Chapter 543 - The Swamp of Despair

Chapter 542

(Unedited)

…

Inside the body of every disciple standing on the gate has an almost undetectable glow inside which seems to have latched in their dantian. When Shin Jiao ingested the pill that was supposed to protect him from the miasma, he discovered that it contains a small trace of a spiritual imprint that would stealthily enter one's dantian and stay there.

And of course, besides that anomaly, the pill's efficacy is undeniable. He can even feel the excitement of the poison essence inside of him as if it is dancing in joy upon meeting a long lost friend.

Shin Jiao casually envelops that spiritual imprint but didn't forcefully remove it yet.

He wouldn't want to alarm the one who did this to those pills, right?

And so, he traveled with the group and soon arrived in front of a thick lush forest. Since it is still dark and the sun has not yet risen, all of the cultivators took out something inside their spatial tools. When Shin Jiao saw the item, he was a bit taken aback.

It was actually a goggle with a simple design.

But then he immediately noticed its function as the people around him adjusted the small knob on the right side of the goggle.

"Interesting, I guess wouldn't dare expose their eyes in the miasma." Shin Jiao thought as he continues to observe.

As a gesture, he too took out his own goggle. But of course, his goggle is a bit different, but using the camouflage suit it now looks exactly like the normal goggle that the others have.

"Alright, let's go. We are heading to the west." Yong Xing said as he led the group.

Shin Jiao immediately felt the poisonous miasma in the air and his heart jumps in fear. He now knew the danger of the Dark Omen Valley and the reason why many cultivators would not dare enter it. However, his respect for the sect master of the Blood Moon Sect went a notch higher.

The old sect leader actually befriended such a talented person for the benefit of the sect. That was such a nice move for the sect and its future.

With only one scan and while they are still in the outer layer of the valley, he can already see hundreds of rare herbs untouched by anyone. However, he also knew why. That is because near those rare herbs some powerful poisonous beast is actually lying in waiting.

"Haha… if I have time, it would be nice to harvest a few herbs in this place." He muttered.

While walking, Shin Jiao suddenly heard a message in his mind. And his eyes went to the ring in his finger.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Master! Big sister Mei said that she feels a bit scared. She said that there is something dangerous in the air." The voice of little Nao enters Shin Jiao's ears.

"Alright, if they are uncomfortable, tell them not to observe."

"Master Ji, wait… please… please be careful. I… I don't know why, but I sense a very powerful beast in this miasma." Mei Ao said with a quivering voice.

Since Shin Jiao has unlocked the 3 sisters' abilities, he has seen their improvement and rapid development. They are also showed great promise when it comes to martial arts techniques. Hence he had taught them a lot of things he knew in their travels.

And since Mei Ao said that there is a creature that seems to be responsible for the miasma, he believed her. Mei Ao has an affinity with beasts. She is a bit sensitive to their presence. Hence Shin Jiao didn't dismiss her warning.

While following the group as they walked deeper, he can feel his poison essence wildly absorbs the miasma on the ground. Since the miasma is heavier than the normal fog, it stayed near the ground. Hence the poison essence in Shin Jiao's body greedily absorbs the huge amount of poison. This is evident with the green miasma under him slowly getting paler in his every step.

Around an hour of walking in the dark forest, the group has now reached near the borders of the swampy area. This place is where the gray fog is thicker.

The group halted and then everyone took out their own weapons. Their mission is to search for the toads; hence they immediately systematically began to search the area. Shin Jiao can see the expertise in each of the people in the team. Their movement and searching pattern look practice and well-coordinated that it didn't take long for them to gather enough toads to complete the mission.

"We're done!"

"We're done here too!"

The group called out.

However, before anyone could react a massive figure slowly rose up from the swamp and the person in front of the figure is a young man named Chen Yuan.

If Shin Jiao can remember correctly, this young fellow is the younger brother of one of the girls named Fifi Yuan.

The boy is waving his hand to the group not knowing the danger slowly rising behind him without a sound.

Shin Jiao on the other hand already saw that creature but didn't make a move yet. He is confident that he can save the young man with ease. But he is currently detecting a dangerous number of such creatures in the vicinity.

