Just as Wang Xiaole reached out his arm, preparing to hand the water bottle to Mewo White, more than a dozen pale arms suddenly reached out from beneath the ground.
These arms were not reaching for anyone in particular, but instead aimed at an unexpected target.
With a soft "whoosh" sound, Wang Xiaole watched as these rapidly retreating pale arms, subconsciously tightening his right fist, feeling as though he were grasping at air.
Glancing to the side, he realized that the bottle he had been holding had now disappeared without a trace; if this were a world of comic books, there should have been a few dotted lines surrounding the missing water bottle inside his right hand.
"Water..."
Mewo White exclaimed in a voice tinged with loss, uttering the first word to leave her lips that day.
Following Mewo White's intense gaze, Wang Xiaole saw the white hands emerging from the ground, teaming up and swiftly shuttling across the ground, their enticing intentions quite clear.
Having snatched the water bottle and beginning to flee, he could conclude two things:
Firstly:
The water in the bottle was drinkable; otherwise, why would those individuals snatch it away?
Secondly:
The individuals were reckless, causing a bit of trouble over here, not even sparing the water!
Losing just a water bottle wouldn't be a big deal, after all, there was still plenty of flowing water nearby, and he could just refill another bottle.
But when he asked Mewo White, he learned:
She only had that one water bottle with her.
As for Wang Xiaole himself, he had never planned to carry such items with him in the first place.
In other words, the one item just snatched away by the pale arms was the only water bottle among this small team...
"Mewo White, let's run!"
In that moment, Wang Xiaole was grateful for breaking the ice earlier;
Otherwise, he really might not have been able to catch up with those individuals now.
Relying on magic to solve the current situation, or directly attacking the pale arms, was certainly not feasible.
He couldn't rely on the quality of the water bottle, grateful that it could withstand a "fireball" and still remain intact.
The two of them set off in pursuit.
Wang Xiaole had Mewo White sit on his shoulders, hoping that when they caught up with the pale arms later, she could use him as a springboard to leap and retrieve the water bottle.
The arms positioned in front of the four pairs of eyes were making a different effort;
In a chain-like manner, they were slowly transferring the water bottle from the rear to the front to prevent it from being taken back too early.
For a cheap item in the outside world, not even worth a copper coin, both sides were truly giving it their all.
This also indirectly reflected:
The guards of the first gate in the ancient city relied purely on strength to hinder intruders;
The guards of the second gate seemed more agile;
Their principle was to fight if they could, intimidate (the old man's mission) if they couldn't, and resort to rogue tactics when necessary.
However, resorting to rogue tactics was at best a means to an end, not the ultimate goal of the arms.
Their intention remained to lure, intending to lead Wang Xiaole and Mewo White to the next gate.
They didn't know:
In fact, even if they didn't have to risk their lives to do so, the two would still advance to the next level…
With the advantage of their pale arms being able to occasionally dive underground, this chasing game between them lasted for a full half hour.
It wasn't until Wang Xiaole saw a great hall in front of him that the arms finally stopped hiding.
Confirming that the target had been brought near the destination, they swiftly flung the water bottle back, as if finding it tiresome to hold it for too long.
At the moment of a successful "take-back battle," Wang Xiaole drew his long sword, controlling the blade with his right hand to slash forward!
In the blink of an eye, those arms were all broken, turning into shattered earth, returning to the depths of the earth as they fell.
This was a true "chopping off" in every sense.
Then, Wang Xiaole stopped, looking up at the hall in front of him.
After setting down Mewo White, the two of them entered the hall together;
As soon as their feet stepped inside, the teleportation array immediately activated;
Shortly after, they were teleported into a very vast forest;
The forest was quiet, with no rustling of leaves or grass.
"I wonder what kind of challenge this level will bring?" Wang Xiaole looked at the forest, his expression incredibly relaxed.
Afterwards, he bent down to hold Mewo White's hand and walked forward with her;
The forest was large and beautiful, but aside from flowers, plants, and trees, there were no animals or insects, which seemed a bit strange.
As they walked for a while, they encountered nothing and faced no attacks, making their experience very peculiar.
Almost an hour passed, and just like their previous encounters, it continued as if to indicate that the place was very safe.
"Strange, this shouldn't be the case, right?" Wang Xiaole furrowed his brows, feeling something was amiss, so he stopped Mewo White and asked her to stay put.
According to common sense:
When adventurers go through challenges, there should be strong guardians to face, or one or two fierce monsters to deal with.
