Chapter 1969: Self‑Inflicted Bitter Fruit

Ye Liuyun had everyone put on fifth‑grade armor and put away his own armor.

Gong Wanting asked Ye Liuyun curiously, "Why lower the defense?"

Ye Liuyun explained, "The poisonous frogs in this swamp are low‑level, their attack power is weak; fifth‑grade armor can block their attacks.

The main danger is their strong toxicity.

Our armor is meant for combat; if it gets corroded by poison, it's not worth it!"

Ye Liuyun used Transmission Voice to ten soldiers: "Don't be afraid, just defend as best you can! After you're poisoned, I'll cure you and let you rest!"

Then Ye Liuyun ordered the party to set out.

At first it was fine; only a few poisonous frogs attacked, and they could even intercept them directly with True Essence.

But gradually the attacks increased, like a rain of arrows, striking armor and shields with a crackling sound.

Ye Liuyun and the others didn't need True Essence to block; the armor stopped the attacks outright, and they simply kept moving while absorbing the poison source.

Those ten soldiers and the members of the Profound Heaven Sect, however, all employed True Essence to resist the poisonous frogs' attacks.

Soon, around their party, the poisonous frogs gathered in greater numbers.

Ye Liuyun put Feng Wanru at the front, letting her train her hands on those poisonous frogs.

Because there were so many poisonous frogs, the party's marching speed was not fast.

The Profound Heaven Sect members had nothing to say; after all, Ye Liuyun's group was also laboriously clearing the way, so they could only follow at a slow pace.

But at night the poisonous frogs were overly active, and their numbers increased.

The soldiers at the rear hadn't taken antidote pills, and not only had to protect themselves but also bear part of the attacks, so very quickly some of them ran low on True Essence and were hit by the frogs' poisonous spray.

At first they could block with armor, but gradually the soldiers' faces began to turn black.

Sword Young Master and a few male disciples, upon first hearing the soldiers' cries of being hit, were secretly smug.

"Hmph, those guys didn't share their treasures with us, now they're at a loss!"

A few of them kept using Transmission Voice, gloating.

Elder Song saw their expressions and shook his head helplessly.

Soon a soldier couldn't hold on and fell down.

Ye Liuyun immediately took that soldier back to the Space World, absorbed the poison from his body, and let him rest.

Then, one after another, soldiers collapsed, and Ye Liuyun hurried to pull each of them back.

As these soldiers were all taken back to the Space World by Ye Liuyun, the Profound Heaven Sect disciples finally tasted the bitter fruit they had sown.

Now no one defended them, so they could only expend True Essence themselves to fend off attacks.

The smug smiles on their faces gradually faded.

They soon realized that at this pace they wouldn't make it out of the swamp.

The poisonous gas around them grew ever denser; if they kept going, they'd likely be trapped here, in peril.

"Ye Team Leader, we can't advance at this speed! If we linger, we'll be trapped to death here.

Let's speed up and charge forward?"

Sword Young Master suggested this to Ye Liuyun.

"Alright!"

Ye Liuyun gave a brief assent and ordered the party to quicken.

But Feng Wanru was in the midst of a killing spree up front; she couldn't speed up even if she wanted.

The others also replied affirmatively, attacking the poisonous frogs more fiercely, yet the speed showed no noticeable increase.

Sword Young Master and the others grew frantic, urging constantly.

"What are you hurrying for! Can't you see we're already fighting for our lives?"

"If you think we're slow, go ahead and clear the way up front!"

Lei Ming, irritated by their urging, simply stopped fighting.

"We'll do it, we'll do it, and we're definitely faster than you!"

At that moment a Profound Heaven Sect disciple leapt forward, volunteering to clear the way.

"Alright!"

Ye Liuyun immediately agreed and sent Lei Ming and four other Monster Beasts to the rear to help block the poisonous frogs' attacks.

That disciple instantly replaced Feng Wanru.

But he quickly realized the poison gas at the front was even denser; his True Essence was soon compressed into a tight circle.

His clone, holding a staff, released poison and sneered at his back.

"Ah, can't!"

Seeing the situation worsen, the disciple immediately retreated.

"What?"

Sword Young Master muttered "useless" under his breath.

"There are more poisonous frogs up front, and the poison gas is thicker.

I'm afraid I can't even hold out for half an hour!"

The disciple said plaintively.

"Holy Son, how about I lead you out first, and wait for Team Leader Ye outside the swamp?"

"Ye Team Leader and his men are experienced; without our delay, they should soon burst out of the swamp."

Ye Liuyun glanced at Elder Song and thought, "He's a sly old fox; perhaps he saw we were deliberately stalling."

"But after the trap, I intend to leave—that's not happening!"

At that moment the clone acted covertly, mixing the poison from its staff with the ambient toxic gas, and while the two flank disciples were attacked by poisonous frogs, it injected its own poison source.

They saved True Essence, so their True Essence Body Shield was thin, barely able to block the attacks of ordinary poisonous frogs.

The two disciples didn't mind.

They took detox pills, thinking the poisonous frogs only occasionally breached the defense.

Sword Young Master immediately agreed: "Captain Ye, then we'll go ahead a step; see you outside the swamp!"

"Can't we take Captain Ye and the others out together?"

Gong Wanting then asked Sword Young Master.

"The more people, the larger the group, the slower we become; by then I might not even be able to rush out!"

Elder Song said immediately.

Ye Liuyun confirmed: "It's fine; as long as you can get out, we certainly can get out too!"

"We shouldn't delay; let's leave at once!"

Elder Song urged.

"Going ahead a step!"

Sword Young Master greeted them, then led the Profound Heaven Sect disciples, charging out behind Elder Song.

They didn't even kill the poisonous frogs, relying entirely on True Essence to shield them as they rushed out.

It was because Elder Song was at the Sixth Layer Realm, with relatively abundant True Essence; otherwise, by this method, their True Essence wouldn't suffice to burst out of the swamp.

Ye Liuyun and the others stood quietly in place, watching them leave.

After they were far away, Lei Ming laughed: "Hmph, still trying to trap us! Watch us kill you!"

"That Elder Song must have sensed something!"

Feng Wanru said.

"What can you do even if you sense it?

Without evidence, you can't just frame us!"

Huo Wu said indifferently.

These people weren't defending at all, letting poisonous frogs attack freely.

"Let's rest a while before we go.

Rare chance to cultivate poison source!"

The duplicate said, thrusting the staff straight into the swamp, letting it absorb on its own.

Xiao Lanbing grabbed poisonous frogs around him, eating and playing with them.

The two disciples poisoned by the duplicate, as they walked, suddenly felt they might be poisoned.

They didn't mind, assuming they'd taken more attacks from the outside, and immediately took another detox pill, suppressing the toxicity.

But after walking a while, they again noticed the toxicity couldn't be fully suppressed, and hurriedly kept taking detox pills.