Get Out of Yunmeng Marsh

Inside the cave, Yuanzi restored his immortal body, his silver light blocking the Roaring Beast's attacks. Seeing the silver light damaged, Yuanzi felt a surge of shame and anger. He let out a low cry, "You wicked beast! If your Vital Energy wasn't injured, I might have feared you a little. You just gave birth to your beast egg not long ago, how can you be my match today? Just obediently become my Guardian Spirit Beast!"

As he spoke, Yuanzi raised his hand and unleashed a collar-like Immortal Artifact. The collar flashed and instantly landed on the Roaring Beast's head. A cluster of light scattered, and the Roaring Beast's form rapidly shrank.

"Roar!" The Roaring Beast let out a mournful cry, its purple markings flaring brightly, almost bursting from its body.

"Not good!" Yuanzi exclaimed in alarm. Disregarding the collar, he frantically retracted his immortal body, his silver light extinguishing like a dying candle in the wind.

"Boom..." With a loud bang, the Roaring Beast's purple stripes were fully exposed. The space within several hundred zhang in the vicinity rapidly collapsed, and Yuanzi's immortal body was caught within it. A phantom form twisted and escaped the spatial collapse!

Amidst the earth-shattering tremors, Yuanzi's immortal body reappeared, twisted, behind Xiao Hua. The silver light was extremely dim, with a few drops of crimson blood falling with the wind.

As Yuanzi stabilized himself in mid-air, he looked up in astonishment. A fist-sized Gilded Flame was raining down from the mountain peak a thousand zhang above him and Xiao Hua, completely engulfing several mu of space. This area was not only sealed, but a destructive aura was rapidly filling it!

In fact, it wasn't just the few mu of space around them. Within a radius of hundreds of thousands of li, balls of fire were falling like a fiery rain. Where the flames landed in the water, they either extinguished or produced explosive sounds, engulfing the entire world in fire! However, the few mu of space where Xiao Hua was located was even more peculiar.

Turning to Xiao Hua, he was desperately trying to evade, but the Gilded Flame filled the entire space, denser than the previous purple bubbles. His Black Robes had long been torn, his Infant Body bore wounds, and his Pearl Shirt had even developed several breaches.

"Huh?" Yuanzi's eyes showed surprise as he looked at Xiao Hua. He then raised his hand and swept away the Pure Void above Xiao Hua and himself, saying, "Come out with me!"

Xiao Hua's Infant Body felt a searing pain. Just as he was in danger, he saw Yuanzi make a move and quickly urged his body forward, flying out with the Pure Void, free from the flames.

Glancing back at the Gilded Fireballs striking the mountain peak, Xiao Hua felt a sense of having narrowly escaped death. He quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your timely assistance, Senior..."

"Haha, no need to be polite with me!" Yuanzi laughed, but his expression suddenly changed. He grabbed at the air, saying, "To obtain such a pure Nascent Soul Body is truly an unexpected joy for me!"

"Damn it!" Seeing Yuanzi's sudden change of heart, with his surroundings sealed, Xiao Hua was furious. He pulled out the Ruyi Scepter from his spatial dimension and met the attack with a "whoosh."

"Boom..." The Ruyi Scepter struck the silver hand, and the hand's brilliance was extinguished.

"Strange!" Yuanzi's expression shifted, and he exclaimed, "My luck has been bad lately. Why am I encountering so many formidable individuals today?"

As he spoke, Yuanzi changed his silver hand from a grab to a clap. While Xiao Hua's Ruyi Scepter could break through spells, it was powerless against immense force when accompanied by potent Mana. Seeing a mountain peak weighing nearly ten thousand jun descending, Xiao Hua only managed to shatter a corner of the silver hand, while his own body was slammed down!

Before he could fall, Xiao Hua quickly retracted the Ruyi Scepter and activated his Light Escape to flee. Yuanzi's nonchalant voice echoed in his ears, "Don't leave..."

As he spoke, Xiao Hua felt the surrounding space fill with Peach Blossoms, blocking his passage into the light. When the Peach Blossoms converged, Xiao Hua was sealed by hundreds of them, unable to move his Infant Body or Mana even a fraction.

Seeing a Peach Blossom falling towards his forehead, Xiao Hua knew his soul was about to be erased. He couldn't help but let out a wry smile, "They say dying under the peonies is a romantic ghost. What am I, Xiao, dying under peach blossoms?"

Suddenly, a coquettish little face appeared in his mind – wasn't it Nie Qianyu? (Nie Qianyu can be found in my work "Exiled Immortal," Volume 1.)

"Dying under the peach tree makes for a romantic ghost. Little Yu'er, forgive my brother's presumption!" A gentle smile touched Xiao Hua's lips. That awkward first love was truly incomprehensible!

The Peach Blossoms grew larger, and Xiao Hua smiled, softly reciting, "Mid-Autumn night, Mid-Autumn moon, Mid-Autumn moon, Mid-Autumn immortal. The Mid-Autumn immortal planted a osmanthus tree, and cut osmanthus branches for reunion. Reunion isn't only on Mid-Autumn, separation on Mid-Autumn makes one sleepless. People gather, people part, such are worldly affairs. The moon sets, the sun rises, another Yuan."

On the verge of death, Xiao Hua couldn't help but think of reunion. Were these unbidden verses a wish Xiao Hua had to fulfill?

"Which fellow immortal is causing trouble in Yunmeng Marsh?" Just then, a furious voice rang out amidst the continuous fiery rain. "Are you not taking my Azure Jade Gate seriously?"