But then, a young woman's cry broke the peace.

"Run! Run! Run Chen!…" the panic-stricken voice of Fifi Yuan was heard in the silence.

But then Chen Yuan was a bit dumbfounded and as if not understanding his sister stood frozen on the spot. However, as an experienced cultivator who has frequented the Dark Omen Valley, his reflexes are top-notch.

With a quick glance behind him, he suddenly jumped to the side.

Upon doing so, a massive maw filled with razor-sharp teeth bit down from where he was standing a while ago.

"Oh gosh!" Chen Yuan exclaimed upon seeing the large yellow reptilian eye looking directly at him.

The creature that pounces towards him is a large crocodile type monster.

The monster is so huge that it's already around 3 meters in height even before fully emerging from the swamp.

In the face of this huge creature, Chen Yuan didn't actually flinch. It was as if he is already used to facing such an opponent. Without a second thought, he suddenly brandishes his sword and thrusts it towards the eye which is glaring at him.

He did this before the crocodile type monster could even retract its head.

Growl!!!

A loud cry of pain coming from the creature suddenly reverberated through the air. This was followed by the huge head thrashing the water and the mud all over the place.

The figure of Chen Yuan has already retreated to the side of his teammates.

"Careful guys, there are more of those things." Shin Jiao suddenly reminded the group as he too walked to their side.

Upon hearing his words, everyone tensed up. They now also discover the location of the other crocodile type monster.

"Damn it! We have to escape this place. Those are level 5 beasts. Although they are not beast kings, they would still prove troublesome to us in their numbers."

"No wait… look over there!" suddenly Yong Xing shouted as he pointed at a direction.

From where he is pointing the group can see a large patch of green snake bamboo plants. If they can go there, they might be able to help Yong Xing with his quest. However, the problem is there are just too many of these crocodile type monsters and they are all slowly converging in their direction.

"Run! We have to run… if we don't and those things reached land, then we would be in trouble." Mei Feng said as she slowly steps back from the swamp.

Upon hearing her words, the group reluctantly followed. However, Shin Jiao didn't move from his position. This is because, at the edge of his absolute sense, he actually noticed something.

"Go now!" shouted Shin Jiao as he runs away.

Seeing this figure, the rest also followed behind. Soon the group reached a clearing and found another five groups also seem to be resting.

From the looks of it, these five groups suffered worse than they have. Some of them have tattered clothes. They have just entered the valley not longer than an hour and the sun is not up yet. But it seems that many have already encountered a lot of misfortune.

This only shows how dangerous this place is.

"Hah… hah… We… we should regroup and plan on how to harvest those green snake bamboo shoots on the other side of the lake." Zhou Xian said while looking at the group.

"Yes… we… wait… where is… where is Si Ji? Where did he go?" suddenly Yong Xing said in surprise and befuddlement.

They saw that he was the one who runs towards this area first, why didn't he reach this clearing? The confusion in everyone's eyes is evident. But they knew that they can't just go back to that place without a plan.

"We… we should go back there and search for him." Yong Xing said with determination in his gaze.

However, before the team could say anything, the figure of Shin Jiao appears from within the thick mist.

"Guys, thank you for guiding me in this place. As a gesture of my goodwill, I will give you these." Shin Jiao waves his hand in the air and around ten pieces of arms-length green snake bamboo shoots appear.

Shin Jiao knew that Yong Xing need these and as his gesture of gratitude for the friendship they have shown, he harvested many and gave ten pieces of it to the group.

"I will be leaving the group for now… I also have something I need to do. If fate brings us together someday, I will be glad to join your group. Thank you… See you next time… friends…" Shin Jiao said as his figure slowly vanished from where he stood.

"Is… what… what just happened?"

"Is he a ghost?"

"Stupid… I don't know why he partnered with us, but I don't he is that bad."

While the group was bewildered, Shin Jiao's figure had already appeared near the swamp. He has harvested a great number of 5th level crocodile type beasts in this area. And now he is going to follow a figure which he saw at the edge of his absolute sense range.