Ancient Covenant

After leaving Jade Clarity Retreat, Li Su and Zhiwei followed the newly acquired map, avoiding several areas marked "dangerous" as they traveled northwest.

The deeper they went, the baleful aura between heaven and earth gradually grew denser again. Yet unlike the pure desolation and deathly stillness from before, this region began to reveal more traces of ancient savagery.

Massive fossilized bones of creatures they had never seen lay half-buried in the earth. Primitive murals occasionally appeared on heavily weathered stone walls, depicting giants battling Fierce Beasts, filled with bleak grandeur and raw power.

According to the map, they would soon pass through a vast wetland known as Shadowed Marsh.

The map's notes on the place were exceptionally detailed. It warned that the marsh was not only filled with poisonous miasma capable of corroding the primordial spirit and magical power, and inhabited by countless bizarre venomous insects, but that deeper within lurked some "ancient surviving clans," who were extremely hostile to outsiders and possessed strange methods. It strongly advised travelers to detour around the area or pass through quickly, never venturing deep inside.

"Ancient surviving clans?" Zhiwei looked frightened. "That sounds terrifying."

Li Su swept his divine sense toward the boundless marsh ahead, shrouded in gray-black mist, his expression grave.

The marsh truly felt dangerous to him. Poisonous miasma permeated the air, and deathly silence hung everywhere, yet within that silence hid many powerful, ancient life auras. It was even more unsettling than Jue Sha Ridge.

"Proceed carefully. Try not to alert anything," Li Su said in a low voice, checking the miasma-repelling talismans Yu Jizi had given him once more.

The two of them concealed all their auras. Li Su even set up a small concealment formation in advance, enveloping himself and Zhiwei, before they cautiously stepped into the edge of Shadowed Marsh.

The swamp was thick with mud. Black, filthy water bubbled up, releasing a nauseating stench of rot.

Twisted, bizarre dead trees stood crookedly throughout the marsh like ghostly shadows.

The dense gray-black miasma severely obstructed divine sense, allowing them to see only several dozen yards around them.

All kinds of poisonous insects rustled beneath the mud and rotting leaves, watching the outside world.

Following the relatively safe route marked on the map, they advanced slowly, not daring to lower their guard in the slightest.

The miasma-repelling talismans emitted a clear radiance, holding the poisonous miasma at bay with faint sizzling sounds.

However, just as they reached the central region of the marsh, a sudden change occurred!

The surrounding miasma violently churned, forming a massive vortex that trapped them at its center!

At the same time, the already-soft silt beneath their feet instantly turned into quicksand, generating a tremendous suction force that sought to drag them into the abyss!

"Not good!" Li Su fiercely activated his magical power. His bamboo roots gripped a hard reef below, stabilizing him, while the radiance of Star Evil Body Protection flared brightly to resist the suddenly intensified corrosion of the miasma!

Zhiwei cried out and nearly sank into the quicksand, but Li Su caught her in time with a bamboo branch.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Li Su's divine sense swept sharply toward a point within the miasma vortex as he shouted.

He sensed an ancient, desolate will brimming with hostility controlling all this!

"Outsiders... leave... or... die..." A hoarse, strained voice, as though it had not spoken for a very long time, drifted intermittently from deep within the miasma, carrying an intense warning.

Then, figures slowly rose from the surrounding swamp.

They were tall, dressed in crude beast-hide clothing, with bronze skin covered in strange paint. Holding bone staffs or stone spears, they stared coldly and hostilely at Li Su and Zhiwei.

Their auras blended into the marsh, carrying a primitive, savage, yet powerful force utterly unlike the clear spiritual aura of Mystic Sect cultivators.

"They're... they're Witch People!" Zhiwei's voice trembled with fear. "Legend says they're descendants of the ancient Witch Clan... They hate outside cultivators!"

Descendants of the Witch Clan? Li Su's heart jolted.

He had not expected to encounter a legendary race here. Hadn't the Witch Clan declined after the Witch-Demon War? There were still surviving clans living in such a perilous place?

The elder at their head held a black wooden staff inlaid with beast bones. His aura was the strongest of them all, faintly reaching the Celestial Immortal Realm. The Witch Clan did not cultivate primordial spirits, focusing instead on the physical body and laws, which they called the Great Witch Realm.

His cold gaze swept over Li Su and Zhiwei before finally settling on Li Su's unique bamboo body, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes.

"The aura of the Mystic Sect... and... that detestable demonic aura..." Old Witch Doctor's voice was hoarse. "Leave... the land of the witches... You are not welcome here..."

Li Su's thoughts raced. A direct confrontation was clearly unwise. These Witch People were obviously highly skilled at fighting in this place.

He tried to communicate. "We are merely passing through and bear no ill intent. We only wish to borrow this route to travel northwest. We will never disturb your territory."