Yuanzi was startled by these words. Although the newcomer hadn't attacked, the Peach Blossoms he used to kill Xiao Hua's soul could not be stopped. Yuanzi turned towards the source of the voice and asked, "Who?"

In the blazing flames not far away, a silver humanoid figure, nearly a hundred zhang tall, slowly walked out of thin air. As this figure appeared, all the flames were blocked. With every step it took, a mark resembling azure jade appeared beneath its feet. Though the silver figure seemed far away, it had only taken a few dozen steps before reaching Yuanzi.

"This County Governor is Shuobing!" The silver figure did not dissipate its silver light, merely stating calmly, "Has the Immortal Friend who came to Yunmeng Marsh reported to Helan Que?"

Yuanzi looked at the silver figure, remained silent for a moment, and then replied, "I had urgent matters, so I came in haste and did not pass by Helan Que!"

"Hmm..." The silver figure's tone remained indifferent. "Does this mean you entered Yunmeng Marsh without this County Governor's permission?"

"Immortal Friend Shuo..." Yuanzi tried to explain, but before he could finish, the silver figure said, "Address me as Lord County Governor!"

Yuanzi gritted his teeth and argued, "Lord County Governor, don't ordinary Immortals also enter Yunmeng Marsh at times? Why is it different when it comes to me?"

"Are you implying this County Governor's defense of Yunmeng Marsh is inadequate?" The silver figure's tone became even colder. With a wave of its hand, an ancient azure jade talisman landed before Yuanzi. "This is my Tiger Seal. You may take it to the Azure Jade Gate and lodge your objection with my Gate Master!"

Yuanzi glanced at the ancient azure jade talisman and chuckled, "How could that be? Lord County Governor works hard to guard Yunmeng Marsh. How could I possibly stir up trouble?"

The silver figure snatched the ancient azure jade talisman and said coldly, "If that is the case, why aren't you getting lost quickly?"

"You!" Yuanzi's teeth clenched, but he looked at the ancient azure jade talisman and narrowed his eyes, "Thank you for the reminder, Lord County Governor. I shall be on my way!"

With that, Yuanzi waved his sleeve, the Peach Blossoms surged towards Xiao Hua, and he prepared to leave. Xiao Hua looked at the silver figure, opened his mouth, but said nothing.

"Release this Nascent Soul and get lost yourself!" Shuobing said calmly, without moving.

Yuanzi's movement halted, and he retorted, "Why?"

"It's very simple! This County Governor strictly prohibits bullying the weak in his territory!" Shuobing replied righteously.

Yuanzi narrowed his eyes, staring at Shuobing, and said word by word, "What if I refuse to release him?"

Shuobing casually replied, "If you believe you can leave Yunmeng Marsh, please do so..."

"Hmph..." Yuanzi fell silent again for a long while, then snorted. With a wave of his hand, Xiao Hua was flung to the ground like a pellet, and the Peach Blossoms on him were retrieved by Yuanzi.

When Xiao Hua painfully got to his feet, Yuanzi was nowhere to be seen. Xiao Hua didn't even know when he had left.

"Why didn't you call out for help just now?" Shuobing asked Xiao Hua with interest.

"If Senior intended to save me, I wouldn't need to speak, and Senior would have saved me anyway." Xiao Hua looked around. The fiery rain near his head had been cleared away, and he knew it was Shuobing's doing. He quickly bowed respectfully, "But if Senior didn't want to save me, even if I spoke, Senior wouldn't have saved me, and my rashness would have put Senior in a difficult position."

"Actually..." Shuobing looked at Xiao Hua and asked again, "When you saw me appear, you already knew in your heart that I would save you."

"Indeed!" Xiao Hua nodded. "Senior is my last straw. My life and death are in Senior's thoughts."

"Alas, your life and death are in my thoughts, but whose thoughts are my life and death in?" Shuobing sighed and flew up, saying, "You should leave Yunmeng Marsh as soon as possible. A small Nascent Soul like you is easily killed here!"

"Thank you, Senior..." Xiao Hua bowed respectfully, then remembered something and quickly said, "Oh, right, Senior, there's a Toad Faced Toad's egg in this cave, but I don't know if the beast egg was damaged when the Roaring Beast self-destructed!"

"Oh?" Shuobing paused, stopping to look at Xiao Hua. "You are here for the Toad Faced Toad?"

"Yes, that Toad Faced Toad was killed by Yuanzi, and its remains were taken by him. We had a fellow Daoist named Jing Sheng traveling with us. I don't know if he's alive or dead, but since Yuanzi was injured, Jing Sheng probably wouldn't have survived either!"

"No wonder he didn't dare to attack, so he was injured!" Shuobing nodded slightly. A silver light flashed around him, and a human figure resembling green jade flew out from the light, entering the cave, ignoring the fire rain and gilded fire clusters.

A moment later, Shuobing's figure flew up again. He said, "Your injuries are quite severe. This is the entry token for the Helan Que Immortal Market. The Yan Yu Immortal Market will have a large open market soon. You might want to check it out. There are the remains of a Roaring Beast in the cave, perhaps you can exchange them for something at the Immortal Market. I'll leave them for you."

Then, a ball of green light passed through the fire rain and landed in front of Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua was overjoyed. He took the crystal chip from the green light and was about to speak when Shuobing had already disappeared. The green jade figure that had entered the cave was also nowhere to be seen. Xiao Hua dared not be disrespectful and still respectfully bowed to express his gratitude.