Swamp
The fight between Qi Cultivators in the Green Lotus City has long since been concluded, as for who came out on top or who came out on bottom, only the Heavens know. Currently, Ximen Wei was hiding in a bush, waiting for a pack of one-horned alpacas to pass by.
He stumbled upon this pack by accident and nearly shat himself in fear, their is mind-boggling and each one of them is a Qi Beast comparable to a Level 1 Qi Trainee, there were even some at the front who seemed to be the pack's leaders who emanated auras comparable to Level 2 and even Level 3 Qi Trainees.
After laying down in the bush for couple hours, the pack eventually passed and Ximen Wei heaved a sigh of relief. This Desolate Astral Forest truly lives up to it's name, danger lurks everywhere and if you're not careful in your steps, you'll find yourself in quite the situation.
Thankfully, Ximen Wei's senses improved drastically after absorbing the Beast Core, making him more sensitive towards his surroundings, if it weren't for that he would've found himself in quite the pickle in front of almost 200 one-horned alpacas.
The thing that left Ximen Wei pretty confused was how he didn't notice the pack until he saw them with his one eyes, these one-horned alpacas were pretty stealthy, unless you looked at them directly, you wouldn't notice their presence nor their aura. And what was even more shocking to Ximen Wei was their horns, when he studied them, he felt his Qi Technique Bedevilment is quite similar to their auras.
The horns emanated a multifarious aura, it was ever-changing and Ximen Wei couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly is up with it.
Sometimes it felt like the aura of a devil, but when you pay close attention, it became more of a defiled and tarnished aura, soiled and sullied. It made Ximen Wei think of the demons that he read about in the World Encyclopedia but even so, he still couldn't pinpoint what it is exactly!
Qi Beasts like these were so bizzare and mysterious, they are quite stealthly and leave behind no trails, yet when you look at them, their auras are quite prominent.
It left Ximen Wei quite astonished, and only served to make him more careful in his journey. After all, the deeper he goes into the Desolate Astral Forest, the more bizzare and strange things he'll encounter on his way.
Ximen Wei assumed that he'll make it out of the forest within' a week worth of time, but apparently, his estimations were quite wrong. If he wants to emerge safely from this forest, he'll have to spend way more time than that.
More days passed, and Ximen Wei encountered countless Qi Beasts that he lost count already, he encountered saber-toothed tigers, a giant striped elephant with huge fangs, bees that are almost the size of a baby's fist, and many more bizzare lifeforms.
He eventually realized that the Qi World he got reincarnated to is not so bad, it's a world filled with many mysterious things, perfect for exploring and adventuring. He sighed heavily since he knows that, even if he wants to stay here, he's obliged to return back to his former world and keep his promises.
On the journey, Ximen Wei managed to get two more Beast Cores, they were from Qi Beasts equivalent to Level 1 Human Qi Trainees, and although the Beast Cores he acquired were not as rich in energy as the Beast Core belonging to the winged-bull, they still managed to propel his cultivation base and solidify his seventh Extraordinary Meridian to 70% completion.
The closer his seventh Extraorindary Meridian to completion, the more energy and powerful he got, and the faster his progress got, now he can sense the Qi in nature more clearly and absorb it faster. Coupled with the Earth-grade Qi Condensation Manual he got from Long Gen, he felt he could reach the second level of Qi Trainees in less than two months.
One more day passed, and Ximen Wei stumbled upon a swamp that sent his mind reeling and his heart beating like never before.
It was a swamp that took the entirety of Ximen Wei's vision, to him, it felt like this swamp stretched endlessly in all directions. So even if he wants to get around it, he could not. The only way to get to the other end of the forest was to cross this swamp.
Yet, that was not what shocked Ximen Wei, what shocked him was this swamp was made of paste, meat paste. It was made up with mashed organs and insides of humans, a swamp of blood!
If one paid close attention, he can even see faces that wore expressions of pure terror floating on this dampy swamp. These faces were skins!
Ximen Wei felt dizzy headed, the smell was nauseating and something a human couldn't handle, he had the extreme urge to vomit, but he held it in and stepped forward. He had to bear with this smell if he wants to continue on his journey.
When he stepped forward, a revolting sound rang out, like that of a rock splashing into water, it sent his stomach churning and turning, his face became ghastly white as he tried his absolute best to hold in his vomit.
Yet that was not only it, the mis-mash of gore reached up to his knees, and when he walked, it felt as if he's walking in snow, tears welled up in Ximen Wei's eyes due to the disgusting, repugnant feeling he felt.
The warm feeling he felt from walking across this human swamp was absolutely horrid, giving him shivers up his spine and goosebumps all over his body.
