Chapter 5: The Silent Swamp
The Silent Swamp lived up to its name.
It was a graveyard of sound. The chirping of crickets, the croaking of frogs, the rustle of wind all vanished the moment Lin Yun stepped across the boundary of twisted, black mangroves. The air here was heavy, pressing against the eardrums, and unnaturally cold.
Mist clung to the ground like a thick grey carpet, swirling around Lin Yun's calves.
"The Yin energy here is dense," Long Xi's voice echoed in his mind. "It has been gathering for centuries. Perfect soil for a Spirit Fire to bloom."
Lin Yun moved in a crouch, his bronze tinged skin blending perfectly with the shadows of the gnarled trees. He didn't need to circulate Qi to stay warm. The Sovereign Body burned with an internal furnace that the cold dampness couldn't touch.
He traveled for another mile, leaping from root to root, until the trees suddenly gave way to a large, circular clearing.
In the center was a lake. But the water wasn't black like the rest of the swamp. It was frozen solid.
And in the dead center of the ice, floating just a few inches above the surface, was a lotus flower made entirely of sapphire flames.
The Blue Lotus Spirit Fire.
It was mesmerizing. It rotated slowly, emitting a gentle blue light that illuminated the clearing. But even from fifty meters away, Lin Yun could feel the terrifying duality of its nature. It radiated a heat that threatened to melt his skin, yet the air around it was cold enough to freeze breath instantly.
"Beautiful," Lin Yun whispered.
"Focus," Long Xi snapped. "You have company."
Lin Yun froze. He pressed himself flat against a mossy tree trunk.
On the opposite side of the frozen lake, three figures emerged from the mist. They wore the distinct azure robes of the Spirit Beast Sect's Inner Disciples.
Lin Yun's eyes narrowed. He recognized the leader immediately.
Zhang Lie.
A 9th Stage Spirit Gathering cultivator. He was known in the sect for his cruelty and his mastery of the Thunder Hawk Claw technique. He was also one of Gu Cang's favorite bootlickers.
"Check the perimeter!" Zhang Lie barked, his voice shattering the silence.
Two other disciples, both at the 7th Stage, fanned out nervously.
"Senior Brother Zhang," one of them called out, shivering despite his Qi protection. "The temperature here... it's draining my spiritual energy rapidly. We need to hurry."
"Stop whining," Zhang Lie sneered, pulling a silver containment box from his storage ring. "The Sect Master personally assigned this mission. If we bring this fire back, we will be rewarded with marrow cleansing pills. We could reach the Earth Spirit Realm within a year!"
He stepped onto the ice.
"Careful," Long Xi warned Lin Yun. "A Heaven and Earth treasure is never unguarded. The beast that guards it is likely hiding under the ice."
Lin Yun remained motionless. Let them trigger the trap.
Zhang Lie moved confidently toward the fire. Ten meters. Five meters.
His hand reached out, Qi wrapping around his fingers to grab the flame.
CRACK!
The ice beneath the Blue Lotus exploded.
A massive serpentine head, covered in scales white as bone, burst from the freezing water. It was a Frost Venom Python, a peak Rank 2 beast, equivalent to a human at the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm, but with physical strength far surpassing any human.
"Ambush!" Zhang Lie screamed, throwing himself backward.
He was fast, but his companions were not.
The python opened its maw and unleashed a torrent of icy blue mist. The disciple on the left didn't even have time to scream. The mist hit him, and he froze instantly, turning into a statue of blue ice.
The python's tail whipped around, shattering the ice statue into a thousand bloody shards.
"Liu Er!" the surviving disciple screamed in horror.
"Formation! Attack!" Zhang Lie roared, his hands flashing through hand signs. "Thunder Hawk Strike!"
Lightning crackled around Zhang Lie's hands, forming the spectral claws of a hawk. He lunged at the python, slashing at its eyes.
The swamp erupted into chaos. Lightning flashed, ice shards flew like shrapnel, and the roar of the python shook the trees.
From the shadows, Lin Yun watched with cold, calculating eyes.
"The python is strong," he noted. "Its scales are deflecting Zhang Lie's lightning."
"The python is stupid," Long Xi corrected. "It is protecting the fire too closely. It won't leave the center of the lake. The human realizes this. Look."
Indeed, Zhang Lie had changed tactics. He wasn't trying to kill the beast. He was distracting it.
"Chen, draw its attention!" Zhang Lie ordered the surviving disciple.
"But Senior Brother, I can't hold it off alone!"
"Do it, or I'll kill you myself!"
