Chapter 73
The sun was setting, and the sky darker by the minute. I passed by the rude group a long time ago, but now that there was no more light anymore, I knew that it was time to stop for now. I needed to make sure that I was not near any ash colored trees.
I looked at the tall trees beside me. They seemed taller than normal, but nothing that out of place. There was not a single person around me, and I could not see any beasts as well. This time though, I was sure that I was not in the territory of any spirit beast.
“I should take this time to rest then. It is always good to have some energy within.” I shrugged as I took some food and popped it in my mouth. I had to fill my stomach with something after all.
“I feel danger from beneath. It feels wrong. I think that you should get to some higher ground.” Liu Man suddenly said.
“From beneath? What could possibly be beneath me?” I laughed.
“You should never be too overconfident. There are many things that cannot be explained by common sense in this world. I just think that you should get some higher ground and just make sure that nothing happens to you. I am confident that my intuition cannot be wrong.”
“Fine. Fine. Just for you.” I shook my head as I went beneath a tree. I wanted to jump onto the nearest branch so that I could rest there. I burrowed my feet and bent my knees slightly. With my strength increasing drastically, I knew that I would be able to make that jump.
I released all that energy and tried to catapult forward. Nothing happened. The ground felt spongy, soaking up all the energy that I built up. My legs were stuck!
“Oh shit! The ground turned into a swamp! That’s why they call it the black swamp forest! I should have known, goddamn it. Now my legs are stuck here.” I shouted.
Immediately, I took out the ethereal weapon from my spatial ring. I aimed it at the branch above me, and the weapon changed into a cross bow of sorts. I shot an arrow up above, and a rope flew along with it.
I held the rope strong, and tried to come out of the swamp. But the rope was not strong enough. The mud beneath me felt alive. It was holding on to me, and it looked like the only way that I could leave was to cut off my legs!
“You can use the Blue Dragon Spear art and propel yourself upwards. The fourth form can carry you upwards as long as you keep holding onto the spear and aim it upwards.” Liu Man suggested.
I nodded and changed the Ethereal Weapon to the Ethereal Spear. I could not afford to waste any more time. By now, the swamp already got to my ankles and was going for my knees.
“Blue Dragon Spear Art! Fourth Form! Blue Dragon Sails through the Heavens!” I shouted.
With this, a blue manifestation of a dragon appeared, and my spear tried to shoot forward. But with me holding on to it, it could not move forward. The dragon that manifested looked back at me with confused eyes, like it was alive. Then it looked behind me and looked at the swamp. Roaring fiercely, the spear used more force.
I could feel the mud beneath me letting my ankles go, and then my feet. After a few more seconds, I was finally free from the black swamp. The spear shot forward to the nearest tree, and I landed on the branch. The dragon disappeared, and what remained was the snow white ethereal spear.
“What happened there? It was like the dragon was alive. That never happened before. It must be related to the fact that I used the ethereal weapon with the Blue Dragon Spear art for the first time. The ethereal weapon is certainly mysterious.” I sighed.
I looked down at the ground. It was certainly alive, moving around. I could hear shouts all around me now. Even roaring. A lot of the participants of the trials must have fallen prey to the black swamp that was created. I would have been one of them as well, if not for Liu Man’s quick thinking.
The forest devoured everything on the ground at night. But if that were the case, didn’t that mean that all the others would be on the trees?
I quickly turned around and did a quick scan of my surroundings. All the trees were empty. There was not a single man or beast in sight. This was especially suspicious.
“So this must be the reason that they call this forest the Black Swamp Forest. No wonder it is such a dangerous place that no one wants to visit. I thought that the spirit beasts were reason enough, but the forest itself does not welcome any visitors at all. How do the beasts that live inside even survive such a harsh environment? That must be the reason that they become so strong. I should just wait it out till morning and quickly get to the sect. I should not waste any more time dilly dallying.” I decided.
I popped a few Qi Supplement pills so that I could recover the Qi that I used to get out of the swamp. I needed to be in top shape in this foreign environment. After digesting all that energy, I took a deep breath. I had no intention of sleeping, because that would just be stupid. Anyone would be able to attack me during that vulnerable stage. I just kept my eyes open for anything that happened around me. That was the only thing that I could do for now.
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