Chapter 254: New Altar

The eerie purple mist rushed at his face; Lin Yifan instantly stepped back several meters and held his breath.

Yet in the next second, a purple‑black line‑shaped object emerged from the mist, charging straight at Lin Yifan's face.

"Again!" Lin Yifan frowned, immediately using Shadow Traverse to dodge.

However, the line‑shaped object also shifted direction, continuing to chase his face.

"What the hell is that thing, why does it never end!"

Lin Yifan's brows knit into a deep furrow, but at this moment he finally saw exactly what the thing was.

It turned out to be a snake!

A purple‑black snake, only as thick as a cotton thread!

But for some reason, upon seeing the little snake, Lin Yifan felt a sudden chill crawl up his spine.

He instantly rallied, drew his enchanted Machete, and slashed at the black snake.

Even before striking, he activated an Attribute Double Buff; with the doubled attribute bonus, Lin Yifan's power surged to its peak.

The strike naturally landed, cleaving the little black snake in two at the seven‑inch point.

However, the snake's head still lunged at Lin Yifan's face, but he dodged it again.

Only after Lin Yifan sliced the head in half did the little black snake finally die completely.

Lin Yifan looked at the segmented snake and finally let out a sigh of relief.

At that moment, information about the little black snake appeared before his eyes.

【Three-Tier Beast: Black Line Snake (the Black Line Snake is extremely fast and highly poisonous!)】

"It's a Three‑Tier Beast?" Lin Yifan stared at the little black snake in disbelief, his heart filled with dread.

Having faced another Three‑Tier Beast before—the Shadow Wolf—he knew its power; without his attribute doubling and two short‑range instant‑teleport skills, he would be no match in a one‑on‑one.

But the Black Line Snake before him only differed by being a bit faster; its sole trait is its potent toxin.

He had already witnessed its speed; compared with the Three‑Tier Shadow Wolf, it's not vastly superior, though still dangerous.

Yet the Three‑Tier Shadow Wolf possessed several abilities, whereas this snake only has a single poison.

So just how terrifying this poison must be?!

Just a casual touch could kill you outright!

This made Lin Yifan inevitably feel dread.

Standing still, he took several deep breaths before finally calming down; looking at the Black Line Snake corpse's 'Decompose?' prompt, he chose 'Decompose' without hesitation.

He certainly didn't want to touch such a terrifying venomous snake with his hands!

Moreover, the Black Line Snake's corpse was only a tiny fragment, leaving him no way to decompose it himself.

After he selected Decompose, the Black Line Divine Shield Stone turned into a black ray, eventually becoming two items.

【Decompose Successful!】

【Three‑Tier Beast Crystal (Dark Attribute) ×1】

【Black Line Snake Poison ×1g (Warning! Black Line Snake Poison is one of the top ten deadly toxins; one milligram can kill a Three‑Tier Beast!)】

Lin Yifan stared at the Black Line Snake Poison info and instantly inhaled a cold gasp!

Just one milligram can poison a Three‑Tier Beast!

This is utterly absurd!

So with this in hand, if he meets another Three‑Tier Beast, he can kill it with this poison!

It's basically a trump card!

Lin Yifan carefully lifted the tiny vial containing the snake poison, examined it repeatedly, then cautiously extracted about a milligram and smeared it onto his Shadow Dagger.

The Shadow Dagger was already an excellent stealth weapon; with this venom, it became an assassination masterpiece.

After a moment's thought, he took out two Arrows and coated a bit of the snake poison on them.

He then placed these three items together with the poison carefully into a corner of his space, using them as his ultimate reserve.

Although the recent crisis gave him the chills, the profit from the pure snake poison was huge!

And there was also a crystal!

It was a bean‑sized crystal, jet‑green in color!

"Dark Attribute Crystal?" Lin Yifan frowned, lifted the crystal and examined it several times, then suddenly realized he could sense a unique energy from ingesting it.

The energy was somewhat wild, yet felt oddly familiar!

He even felt an urge to swallow the crystal; Lin Yifan, of course, restrained the chaotic thought and tossed the crystal into his space, finally sighing in relief!

The fact it could affect his desire meant such an item must never be underestimated!

But what exactly is this thing?

Why, among Three‑Tier Beasts, did the earlier Three‑Tier Shadow Wolf not drop a crystal, yet the Black Line Snake did?

Could it be a random drop?

