The Floating Dawn Swamp was worthy of its ominous reputation.
For some unknown reason, when they entered the swamp, Han Li’s spiritual sense couldn't spread past three hundred meters away. There wasn’t much one could do to protect themselves from the illusory fog.
But what was most troublesome was the strange ‘Sharp Worms” lurking in the dripping sludge.
These worms had centipede-like limbs and body, but countless slender sharp mouths lined its body, all capable of spitting venom that can corrode magic treasures and devour a cultivator’s protective light.
If it were only one or two, they wouldn’t have caught their attention, but these types traveled in groups. Ever since they entered the swamp sludge, tens of worms would simultaneously emerge, all of them about three-meters-long and capable of flight.
Naturally, each time a group of them were disturbed, the squad would scramble to respond.
If they weren’t given a patrol assignment, they would’ve simply flown over the swamp so they didn’t have to deal with the sharp worms.
As a patrol squad, they needed to examine traces of foreign tribes which was impossible to do if they flew high in the air. They were only able to fly at low altitudes.
As such, worm attacks became commonplace but there wasn’t anything that could be done to prevent them.
There was even one time when they disturbed a huge number of worms, provoking over four hundred worms from the swamp.
If it weren’t for Han Li’s Divine Essensefused Light, they would’ve swarmed the squad and inflict heavy losses. Instead, the light suspended the worms in midair where they were incinerated by spirit fire.
Initially, they had doubts about Han Li’s abilities since they hadn’t seen him use them prior, but now, they felt far more at ease.
Of course, the Floating Dawn Swamp had other dangers than just the worms.
There were the ancient Silverhead Beasts that were fond of concealing themselves in the dense jungle. They were able to separate their heads from their body and have their various body parts split, launching different attacks. Han Li found them difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, the beasts’ movements were slow and the area was difficult to traverse. So long as the squad flew out of their range, the beasts couldn't pursue them.
As such, they weren’t nearly as dangerous as the sharp worms.
But soon, Han Li and the others came to have a deep understanding as to why the Floating Dawn Swamp was the named the grade one patrolled area.
They had to maintain a heightened level of vigilance nearly the whole time. If they weren’t careful, they could suffer injury.
Under these circumstances, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The squad maintained their vigilance, but they didn’t discover any traces of foreign tribes, much to the relief of those in the squad.
The tense atmosphere in the squad eventually eased up.
One day, a group of cultivators in the squad were holding the Foreign Spirit plates in their hand while flying for most of the day. Even high-grade cultivators couldn't help but tire from this. After all, one needed to remain vigilant on patrol and would cause much strain on their mind.
At that moment, they arrived in front of a clear pond three hundred meters wide. There was a small pile of rocks at the pond side with a row of slender green bamboo growing from it. It was a refreshing scene one would find in a painting.
Their spirits were roused.
The large green-eyed man exchanged a glance with the others and he drew close to Han Li. He respectfully said, “Senior Han, this place seems quite good. How about we rest for a moment before we continue the patrol.”
“That’s fine, but be careful. First, take a look if there is anything strange,” Han Li calmly said.
On their assignment, Han Li rarely gave orders and was welcoming of the squad’s proposals.
This caused the distance between Han Li and the squad to unconsciously become closer.
“Of course!” The green-eyed man said with a smile. He then waved to the others behind him.
Two old men and the pair of women spread out quickly flying in the circle. With no reaction from the Foreign Spirit Plate, they landed next to the scattered rocks near the pond with relief.
They couldn't stay too long, so they simply found a clean area for themselves to sit and rest.
As a Deity Transformation cultivator and someone who cultivated the Great Development Arts, the patrol hadn’t taken much strain on his mind. He hadn’t joined them as a result, and simply took a leisurely stroll around the pond as he glanced around.
The pond wasn’t very deep, but its water was very clear.
Inside the water swam a finger-sized silver fish that appeared harmless.
Han Li frowned when he saw this and unconsciously raised his head and turned to look at the dozen stalks of bamboo.
A few winds seemed to be blowing nearby, but they didn’t cause much sound, adding to the serene atmosphere.
The squad cultivators were sitting either at the edge of the water or next to the bamboo forest, all still.
