This MC is so original

"It's not you who's building the road, so of course you don't care. You have to be careful when building the road. Although I can build it quickly, if I make a mistake once, I will fall directly into the lava. I don't want to swim in the lava."

"How about...let me give it a try?"

Hu Tao was eager to try, thinking that Lu Xiu could do this because he must have used some special method to process the netherrock, and that he should be able to do the same with the processed netherrock.

"You come?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiu was immediately happy. He naturally had no objection to someone being willing to act as a road-tripping tool. Moreover, it was a good opportunity to see if other people could use the drops he made like he did.

"Here, I'll give you a set of netherrack."

Lu Xiu opened his backpack and threw a group of netherrack in front of Hu Tao.

"Okay, let's take a look at mine!"

Walnut squatted down and reached out to grab the small fallen piece of nether rock, but when she exerted too much force, her waist almost broke.

"Eh? This is so heavy!"

Walnut reluctantly stretched out her other hand, and tried to pick up the group of nether rocks with both hands at the same time, but the result was that a layer of fine sweat beads seeped out of her forehead, and the group of nether rocks was still floating quietly on the ground without moving.

"What... is going on? Did you do this?"

Hu Tao looked at Lu Xiu with some surprise. She seriously suspected that this guy didn't want her to play with this magical thing and was deliberately doing this behind her back. How petty! Humph.

Lu Xiu spread his hands innocently and said, "I didn't do anything wrong. If you can't lift it, it's obviously your own fault."

"Tsk! Zhongli, you try it!"

Hu Tao took a step back, stood behind Zhongli, patted him on the back, and motioned him to go up and give it a try.

Zhongli had been interested in the miniature netherrock in Lu Xiu's hand for a long time, but he had never spoken up. Now that he had the chance, he did not refuse. He walked forward and reached out to hold the netherrock like Hu Tao had done before, trying to pick it up.

When Zhongli exerted force, Lu Xiu clearly noticed that the falling object moved slightly, but soon fell back to its original position.

Zhongli Saran smiled and let go of his hand, spreading his hands and saying, "I can't lift it either."

Lu Xiu just looked at him suspiciously without saying anything. After picking up the nether rock, he continued to build his own road.

Zhongli narrowed his eyes as he looked at Lu Xiu who was concentrating on building the road.

Just now, when he was holding the nether rock, he tested it. That group of nether rock weighed hundreds of tons. It was normal that Hu Tao couldn't lift it. Although he could lift it, Hu Tao didn't know his true identity after all, so he gave up.

On the contrary, Lu Xiu picked up the item weighing hundreds of tons as if nothing had happened.

"interesting."

P.S. Sorry for taking a break before. This is the third update. I will continue writing until I finish and then take a break. There are three more updates to come.

Chapter 49: Equalist Wither Skeleton

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Xiu and his companions finally crossed the lava lake under their feet.

After landing back on the ground, Walnut couldn't help but sigh, "It's still so comfortable to have my feet on solid ground. Standing on that one-meter-wide bridge, I always feel like I'm going to fall off at any moment."

However, Lu Xiu and Zhongli did not respond to the conversation, but instead they gathered together and started chatting.

"Still in this direction?"

"Yes, it's about 600 meters ahead, but I'm not sure which of the two fortresses you're talking about."

After confirming the direction, the three of them quickly moved in that direction, but they were soon stopped by a strange sandy area.

Walnut frowned as she looked at the brown sand in front of her. The dark sand grains seemed to form painful and distorted human faces on the surface of the sand. Moreover, she didn't know if it was Walnut's illusion, but she could always see a few transparent miniature human figures twisting and rising on the sand from time to time and then dissipating in the air.

This strange scene made even Hu Tao, who was used to seeing death, feel a little uncomfortable. She raised her hand and tugged at Zhongli's sleeve, her voice trembling.

"Hey Zhongli, you're so knowledgeable, please explain what's going on in this sandy area. Did someone deliberately set up some kind of magic circle there to create an illusion?"

Zhongli also narrowed his eyes. He saw the strange scenes that Hu Tao saw. Compared to Hu Tao, Zhongli could even more clearly feel the danger brought by this piece of sand. Although it might not pose any threat to him, it might not be the case for others.

Zhongli turned to Lu Xiu and asked, "Is there any way to get through this area?"

"Method?" Lu Xiu was stunned for a moment, then walked over randomly, stepped on the soul sand, and walked forward slowly as if he didn't notice anything unusual.

