Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 209 - 202 Wildfire Marsh (3/5)

Chapter 209: Chapter 202 Wildfire Marsh (3/5)

Lu Chenfu naturally stayed in Shengyuan City to continue building her business empire, and Zhou Heng was very supportive of this. His physique required large amounts of money to grow rapidly, and to purchase high-tier metals or even magic artifacts, that money could not be ordinary gold and silver, but spirit stones!

Even middle-grade spirit stones and upper-grade spirit stones!

To buy metals at the level of the Spirit Sea Realm, even middle-grade spirit stones were not given much consideration; upper-grade spirit stones were a must! Experts who had reached that level basically had no need for middle-grade spirit stones anymore; they needed upper-grade spirit stones that could help them break through major realms!

Upper-grade spirit stones!

Thus, doing business only within the dynasty was not enough for Lu Chenfu. She occasionally obtained some middle-grade spirit stones but had to extend her reach to the Bright Moon Dynasty to earn a large amount of upper-grade spirit stones, and for that, she had to go to the Heavenly Dragon Empire!

Only an imperial dynasty possessed veins of upper-grade spirit stone mines!

Xiao Huoshui and Orchid Concubine naturally followed along in the Nine Mystic Trial Tower, which might be an Immortal Object, so Zhou Heng didn’t have to worry about taking care of them at all. Once they entered the Wildfire Marsh, the two women could just stay inside.

Zhou Heng refined that piece of Black Iron, and together with the previously collected metal essences from the valley, his physique improved significantly. Although he was still some distance away from the Mountains and Rivers Realm, martial artists of that realm would now find it difficult to injure him.

His ability to save his life was getting stronger and stronger. With the Swift Cloud Radiant Step, the Nine Mystic Trial Tower, and his terrifying defensive power, he dared to venture into any dangerous place for a challenge!

If he only had the Swift Cloud Radiant Step and the Nine Mystic Trial Tower, he’d be like a thief, only capable of playing hide and seek with experts of the Mountains and Rivers Realm, but now, with a physique surpassing that of Open Heaven realm magical instruments, he was fully capable of facing experts of the Mountains and Rivers Realm head-on!

Although he would definitely be the one defeated, sometimes the difference in snatching a treasure was just that tiny bit!

Dayuan Country was also a small dynasty, but it was not a vassal state of the Bright Moon Country; instead, it was a subordinate country to another dynasty, the Purple Rain Dynasty. Therefore, traveling from Cold Blue Country meant crossing mountains and rivers to get there, and considering the dangers along the way, an ordinary person might never hope to reach it in a lifetime.

Zhou Heng was already at the Open Heaven cultivation level, and although his speed had not increased as terrifyingly as his strength, from Land Cleaving to Open Heaven, it had improved by at least seven to eight times. The Swift Cloud Radiant Step was extremely fast, but it also consumed a lot of energy and was not suitable for long-distance travel.

Therefore, it took almost a month before he finally arrived in Dayuan Country.

So much time had passed, and many forces had already entered the Wildfire Marsh, but none had obtained what might be the peerless magical instrument!

"Although the Wildfire Marsh is not one of the Four Great Death Places, its terrain is filled with dangers, and there are terrible demon beasts that even experts of the Mountains and Rivers Realm might get trapped within!"

"It’s said that all the experts of the Hundred Forests Sect perished there!"

"What? The Hundred Forests Sect had experts from the Mountains and Rivers Realm; they couldn’t even escape?"

"The strongest of the Hundred Forests Sect was only in the First Layer Heaven of the Mountains and Rivers Realm. The Tiger Roar Sect even has an Old Ancestor in the Third Layer Heaven of the Mountains and Rivers Realm, and yet they all met their demise there?"

"Hiss, the peerless magical instrument is indeed tempting, but the price is too high! So many lives have been lost without even confirming the existence of the treasure; it’s really not worth it!"

"Not worth it? If that really is a peerless magical instrument, whoever obtains it could become the strongest below the Nascent Soul Realm. No, if that is a magical instrument of the Divine Infant Realm, or even the Divinity Transformation Realm, it could even slay those in the Nascent Soul Realm! Even with only a one-in-ten-thousand or one-in-a-billion chance, who wouldn’t give it their all?"

