Within the boundless Illusory Spirit Swamp that glittered with gorgeous colors under the glare of the sunlight, a flock of birds were taking flight after getting startled by a barrage of noises.
Bu Fang raised his eyebrows as he stepped onto the mushy ground.
"Where am I?" Bu Fang's expression slightly darkened when he realized he was not in the Wildlands where he previously went but in an unfamiliar location. At a glance, there were bodies of water and vegetation everywhere.
As Bu Fang took a step forward, the squishy ground made him feel rather uneasy. Judging from the terrain, he should be in a swamp. With the bodies of water and vegetation everywhere, there was not even the slightest resemblance between this place and the Wildlands...
Where exactly… did the system dump him?!
How could any spirit herbs of worth be found in such a place? Could there be a bug in the system? As a result, he might have been accidentally sent to the wrong place.
After covering the soles of his feet with true energy, Bu Fang felt he could safely roam within the swamp. He was completely surrounded by wetland and the terrain was extremely muddy. Bu Fang was sure that without the aid of true energy, he would definitely be engulfed by the swamp within a few steps.
A fifth grade Battle-King possessed a large amount of true energy and walking on the surface of water by covering the soles of his feet with true energy was not an especially difficult technique. Basically, any Battle-King was capable of doing so. In the first place, Bu Fang's ability to control true energy was much stronger than the average Battle-King. So, it was not surprising that he could do so as well.
The sploshing noises produced as his feet made contact with the water's surface travelled far within this large and open area.
The strange noises that were constantly coming from the swamp around him caused a frown to appear on his face and put him on alert.
"I should quickly find the spirit herb and return as soon as possible… This environment is really making me feel uncomfortable," Bu Fang muttered to himself as he continued moving forward.
As one of the four great dangerous locations in the Hidden Dragon Continent, how could there not be any spirit herbs growing in the Illusory Spirit Swamp? As Bu Fang moved forward by himself, his eyes were constantly scanning his surroundings in hope of catching a glimpse of a spirit herb.
Suddenly, as Bu Fang took a step forward, bubbles started appearing on the surface of the water. Bu Fang calmly watched as something burst out from the water and splattered muddy water everywhere.
The creature was an extremely ugly spirit beast. It was not very big but its sudden appearance still caused a slight frown to appear on Bu Fang's face.
The body of the toad-like creature was covered with a layer of black mud that gave off a revolting smell. It was staring straight at Bu Fang with its vocal sacs puffed up.
"This should be a third grade spirit beast, judging from the weak intensity of spirit energy emanating from its body," Bu Fang muttered as he gave the creature an indifferent glance. The current him was completely unconcerned with the likes of a third grade spirit beast.
Even though he was inept in combat, dealing with a third grade spirit beast was still quite easy for him.
Bu Fang flicked his finger and an energy bullet filled with true energy instantly flew toward the toad. The toad made an odd noise and spat out putrid sludge from its mouth at Bu Fang's energy bullet.
It was an easy matter for a fifth grade Battle-King to deal with a third grade spirit beast. Even if Bu Fang was inept in combat, the difference in their cultivation level was unchangeable. He could deal with the creature by purely relying on his true energy.
Bang! The energy bullet pierced through one of the toad's legs. The creature shrieked in pain and then dived back into the swamp. It splattered the putrid mud everywhere and disappeared in an instant.
Bu Fang did not give chase. Or to be more exact, he could not be bothered to. He was completely uninterested in using this toad-like spirit beast as an ingredient.
Therefore, Bu Fang no longer paid any heed to the creature and continued moving forward while stepping on the surface of the water.
The serpent-men tribes were the most commonly seen tribes within the Illusory Spirit Swamp. There were similarities between them and humans but there were also many differences as well.
Firstly, the method of reproduction for the serpent-men was different from humans. Humans reproduced through live birth while the serpent-men reproduced through laying egg, which might be due to having a serpentine lower body.
There were quite a lot of strong warriors within the serpent-men tribes. Every one of them was a natural born warrior because the Illusory Spirit Swamp itself was a place where only the fittest survived. Here, those who were weak would only get devoured by the spirit beasts hiding in the swamp.
The serpent-men had their own emperor just like humans. Even though their society only consisted of tribes, the entire race was unified under their emperor. Within the Illusory Spirit Swamp, there were serpent-men tribes of various sizes everywhere. In each serpent-men tribe, there was an elder who could use magic arrays to communicate with their emperor.
Within one of the serpent-men tribes, the members of the tribe were peacefully living their everyday lives while swaying their brightly colored serpentine tails.
Like humans, they had social interactions and houses. Even though the sort of housing built in wetlands was crude, it was still their home and possessed an indescribable meaning for the serpent-men.
A scrawny, elderly serpent-man baring his upper body was slithering over the wetlands while swaying his serpentine tail. He was speaking to a muscular, young serpent-man in a distance. "Ah Ni! Send some of the stronger guards to watch over the medicinal herb farm. It's almost time for harvesting, we can't let anything untoward occur. Last year, our tribe was criticized by the emperor, so we must do a good job this year."
The serpent-man called Ah Ni immediately broke into a grin, revealing his razor sharp teeth. "Yes, I'll go right away! Elder, don't worry. The harvest is definitely going to be bountiful this year. Many of the spirit herbs are ready to be harvested, especially that Ice Soul Monarch Lotus is just about to ripen. When the time comes, we'll definitely earn the emperor's praise if we offer up the harvest along with the lotus!"
The elderly serpent-man rolled his eyes at the robust serpent-man and said in exasperation, "Don't be careless, pay close attention and make sure nothing bad happens… Oh, that's right. That bunch of crafty humans from the White Cloud Villa will definitely find out that the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus is about to ripen. You must watch out for them."
"If any of those crafty humans dare to appear in front of me, I'll definitely tear them into pieces!" Ah Ni's eyes revealed a hint of malice. As he clenched his fists, the muscles on his body slightly bulged and true energy overflowed from him. The intensity of true energy emanating from him was actually comparable to an ordinary sixth grade Battle-Emperor.
The elderly serpent-man smiled and shook his head. After bidding farewell with the elder, Ah Ni slithered toward their medicinal farm while leading a few other young serpent-men.
Splash!
A small boat made from unknown materials was swiftly gliding across the vast Illusory Spirit Swamp. There was a brightly flashing magic array carved on the stern of the boat. The magic array was providing a powerful driving force that propelled the small boat forward.
The boat made travelling within the swamp extremely fast and convenient.
A white cloud symbol was etched on the side of the spirit boat. The white cloud appeared realistic, as if it was going to come to life.
Three figures were sitting cross-legged in the spirit boat. The auras emanating from them were very strong and caused the grass around them to buckle under the pressure.
Suddenly, the young man with fair complexion sitting in the middle slightly opened his eyes. He was very good looking and the rosiness in his fair skin made him look extremely alluring.
The young man's forehead was covered with a layer of bangs that was fluttering in the wind.
"Young lady… Erm, young master, we're just about to reach a serpent-men tribe. The Ice Soul Monarch Lotus that you're looking for is in the tribe's medicinal herb farm," the man sitting in front of the young man said as he turned his head and looked at the young man.
The young man opened his eyes and a faint smile appeared on his lips as he looked toward the barely visible crude buildings in the distance.
"Let's stop somewhere near the tribe and find out more about their medicinal herb farm."