The faint light of dawn struggled to penetrate the thick five-colored poisonous miasma that shrouded the Ten Thousand Poisons Swamp, casting mottled, unsettling patterns of light and shadow. The air carried a cloying, sickly sweet odor mixed with decay, bringing a faint burning sensation to the lungs with each breath. Even standing at the swamp's edge, one could feel the omnipresent malice.
At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), the seven-member covert team, led by Feng Wuji, departed the Mountain God Temple like ghosts, silently infiltrating toward Thousand Weeping Pond in the southeast. Their figures quickly vanished into the bizarrely colored dense forest.
At the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the four-member overt team—Tang Xiaoqi, Falcon, and two other Shadow-Breaking Alliance cultivators at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage (a bald, burly man wielding a giant shield named "Iron Wall" and a nimble woman using dual spikes named "Shadow Shuttle")—exchanged glances, took deep breaths, and resolutely stepped into this domain of death.
Merely a hundred zhang into the swamp, the environment changed dramatically. The bark of towering ancient trees turned an ominous purple-black, twisted vines like dying pythons draped with colorful, slime-covered fungi. The ground became soft and muddy; every step required caution. The agile "Shadow Shuttle" took point, using a long staff to probe constantly, avoiding mud pits that appeared solid but concealed swallowing depths.
Xiaoqi had already activated his "Fire of Li Miasma-Expelling Talisman." A pale golden halo enveloped the four, repelling the five-colored poisonous miasma that attempted to invade, emitting a faint sizzling sound. Each person held a "Red Yang Poison-Expelling Pill" in their mouth, the medicine transforming into a warm current circulating through their bodies, resisting the pervasive miasma poison.
However, the swamp's dangers far exceeded imagination.
"Watch above!" Falcon's low warning suddenly rang out.
On the twisted branches of a nearby deformed tree, dozens of nearly transparent threads hung. At the ends of these threads swayed fist-sized creatures resembling jellyfish, their bodies flickering with hypnotic colorful lights, silently drifting toward the four.
"Those are Illusion Leeches! Their colorful lights can confuse the mind, and touching their bodies will instantly drain your blood and essence!" Iron Wall roared, slamming his giant shield into the ground. A steady yellow earth-light spread outward, attempting to shake off these bizarre creatures.
However, those Illusion Leeches merely paused briefly, their colorful lights swirling to neutralize most of the shockwave, still persistently drifting closer.
Falcon's eyes turned cold. His longbow appeared in his hands as if from nowhere, the bowstring vibrating as three arrows carrying pale green wind spiritual power nearly simultaneously left the string, precisely targeting the three leading leeches.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
The arrows hit their marks but seemed to sink into resilient gelatin, only momentarily halting the leeches without causing fatal damage. Instead, they were enraged, their colorful lights intensifying.
Xiaoqi frowned, sensing the strange toxins and mental interference contained within these creatures. His mind moved, not activating his jade pendant's origin power, but instead drawing upon a trace of Vermilion Bird Soul Crystal's Li Fire intent within him. He flicked his finger, sending three nearly imperceptible golden-red sparks precisely onto the three leeches Falcon had shot.
"Sizzle—!"
Like hot iron dropped into ice water, the three leeches didn't even have time to struggle before being burned into three wisps of green smoke, leaving no trace. The remaining leeches seemed to sense a natural predator's restraint, their colorful lights flickering rapidly as they retreated into the depths of the branches, vanishing from sight.
Falcon, Iron Wall, and Shadow Shuttle all looked at Xiaoqi with surprise. They hadn't expected this young fellow cultivator to possess such domineering flame power in addition to his purification abilities.
"Continue forward, don't stop," Xiaoqi said softly, his face slightly pale. That seemingly effortless display had actually required extremely precise spiritual sense and control.
The team continued their difficult advance. Poisonous creatures in the swamp emerged endlessly—there were "Arrow Poison Frogs" lurking in the silt, suddenly launching themselves with mouthparts capable of piercing spiritual energy; "Thorn Bugs" disguised as dead branches that would explode into toxic spikes upon contact; and swarms of "Ghost-Faced Moths" whose wing-beats scattered phosphorescent powder causing severe hallucinations.
Each encounter required the four to coordinate closely. Iron Wall's giant shield provided unmatched defense against frontal impacts; Shadow Shuttle's strange movement techniques handled close-range poisonous insects and trap detection; Falcon's bow delivered precise mid-to-long-range kills; while Xiaoqi, with his unique purification power and domineering Li Fire, handled the most troublesome creatures carrying intense demonic energy or mental attacks.
However, what troubled them most was not these visible attacks, but the swamp's environment itself.
The five-colored poisonous miasma seemed alive, constantly eroding the protective halo created by the Fire of Li talismans. The talismans' consumption rate was faster than expected. More terrifyingly, this miasma had a strong corrosive and interfering effect on spiritual sense. Xiaoqi tried extending his spiritual sense beyond his body, but after merely fifty zhang, he felt as if his consciousness was being pierced by countless fine needles, experiencing waves of stinging pain. The images he perceived also became blurred and distorted, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion. This meant they were effectively "blind," relying only on primitive visual observation and hearing for vigilance, greatly increasing their danger.
"Ugh!"
After traveling for about two hours, Shadow Shuttle, responsible for flank vigilance, suddenly let out a short cry of pain. A nearly transparent vine, thin as a hair, had silently wrapped around her ankle. The vine's tip had already pierced through her protective spiritual light and into her flesh, the wound rapidly turning black and purple.
"It's Heart-Rotting Silk!" Iron Wall's expression changed as his giant shield swept across, smashing several transparent vines attempting to entwine them.
Xiaoqi rushed forward, his fingers like a sword, condensing pure white purification light at his fingertip and pressing it against Shadow Shuttle's wound. The white light intensely clashed with the black poison, emitting sizzling sounds as black smoke rose from the wound carrying a foul stench. Shadow Shuttle gritted her teeth against the pain without crying out.
A full ten breaths passed before Xiaoqi completely purified the strange toxin. He quickly took out a Red Yang Poison-Expelling Pill for her to swallow. Only then did Shadow Shuttle's face regain some color, though her movement was clearly affected.
"This won't work," Falcon said heavily, looking at the swamp ahead that still showed no end, its colors becoming increasingly intense. "Our pace is too slow, and talisman and pill consumption far exceeds expectations. At this rate, we likely won't reach Burying Gods Depression by the scheduled time."
Xiaoqi wiped the sweat from his forehead—his spiritual power consumption was also significant. He looked toward the swamp's depths where the five-colored poisonous miasma was nearly too dense to disperse, like a giant mouth waiting to devour. He knew this was still just the periphery; deeper in, the environment would only be more hostile.
"Rest for the time it takes to burn one incense stick, rotating for recovery," Xiaoqi decided. "Fellow cultivator Iron Wall, please watch the ground and ahead. Fellow cultivator Shadow Shuttle, use this time to recover. Fellow cultivator Falcon, guard the air and rear."
The four found a relatively dry area composed of several massive black rocks, leaning against them to form a simple defensive circle. Xiaoqi produced several more Fire of Li miasma-expelling talismans to supplement the halo, ensuring continuous protection.
The swamp was terrifyingly silent, broken only by the faint hissing of flowing miasma and occasional chilling cries of unknown poisonous creatures in the distance. The shadow of death hung over this tiny team like a solid presence, every step like walking on the edge of hell. They had to face not only the Shadow Snake Pavilion's enemies but also battle this ancient death swamp itself. The road ahead was long and perilous, and their journey had only just begun.