Han Li then turned his glance at the mirror-like surface of the water and muttered to himself for a moment. His eyes became narrow for just a moment. He slowly turned around and lifted his leg in the direction of the bamboo forest.
But in that brief instant, Han Li flicked his fingers hidden inside his sleeves. Red lights flashed and ten red lines sank into the ground.
This all occurred silently and without a trace.
When Han Li slowly walked towards the bamboo forest, he stopped in front of it and looked at it with a calm gaze.
This action seemed somewhat bizarre.
The youth surnamed Yin and the woman surnamed Xu couldn't help but open their eyes when they detected this strange action and gave each other a strange glance.
However, Han Li ignored them and his gaze soon became ice cold. He opened his mouth. A golden light shot out and chopped through the green forest in a crack of lightning.
Then with a crack, a bowl-thick stalk of green bamboo was split through the middle.
“Yi!” The youth surnamed Yin yelped in shock.
Fairy Xu also looked with wide eyes.
But before they could process what happened, an incomprehensible scene occurred.
A fountain of dark green liquid spouted from the opening of the split bamboo, spreading an incredibly fishy smell in the air.
What was even more astonishing was how the earth rumbled at nearly the same time. A painful roar shook the ground and the green bamboo trembled, turning into thick hair-like tentacles and fiercely striking at Han Li.
As if he could allow such a simple attack to hit him. He disappeared in a blur and appeared above the water, coldly looking down at dancing tentacles that attacked him.
The cultivators that were resting nearby were startled by this sudden change and soared into the air in panic. They even released several of their bladed weapons to strike the tentacles.
When they saw that Han Li chopped off one of the tentacles, they unconsciously took the action lightly.
However, they wholly didn’t expect for the tentacle to give a strange metallic clang upon impact, easily repelling the weapons.
In the astonishment of the other cultivators, they also thought to attack when the grey stones at the side of the pond suddenly turned black. The scattered stones twisted together to form skull-sized black scales. They belonged to a huge ancient beast.
The beast appeared round, but one wasn’t able to see its nose or mouth. However, there were thin tentacles on its back that were over thirty-meters long. It seemed to be lying hidden next to the pond. The bamboo was a transformation of its flesh.
Cultivators seemed to have been resting on the surface of the beast. It had used some sort of unknown ability to conceal itself not only from their spiritual sense but also from their Foreign Spirit Plate.
“Attack!” Han Li shouted from the air.
The cultivators felt their hearts trembled and they immediately released their treasures. For a time, various-colored light shined in the air and engulfed the huge beast in a torrent.
The ancient beast had no intention to flee. Rather, the tentacles on its back hurriedly danced, turning into a grey blurs of light, blocking the attacks on its body.
Whenever a tentacle blocked an attack, a rumbling explosion sounded and it fiercely blocked the magic treasure. Regardless of where the treasure struck, they were bluntly repelled, preventing any attack from striking at its true body.
The youth surnamed Ying coldly snorted, clapped his hands together, and raised them. A ball of red and yellow light appeared in each hand, suddenly releasing a hail of fist-sized lightning fireballs upon the beast’s face. As for Fairy Xu, a cold silver light glowed from her body and wildly flashed, producing countless ice-attributed balls of lightning.
The two types of lightning flames seemed to merge and created astonishing momentum. A deafening boom resulted, creating blinding lightning, completely enveloping most of the beast.
When the others saw this, they couldn't help but smile.
At that moment, Han Li had yet to take action and was merely observing his subordinates’ attacks.
“Hmph!” A bone-chilling snort sounded from the direction of the lightning fireballs.
An otherworldly wind suddenly blew from underneath them.
The wind was hazy and shook, circling itself a few times before stirring up a tornado. It completely swept up the lightning fireballs.
A series of explosions could be heard within the tornado, resulting in both the tornado and lightning flames disappearing.
Youth Ying and Fairy Xu were both greatly alarmed. The others also appeared deeply shocked.
A strange person appeared on top of the huge beast.
The person had green flesh of some unknown hide. It had no clothes, a bald head, and nostrils, but its eyes lacked any emotion.
But what was more strange was that the legs underneath his thighs merged with the huge beast as if they were one and the same.