"Just walk over there. If you want to get through faster, you can jump and place other blocks under your feet. Of course, there's another more convenient way, but I can't do it right now, and I don't think you can do it either."

Zhongli frowned as he watched Lu Xiu walking on the soul sand. Apart from walking a little slower, he seemed to be unaffected, so he also walked over.

But when Zhongli's feet just stepped on the soul sand, a biting chill came from the soles of his feet, followed by scenes of past memories that he did not want to recall.

"Well."

Zhongli frowned, retracted his foot, and was about to remind Hu Tao when he saw that Hu Tao had already taken a step forward. As a result, Hu Tao's face gradually turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zhongli was startled and quickly reached out to pull Hu Tao back from the soul sand. His spiritual sense swept over Hu Tao and he was surprised to find that Hu Tao's soul had weakened a lot, as if a part of it had been absorbed by something.

"Master? Master, are you okay?"

Hu Tao pressed her forehead, feeling a little dizzy. "My head is a little dizzy. I just saw my grandfather waving at me from the other side of the Styx..."

"Master, please don't go over there. Just tell your grandfather that you are afraid of water."

After comforting Hu Tao, Zhongli called out to Lu Xiu who was walking normally on the soul sand.

"Mr. Lu Xiu, there's something wrong with this sand."

When Lu Xiu turned around, he saw Hu Tao, who looked weak, and walked back with a puzzled look on his face.

"What's wrong with soul sand? Doesn't it just slow things down?"

"Is this sand called soul sand?"

Zhongli memorized the name and secretly raised his hand to put a handful of soul sand into his sleeve. Then he said to Lu Xiu, "Just now, when Hu Tao and I stepped onto this soul sand, we both experienced varying degrees of hallucinations and weakness. What's going on?"

"I really don't know about this. This is the first time I've heard of this happening when walking onto soul sand."

Lu Xiu turned around and looked at the large area of ​​soul sand. He had never tried to understand the background story of the soul sand. After all, he was just a player and didn't care whether there was a tragic story behind the soul sand. He just wanted to play games.

I didn't expect that soul sand would have such a negative impact on normal people. I've learned something from it.

However, Hu Tao's weakness at the moment delayed Lu Xiu and his team's progress, so they could only stay where they were and wait for Hu Tao to recover.

After a while, when Hu Tao's face became a little rosy, Lu Xiu suggested that they continue on their journey.

"This time I'll lay out blocks on top of the soul sand. You can step on my blocks and move forward. It should be fine."

Zhongli and Hu Tao nodded, and Lu Xiu took out the netherrack again and took a running start, jumping while padding the blocks under his feet. Compared with walking on soul sand before, his speed was significantly improved.

This time, Zhongli did not let Hu Tao go up first. Instead, he took a tentative step on the road repair pad and tried it. When he found that the previous thing did not happen again, he let Hu Tao go up together.

However, before they could go far, Zhongli and Hu Tao discovered that Lu Xiu in front of them suddenly stopped.

"Why doesn't Mr. Lu Xiu leave?"

Lu Xiu didn't look back, but what he said did confuse Zhongli and Hu Tao behind him.

"Zhongli, Hutao, are there any gods here that are more effective?"

"Huh?" Hu Tao, having regained some of her energy, was as lively as before. She crossed her arms and said grumpily, "Of course you're asking about the old Lord Geo. After all, he appears every year to guide Liyue. What? Do you want a blessing?"

Lu Xiu nodded and began to cross himself.

"Buddha, God, and Rock King, bless me and give me three heads for every five wither skeletons I kill! Amen."

After praying for a while, Lu Xiu sincerely clasped his hands together and bowed slightly to the five wither skeletons not far ahead, then stood up and chopped out the iron axe.

"OK, I'm done praying. If it succeeds, it's my fault. If it doesn't, it's the fault of Rock King."

Lu Xiu's actions almost caused Zhongli to fall off the Nether Rock. He asked Lu Xiu with a twitching eye.

"Mr. Lu Xiu, what are those five inky black skeletons in front of us?"

Compared to Lu Xiu's "offense" against the Geo King, Zhongli was more concerned about whether this creature, which looked extremely evil, would pose a threat to Liyue.

"This is called a Wither Skeleton. It's a kind of egalitarian in the Nether."

Lu Xiu's casual explanation left Zhongli a little confused.

"Egalitarian? What does that mean?"

