Devil Swamp

At night, the moonlight shone onto Blade's body as he slowly drew in the surrounding Life energy, converting it to his Law Qi.

He had already recovered his full strength, right now he was merely expanding his reserves of Purple Lightning Qi, and slowly chipping away the distance between his current level and High-Level Martial Lord rank.

From Low to High, and then Peak, these were the minor realms in the Martial Lord realm, and after would be breaking into a major realm, the Martial King realm.

Though the process would be much faster if he was to use spirit stones, it wasn't a smart idea to waste the limited amount of spirit stones he had in his possession. Plus, it wasn't as if his speed of cultivation was exactly slow either.

It was always better to have a solid foundation. Rushing his cultivation wouldn't give him a solid foundation no matter how one looked at it. Hmm... Blade's concentration broke.

'Huh?...' Athena's long eyelashes trembled. Her eyes slowly opened and her crimson pupils appeared in the world. Her expression showcased the apparent shock and confusion she was currently brimming with.

But, a blush soon descended as she realized her head was resting on Blade's thigh. "I couldn't watch as your hair rested on the dirty ground now, could I?" His voice was music to Athena's ears, soft and charming yet, devilishly seductive...

Ahh!

Athena jumped to her feet in surprise. Suddenly, her aura escaped her body and immediately, both Blade and Athena realized there was something notably different.

"My power..." Sensing her aura, Blade said, "Her power has increased...?!" He uttered in amazement when feeling the aura her body released.

'Is it due to my injuries... When I died, after re-awakening, my strength skyrocketed, is it the same when I'm injured? My strength has increased yes, but it isn't as perverted as last time.'

Athena pondered. She hadn't gotten injured since re-awakening, so she couldn't confirm the truth of her thoughts. At this time, Blade's eyes flashed with a mysterious light.

For the first time in a while, he was interested in someone's body. 'It's been a while, but this thing shouldn't be affected by the system's state... right?'

[Name: Athena]

[Title: Heavenly Celestial Sect's Young Holy Daughter]

[Law: Fire]

[Race: P******]

[Age: 18]

[Longevity: 30,000]

[Gender: Female]

[Body Cultivation: High-Level Martial Lord]

[Battle Power: Low-Level Martial King

[Soul Cultivation: Null]

Releasing a sigh, Blade stood up, not saying anything even after seeing her status, as he began approaching their next destination.

"Oh, we're going already..!"

Athena quietly followed behind when realizing Blade didn't bother replying. 'Is he angered that I can gain strength even while doing nothing...?' Her expression darkened and a tinge of regret found its way into her heart.

If they didn't fight, wouldn't this have happened... 'No, it's my fault for being injured. If I was stronger, I could have defeated him without getting injured.'

While she thought this, Blade had a frown on his face, 'The system didn't show the name of her race but, at least I could guess from seeing the first letter. Being able to revive after death, and starting with P... I think I know.'

Smirking, 'But, isn't something like that only fictional, well, it seems that I shouldn't write off anything then. If even races like that exist, then there should be even scarier existences from the original land... the place where I and Athena, and Andra came from..!'

Unknowingly, a feeling, a desire to fulfill his curiosity welled up in his chest. 'Things are becoming much more interesting.'

...

...

There was an eerie silence that came with this forest. Due to it being night, and a mysterious mist being ever-present, even Blade found it hard to see a few meters in front.

It was damp and mushy land. The trees were large and dense with leaves and even the mere shrubs were multiple meters. Compared to this place, Blade and Athena seemed like ants... small and unimportant.

It gave one a feeling of oppression and discomfort, and though they didn't know what it was, the duo came across puddles of black liquid multiple times. Athena felt an instinctive repulsive feeling the moment she saw this.

"B-Blade, It's been a while, yet there haven't been any beasts, much less Evil Spirits?" Athena stuttered, not knowing if it'll annoy Blade if she nagged him but, it had been an hour or so since the duo entered, yet there hasn't been any creatures.

