Chapter 20

First Special Encounter Point

Really?

Everyone looked towards Gurney subconsciously.

Right now, Gurney also nodded with a solemn expression.

Gurney could act more freely and relaxed now, but he felt that it was better to give them some pressure. After all, be it the guys ambushing them outside or the upcoming exploration, they were tricky situations to deal with. When facing pressure, these students would also be more vigilant.

“Yesterday afternoon, at our campsite…” Avery described his findings to them.

This was not too far from Gurney’s perception.

After Avery finished his explanation, the three female mages all showed a nervous expression on their face.

The enemy was hiding in the dark, while they were exposed. Furthermore, they had entered this mysterious Spatial Origin Realm, and their exit was now blocked by the enemy. This was truly a dangerous situation.

“Even though the enemy’s plan seems wonderful, we are not without a chance to fight back. And that chance to counterattack lies here,” Gurney said in a slow manner.

“Counterattack? Retaliate against them?” Avery was slightly surprised. Looking at the situation, his original plan was to stall for time!

Currently, the enemy’s goal was to lure them into exploring this dangerous territory. If they died here, the enemy would know that it was dangerous inside; they would not come in.

If they had some gains and left, the enemy would ambush them outside and kill them, gaining the benefits without taking the risks; they could kill two birds with one stone.

Right now, the enemy had not realized that they knew this was a trap, so what they could do was to wait at the entrance of the cave and not go in to seek death. After all, they brought sufficient food with them, and as Apprentice Transcendents, they were able to endure hunger much better than ordinary humans.

After staying here for half a month, the enemy would think that they were already dead. By then, they would be able to leave safely.

Even though this solution would take a long time, it was secure and safe.

Avery simply did not think that Gurney would directly come up with a plan to counterattack.

Counterattack…? Could they succeed?

Gurney rubbed his temples as he slowly explained, “The enemy is waiting for us to end our exploration before killing us outside. Too bad for them, they do not know that we have already seen through their plans. Thus, we can definitely go and explore this cave. We can find those things that are useful to us, and if we can get supernatural tokens, we will be able to advance and become Transcendents immediately.

“Afterwards, using the information advantage we have, we will set a trap near the entrance and lure them to us before killing them. Of course, we still need to analyze the exact situation. If we cannot get anything useful, we will stall for time and leave safely later.” Gurney described his plan as everyone felt more assured.

Avery who was listening to him showed a worried expression. “The enemy’s objective is to get us to explore this place. If we enter deep inside… I am afraid that…”

Avery’s worry was not without reason.

If Gurney did not have his system’s [Special Encounter], he would not enter deeply either. He would endure the hunger and wait for time to pass as it would be the safest measure.

But with his system, the situation was different.

Gurney had already come up with the speech to convince them.

“Opportunities often come together with danger,” Gurney said in a tone that was slightly deep. “This is the bait that our enemy is using, but it is also a chance for us to get stronger. Am I right?”

These philosophical theories were usually the most convincing.

Even though Avery sensed something weird, seeing Gurney’s confident tone, he did not interrupt.

Meanwhile, the Philosophy Knight nodded and muttered to himself, “This is indeed a great chance for us to seek opportunities amidst danger.”

Gurney cast him a quick glance while thinking,

I am only giving them some motivation, but you are thinking too deeply into it.

Next, Gurney looked towards the depths of the ragged tunnel. It was completely dark inside, and even with the light of Fire Arrow, they could not see much further.

“I will take the lead. Avery will guard the back. Everyone, follow me closely. Remember not to wander off on your own.”

“Got it!” Everyone responded positively.

Gurney gave such instructions simply because the blood magic domain that the Blood Magic Grandmaster created using this Spatial Origin Realm was very dangerous.

Deep within the ragged tunnel.

Gurney controlled the Fire Arrow that he had created, using it as a torch three meters ahead of him. Even though he could position it further, that would cause a greater strain on Gurney’s mental power.

They moved along carefully. After just advancing a hundred meters, the group had already avoided two traps along the way.

A fork in the path appeared in front of them. This forked path led to a left path and a right path, and both looked the same.

However, Gurney knew from the details given by the system regarding these two forked paths. The left one was a genuine dead end; there would be many blood leeches nurtured within. They were mystical lifeforms that had no form or shape and existed in another plane.

If Gurney guessed correctly, this Blood Magic Grandmaster must have used a certain method to summon it from another world, or maybe he just found it from his explorations.

Once a person came into contact with the blood leech, it would enter their blood vessels and draw blood continuously until the person died from a lack of vital energy. After they died, they would turn into dried corpses. It was a truly terrifying thing.

If they chose the wrong path, the outcome would be a complete wipeout.

This 50 percent chance of annihilation was clearly displayed before Gurney’s eyes.

“The left path cannot be entered. I sense a great danger from it. It is likely also a dead end.” Since he could not explain why, the reason became his instinct.

As expected, once Gurney said that, everyone’s expression turned solemn, but they were in agreement.

Looking at the left path again, everyone showed signs of fear and worry.

Under Gurney’s lead, they went into the right tunnel and progressed vigilantly.

As they continued to move, Gurney was able to experience the true value of this [Special Encounter] fully on this trip. Along the way, Gurney easily avoided several traps and forked paths that could have wiped them out.

Without this special encounter function that gave them a way to advance without encountering danger, Gurney felt that it would have been a miracle if they could even get to the first special encounter point.

…

Half an hour later.

Gurney looked through his system repeatedly before closing it.

At this time, the group had already arrived in a wide stone hall.

Under the light of the blazing Fire Arrow, everything around was in full view.

To the left and right, there were a number of darkness-attribute plants in pots, but because they had not been taken care of for so long, the pots were in ruins, and the darkness plants were instead growing everywhere; the scene was slightly messy.

After looking at these disorganized darkness-attribute plants, a flash of joy appeared on Gurney’s face. Then, under everyone’s gaze, Gurney picked out a purple pole-like plant about the length of a chopstick and the thickness of a finger from a bunch of purple thatch-like plants.

Before anyone could see clearly, Gurney used a dazzling array of methods to process it. He then put it into the black thorn box and stuffed that into his backpack.

“What is that?” Everyone looked toward him curiously.

“A material needed for a type of invisibility potion, it has decent value,” Gurney lightly replied.

Along the way, whenever possible, Gurney would collect these herbs. Nobody minded his actions. After all, when they bought potions from Gurney, the price would be much lower than the market rate.

But in fact, this purple pole-like plant was roughly estimated by Gurney to be over two hundred years old; it was a genuine supernatural treasure, and it could really be used to make invisibility potions. However, its greater use was to create a secret mark potion, a type that could increase one’s sensitivity.

Thereafter, everyone looked towards the end of this hall.

There was a “Supernatural Door” that had supernatural runes carved on it. Supernatural Doors were often used as seals, and they could not be opened without specific methods.

In others’ perception, this was a Supernatural Door. However, Gurney knew clearly that behind this door was the first of the three special encounter contents that the system had described, the Alchemy Storage Room.