Chapter 1 Walking to the Flight Point

Walking near the flight point, which was actually just a stable, one could see numerous gigantic bats housed inside. They were plump and robust. Standing at the entrance of the stable were several aged, frail, and rather ugly-looking gnomes.

Nie Yan suddenly received a system notification.

Task Progress: Proceed to Brunte Reef, located in the Scorched Islands.

Nie Yan walked toward the old gnome.

The old gnome looked up and asked, "Greetings, esteemed guest. What service do you require?"

Nie Yan scanned the list of destinations at the flight point. It was densely packed with dozens of locations. He spotted Brunte Reef in the Scorched Islands and said, "Please take me to Brunte Reef."

"At your service." The old gnome led out a massive bat from the stable and fitted it with something akin to a saddle. "It's ready, sir. The fee is 50 silver coins."

Nie Yan paid the money.

The giant bat ambled forward a few steps, appearing quite docile.

In his past life, Nie Yan had also used flying mounts, but he rode a gryphon. The flying mounts at the Greenland flight point were all gryphons.

Nie Yan mounted the giant bat. It flapped its wings, soared into the air, spiraling upwards. Gradually, the white tents below grew smaller and smaller as they flew towards the distant islands.

The giant bat flew over the Sea of Lava. A wave of scorching heat rose from below, causing the giant bat to shudder violently.

Sitting on the giant bat's back, Nie Yan gripped tightly onto the ropes fastened to the bat. After a while, the giant bat leveled out and glided at an altitude of roughly two to three hundred yards above the surface of the Sea of Lava.

The distant, towering volcanoes and the plumes of smoke rising into the sky grew closer. The giant bat flew past the volcanoes and headed further away.

Nie Yan looked ahead. He saw numerous islands scattered across the Sea of Lava, arranged in a peculiar manner.

Nie Yan guessed that these islands must have some history. He searched the official website for information on the Scorched Islands. According to the website, the area was originally part of the territory of the Kerkeby Empire, a powerful gnome empire comparable to the Undead Empire. Eventually, it was submerged by the Sea of Lava. The ruins of some ancient gnome cities still existed on these dozen or so islands, but many areas had been taken over by lava monsters and fire spirits.

Lava monsters and fire spirits often dropped gems and other valuable items, making them popular among players.

After flying for more than ten minutes, the giant bat gradually descended, landing on a large island covered in calcareous deposits formed from volcanic lava. Through the cracks in the calcareous deposits, one could see the flowing magma below.

System: You have discovered Brunte Reef.

At the center of Brunte Reef was a volcano, billowing black smoke like a giant chimney.

Bennet's soul flew towards the central volcano.

Nie Yan quickly followed. After checking the information on the official website, he discovered that this was an Level 80 map, so he became cautious. He didn't summon the Golden Earth Dragon because it would only be sent to its death if it encountered an Level 80 elite.

He activated Stealth and made his way towards the dense jungle in the distance. Many tall, black plants grew there, the nature of which was unknown. Some of them were even aggressive.

After traversing through the forest for a while, he saw some fire spirits moving about. These fire spirits were about three yards tall and resembled humans, with their bodies engulfed in red flames.

Flame Spirit: Level 80, HP 80000/80000

Flame Spirits were a more advanced type of fire spirit. Their HP was not high, but they possessed powerful fire magic and were very strong.

Even Nie Yan didn't dare to face more than two Flame Spirits at once.

The Flame Spirits roamed through the forest, their flames illuminating an area of about thirty yards around them.

Using his Stealth skill, Nie Yan avoided the Flame Spirits and followed Bennet's soul, gradually venturing deeper into the forest. A tall, towering tree in the distance caught his attention. This tree was five or six yards tall, like a giant umbrella. Its thick trunk would take five or six people to encircle. Some of its dense roots were exposed.

Bennet's soul floated over and paused for a moment. Nie Yan scanned the area and noticed several animal skeletons at the base of the giant tree. There were also some shiny objects scattered on the ground, their nature unknown. Next to the tree was a treasure chest. The treasure chest was small and covered in a thick layer of dust, making it look rather inconspicuous.

Unsure if there were any unforeseen dangers nearby, Nie Yan surveyed his surroundings. There were no monsters in sight. He walked over, bent down, and began picking up the items scattered on the ground, discovering that they were actually pieces of metal, about the size of a fist.

Nie Yan examined the metal.

Nightmare Gold (Quality 7): Raw Material.

