Cave Refuge

Exactly for this reason, all it would have taken was to throw out a torch, and those spores floating in the air would instantly have been engulfed by the flames.

However, although this method was efficient, it was not foolproof. After all, at that time, Zachary was in the midst of the forest. Although igniting the floating spores in the air was quite simple,

nobody could be sure that once those spores were lit, whether the fire would spread rapidly and eventually become a Natural Disaster that human effort couldn't stop.

Confronted with the possibility of this kind of Natural Disaster, even if the likelihood was not very high, Zachary still didn't want to gamble on the odds.

After all, even though setting a fire could easily burn through this area, but if the fire became uncontrollable and grew too large, Zachary might not care about the other issues, once a fierce wildfire was triggered, even if Zachary still easily passed the challenge, it would mean Zachary would have to forfeit all the opportunities this area offered.

If Zachary disdained the potential plant rewards that might have appeared in the previous forest, he was, on the other hand, curious to see what kinds of plant rewards clearing this forest would yield.

Although Zachary had displayed disdain for the potential rewards from the last time, he also wanted to know what kind of plants would appear after passing the second stage of the Gray Forest.

Although Zachary disdained the rewards that might have appeared last time, if he knew beforehand what the plant rewards were, he could then deduce what plant rewards he might obtain after passing through the forest challenges later on.

Zachary's lack of interest in the previous plant rewards did not mean he looked down upon the ones that might appear later.

Just that by relying on the normal method to pass through the forest, the difficulty indeed was somewhat high.

Not to mention the dangers hidden deep within the forest, even the spores that seemed like dust but were everywhere, as well as the plants that, despite only having the instinct to survive, had still learned to set traps.

And they were not the kind of plants that only set simple Formations; just a moment ago, they had spun a web of traps around Zachary in the blink of an eye.

The steel tube that Zachary had just thrown out was not really for testing aspects related to mushrooms, but rather, he wanted to try and see if inorganic objects falling to the ground would trigger an attack from those trap-setting plants.

Initially, Zachary was somewhat surprised to see mushrooms growing on the steel tube, as the first result was not in the direction of Zachary's tests.

However, after experiencing the mushroom growth on the steel tube, Zachary finally confirmed something: those plants hiding in the shadows that set traps would not attack when Zachary concealed his breath and sealed his own aura.

Besides this, Zachary had actually discovered another surprising fact, which was that these spores floating in the air seemed to be completely different from the fungal plants that grew in the forest before the Natural Disaster.

The fungal plants from before the Natural Disaster would grow by absorbing nutrients from the soil or by drawing sustenance from the tree trunks they clung to.

When Zachary, in the same casual manner as he had tossed the steel tube, threw a piece of wood to a spot not far away,

after a while, Zachary noticed that the piece of wood lay on the ground, remaining just as it had been when he had first thrown it.

After this test, Zachary finally confirmed that those minute spores floating in the air would not, like ordinary fungus, parasitize within the wood; instead, they seemed not to adhere to wooden material.

Having understood this weakness of the spores, for ordinary people, the difficulty of getting through this challenge had already been significantly reduced.

Since he was already aware of the two main dangers in this area, but according to the rules of past movies and TV shows, under normal circumstances, there should be at least three sources of danger in this area. However, to date, Zachary had only discovered two. Logically speaking, there should still be one more to find.

Although Zachary had only identified two sources of danger at the time, it was possible that it related to the fact that he had remained in the same spot without leaving since he first entered this area; after all, even when considering the race track,

the region where Zachary was located was still a great distance away from the entrance of the next area.

As Zachary moved forward with his breath concealed and his pace slow, although various plants glowed faintly all around, none actively attacked him.

Some plants became slightly brighter as he approached them, then dimmed again as he walked away, but ultimately maintained their original brightness before he drew near.

As Zachary ventured deeper into the forest, his expression and the speed of his steps showed a profound relaxation, but his taut nerves and Divine Sense were constantly scanning the surroundings to avoid being injured in any sudden attacks.

Perhaps Zachary's Concealing Breath Skill was too masterful or there were only two danger sources in this forest; in any case, he reached the boundary line unscathed, not having been attacked even once.

Upon stepping over the next boundary line, Zachary suddenly noticed that, although the sun was tilting westward, it was still high in the sky, indicating to him that the time within the forest should be synchronised with the outside world.

The very moment he entered this part of the forest, Zachary instantly detected that it was different from the areas he had experienced before.

The greatest difference between this area and the previous forests was that Zachary, merely by standing at the entrance of the boundary line, could hear the chirping of insects coming from deep within the forest.

Having entered the forest from the edge and passing through three different woodland seas should have alerted him to the problems and similarities within.

There's no need to delve into the danger sources, as they may seem unrelated at first glance, but upon careful consideration, their connections can be traced. Even though several dangers may have not appeared, deducing those unseen threats through small clues wasn't difficult.

The most significant commonality among the three forest seas was their lack of vitality, which was inconceivable in an environment like a dense woodland.

But in reality, upon entering the forest, Zachary encountered no other creatures that should live in the woods, besides the plants.

Even with meticulous probing with his Divine Sense, not a single small animal or even those numerous insects that should be ubiquitous could be found.

The forest, seemingly brimming with life, possessed a silence akin to that of the dead.

However, upon entering the fourth stretch of forest, Zachary could hear the sound of insects. Although faint and chaotic, it breathed new life into the erstwhile still forest.

In his investigation with Divine Sense, all sorts of insects could now be seen throughout the forest.

This sudden discovery almost made Zachary forget the reward of encountering special plants that he was supposed to have received after traversing the last forest.

Logically, since Zachary had not damaged the environment or succumbed to an attack, he should have been rewarded just as he was after passing through the first forest.

Yet there was still no reward this time. Logic dictated that at most, the reward's quality would diminish if one fewer danger was encountered, but it did not make sense to give no reward at all for passing.

Just as Zachary was getting somewhat angry and prepared to seek an outlet for his frustration, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Perhaps the reason he received no reward in the previous forest was precisely because his Concealing Breath Skill was too effective; he had crossed the dividing line and entered the next forest before the plants could even detect him.