Lin Yifan couldn't figure it out and was too lazy to investigate further.

The more beasts he slays later, the more he can verify.

Now he's even more curious: this mysterious black Treasure Chest has already yielded Three‑Tier Beasts; what valuable items does it truly hold inside?

He cautiously approached the black box, fearing another chaotic beast might emerge.

Only when he stood beside the Treasure Chest, finding it completely still, did he lean in to look.

The white box contained very little, only two items listed!

An ancient tome glowing with purple light, and a dark‑red crystal.

Lin Yifan took out the ancient tome and instantly saw the information on its pages.

【Skill Book: Shadow Strangle】 (Can be mastered after learning)

Learning requirement: Intelligence attribute must reach 60 or above.

【Skill Feature: Consumes 20 points of Intelligence, marks a target, manipulates shadow energy to strangle; if the target's Life Tier is lower than the skill user, it instantly kills! If the target's Life Tier is higher than the user but within Three-Tier, it puts the target into a grievous injury state; if the target's Life Tier exceeds the user by more than Three-Tier, the skill fails!】

Upon reading the skill information, Lin Yifan's pupils jolted dramatically!

The Shadow Divine Form he previously obtained granted him a third talent, but the talent provides only two skills: 【Shadow Traverse】 and 【Shadow Dominion】.

The former lets him instantly teleport short distances, while the latter lets him merge into shadows, making him undetectable.

He admits he was in a hurry before; when he encountered the Nether Wolf Pack, he forgot he also had an invisibility skill.

Otherwise he wouldn't have had to fight the Nether Wolf Pack head‑on, but the benefit of the clash was decent, so Lin Yifan doesn't regret it.

However, both skills only serve self‑preservation and lack any offensive ability!

Now, at last, the Shadow series attack skill has arrived!

Moreover, it's an instant‑kill skill; even though the instant‑kill applies only to those with a lower Life Tier than him, that's sufficient!

Lin Yifan unhesitatingly grabs the skill book; his Intelligence attribute exactly meets the learning requirement.

Without any hesitation, he immediately chooses to learn.

The skill book transforms into a violet beam that enters his body, and a flood of knowledge on shadow manipulation instantly surges into his mind.

【Congratulations on acquiring new skill: Shadow Strangle (Basic)】

Skill learning succeeded, and Lin Yifan lets out a sigh of relief!

At the same time he can't help but want to find a target to test the skill's effect.

But there is no suitable target nearby, so he can only set the thought aside and shift his attention to another item in the Treasure Chest.

It's an oval board, its ends slightly upturned, fitted with two clips, resembling a snowboard!

Lin Yifan focuses on the board, and item information instantly appears before his eyes.

【Magic Flying Board: After securing both feet in the clips, one can control the board to fly low at 200 km/h; using this board consumes 5 Intelligence points per minute】

Lin Yifan's eyes light up instantly!

This thing is actually a flight device!

It should be noted that all speed‑type devices currently held by Survivors are either the Mountain Bike he previously obtained or acceleration boots.

Such a straightforward magical device has never appeared before, and it's a flight device!

Although the five‑point Intelligence per minute cost is hefty for ordinary travel, it becomes top‑notch when rushing for urgent matters or escaping danger.

Lin Yifan can't wait, secures both feet on the 【Magic Flying Board】, and then attempts to control it.

He originally thought piloting the board would be difficult, but in fact it is very simple.

When his feet are fixed on the 【Magic Flying Board】, the board acts like an extension of his body, freely controllable.

"Swish!"

With a flick of his will, the board instantly lifts him into the air, soaring forward toward the direction his mind has locked onto.

The wind resistance from high‑speed flight distorts his features, but the thrill of cutting the wind makes Lin Yifan let out a wild howl!

Which man doesn't love excitement?

Let alone the thrill of aerial flight!

No man can stand in his way!

However, the board's altitude is limited; after Lin Yifan's tests, the maximum height is about three meters above ground, any higher fails.

Even so, Lin Yifan feels completely satisfied!

Moreover, since there exists a low‑altitude flight device, there must also be a high‑altitude one he will encounter someday!

He darts up and down, left and right, having a blast!

He consumes most of his Intelligence, enjoys the thrill, and finally stops.

But then he suddenly realizes he can't find his bearings!

It doesn't matter; since he's in an Instance, as long as he completes the 【Resource War】 Instance mission, he'll return to the same spot in the Initial Domain.

