Inside the cave, Su Xiao held a few Original Seeds in his hand, a total of four.
"How do you use this? Don’t tell me to eat it."
Su Xiao had already reached an agreement with the Sun Woman; he would venture into the Black Forest with Old Bar and two other Contractors.
If conditions allowed, the Sun Woman would also venture into the Black Forest, but she couldn’t leave the Red Soil Area. Her current body would collapse after a few hours.
"Of course, you don’t eat them. Give them here."
The Sun Woman extended her hand, indicating for Su Xiao to hand her the Original Seeds.
Su Xiao tossed the four Original Seeds, which the Sun Woman caught, then took out a few more.
The Original Seeds in the Sun Woman’s hand slowly transformed, changing from black to a light red, and sprouting green buds on the surface.
"Once you enter the Black Forest, be sure to keep the Original Seeds with you, and crush one every two hours. Each Original Seed can protect you for about two hours. You must leave before you use up ten Original Seeds, or this place will become your grave."
The Sun Woman handed ten Original Seeds to Su Xiao.
"Do you think transforming Original Seeds is simple?"
Su Xiao shook his head.
Su Xiao remained silent, merely looking at the Sun Woman.
After some bargaining, Su Xiao obtained fifteen Original Seeds.
"Time is short. When will you set off?"
"Now." Thıs content belongs to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝※𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖※𝕟𝕖𝕥
Su Xiao stood up and looked towards Old Bar, who looked at the Sun Woman.
"Sun Goddess, my Original Seeds..."
The Sun Woman scrutinized Old Bar: "My servant, use them wisely."
Old Bar behaved very obediently; seeing this, a smile appeared on Su Xiao’s lips. Perhaps this old fellow will shine in a different light. At least, he never underestimated Old Bar.
"Where are the other two people?"
"They’ve already headed near the Black Forest. I’ll inform them to wait for you."
Su Xiao and Old Bar walked out of the cave together. After stepping outside, Su Xiao looked at Old Bar.
"The Goddess’s commands cannot be defied."
Old Bar’s attitude was devout, as if he really had become an obedient priest.
"Clumsy acting. If I were you, I’d dig out the seed inside me rather than grovel to that plant."
Su Xiao didn’t believe Old Bar would become the Sun Woman’s dog.
"But that’s the Sun Goddess. How could one defy the words of a Goddess? However, Godslayer is a good option. It’s too early now. Let’s survive the cold disaster first."
Upon leaving the cave, Old Bar’s true character was revealed. Knowing when to endure, choosing the greater good and avoiding harm, cunning and ruthless—this was Old Bar.
"Let’s move. We need to bring a lot of food and freshwater."
Old Bar nodded, said "I’ll get ready," and quickly headed towards the tribe.
Half an hour later, Old Bar, carrying a massive amount of meat and freshwater, found Su Xiao, and the two headed out of the tribe.
Previously, Su Xiao wanted to leave the Red Soil Area and reach an Ordinary Area. But who knew that circumstances would change, and now he had to venture into the more dangerous Black Forest.
The fate of Devouring Island had nothing to do with him, and Su Xiao didn’t care about the cold disaster. If what the Sun Woman said was true, he only needed to endure the cold disaster for a day, with a high chance of survival.
He ventured into the Black Forest to become stronger and complete the Hidden Task. Hidden Tasks were rare, and if all stages were completed, the rewards would be unexpected.
No one said that the survival trial required hiding. If there’s a chance to become stronger, of course, it must be seized.
Su Xiao rode on Bubu Wang’s back. Bubu Wang ran a bit slow, having eaten too much.
Bubu Wang had been terrified of hunger. With plenty of food, it stuffed itself, but after moving in the Red Soil Area for a few hours, its stomach began to grumble again.
With the Compass pointing the way, finding the stone bridge to leave the Red Soil Area wasn’t hard.
After traveling for a few hours, night fell, and Su Xiao found a tree without snakes or insects to rest. The night in the Red Soil Area was lively, with the roars of various Wild Beasts echoing continuously.
Lying on a tree trunk more than ten meters above ground, Su Xiao closed his eyes to rest, while Bubu Wang lay on the trunk with its belly down, its four legs hanging naturally.
A scream startled Su Xiao awake. He quickly got up, hand on his sword’s hilt.
There was no enemy; the scream came from Bubu Wang. The fellow had slept too deeply and fell from the tree early in the morning. With Bubu Wang’s sleeping posture, it was no wonder it fell off.
After a simple breakfast, Su Xiao continued moving. After traveling for seven hours, a cliff appeared ahead.
"The stone bridge is nearby. We should reach it in half an hour. After crossing the stone bridge, it will take three more days to reach the Black Forest."
Today was already the fifth day of the survival trial, meaning Su Xiao would arrive at the Black Forest on the eighth day.
Old Bar was right; the stone bridge was indeed nearby.
Boom, clang clang clang!
Roaring sounds came from the stone bridge. From far away, Su Xiao could see there was a fight on the stone bridge.
The stone bridge was dozens of meters long and over ten meters wide, naturally formed, without any protective railings.
An armored vehicle was parked across the stone bridge. Several Contractors hid behind it. On the other side, bullets hit the armored vehicle, causing sparks to fly. The sound of dense gunfire came from across the bridge.
Someone in the Ordinary Area was blocking the bridge, preventing Contractors from leaving the Red Soil Area.
This move was extremely ruthless. Although the Ordinary Area was also dangerous, food and freshwater weren’t too scarce, and if one had the strength, they could seize them.
The Red Soil Area was different. Food was scarce here, and Contractors escaping from here were usually in poor condition, with significantly reduced combat strength.
At this moment, Old Black and others hiding behind the armored vehicle were in such a situation. Although the armored vehicle was bulletproof and safe for the moment, the enemies would soon rush up.
On the distant hillside of the stone bridge, Su Xiao observed how many Contractors were on the other side of the bridge.
He alone spotted eight Contractors, suggesting the total number wasn’t less than ten.
Su Xiao couldn’t figure out why these Contractors wanted to block the bridge. The Scarlet Card drop rate during survival trials was very low, and most Contractors escaping from the Red Soil Area were short on food.
However, Su Xiao understood one thing: to cross the bridge, those Contractors on the other side must be eliminated first. Otherwise, he’d be a sitting duck on the unshielded stone bridge, like Old Black’s group.
The gunfire continued as Old Black and others dared not to peek. From Su Xiao’s position, he could see several Contractors across the bridge already charging towards the armored vehicle.
A minute later, Old Black and others engaged in close combat with the Contractors across the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge was a Sniper and two Mages. With Old Black and others forced out of cover, their defeat was certain.
Indeed, seconds later, Old Black and others lay in pools of blood. The Forging Master kneeled on the ground, seemingly pleading with the Contractors on the other side of the bridge.
Soon after, the Contractors across the bridge appeared to be in chaos, as if realizing they had angered someone they shouldn’t have.
A gunshot echoed as Master Iron was headshot, and his body was tossed into the ravine. A dispute erupted among the Contractors across the bridge, seemingly blaming one another.
A low gunshot resonated as the Sniper across the bridge was headshot, a burst of blood mist exploding.
Su Xiao adjusted the Spider Queen’s aim, pointing the barrel towards a Mage across the bridge.
These Contractors must be wiped out, or Su Xiao couldn’t cross the stone bridge, plus that armored vehicle would be quite the convenient means of transport.