Chapter 27: Swamp Crossing and the Demon-Luring Lamp Part 1

The Medicine Peak under Nine Abyss Sect also had quite a few medicine fields, but compared to the Miracle Hand Sect—where the entire sect focused on medical cultivation—they weren’t as scaled up or meticulous. They were mostly important herbs that the cultivators nurtured in their spare time, with the rest procured from outside by the medicine hall.

Yan Zhichuan knew the senior sisters on Medicine Peak would be interested in lost herbs, but one or two kinds were fine—once the number of seeds grew, it would become troublesome and interfere with their main duties. Besides, it wouldn’t be easy to explain the herbs’ origins to them.

Jie Tian Xuan paused, surprised that Yan Zhichuan was interested in Miracle Hand Sect’s herb planters. The Miracle Hand Sect had exchanged with Nine Abyss Medicine Peak before and even offered to gift a batch of herb planters, but Nine Abyss Sect had refused, citing the hassle of maintaining a group of people. They preferred buying herbs directly.

She flashed Yan Zhichuan a friendly smile and said warmly, “If Fellow Daoist Yan needs herb planters, I’ll send some over once we’re out.”

Yan Zhichuan excitedly grabbed Jie Tian Xuan’s hand and said eagerly, “Thank you, Fellow Daoist! You’re such a good person.”

Jie Tian Xuan tried to pull her hand free but couldn’t.

Why does Fellow Daoist Yan have such a strong grip? she wondered inwardly.

Ever since Yan Zhichuan had woken up, Zhan Yujie had been watching quietly from the side. Seeing her master sister hit it off like wildfire with Jie Tian Xuan in just a few words, she shook her head helplessly. “Junior Sister, we’re ready to set off,” Zhan Yujie said.

New variables had emerged in the Three Ways River. After being wounded by that black shadow, even the Clear Heart Pills that suppressed demonic qi had lost their effect. No one knew how many people had been affected—they needed to hurry and find the others.

“Could that black shadow be related to Demon Cultivators?” Jiang Cizhu muttered.

“Not necessarily.” Zhan Yujie shook her head. After a moment’s thought, she said, “This is an ancient battlefield, the site of heavy baleful qi where the Demon Sovereign fell.”

Yan Zhichuan: “Shall we catch one and take a look when we find it?”

The Jie Tian Xuan following behind her said, “We fought those Demon Shadows and found they have no fixed form.”

As they headed toward the Three Ways River shore, they encountered a few Demon Creatures along the way. But these differed from the Demon Shadows Jie Tian Xuan described—their demonic qi could still be suppressed with Clear Heart Pills.

The next day arrived.

A vast, foul-smelling swamp appeared in the Chaos Wasteland. A few nearly rotten logs floated on its surface, and in the wind sweeping across the wasteland, bubbles in the swamp rose and burst.

Zhan Yujie and the others didn’t act rashly. They tossed a Demon Creature corpse into the swamp. In an instant, the deathly still swamp came alive. Monsters hidden beneath the mud shot out from the mire, splattering rotten sludge everywhere. They tore into the corpse, ripping it to shreds in moments before sinking back into the swamp as if nothing had happened.

Yan Zhichuan’s scalp tingled as she watched. Crossing that swamp in one go would be tough—falling into the mud would spell big trouble.

“How is it?” Jiang Cizhu asked.

Zhan Yujie said, “I sense a rather powerful aura in the swamp—likely a Golden Core Third Layer Demon Creature hiding there. Flying over it would be unwise; we’d run right into it.”

Fighting on open plains, they might hold their own against a Golden Core Third Layer Demon Creature. But above the swamp, without the terrain advantage, their movements would be restricted at every turn.

“Junior Sister.” Zhan Yujie called out to Yan Zhichuan.

Understanding her intent, Yan Zhichuan took out a Demon Explosion Pill and handed it to Zhan Yujie.

Zhan Yujie wrapped the pill in spiritual power and hurled it deep into the swamp.

The lurking Demon Creatures leaped out one after another. Then came a thunderous roar, and a massive, pitch-black Demon Creature burst from the swamp, snapping up the pill in its jaws.

Boom! Filthy, stench-ridden mud exploded outward.

The roars grew more shrill. The swamp’s center sank, forming a massive whirlpool, with the faint outline of a several-zhang-long monstrosity thrashing wildly.

Beneath the swamp’s rotten stench, only a faint bloody scent lingered in the air.

Yan Zhichuan looked at the creature regretfully. “Can’t kill it with that.”

“Careful!” Zhan Yujie suddenly warned. Even as she spoke, a streak of sword light like a bolt of silk swept forward. The hidden Demon Creature launched its attack, leaping from the surface. Its two long whiskers twitched as it spewed turbid yellow “water arrows” from its mouth.

The water arrows were powerful, clashing with the sword light in a chorus of metallic clangs.

Yan Zhichuan winced. The creature’s densely packed fangs looked utterly terrifying. After a moment’s thought, she pulled out a bottle of colorful oddity. This was made by Demon Cultivators—she’d secretly pocketed it when smashing the medicine pot earlier. It could drive Demon Creatures mad. If the swamp ones go berserk, will it cause a beast tide? The bottle held only a small amount; its scent probably wouldn’t spread too far.

“Senior Sister, fall back!” Yan Zhichuan shouted to Zhan Yujie.

Zhan Yujie spotted the small bottle in her hand right away. She had no idea what her junior sister had concocted this time—maybe like the Demon Explosion Pill? With one sword stroke dispersing a mud wall surging from the swamp, she and Jiang Cizhu quickly retreated.

