"Where's the danger?" Yang Kai swept his divine sense outward but found nothing unusual, and couldn't help but feel somewhat puzzled.
Pu Baixiong said with a grave expression, "The water is poisonous, and there's something down below."
"Poisonous water?" Yang Kai's expression turned serious. Before they had entered, Zhu Jiuyin had warned him that this Place of No Elders held many opportunities but also many dangers, and told him to be extra cautious.
He was the vessel she had chosen, so naturally she didn't want him to fall before the battle even began.
This stretch of swamp looked utterly unremarkable, yet it was teeming with hidden perils, which made Yang Kai sigh inwardly.
Just then, several li away, a group of people turned to look in their direction with surprise. A young man among them said, "What's that thing on that person's shoulder?"
The group belonged to some unknown faction. Upon arriving here and catching sight of Pu Baixiong, they were all taken aback.
An elderly man of middling height peered over with keen eyes, and his expression suddenly shifted to one of delight. "A shape-shifted Sacred Spirit!"
The moment those words left his lips, everyone's breathing quickened. Although this group had made some gains since entering the Place of No Elders, compared to a shape-shifted Sacred Spirit, those gains were virtually negligible.
The Sacred Spirit had a cluster of purple-and-green berries perched atop its head, seven apertures on its face, and possessed both hands and feet — clearly it had existed for untold ages. Such a treasure was exceedingly rare in the outside world.
Seeing it now, greed surged in every heart.
They exchanged glances, then all rose into the air and charged toward Yang Kai.
Pu Baixiong waved a root-tendril and scratched his cheek dismissively. "Seeking death!"
The words had barely left his mouth when a series of screams rang out. Every one of the cultivators soaring through the air suddenly lost control and plummeted from the sky.
Splash after splash echoed without end. Many cultivators crashed into the swamp's murky pools, stunned with confusion, but before they could even clamber back up, piercing shrieks erupted.
Flesh separated from bone in the blink of an eye. In an instant, those who had fallen into the pools were reduced to skeletal remains that sank to the bottom and vanished without a trace.
The remaining cultivators were luckier — they hadn't landed directly in any pools. Now they stood frozen upon the swamp's surface, every hair on their bodies standing on end, not daring to move a muscle.
"So the water really is lethally poisonous!" Yang Kai felt a chill run through him. These cultivators had been inside the Taixu Realm for over a decade, and every one of them had grown enormously in power. Though none had achieved Open Heaven, they had each condensed several types of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements forces, making them outstanding among Emperor Realm cultivators. Yet a group like that, upon falling into these pools, hadn't even had the strength to resist before being reduced to bones — the toxicity of the swamp water was terrifying.
If that were all there was to it, that would be one thing, but the airspace above the swamp also seemed to be under a natural restriction that prevented anyone from flying over.
"Don't move! Nobody move! Watch out for those pools — whatever you do, don't fall in!" the elderly man shouted.
His words had barely faded when a pitch-black tentacle suddenly thrust out of a pool right beneath his feet. It coiled around him and dragged him down into the water.
A gurgle of bubbles rose to the surface, and the old man was gone.
"What was that?" Yang Kai's scalp tingled. In that fleeting glimpse, he hadn't been able to make out clearly what had pulled the elderly man under — only that it seemed to be a formless, tangible tentacle.
Pu Baixiong whispered, "I'm not entirely sure either. I only know there's something down there. But as long as you stay quiet, it won't be able to sense you."
Yang Kai gave a slight nod.
The elderly man's death threw the surviving cultivators into a panic. Many of them shrieked and darted toward the edge of the swamp. The moment they moved, dark tentacles burst from the pools in a hail, seizing them without hesitation, coiling around their waists, and dragging them under.
One after another, cultivators vanished from sight. Enormous bubbles rose from the pools, one after the next.
Secret Arts and Artifacts blazed to life as many cultivators fought back desperately, severing the tentacles with everything they had. But the tentacles were simply too numerous — no matter how many they cut, more took their place.
In the span of just a dozen breaths, what had been a group of over a hundred was reduced to barely a dozen. Those survivors stood trembling in the swamp, caught between advancing and retreating.
They were the lucky ones — they hadn't thrashed about, hadn't made a sound, and so had survived by sheer fortune.
Now, having watched their companions perish one after another, they didn't dare so much as twitch.
Yang Kai clicked his tongue. "Can we go around?"
The swamp's strangeness was making even him uneasy.
Pu Baixiong said, "Going around would take us a very, very long way. Don't worry — with me leading the way, we'll get through safely."
Yang Kai was skeptical but steeled himself and took a step forward.
Pu Baixiong whispered in his ear, "Whatever you do, don't make any noise, or we'll be in serious trouble. And don't touch the poisonous water, or it'll be even worse."
"You're so naggy!" Yang Kai said with disdain.
"Nagging is for your own good. I don't intend to die here with you," Pu Baixiong retorted angrily.
This time their voices were a touch too loud, and a tentacle immediately thrust out of one of the swamp's pools.