Chapter 418: Swamps of Gloom, Land of Death (I)
“Yes, Sir demon god is still… still there.” The large Devil Snake leading them replied respectfully.
“Humpf. Get lost.”
Hearing these words, the Devil Snakes ran full tilt with their thick tails behind their backs.
Long Haochen raised his hand, giving a thumbs up, and Chen Ying’er replied with a happy smile, “My acting skills improved, didn’t they?”
Laughing quietly, Lin Xin remarked, “That was quite impressive, Lady Devil Dragon Queen.”
Deceiving all the demons only by relying on the outward appearance of Moon Demons was impossible. This time, Long Haochen’s group had been in demon territory not just for a day or two, and naturally had their own means of cover. Chen Ying’er’s Mirror Image Treasure Pig was naturally the instigator of this act. By relying on his powerful copying ability, the trick of slipping through with the release of some darkness aura was tested and approved. Although they also had a mission which consisted of killing a hundred Devil Snakes, the time for it had clearly yet to come. Meanwhile, they confirmed that the information about Andromalius’ location was true.
This little town was bustling, and quite a bit more lively than some cities in the demon territory. On the streets, an endless stream of demons moved about, among which the Devil Snakes were the most common. Among the other clans, the overwhelming majority were naturally Dual Bladed Demons. Perhaps because this place was relatively small, its entrance wasn’t restricted to Dual Bladed Demons like that of the large cities.
As soon as they entered the town, Long Haochen’s appearance quickly attracted quite a lot of attention. Being the target of curious glances was however not a good thing. Settling this issue was very simple, just by emitting the aura of a Devil Dragon, with Long Haochen following up with some words, whoever questioned them would feel a deadly threat.This way, they became a common subject of terror.
The things that could be bought in this little town were relatively limited. To demons, there appeared to be no notion of money, and everything was obtained through bartering. Long Haochen immediately took out some magical beast crystals to exchange them for clean water and dried fish. He also managed to buy some fruits with good luck. Then everyone looked for a relatively clean room to rest.
Everyone felt somewhat tired due to their strenuous journey, and turned in early. Cai’er, Wang Yuanyuan and Chen Ying’er shared a room. Although her memories were lost, Cai’er seemed to have become even more rigorous than before regarding the matters between boys and girls, and even Long Haochen, who was most familiar with her, was unable to get too close to her because of being a man.
After having a simple meal, the most important thing on everyone’s mind was to immediately get a hot shower. After a good night of rest, everyone gathered the next day. After a good night’s rest, everyone was glowing with health and vigor. Of course, there was not much of a change in Yating and the two Holy Guards.
Long Haochen called his comrades to his room, “Today, we will be going to the Swamps of Gloom. Just a moment ago, I wanted to buy a detailed map of the swamps, but I had no luck. I asked around about the situation in the Swamps of Gloom, and learned that to the demons from this little town, the Swamps of Gloom are a very terrifying place. Not only get people stuck in the swamps, it is also full of marsh gas. If one isn’t careful, they can get poisoned, and even the Devil Snakes with their strong resistance against poison are unable to resist this venom.
Not only that, but in the Swamps of Gloom is the home of some very powerful magical beasts, and even magical beasts of the tenth rank are rumoured to exist there. I think that this is also the reason why the Devil Snake Demon God Andromalius didn’t come out after staying there for so long. The thing he wants to find must be very precious, especially given that the swamps must be a hard place for him to handle. After we enter the swamps, we will undoubtedly meet great danger. Everyone will stay together, and in case something is amiss, everyone has to listen to my orders, and avoid unnecessary fights, understood?”
Everyone nodded. Due to their escape route through the Tower of Eternity, they had enormous self-confidence. After all, a situation like the awakening Cai’er just had, couldn’t possibly happen one more time. According to the growth of Long Haochen’s cultivation, his control over the Tower of Eternity also continuously kept increasing, which helped improve the speed and number of people he could teleport.
“Boss, then when will we act?” Sima Xian asked.
Long Haochen replied, “No rush. The Swamps of Gloom aren’t far from here, and noon is when the level of marsh gas is the lowest. We will wait for this time, when a part of the swamps gets melted by the sunshine, to enter. Han Yu, Lin Xin, the two of you will form a team. Sima, you and me will be a team. We are going back to gather more information about the situation in the Swamps of Gloom. Even if we only learn a bit, it will be better than nothing. We will all return to the hotel an hour later, before setting off to head to the Swamps of Gloom. Yuanyuan, Ying’er, you two will be looking after Cai’er.”
The two girls nodded, and Long Haochen also left the two holy guards behind. The four men left the hotel, and made discreet inquiries in the town.
