Chapter 178: 178. Chapter 175: Ding Huan

178. Chapter 175: Ding Huan's Selfless Dedication

Having decided to follow Ding Huan, Seeing Yan Mei would come over whenever she saw him idle to ask all sorts of questions.

Over time, Ding Huan simply handed over the hunting tasks to Seeing Yan Mei.

Before each outing, Seeing Yan Mei only needed to ask Ding Huan which direction to go and how far she could safely travel.

Ding Huan's mood had been very good lately—he could now dismantle simple seals and cast them at will.

Only now did he understand why it had taken him over a month to wear down the seals on his Star House originally.

That month had merely been wearing down the seals; as for the iron pot, since he couldn't open it, the seals inside must be stronger than those on the Star House.

The fact that it wouldn't fit inside the Star House also meant its rules surpassed those of the Star House.

These weren't what Ding Huan was considering—he was now most worried about his Star House.

His Star House had no seals; any skilled expert's spiritual sense could sweep over him.

If they noticed the Star House and let their spiritual sense seep into his clothes, they'd realize it was a vast space.

Fortunately, Qu Yue Shan still had some dignity before Elder Gu and Elder Liu, and didn't probe him with his spiritual sense.

Elder Liu and Elder Gu certainly wouldn't do such a lowly thing.

Once they left the Great Gorge, encountering all kinds of people, there'd be no telling.

If he sealed his Star House, so no one's spiritual sense could penetrate it, then there'd be no problem.

After all, many protective treasures carried seals—he wearing a protective pendant would be perfectly normal.

Because of this concern, Ding Huan studied seals almost day and night.

The moment he mastered his first defensive seal, he applied it to his Star House.

Whenever he activated a certain skill, knowledge points in his mind would be triggered.

As the group walked through the Great Gorge for another half-month, Ding Huan, while leading, would occasionally veer into the forest, wander a bit, then return to the main path.

But no one questioned him anymore—everyone followed wherever Ding Huan went.

Everyone greatly admired Ding Huan; after traveling so long, they hadn't encountered a single Heaven Cave trap, not even once had they met a group of beasts.

It was as if these dangers deliberately avoided them.

In half a month, Ding Huan's seal skill rose to Level Two.

His Star House's seal was upgraded to Level Two as well.

Ding Huan was certain this Level Two was the real Level Two of this world, not the fake Level Two he'd thought before.

The Star House's vulnerability made Ding Huan urgently need to improve his seal skill.

Now that his seal skill had reached Level Two, his array skill had improved too.

Although he still couldn't set up a Level Two array, Ding Huan believed that with array flags, he could now set up a Level One defensive array and a simple Level One offensive array.

Every time Elder Gu set up an array, Ding Huan watched beside him.

He could now tell that Elder Gu's array skill was only capable of setting up Level Two arrays.

If he waited a bit longer, once he could forge real array flags, surpassing Elder Gu would be easy.

Gu Youchang held a good impression of Ding Huan, so whenever he set up an array, if Ding Huan was watching, he'd offer a few pointers.

In his mind, even if he gave Ding Huan an array jade slip, Ding Huan wouldn't enter the realm of arrays without ten or eight years of study.

In fact, after receiving Gu's array jade slip, Ding Huan had never once come to ask him anything—he knew Ding Huan couldn't set up even a Level One array in ten or eight years.

Without a master's guidance, that time would likely double.

He didn't remind Ding Huan; since Ding Huan hadn't been selected as a disciple, his spiritual root quality must be poor.

If his spiritual root quality was poor, becoming an array master wasn't bad.

In the future, if he became a Level One array master, he'd at least have food to eat.

Because he no longer wanted to recommend Ding Huan, Liu Yinzhu had rarely come to speak with him lately.

She still deeply admired Ding Huan—since he'd taken the lead, the team hadn't lost a single member.

In truth, even Elder Gu couldn't see through Ding Huan's Level Two Star House seal at a glance.

But Ding Huan's sense of danger was extremely strong—he felt it still wasn't safe enough; his low cultivation level was beyond his control, since he hadn't yet found the Foundation Establishment path.

If someone discovered his Star House's secret, he'd deserve to die.

With this mindset, even while traveling, Ding Huan was constantly thinking about seal problems.

"Ding Daoist, you can't go any further ahead." Liu Yinzhu promptly stopped Ding Huan, who was lost in thought.

"What's wrong, Elder Liu?"

Ding Huan asked casually, then realized the problem—there was no path ahead, only a swamp.

Looking out, the swamp stretched endlessly on both sides, with no visible edge.

Across the way, however, faintly visible were patches of forest.

Liu Yinzhu stared at Ding Huan in disbelief—did this guy lead without looking? This was clearly the Lost Swamp—he should've noticed and prepared to scout ahead.

"Ding Daoist, ahead is the Lost Swamp. Every year, one in ten new disciples fall into it and never emerge."

Elder Gu also walked over, his tone grave.

Normally, when several sects jointly crossed the Lost Swamp, it wasn't a problem.

But now it's abnormal: Yanyue Sect has only thirteen new disciples left; Zi Xia Valley has five; Shuang Hun Sect and Tianqi Sect each have only one.

