Cultivating immortality relies on spatial abilities; defying fate to become the protagonist.

Chapter 76 The Mystery of the Poisonous Swamp

“Master, this poisonous swamp is really poisonous. Ordinary poison-avoiding pills are completely useless. I remember more than ten years ago, high-level poison-avoiding pills were still effective, but I don’t know what happened later. Even with poison-avoiding pills, people who enter can’t come out.” Xiao Hei said somewhat uncertainly.

"Oh dear, Little Black, if my sister says it works, it works! People who enter the poisonous swamp and can't get out are bled to death. There's something fishy going on!"

"Oh!" Only then did Little Black feel relieved and fly towards the poisonous swamp.

The Soul-Eating Forest is indeed quite large, and the Poison Swamp is located to the west, near the Wuhai Sea.

The Black Sea serves as a barrier separating the Eastern and Western Spirit Realms. Gu Shihan is currently located in the East, which is considered the territory of Daoist cultivators, while the West is a place where human cultivators and demons coexist.

Because of the Wuhai Sea and the obstruction of sea creatures, the East and West have not had contact with each other for thousands of years.

The Wuhai Sea is indeed a dangerous sea area. Not only are there frequent sea storms, but there are also many sea monsters in the sea. Anyone who does not have the cultivation level of a Nascent Soul should not even think about crossing the Wuhai Sea.

Even with the cultivation level of the Nascent Soul stage, it's all in vain without a top-tier tool for crossing the sea.

There's a legend about this sea crossing: apparently, a great battle broke out between human cultivators and demon cultivators, and the demon cultivators destroyed the last few crossing docks and the spaceships were ruined...

This battle also weakened the power of human cultivators, with many high-level cultivators perishing. Due to the lack of successors, the connection between the East and the West was also severed.

After flying for two days, Xiao Hei finally approached the outer edge of the poisonous swamp.

Gu Shihan landed but did not rush to go inside to check.

Based on Xingbai's senses, they arrived at the entrance to the poisonous swamp where people were coming and going.

The Poison Swamp is now under someone's control, but who is controlling it is currently unknown.

Following the subtle clues, Gu Shihan searched outwards from the Soul-Devouring Forest, hoping to find some clues and learn more about the situation before taking action.

That day, she and Yu Tong were searching outside with invisibility talismans when suddenly three people dressed in black robes appeared in their consciousness. The blood-red skulls on the robes were all too familiar.

"Sister, an evil cultivator! A skull!" Yu Tong exclaimed in surprise.

"Hanhan, that person has a spatial magic treasure, it should be the Qiankun House," Xingbai said, peeking out with its fox head.

Xingbai wasn't too happy with its small size, so it usually appeared as a little white fox. Now, it came out of its spatial dimension and obediently stayed in Gu Shihan's sleeve pocket, in order to check something.

Xingbai is the spirit of space, and has a very sensitive sense of space.

"Hanhan, they're clearly heading to the Poison Swamp. You two enter the Moon Bracelet, and I'll secretly use it to follow them. That might allow us to easily enter the Poison Swamp and gather the latest information."

"Alright, thank you, Xingbai! Without you all, I don't know how many days I would have survived in this perilous world of cultivation. The path to immortality is elusive, but with you all, I'm not alone or lonely. Let's go!"

Gu Shihan sighed, entered the space, opened the skylight, and watched the black-robed man's every move.

The Moon Bracelet of today has a much stronger invisibility function. It can be completely silent and can still clearly hear various sounds within a range of five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

"Xingbai, this Moonbeam Bracelet is amazing!" Yutong exclaimed.

“Of course, we’ll be able to blend in with them soon and overhear their conversation. If all goes well, we can take down the Qiankun House on that person; I have a feeling someone’s locked up inside,” Xingbai said with a smile.

Sure enough, as the Moon Bracelet approached the group, their conversation came into view.

"Dark Seven, why did the leader ask us to bring so many mortals back? Don't they need cultivators for cultivation? What's the meaning of wanting mortals?"

"I don't know. We can't inquire about the head's affairs. Have you forgotten the lesson of Mei Wu?" An Qi said. "Ugh, don't say it. My heart trembles just thinking about that scene. Our head... our lives..." another black-robed man said with a sorrowful tone.

"Yes! We... I really regret taking this step, but now it's impossible to back down," An Qi said with deep regret.

"Sigh, let's go. Stop talking. We're already in the restricted area. If someone overhears us, we'll be in big trouble. There are only three hours left until the delivery time, so let's speed things up." An San patted the Qiankun House at his waist and said.

The Moon Bracelet accompanied the group through several checkpoints before finally entering the inner perimeter of the Poison Swamp.

Gu Shihan was so frightened inside the Moon Bracelet that she broke out in a cold sweat. If she had been more reckless and had gone directly into the poisonous swamp to investigate, she might have been discovered long ago.

Fortunately, she was meticulous and cautious enough not to underestimate any aspect of the situation.

Unexpectedly, the further they went in, the more they saw traps, mechanisms, and formations everywhere. If they were not careful, they would be exposed, or even in danger of death.

"Password!" a high-pitched female voice rang out.

"Mountain Wolf!" Dark Seven replied, then swaggered away with the other two men in black robes, followed closely by Moon Bracelet.

"Hey, Shadow Ten, did you feel a strange presence flash by?"

"Mei Shi, are you being paranoid? I don't feel anything at all. You women are just neurotic!" Ying Shi said impatiently.

"Is it wrong for me to be naturally sensitive? Stop nagging." Mei Shi rolled her eyes and then stopped paying attention.

The woman's words made the hearts of the people inside the Moon Bracelet race. Gu Shihan adjusted the sunroof to its smallest setting, which would increase security, but the downside was that the monitored area would be smaller.

Anqi and his two companions arrived at a stone house, knocked three times, and the stone door opened.

A masked man asked coldly, "Is the goods complete?"

"Guardians, we're all here! Thirty-three of us!" An Qi said cautiously.

An San reached for the Qiankun House at his waist, but when he touched it, he was startled and looked down to search. "An Qi, the Qiankun House is gone!"

"What? How is that possible! We checked it just recently, it's impossible!" An Qi was so frightened that he took a few steps back and collapsed to the ground.

An San and An Ba were also terrified, their faces turning deathly pale. "Useless things, they can't even handle this simple matter, they don't need to live anymore."

The masked man stopped talking, stretched out his hands, his five fingers forming claws, and with lightning speed, ripped out the hearts of An San and An Ba, casually placing them into the jade box.

An Qi was so frightened that his legs went weak. He wanted to run away but didn't dare. He could only tremble and cower on the ground, not daring to say a word.

The masked man glanced disdainfully at the black-robed man on the ground and said coldly, "Men, pass down the order to seal off all passages, activate the highest alert, and search the ground thoroughly to find the intruder."

Xingbai manipulated the Moonlight Bracelet to enter the stone house, hiding among a pile of miscellaneous items, and dared not move again.

The poisonous swamp immediately erupted into chaos. Xingbai used her binding power to protect the invisible Moonbeam Bracelet before telling Gu Shihan about the situation outside.

"Hanhan, there are seventy-three people in the Poison Swamp. The one with the highest cultivation is a Nascent Soul cultivator who is currently in seclusion. The second highest cultivation is the masked man. Behind the stone house is a blood pool with many insects in it, probably Gu worms."

"Gu worms? Could it be that they use Gu worms to control people?" Yu Tong asked.

"That's right. This trip was worthwhile. We must be careful and wipe them out in one fell swoop," Gu Shihan nodded.

(End of this chapter)