Chapter 96: Space Plaza: Ancestral Snake Trial

【Challenger Notice (All Channels): The game is about to undergo a major 1.6 version update. The functions opened in this update are as follows】:

Poster: Guide (Official)

Content:

Upon the conclusion of this update, a new functional building will be opened in the East District of Di Zhong Village: the Teleportation Plaza.

Building Function Introduction: Players can use the plaza to perform cross-regional jump teleports, quickly reaching teleportation nodes already connected to Di Zhong Village...

As the game prompt popped up, Di Zhong Village shook accordingly.

East District.

Above the area originally piled with building debris, a distorted black hole appeared; all the building debris were absorbed by the black hole, and white floor tiles rapidly assembling and combining appeared on the ground, with glowing blue spiritual vein tracks wandering over the tiles, quickly outlining.

In the central area, two dark blue Shi Zhu covered in rule runes rose from the ground, a distorted rotating black dot appeared in the center, continuously enlarging at a speed visible to the naked eye, until the edge of the black hole neared the Shi Zhu, as if locked by an invisible force, stopping its expansion.

The pitch-black vortex fluctuated violently, with countless colorful light spots appearing inside, like boiling pool water, rendering the spatial vortex colorful.

The plaza floor tiles, once assembled on the ground, lit up from the edges, converging toward the center along the spiritual vein paths from eight directions.

Boom!

When the central node was connected by the spiritual veins, the two Shi Zhu sealing the spatial vortex ignited with scarlet flames, and the colorful spatial vortex in the center stabilized accordingly.

Half an hour ago, Qi Sheng, who was behind the scenes, received a connection from Yan Ming.

Learning that the spatial teleportation array at the Colorful Mist Coast had been fully deployed, he decisively activated the update to convey this news to the players.

After the spatial teleportation array was generated, it consumed Shou Shou Jili every minute and second to maintain operation; he needed to transfer this stable expense to the players.

More importantly, the opening of the Colorful Mist Coast region would provide players with more collectible spiritual resources, and even lead them to find more Meng Yuan Chu monsters that could be contained.

After the update notice popped up, the player forum completely exploded.

All players were discussing the spatial teleportation array and related information about the Colorful Mist Coast.

When players within Di Zhong Village uploaded photos of the Teleportation Plaza to the forum and regional voice channels, the discussion heat climbed again.

During this period, players continuously spent 5 points of Shou Shou Jili to pass through the spatial teleportation array and descend upon the Colorful Mist Coast.

The scene that subsequently appeared before their eyes made the arriving players even feel the illusion of entering the wrong game.

Compared to the Di Zhong Mountain Range, the art style of the Colorful Mist Coast was like an entirely different world.

The environment of the Di Zhong Mountain Range was filled with dark elements.

Piles of corpses forming mountains, broken weapons visible everywhere, hideous and ugly Hei Chao Xie Sui, a dark red evil moon hanging high in the sky, twisted and entangled decaying plants... these elements combined made the environment of the Di Zhong Mountain Range appear exceptionally oppressive and cold.

But the environment of the Colorful Mist Coast was completely different.

Bright sunlight, blue sky, refreshing sea breeze, stretching white sandy beaches, air mixed with the fragrance of spiritual fruits... various elements intertwined to form a breathtakingly beautiful environment that made one's mind feel refreshed.

At this moment, a white sand crab, blowing bubbles and holding two large claws, walked sideways past the front of the teleportation array.

Even the native monsters appeared exceptionally cute in the eyes of the arriving players.

Soon, the regional voice channel was filled with players' exclamations:

"Holy crap, holy crap, I must have entered the wrong game, this place is off!"

"Stunned, isn't this the apocalypse scene covered by the Hei Chao Xie Sui? How is the air here sweet, and even the energy intensity in the air has significantly increased? Allow me to take two more puffs to taste and compare the difference with the air of the Di Zhong Mountain Range."

"Dumbfounded, just now when I entered the spatial channel and saw the teleportation option for the Colorful Mist Coast, the scene I imagined in advance was: the sea under the evil moon shining was thick and surging like ink, an ancient ghost ship tossing and turning with the waves, a tattered flag fluttering loudly in the cold wind, countless ghost shadows wandering and howling on the sea... Gazing at the end of the sea, dark clouds were dense, thunder roared, every time lightning flashed, illuminating the horizon, countless pitch-black tentacles reaching toward the sky flashed by, and a terrifying low moan could be faintly heard coming from the depths of the sea... As a result, the scene before my eyes completely confused me, I almost thought the scene loading had failed, the gap is so huge."

