifted out from the Nether, reminding Li Wei of the ambient music that came with the Nether in the game.

What followed was... a sigh?

In the blink of an eye.

Everything returned to normal. Li Wei stood frozen in place, drew a deep breath, and felt as though he had been released.

At the same time, Li Wei came to understand some information.

Creatures of the Nether could not cross the gate, and creatures of Middle-earth could not enter it either. This was a passage opened solely for Li Wei.

Also, Nether Portals could not be built outside the Territory.

That one apparently was not the doing of that being, but a rule that had existed from the start.

Thinking about it, that made sense. If the Nether could expand without restriction, then building a few high-efficiency pigman farms would be enough. Before long, pigmen would be cramming all of Middle-earth. Forget the grand movement—by then, the whole world could just listen to pigmen grunting together.

Still, he could finally enter the Nether.

Li Wei put on his armor, gathered his supplies, and stepped through the Nether Portal.

Whoosh—

Achievement Unlocked: Go Further Beyond

A wave of weightlessness swept over him. Li Wei opened his eyes to a world filled with crimson, followed by blasts of scorching heat.

"I'm here, Nether."

Stepping onto the somewhat soft netherrack, Li Wei felt a faint sense of familiarity for the first time.

Woooo—

A crying wail came from the distant horizon, followed by a massive fireball.

Li Wei immediately went on alert. His extensive combat experience allowed him to pinpoint the source of the sound in an instant. He drew his sword and slashed directly at the incoming fireball. The fireball did not explode when struck; instead, it flew straight back along its original path.

Before long, a notification popped up:

Achievement Unlocked: Return to Sender

It also came with an additional reward of 50 experience points.

A Ghast.

After going through battles large and small in Middle-earth and becoming used to being ambushed by archers, this sluggish fireball looked like nothing more than a bubble floating in the sky. He did not even need to concentrate to bat it back with ease.

Still, to prevent another ambush, Li Wei enclosed the Nether Portal with Cobblestone for protection.

It would be a real shame if he got careless and let the portal be blown up.

Whoosh—

Just as he finished securing the Nether Portal, an arrow came flying from behind him. The instant he heard it, Li Wei raised his sword almost instinctively and blocked it in one motion.

Looking over, he saw that the attacker was a Skeleton Archer that had spawned in the Soul Sand Valley biome.

Slow. Far too slow. This skeleton's archery was practically worse than his own.

Li Wei blocked another arrow with his sword.

He found it rather dull.

Compared to the intensity of battles in Middle-earth, fighting these monsters was like children brawling—straightforward, with obvious intentions.

He cut down the skeleton in two strikes, then looked out over the world before him.

The Nether still retained an overall blocky style, though the monsters were comparatively realistic, modeled after reality. But that was all there was to it.

Aside from looking rather frightening, they posed almost no threat to Li Wei.

The lackluster combat made Li Wei feel somewhat lax.

But he quickly snapped back to attention. Near the Soul Sand Valley where the Skeleton Archer had spawned stood a dark brown brick fortress, towering over a Lava Pool.

A Nether Fortress!

Not bad luck.

Li Wei grabbed some Cobblestone and began building a path. Before long, he was standing on solid Nether bricks.

Achievement Unlocked: In the Depths

A looting spree soon began.

Wherever an MC Player went, not a blade of grass was left behind.

By the time he had emptied every chest in the fortress, Li Wei's inventory contained nine diamonds, twenty-three gold ingots, some iron, various pieces of Golden Gear, Flint and Steel, Iron Horse Armor, and a set of Diamond Horse Armor.

"Pretty lucky."

Of course, aside from looting chests, Li Wei had not forgotten the most important things in the Nether Fortress.

Nether wart, and the Blaze Spawner.

If resurrection was possible, people complained. If it was not, people still complained. Either way, it was an unavoidable point of controversy.

Sorry, but the resurrection feature would not be used. The goal was a single-life clear.

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