Chapter 403: The Man and Woman in the Void Swamp

When Ding Huan woke up, he found Wen Zhixi meditating, and a faint sense of danger came over him. He realized his immortal qi was nearly gone, and his spiritual sense could only extend about a foot.

Intuition told Ding Huan that someone was coming.

He immediately hid the iron pot, then glanced at the inferior immortal spirit vein beside him, thinking that Wen Zhixi was far too careless.

Who ever implants an immortal spirit vein like this for cultivation?

He strained to carve several teleportation array patterns and absorbed the immortal spirit vein beside him.

After taking away the immortal spirit vein and the iron pot, Ding Huan felt his vision go dark; he could barely whisper: "Zhixi…"

His voice was too faint; Wen Zhixi did not sense it.

When Ding Huan stopped cultivating, Wen Zhixi's insight into the Dao of Heaven and Earth instantly blurred.

After Ding Huan took away the immortal spirit vein, she could no longer absorb immortal spirit energy, and only then did she open her eyes.

When she saw Ding Huan had woken up, she beamed: "Big Brother Ding, you're awake?"

"Watch out for the people coming…" Ding Huan managed only these words before fainting again.

Someone is coming?

Wen Zhixi extended her spiritual sense and discovered a man and a woman approaching from afar.

The man was bald, his face pale, eyes half-lidded. The woman's features were decent enough, but a cruel glint lingered in her brows.

Both looked worn out, gripping attack artifacts, approaching her cultivation spot with wary expressions.

Wen Zhixi was astonished—someone had actually reached this place safely? That was no ordinary feat.

No wonder Ding Huan took the immortal spirit vein; judging by these two, they clearly had ill intentions.

What puzzled her was that the killing array patterns Ding Huan had set up had not activated—then she understood why.

The killing array patterns Ding Huan set required the inferior immortal spirit vein as its source; since he removed it, the array could not activate.

She stepped out of her cultivation cave: "Two fellow cultivators."

Among them, the man was at the mid-stage of Xuan Xian, and the woman was likely at the late-stage of Jin Xian—Wen Zhixi wasn't concerned.

After Ding Huan stripped away her muddled Dao rhythm, her strength surged; recently, cultivating beside Ding Huan, her cultivation had returned to mid-stage Xuan Xian.

"Fellow cultivator, did you kill Lord Xianze?" The man stared, wide-eyed, at the stunning woman who emerged.

"Who are you?" Wen Zhixi sensed her assumption might be wrong—these two didn't seem like they'd just arrived here.

The female cultivator quickly said: "Senior Sister, I'm Fu Shuangping, and this is my senior brother Ku Tingyi.

We've been inside the Myriad Void Swamp for centuries. When we reached the swamp, Lord Xianze captured and imprisoned us.

Not long ago, the sealing array around our prison collapsed on its own, allowing us to escape."

Wen Zhixi suddenly understood—it was her and Ding Huan who killed the Xianze beast and drained the immortal spirit vein; without the Xianze beast's spiritual awareness to control it, and without immortal spirit energy to sustain it, the prison array had collapsed.

In a way, she and Ding Huan had saved these two.

Just as Wen Zhixi was about to speak, Ding Huan woke again.

Seeing Ding Huan awake, Wen Zhixi hurried forward to support him.

Fu Shuangping and Ku Tingyi outside could clearly see the scene inside the stone hut—Ding Huan was frail, as if his life was ebbing away.

"Zhixi, is the elder who killed the Xianze beast still here?" Ding Huan struggled to speak, then could say no more.

At this point, Ding Huan remaining conscious was already remarkable.

Though Ding Huan's voice was faint, Ku Tingyi and Fu Shuangping outside heard clearly—they realized someone else had killed the Xianze beast, and that was why they were alive.

Hearing it wasn't Wen Zhixi who killed the Xianze beast, Fu Shuangping and Ku Tingyi exhaled in relief.

"Senior Sister, do you need our help?" Fu Shuangping asked again.

Wen Zhixi stepped out again, calmly saying: "Thank you, fellow cultivators, but my brother and I don't require your assistance. Please go on your way."

Ku Tingyi's gaze settled on Wen Zhixi's face, his heart awestruck—how could such a beauty exist?

Not just in the Myriad Void Swamp—even in the Immortal Land, he could not let such a woman slip away.

He took a breath and bowed: "Junior Sister, why not travel together? The Myriad Void Swamp is no simple place; wandering alone here is extremely dangerous."

Wen Zhixi was about to refuse outright when Ding Huan spoke: "Zhixi, why not travel with them?"

Wen Zhixi froze—what did Ding Huan mean?

She wasn't afraid of these two, but Ding Huan himself had been struck by the Void Poison Arrow—a terrible poison. Traveling with them was clearly perilous.

Wen Zhixi immediately recalled: since meeting Ding Huan, he had always acted with extreme caution—never gave bad advice.

Earlier, when Ding Huan deliberately claimed the Xianze beast was killed by a powerful elder, he must have feared they'd refuse to take them along.

Realizing this, she smiled: "Very well. Since you two fellow cultivators invite us, my brother and I will join you. Just give us a moment."

Wen Zhixi entered the stone hut and said to Ding Huan: "Big Brother Ding, let me carry you."

Ding Huan smiled apologetically: "Sorry to trouble you."

It wasn't that he absolutely had to follow this man and woman.

He had just calculated—these two most likely carried information on how to navigate the Myriad Void Swamp.

