“You can withdraw first. This is my friend. It is just a misunderstanding,” Li Xiuhai instructed indifferently as he looked at the group of Sovereign Personage experts.
Given Li Xiuhai’s explanation, these Nine Cauldron Pavilion experts naturally would not make things difficult for Xiao Chen. They performed cupped-fist salutes and withdrew.
When the others saw this scene, they felt shocked.
Someone managed to stay safe after making a move in the Nine Cauldron Pavilion. This person must have a startling background.
“Sir Xiao, what happened earlier?” Li Xiuhai asked curiously. Clearly, Xiao Chen was someone who understood the rules. Something must have happened.
“It’s fine. I just ran into a familiar person. It looks like he is here for the Five Element Divine Lightning as well,” Xiao Chen answered casually without explaining further. “I’ll leave my matter in your hands.”
“That’s not a problem.”
After leaving the Nine Cauldron Pavilion, Xiao Chen chose to stay at a nearby inn. Then, he took out Primeval Heavenly Pills to start cultivating.
The Divine Dragon Body Tempering Art was currently stuck at the peak of the fifth layer. There was no hope for the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation to break through at the moment. So, Xiao Chen could only cultivate the Demonic Cloud Heaven Swallowing Art.
It was unfortunate that Xiao Chen could not bring out this powerful Cultivation Technique in front of others most of the time.
One day passed quickly.
Xiao Chen went to the Nine Cauldron Pavilion and managed to obtain what he wanted, a complete map of the Thundercloud Ancient Marsh.
The places where the Propping Mulberry Tree might appear were highlighted in red.
Xiao Chen gently tapped the map, and the image on it immediately enlarged, showing a three-dimensional scene that depicted the Thundercloud Ancient Marsh in detail.
The Nine Cauldron Pavilion did not give Xiao Chen an ordinary map. There were complicated formations and dense talisman scripts in there.
Of course, it was costly as well.
“How many Primeval Heavenly Pills?” Xiao Chen asked.
Li Xiuhai smiled and said, “Sir Xiao, you can use it first and return it to me after this. If you have any harvest in Thundercloud Ancient Marsh, you can bring it to me to deal with.”
“Definitely.”
Master Bai pointed to the red dots on the map and said, “If there are no surprises, the Propping Mulberry Tree will take its tribulation at one of these five locations.”
Xiao Chen entered deep thought and asked, “How do I verify whether I have found the right place?”
Master Bai smiled and said, “That is simple. If it is indeed the tribulation location of the Propping Mulberry Tree, the plants nearby will definitely flourish. There will be a clear difference from other locations. Although the Propping Mulberry Tree is a divine tree, it cannot move around casually when undergoing its tribulation. It will have to make preparations in advance, which will be obvious.”
Yesterday, Master Bai was still very unclear on many things. Today, he had cleared up many of these.
Master Bai explained things in detail to Xiao Chen, answering many of his doubts. Xiao Chen felt somewhat curious about where Master Bai obtained his information.
Master Bai had actually managed to obtain so much useful information within one day.
Seeing Xiao Chen stand up and put away the map, preparing to leave, Li Xiuhai asked, “Are you departing now?”
“Yes. I do not have much time. Whether I can succeed or not, I have to leave in one month.”
Xiao Chen gave his thanks and departed.
“Senior Bai, do you think that Xiao Chen will succeed? Although the Five Element Divine Lightning might not appear, the people who came are not people to offend. Thundercloud City has not been peaceful for the past two days,” Li Xiuhai asked, slightly worried, as he watched Xiao Chen leave.
Master Bai smiled and replied, “Don’t worry about that. Look at Xiao Chen; he is not worried, either. Just based on his attitude, I feel that he definitely will have some harvest. Even if he does not obtain the Five Element Divine Lightning, he will not return empty-handed.”
---
At the same time, in a certain inn of Thundercloud City, two people discussed entering Thundercloud Ancient Marsh.
One of them was the mysterious person shrouded in bloody shadows whom Xiao Chen saw yesterday.
At this moment, this person wore a broad cloak, covering up his body’s strange state. Aside from his peculiar aura, no one could make out anything different.
A pale, middle-aged man sat across from that mysterious person. On his forehead was a scarlet mark, an indication of his White Marsh Beast bloodline.
“Mister Gong, I heard that you nearly ran into trouble at the Nine Cauldron Pavilion yesterday.” The pale, middle-aged man asked a loaded question as he looked at the mysterious person shrouded in bloody shadows facing him.
The mysterious person said indifferently, “I met with someone who wanted to snatch my map away. It is a small matter; I got the map. Have you obtained the information?”
“Naturally. Three days have passed already. If I still have not obtained the possible tribulation locations of the Propping Mulberry Tree, there would be no need for me to continue working with you.”
“Good, we will depart immediately,” the mysterious man shrouded in bloody shadows said seriously. He seemed to have an extremely urgent desire for this Five Element Divine Lightning.