"As a fishing enthusiast, seeing the word 'coast' I knew I had to come, sure enough, I came to the right place, hahaha, advancing to a sea fishing player."

"Brothers, look quickly at the end of the sea, is this the evil moon scene?"

"Damn, the evil moon is actually hanging at the end of the sea, it seems this is a map before the apocalypse descends, we might witness the process of the new map being covered by the evil moon with our own eyes."

The continuously updated screenshots on the forum attracted a large number of players to travel to the Colorful Mist Coast via the teleportation array.

Especially players choosing the fishing growth path rushed across the spatial teleportation array to descend, searching for fishing spots to prepare to start sea fishing mode.

The debut of the new map also stimulated the exploration desire of many players.

This included exploration-focused players.

One of their core goals in experiencing the game was to find breathtaking scenery and understand the history and culture of different regions in the game world.

The environment of the Colorful Mist Coast captivated them.

As players scattered to explore, the atlas function on the map also updated rapidly.

New plants, monsters, spiritual resources, and other information were continuously recorded; as the mist dispersed, the clear areas on the map expanded outward during this period.

Inevitable combat followed.

Although the monsters near the coast were not as cruel and bloodthirsty as the Xie Sui or the insect swarms, many possessed extremely strong territorial awareness.

The players' rash behavior of exploring everywhere met with fierce attacks from the monsters near the coast.

Qi Sheng discovered through real-time statistical data.

Among the players traveling to the Colorful Mist Coast, nearly one-third had been killed during the exploration of the new scene, and this number was still continuing to expand.

Before opening the teleportation, Qi Sheng conducted regional sampling.

He discovered that the hunting intensity in the Colorful Mist Coast region was completely opposite to that of the Di Zhong Mountain Range.

The characteristics of the Hei Chao and insect swarms in the Di Zhong Mountain Range region were huge numbers, but the strength of individual combat units was not high.

The Colorful Mist Coast region had no Xie Sui or Hei Chao; the monsters inhabiting here were characterized by strong individual combat power, but low density, and even group-living monsters were far less dense in number than the Hei Chao and insect swarms.

It can be foreseen that the opening of the new map will inevitably bring a wave of updates in Star Pulse combinations to adapt to the combat environment of the new map.

However, in terms of choosing the main battlefield, Qi Sheng will still take the Di Zhong Mountain Range as the core development region.

After players explore and familiarize themselves with the new map, they will discover that if they want to grow quickly, the Di Zhong Mountain Range is the better choice.

Although the insect swarms and Hei Chao are fierce, they are excellent hunting targets.

Hunting in the Colorful Mist Coast still requires exploration and searching, but the Hei Chao and insect swarms in the Di Zhong Mountain Range region are rampant right in front of one's face.

Whether for Evolution Points or for Shou Shou Jili, the rewards of the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range far exceed those of the Colorful Mist Coast.

Especially for the various guilds seeking development, the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range is their ideal choice, whereas solo players tend to favor developing in the Colorful Mist Coast.

But in the initial phase just after opening, the enthusiasm for exploring the new map continued to climb.

Two days later.

A player posted a thread, attracting the attention of many players.

In the post, the player described accidentally discovering an ancient temple while exploring the dense rainforest behind the coast.

Thinking it was an easter egg scene, the player resolutely entered to explore.

During the exploration, traps were found everywhere inside the temple, suspected to hide a hidden quest or easter egg treasure; the poster hoped more players would join the exploration to search for the hidden treasure within the temple.

The post also included many scene screenshots, sparking heated discussion among players.

It also attracted many interested players to head there; they entered the temple according to the coordinates in the post, attempting to challenge the traps and advance.

At this stage, the popularity of the post was not high.

Until a player discovered a mural inside the temple; after the text on it was guided, analyzed, and translated, this passage was obtained:

【Only potential warriors who complete the trial may receive the Serpent Ancestor's reward. The thorn-filled challenge requires a fearless heart and a resilient will to cross numerous obstacles; when reaching the peak of the trial, the Serpent Ancestor's power will awaken, granting the warrior their deserved glory.】

This translated information represented two meanings in the players' understanding.

One: The trap trials inside the temple are a hidden easter egg quest.

Two: Players who complete the easter egg challenge can obtain wealth bestowed by the Serpent Ancestor, possibly a considerable Shou Shou Jili reward.

This screenshot was exposed on the forum, instantly attracting a large number of players to enthusiastically participate in the challenge.

Emperor's Tomb Village.

