What was happening to Nie Tian soon attracted the others' attention.
Every one of the forty-nine Fortune Wells was now guarded by cultivators, outsiders, or Ancientbeasts.
Half of them awoke from their cultivation, and looked in Nie Tian's direction with indifferent expressions.
The other half didn't even open their eyes, but still concentrated on their cultivation.
Qiu Ji's explosive roar made the gravitational field around him grow stronger.
With a weak sigh, Chai Longge said, "Qiu Ji, if they're willing to give up their Fortune Wells, will you give me face and let them go?"
The Earth Spirit Sect had the numbers, and Qiu Ji had just derived important enlightenment and broken through into the late Profound realm.
Chai Longge didn't think Nie Tian and the girls would have any chance fighting them.
Qiu Ji's main purpose here must be to obtain fortune from the Fortune Wells.
Therefore, he hoped that he would pressure Qiu Ji a bit with his status in the Martial Spirit Sect, so that he would let Nie Tian and the girls leave after taking over their Fortune Wells.
Qiu Ji's face grew cold as he said, "I told you to stay out of this, Chai Longge. Unlike Tao Shuwen, neither you nor your sister rank number one among your sect's chosen ones. If Tao Shuwen were here and asked me to do him a favor, I might actually give him face and let them go.
"But that's not you."
Chai Longge's face dropped.
His younger sister Chai Fengwu let out a cold snort.
Even though the Earth Spirit Sect wasn't as powerful as the Martial Spirit Sect, Qiu Ji was the official future sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect. Chai Longge and his sister's status didn't match his.
Other disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect might be apprehensive about him and his sister, but Qiu Ji wouldn't be.
Just as Chai Fengwe was about to lash out, Chai Longge shook his head at her, signaling her not to act rashly. Then, he fixed Nie Tian and the girls with an apologetic gaze and said, "Sorry, as much as we want to help you, we can't."
Seeing that the Earth Spirit Sect was going to make a move against Nie Tian and the girls, some of the onlookers had indifferent expressions, while others looked deeply intrigued.
However, none of them thought Nie Tian and the girls would win. They all believed that they would be overwhelmed by the Earth Spirit Sect instantly.
Only one of the people gathered in this place had a strange look on his face.
That person was Luo Hui from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect.
Eyes narrowed, he gazed at the domineering Qiu Ji from afar and said inwardly, "Another smug..."
He had personally engaged in battle with Nie Tian's group. Among the three of them, Nie Tian was the one he knew the least about. However, in his eyes, Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan were every bit as deadly as flesh-eating monsters.
Even though Qiu Ji was at the late Profound realm, he believed that he would be able to contend against or even defeat him in battle with the help of his golden spider.
However, he was far less confident when it came to Yin Yanan, who had an eighth grade Frost Blood Python at her command, or Mu Biqiong, who could shoot a powerful root out of her palm.
It was also for this reason he sneered inwardly watching Qiu Ji deal with them in such a domineering manner.
"Such time-wasters!" With these words, Yin Yanan rose to her feet by her well and prepared to attack.
However, Mu Biqiong suddenly said, "You accused me of not going all-out last time, so why don't you let me handle this little problem?"
Upon hearing these words, both Yin Yanan and Nie Tian, who had planned to launch attacks himself, went still.
WHOOSH!
The black demonic plant's root shot towards the smug Qiu Ji like the pitch-black tentacles of a monster.
The dark-cyan air-transportation spiritual tool Qiu Ji was standing on was about six meters long and three meters wide. It seemed to have been forged from some kind of rare metal.
However, as soon as the enormous black root whipped it, it shattered to pieces, as if it had been made of paper.
After ripping the air-transportation spiritual tool to shreds, the thick root attempted to wrap itself around Qiu Ji.
Standing on different air-transportation spiritual tools, the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples gasped with shock. "Future sectmaster!"
They were well-aware of how dangerous the marshland was.
Seeing that Qiu Ji's air-transportation spiritual tool had shattered so easily, they were afraid that he would fall from the air and be devoured by the marshland.
One air-transportation spiritual tool after whizzed over in attempts to catch him in midair.
Qiu Ji's expression flickered as he watched the enormous black root coming after him wherever he went. A strong desire to survive rose in his heart.
He took out a piece of earth-yellow rock and flung it towards the black root with full force. The rock, which seemed to contain rich earth power, altered the strengthened gravitational field around him.
In the next moment, it was as if the gravity around him had completely vanished.
Qiu Ji's plummeting body started to float lightly in the air like he had become a feather.
Unadapted to the sudden change of gravity, the thick, black root shot uncontrollably skywards right before it touched Qiu Ji.