Terrified, the disciple Chen charged, throwing fire talismans at the python. The beast roared, annoyed by the explosions, and lunged at Chen.
While the python was distracted, Zhang Lie activated a movement technique, blurring past the beast's flank. He wasn't aiming for the snake. He was aiming for the Blue Lotus Spirit Fire.
"He's going to get it," Lin Yun tensed, his muscles coiling.
"Wait," Long Xi commanded. "Wait for the moment of triumph. That is when a man is weakest."
Zhang Lie reached the fire. His eyes gleamed with triumph.
"It's mine!"
He scooped the Blue Lotus into the silver box and snapped the lid shut.
The moment the fire vanished, the Frost Venom Python went berserk. It ignored Chen, who was currently being crushed to death by its coils, and turned its massive head toward Zhang Lie.
HISS!
The python struck faster than an arrow.
Zhang Lie, burdened by the heavy box and exhausted from the fight, couldn't dodge completely. The python's fangs grazed his shoulder, tearing through his spiritual defense and ripping a chunk of flesh away.
"Argh!" Zhang Lie stumbled, dropping the box.
The silver box skidded across the ice, sliding away from the battle.
It slid ten meters. Twenty meters.
It stopped right at the edge of the lake. Right in front of a pair of muddy boots.
Zhang Lie, clutching his bleeding shoulder, looked up.
A figure stepped out of the mist. A savage looking young man with bronze skin and wild hair, holding a rusted steel sword.
Zhang Lie blinked. The face... it was familiar.
"Lin... Lin Yun?" Zhang Lie forgot the pain for a second. "You're supposed to be dead!"
Lin Yun didn't answer. He bent down and picked up the silver box. It was cold to the touch.
"Put that down!" Zhang Lie roared, backing away as the python lunged at him again. He blasted the snake with a bolt of lightning, buying himself a second. "That belongs to the Sect Master!"
"Belongs?" Lin Yun weighed the box in his hand. He looked at Zhang Lie, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Finders keepers."
"You trash! You hold no cultivation! You think you can steal from me?" Zhang Lie was furious. He ignored the python for a moment, trusting his movement technique to keep him safe, and turned his killing intent toward Lin Yun. "I'll cut your head off and take the box from your corpse!"
Zhang Lie pushed off the ice, flying toward the shore. He raised his hand, lightning crackling.
"Thunder Hawk Claw!"
He was fast. To a normal eye, he was a blur.
But Lin Yun didn't see a blur. He saw a man moving in slow motion, full of openings.
"Long Xi," Lin Yun thought.
"Burn him," she whispered.
Lin Yun didn't dodge. He didn't block.
He opened the box.
"What are you—" Zhang Lie's eyes widened in horror.
Lin Yun tilted the box, not taking the fire out, but aiming the opening directly at the charging Zhang Lie.
"Go."
Lin Yun kicked the bottom of the box.
The Blue Lotus Spirit Fire, angry at being trapped, shot out of the container like a cannonball.
It hit Zhang Lie squarely in the chest.
There was no explosion. No sound of impact.
There was only silence.
Zhang Lie froze mid air. The blue flame didn't burn his clothes. It seeped straight into his chest.
His eyes went wide, filled with absolute terror. Frost began to creep across his skin, starting from his heart.
"Co... cold..." he wheezed.
Then, he fell. He hit the ice with a heavy thud, shivering violently. His Qi circulation had been instantly frozen. He wasn't dead, but he was helpless.
The Blue Lotus Spirit Fire hovered over his shivering body, pulsing as if deciding whether to consume him entirely.
Behind them, the Frost Venom Python roared, confused by the change in target. It looked at the fire, then at Lin Yun.
"The beast is coming," Long Xi warned. "And the fire is unstable. You must consume it now, Lin Yun. Before it fades or kills you."
Lin Yun ignored the dying Zhang Lie and walked onto the ice. He dropped his sword. He didn't need it.
He stood before the hovering blue flame.
"It will hurt," Long Xi said, her voice serious. "More than the cauldron. More than the betrayal. This fire will try to freeze your soul."
"Good," Lin Yun said, stripping off his shirt to reveal the Sovereign Runes on his chest. "I need the cold to temper my anger."
He reached out with his bare, bronze hand and grabbed the Blue Lotus Spirit Fire.
WHOOSH!
The flame flared, engulfing his entire arm.
Lin Yun didn't scream. He roared.
It wasn't a human sound. It was the roar of a beast awakening.
The ice beneath his feet shattered.