"Please, Elder Gu and Elder Liu, enlighten me," Ding Huan bowed, his tone sincere.

Liu Yinzhu had no choice but to say:

"In the Lost Swamp, some spots are fatal to step on, so each time, new disciples must scout ahead. Normally, when sects arrive here, they wait.

Once all the Geda Sects gather, they form teams to enter the Lost Swamp—usually, every hundred people form one group to advance…"

Ding Huan indicated he didn't understand.

Gu Youchang added:

"That means, after discovering a new path, it's safe for a hundred people to pass through. If more than a hundred attempt to cross, the path must be re-explored."

"Why? Isn't the path already cleared? Can't others just follow it?" Ding Huan asked, puzzled.

Liu Liu Yinzhu sighed: "This Lost Marsh is strange—it's impossible to fly over it, and even a cleared path changes after more than a hundred people walk it."

"Then who should die to clear the path?"

Ding Huan's status in the group was second only to the two elders; when he asked this, no one found it odd.

"The chance of death while clearing the path is only fifty percent. If you survive, your resources upon returning to the sect will skyrocket," Liu Liu Yinzhu continued.

Ding Huan looked at Gu Youchang with a strange expression:

"Elder Gu, when the sect recruited disciples, was my talent so low I didn't even qualify to be sent to clear paths?"

Gu Youchang smiled bitterly—he knew as soon as he said it, Ding Huan would understand the truth.

Liu Liu Yinzhu also sighed; this Ding Huan was practically a genius. Was he really just a young cook?

Every time the sect recruited disciples, they took in a few whose talent wasn't outstanding, specifically to send them into the Lost Marsh to clear paths.

This time was unusual: no sect had gathered here, and by the time they arrived, nearly all their disciples were dead.

No sect chose Ding Huan—that meant his talent was too low even to be recruited for path-clearing.

Ding Huan knew full well he had no talent; he said this to tell Gu Youchang and Liu Liu Yinzhu he wasn't talentless—he simply had very little.

"I have another question: when you came here, did you also need to clear a path?"

Ding Huan wondered—if they had to clear a path to arrive, then who had died to do it?

Elder Gu explained: "The Lost Marsh has two safe periods each year, during which safe zones appear and no path-clearing is needed. That's why the Dao Cultivation World recruits disciples from the Mortal World twice a year."

"I see," Ding Huan understood.

Liu Liu Yinzhu's tone grew much darker:

"Elder Gu, the fact that we made it here at all—with a few disciples still alive—is likely the luckiest outcome of any sect's recruitment trip to the Mortal World this year."

Other sects… probably…"

Liu Liu Yinzhu didn't finish; everyone understood her meaning.

Our group has Ding Huan to lead the way; other sects probably died from the Cold Ghoul's Illusion Poison or were devoured by the Foot-Swallowing Corpse.

This journey is so dangerous—even if other sects didn't suffer total annihilation, they likely have only a handful left.

Ding Huan's heart jolted—he knew Qi Qi Xinyue was coming to the Dao Cultivation World, and so were Lou Buzhi and Ku Qi.

"Ding Daofriend, what do you think?" Liu Liu Yinzhu looked at Ding Huan.

Seeing Yan Mei was the best candidate to lead the way, but lately she'd grown close to Ding Huan, and she didn't know his stance.

But Ding Huan had no interest in that—he asked urgently:

"Elders, must we take this exact path to get from the Mortal World to the Dao Cultivation World?"

Gu Youchang shook his head:

"Not necessarily. It's true you must pass through the Great Abyss Canyon to reach the Dao Cultivation World. But from the Great Abyss Canyon to the Lost Marsh, there are seven paths—we're just taking one."

"So if other sects take different paths into the Lost Marsh, will they also converge here?" Ding Huan asked again.

"No. The Lost Marsh stretches for hundreds of millions of miles—it has no end. But one thing remains: anyone entering from elsewhere must still send people to clear the path."

This time, Liu Liu Yinzhu answered.

Ding Huan exhaled in relief—he was reassured.

"Elder Gu, Elder Liu, I'm just a cook. I'll clear the path."

Ding Huan knew the two elders wanted Seeing Yan Mei to lead the way—even Seeing Yan Mei herself had planned to do it. He had no choice.

Yet now, Ding Huan volunteered to clear the path.

"Ding Daofriend, this isn't a joke," Gu Youchang said, reluctant to see Ding Huan perish in the Lost Marsh.

Ding Huan sighed, then bowed to everyone:

"All of you have talent, and will soon become new sect disciples—you may one day become the pillars of your sects.

Making it this far proves you carry great fortune. My talent is poor, and I'm just a cook—so let me handle the path-clearing.

As long as I live, I won't let a single person with a bright future die in the Lost Marsh."

Ding Huan would never do good deeds without leaving his name.

He said this not to sound noble, but to hope these people had some conscience—when they reached the sect, they wouldn't immediately send word of him to the Dual Soul Sect.

(That's all for today's update, friends—goodnight! If you have monthly tickets, please support with a click!)