In the evening, the setting sun hung low, struggling to penetrate the red mist.

In front of a tent, Li Wenwen took a sip of water mixed with wakefulness powder, her tired expression easing slightly.

"Finally, no one's coming anymore."

As soon as her words fell, a man stepped forward and walked over.

"I want to rest now... it's Lang Ge!" Li Wenwen's face instantly lit up with joy upon seeing who the visitor was.

"Wenwen, help me repair my equipment." Xu Lang took out the Ghostly Profound Armor.

"Okay!" Li Wenwen wasn't sleepy at all anymore.

Due to the high-intensity work, Li Wenwen's Sequence development was very thorough, and repairing durability was an effortless task for her.

However, Li Wenwen deliberately dragged out the time a little, looking at Xu Lang with a flushed face as she said, "Lang Ge, are you going pioneering again?"

"Yes." Xu Lang nodded.

The pioneering frontlines were too chaotic. Li Shuwen had reassigned Li Wenwen to a new location, thinking it would be safer and that she could still benefit from resources from two pioneering points. However, he found that business had dropped off significantly.

People still preferred impulse purchases, so Li Wenwen came back to the Art Institute building, setting up camp and working from nine to nine.

"Lang Ge, are you coming to pioneer in this area this time? I have a map drawn by my dad and the others," Li Wenwen said.

"No, but I can take a look at the map," Xu Lang replied.

The Simulation Dream had clearly stated it was about exploring the poisonous miasma of Ginkgo Avenue. If he ran around randomly, his deduction power would drop significantly, and the error margin would skyrocket.

After repairing the armor, Xu Lang stepped into the Blood Mist World, heading towards Ginkgo Avenue.

As soon as he entered the Blood Mist World, he saw several players fighting blood corpses.

Blood corpses were practically worthless monsters. Most people would simply bypass them upon seeing them;only small teams would bother to engage.

"Keep the body more intact! That way, we can sell it for a higher price at Sister Luo Lin's place!"

"Second Brother, hurry up and knock it flying!"

"It's finally dead!"

Xu Lang swept a glance over them and quickly moved away.

Grinding the Blood Pelican Demon Blade's attributes in the simulation world was meaningless.

Following a familiar route, he arrived before the poisonous miasma. Xu Lang swallowed a capsule that increased resistance and plunged right in.

"It's Lang Ge!" Zheng Kai, who was dodging vines emerging from the ground, spotted Xu Lang.

A group of players all saw Xu Lang, their movements slowing slightly.

Xu Lang paid no attention to these people, rushing forward at extreme speed.

He ignored any monsters inside the poisonous miasma, charging straight ahead until he finally stopped before a faintly glowing church.

A landmark emitting faint light indicated this was a "stronghold." Occupying it for a certain period would allow the safe zone to expand here.

This church was one of the famous buildings of Clear Sky University. It was said that a certain master was hired to design it back then, giving it a very British style.

Behind Xu Lang trailed a group of various monsters.

There were moving stone statues and swamp lizards with blood flowing from their eyes.

These monsters were all incredibly strong!

In the Blood Mist World, powerful monsters shared one characteristic: they only spawned once. Once dead, they were gone for good.

Holding the blood blade, Xu Lang stared blankly at the church, feeling a tremor of fear in his heart!

On the vast church coiled an unknown elongated creature. Its body was as thick as a truck, winding around the church in coil after coil!

"Is this a dragon?" Xu Lang found it hard to believe.

If not for the creature's slight, undulating movement within the blood mist, he would have thought it was some strange decoration.

His right leg instinctively took a step back.

The next second!

Xu Lang erupted with extreme speed and charged into the church.

A pulpit stood at the very front, with rows upon rows of seating below.

A peculiar circle was etched into the floor, its diameter encompassing most of the church. It began accumulating energy the moment Xu Lang entered.

Xu Lang sensed the aura of the Mad King Building within it.

However, just standing here made his scalp tingle. Who knew how long it would take to fill this energy gauge!

*Thump thump~ Hiss hiss~*

A sound of something grinding and slithering rang out, followed by a massive white snake head poking through the church doorway.

This snake head was the size of two train engines. Its snake pupils were crimson like blood, with two black vertical slits piercing the center of each pupil, like entrances to an abyss.

Xu Lang's blood nearly froze. A spine-chilling cold shot straight up his back.

[Measuring target... Blood Mist Giant Snake... Aberrant Species... High Toxicity... Strong Scale Armor Defense... Suspected Psychic Control Abilities... Assessed as Extremely High Danger Level, Cannot Be Contained, Recommended to Flee]

The contact lens flashed, jumping with various data streams!

*Hiss hiss~*

The Blood Mist Giant Snake flicked its crimson forked tongue. It paused about ten meters from Xu Lang, then suddenly accelerated, charging forward!

"Fuck your mother!" At the critical moment, Xu Lang twisted his body and swung the blade.

The cold blade sliced into flesh, blood gushing forth like a spring!

The contact lens had indicated the Blood Mist Giant Snake's scale armor defense was strong, but what did that have to do with the Blood Pelican Demon Blade?

The Blood Pelican Demon Blade was always worthy of trust!

If Xu Lang's Sequence power were still intact, this slash would have cut even deeper!

The sharpness increased by the Blood Soul was specifically for armor penetration, akin to physical penetration in a game.

*Hiss~*

Intense pain shot through it. The Blood Mist Giant Snake hissed, its body writhing, causing stone fragments to rain down from the vaulted ceiling.

Xu Lang nearly lost his footing. Seizing the moment of the snake's pain, he continued to swing his blade furiously!

A flowing light Ghost Slash descended from the sky, at least seven meters long!

There was a reason for such ferocity this time: Xu Lang had directly infused ten portions of Innate True Qi into it. It was pure brute force!

*Clang!*

The Blood Mist Giant Snake's flesh melted away like ice and snow under the strike, but its crystalline skull stubbornly withstood the blow!

"Tough bastard!" Xu Lang cursed and kept slashing.

This Blood Mist Giant Snake just kept howling in pain, acting like a useless piece of trash!

Against these instinct-driven monsters, the Blood Pelican Demon Blade's agonizing effect was just too damn effective.

The Blood Mist Giant Snake's movements were too violent. It soon broke free from the storm of blade strikes, raising its head high.

Xu Lang noticed its flesh was regenerating.

If this wound hadn't been inflicted by the Blood Pelican Demon Blade, it would have mostly healed by now.

Xu Lang gathered strength in his body, wanting to pursue, but his body suddenly staggered!

Abruptly, he looked down and saw his own body had rotted beyond recognition.

His muscles were festering. Inside his chest cavity, his internal organs were almost melted into bloody water. Innate True Qi was protecting his vital organs, but it still couldn't hold back the approach of death!

Only then did Xu Lang suddenly realize his nostrils were filled with a sickly sweet, metallic scent!

...

"Damn it, that's way too sneaky!" In Dorm 200, Xu Lang woke up, suddenly remembering that the sickly sweet, metallic scent had been present from the moment he saw the Blood Mist Giant Snake flick its tongue.

He had just been ignoring it all along.

That Blood Mist Giant Snake's psychic control didn't seem to be a strong, direct type, but rather one that caused cognitive blurring and interference.

But those players' analysis was correct;there really was a stronghold at the end of Ginkgo Avenue!

Xu Xiaomeng was playing a game. Seeing Xu Lang suddenly sit up in shock and then lie back down to sleep, she indicated she was already somewhat used to it.