"According to the information from the city lord, we still are located at the outermost regions of Devil Swamp forest. To encounter beasts here, it'll be a stretch...

"Once we venture deeper, the information said that we'll realize why it's named Devil Swamp." Blade's expression was cold and carried with it a pair of deep ruthless eyes.

Even though they shouldn't encounter a beast or evil spirit at this moment, it was never too much to be careful and prepared at all times. It'd be shitty if he were to die due to carelessness, and for one, Blade didn't take his life as a joke.

Fwoosh!

His body froze. Athena's ears perked as she heard the faint sound. Immediately, she blocked Blade's path while darting her gaze into the surroundings. Blade too heard the sound, hence his body had long tensed up ready to burst forth with strength in an instant.

"There seems to be company!" Blade uttered while pointing toward a direction in the front. Athena stared toward the shrub where a rustling noise could be heard. Exiting was a creature with four legs and a body similar to a lion. It had four red eyes and two tusks that protruded outward.

The most glaring fact was the beast's body was three times that of Blade's. In terms of height and width, the thing was quite large, obviously containing immense raw physical force. The pitch-black scales on its body glowed under the sun, adding to its wild and primal aura.

In a flash, Athena's space ring lit up. Appearing in her hand was a long three-meter double-headed spear. Each head was a dark blue-colored sharp end while the handle in the center was purely black.

Skillfully twisting it in the air and tearing apart the wind, she then took on the stance of a spear wielder as her figure blurred. Staring her down was the monster with four demonic eyes. Even with a large body, it darted toward Athena's blurring figure tens of feet away!

Xiu!

The spear gleamed under the moonlight as it rushed toward the beast. At the same time, revealing its rows of jagged teeth, the beast pounced on Athena's figure.

Puchi!

With one slash, the point of her spearhead ripped apart at the skin of the beast, causing blood to spurt out. Nearby, Blade took note of the beast's blood. The wound was oozing with black liquid.

Athena's power and speed were things that the beast hadn't expected and couldn't counter. The small brain couldn't understand how such a small creature carried with it, such power.

The wound though, wasn't enough to kill the thing. As it retreated a few feet, Athena didn't rush toward it. Instead, she gazed at her weapon, slightly appalled.

The black blood ran through the first third of the spear, and the edge which stabbed into the beast's body seemed to wither away... Wherever the blood went, the spear would wither away!

"Oh my! Tough..." Blade said as his eyes turned teary. A smirk was on his face as he saw Athena's spear slowly turn useless. Who told her to rush as if he needed her saving...?

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, Blade's eyes squinted and his expression turned cold. Rushing out of another shrub was a beast quite similar to the one Athena had just suppressed.

This beast darted toward Athena, viewing her as the imminent threat, ignoring Blade's existence, as if he was a weakling not worth its time.

'Foolish small brain animal.' Blade thought while crossing the distance of multiple feet in an instant as right there, he cocked back his fist before sending a lightning-fast and destructive punch toward one of the beast's four eyes.

Puchi!

Instantly, his fist crushed the soft eyeball, causing blood and matter to splatter in the air. He didn't stop there, taking his right fist, he sent another punch into the next eye. In a second, he sent four consecutive punches, each seriously harming the beast...

Roar!

A bellow that expressed the pain it felt resounded in the surroundings. Before it had time to go berserk though, it felt a stinging pain originating from its neck.

Slash! Puchi!

Athena's spear tore through the neck in a ruthless manner. At this time, seeing as the other beast was retreating, she decided to help Blade out. Her face was dark when seeing Blade's fist covered in black blood, she couldn't but worry.

Sizzle!

'It seems that it's similar to acid. It's just that y skin is even more powerful than a Profound rank weapon after undergoing that Lightning Tribulation so it has a resistance to this...' But, as he thought this, many rustling noises entered his ears.

In the surrounding forty feet, several more beasts similar to the first two appeared, releasing auras even more wild than the former beasts.