If they missed these two, even if he and Wen Zhixi eventually escaped the Myriad Void Swamp, it might take them countless years.

Lying on Wen Zhixi's back, a faint fragrance reached him. Even though his immortal qi was sealed and his mind-sea still corroding, he found it hard to remain composed.

Feeling Ding Huan's body temperature rise, Wen Zhixi's cheeks flushed slightly, then returned to normal.

They had been through too much together—there was nothing awkward about this. She carried Ding Huan out of the Shi Dong.

"Where did the elder who killed the Xianze beast go?" Ku Tingyi couldn't help asking.

Before Wen Zhixi could answer, Ding Huan sighed: "Lord Xianze was extremely cunning. Seeing he couldn't match that elder, he seized a large stone nearby and fled.

The elder naturally wouldn't let him escape and followed after him. My Zhixi and I waited here, but after half a year, the elder never returned—I suspect he won't come back."

"Did that elder take anything else?" Ku Tingyi pressed.

Wen Zhixi replied: "There was another immortal spirit vein here—the elder drained it too."

Upon hearing that the Immortal Spirit Vein had indeed been drawn away, the disappointment in Ku Tingyi's eyes couldn't even be bothered to hide itself.

Ding Huan, however, spoke up in time: "That senior, when leaving, gave us several hundred thousand immortal crystals, and told us to cultivate well."

He couldn't let these two people slip away quietly, so he had to make the two of them feel a bit of longing.

If it weren't for Wen Zhixi saying the Immortal Spirit Vein had been drawn away, Ding Huan would absolutely have said the Immortal Spirit Vein was on his person.

Sure enough, upon hearing Ding Huan say they had several hundred thousand immortal crystals on them, Ku Tingyi's eyes lit up again.

"Senior brother, I still don't know how you and this senior sister should be addressed?" Fu Shuang Pingshui looked at Ding Huan, her tone carrying a coquettish charm.

Before Ding Huan could speak, Wen Zhixi smiled and said: "I'm Wen Zhixi, this is Big Brother Ding Huan."

"Are you also from the Qiji Continent?" Fu Shuangping continued to inquire with a smile.

Wen Zhixi shook her head: "No, we come from the Fifth Immortal Domain."

Ding Huan's gaze, however, contracted slightly; this Qiji Continent that Fu Shuangping mentioned, he had heard of it.

Qiji Continent was not an Immortal Domain, but an ordinary cultivation continent.

It was in his previous life, when he was struggling to survive on Changyi Continent, that he heard people talk about a true cultivation continent, where the world's primordial energy was abundant and the heavenly rules were complete.

In short, it was an extremely suitable place for cultivation.

It was just that ordinary people shouldn't even think about going to Qiji Continent; that was as unrealistic as a dream.

At the time, in their eyes it was all legend, and no one took it seriously—in fact, he himself hadn't taken it seriously either. He hadn't expected that this continent actually existed.

"Daoist Friend Fu, is Qiji Continent far from here?" Ding Huan opened his mouth to ask.

Just as Fu Shuangping was about to speak, a clump of jet-black appeared within the sight of the few people.

"It's a Level-One Immortal Demon Leech, run quickly..." Ku Tingyi's face also changed.

In this stretch of swamp, the Demon Leeches were one of the most terrifying things.

Demon Leeches below the Level-One Immortal Demon Insect rank were still a bit better, because they couldn't fly.

Once their cultivation reached the Level-One Immortal Demon Leech rank, they would grow wings.

Winged Immortal Demon Leeches flying above this stretch of swamp were extremely swift.

They could avoid spatial dislocations through perception, and surround cultivators in the shortest possible time.

Once cultivators here were surrounded by endless Immortal Demon Leeches, that was basically a dead end.

So many Immortal Demon Leeches swarming up—you can imagine how terrifying that was.

Not to mention bloodsucking, everything on one's body would be devoured clean, and it was the most disgusting way to die.

"Zhixi, just follow these two people." Ding Huan said.

Wen Zhixi knew that Ding Huan wanting to follow these two people, and deliberately leaking that they had good things on them, must have a purpose.

Without needing Ding Huan's reminder, she also closely followed Ku Tingyi and Fu Shuangping.

It had to be said that these two people's experience here was extremely rich; they twisted and turned, and quickly left a swarm of Immortal Demon Leechs behind.

"Daoist Friend Wen, impressive movement technique." Ku Tingyi saw Wen Zhixi carrying Ding Huan on her back, yet could so easily follow them out, and couldn't help but praise.

As he spoke, he was thinking in his heart about how to get Wen Zhixi's escape technique into his hands.

Wen Zhixi gave a slight smile: "Daoist Friend Ku and Daoist Friend Fu's movement techniques are also not bad; I had to go all out to barely keep up with you, and almost got surrounded by the Immortal Demon Leeches."

Ku Tingyi couldn't tell whether Wen Zhixi was mocking them, but just now when he was fleeing, he had indeed been trying to find a way to lead Wen Zhixi into the Immortal Demon Leech swarm.

But Wen Zhixi followed them too closely; he hadn't succeeded.

"Daoist Friend Wen, according to our experience, after the Immortal Demon Leeches mobilize, a Swamp Tide will appear. This is extremely dangerous; we must turn around again and flee in the direction those Immortal Demon Leeches went." Ku Tingyi's face took on a serious expression.

Wen Zhixi was stunned—was this telling them to turn back and chase the Immortal Demon Leeches? Having just escaped from the Immortal Demon Leech swarm, and now sending them back?