"All outsiders... say they mean no harm..." Old Witch Doctor struck his staff against the ground. The surrounding miasma churned again, and the Witch Clan warriors raised their stone spears and bone staffs, murderous intent surging from them.

The conflict was on the verge of erupting!

Suddenly, inspiration struck Li Su. He remembered the jade slip from the ancient teleportation formation! It had mentioned "Di Jun" and the "Heavenly Court," and Di Jun had been the ancient Demon Emperor, mortal enemy of the Witch Clan! Yet the jade slip had also conveyed the despair of those left behind and their warning to later arrivals. Perhaps...

He immediately transmitted, through his divine sense, a fragment of the bleak and helpless intent contained in that jade slip: "...Yet the great war was brutal, heaven and earth overturned... the road home was distant and uncertain... Should later arrivals come, be cautious, and cherish what remains..."

The instant that wave of intent spread out, Old Witch Doctor froze. Astonishing light erupted from his eyes as he stared fixedly at Li Su!

"You... where did you obtain this 'Ancient Spirit's Sigh'?!" His voice trembled with unbelievable excitement, and even the surrounding miasma rippled along with it.

Li Su's heart stirred. There was a chance! He remained calm and replied through divine sense, "I happened to obtain it from an ancient ruin. Senior, do you recognize it?"

Old Witch Doctor did not answer. He merely stared at Li Su, his gaze seeming to pierce straight through him.

After a long while, the hostility around him slowly receded. He waved a hand, signaling the surrounding Witch Clan warriors to lower their weapons.

He let out a long sigh. His voice was still hoarse, but it had lost some of its coldness and gained a touch of age-worn sorrow. "So... you inherited the remnants of those 'Abandoned Guardians'... No wonder your aura is so strange. You are neither purely of the Mystic Sect nor of the demon race, and you also carry the ancient scent of the stars..."

Abandoned Guardians? Were they the members of the Demon Court who had remained behind at the ancient teleportation formation? Li Su fell silent and waited quietly for him to continue.

Old Witch Doctor looked at Li Su, his expression complicated. "Since you are connected to those 'Abandoned Guardians' and are not their enemy... according to the ancient covenant, you may pass... But only you."

He pointed at Li Su, then cast a cold glance at Zhiwei. "This Rabbit Demon cannot."

Zhiwei's face turned pale.

"She is my companion, not an enemy," Li Su said gravely.

Old Witch Doctor shook his head. "The covenant applies only to inheritors of the 'Abandoned Guardians.' Demons cannot be trusted." His attitude was resolute.

Just then, the Bedrock Rune deep within Li Su's primordial spirit grew faintly warm again. An exceedingly weak trace of the "bedrock" Dao intent from the giant beast skull unconsciously seeped out.

That trace of Dao intent was incredibly subtle, yet Old Witch Doctor's expression changed again. He carefully sensed Li Su, especially the extremely faint phantom of the Bedrock Rune appearing upon the Mo Xing Bamboo Body. The uncertainty in his eyes deepened.

"...The intent of 'Buzhou'? Though it is minuscule... there can be no mistake... You have actually been touched by the aura of 'Buzhou'?"

Old Witch Doctor muttered to himself. The way he looked at Li Su changed completely, shifting from slightly softened to carrying even a trace of... inexplicable reverence. The Witch Clan had originated from Pangu, while Buzhou Mountain had formed from Pangu's spine, giving it special significance to the Witch Clan.

He fell silent for a long time again before finally speaking slowly. "Fine... Since you bear the remnants of the 'Abandoned Guardians' and have received the favor of Buzhou's intent... perhaps you are the variable spoken of in the ancient prophecy... You may both pass..."

With a wave of his staff, the miasma vortex around them instantly calmed, and the quicksand beneath their feet returned to normal.

"Follow this Water Serpent Bone Bridge, and you can safely cross the heart of the marsh. Remember, do not stray from the path, and do not pry into the depths of the marsh. Otherwise, if you awaken the sleeping ancestral spirits, no one can save you."

Old Witch Doctor pointed toward a faintly visible path in the swamp, paved with enormous white beast bones.

"Thank you, Senior." Li Su finally relaxed. Though he did not understand why—the intent of Buzhou? Did it refer to the Bedrock Rune imprinted by that giant beast skull?—they had escaped danger without real harm. He led Zhiwei onto the path of beast bones.

Old Witch Doctor watched their departing backs with deep eyes and murmured in a voice only he could hear, "A star bamboo body, ties to the Abandoned Guardians, the intent of Buzhou... Is the Primordial World about to stir again..."

After Li Su and Zhiwei vanished from sight, he turned and led the Witch Clan warriors slowly down into the depths of the marsh, as though they had never appeared.