"What they mean is, they hate every living being equally. They always want to kill any living being they see. They are mortal enemies of piglins. Moreover, their attacks will cause the target to have a negative status called Withering, which is similar to poisoning. It is very dangerous. Generally speaking, I don't want to mess with them."

PS This should be the fourth update, I forgot.

Chapter 50 Impossible, absolutely impossible!

"Hating every living thing... Such an evil creature."

Hu Tao frowned and murmured. This was the first time in all her years as the head of the Wangsheng Hall that she had heard of such an evil creature. Even the classics passed down by her ancestors had never recorded such an evil creature.

"Master, please rest here for a while. I'll be back soon."

Zhongli rolled up his sleeves, and with a spear in his hand, he jumped off the nether rock and landed on the soul sand. The painful memories of the past flooded into his mind, causing Zhongli's slender brows to frown.

"Zhongli, what are you doing!?"

Hu Tao was frightened when she saw Zhongli jump directly onto the soul sand. She wanted to pull him back, but she didn't dare to leave the nether rock under her feet.

Zhongli stood there for a while, then he exhaled deeply. His expression returned to its usual calmness, and he waved to Hu Tao on the rock below without looking back.

"I'm fine, Master. I'm quite curious about the wither skeleton. I'll be back soon."

"Zhongli! Don't let your thoughts get you down! Are you, a weak scholar, going to die? Lu Xiu, help me stop him!"

Lu Xiu, who was building a defensive structure against the Wither Skeletons, was speechless when he saw the "situational drama" between the two.

Is it necessary to step on soul sand or fight a wither skeleton to cause such a scene of life and death?

Even though Hu Tao was crying her heart out, Lu Xiu still walked over to Zhong Li and asked, "Are you serious? You really want to fight this wither skeleton? Think about it, I don't have any milk with me, and I don't intend to fight them head-on."

"Nothing, I actually know a thing or two about martial arts."

Zhongli gave Lu Xiu a reassuring smile, then walked towards one of the wither skeletons that were standing more scattered with his spear.

The withered skeleton that was originally wandering on the soul sand suddenly smelled the breath of the living, immediately changed direction, opened its bony jaws, let out a silent roar, and rushed towards Zhongli waving a stone sword.

Zhongli stood there and calmly observed the wither skeletons rushing towards him.

"Well, it's not too fast. A normal person could probably escape if they ran at full speed, but I don't know how strong its fighting power is."

While Zhongli was muttering, the Wither Skeleton had already come to him, raised the stone sword in his hand and chopped it down at his forehead.

"The attack is a bit slow."

Zhongli casually raised the spear in his hand to block the attack. He thought the opponent's attack was over, but who would have thought that Li's expression suddenly changed the next second.

There was a hint of black air on the originally fair cheek.

Zhongli, sensing something was wrong, quickly kicked the Wither Skeleton's skeleton, sending it flying, then quickly retreated.

Zhongli raised his palm in surprise, and was shocked to find that his body, which was only thirty years old, was like that of a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. His skin began to become soft and no longer tight, and was even getting older at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zhongli could even feel the blood and energy in his body surging, but this strange feeling completely disappeared after ten seconds.

"Is this the curse Lu Xiu mentioned called 'Withering'?"

After restoring his palm to its original shape, Zhongli looked at the wither skeleton with eyes full of vigilance.

Although the Wither Skeletons were not a big threat to him, he was the Rock God after all, and ordinary people, even the holders of the Eye of God, could not mention them to him.

Although he had just defended against the Wither Skeleton's attack, he was still affected by the Withering Effect. If an ordinary person was hit by such an attack, even if it was just a scratch on the little finger, he would probably die immediately.

"Zhongli, are you okay?"

Lu Xiu on the other side saw Zhongli being attacked by the Wither and asked.

Zhongli waved his hands to indicate that he was fine.

"Then come to my side. Although it's okay if you get hit once, if you get hit again, you'll be in trouble."

Zhongli obediently came to Lu Xiu and asked, "Mr. Lu Xiu, do you have any way to deal with this creature?"

"Fighting the Wither? It's easy. I have three recommended methods."

As he spoke, Lu Xiu began to demonstrate. He took out a small wooden boat from his backpack and placed it in front of him. At the same time, he walked into the hatred range of the Wither Skeleton, attracting a Wither Skeleton over.

Under Zhongli's puzzled gaze, the wither skeleton sat directly on the small wooden boat when it passed by, and then stared at the two of them motionlessly.

"The first method is to just drop a small wooden boat down there and have them sit on it. As long as they don't get too close they won't be attacked."