"While you were running toward us, Lu Wu warned us that he sensed demon beasts."
"He's that good?" Wang Chong raised an eyebrow at that.
Whenever he sensed demon beasts up ahead, he would investigate before returning to report.
"Maybe my perception range is slightly better than yours," Lu Wu said with a smile. "But I vaguely sensed two presences."
"There were two." Wang Chong nodded. "A Heavenly Horned Toad Demon got into a fight with a Slant-Scaled Demon Snake."
Hanging Coffin Swamp was essentially Heavenly Horned Toad Demon territory.
Slant-Scaled Demon Snakes should have been in the deeper parts of the mountains, but both belonged to the three major populations.
Their appearance was perfectly normal.
"Go around them," Lu Wu said. "Let's take another direction."
"Those two were at the lesser warrior level, and the fight was incredibly brutal," Wang Chong said.
"If they both end up badly wounded, couldn't we reap the fisherman's profit while they fight?" Zu Yanzhi raised an eyebrow.
Intact organs from lesser warrior level Slant-Scaled Demon Snakes and Heavenly Horned Toad Demons would fetch a hefty price.
If they collected bloodline bone marrow, it could sell for an even higher price.
"I'm just worried more demon beasts will appear if they keep fighting," Lu Wu reminded them.
If he had discovered demon beasts fighting inside the Safe Zone, Lu Wu would definitely have gone to take a look.
Who wouldn't want to scoop up some benefits?
Now, though, he would pass. Besides, these were warrior level creatures. Even lesser warriors weren't something he could casually provoke.
"What are you afraid of? There are three Intermediate Mages among us, plus you and Mu Nujiao. We'd still have a chance against lesser warriors that have just fought a major battle."
A sneak attack could maximize their destructive power.
Zu Yanzhi felt they still had a chance if they joined forces.
Wang Chong hesitated. "If no other demon beasts appear, we really would have a chance."
Nangong Pei had wanted to give it a try, but in the end, he said nothing and looked at Lu Wu.
Zu Yanzhi and Wang Chong also looked at Lu Wu.
Although Lu Wu was only a Beginner Mage, they had already witnessed his talent.
Moreover, Lu Wu was Master Shen's grandson and someone Elder Luo thought highly of.
Besides, only two of them wanted to go right now. As a young couple, Mu Nujiao and Lu Wu would naturally stick together.
Lu Wu's opinion became very important.
Most importantly, although Wang Chong was a scout, his ability to sense demon beasts wasn't as strong as Lu Wu's. Having Lu Wu along would make things safer.
"Let's take a look," Lu Wu said after some thought. "If other demon beasts appear, we'll leave. No matter which one wins, if it isn't wounded badly enough, we'll still leave."
"All right."
Everyone agreed with Lu Wu's suggestion.
They would examine the situation before deciding, but their calculations soon came to nothing.
While they were still approaching, they sensed other demon beasts-more than two.
After Lu Wu told them, no one continued toward the fight.
Instead, they headed out of the swamp.
"What a shame." Wang Chong sighed.
"Our lives matter more," Mu Nujiao replied. Hanging Coffin Swamp was enormous, with countless demon beasts.
But the place Elder Luo and Master Shen had chosen to refine magic equipment had been cleared out half a year ago.
There were relatively fewer demon beasts nearby, and whenever they occasionally killed one, they cleaned it up very quickly.
There was no opportunity at all to harvest demon beast organs to sell.
They wandered around for a while before turning back. Two hours had now passed.
As Wang Chong passed through a distant area, he hesitated before telling Lu Wu and the others, "That Heavenly Horned Toad Demon and Slant-Scaled Demon Snake were actually fighting over something earlier."
Although he didn't know what it was, Wang Chong was certain it was a treasure.
When they had originally planned to reap the fisherman's profit, he had been certain that his Wind Track would make him faster than everyone else.
But then they hadn't gone.
Wang Chong felt somewhat unwilling to let it go, yet he worried that if he spoke up, he would lose his chance.
