Chapter Forty-Three: Entering the Misty Marsh

Boom, boom, boom.

Suddenly, from somewhere far ahead in the forested mountains to the side, there came a surge of spiritual power, accompanied by the clashing roar of magical treasures colliding. Though the sound was faint, in this strange world shrouded by swirling snow, how could Xiao Wenzi possibly fail to sense it?

There were high-level cultivators locked in battle. This upheaval in the heavens and earth was likely their doing. Xiao Wenzi’s heart quailed with terror, and he hurriedly unfurled his wings and fled. He had no intention of becoming an innocent casualty in someone else’s conflict.

Yet perhaps the other party was in the midst of performing some profound magical art, and it was at this very moment that the spell was completed. All the snowflakes, spinning violently in the air, suddenly surged toward the battlefield. Xiao Wenzi, caught within this range, could not escape.

Swept up by countless snowflakes as sharp as blades of ice, Xiao Wenzi was filled with fright and desperately tried to break free using his Swift Demon technique—but it was utterly useless.

Dizzy and disoriented, his body tossed and spun within the storm. Suddenly, a crystalline snowflake sliced into him, and the world went black as he lost all consciousness.

Of course, it was not a true faint. His body had first been shredded by the snowflakes, then crushed by an irresistible force of heaven and earth, exploding and merging into the world of wind and snow.

Boom, boom, boom—

Within several hundred miles, ice-type spiritual energy converged, forming countless dancing icicles and ice spears before the woman in white, which collided with the sword aura wielded by a man nearby.

At the Nascent Soul stage, one could already touch the laws of heaven and earth, manipulating the energies of the world in accordance with their own affinity. This was one of the ways such cultivators fought. There was no need to ask: both combatants were mighty Nascent Soul cultivators.

“Yun Ruoxi, to think your Descending Cloud and Drifting Snow technique has reached such a level—admirable, truly admirable. But if you think this is enough to keep me here, you are far from it…

Oh, and by the way, there’s no special connection between us. You’ve chased me this far—could it be you’ve taken a fancy to me? If you want me, just say the word! If you don’t speak, how am I to know whether you do or not?”

Sword energy swept in all directions and the mountains crumbled. Amid boisterous laughter, the man in red robes took advantage of the moment when the woman shuddered with rage, and suddenly shot away into the distant sky.

“Hmph! As expected, the Demon Sect is a den of filth and corruption. Even a Nascent Soul elder like you is so base and shameless. What sort of scum must your sect be filled with?”

The woman in white, called Yun Ruoxi, quickly recovered from her loss of composure and snorted coldly through her nose. Stepping lightly into the air, she made to give chase.

*

Just then, she suddenly twisted around, her beautiful eyes spanning hundreds of miles in a single glance to fall upon the little mosquito fleeing on its wings.

Earlier, focused on her opponent, Yun Ruoxi had vaguely sensed that, as she mobilized the ice-attributed energies of heaven and earth, a low-level demon mosquito had been swept up as well.

But as the man in red was unleashing a great secret art at that moment, she had been forced to focus entirely on him, paying no attention to whether the little mosquito at the edge had lived or died.

Thus, when Xiao Wenzi was resurrected on the spot by the system, Yun Ruoxi simply assumed he had used some life-saving method to escape the force of heaven and earth, and had hidden himself, only now fleeing as the snowstorm dissipated. She had no inkling of his ability to die and be reborn.

The speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator fleeing was unimaginable. In an instant, the man in red had already fled more than a hundred miles.

The battle between the two had grown fierce. Though Yun Ruoxi found Xiao Wenzi somewhat unusual, she knew well how to weigh priorities. She merely cast him a sidelong glance, then turned and decisively pursued the man in red.

The thunderous sounds of battle receded into the distance, and the wind and snow soon vanished as well. The sky returned to its clear, high state.

Xiao Wenzi dared not pause for even a moment. Just now, he’d felt the suffocating sensation of prey caught in the gaze of a venomous serpent.

The owner of that divine sense was terrifyingly powerful—capable, with a mere flick of the hand, of destroying him from hundreds of miles away. Fortunately, that person had pressing matters elsewhere; otherwise, he would surely have been captured alive today.

He didn’t know whether the other had witnessed his resurrection, but caution never goes amiss. The sooner he fled, the better.

With that thought, Xiao Wenzi pushed aside his regret for the heart energy he had just spent, chose a direction, and flew away at full speed. Only after a whole day and a hundred more miles between him and that area did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Since his pursuer had not returned, it meant that either the battle was still unresolved, or they had never discovered his secret and simply dismissed him as an insignificant mosquito.

The encounter made it clear to Xiao Wenzi how weak he still was. One moment’s carelessness, and he could fall into an abyss with no escape.

He continued toward the Misty Swamp, but deliberately veered off course, taking a long detour to avoid that terrifying presence—whose very manipulation of heaven and earth could crush him, and whose gender he had not even glimpsed. Better safe than sorry.

His caution paid off. After another seven or eight days of careful flight, Xiao Wenzi finally reached the edge of the Misty Swamp.

As the name suggested, the Misty Swamp was shrouded in thick fog all year round. Its terrain was mostly lakes, marshes, and forests. The paths were treacherous, and in some places poisonous miasmas lurked, earning it the reputation of a forbidden zone for mortals.

*

Ordinary people kept their distance from the Misty Swamp, but Xiao Wenzi felt no such hesitation. After a brief survey of the outskirts, he spread his wings and entered.

Of course, he wasn’t so reckless as to fly straight across the vast, bubbling marshy lakes. He stuck to routes along the wooded shores of the lakes, which took far more time, but at least offered relative safety.

The dense fog filled the forest with the stench of decay, and all manner of venomous creatures—spiders, toads—lurked in wait for prey.

Fortunately, the mist did not suppress divine sense, and Xiao Wenzi’s demon awareness was unaffected. With demon elixir to replenish his strength, and his senses fully extended, he could always anticipate danger and strike down any lurking predators before they could ambush him.

“Hm… This spider contains demon energy. Could I be mistaken? Is there no immortal cultivation sect here after all, but rather a gathering of demon beasts and poisonous insects?”

The Misty Forest stretched for thousands of miles, and common folk knew little of its secrets. Xiao Wenzi could only feel his way forward by trial and error. The first few days went well enough—even when spiders or toads blocked his path, he could easily destroy them.

But the giant spider before him, as large as a child’s head, with eight legs bristling like sharp thorns and a back covered in sinister markings, shook his confidence.

Leaving aside its intelligence for now, the demon energy it radiated was comparable to a cultivator at the fifth layer of the Qi Refining stage.

In truth, with his own level and abilities, Xiao Wenzi did not fear this venomous creature. If he went all out, he could certainly destroy it.

But this was only the beginning. Who knew what more terrifying demon beasts and poisonous insects might await deeper within? And if this place truly was a paradise for such monsters, then his original plan of hunting down solitary young cultivators would be utterly ruined.

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

Xiao Wenzi had no time to ponder further. The flower-backed giant spider, having discovered such a delectable morsel had come to its very door, had already spat out silk to ensnare him. At the same time, its eight legs scuttled swiftly forward, its jaws agape and fangs grinding hungrily, intent on a hearty meal.