“There is no rush. I do not need the Five Element Divine Lightning. Are you sure you can get me what I want?”
“If you do not believe me, then don’t come with me.” The man shrouded in bloody shadows appeared displeased.
“Haha! Let’s depart then.” The pale, middle-aged man smiled sinisterly.
---
The sky outside Thundercloud City was blue with white clouds. A gigantic bird that looked like a scarlet flame pierced through the sky, rushing towards Thundercloud Ancient Marsh.
Two days later, Xiao Chen, who was on the Demon Blood Vulture, noticed some changes in the sky’s color.
Thunderclouds gathered at the limits of his vision. Occasionally, he saw lightning bolts streaking across the sky.
Xiao Chen had the Demon Blood Vulture stop. Then, he jumped down and landed firmly.
The ground was somewhat damp. Weeds grew everywhere. When he looked around, the area was empty in all directions.
Xiao Chen opened his map and checked. Ahead was the edge of Thundercloud Ancient Marsh.
A few ignorant and reckless ferocious beasts came out of the ground. Xiao Chen casually eliminated them. Then, his figure flashed, entering Thundercloud Ancient Marsh.
After traveling for one hour, he no longer saw blue skies or white clouds, only black thunderclouds.
Berserk lightning-attributed Spiritual Energy spread through the air. Soon, it started raining.
Xiao Chen now knew why this place was always wet. Rain frequently fell under the thunderclouds.
Occasionally, he saw mutated plants of many strange shapes. Under this somewhat suppressive environment, plants strangely flourished. However, they were all not bright plants but darkly colored.
Being a lightning-attributed cultivator, Xiao Chen did not feel much suppression in Thundercloud Ancient Marsh.
He quickly acclimatized to this place. He felt that if he cultivated here, his lightning-attributed Veritable Essence Energy would improve rapidly.
Along the way, Xiao Chen saw many teams with several experts.
Like Xiao Chen, these people did not choose to cultivate. Instead, their eyes wandered, searching the surroundings but not finding what they wanted.
Clearly, these people were here for the Propping Mulberry Tree as well.
“There really are a lot of people targeting the Five Element Divine Lightning.”
Xiao Chen took a deep breath and continued traveling cautiously in the pouring rain.
Half a day later, a dense forest appeared in front of him. A hazy mist enveloped the entire forest in the heavy rain.
Xiao Chen frowned slightly and stopped. He had discovered several cultivators, wearing black and holding weapons, blocking the way in the direction he headed.
These were newly advanced Star Venerates. Some were not even Star Venerates. Their clothes had the emblem of a certain sect.
There was only one old man whose cultivation just reached the Holy Light Stage, the only person to pay attention to.
They were probably from a small faction nearby Thundercloud City that discovered something in the forest.
Xiao Chen was not interested in their discovery. He only wanted to travel through the forest and reached the possible Propping Mulberry Tree tribulation locations on the map.
“How fortunate! Unexpectedly, we discovered a Thundercloud Fruit in the forest.”
“I don’t know if the Castle Master will be able to obtain it. If he can, we will benefit a lot.”
“When our Thunder Eagle Castle makes a move, can we fail?”
“If it were under normal circumstances, it would be fine. However, many experts came over from Thundercloud City. We also do not know why they are here. We can only hope not to run into them.”
The disciples were bored in the heavy rain, so they chattered on.
Xiao Chen had already silently passed through their checkpoint and arrived in the trees above them. Rubbing his chin, he thought, Thundercloud Fruit?
Let’s take a look.
Xiao Chen’s figure flashed, turning into a cool breeze as he entered the forest.
Not long after Xiao Chen entered the forest, the group of cultivators suddenly raised their guard. A figure that inspired horror in them slowly walked over amid the heavy rain.
That figure wore a black cloak tightly wrapped around his body, revealing only a pair of scary eyes.
“Who is it?! The Thunder Eagle Castle has sealed this place. If you are traveling, please take another route.”
The only Holy Venerate old man stepped forward, hoping to use the Thunder Eagle Castle’s name to scare off the other party.
“Thunder Eagle Castle? What is that?” the cloaked mysterious figure asked somewhat mockingly.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, the ground cracked as a gigantic snake emerged. A miserable cry rang out as the snake swallowed up all the disciples, aside from the Holy Venerate old man, at lightning speed.
A pale, middle-aged man stood on the head of the gigantic snake.
On seeing the mark on the other party’s forehead, the Holy Venerate old man immediately trembled in fear. It was an expert from the White Marsh Beast Empire!
Just as the old man was about to escape, the snake under the middle-aged man shot its tail out and grabbed the old man, restraining his movements. Then, the snake dragged him to the middle-aged man.
The old man struggled for his life. He found that the more he struggled, the weaker he became. The toxins from the snake’s skin continuously seeped into his body.