Supreme of the Heavenly Realm
Chapter 272 - 269: Ghost Martial Grass

Chapter 272: Chapter 269: Ghost Martial Grass

Above the swamp, the dark creature of the mire surfaced, its dozens of tentacles waving at an astonishingly fast speed through the air.

"This beast’s combat strength, at the very least, is comparable to a human Fifth Grade Martial Sect, if not stronger."

Qin Qi looked at the massive mire creature in front of her, her eyes revealing a hint of somberness. The strength of a beast and a human couldn’t be compared, as the concept of size was entirely different. You could kill a human Martial Sect with one strike, but to kill a beast like this with one blow was simply impossible.

Even human fighters of equivalent strength would be worn down to death by it.

"Freeze to the Core!"

Qin Qi, the highest cultivation level in the team, drew her treasured sword and swung it. The Sword Qi surged like a tide, fiercely freezing the tentacles before her in ice.

Among the team, only she could truly match this tentacled monster.

However, elsewhere, many Xuanbing Mansion Disciples had been injured by the tentacles.

Suddenly, a Disciple let out a scream as a huge mouth split open in the swamp, swallowing a disciple of the Xuanbing Mansion whole.

"Don’t confront it head-on, get out of here first!"

Ye Xuan dodged the trembling tentacles and shouted loudly to Qin Qi and the others.

"Let’s go!"

Qin Qi nodded and began to signal the other Disciples to retreat. However, the tentacles that had been frozen in front of her broke the ice layer in one fell swoop and swept toward her again.

The other Disciples of Xuanbing Mansion were also entangled by the tentacles, with nobody able to break free.

"I’ll distract it. You take the others and go first!"

Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed as he shouted to Qin Qi and the others.

"Just you?" Qin Qi and the others were shocked. Although Ye Xuan was not weak in combat, the mire beast in front of them was one even she couldn’t handle. The peril Ye Xuan faced in trying to contest such a creature alone was beyond even her prediction.

"Don’t worry, I’m confident I can make a full retreat. You go first; I’ll follow immediately!"

Ye Xuan nodded, he had many methods, which weren’t appropriate to show in front of everyone, but being alone, he had fewer concerns.

After saying this, he suddenly wielded his sword, launching a powerful thrust full of piercing power that accurately hit the mire monster’s head, blowing a hole of blood.

Roar!

The creature, in pain, locked its bloodshot eyes onto Ye Xuan, and seven or eight tentacles enveloped him all at once.

"Be careful then! We’re leaving!"

Seeing Ye Xuan had already drawn the creature’s attention, Qin Qi no longer hesitated and led the others to retreat.

Nangong Yao hesitated for a moment and then, seeing Ye Xuan nod at her, followed Qin Qi’s lead and helped the other Xuanbing Mansion Disciples escape.

Watching the Xuanbing Mansion people retreat, Ye Xuan began to focus all his attention on the creature before him. Four tentacles were already encompassing him, attempting to seal off his retreat path. However, he shifted his stance, changing direction four times, leaving afterimages hit by the tentacles, while Ye Xuan himself had already slipped through the gaps between the tentacles.

Whoosh!

With the wind roaring, a tentacle swept toward Ye Xuan’s face, strikingly fast.

"Thunder Slash!"

Ye Xuan swung back with his sword, lightning flickering, splitting the tentacle with his blade.

Pfft!

This time, the tentacle was severed by the Sword Qi, most of it sliced apart, spurting out foul black liquid, creating a downpour of black rain.

Stepping on the surface of the mire, Ye Xuan left footprints as he sprinted backward.

Boom!

However, Ye Xuan had just sprinted out a short distance when the swamp roiled violently, and the creature burst out from within, like a giant octopus. Dozens of tentacles ranging from twenty to thirty feet in length rapidly crawled across the surface of the mire, chasing after Ye Xuan, with a speed that matched his own.

"Well then, let’s see who is faster."

Ye Xuan propelled his True Qi to its limit, his footsteps shadowy as he swiftly darted through the forest.

However, behind him, the forest was destroyed as if it were nothing, with weaker beasts fleeing at the sound, scattering in all directions.

After escaping some distance, Ye Xuan deliberately slowed down. In such a chase, the consumption of True Qi was too great. Moreover, since the monster’s Spiritual Wisdom was very low, if he couldn’t shake it off, it would keep pursuing him. How could he search for treasure properly if he couldn’t lose this creature?

Turning around, Ye Xuan faced the tentacled monster head-on, as a surge of sword intent burst forth.

Whoosh whoosh!

A deep red flame ignited on Ye Xuan’s arm and rapidly spread to the Spiritual Edge Sword, dyeing the blade with a deep red color.

"Go!"

He swung the sword with both hands; a fiery slash shot forth, piercing through the tendrils and striking the monster’s body. In an instant, flames burst forth, causing a stunning explosion, and in the blink of an eye, a large swath of charred marks appeared on its massive frame.