There were flies all over this swamp, and if it were not for Ximen Wei casting a small protective shield made of Qi around his body, he would've been consumed by them already. If that small, low-energy shield disappeared, Ximen Wei can already imagine himself drowning in the flies and insects that dwell in this swamp.
Shortly after Ximen Wei departed, four men arrived at where he formerly stood, one of them was red-haired young man who had a bronze lantern in his hand.
They were none other than the Song family elites who are after Ximen Wei's treasures!
When they arrived at the shores of the swam, they immediately wore masks to keep the nauseous smell at bay. Yet despite that, they felt sickly due to the abominale sight of gore in front of them.
Dongfang swiped the sweat off his forehead and said, introducing the human swamp to his companions:
"This swamp is called the Devil's Gut. The origins of it are unknown but the family's patriarch once said, in ancient times an expert slaughtered countless cultivators in this very place. Their resentment became a curse that annihilates any living thing who enters this place, becoming the sole restricted area of the Desolate Astral Forest."
When the red-haired young man heard that, his face paled and his body shuddered, yet his eyes shone with a burning fervor and an ambitious light.
"What kind of cultivation base this expert had to be able to kill this many cultivators?"
Asked the red-haired young man, wherever he looked, all he saw was a sea of blood and a mountains of gore, countless years this place and eventually this place became a swamp of death.
If he had to guess, there would be at least one hundred thousand cultivators who died brutally here.
Dongfang replied, an expression of reverence on his face.
"I don't know for sure, but the expert who pulled this off had to be at least a legendary Rank 4 Qi Lord."
"A Qi Lord!" - gasped the red-haired young man!
The other two men were clueless as to what the two were discussing, they may not know what a Qi Lord is but to cultivators, a Qi Lord is something of legends!
Qi Lord is a title bestowed upon Rank 4 Qi Experts, they are people who reached such heights that people can only look up to them in awe and reverence. They have an unimaginable battle prowess and their word is law. With the wave of a hand, they can make rivers of blood flow and create mountains upon mountains of corpses.
Even in the entirety of the Divine Star Continent, Qi Lords are as rare as qilin horns and phoenix feathers.
"Young master, even if you're a Level 2 Qi Trainee, the Devil's Gut holds unfathomable degrees of danger. Even Level 3 Qi Trainees are not exempt of this danger, If the kid is crossing this swamp, then he's dead for sure."
The red-haired young man wore a thoughtful expression as he contemplated the matter, he's a smart man, and a very careful one at that. He always thinks three steps ahead before he takes any action even despite being the illustrious young master of the Noble Song Family, whom it's patriarch is a revered Rank 1 Qi Expert.
He looked at the bronze lantern in his hands, thanks to it, his journey in the Desolate Astral Journey was smooth and without any danger.
At one time during their journey, they stumbled upon a ferocious Level 3 Qi Beast yet the moment it saw the lamp, it tucked it's tail behind its' butt and ran for it's life, wimping away.
He was sure that if he encountered any dangerous life form or Qi Beast in the deadly swamp, the bronze lamp can protect them and scare it away. Yet, what he was most concerned about was the curse mentioned by Dongfang.
It was a mere legend told to Dongfang by the Song Family Patriarch, there's a big possibility it was false, after all, a legend is a legend. Yet Dongfang the Song Family Young Master did not feel the same.
They believed it because the Song Family Patriarch told it! Because a Rank 1 Qi Expert, an esteemed figure revered by Heaven and Earth, mentioned it!
If it were any other person who said the same thing, they could shrug it off and continue on regardless of the danger the legend implied.
The red-haired young man was at a dilemma, he can sense that the kid with the Qi Scroll was not very far away from him, he was only about two kilometers away. He can catch up to him in the time it takes an incense stick to burn, claim the treasure for himself and go home.
Yet thanks to the Devil's Den, that two kilometers seemed uncrossable.
After thinking about it, the red-haired young man finally made his decision.
"We'll stay here and observe the kid. If he dies, then one of you, if not the two, should go and retrieve the treasure." - Said the red-haired young man as he looked towards the two non-cultivators.
"If he does not die, then we simply cross this damned swamp and catch up to him."
Dongfang's eyes shone as he complemented.
"Brilliant! If he stops moving for a while, then it means he's dead, if not, then that means he safely crossed the swamp and the Devil's Den is not as dangerous as we thought!"
The men sat down cross-legged while the red-haired young man casted a Qi Technique to strengthen his bond to the tracking magic of Ximen Wei's.
