Chapter 1340

The Floating Black Marsh is indeed far more strange than any other place!

For some unknown reason, upon entering the marsh, Han Li and the others found that not only could their spiritual sense not extend beyond a hundred feet, but the 'confusing' mist and illusions within were layered thickly, making them impossible to guard against.

What troubles people most is that beneath the damp, muddy sludge grows a kind of strange insect known as the 'Gui Worm'.

These worms each have a centipede-like segmented body, and their surfaces are covered with countless slender, sharp mouths that can spit a poisonous mist capable of corroding magical treasures and devouring cultivators' protective spiritual light.

If there were only one or two, cultivators like the blue-eyed burly man would naturally not pay them any mind, but these strange worms are gregarious; when they burst from the sludge, they come out in groups of dozens, each about a zhang in length, and even possess the ability to fly at low altitude.

Naturally, every time the worm swarm is disturbed, it throws everyone into a flurry of frantic activity.

Of course, if they were not on patrol duty, they could simply fly high over the marsh, and these 'Gui Worms' would be of no concern.

But the patrol team must track the traces of foreign tribes, so they cannot fly that high; they can only fly low.

Thus, attacks by Gui Worms naturally occur frequently, leaving people unable to defend against them.

On one occasion, they disturbed a super-large worm swarm, and three to four hundred Gui Worms surged out from beneath the marsh all at once.

Had it not been for Han Li suddenly releasing the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light, instantly freezing these strange worms in midair, and then unleashing his divine might with a burst of spiritual fire that burned them to ashes,

their group would have truly suffered a great loss.

However, precisely because of this move by Han Li, the subordinates who had previously doubted his divine powers now looked at him with several more degrees of conviction.

Of course, besides the Gui Worms, the Floating Black Marsh harbors many other dangers.

There is a kind of ancient beast called the Silver-Headed Beast that likes to lurk in the marsh's dense forests, capable of ignoring all slashing attacks and able to split its own body, which even Han Li found difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, this beast moves somewhat slowly and has an extremely strong territorial instinct; as long as one leaves its domain, it ceases pursuit.

Therefore, in terms of danger alone, it is not as fearsome as the Gui Worms.

Yet even after only a short time in the marsh, Han Li and the others deeply understood why the Floating Black Marsh is called a first-class patrol zone.

The group must remain highly vigilant at all times; otherwise, a moment's carelessness would result in a minor loss.

In this way, before they knew it, Han Li and the others had penetrated over twenty days into the marsh, proceeding cautiously along the way, but fortunately found no trace of foreign tribes.

Upon this, Daoist Ma and the others breathed a great sigh of relief.

The solemn atmosphere enveloping the group also eased somewhat.

On this day, the group flew for most of the day holding the 'Yi Ling Pan', and even as high-level cultivators, they began to feel some fatigue. After all, maintaining focused spiritual sense during patrol consumes considerable mental energy.

At this moment, a clear pool over a hundred zhang in size appeared ahead; beside it lay a small area of broken stones, upon which stood a row of unusually verdant green bamboo, tall and graceful, with cool breezes blowing from time to time, making the place as beautiful as a painted scroll.

They all felt their spirits lift involuntarily.

After exchanging a glance, the blue-eyed burly man and the others immediately flashed their escape light and approached Han Li, respectfully saying:

"Senior Han, this place is not bad. May we rest here for a moment or two, then continue our patrol after a while?"

"Yes, that is fine. Be careful, inspect the area, and see if anything is abnormal." Han Li showed no objection, merely giving a calm instruction.

Along this journey, Han Li rarely issued orders, and he accepted most of the suggestions from the blue-eyed burly man and others.

This made the relationship between the others and Han Li grow more familiar without them noticing.

"Of course!" the blue-eyed burly man said, his face breaking into a smile as he waved to the people behind him.

Immediately, the two elders and that married couple flew swiftly in a circle around the surroundings. The Yi Ling Pan in their hands showed no reaction whatsoever, whereupon the group felt reassured and descended onto the patch of broken stones.

They would not linger long, so each quickly found a suitable clean spot, sat cross-legged, and began to swiftly recover their expended mental energy!

As a Soul Transformation cultivator who had also practiced the Great Expansion Technique, Han Li felt no hardship from this patrol, so he did not sit down like the others but instead strolled leisurely to the edge of the pool and glanced around a few times.

The pool was not too deep; its water was clear and transparent, allowing one to see straight to the bottom.

And in the water, there was a kind of finger-thick silver-colored small fish swimming about, appearing harmless.

Seeing this scene, Han Li frowned slightly, instinctively raising his head to glance around, his gaze sweeping over the more than ten emerald bamboo nearby.

Apart from the faint rustling of the breeze, there was no other sound, making the place unusually tranquil.

The blue-eyed burly man and the ten others, whether by the pool's edge or beneath the emerald bamboo, remained utterly still.

Han Li shifted his gaze, glancing again at the mirror-like calm water surface, then after a brief moment of silent contemplation, his pupils suddenly contracted, but immediately returned to normal.

He slowly turned, lifted his foot, as if about to walk toward those emerald bamboo.

But no one noticed that, at the instant Han Li turned, his fingers hidden in his sleeve flicked, and with a flash of red light, ten faint red threads flashed and vanished mysteriously into the broken stone ground, leaving no trace.

