"I’ll go first."

Su Ran had already memorized the pillars that the Elf Queen had stepped on and suddenly exerted his Treading on Air Technique with all his might.

"Banana, you’d better watch closely this time, if you can’t remember again, there’s really nothing we can do."

Xue Wuqing’s eyes were fixed on Su Ran’s landing spots, while she also reminded Banana.

"Not good!"

What Su Ran hadn’t anticipated was that he had just leaped into the air when the Treading on Air Technique suddenly lost its power. Fortunately, his reflexes were quick enough for him to step forward and barely land on the first pillar, where he finally steadied his body and breathed a sigh of relief.

Having experienced this crisis, Su Ran couldn’t help but sigh in his heart that it had been a close call. He had almost fallen due to a failure in his skill, which was a lesson he definitely needed to heed in the future!

However, when Su Ran came back to his senses, he unexpectedly discovered that layers of thick fog had started forming over the Misty Formation, converging around him and greatly obstructing his vision, which added to the difficulty of his challenge.

"We can’t afford to waste time!"

Only then did Su Ran understand why the Elf Queen had moved so quickly. Taking advantage of the fact that the dense fog hadn’t fully formed yet, he stepped on three consecutive pillars in one breath, rushing directly to the platform on the opposite side.

"Huh? How strange!"

When Su Ran had regained his composure and turned to look back at the Misty Formation, he realized that the so-called dense fog had already disappeared, as if it had never appeared, which was very odd.

"Skeleton Warrior, lucky you moved quickly. If you had waited until the fog completely enveloped the area, even gods would struggle to navigate through this Misty Formation!"

The undertone in the Elf Queen’s words sent a chill down Su Ran’s spine.

"My Lady Queen, that’s not very fair of you, why didn’t you warn us sooner?"

"The supreme rules constrain me, I cannot reveal the details to you."

Seeing that Su Ran was getting annoyed, the Elf Queen then offered an explanation.

Upon hearing this, Su Ran came to a realization. He had to admit, it made sense; if the NPCs spilled everything about the challenge designed by the system, where would the fun be in playing?

He guessed that the reason she alerted him at all was probably because of their friendly ties.

"Everyone, be careful not to..."

"There’s no use, they can’t hear you. All communication functions are blocked here, you can only rely on yourself."

The Elf Queen cut off Su Ran before he could finish shouting, her gaze lost in the Dragon Soul Sand in her hand.

"This is troubling."

Su Ran looked at the two on the opposite side, hoping no mishaps would occur.

Luckily, Xue Wuqing and Banana managed to leap over without triggering any deadly formations. Being Elves, they possessed a natural talent for jumping which far surpassed that of humans, and as long as they remembered the sequence of the pillars correctly, passing this challenge wasn’t difficult.

However, after clearing the challenge, Banana’s face turned deathly pale, obviously frightened by the sudden appearance of the dense fog.

Leading the way ahead, the Elf Queen soon arrived at a wall, above which was a stone-carved eyeball. Su Ran felt as if the eyeball was staring right at him, which made his skin crawl.

"Swoosh!"

The crown atop the Elf Queen’s head emitted a dim light, which funnelled into the eyeball. At that moment, the stone sphere rotated and the wall cracked open, revealing a dim chamber.

Filled with curiosity, Su Ran surveyed the room around him; the walls were covered with ancient scrolls, the scripts on which were completely indecipherable to him, presumably ancient Elvish text.

Su Ran glanced at the two Banana characters and found that they were also showing a bewildered expression, so even without guessing, it was clear neither of them had studied the Elves’ script.

Being of the Elf race yet not recognizing Elf script was truly a joke.

In the very center of the ground, there was a teleportation circle covered with dust and lots of paper scraps, indicating the teleportation circle hadn’t been used for a long time.

"Skeleton Warrior, the teleportation circle leads straight to the heart of the Elf Forest. I hope you can bring out the Heart of Repentance; only then can the Elf race avoid a disaster!"

The Elf Queen waved her hand, and a light breeze swept across the teleportation formation, clearing the dust and shreds of paper, revealing the original appearance of the teleportation circle. At the same time, she slowly placed the Dragon Soul Sand on the teleportation circle. The sand floated in mid-air, the teleportation circle started functioning, and emitted a bright luster.

"Ding! Congratulations to player Skeleton, forced task [Nature’s Punishment] has progressed to the second stage. Proceed to the Lifeline Space of the Elf Forest, obtain the Heart of Repentance, and deliver it to the Elf Queen."

The system notification sound followed, giving Su Ran hope of completing the task. What made him extremely frustrated was that such forced tasks could not be declined or abandoned; it was like being coerced into debauchery, without any human rights – the system was too malevolent!

After making certain promises to the Elf Queen, the three of them, Su Ran included, stepped into the teleportation circle and vanished from the secret chamber.

...

Lifeline Space, a towering mountain rose from the ground, surrounded by foul-smelling black water, ruining the scene.

Three flashes of white light abruptly appeared halfway up the mountain. As the light faded, Su Ran and his companions materialized.

"Heck, what is this smell? It’s too disgusting!"

Banana frowned as he spoke, covering his nose. He looked around for the source of the smell.

"So this is the Lifeline Space of the Elf Forest, why does it look so ghastly?"

Although Xue Wuqing found it hard to accept, she didn’t lose her composure like Banana. Looking at the bleak, barren mountain without a hint of green, it felt like a barren wasteland, causing one to sigh.

"Banana, stop wandering around. I have a feeling that something very strange is going on here, and danger must be lurking."

Su Ran stopped Banana from pacing back and forth and signaled him to calm down.

"Overturning Water, look quickly, the channel below our feet,"

Banana finally found the source of the foul odor and pointed to the shiny black water beneath them as he exclaimed, "The stench is rising from the water!"

"Gentlemen warriors, I am surprised by your arrival."

A magnetic voice spoke up, interrupting Banana’s unfinished sentence and drawing the attention of the trio.

"Hmm?"

Su Ran was startled and turned his head to look in the direction of the voice, only to realize a tall, slender male elf was standing on the mountain top, looking down at them.

"Damn, this system made the male elf look so handsome. Did it consider my feelings at all?"

Banana glanced at the graceful male elf and then at his own physique, murmuring his dissatisfaction with the system.

"You should feel lucky, in the Elf race, you couldn’t find one uglier than you."

Suppressing a laugh, Xue Wuqing deliberately teased Banana. She seemed in a good mood after seeing the task NPC.

"You..."

Banana found himself at a loss for words for a moment.