Crossing the Poison Miasma

Crossing the Poison Miasma

"The area marked on the map is a little deeper within the Ancient Battlefield. The Spirit Horses will be contaminated by Baleful Qi there and can't enter. Come on, we'll have to dismount and continue on foot!"

Luo Dongbao called out as he stood at the boundary of the Ancient Battlefield's scorched region and released the reins of his Spirit Horse.

"Won't the horse get lost?"

Guan Lin reluctantly stroked the Spirit Horse's neck and asked.

"Of course not. The Spirit Horses from Storm Market have been trained. Even if they wander a thousand miles away, they can return on their own. They're exceptionally intelligent!"

Guan Qiu stroked his sister's head and explained.

The six continued onward, their expressions gradually turning solemn.

Strictly speaking, the moment they stepped onto this scorched land, the danger began to increase.

Luo Dongbao led the way at the front, looking calm. There was not much in the outer reaches of the Ancient Battlefield that could threaten a Late Qi Refining cultivator.

The siblings of the Guan Family walked in the middle, staying close together. They constantly held a spell gesture in their hands, their expressions alert.

Xiao Liang activated Ghost Shadow Step and walked neither too near nor too far from the group's left side.

As for Qin Long, she held her flying sword and followed among the group.

Yu Guang kept his body slightly lowered. A bracer on one arm flickered with spiritual light as he brought up the rear, occasionally watching for movement behind them.

"Careful!"

Xiao Liang's gaze suddenly sharpened when he spotted an unnatural rise and fall in the clump of soil beneath Qin Long's feet.

The moment he spoke, a large snake with a spindle-shaped head shot out and lunged for Qin Long's neck with abnormal speed.

Whoosh!

A faint rush of wind accompanied a flash of incandescent sword light.

The next moment, the snake's head flew into the air, followed by its body as both fell to the ground. Its pair of fangs still instinctively spat venom.

Qin Long's hand holding the flying sword trembled slightly. A thin mist of blood immediately dispersed from the blade before she sheathed it again.

"What swift swordsmanship!"

Xiao Liang exclaimed. He had been the closest and had seen clearly that Qin Long had not expended much spiritual power to wield her flying sword. Instead, she had used a martial technique from the mortal world.

When the venomous snake attacked, she had not panicked in the slightest. She drew her sword and slashed, cutting it down in a single stroke. Her speed was tremendous, her force steady, carrying even a simple, clean sort of beauty.

"It's a Black-Scaled Python, a common half-demonic beast in the Ancient Battlefield. Although it hasn't completely become a demon yet, it excels at ambushes and surprise attacks. Many cultivators have fallen for it. Miss Qin, that sword strike was truly splendid!"

Guan Qiu picked up the snake corpse and examined it before lavishly praising Qin Long.

However, Xiao Liang noticed that spiritual light flickered in Guan Qiu's eyes from time to time, growing even brighter when he looked at Qin Long.

"Watch your eyes. Keep looking, and perhaps you'll go blind."

Qin Long suddenly spoke. Her phoenix eyes turned toward Guan Qiu, and a trace of displeasure showed on her otherwise ordinary face.

"What a strange woman. My brother only praised you a little, and you still..."

Guan Lin looked displeased and spoke indignantly, but before she could finish, Guan Qiu pulled her aside and cut her off.

"Ah... haha, Miss Qin, rest assured. Guan bears no ill intent."

After saying that, Guan Qiu pulled Guan Lin to the other side, not daring to approach Qin Long again.

"Thank you for the warning just now."

Qin Long then turned and gave Xiao Liang a slight nod.

He waved his hand, though he had some guesses about what had happened earlier.

An eye technique? I wonder what Guan Qiu saw...

After that brief interlude, the group dealt with several more demonic creatures wandering through the Ancient Battlefield.

One of them was a Bronze-Armored Zombie, likely transformed from a cultivator who had died here long ago.

It actually possessed the cultivation of the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, and its defenses were astonishing.

In the end, the Guan Family siblings used a combined spell to blast through its defenses, and Xiao Liang seized the opportunity to cut off its head. Only then did it die.

Unfortunately, too much time had passed. The storage pouch on the Zombie had rotted into scraps of cloth, and everything inside had naturally vanished.

Other than Xiao Liang taking the chance to dig out the Zombie's corpse core and secretly toss it into the special Corpse-Nurturing Bag to feed Pandora, the others gained nothing.

At last, the group arrived outside several mountain peaks shrouded in purple poisonous miasma. Luo Dongbao took out the map to compare it, his face lighting up with delight.

"We're here. This is our destination!"

"But how are we supposed to get in? This poisonous miasma wasn't formed from the decay of ordinary plants and animals. It's most likely the effect of some remnant formation. It's no ordinary thing!"

Though Yu Guang looked like a rough, dark-faced brute, he had been extremely cautious throughout the journey.

"Hahaha, there's still some time. Why don't you all take a guess?"

Luo Dongbao glanced at the sky overhead, laughed, and deliberately kept them in suspense.

Xiao Liang raised a brow and first surveyed the surrounding terrain. It was a common plain, with a river nearby carrying a considerable volume of water, though it was still some distance from where they stood.

What was worth noting was that the ground outside the mountains was riddled with burrows, perhaps inhabited by some sort of demonic beast. This made Xiao Liang's heart stir.

However, Luo Dongbao had said before setting out that they would need to take advantage of favorable timing to enter, and Xiao Liang could not figure it out for the moment.

Clearly, Xiao Liang was not the only one to notice the strange burrows. Guan Qiu was the first to guess:

"The remnant poisonous miasma formation covers the mountains, but as time passed, a group of Ground Moles moved here and dug the place full of holes. There must be passages among them leading directly into the interior."

Luo Dongbao smiled at this and said, "Fellow Daoist Guan is only half right. We do indeed need to rely on these burrows to get in, but entering now would be seeking death. The poisonous miasma has already sunk into the burrows!"

Xiao Liang lowered his head and looked into one of the burrows. Sure enough, wisps of purple miasma floated inside. The closer one got, the denser it would presumably become.

Although he did not know what would happen after inhaling the miasma, quite a few broken white bones had piled up outside the mountains, some human and some belonging to demonic beasts.

Such a miserable sight suggested that for low-level cultivators, touching it meant death. Xiao Liang had no desire to test it.

After a while, no one could come up with an answer. Seeing that the time was about right, Luo Dongbao finally said smugly:

"Through water. This poisonous miasma does not dissolve in water. Once the nearby river floods and fills these burrows, we can dive down and avoid the poisonous miasma."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone saw a muddy flood surge rolling down from the river upstream. It appeared that recent heavy rainfall in the upper reaches had caused it.

Luo Dongbao had investigated it long ago. He intended to take advantage of this flood season—the favorable timing—to enter and search for treasure.

"What an ingenious method. How did that so-called Heavenly Secrets Sect member who sold the map know about it and even draw it onto the map? Could it have been discovered by chance?"

While everyone else came to a realization, Xiao Liang thought of even more.

(End of Chapter)