Chương 25: The Wyrm in the Mire

The Whispering Fen was a living entity, and its breath was poison. The disciples moved through the oppressive humidity in a tight, defensive formation. Jian Long was at the front, his Qi Condensation aura a sharp, cutting presence that parted the thick, grey mist. His faction members flanked him, their expressions a mixture of readiness and genuine caution. Su Ling moved with a silent, graceful economy of motion. Her cold gaze sweeping over the twisted, mangrove-like trees and the dark, stagnant water.

Li Yu was deliberately positioned near the rear of the group, a spot reserved for the weakest and most expendable. It was a clear, unspoken statement of his status in Jian Long's eyes. The position suited Li Yu perfectly. It allowed him to observe everyone, to fade into the background, a ghost in the oppressive atmosphere. His senses, however, were anything but passive. While the other disciples relied on their eyes and their Qi to detect danger, Li Yu was submerged in an ocean of information.

His spiritual sense, perfectly at home in this wet, teeming environment, was a net cast wide. He could feel the cold, patient hunger of the Thorn-Backed Crocodiles lurking beneath the murky surface, the skittering malice of the fist-sized Venom-Spined Water Striders, and the collective, buzzing consciousness of the Blood-Sapper Mosquito swarms. He was an emperor in his own invisible kingdom, aware of every threat long before it became visible.

He started to pull some Qi from all of the ones with some aquatic bloodline in them. This was a great place to grow for him.

"Stay alert," Jian Long's voice cut through the silence, laced with authority.

"The outer fen is filled with Rank 3 beasts. Do not engage unless necessary. Our goal is the Serpent's Heart basin. We will not waste energy on lesser creatures." His words were for the group, but his cold gaze flickered back to Li Yu. The message was clear: You are a lesser creature. Don't cause trouble. As they ventured deeper, the landscape became more treacherous. The solid ground gave way to a labyrinth of murky waterways and islands of grasping mud.

The air grew thick with a sweet, cloying scent that Li Yu recognized from his books as the pollen of the Corpse-Bloom Flower, a plant that could lull cultivators into a stupor. He discreetly held his breath, circulating his True Qi to purify the air he took in, while watching several of Jian Long's lackeys begin to look drowsy. It was Su Ling who spoke up, her voice as crisp as breaking ice.

"Senior Brother Jian, the air is toxic. We should use cleansing pills or risk our senses being dulled." Jian Long shot her an annoyed glare, clearly irritated that someone else had pointed out the danger.

"Of course," he snapped.

"Everyone, take a Grade Two Cleansing Pill." The disciples complied, and the slight fogginess in their eyes cleared. Su Ling glanced back at Li Yu, a flicker of surprise in her eyes when she saw that he seemed completely unaffected, even before the order was given. They had been traveling for four hours when Li Yu's spiritual sense suddenly flared with a warning. A powerful, predatory aura, filled with a cold, reptilian hunger, was rapidly approaching from a deep channel of water to their left.

It was a Rank 3 beast, a Giant Swamp-Serpent, and it was preparing to ambush the disciple at the very end of the line—Li Yu. Li Yu's expression did not change. He continued to walk, his pace steady. But just as he was about to pass a large, gnarled root, his foot "slipped" on a patch of wet moss. He stumbled, lurching a full ten feet to the right, away from the water's edge, catching his balance with a clumsy-looking flail of his arms.

A split second later, a massive, black-scaled head, as large as a boulder, erupted from the water where he had been standing. Its jaws, lined with needle-sharp fangs, snapped shut with a sound like a guillotine, missing him by inches. Panic erupted in the group.

"Serpent!" one of the disciples screamed. Jian Long spun around, his face a mask of fury, not at the beast, but at its failed ambush.

"Incompetent beast!" he cursed under his breath, before shouting to the group, "Formation! It's only a single Rank 3! Surround it!" The disciples, all of them elites in their own right, reacted quickly. Swords were drawn, and spirit arts were unleashed. Blades of wind and fire slammed into the serpent's tough hide, enraging it further. The serpent thrashed, its powerful tail sending a wave of black, stinking water crashing over the disciples, who easily repelled it with their protective Qi.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Li Yu stayed at the back, his face a convincing mask of terror. He drew a single, crude ice blade, a product of his "Eighth Stage Body Tempering" cultivation, and held it in a shaky grip, looking for all the world like a frightened boy completely out of his depth. The battle was short and brutal. Jian Long, eager to display his power and leadership, took the lead.

He manifested his martial spirit, a Golden-Horned Rhinoceros and merged it with his body. A thick, golden light enveloped his body. He became a battering ram, his every punch carrying the force of a charging beast. He met the serpent head-on, and with a final, earth-shattering blow, caved in its skull. The massive beast collapsed, its corpse sending a final, great wave across the fetid water.