An hour passed very quickly. After Long Haochen’ group returned back to the hotel, they summarized the news they got altogether. Useful information regarding the actual situation inside the Swamps of Gloom was sparse and hard to get, as this was a very dangerous place where the survival rate of the demons was not high. Thus, the Swamps of Gloom gained the name land of death. Even by relying on their advantage of maneuverability on any terrain, the Devil Snake Clan demons didn’t enter it recklessly.
Everyone put their things in order, and they departed under Long Haochen’s lead.
Today, the weather was pretty good. The sun was shining brightly, but within the borders of the demon territory, even on a clear and bright day, birds were rarely seen, because all the birds and flying magical beasts had been eaten by demons over the past thousands years. How could there be any living animals left?
Upon arriving, they noticed that the air turned a lot more moist than on open ground, and that the swamps weren’t that huge. According to the map, if they kept going east, they would reach the coast after less than 250 km. There, many demons were in charge of fishing. According to the information from the demons, the coastal area was already sparse of fish due to extensive hunting by the demons. Very often, they had no choice but to hunt other creatures from the ocean to serve as food for them. To guarantee the capture of some amount of fish, even some demons of the ninth step joined the hunter’s ranks.
Perhaps it was because this land of death called Swamps of Gloom was excessively terrifying, but the closer they got, they encountered less and less demons. While everyone traveled at full speed, soon an hour passed and noon arrived. The air turned more and more humid, and the ground started to gradually soften. Occasionally, some rotten smell assaulted their noses. They were in the Swamps of Gloom.
After walking for half an hour, they finally reached their destination. However, everyone couldn’t help but show different expressions. Just by looking from a distance, they could all sense the terror of this land of death.
Afar, a large expanse of green fog covered this massive area. This green fog seemed as if it was undisturbed since time immemorial, even when bathed in the rays of sunlight, it didn’t appear to be affected in the slightest. One could clearly see that the closer they got to the fog, the deeper its color was. When reaching the edge of that fog, the ground turned black, and occasionally, some muddish bubbles ascended from wet patches.
They emitted strange smells along with the moisture sustaining the fog.
The size of the Swamps of Gloom was basically indistinct, and when Long Haochen especially rose to the sky after releasing his spiritual wings, he found out to his astonishment that the closer they got to the fog, the deeper its color. It increased in density until reaching the depths of the Swamps of Gloom, where its color was dark green. As for the size of these swamps, he was unable to estimate it, because of the the excessive concentration of the fog, his line of sight was obstructed.
Returning to the ground, Long Haochen gathered his comrades, and told them in a deep voice, “It looks like these Swamps of Gloom are even harder to handle than we imagined. Everyone take extra care when you act. When inside, our visibility will very possibly be affected to some extent, so don’t get lost, and stay close to me. I will use light magic to disperse the fog. If we get attacked, stay close to me as much as possible. We will first be taking a look at the edge of the swamps, and then attempt to enter.”
Han Yu responded, “Captain, how about letting me disperse the fog? As the core of the team, letting you preserve your strength should be our priority.”
Long Haochen shook his head, giving the reply, “Don’t worry. I have already broken through to the seventh step and opened three spiritual cavities. The recovery speed of my spiritual energy is now a lot faster than yours. This is really nothing. Let’s go now.”
The group of seven accompanied by the two holy guards and Yating followed, advancing to the edge of the swamps rapidly. The closer they got to the Swamps of Gloom, the softer the ground under their feet became. When entering its edge, the surface under their feet felt as if they moved on quicksand.
At that time, the Eleventh Holy Guard displayed his great utility. Releasing cold energy on the ground with no difficulty, he instantly turned the water in the swamps to ice, which could bear the weight of everyone.
Meanwhile, a dark golden light spread from Long Haochen’s body, enveloping the whole group. That was the light spell of the third step, Holy Mantle.
The reason why he used Holy Mantle instead of Divine Light Mantle was that the defensive strength of the former was a lot greater, and it also possessed healing and preserving effects. Furthermore, Long Haochen added his comprehension of the technique Ripples of Light, and therefore, didn’t only absorb a lot more light essence, but also raised its defensive strength to a spell at the fourth step. As long as they didn’t encounter an extremely powerful attack, his Holy Mantle provided some defense.
Atop of this, the greatest benefit of Holy Mantle was that the area covered by this pell could be changed depending on the amount of spiritual energy expended. The visibility inside the swamps was no good, so Long Haochen naturally made his Holy Mantle a bit bigger.
With the increase of his internal spiritual energy above 10,000 units, and two more spiritual cavities, in the space between his eyebrows and his underbelly, the concentration of spiritual energy in these cavities started to increase. Now, Long Haochen’s cultivation speed became a lot faster than at the time he was still at the sixth step. His growth in strength even shocked himself. In only half a month, his spiritual energy was already nearing 11,000 units.