The entire process was silent and soundless, leaving not the slightest sign.

Han Li slowly walked to the vicinity of the emerald bamboo and stopped before one of them, gazing at it with a faint look.

This action of his was somewhat strange.

It caused the Ying-surnamed youth and the Xu-surnamed female cultivator sitting cross-legged nearby to involuntarily open their eyes and glance over in surprise.

But Han Li paid no heed to their gazes; after a moment, cold light flashed violently in his eyes, he opened his mouth, and a burst of golden light shot forth—swift as thunder, too fast to cover one's ears—striking the emerald bamboo.

Only a light "crack" was heard, and that bowl-thick section of green bamboo was cleanly severed from the middle.

"Eh!" the Ying-surnamed youth exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Shi Xianzi also suddenly widened her beautiful eyes.

But before these two could form any other thoughts, an unbelievable scene below made them jump up in alarm.

At the broken end of the remaining half of the emerald bamboo, a jet of dark green-colored liquid suddenly spurted out, reeking horribly and reaching several feet in height.

Even more shocking, at nearly the same moment, the entire ground began to tremble, followed by an unusually painful roar emanating from underground with a buzzing sound; the other emerald bamboo shuddered, and actually transformed into thick, green-colored tendrils, resembling octopus tentacles, which lashed fiercely at Han Li.

But with Han Li's divine powers, how could he allow them to succeed? His body merely flickered, vanishing from the spot, and the next moment he appeared above the pool, his gaze coldly fixed on the strange spectacle of the tendrils dancing wildly ahead.

The blue-eyed burly man and the others who had been meditating nearby had already been awakened from their meditation by the sudden change; upon seeing it, everyone was naturally startled and leapt into the air, some so impatient that they immediately unleashed several flying swords and knives—treasures of that sort—slashing fiercely at these tendrils.

Seeing that Han Li had severed this object with a single sword, they naturally assumed it was nothing special.

But what they never expected was that when these flying swords and knives struck the tendrils, they actually produced a metallic clanging sound and were easily bounced back.

Just as the blue-eyed burly man and others were stunned and considering using other treasures to attack, the originally grayish-white broken stone ground beside the pool suddenly turned pitch-black; then, as the stones twisted and shifted, they became one after another of purple-black scales the size of a head, and they realized they were actually standing on the body of a gigantic ancient beast.

This beast was a round, blob-like creature with no visible mouth or nose, but with over ten zhang of fleshy tendrils growing on its back. It clung closely to the pool, lying prone there, and those dozen or so emerald bamboo were all transformations of the tendrils on its back.

Earlier, Han Li and the others had merely been resting on this beast's body. One does not know what divine powers it possesses, but it not only concealed itself from everyone's spiritual sense, even the Yi Ling Pan failed to detect the slightest trace of it.

"Attack!" Han Li hovered above the pool, issuing a low command from his mouth.

The blue-eyed burly man and the others felt their hearts tighten, immediately producing various treasures one after another; for a moment, lights of various colors surged forward with fierce momentum toward the giant beast below.

The ancient beast had no intention of fleeing; instead, the flesh tendrils on its back danced rapidly, transforming into a green light shadow that shielded its body.

Upon contact, a tremendous booming sound erupted; the flesh tendrils were as tough as ordinary magical treasures—no matter what treasure struck them, they were all swept away rudely, unable to penetrate even slightly.

Seeing this, the Ying surname youth let out a cold snort, rubbed his hands together, then raised them. Suddenly, clusters of strange red and yellow light appeared in his palms, which then shot out and transformed into countless fist-sized thunder-fire, raining down headfirst. Meanwhile, Shi Xianzi's body flashed with silver cold light; after intense flashing, numerous clusters of ice-attribute thunder-light likewise crashed downward.

As the two types of thunder-fire intertwined and unleashed their power, the momentum was astonishingly intense; after a deafening thunderclap, blinding thunder-light completely submerged more than half of the giant beast.

Seeing this, the others couldn't help but reveal smiles on their faces.

At this moment, Han Li did not act, merely observing the attacks below with an expressionless gaze.

"Hmph!" A bone-chilling cold snort suddenly echoed from within the thunder-fire.

Following this, a strange wind emerged from nowhere below.

This wind was dim and dull, starting extremely small, but after a few swirls, it suddenly transformed into a skyward-rising hurricane; one sweep wrapped all the thunder-fire below into it.

Upon hearing a rumbling within the hurricane, the violent wind and thunder-fire vanished simultaneously, as if mutually destroyed.

The Ying surname youth and the Xu surname female cultivator both couldn't help but change their expressions, while the blue-eyed burly man and others were also secretly startled.

The giant beast below reappeared, but this time, an additional strange figure had appeared on the ancient beast's body.

This strange person had pale green skin over his entire body, wearing only an unknown animal hide on his lower body, with no other clothing, and not a single hair on his head. His mouth and nose were present, but his eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, causing one to feel a chill rise upon seeing him.

Even more strangely, the strange person had his arms crossed over his shoulders, but from the thighs downward, his lower body was completely submerged into the giant beast's body, as if he and the beast were originally one entity.

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