Soul Emperor Martial God

Chapter 67: Chapter 66: Desert Crocodile Trap

Thundering Desolate Marsh, located a hundred miles outside Mystic Breakthrough City.

Everywhere within it were swamps, wilderness, and miasma, extremely dangerous.

Most people were reluctant to go.

As dawn broke, Xiao Yi and his party of six began their journey, arriving at the outskirts of Thundering Desolate Marsh.

From the outside, one could already see layers of mist inside, which appeared quite eerie.

Xiao Yi took out a bag of elixir, saying, ”The mist inside might not be simple, there might be miasma as well. To avoid accidents, let’s take the detoxification pills first.”

Uncle Tie Da then said, ”I’ve been into this Thundering Desolate Marsh with Lin Fei to hunt demon beasts. The fog on the periphery isn’t much, at most it affects visibility.”

”Only after traveling several tens of miles inside will the miasma appear. We, as martial artists, have robust bodies and don’t fear this bit of miasma, at most it might make us a bit dizzy if we inhale too much.”

”Elixirs are precious, let’s save them for when we really need them.”

Xiao Yi smiled, saying, ”These detoxification pills aren’t expensive, I’ve refined many, enough for us.”

After saying this, Xiao Yi distributed elixirs to everyone, such as detoxification pills, giant strength pills, hidden Qi pills, and so forth.

These pills had all been refined the night before.

Taking the pills, Huang Yuan boasted, ”We really are lucky, having Yi Xiao, the alchemist, join us, with plenty of pills to consume.”

”Exactly,” Lin Fei also said, ”Elixirs are too expensive, we can’t afford many after completing a task, and previously we couldn’t bear to use them.”

Xiao Yi smiled. In fact, the materials for the pills were not expensive, but since alchemists held a revered status, the pills they refined thus became much more valuable.

After swallowing the pills, Uncle Tie Da said, ”Our target this time is the cave mansion of the Bloodthirsty Profound Monarch.”

”We will definitely encounter many demon beasts along the way, the kills we make will be divided among us evenly.”

”As for what treasures we find in the cave mansion, it will all depend on our own luck, how’s that?”

Everyone nodded, and then they ventured deep into Thundering Desolate Marsh.

...

Within the Thundering Desolate Marsh, surrounded by mist, everyone’s visibility was limited to within several tens of meters and no further.

Of course, Lin Fei was an exception.

Swoosh, swoosh, you could see Lin Fei concentrate to summon the Arrow Martial Soul, and rapidly fire off several arrows.

In the distance, a piercing sound resounded.

”There are three Desert Pythons in the thick fog ahead, preparing to attack us,” Lin Fei explained.

As everyone advanced a bit further, indeed, three large black pythons were pinned to the ground by three feathered arrows, but they were not yet dead, still fiercely twisting their bodies.

Desert Pythons, second-level demon beasts, their strength in the Postnatal Second Layer.

Swoosh, swoosh, Uncle Tie Da slashed several times, ending their lives, then with a big grab, he tossed the bodies into the Qiankun Bag.

”The entire body is valuable,” Uncle Tie Da mentioned to Xiao Yi and Qianmo, ”Apart from the inner core, their hide, claws, demon blood, all are valuable materials.”

”If you go on tasks by yourselves in the future, make sure you remember this.”

Knowing that the two were novices, Uncle Tie Da instructed them.

The group moved on, occasionally encountering demon beasts, but they were all pre-emptively nailed down by Lin Fei’s Cloud Piercing Arrow, reducing a lot of trouble.

At this moment, Qianmo suddenly asked, ”Uncle Tie Da, why is this place called Thundering Desolate Marsh? I don’t see any thunder.”

Xiao Yi looked at her helplessly.

Since entering Thundering Desolate Marsh, she had not been tense, occasionally asking odd questions, observing interesting plants around, seemingly like she was here for a leisurely tour.

However, Uncle Tie Da was easygoing, chuckling, ”Speaking of that, aside from Qianmo and Yi Xiao, I guess even you young folks like Lin Fei wouldn’t know, would you?”

Mentioning ’young,’ Xiao Yi thought Lin Fei and the other two looked to be in their early thirties.

Only last night did he learn that these three were merely in their mid-twenties, it’s just that they were demon hunters who frequently needed to travel and take on missions, weather-beaten, appearing more mature.

Uncle Tie Da didn’t keep them in suspense, directly saying, ”The old generation of demon hunters told me that this place used to be a forbidden land. Lightning was dense, ravaging the entire marsh, not a blade of grass grew, nothing thrived, it was like a Thunder Prison.”

”There was once a Mysterious Profundity Realm Warrior who ventured here, and was killed instantly by a bolt of lightning. Afterwards, no one dared set foot here.”

”However, no one knows how many years ago, the lightning here suddenly disappeared, only then did demon hunters slowly start coming here to hunt.”

After Uncle Tie Da finished speaking, everyone was stunned, not expecting that this place used to be such a terrifying and dangerous spot.

As everyone was still shocked, several spectral figures flew out from the thick fog.

Swoosh, swoosh, Uncle Tie Da, with fast eyes and hands, split the spectral figures in two with his sword.

”It’s the Thick Fog Wind Demon,” Lin Fei and others were startled, ”Fortunate that you, Captain, reacted quickly.”

Thick Fog Wind Demons, second-level demon beasts, not very strong, but incredibly fast, adept at ambushes.

