Chapter 657 - 261: Spirit Monster Forest: Fellow Daoist, Save Me
Chapter 657: Chapter 261: Spirit Monster Forest: Fellow Daoist, Save Me
He couldn’t tell if he was moving too quickly as a Body Cultivator, or if this area simply had no one else in it.
But the reason didn’t matter. He had no intention of finding other Cultivators to team up with anyway.
So, Xiao Chen didn’t linger at the edge of the swamp and instead continued deeper into it.
The No-Fly Restriction in the Cangran Secret Realm made the swamp, which he could have otherwise flown over with ease, much more troublesome.
As he ventured deeper, he could feel a distinct pulling force from beneath his feet.
It felt like a magnet lay buried below, trying to pull him down into the mire.
The pull was remarkably strong. After walking just over half a mile, Xiao Chen had already expended a full five measures of True Essence.
And according to the pamphlet he had read, the swamp was at least sixty miles across at its narrowest point, and could be over a hundred and twenty miles at its widest.
If this were an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator...
...they would likely exhaust most, if not all, of their True Essence just making the journey. If they ran into any trouble along the way, they would probably not make it through alive.
Theoretically, the best solution would be to head left or right toward the edge of the Secret Realm.
Or find some other landmark to get their bearings, then choose a shorter path across.
But Xiao Chen had two Golden Cores within him, and his True Essence reserves far exceeded those of an ordinary Cultivator.
Even if he took the longest route, it wouldn’t matter. He had enough to reach the other side safely while retaining plenty of Combat Power.
Additionally, the full name of this region was the Miasma Swamp.
This meant that in addition to the treacherous bog underfoot, the air was filled with a toxic miasma.
This miasma originated mostly from decaying Spirit Wood, with a smaller portion coming from the corpses of dead Spirit Monsters, Demon Beasts, and possibly even Cultivators.
Not only did one need to prepare an Antitoxic Method beforehand, but the miasma also blocked one’s Divine Sense.
This meant that a Cultivator traveling through it couldn’t use their Divine Sense to determine how far they were from the Blood Vine Forest, or whether they had gone astray.
However, neither of these two points posed a problem for Xiao Chen.
He didn’t have to worry about poison, nor did he need to fret about the distance.
But because of the pulling force, his speed was inevitably a bit slower.
’How am I not there yet?’
Xiao Chen pushed on for nearly a hundred miles before the miasma around him finally began to thin.
He looked up and could faintly make out a new forest about fifteen miles ahead.
’Not bad. I didn’t get stuck with the longest route, so my luck isn’t completely terrible.’
Most of the time, Xiao Chen didn’t ask for much from his luck. As long as he avoided the worst-case scenario, he could accept it.
The exception being when he was choosing his Augments.
BOOM!
Just as Xiao Chen left the swamp and set foot in the Blood Vine Forest, he suddenly heard a violent explosion up ahead.
It was immediately followed by the CLANG of Spiritual Artifacts colliding and the whistling of Magic slicing through the air.
A moment later, waves of Spiritual Qi rippled out from the forest.
Judging by the shifting location of the disturbance, it seemed to be a chase—one party pursuing, the other fleeing.
However, because they were also engaged in Magical Combat, their overall speed wasn’t particularly fast.
Yet, judging by their trajectory, they seemed to be heading his way.
’Someone got here before me?’
Xiao Chen thought for a moment. ’It isn’t necessarily other Cultivators.’
After all, the Secret Realm contained both Spirit Monsters and Demon Beasts. ’Maybe they’re the ones fighting?’
Seeing as they were already approaching, he decided to follow the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi and went to take a look.
Unfortunately, when he drew near, he was disappointed by what he saw.
It was just two masked Cultivators hunting down a lone female Cultivator.
Although the female Cultivator wielded a fine Spiritual Artifact and her Magic was quite practiced, she was still fighting one against two. It was inevitable that she was struggling to fend them off, overwhelmed and unable to cover all her bases.
’Never mind, then.’
Xiao Chen had no intention of interfering in the grudges of others. Who could say who was right and who was wrong?
He turned to leave.
However, the female Cultivator was already in a desperate situation, trying everything she could to escape.
The moment she sensed someone else nearby, she immediately cried out for help, "Help me!"
"Friend over there, please help! I will reward you generously once we’re out of here."
Xiao Chen pretended not to hear and continued deeper into the forest.
"Friend, save me!"
But the female Cultivator pushed her Spiritual Artifact to its limit, changing direction to pursue him while shouting, "Dao Crystal!"
"If you help me, I’m willing to hand over the Dao Crystal!"
Hm?
Xiao Chen stopped, turned, and walked back.
’Since a Dao Crystal is involved, I suppose playing bodyguard for a little while wouldn’t be out of the question.’