"Elf Forbidden Zone?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ran’s face suddenly changed. He had heard of this name several times. How could he not be aware of the terrifying nature of the forbidden zone? What he feared most had happened—how could the teleportation stone have sent him here? Wasn’t this a terrible trick?!

"Could these forces of curse be the kind that can alter one’s genetic code?"

Recalling what the Dark Elf Wen Liu had said, he was forcibly genetically altered inside this forbidden zone and cursed into the shape of a willow tree. Su Ran couldn’t help feeling a surge of panic inside. If he were transformed into a woman, that would indeed give everyone quite a show!

The tragedy of the Dark Elf was clear in his mind, and Su Ran felt a shiver just thinking about it. He now pinned his hopes on his Undead Body, sincerely hoping that this terrible Power of Curse would not be able to corrupt his Undead Body.

However, to be cautious, Su Ran summoned his Skeleton Army. Ten Undead skeletons formed a circle around him, protecting him within and immediately dispersing the dense fog to one side.

"Haha, this special Power of Curse really has no effect on the Undead!"

After a long time observing, the fog showed no intention of corroding the summoned skeletons at all. Only then did he completely let go of his anxiety, muttering to himself, "I need ten more minutes before the Elf Teleportation Stone can be activated again. For now, I can only stay here..."

"Beep beep beep."

The sound of the friend notification kept chiming, and Su Ran knew without checking that it had to be Banana.

"Overturning Water brother, how did you get teleported to the forbidden zone? When did the teleportation stone become so powerful that it can even pass through seals? That’s just too outrageous, isn’t it?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ran scoffed dismissively in his heart, inwardly ranting. You elves still have the nerve to talk about your seals and enchantments when the face of the Elf Queen has been swollen with slaps, you know?

But Su Ran didn’t share this with Banana. He knew what was important. After all, this involved the dignity of the Elf Queen. If she heard about it, she would be furious. Not to mention whether his goodwill would drop, he could forget about any future missions.

"Big brother, hurry up and get out. The forbidden zone is very dangerous!"

"Why aren’t you talking? Could it be that you’re already dead?"

"Pheh, I never hear anything good from your mouth! Who knows why I was teleported to the forbidden zone. I’m still puzzled about it myself!"

Su Ran found that Banana, this guy, spoke without thinking and easily ended up in awkward conversations. However, he knew Banana’s intentions were good, and he felt a little moved.

"Big brother, you’re not dead? That’s great, that’s great. Get out of there quickly. The guardian BOSS inside is much more formidable than the Guardian of the Dark Abyss Lake. If you meet it, you would really be in danger!"

Banana spoke very quickly, and worry could be heard in his voice.

"Don’t worry, I have ways to save my life, I won’t die so easily!"

Su Ran said with a firm tone, trying to calm Banana’s anxious heart, "The teleportation stone needs time to cool down. I can only wait for it to become active again before I can teleport out. In the meantime, adventuring in this forbidden zone could be worthwhile. Maybe I’ll find a rare species or something. Don’t you think so?"

"What? Overturning Water brother, don’t go looking for trouble unnecessarily. Don’t joke with your life. Just stay put and wait until your sentence is up!"

Sentence up?

Su Ran rolled his eyes, the flames within them flickering—really wanted to kick Banana.

Without further nonsense with Banana, Su Ran took out that piece of withered trunk.

"Are you kidding me, how can I not take a close look at such a precious item?"

Su Ran brought the section of trunk up before his eyes, feeling the cold, solid touch, and became even more convinced that it was a remarkable item. With the curiosity in his heart, he then began to inspect the properties of the item with his probing gaze, hoping to unravel the mystery behind it.

"Immortal Divine Wood" (Special)

A heaven-sent item, possessing inconceivable effects.

"Immortal Divine Wood, immortal..."

Su Ran’s eyes clouded over with confusion as he murmured to himself, "What connection does this Immortal Divine Wood have with the Decay Bead?"

"But, this thing doesn’t have any property description, how am I supposed to use it?"

"This system is just too evil, not presenting the skills and effects of the Immortal Divine Wood outright, instead making one explore bit by bit, truly unfair!"

Su Ran lost the excitement he had earlier, angrily tossing the rotten wood into his bladder, no longer holding any expectations for it, thinking to address it some day when it would be of use.

After taking off the Illusion Demon black robe, Su Ran reverted to his true skeletal form and without another word, summoned the Dark Bone Lion, the Bone Centipede, the Sand Puppet, and the little zombie, leading a mighty pet army that boldly cleared the way ahead, while Su Ran rode on Wang Cai leisurely following behind, looking every inch the emperor on campaign, in a grandiose star-encircling-moon posture.

"I wonder how terrifying the BOSS mentioned by Banana could be, I need to be careful."

Su Ran’s biggest concern now was the BOSS whom he had never met; given Banana was so scared, it seemed its fierce reputation was well established. He just hoped that this expedition to the forbidden area of elves wouldn’t encounter this formidable character, as that would be more than perfect.

In this elf forbidden area, the trees were slender and withered, leaves yellowing, the ground covered with rotting foliage, presenting a desolate and decaying scene before Su Ran’s eyes—a truly pitiful sight.

"Crunch, crunch."

Su Ran walked on the path paved with leaves, creating a strange noise that made him feel increasingly tense as if deadly dangers lurked nearby.

However, what puzzled Su Ran was that along the way he had trodden, he hadn’t even seen a snake, worm, bird, or beast, let alone a BOSS. This gave him some relief, but also highlighted the desolation of the place.

Just as Su Ran began to feel disheartened, a sudden change occurred.

"Whoosh, whoosh."

Before Su Ran had gone much further, a strong wind unexpectedly arose, growing in intensity, lifting the tree leaves off the ground and sending them swirling through the air, while the trees couldn’t withstand the fierce gale, rustling loudly.

"Come on, is this some kind of haunting?"

Anxiety gripped Su Ran’s heart. Usually, strange phenomena appeared before a monster’s arrival—don’t ask how he knows this; that’s just how it’s depicted in Journey to the West.

The wind grew stronger and stronger, the gale sweeping across the land and even scraping up a layer of the ground. Faced with this sudden calamity, Su Ran was almost stripped of his autonomy. His summoned pets were one by one torn from his control, whisked into the air by the gale, and even he couldn’t escape, nor could the withered tree he was clinging to, which was uprooted and sent spinning into the sky.

"Damn, talk about bad luck!"

Whipped around by the ferocious wind in the air, Su Ran quickly tried to use the Treading on Air Technique, but to his disappointment, he simply couldn’t execute it and had no choice but to resign himself to being carried away by the wind, awaiting the moment when the wind would die down to regain his freedom.

What made Su Ran feel fortunate was that the gale didn’t seem to mean him any harm. Despite being tossed around by the wind for so long, he hadn’t lost a single point of health, which was really quite odd.