Uncle Tie Da immediately became serious, ”This is still Thundering Desolate Marsh after all, we mustn’t take it lightly. It’s fine for Yi Xiao and Qianmo as novices, but what are you three zoning out for?”

”Yes,” the three responded.

The group advanced again, gradually encountering miasma that worsened everyone’s vision, barely able to see within twenty meters.

Swoosh, swoosh, Lin Fei shot and killed several demon beasts attempting to ambush.

”I’ll grab these few,” Du Xin anxiously said, quickly walking towards the front.

In fact, it didn’t matter who picked it up, since it was to be split equally later, but he was just afraid of being taken advantage of.

However, just as he approached the demon beast’s body, preparing to pick it up....

Suddenly, a massive creature appeared out of nowhere.

”Du Xin, be careful,” Lin Fei shot an arrow.

But the expected penetration didn’t occur; the arrow only wounded the demon beast.

With a woosh, the demon beast disappeared again.

”What was that, how did it appear?” Wang Yuan exclaimed in alarm.

Uncle Tie Da said with a serious expression, ”If I’m not mistaken, that was a Desert Crocodile.”

A Desert Crocodile, a Second-level Demon Beast, is equivalent to a Postnatal Fifth Layer Martial Artist in strength.

But the physical bodies of demon beasts are far stronger than those of human martial artists.

They live in the mountains, and their natural environment is far worse than that of humans.

The harsh environment and inherently ferocious nature, combined with occasional consumption of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and the flesh and inner cores of other weaker demon beasts,

contribute to their exceptionally robust physique.

If martial artists of the same realm were to battle demon beasts, they would have almost no chance of winning.

Lin Fei’s Cloud Piercing Arrow, which had penetrated other demon beasts before, could only wound the Desert Crocodile, and this was the reason.

This was even given that Lin Fei had a Postnatal Sixth Layer Cultivation, one level higher than the Desert Crocodile; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to harm it at all.

”Ah,” at this moment, Du Xin suddenly cried out in alarm.

Everyone looked over to see Du Xin suddenly sinking, with both feet trapped in the marsh.

”What’s going on? Where did this mud pit come from? This place was flat just a moment ago,” Lin Fei exclaimed.

”Stop talking nonsense and pull him up,” Uncle Tie Da commanded.

Just as Lin Fei and Wang Yuan were about to act, Xiao Yi suddenly shouted, ”Wait.”

”People sink deeper into the marsh the more you pull,” Xiao Yi yelled, ”Du Xin, mobilize the True Qi in your body, attach it to your feet to negate your body weight, and float up on your own.”

”Okay,” Du Xin responded and quickly did as instructed.

But the next second, Du Xin screamed, ”There... there’s something, something under my feet...”

Woosh... woosh... Suddenly, two Desert Crocodiles leaped out next to Du Xin, their gaping mouths ready to devour him.

”Hmph,” Uncle Tie Da snorted coldly, releasing a burst of Innate Third Layer aura.

Two flashes of blade light passed, and the two Desert Crocodiles fell dead.

”Get up quickly,” Uncle Tie Da said with an ugly expression, ”Damn it, we martial artists are sensitive in response; it’s impossible for us to get trapped in a marsh. Du Xin, what happened with you?”

”I... I don’t know,” Du Xin also looked troubled.

At that moment, Xiao Yi squatted down, picked up some of the mud from the ground, and his expression became grave.

”This mud is abnormal,” Xiao Yi said.

”Yi Xiao, what did you find?” Uncle Tie Da quickly asked.

”Hmph,” Du Xin, feeling embarrassed from his earlier blunder, mocked, ”What can he, a measly Postnatal First Layer, possibly discover?”

Xiao Yi ignored him and spoke in a grave tone, ”The mud is very loose, with a somewhat sticky moisture. And it seems scattered, as if...”

Xiao Yi furrowed his brow, ”as if it was piled up here by something, not naturally occurring.”

As soon as Xiao Yi finished speaking,

Uncle Tie Da and Lin Fei’s faces dramatically changed.

Xiao Yi also immediately realized, ”Oh no, we’ve been tricked, what cunning demon beasts.”

”How... how is this possible?” Qianmo, seeing the drastic change in their expressions, couldn’t help but ask.

The three didn’t answer.

Uncle Tie Da closed his eyes, carefully sensing for a moment, and then said, ”As expected, we’ve been surrounded.”

”Yi Xiao, what is going on?” Qianmo shook Xiao Yi’s arm, pressing for answers.

In her view, the only person she could bully with her strength was the ’weakest’ Yi Xiao.

Xiao Yi responded gravely, ”Those Desert Crocodiles covered a large amount of mud over the surface of the marsh. With the heavy fog and very low visibility here, we were misled into thinking this was solid ground and fell into their trap.”

”So you are saying, the ground we are standing on is just a thin layer of mud, and beneath it lies a marsh inhabited by a group of Desert Crocodiles?” Qianmo exclaimed in shock.

No wonder the two previous Desert Crocodiles appeared out of nowhere; they had actually burst through from under the marsh.

”Stop talking,” Xiao Yi said sternly, ”Take a Hidden Qi Pill immediately, and let’s get out of here.”

However, just at that moment, countless Desert Crocodiles surfaced, their vicious blood-red eyes coldly staring at Xiao Yi and the others.

The appearance of the Desert Crocodiles scattered some of the fog.

The group could then see that except for the ten-meter area around them that appeared as solid ground, the entire place was actually a vast marsh.

And they were standing right in the center of this vast marsh, like meals on a plate.