In Nie Yan's memory, Nightmare Gold seemed to be a material used for the strings of city defense crossbows, due to its extreme toughness. This material was very difficult to find and could only be found in areas with frequent volcanic activity. It was most abundant and of the highest quality near volcanoes, but volcanoes were usually very dangerous, and few people could reach them.

There were twenty or thirty pieces of Nightmare Gold scattered on the ground nearby. Nie Yan picked them all up and then walked towards the treasure chest at the base of the tree. The treasure chest was firmly embedded in the roots of the tree, giving it an ancient appearance.

Nie Yan brushed away the dust. The top of the treasure chest was engraved with strange runes and a white skull-shaped lock, emitting an eerie aura.

He wondered what era it was from. Nie Yan wasn't familiar with the history of the Undead Empire, but judging from the material of the treasure chest, it must have been hundreds of years old.

It was dark gold-grade, which was quite rare.

Nie Yan bent down to open the treasure chest. The lock was difficult to open.

System: Opening treasure chest, completion rate 3%... 5%...

Opening this treasure chest would take a long time. Just then, the roots of the nearby tree suddenly coiled out and wrapped around Nie Yan's right foot.

Nie Yan was shocked. He never expected that this tree would suddenly attack him. Countless tendrils stretched out towards Nie Yan.

The originally motionless tree suddenly opened a pair of eyes and turned into a tree demon.

Nie Yan, who was halfway through opening the treasure chest, was interrupted.

Nie Yan glanced at his skill bar. Gale Step, Shadow Dance, and other escape skills could not be used because these skills required him to be running, but his right foot was firmly entangled by the tree's tendrils.

Seeing countless tendrils coiling towards him, Nie Yan realized that if these tendrils completely surrounded him, he would no longer be able to escape, because he could feel his HP being drained away by the tree demon.

Nie Yan suddenly understood what those skeletons on the ground were.

However, he had no skills to break free from the tree demon's root entanglement!

A flash of inspiration struck Nie Yan! Who said he didn't!

Nie Yan used the Transform Gnome skill on the Gnome Ring, and his body rapidly shrunk. His right foot also rapidly shrank, causing the tree roots tightly binding his right foot to suddenly loosen.

He quickly pulled his foot out and ran away, managing to dodge the tree demon's sweeping roots.

The tree demon was obviously surprised that Nie Yan's body had shrunk. After realizing that Nie Yan had escaped, its tendrils rapidly lunged towards Nie Yan.

Boom, boom, boom! The tree demon's tendrils pierced into the ground like falling arrows.

Nie Yan kept dodging left and right. Seeing a tendril piercing down towards him, he used Gale Step to block the tree demon's attack. Unfortunately, after transforming into a gnome, his movement speed was greatly reduced.

Because his legs were short!

Dense tendrils pierced down, about to completely cover him. Nie Yan used Polymorph, shrinking his body again, turning into a wildcat. He leaped forward, jumping five or six yards, passing through the gaps between the tree demon's tendrils.

The tree demon was still relentless. After missing its attack, it continued to coil towards Nie Yan. Its tendrils had already reached twenty yards in length, but they were still lengthening.

Nie Yan leaped, his body sticking to the trunk of a nearby tree. Sharp claws suddenly extended from his paws, firmly gripping the bark. He quickly climbed upwards, reaching the top of the tree, then leaped from the trunk of that tree to the trunk of another tree, quickly dodging the tree demon's attack and disappearing from the tree demon's view. Only then did the tree demon give up on Nie Yan, and its tendrils slowly retracted.

After running fifty or sixty yards, Nie Yan reached a hidden corner, canceled the Gnome Transformation and Polymorph, leaned against a tree trunk, and breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally safe. It was too dangerous just now. If he hadn't thought of using the Gnome Transformation skill, he might not have been able to escape.

This tree demon was truly insidious, disguising itself as an ordinary tree, using the dark gold treasure chest as bait, and launching a fatal attack when players opened the treasure chest. Nie Yan almost died there, but luckily he reacted quickly enough.

The tree demon, unable to catch Nie Yan, slowly retracted its tendrils and transformed back into a tree, making it impossible for anyone to sense that it was a tree demon.

Nie Yan activated Stealth and slowly approached to within about twenty yards of it, casting Super Identification on it.

Dark Tree Demon: Level 80 Elite, HP 300000/300000.

This guy's HP was so high!

Moreover, it was immune to magic, rendering magic ineffective. Its physical defense was also very strong, and ordinary arrows could not damage it.

However, it had one weakness: it could not move. In addition, its tendrils had a maximum attack range of thirty yards.