"Let me replenish my health first."

Having barely made it down the mountain, Xue Wuqing immediately started chugging potions, and only once her health was fully restored did she set off towards the aqueduct with Su Ran.

"Cough cough cough..."

Xue Wuqing was overwhelmed by an intense stench, and couldn’t stop coughing. Her face turned pale from the unbearable smell, and in a panic, she retreated several steps before she finally felt a bit better.

"I told you not to come, but you insisted. Regretting it now, aren’t you?"

Su Ran said somewhat amusedly to Xue Wuqing, yet he was shocked by the strong toxicity in the aqueduct.

However, Su Ran was not afraid of the toxins created by the Power of Curse, especially with the Ancient Relic and the scythe, which completely countered the deadly poison in the aqueduct!

With that thought, Su Ran endured the foul smell, scythe in one hand and relic in the other, and jumped into the aqueduct without hesitation.

"Overturning Water!"

Xue Wuqing saw Su Ran jumping in recklessly, her face turned deathly pale, and she screamed. She wanted to rush forward to pull Su Ran out, but the stench emanating from the aqueduct made her helplessly stop in her tracks, a feeling of despair rising in her heart.

In such a situation, what Su Ran was doing was no different from suicide, with no chance of survival!

"It’s so frustrating! ’Spilt Water Can’t Be Regained’ seems so clever, yet how could he be so foolish at a critical moment?"

The more Xue Wuqing thought, the angrier she became, "Now just great, might as well give up on the quest, I’ll see how you explain this to the Elf Queen!"

"Huh?"

As Xue Wuqing was complaining, she unexpectedly noticed that the repulsive odor around her was weakening. Within a few breaths, she couldn’t smell it anymore.

"Could it be..."

Xue Wuqing’s eyes lit up, hope reignited from within, and she hurriedly made her way towards the aqueduct.

Upon reaching its edge, she then noticed that the aqueduct’s dark water was visibly becoming lighter, the black venom converging in one direction. In a short while, the entire aqueduct was crystal clear, revealing Su Ran within the water.

"Whoosh."

Su Ran leaped out of the water, floating in the air, looking down at the crystal-clear water with a sense of accomplishment.

The absorption efficiency of the Ancient Relic was increasing, he had thought this difficult task would take half an hour, but it ended in just minutes. The rate seemed to be significantly related to the strength of the ancient poison dragon, which surprised and delighted Su Ran.

"Overturning Water!"

Xue Wuqing waved at Su Ran, her eyes however, stayed on the Ancient Relic in his hand, eager to understand what kind of treasure could absorb all the toxins, which was just too bizarre.

"Let me first absorb all the toxins from this mountain!"

Su Ran targeted the mountain; under the full absorption by the Ancient Relic, the Lifeline Mountain finally regained its original appearance, and the foul smell completely disappeared from the Lifeline Space.

Not bad, not bad, getting these toxins increased the good impression of the ancient poison dragon significantly!

Thinking of this, Su Ran’s jaw couldn’t stop grinning.

"What’s that treasure in your hand that’s so powerful?"

Xue Wuqing caught up with Su Ran, surprised at the relic and curiously asked.

"This is just a special device specifically to deal with toxins, it’s not that significant, no need to be so surprised."

Su Ran casually stuffed the Ancient Relic back under his seat and quickly changed the subject, "Come on, let’s see what else this NPC wants to pull."

Seeing that Su Ran was not willing to disclose the attributes of the Relic, Xue Wuqing stopped asking and climbed toward the summit with him.

"Noble warriors, I am surprised by your efforts. The greatest blight in the Lifeline Space has been eradicated by you."

The elf NPC smiled at Su Ran and his companion without showing any sign of surprise.

"Since you both have completed the task I assigned, I will tell you where the Heart of Repentance is."

As he reached a pivotal point in his speech, the elf NPC paused deliberately, brewing the atmosphere before continuing, "This precious Heart of Repentance lies right beneath your feet, inside the Mountain of Lifeline!"

"What?"

Now it was Su Ran’s turn to be surprised. How was he supposed to find it in such a huge mountain? Did he really need to hollow out the mountain?

Su Ran remembered clearly—destroy the mountain and the elf race perishes. This wasn’t a joke!

"Elder, can you be more specific? The mountain is so big, we hardly know where to start."

"It’s not that I can’t tell you. Just follow me."

The elf NPC turned and walked toward the center of the summit. He stopped, stamped forcefully on a protruding stone, and with a rumbling sound, the ground sank, revealing a winding staircase going downwards, which was quite astonishing.

"Here, this is the Sealed Land of the Heart of Repentance. Just a reminder, without advanced excavation skills, it’s impossible to break the Lifeline’s seal."

The elf NPC turned around, adopting an air of superiority and gazing deeply into the distance, he nonchalantly said, "This seal is exceptionally sturdy, not something ordinary people can break. However, don’t be too despairing. I have a Unsealing talisman here that can break the seal temporarily, but it’s extremely valuable. You’ll need to pay..."

Before the elf NPC could finish, Su Ran interrupted him.

"Elder, we just dug up a box from below. Is the Heart of Repentance inside it?"

What?!

The elf NPC, forsaking his image, suddenly turned his head and noticed that the Undead Skeleton was holding a beginner’s hoe, with a red wooden box in his hand—and the sight of this box left him speechless.

A beginner’’s hoe?

This... this is unscientific!

"Skeleton Warrior, what you are holding is indeed the wooden box that contains the Heart of Repentance,"

The smile on the elf NPC’s face had frozen as he spoke with a trembling voice, "You’ve dug it out already?"

"It felt pretty easy, actually. Just two strikes of the hoe and it came out,"

Su Ran realized he might have just cut off the elf NPC’s source of income and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, "Well, if it really matters, I could put it back and dig it out again?"

"..."

The elf NPC was left speechless. It had to be said that the Skeleton’s speed in breaking the seal had let down his reliance and trust in the seal. With no other option, he could only sigh deeply, "Skeleton Warrior’s mining ability is stronger than I expected. However, this wooden box is a locked item, and getting the specific key is not that simple..."

"I have a Universal Key, it should be able to open this box."

Before the elf NPC could finish, Xue Wuqing interrupted him. Immediately after, she pulled out the Universal Key and inserted it into the box. With a click, the box opened.

At this moment, the NPC felt like cursing up a storm.