"No wonder you've been so distracted the whole way." Lu Wu raised an eyebrow.
In a place like this, anything demon beasts fought over had to be a treasure.
If he sacrificed it, perhaps he would receive an excellent reward.
"Why don't we go take a look now?" Zu Yanzhi grew interested.
"Let's take a look," Nangong Pei said when he heard there might be something good. "If there's an opportunity, we can decide whether to act then."
"Let's go." Mu Nujiao wanted to go too.
If it were merely demon beast organs, she wouldn't have been particularly interested, but if it was something demon beasts were fighting over...
After all, all demon beasts were far more sensitive to the energy of heaven and earth than humans.
Lu Wu didn't object. Instead, he looked at Wang Chong. "Lead the way."
He could no longer sense any demon beasts. Either they had concealed themselves or they had already left.
Lu Wu was interested in that supposed treasure, but he wasn't holding out much hope.
They might still have had a chance if they had gone straight there when it was first discovered.
The swamp was mostly covered in all kinds of aquatic plants. Their feet were already soaked, since they occasionally stepped into water.
The surrounding aquatic plants had initially only reached their knees, but gradually grew taller and taller.
They eventually reached waist height, and the farther they went, the more signs they found of Heavenly Horned Toad Demons living there. A path had been flattened through the plants.
The aquatic plants could just conceal everyone from the Heavenly Horned Toad Demons' sight. Lu Wu focused entirely on sensing their surroundings, and everyone moved with extreme caution.
"This smell of blood... looks like the earlier battle was fierce." Wang Chong, who was leading the way, caught the scent of blood.
They slowed down again, even though Wang Chong was very certain they hadn't reached the place yet.
Soon, the five of them reached the edge of a depression.
The depression was enormous. Unlike the tall aquatic plants surrounding it, there was nothing in it but murky mud.
The five of them were about two hundred meters from the center. Looking down from above, they could clearly see that the depression had already turned blood-red.
Several warrior level Heavenly Horned Toad Demons were devouring the corpse of a Slant-Scaled Demon Snake.
Beside the Slant-Scaled Demon Snake's head, another Heavenly Horned Toad Demon protruded more than two meters above the mud as it gnawed on the brain matter.
This Heavenly Horned Toad Demon was clearly much larger than the others.
The slight fleshy lump that had originally been on its head was now gone, leaving only a bloody wound.
By the look of it, this was the victor of the daytime battle.
"Looks like that lesser warrior Heavenly Horned Toad Demon called the other servant level Heavenly Horned Toad Demons over to kill the Slant-Scaled Demon Snake together. What a pity," Wang Chong said with some feeling.
At any other time, how would servant level Heavenly Horned Toad Demons dare attack a lesser warrior level Slant-Scaled Demon Snake?
But with a lesser warrior Heavenly Horned Toad Demon leading them, it was different. They would charge in despite knowing the danger.
Several servant level Heavenly Horned Toad Demons also lay dead on the mud.
"Is that an Earth Element Spirit Seed?!!"
Lu Wu's gaze, however, was drawn to a mass of concentrated earth elemental energy at the edge of the depression.
There seemed to be a vortex at the depression's edge.
Earth elemental energy was constantly being drawn in from the surroundings, and the earth elemental energy there was extremely dense.
"Is it really an Earth Element Spirit Seed?" Wang Chong asked uncertainly when he heard Lu Wu.
He had never seen a Spirit Seed and hadn't dared identify it before.
"It might take another three days or so to mature. No wonder they fought so fiercely. Looks like these Heavenly Horned Toad Demons have been waiting for the Earth Element Spirit Seed to mature ever since they discovered this place," Lu Wu judged.
No wonder that Slant-Scaled Demon Snake had risked its life to seize it. That was an Earth Element Elemental Seed.
"Three days?" Zu Yanzhi raised an eyebrow.
"Let's head back first. We can ask Grandpa Shen or Uncle Jiang to help when the time comes," Lu Wu suggested.