"Future sectmaster!" A few other Earth Spirit Sect disciples took this opportunity to swoop over on their air-transportation spiritual tools.
Only after they caught Qiu Ji did they let out sighs of relief.
Adapted to the change of gravity, the black root once again dove towards Qiu Ji.
BOOM!
One of the air-transportation spiritual tools was whipped by the thick root and instantly fell apart.
Two disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect seemed to not be subject to the change of gravity, as they fell directly into the marshland.
One of them was the man who had previously been injured by Yin Yanan, and had come to seek revenge with Qiu Ji at his back.
As soon as the two of them made contact with the mud, they struggled madly and let out miserable screams, as if they were lambs that were being slaughtered.
However, the more they struggled, the quicker they sank into the mud, as if the marshland had turned into a man-devouring monster that opened its large mouth and slowly swallowed the Earth Spirit Sect disciples.
Soon, they vanished completely into the mud.
Nie Tian sensed with his soul awareness, and couldn't even detect the slightest flesh aura from underneath the mud.
He sucked in a breath of cold air and stood aghast, his eyes still fixed on the muddy ground.
The claimants of every Fortune Well opened their eyes and watched the two disciples be devoured by the marshland.
Their expressions flickered, no matter whether they were humans, outsiders, or Ancientbeasts.
All of them had heard terrifying stories about this marshland, where the Fortune Wells were located.
However, most of them were here for the first time, and hadn't witnessed the marshland devour people before.
Now, they had seen for themselves that this marshland was indeed as deadly as the rumors had promised.
With an unfathomable look in her eyes, Mu Biqiong manipulated the black demonic flower's root to attack again.
BANG! BANG!
Two other air-transportation spiritual tools were whipped to pieces, and the disciples on them wailed desperately as they attempted to escape.
The flapping root sent one of them flying towards Mo Qinglei from the Heavenly Thunder Sect like a streak of light.
Right before he flew into Mo Qinglei, the man shouted with a hopeful smile, "Allow me to stop here for a moment!"
Clearly, he hoped to assume a firm foothold by Mo Qinglei's Fortune Well first, so that he wouldn't fall into the marshland.
With a nasty grin, Mo Qinglei said, "This is my territory. No one else is allowed!"
Without him doing anything, his Thunder Beast let out a piercing shriek, and countless interweaving lightning bolts charred the Earth Spirit Sect disciple, killing him before the marshland did.
However, the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples, who had also had their air-transportation spiritual tool shattered, weren't any luckier than him.
One after another, they fell into the marshland and were devoured by the mud in the blink of an eye.
"Future sectmaster!" the remaining Earth Spirit Sect disciples cried as they watched the thick, black root massacre their friends.
Only at this moment did they realize that they had kicked a plate of metal, not cotton.
"No wonder she dares to seek fortune here when she's only at the Worldly realm," someone muttered in a low voice.
Chai Longge and his sister fixed Mu Biqiong with bewildered gazes.
Only at this moment did they realize that Nie Tian and the girls wouldn't have been in danger in the Stone Golems' dilapidated city even if they hadn't stood up for them.
Instead, it was the Earth Spirit Sect disciples who would have been in danger.
Mu Biqiong was only at the late Worldly realm, but the battle prowess she had displayed was already shocking.
Even the late Profound realm Qiu Ji seemed somewhat hesitant and panicked after witnessing the deaths of a handful Earth Spirit Sect disciples.
A few seconds later, seeing that the thick, black root was still seeking targets in midair like the tentacle of a dreadful monster, he finally yelled, "Let's back away first!"
Then, the remaining Earth Spirit Sect air-transportation spiritual tools hastily flew away from Mu Biqiong, escaping the demonic black root's attack range.
After putting about a hundred meters between them and the root, they found that it no longer chased after them, giving them a chance to catch their breath.
"Where are you from?!" Qiu Ji shouted from afar.
Mu Biqiong let out a cold harrumph, the demonic root that looked like an enormous whip rapidly shrinking back into her palm.
She didn't even spare Qiu Ji another look.
Sitting by a Fortune Well, a Demon whispered to another Demon, a strange look flashing across his purple pupils, "That black root seems to be the root of a special kind of flower from our realms."
"You seem to be right," the other Demon said, looking rather apprehensive. "But that makes it even stranger. That woman is clearly a human. How is it possible that she has that legendary kind of flower growing inside of her? And there seems to be more than one of them. Even for humans, those legendary flowers are extremely valuable. As Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials, they have outstanding intelligence."
With a very grim expression, the first Demon said, "Who knows? But if that's indeed that legendary kind of flower inside of that woman, then we'd better not cross her. Fully grown or not, it won't be anything we can handle."
"Yeah, you're right."