Yan Zhichuan uncorked the jade bottle and tossed it onto Cloudy, sending it into the swamp.

The bizarre, maddening scent wafted on the wind, agitating the entire swamp. The previously lurking Demon Creatures surfaced one by one, and even the massive one charged madly toward the shore.

“What is that drug?” Jie Tian Xuan frowned, sniffing the scent carried by the wind. A vague unease stirred deep within her.

This stuff feels off—not like orthodox Xuanmen methods.

Yan Zhichuan’s eyes darted innocently as she smiled. “Fellow Daoist Liu Lizhu from Chongxu Sect gave it to me. I don’t even know what it’s made from.”

Once the fish were on land, they were far less troublesome.

Zhan Yujie and Jiang Cizhu seized the moment, blocking the Golden Core Third Layer Demon Creature on the shore and preventing its return to the swamp.

A demonic bird’s cry echoed from the sky.

“Junior Sister, seal it away,” Zhan Yujie called out.

The continuous spread of the scent would draw more Demon Creatures. Luring the Third Layer one ashore was enough—overdoing it would bring disaster.

Yan Zhichuan acknowledged and shattered the jade bottle.

No new drug was added; the effect was already fading anyway.

Jie Tian Xuan’s brows remained furrowed in thought. Puzzled, she said, “How could Fellow Daoist Liu refine such an evil thing?” Yan Zhichuan was her savior—Jie Tian Xuan couldn’t bear to see her tainted. “Fellow Daoist Yan, that stuff is heavy with demonic qi. It’s not for us Xuanmen cultivators.”

Yan Zhichuan blinked. “Are you saying Fellow Daoist Liu has fallen to the demons?”

Jie Tian Xuan: “……No.”

She hadn’t said that.

Yan Zhichuan nodded.

She watched Zhan Yujie and Jiang Cizhu battling the Demon Creature. Sword light whirled furiously, producing a chain of explosions as the water arrows it spewed were all shredded.

Though Third Layer, the Demon Creature lacked much intelligence—not as tricky as a Third Layer Demon Cultivator.

Two quarters of an hour later, the sword light spun, severing the massive creature’s head. Its demonic qi dispersed into wisps, absorbed into their jade slips.

Yan Zhichuan breathed a sigh of relief and happily stepped forward.

But catching a whiff of the stench wafting from Zhan Yujie and Jiang Cizhu, she paused, casually stepped back, and stared at the swamp ahead. “We should be able to fly across now, right?”

Zhan Yujie formed a hand seal, cleansing the filth from her body.

Eyeing Yan Zhichuan tiptoeing and glancing around, she said flatly, “Let’s go.”

Without the Golden Core Third Layer Demon Creature blocking them, crossing the swamp was no great feat. Occasionally, a few Demon Creatures circling the sky dove down, only to be bisected by Zhan Yujie’s sword.

“From that medicine pot earlier? How much is left?” Zhan Yujie gazed at Yan Zhichuan and asked via voice transmission.

Yan Zhichuan shuddered and replied obediently, “None left.”

Zhan Yujie hummed in acknowledgment, then cautioned, “That stuff is full of evil qi, Junior Sister. Don’t touch it if you encounter more—word getting out wouldn’t be good.”

Yan Zhichuan hung her head.

The Heavenly Dao System flapped its wings with a “cheep.”

Not biting the Demon Creature was already restraint. That bit of evil qi—what’s it to this grand Demon Seed?

After crossing the swamp, a blinding crystalline expanse appeared on the boundless Chaos Wasteland—like it was thousands of li away, yet also close at hand.

Zhan Yujie said to the curious Yan Zhichuan, “That’s the Ice Plains. Legend says during the Three Ways River battle, a Demon Clan near Dao Fruit realm fell there, transforming the area into the eternal Glacial Cold Valley.”

Yan Zhichuan asked, “Any good stuff inside?”

Zhan Yujie glanced at her, tempted to say they were here for training, not fortune-hunting.

Jie Tian Xuan: “There might be some herbs.”

Jiang Cizhu: “Or Demon Shadows.”

No sooner had she spoken than a black shadow darted out silently, raising its grotesque limb with a cold edge toward Jiang Cizhu’s back. Clang! The shadow struck a sword Zhan Yujie had thrown, its “claw” melting away like ice under sunlight from the brilliant cold light on the blade. But it quickly regenerated the lost body.

Zhan Yujie gripped her sword, her expression turning icy.

Jie Tian Xuan’s face changed drastically. Raising her voice, she cried, “It’s it! This is the black shadow that wounded us before!”

Not just Zhan Yujie and Jiang Cizhu—even Yan Zhichuan clutched her Medicine God Cauldron for courage.

Though she’d refined the Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pill and taken Forget-Sorrow Pills, the painful illusion still gripped her heart.

Whistling sword qi filled the air with tearing sounds, gradually building to a roaring river tide.

The black shadow scattered in the sword qi, only to reform endlessly.

The Sword of Nine Abyss was useless. Even Cihang Studio’s demon-subduing arts failed.

“Can’t kill it.” Zhan Yujie’s expression grew graver—this was terrible news for them.

As they racked their brains over the Demon Shadow, a sharp rebuke rang out. An orange-red glow faster than lightning suddenly illuminated it. Like meat sizzling on red-hot coals, it popped and crackled. A wretched wail erupted from the shadow before it vanished in the light.

Yan Zhichuan followed the glow, first spotting a lotus lamp radiating a halo.

Her stomach rumbled inexplicably, an indescribable hunger surging, nearly overwhelming her reason.