Meanwhile, Ximen Wei was making his way in the swamp, oblivious to the dangers this place implied. He knew something was wrong with this place, but he had no choice other than to go forward.
After spending some time navigating crossing this swamp, Ximen Wei no longer felt nauseous but in fact, he started feeling at ease. He grew more calm and collected. He even started feeling a resonance with this place. He figured it may be because of his cultivation method so he didn't think too much about it.
After all, the Immortal Devil Sect's sole doctrines revolve around slaughter and bloodshed, to him, it wasn't too surprising to see him forming a resonance with this place.
On the way, Ximen Wei saw far too many strange occurrences.
He keeps hearing howling noises, faint cries of a little girl, and mumbled screams that seemed to come from the depths of the swamp.
It didn't even take him 20 minutes for him to see something that nearly made him shit his pants. He saw a boat passing by, atop it a little girl crying, she was curled up so Ximen Wei couldn't see his face.
When he passed by the boat, the girl stopped crying and instantly, the entire place felt cold, Ximen Wei's face paled, yet he didn't stop moving, he pretended as if nothing happened.
On the corners of his eyes, he can see the little girl lifting up her head to look at him. After passing by the boat, he can sense a pair of cold eyes gazing at his back. Ximen Wei felt scared to the extreme, terror welled up in his heart as he didn't dare to turn back and look at the little girl.
Something deep down told him that, if turned his head and looked back, his very life could end right here, right now!
So he kept moving, ignoring all the strange occurrences that happened around him.
The swamp kept getting deeper and deeper, by now, the gore reached up to his waist but thankfully, Ximen Wei can faintly make out the other end.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief, he only have to hold on for a little bit longer before he can makes it out of this horror movie.
However, before he could take any step further, something unexpected happened!
A skeleton hand that emanated an aura of rot and death emerged from the swamp, and grabbed ahold of Ximen Wei's leg.
Ximen Wei's breath grew ragged, his face became pale white and all the hair on his body stood on it's end. Without any hesitation whatsoever, his hands flashed in multiple incantation gestures, casting Qi Techniques like there's no tomorrow.
"Qi Technique - Iron Body!"
"Qi Technique - Strengthen!"
"Qi Technique - Iron Fist!"
RUMMMBBBBLLEEEEE!
The blood waters of the swamp splashed everywhere, raining down gore and intestines on Ximen Wei, yet despite that, the skeleton hand did not seem affected in any way shape or form and in fact, the skeleton hand's grip got stronger, and it seemed to drag Ximen Wei's body down at any moment.
Ximen Wei's eyes reddened as he howled at the top of his lungs!
"Qi Technique - Enfeeble!"
"Qi Technique - Bedevilment!"
Despite throwing his strongest Qi Techniques at the hand, it did not bulge, Ximen Wei wailed in despair as he struggled with all his might.
His expression turned vicious as he pulled up his dagger, he was going to do something ruthless!
"QI TECHNIQUE - SHARPEN!"
The dagger's tip glittered brightly as he sent it flying not towards the skeleton hand, but towards the leg the hand grabbed!
He was going to amputate himself for the chance of survival, if he can't get rid of the hand, then he's going to get rid of his leg!
However, before the dagger could cut off his leg, another hand popped out of nowhere and grabbed the dagger before crushing it to dust in front of Ximen Wei's eyes.
When he saw that happening, Ximen Wei felt as if a rock was dropped in his heart, his sole chance of surviving was cut off, true despair welled up in his heart as he felt extreme helplessness.
In this world, strength was everything and apparently, Ximen Wei was not strong enough to protect his own life. Very quickly, Ximen Wei's vision swam black as he was dragged down into the bloody waters of the meat swamp, disappearing into the depths of the Devil's Den.
Back on the shores of the swamp, the Song Family Young Master abruptly opened his eyes and coughed a mouthful of blood. Dongfang immediately hurried up and pulled out a healing potion for the young master to drink, before asking.
"What happened?"
"My tracking magic was forcibly cut off." - Replied the red-haired young man before gulping down the potion.
"Does that mean he died?"
"No, even if he dies, I should still be able to track him down."
"So that means..."
"Yes, outside interference." - The Song Family Young Master's eyes shone venomously as he looked towards the depths of the meat swamp.
Dongfang gasped as he gave rise to his questions.
"Outside interference? How? The Devil's Den is uninhabitable, no living being can survive in it.."
The Young Master grit his teeth as he looked at his bronze lantern.
"Let's go, he shouldn't be too far away, even if it were a Rank 1 Qi Expert, we can use the patriarch's name or even the Green Lotus City Lord's name to scare him off.. If not, I'll detonate the sole treasure of the Song Family!"