However, the raging flames, though forcing the monster to let out a miserable howl, were still just the tip of the iceberg given its enormous body. Its pair of huge eyes fixed dead on Ye Xuan, now a deep, blood red, as it charged fiercely towards him.

It had been completely enraged by Ye Xuan.

"It’s so resilient."

Ye Xuan frowned. The power of the Molten Lava Earth Core Fire, contained within the Sword Qi, could unleash an astoundingly powerful burst, but even so, it had only inflicted limited damage on the creature.

Was he going to have to keep running?

Ye Xuan’s gaze flickered rapidly, and in the next moment, his eyes sharply focused.

"I’ve got a plan."

His eyes brightened, and promptly, Ye Xuan closed his eyes. At the same time, a faint Light Seal began to form on his forehead.

Swish!

The instant Ye Xuan opened his eyes, a seemingly invisible fluctuation shot out from the Light Seal. With a speed and trajectory too fast for the naked eye to follow, it struck the vast mud monster.

Hit by the invisible wave, the fiercely attacking creature suddenly slowed down, ultimately tumbling head over heels to the ground.

Looking at the fallen mud monster, a smile crept onto Ye Xuan’s lips. A soul attack launched purely with the soul power of the Xuan Realm might not pose much of a threat to human Martial Artists, but this creature’s soul power was extremely weak. Ye Xuan’s Xuan Realm soul was more than enough to crush it.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, a group of people dressed in uniform white robes, members of the Xuanbing Mansion, had just escaped from the mud pit and were now resting.

Qin Qi and Nangong Yao, among others, did a headcount and realized that three people were missing from their team.

This left them baffled, as they had only lost one Disciple in the mud pit, but now three were unaccounted for.

"Zhuo Qian and Gu Feiyang are missing."

Suddenly, Zhuo Yanyun scanned the crowd and then furrowed her brows, speaking up.

At this word, Qin Qi’s expression also changed subtly. She looked around the crowd and, indeed, could not spot the two individuals.

"Where could those two have gone? They seemed to be here during the time at the mud pit."

"Let’s wait here for a while; they might have fallen behind."

Zhuo Yanyun’s beautiful eyes revealed an inexplicable look. These days, her sister indeed seemed a bit off.

"Then let’s wait for an hour. Meanwhile, let’s see if Ye Xuan can catch up. After an hour, we’ll move on."

Qin Qi wasn’t worried about Ye Xuan encountering any trouble. Had it been someone else, she might have feared the worst, but with his abilities, even if he couldn’t defeat the tentacle monster, escaping should not be difficult.

...

After being chased by the tentacle monster, even Ye Xuan had no idea where he was, but with his experience, he naturally wasn’t worried about getting lost in the forest. Being separated from the main group actually made it easier for him to act, to search for treasures.

As for the main group, they shouldn’t encounter any significant problems without him. After all, they had been here before, and although they might not have been to this particular region, Qin Qi was an experienced individual, capable of handling common threats.

Before long, Ye Xuan’s eyes caught sight of a large mountain enshrouded in mist. The entire mountain was enveloped in fog, casting an ominous and gloomy atmosphere, and within this fog, there was a trace of imperceptible poison. Around the outskirts of the mountain lay some skeletons -- clearly people who had not detected the poison in the mist and had been poisoned to death.

Taking a Detoxification Pill from the Qiankun Ring, Ye Xuan circulated his True Qi and headed up the mountain.

The mountain, shrouded in poisonous fog and exuding a sinister atmosphere, significantly impaired visibility, but Ye Xuan’s Divine Sense was sharp, allowing him to see farther and observe more keenly than most.

Eerie howls that penetrated the soul occasionally echoed from deep within the mountain, sending shivers down one’s spine.

Halfway up the mountain, Ye Xuan spotted black four-leaf grass growing lush and vibrant in a stone crevice, despite being bathed in the poisonous mist.

"It’s Ghost Martial Grass."

Ye Xuan recognized the name of the Spiritual Medicine and his eyes suddenly lit up. Ghost Martial Grass, which thrived in places of extreme yin and malevolence, had very peculiar environmental requirements. It was rare in the Chaotic Sea Domain, and he hadn’t expected to encounter it here.

He dug up the Ghost Martial Grass he found and stored it in a prepared medicine box.

"This place is sinister and heavy with resentment; something powerful must have fallen here. However, the greater the malevolence, the more likely there is to be an abundance of Ghost Martial Grass."

When a Martial Venerate or stronger falls, their True Qi merges with the soil, and over time, transforms entirely into energy, capable of nurturing many more heavenly and earth treasures.

This was an ideal growing area for Ghost Martial Grass; other Spiritual Medicines couldn’t survive here, but surely there would be more to find if he searched around.

Whoosh!

Just as Ye Xuan was planning to move to another area to continue searching for Ghost Martial Grass, suddenly, a disturbance came from behind. A cold gleam shot towards him aggressively, aiming directly at his back.