"A chance to leap into a dragon in a single bound, who isn’t jealous!"

"It’s said that experts from the Thousand Mountains Sect, Tiger Roar Sect, and the Han Family from the Imperial Capital have already arrived!"

Zhou Heng didn’t need to deliberately seek out information; he just had to stand where people gathered. The peerless magical instrument and the Wildfire Marsh were hot topics everywhere, as if one would be out of the loop without discussing them.

The competition was indeed fierce!

The peerless magical instrument had attracted so many experts without even a trace being found, which just goes to show the madness of martial artists, but it also side-notes the strength and preciousness of peerless magical instruments!

This truly was like a carp leaping through the dragon’s gate, an opportunity to allow one from the Spirit Gathering Realm to possess at least the battle power of the Nascent Soul Realm; what a huge temptation!

In Zhou Heng’s opinion, obtaining such a treasure without having enough strength was also harmful and useless!

Having the battle power of the Nascent Soul Realm did not equate to having the defensive power of the Nascent Soul Realm. If the possessor really only had the cultivation of the Spirit Gathering Realm, what if they were ambushed by a martial artist of the Initial Separation Realm while unleashing the magic artifact to kill someone?

Instant death!

He thought, if he got such a treasure, would he keep it to deter opponents of the Mountains and Rivers Realm and Spirit Sea Realm, or would he directly refine it to enhance his physique? But he immediately laughed at himself; how could he refine a Nascent Soul Realm magical instrument with a deity inside? Would it not strike back at him and kill him, with not even the Black Sword able to save him?

Outside Wildfire Marsh, there were camps everywhere. This place was originally a barren and dangerous land, but now it seemed to have become a playground for martial artists, crowded beyond belief.

This dangerous land was vast; if observed from high above, it would appear oval-shaped, about a thousand miles long and five hundred miles across. The entire swamp was shrouded in an ominous fog all year round.

The mist in many parts of the marsh is poisonous, and even experts at the Mountains and Rivers Realm might fall victim to it. Moreover, this dangerous place has nurtured many powerful demon beasts, like the Ghost-eyed Toad, the Black Poison Giant Python, and the Heaven-devouring Evil Crow. These creatures not only can grow to the height of the Mountains and Rivers Realm but also possess strange poisons, giving even those at the Spirit Sea Realm a headache upon encountering them!

No wonder that within just a month’s time, this perilous land had devoured many experts!

It is pitiful and lamentable that among these were many experts of the Mountains and Rivers Realm who met their end without a place to bury their bones, no different from those at the Spirit Gathering Realm or the Initial Separation Realm.

Therefore, unless one becomes an immortal of the nine heavens, even those strong in the Divinity Transformation Realm will ultimately turn into a pile of dry bones, rotting away with the grass and trees!

Xiao Huoshui and her companion had already entered the Nine Mystic Trial Tower. Zhou Heng, all alone, strolled along, heading toward the marsh. He had a Stealth Talisman to conceal his aura, so others couldn’t gauge his depth.

"Friend, are you interested in joining us on our journey?" As Zhou Heng walked, five young men and women approached from the side and invited him.

The one who spoke was a heroic-looking woman with thick eyebrows and big eyes. She was nearly as tall as Zhou Heng. If not for her curvaceous figure, one might have mistaken her for a man.

Seeing that Zhou Heng had stopped to look at her, she flashed a friendly smile and said, "We also came together temporarily. My name is Zhao Hanyu, and I’m the team leader. It’s too dangerous for you to go alone. Why not join us? We can look out for each other!"

Zhou Heng glanced at the five of them and saw that they were all at the Initial Separation Realm, hardly experts in this place. Yet, they were all robust and brimming with life force, clearly very young.

Taking this into account, having the cultivation level of the Initial Separation Realm was quite an achievement. In any major family, they could be called outstanding individuals.

This was precisely the reason why several of them carried a proud expression. Presumably, they were disciples or family members from some sect or family journeying outside, who had rushed over immediately upon hearing the news of a peerless magical instrument.

Although Zhao Hanyu was a tomboy, she was actually not bad-looking. Her heroic aura held a unique allure that had enabled her to form this temporary team, her charisma was indeed extraordinary.