The resurrection cooldown ended, and Ding Yu's figure appeared in the Resurrection Plaza.

Imitating the performance in popular videos, he attempted to stage an assassination art in the insect swarm, but the result was extremely miserable.

He tried five times; each time, at the instant of switching to physical form, he failed to precisely control the attack frequency of the insect warriors and was overwhelmed and devoured by the attacking insects.

"Sigh, it's so hard."

After the fifth failure, Ding Yu completely abandoned the idea of trying again.

He also realized that achieving the spectacular performance shown in the videos required long and arduous training, something no ordinary player could casually replicate.

At this moment, he stepped forward toward the teleportation plaza in the eastern district of Emperor's Tomb Village.

During the resurrection cooldown time, he discovered on the game forum that many players were heading to the Colorful Mist Coast to challenge the temple trials.

After watching several challenge videos, he developed a strong interest.

The temple trial felt to him like the level-clearing mode in an adventure game; the trial process involved traps, puzzles, and a series of challenges, and no player had successfully completed the trial yet.

With curiosity, he arrived at the teleportation plaza of Emperor's Tomb Village.

The ground here was paved with white jade, carved with complex spiritual rune trajectories.

At the very center stood a towering teleportation gate, its core a swirling, twisted colorful vortex.

One could see players constantly entering the teleportation plaza nearby, wanting to use the teleportation gate to head to the Colorful Mist Coast region.

Following the flow of people, he walked straight into the teleportation gate.

Immediately, a teleportation option popped up before his eyes.

【Challenger Notice: Entering the spatial teleportation channel. Please select the destination teleportation point:】

1. Colorful Mist Coast (Cost: 5 points of Shou Shou Jili)

Although called a teleportation option, currently there was only one selectable location.

On the right side of the option, there was also a miniature overhead map of the teleportable scenes.

From it, one could see the white sandy beach connecting to the azure sea, and the lush rainforest behind it.

Using his consciousness to tap the "Colorful Mist Coast" option, a colorful channel assembled itself in front like stacking blocks, extending endlessly toward the end.

A powerful suction force then surged, dragging him forward rapidly.

When the suction force vanished, he found himself already appearing at the spatial teleportation node of the Colorful Mist Coast.

The air here carried a hint of sweetness; not far away, a group of players were roasting crab-like creatures over a campfire, chatting and laughing, looking like they had come for a relaxing vacation.

He summoned the map function, and the panoramic view unfolded before his eyes.

In the top right corner, it displayed: Map Exploration Rate: 1.84%.

Vast areas were still shrouded in mist, undeveloped by players.

Using his consciousness to zoom in on the map, he found the location marked by forum players; above it was a miniature temple marker icon.

Without hesitation, he turned and headed toward the marked location.

Weaving through the rainforest, there were no artificially repaired roads here; ancient trees, sturdy and tall, grew nearby, their trunks covered in layers of moss and vines. The deeper one ventured inward, the more the sunlight could barely penetrate the dense canopy, casting mottled, interlaced shadows.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of mixed soil and vegetation, occasionally interspersed with the faint fragrance emitted by fruit trees.

One could also hear the rising and falling chirps of insects and birds, as well as the low roars of beasts that came from time to time.

Time passed.

Crossing a crystal-clear stream, Ding Yu arrived at his destination for this trip.

The main body of the temple was built from piled red giant stones; the entrance was entwined with vines and ferns, looking very ancient.

With curiosity, Ding Yu passed through the temple entrance along the messy footprints left by players.

At the end of a straight corridor, the light grew dim; only a few beams of light filtered down through cracks in the ceiling. The interior space was vast, and on a central stone altar stood a three-meter-tall statue of the Serpent Ancestor, carved from black stone, shaped as a snake-tailed, human-bodied monster coiling upward.

Although ancient, the scales on the human-headed, snake-bodied monster were still clearly visible, shimmering with a ghostly light in the dim environment, as if ready to wriggle into motion at any moment, displaying vital life force.

On the stone slab beneath the statue, a passage of complex text was engraved, many of the characters already blurred and indistinct.

His gaze focused, and the analyzed information surfaced in Ding Yu's mind:

【……Countless times I prayed to the great god Beneath Di Zhao, creator of all things, for salvation, hoping for the True God's return, only to receive a rotting world and withering all things…… I was wrong…… but I will not give up…… Warriors of my clan, I will continue to lead you in battle against the Black Tide until life itself perishes.】

Through this textual description, Ding Yu recalled the information given when the Guidance analyzed the dark cave.