"Hmph. A mere snake dares to ambush us?" Jian Long said, shaking the blood and gore from his fist.

"Don't just stand there! Harvest the materials! Its venom sacs, the demonic core, and the long tendon from its spine are all valuable. Move quickly!" Two of his followers immediately jumped onto the massive corpse, their daggers flashing as they expertly carved out the valuable organs, placing them into sealed jade boxes to preserve their spiritual energy. Jian Long's gaze swept over the group.

"Let this be a lesson. The Fen is dangerous, but we are the disciples of the Green Mountain Sect. We are more dangerous." His eyes landed on Li Yu.

"And you," he sneered, "try to be less clumsy. Your luck won't save you every time."

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother," Li Yu said, bowing his head, his voice trembling slightly.

"We've wasted enough time," Jian Long announced, ignoring him.

"The main path is too slow. According to the map, there is a shortcut through the Mire of Shadows. It will cut our journey time by a full day. We move now." A wave of apprehension went through the group. The Mire of Shadows was marked on their maps with a stark, red warning. It was known for its disorienting fog and its population of powerful, stealthy beasts.

"Senior Brother," one of the disciples protested weakly, "is that wise? The Mire is notoriously more dangerous."

"Are you questioning my leadership?" Jian Long's voice was ice.

"The sooner we get the lotus, the sooner we can leave this damnable place. The weak can stay here if they are too scared and wait to be picked off. The strong will follow me." No one else dared to object, they didn't want to be left behind. That would be much more dangerous than going with a large group. Beasts tend to avoid large groups as they are tougher kills than an easier meal elsewhere. As the group changed course, Li Yu's spiritual sense screamed at him. The path ahead was a tapestry of death.

He could feel the auras of at least three separate nests of Rank 3 beasts, and a dozen other powerful, solitary predators. But beneath all of that, in the very center of the mire, he felt something else. It was a faint, dormant aura, so ancient and powerful it made the sleeping behemoth under the Abyssal Water Pavilion feel like a common carp. It was a feeling of deep, abyssal cold, of ancient, draconic pride, and of profound, soul-crushing injury. This was it. The Abyssal Mire-Wyrm.

He knew he could not simply refuse to go. That would be an open act of defiance and would have him pushed out of the group. His chances then would be even more slim. He had to navigate through this place safely. As they approached the edge of the mire, where the fog grew so thick it was like a physical wall, Li Yu subtly reached out with his spiritual sense. He found what he was looking for: a large, territorial Rank 3 beast, a Six-Legged Swamp-Lurker, resting in its muddy burrow nearby. He didn't attack it.

He simply focused a tiny, irritating thread of his True Qi—disguised as the aura of a rival predator—and poked its consciousness. The effect was immediate. An enraged, guttural roar erupted from the ground to their right. A creature that looked like a monstrous, six-legged crocodile burst from the mud, its eyes burning with fury at the perceived invasion of its territory. It wasn't attacking the group; it was challenging the "predator" that had disturbed it.

The sudden appearance of another powerful Rank 3 beast, so close to the entrance of the Mire of Shadows, threw the group into chaos.

"Another one!"

"Where did that come from?" Jian Long's face turned black with rage. This was not part of his plan. To enter the mire while another powerful beast was rampaging nearby was suicide.

"Idiots! Form a defensive perimeter! Zhao Wei, you and I will deal with this thing! The rest of you, guard the entrance!" While Jian Long and his crony were occupied with the enraged Swamp-Lurker, Su Ling moved to stand beside Li Yu, her cold eyes fixed on the chaotic battle. The battle with the Swamp-Lurker was messy and cost them precious time and energy. By the time they had killed it, the sun was beginning to set. Jian Long and Zhao Wei were splattered with mud and black blood.

"We have wasted the entire afternoon," Jian Long snarled.

"Harvest its core and the six leg tendons! They're useful for crafting movement-based artifacts. Be quick about it!" He glared into the darkening mire, his plan in ruins.

"We will make camp here for the night. We enter the Mire of Shadows at first light." As the disciples set up their defensive formations and tents, Li Yu found a quiet spot at the edge of the camp. He sat in meditation, but his mind was not on his cultivation. He extended his spiritual sense, a single, fine thread, past the dangers of the mire, towards that ancient, wounded, and impossibly powerful presence at its heart. He could feel its pain, a deep, festering agony that had lasted for centuries.

And in that pain, he sensed an opportunity. An opportunity to gain a trump card so powerful it would change his destiny forever.