So where he is now is irrelevant!

The most important thing now is to hunt monsters and quickly accumulate points.

At this moment the leader has already reached 400 points!

No one knows where that person is, yet they manage to find so many monsters to hunt.

What frustrates Lin Yifan is that the Black Line Snake he just killed gave him zero points.

Apparently the monsters that emerge from the mysterious Treasure Chest don't count for points!

Frustration aside, the final say belongs to the Survival Realm, and Lin Yifan has no recourse, so he must hurry to hunt monsters.

In the next few hours he both searches and hunts; efficiency is quite good, amassing a heap of materials and gradually raising his points to 450.

Now he is only 30 points behind the leader.

As long as his luck improves, catching up to the leader is just a matter of time!

However, sustained high‑intensity combat is taking a toll on Lin Yifan's body.

Even though there is food that can restore Physical Stamina, mental fatigue still overwhelms him, so he simply finds a secluded cave to set up a temporary camp and rest.

After lighting a campfire in the cave, he roasts monster meat while checking the latest messages in the chat channel.

【Long Aotian】:"Help! I encountered a Giant Octopus Monster on an island! Who can tell me how to deal with this thing?"

【Fang Ruyun】:"The farm's roosters mutated and are terrifying! My arrows can't pierce their feathers!"

【Chen Kēnán】:"An ice crystal palace was discovered on the Snow Mountain; it seems to contain treasure, but two snow monsters guard the entrance. Anyone forming a team?"

【Touming de Xiao Glass】:"Stop the ghost cries! I'm in a forest, now surrounded by a pack of Nether Wolf Pack, urgently need a big brother to rescue me…"

……

It seems everyone's situation is not looking good.

Lin Yifan let out a soft sigh, unable to help feeling a bit like a rabbit grieving a fox's death.

But at that moment, his private chat message suddenly lit up.

Ruan Qingtan: "Captain, Hong Shaoqiang and I were teleported to the same District! There is a Discarded castle here, and we discovered some strange things in the castle's underground… you'd better come take a look."

The person who sent him the message was indeed Ruan Qingtan.

But what Lin Yifan didn't expect was that his two teammates were so lucky as to be assigned to the same place.

And at that moment, Ruan Qingtan sent him a blurry photo.

Indeed, Light Screen can take photos!

Only, Lin Yifan had never studied it before, nor had he ever used it.

Looking closely at the blurry photo, he immediately noticed that it showed a massive altar, and at the altar's center floated a gem emitting red light.

Lin Yifan stared at the red gem, and his complexion instantly turned terribly grim!

Because that gem was identical to the one placed on the altar they had previously destroyed!

This is the second altar!

The second altar for Summoning the Abyssal Gate!

—We must rendezvous with them as soon as possible!

Lin Yifan's heart tightened, and he replied immediately:

"Where exactly are you? Describe your location to me in as much detail as possible, then stay concealed, don't act rashly, and I'll figure out a way to get there right away!"

Ruan Qingtan's message quickly returned: "We're in the Gloomy Forest, but we can't pinpoint the exact spot; Unique thing we can confirm is that there's a very tall mountain nearby. If you're also in the Gloomy Forest, just look for a very, very tall mountain, and you should be able to find us!"

Gloomy Forest, a very tall mountain!

Lin Yifan felt a sudden relief, because he happened to be in the Gloomy Forest right now; had he been on some snowy mountain or seashore, he wouldn't have been able to get there at all.

As for the very tall mountain!

Lin Yifan stepped out of the cave, checked the bearings, and immediately spotted, in the distant northwest, a faint outline of a towering mountain!

There were no mountains in any other direction!

Whether it's that mountain or not, Lin Yifan decided to hide for a while!

He quickly extinguished the fire and rushed out of the cave.

Night had deepened, and a Blood Moon rose silently, dyeing the whole forest with an eerie red.

Lin Yifan didn't even have time to worry about expending intellect; he rode the Magic Flying Board, crazily speeding through the dense Gloomy forest.

The Blood Moon hung overhead, and the shadows in the forest seemed to come alive, tree silhouettes twisting and writhing, occasional low beast roars echoing, more dangerous than during the day.

He dared not be careless, nor waste time, and immediately unfolded a slight Eternal Freeze Domain, cold spreading beneath his feet, dispersing the restless shadow creatures around him.