There too had remained a mighty warrior who believed in Beneath Di Zhao, who ultimately perished in the war against the Black Tide, leaving behind only an upright, unyielding husk.

Thus, it is evident that during the years Beneath Di Zhao vanished, countless warriors did not give up.

This Snake Ancestor was clearly one of them.

The words carved on the stone slab seemed capable of stirring emotions, allowing Ding Yu to feel the Snake Ancestor's resentment, anger, unwillingness to yield, determination, and other emotions within his heart.

Bypassing the Snake Ancestor statue and the faint spiritual rune arrays beside it, Ding Yu continued deeper into the temple.

Before long, he arrived at the first checkpoint of the trial challenge.

Ahead lay a bottomless cliff; countless stone blocks floated in the air leading to the platform at the end. Players must advance by stepping on the floating stones; a single misstep would send them falling into the endless abyss.

At the starting point, many player figures hesitated and lingered.

Some players were attempting to advance by jumping, but the floating stones had very small surface areas. During their jumps, some players lost their balance and fell into the abyss, their screams echoing as they grew fainter and fainter until their souls returned to Di Zhao Village.

After carefully observing the arrangement of the broken stones, Ding Yu simulated a feasible path with his vision.

After repeatedly observing and confirming feasibility, he chose to initiate the challenge directly.

The moment he stepped onto the first floating stone, he sensed something was wrong; an invisible suction seemed to emanate from the pitch-black abyss.

His body would suddenly sink heavily during a jump, nearly causing him to fall into the abyss.

Glancing toward the second stone ahead, he leaped again, landing on his toes, and used the momentum to launch into continuous jumps.

Before long, he crossed the path of floating stones and arrived at the second platform.

Here too stood a statue of the Snake Ancestor, with a line of text carved on the stele below:

Only warriors with unyielding wills may receive the power bestowed by the Snake Ancestor.

Looking up ahead, he saw a narrow, winding corridor; on both sides were cold stone walls embedded with energy stones emitting faint, scattered light.

Upon observation, he found that when players ahead explored and advanced, metal spikes would suddenly shoot out from Kong Dong in the stone walls, their surfaces stained with dark green poison, or energy light spikes would suddenly rise from the ground; all players struck by the spikes would dissolve into black mist.

The passage contained both energy damage and physical damage.

This checkpoint clearly tested the challenger's observational judgment and reaction ability when danger struck.

To challenge this checkpoint, one must guard against dangers attacking from four directions at any moment while advancing.

Before starting the challenge, Ding Yu chose to stand aside with other players, observing those who had already begun the challenge to analyze how to pass the checkpoint.

During this time, many voices were chatting heatedly in the local voice channel:

"Next one, hurry up and take your turn; why are you all just standing here?"

"Why don't you go? Why should I go first?"

"The Snake Ancestor said only warriors with unyielding wills can pass the trial. Your cowardly observation displeases the Snake Ancestor greatly; he demands you act immediately, or else when the statue revives, it will whip you with its tail."

"Sss, another brother just got pierced straight through the heart; it looks painful. I dare not continue playing."

"I've watched for half an hour and found the trap trigger time has no pattern whatsoever; it's completely random. This tests reaction ability far too much. As a magic-type player, what do I do if my mind reacts but my body can't keep up?"

"What else can you do? Return your soul to Di Zhao Village and lock yourself in the small dark room for an hour."

……

Unlike the players currently challenging.

The players standing aside observing were mostly hesitant, appearing afraid of the traps yet unwilling to miss the trial rewards.

After a brief observation, Ding Yu shook his head in regret.

Just as the players in the regional voice channel described, this narrow, winding corridor made it impossible to calculate the trap trigger times; they were released completely at random.

In that case, further observation was meaningless.

Ding Yu decided to initiate the challenge right then.

Arriving at the starting point, just as he was about to step into the trap corridor, a challenger notification sounded in his mind:

【Challenger Notification (Regional): Congratulations to player "Da Tie" for completing the Snake Ancestor trial, receiving the Snake Ancestor's blessing: 1400 points of Shou Shou Jili (converted).】

Guidance Notification: Remaining trial reward attempts: 5432.

Guidance Notification 2: Information of all players who complete the trial will be scanned and recorded by the Snake Ancestor's lingering will; repeating the challenge is impossible.

……

The sudden news caused the players present to erupt in uproar.

What they had not expected was that the Snake Ancestor trial challenge rewards had a limit on the number of times, and each player could claim them only once.

Just then, notifications of completed trials rang out one after another.

The game names of the Veteran Corps members appeared in sequence.

(End of this chapter)