She bore the spirit of a benevolent warrior and continued, "Our primary goal is to collect the spirit grass within the marsh. If we truly encounter a peerless magical instrument, well, we will not be able to subdue it. It would be fortunate to gain the instrument’s recognition as master, but there’s no need to dwell on it if we don’t!"

Indeed, if the news about the peerless magical instrument was true, then not a single person could subdue even a Nascent Soul Realm level instrument. One could only hope for great fortune to gain the instrument’s recognition as master.

From this perspective, everyone had a chance! The stronger one’s power, the faster one could progress and the deeper one could venture into various perilous lands, increasing the chances of success.

Zhou Heng smiled and said, "Then thank you! My name is Zhou Heng."

"My name is Lv Ruzhi!"

"My name is Qi Tan!"

Two of them immediately greeted Zhou Heng with enthusiasm, while the other two were rather indifferent. One of these two was a man and the other a woman. The woman had a delicate and gorgeous appearance, a stunning beauty, though she was not more attractive than the heroic Zhao Hanyu. The man was even more arrogant, with a longsword thrusted over his shoulder—a simple yet sublime magic artifact, evidently a high-tier item.

This artifact could have been stored within the Dantian Space, but he wore it over his shoulder as if explicitly showing off to others.

Through Zhao Hanyu’s introduction, Zhou Heng learned that these two were Chang Shishi and Tang Wan. As for their sect or family background, no one mentioned it. After all, everyone had come together temporarily, and for all one knew, they could soon turn against each other over some trivial matter, so it was better not to involve their respective families or sects.

The six of them entered the Wildfire Marsh together, setting their sights on its spirit grass.

No matter how dangerous a land may be, there would always be miracles of life. Moreover, the more dangerous the place, the more precious the nurtured spirit grass would be. It was rumored that the Four Great Death Places even contained immortal herbs that could revive the dead and reconstruct white bones. However, no one was qualified to enter and pick them.

Wildfire Marsh, of course, couldn’t reach such a level, but still, there were Mountains and Rivers Realm and even Spirit Sea Realm medicinal herbs. Some spirit fruits didn’t even need to be processed into pills and could be consumed directly, instantly boosting one’s level from the Land Cleaving Realm to the Open Heaven Realm, or even the Mountains and Rivers Realm!

In the past, due to the wariness of this place’s dangers, particularly the terrifying demon beasts, not many dared to explore here. But now, with countless experts flooding in, the demon beasts faced a catastrophe of their own.

This gave many less powerful individuals a glimmer of hope, enabling them also to enter and seek out spirit grass. If they were lucky enough to encounter a peerless magical instrument and gained its recognition, it would be akin to leaping over the dragon gate.

Wildfire Marsh was too vast. To find that peerless magical instrument by one’s own strength was simply a fool’s dream. Thus, Zhou Heng didn’t mind teaming up with Zhao Hanyu and the others. Whether or not they’d encounter the peerless magical instrument would be a matter of fate.

Chang Shishi and Tang Wan were still cold to Zhou Heng, while Lv Ruzhi and Qi Tan were more enthusiastic, but Zhou Heng, with his discerning eye, could clearly see that their enthusiasm was, in fact, for show in front of Zhao Hanyu.

Clearly, Tang Wan was pursuing Chang Shishi, while Lv Ruzhi and Qi Tan were quite interested in the tomboyish Zhao Hanyu. Because Chang Shishi was disdainful towards Zhou Heng, Tang Wan followed suit. Since Zhao Hanyu was amiable to Zhou Heng, Lv Ruzhi and Qi Tan were also friendly towards him.

Scions of great families are usually arrogant but are also supposed to be well-cultured, often with impeccable manners. Tang Wan, however, was an exception; he had a mouth full of vulgar jokes, as if, by this method, he hoped to bed Chang Shishi.

After half a day, Zhou Heng finally couldn’t stand his shamelessness and coldly said, "Shut up!"

"You bastard, who do you think you’re talking to?" Tang Wan bellowed, raising his hand to strike at Zhou Heng.

Boom!

At that moment, the water surface beneath them suddenly split apart, and a black shadow shot out, lunging at Tang Wan.

(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)