In the current situation, not encountering any obstacles seemed unbelievable to Wang Xiaole.
He then looked around and suddenly realized.
Before, Wang Xiaole hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings, focusing on preventing sudden attacks, which made him walk in vain for such a long time.
Now, as he stopped to examine his surroundings, he noticed something was wrong:
Everything around him seemed unchanged, no matter how far he walked forward, the environment remained exactly the same;
As if hitting a dead end, he and Mewo White circled around and found themselves back where they started.
With his understanding of magic, Wang Xiaole concluded:
There was a massive magic array set up in the forest to trap people like himself;
He told Mewo White:
"If we can't break free, there's a high chance we'll be stuck in here for the rest of our lives, never able to leave!"
In truth, Mewo White wasn't concerned about such consequences.
In the heart of this little girl, she felt that staying in this beautiful place with her "big brother" forever seemed quite happy.
However, Mewo White changed her mind and remembered the older sisters waiting for the "big brother" to return, so she thought it might be better not to;
If she monopolized the "big brother," she felt somewhat guilty towards those sisters…
As Mewo White was thinking about not betraying those sisters, Wang Xiaole was contemplating the strategy to break the magic circle.
No matter what kind of magic array it was, as long as it was discovered, the problem wouldn't be too big.
The main environment of this level was the forest, and the trees were what hindered people from leaving;
If all the trees in the forest could be destroyed, then perhaps the effect of the magic circle could be automatically broken.
"Sorry!"
Due to the need to break the circle, Wang Xiaole hugged Mewo White while speaking, then lifted her up and jumped off the ground.
This intimate scene did not escape the eyes of the capture from the outskirts of the ancient city, the White Water, and the White Bear.
The former's reaction was relatively calm, understanding that Wang Xiaole did this in order to pass the trial, and just widened his eyes.
The latter was different.
If it were not for the strong teeth of the beastkin tribe, the White Bear might have completely shattered its upper and lower rows of teeth by now.
"Hey, what is your intention in sending the young man to pass the trial? You're not deliberately creating an opportunity for him to be alone with your granddaughter, right?"
At the right moment, White Water's question was timely; the White Bear was also considering at this moment and repeatedly asking in his heart:
"Wasn't my request for him to enter the ancient city to expose his true self?"
The White Bear thought:
After sending Wang Xiaole into the ancient city, his daughter would definitely follow suit. At that time, the exploration mission would become an adventure for "two people only."
More explorers did not mean a better situation. The White Bear knew his daughter's abilities were limited. Even if she received the reinforcement of the forbidden spell, she would still just be a burden in such a place.
From Wang Xiaole's point of view:
Upon arriving at a place that required cautious action, it already carried significant risks;
Then Mewo White, though adorable but not very helpful, appeared, significantly increasing the difficulty of passing the trial...
Putting himself in Wang Xiaole's shoes, the White Bear thought for a moment, feeling that if he were in his place:
Finding a chance to shake off Mewo White, or prioritizing dealing with dangers during the trial, adopting a cold attitude towards Mewo White;
These two reactions would be the most reasonable!
And if Wang Xiaole did choose one of the above two modes of response, the White Bear could tell his daughter when she returned:
"That guy is no good!
Despite his usual gentle treatment of you, he is actually a sanctimonious hypocrite...blah, blah, blah (omitting the length of a thesis)".
The above was the normal storyline imagined by the White Bear, but the scene he subsequently saw in the crystal ball was vastly different from what he had imagined.
The White Bear saw Wang Xiaole lifting his daughter up, then using the branches of a large tree as stepping points, progressively jumping into the air.
Seizing the moment of his brief pause in mid-air, Wang Xiaole immediately activated his wood elemental magic.
With himself as the core, a surge of magic energy spread across a radius of dozens of kilometers, starting to absorb the life force of numerous flowers, plants, and trees with its devouring nature.
At that moment, the entire forest began to shake violently.
Countless trees and plants rapidly withered, one after another collapsing, until they eventually turned into dust.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
Once the forest had completely transformed into a dead zone, the path leading to the exit became clearly visible;
A red grand palace at the end, which should be the next stage.
Wang Xiaole did not rush forward but patiently waited;
A few minutes later, the lurking threat underground could no longer contain itself, bursting out at the next moment;
Immediately after, a huge green frog leaped out from the ground, deciding to engage in a direct confrontation with Wang Xiaole after its ambush plan failed.
The frog was over twenty meters long, and appeared about fifteen meters tall, but it didn't look particularly frightening due to its resemblance to its kind.
