Chu Tian quickly stopped and looked towards the sound.
Through the gaps in the tree trunks, he saw a ferocious giant scorpion twisting its body and burrowing into the mud below.
The giant scorpion was grayish-black, the same color as the mud, and its massive tail stinger glinted with a vibrant blue light.
If not for the sound the giant scorpion made, Chu Tian would never have noticed it.
He transformed into his leopard form and stalked in place, not daring to make any move.
That was a Death Giant Scorpion, swift in its movements, and Chu Tian in his leopard form might not even be able to outrun it.
The stinger on its tail carried a lethal poison that, without an antidote, would persist until death.
This was why many players, even at level forty, were reluctant to farm in this map.
These giant scorpions could sense enemies based on ground vibrations. If one approached too closely, they would deliver a fatal blow.
Looking at the jungle ahead, Chu Tian wondered how many Death Giant Scorpions were hidden beneath the ground.
When the giant scorpion finally burrowed into the earth, Chu Tian quietly moved away.
As he pressed on, the path disappeared, and Chu Tian ventured deeper into the jungle.
He needed to proceed with even greater caution now.
"Almost there!" Chu Tian thought, looking at the coordinates.
The closer he got to his destination, the more cautious he became. He pushed through dense thorny bushes, and a clearing appeared before his eyes.
In the center of the clearing stood an altar, where a gaunt figure was busy working.
Approaching the altar, Chu Tian revealed himself and walked towards the NPC, looking at the name above his head: 'Great Shaman Solent'.
As Chu Tian drew near, Solent cast a hostile gaze at him. Chu Tian quickly produced the token.
When Great Shaman Solent saw the item in his hand, his hostile gaze turned to one of confusion. "A healthy scent, you come from beyond the plague lands. Where did you obtain my token?"
Chu Tian let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the NPC hadn't attacked him after seeing the token. This was a level fifty-five elite NPC; he probably could have killed Chu Tian with a single blow.
He couldn't tell the truth to his question. Saying a little girl found it and then gave it to him wouldn't do.
Following the strategy from his memories, he said, "Respected Great Shaman Solent, this was left to me by my ancestors!"
"Oh? You are from Kexia Village? You have traveled a thousand miles and brought my token. Do you wish to enter the Undead Realm for a trial?" Great Shaman Solent said expressionlessly.
"Ding... System notification: Do you accept the trial of the Undead Realm?"
"Uh... Yes!" Chu Tian's reply was directed at Solent's question, and it also served as his acceptance of the system prompt.
He had hesitated for a moment at the beginning because this situation differed from the official strategy released in his previous life.
According to the strategy he remembered, after returning the token here, he should have received his reward directly.
It was a gold-tier item, the Boots of the Undead, with no equipping requirements and a speed-boosting skill.
Most adventure quests were quite simple, mostly involving fetching items if triggered.
However, quests encountered during adventures that required fighting or trials usually yielded very generous rewards.
"Could it be that I've accidentally triggered a different branch?" Chu Tian mused to himself.
Great Shaman Solent handed the token back to Chu Tian. "The people of Kexia Village once saved me. I shall entrust this to you! Otherwise, with your current strength, upon entering the Undead Realm, you would soon be assimilated into an emotionless undead creature!"
Holding it in his hand, Chu Tian noticed that the mottled rust on the token's surface had vanished, transforming it into a silver-white badge.
【Solent's Badge】
Attribute: Can resist the erosion of the Undead Realm's aura.
Equip Slot: Chest.
Description: Special item, does not occupy an equipment slot.
Seeing Chu Tian place the badge on his chest, Great Shaman Solent waved his staff towards the altar.
He began chanting incantations Chu Tian couldn't understand.
A rift of purplish-black spatial energy gradually opened at the center of the altar, slowly stabilizing.
"Enter!" Great Shaman Solent told Chu Tian.
"Will I come out from here as well?" Chu Tian asked.
Solent heard Chu Tian's question, grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth, and said, "I can only open the entrance pathway. As for how you return, that will depend on you!"
"Ah?" Chu Tian was shocked. This was completely beyond his understanding.
Just as he was hesitating whether to go in, a powerful force surged. Solent grabbed his shoulders and threw him directly into the spatial rift.
"The sacrifice has begun. Without a tribute, I will suffer endless backlash. My master, absorb the death qi well within the badge!" Solent muttered to himself.
Of course, Chu Tian could no longer hear him.
Boundless darkness enveloped him. Chu Tian felt as if he were swallowed by a giant maw, sinking into an eternal world where neither time nor space existed. Chu Tian floated there.
Feeling as if he were in space, weightless, Chu Tian slowly controlled his limbs, trying to change direction, but no matter how he moved, he felt like he was staying in place.
"Is this the Undead Realm?"
Chu Tian thought to himself, wondering if it would be like the dream trial again.
As he struggled to swim, a portal suddenly appeared before him. A gap opened in the portal, and a sliver of light shone through.
In this dark world, that sliver of light was exceptionally dazzling.
Chu Tian's body moved forward involuntarily, drifting directly towards the gap in the door.
A colossal suction pulled him into the portal.
After passing through the great gate, Chu Tian saw a massive floating bridge.
To his astonishment, there were many NPCs on the floating bridge.
These NPCs had vacant gazes, hollow eyes, and wandered aimlessly.
As Chu Tian stood dumbfounded, he was suddenly bumped from behind. He turned to look.
From the vast gap of the gate, such NPCs were continuously entering, and he felt like he was one of them.
Because he was blocking their path, an NPC behind him bumped into him.
Looking at the NPC that had bumped him, it now stood silently behind him, staring blankly at him with its hollow, unfocused eyes.
Chu Tian felt a chill crawl up his spine and instinctively dodged out of the way.
Seeing no one blocking their path ahead, the NPC resumed its aimless wandering forward and then stepped onto the bridge.
Rows of strange NPCs, of all kinds, humans, beasts, and half-humans, half-beasts.
Chu Tian, curious, followed them towards the bridge.
Arriving at the head of the bridge, he looked down.
Below the bridge was an abyss, where red liquid flowed, and a foul smell wafted up.
"It's... blood!" Chu Tian recoiled in shock.
The river below, of unknown length and depth, was entirely composed of flowing blood – a river of blood.
A true Blood River, this was...
Chu Tian looked towards the bridgehead, where three large scarlet characters read 'Blood Abyss Bridge'.
Further across the bridge, a burly man in strange attire held a black chain, at the end of which was a massive anchor. The sharp aura of the anchor's hook could be felt by Chu Tian from where he stood.
He swung the entire chain continuously, slaughtering the NPCs passing on the bridge.
These NPCs, like walking dead, showed no fear and continued to approach.