As the three factions faced each other, the air around them seemed to freeze, and everyone moved cautiously, afraid of being misunderstood and inadvertently starting a conflict.
Suddenly, the tense atmosphere on the verge of erupting was shattered by a deafening roar that echoed from the depths of the Dead Swamp.
The sound was as enormous as the thunderous roar of a Black Water Mystic Snake lashing its tail and shaking the ground on the beach.
In an instant, the sky underwent a violent transformation, as clouds boiled and surged like raging waves, accompanied by howling winds.
Almost simultaneously, to the astonishment of onlookers, a brilliant golden pillar of light suddenly burst forth from the depths of the Dead Swamp, soaring up into the sky and rivaling the radiant sun in its glory, becoming so bright that it was unbearable to look at within seconds.
The sky and clouds churned and surged, forming a massive golden vortex around the pillar of light.
The world was in a state of awe and everything fell silent as the phenomenon unfolded, leaving everyone feeling small and insignificant.
This unusual sign came as quickly as it disappeared. Within a dozen breaths, the golden pillar of light rapidly faded away, and the vortex dissipated as if it had never happened. However, it clearly indicated the location of the treasure in the Dead Swamp to all those present.
After witnessing this spectacular sight, the hearts of the onlookers burned even hotter. The power of such a rare and majestic treasure must be terrifying, surpassing even the legendary Zhu Xian.
Compared to this, the current stand-off seemed trivial. Almost simultaneously, the Ghost King, Yun Yilan, and Pu Kong began loudly ordering their disciples, issuing a series of commands in preparation for immediately entering the depths of the Dead Swamp.
Li Xiu gestured with his hand, and the Wild Dog immediately came forward, ready to receive orders.
Shaking the Mountain River Fan in his hand, Li Xiu's eyes shone with a cold light as he spoke in a chilling tone.
"Leave a portion of our disciples behind. Kill all the ordinary disciples from both the righteous and demonic factions who haven't entered the depths of the Dead Swamp."
"This is a rare opportunity, Wild Dog, so you can't mess it up."
Li Xiu then nonchalantly placed the Mountain River Fan on Wild Dog's shoulder, causing Wild Dog to tremble and bow even lower while nodding repeatedly. Fear filled his eyes.
In contrast to Elder Nian, whose cultivation base was relatively strong, Wild Dog's cultivation was low. However, upon receiving the North Sea Divine Technique from Li Xiu, Wild Dog began practicing it immediately. Although he was a trusted follower of Li Xiu, he had never lacked for antidotes.
After witnessing the suffering of disciples in the sect due to a lack of antidotes, Wild Dog found the experience so terrifying that he believed enduring hell or undergoing punishments such as hot oil, bone removal, or tongue pulling wouldn't be as difficult in comparison.
The Dead Swamp is located in the southwestern direction of the vast land of Shenzhou, stretching for 8,000 miles, and has been uninhabited by humans since ancient times.
It is divided into two levels of terrain, with the Outer Swamp occupying about eighty to ninety percent of the Dead Swamp's land. The area is filled with bottomless mud pits and a plethora of poisonous plants and insects. However, as long as cultivators are careful, navigating through it is not difficult.
In the depths of the Dead Swamp lies the Inner Swamp, which is shrouded in deadly swamp gas all year round. No one knows its exact appearance, and in the past, even the powerful cultivators who ventured in occasionally disappeared without a trace. Therefore, both the righteous and demonic factions were hesitant to enter without certainty.
But now that they know the treasure is in the Inner Swamp, they cannot sit idly by and let others take it. The treasure is too tempting, and who would give up unless it was a matter of life or death?
The deadly swamp gas in the Inner Swamp limits entry to those with strong enough cultivation. However, most of every sect's disciples are basic cultivators, so this requirement has prevented most people from entering the Dead Swamp.
Both factions previously had thousands of people, but they had to leave behind most of their disciples and only take a few hundred elites with them to rush into the Dead Swamp. They were afraid of losing the opportunity if they were even slightly slower.
As for whether the disciples were elite or not, it was never a problem for the North Sea Red Blood Hall. Li Xiu's disciples were all skilled and evenly matched.
However, Li Xiu only led two thousand people, leaving the rest to eradicate disciples from the four sects.
Inside the swamp, among the tall primitive trees, the miasma in front of them became increasingly dense. Unlike the gray color around the outskirts of the Dead Swamp, it had already taken on a sickly green hue, making it difficult to breathe.
None of the three factions dared to fly around recklessly anymore. Those who could survive in this extreme environment were either potent medicine or deadly poison. If a poisonous insect suddenly strikes and one cannot avoid being bitten, it would be too unjust to lose one's life in this way.
After a long time of cautious and slow movement, as they walked deeper into the swamp, they found that the scenery became increasingly strange.
Here, the trees were already primitive, tall, and extremely robust. However, as they went deeper, the trees became even thicker, with some so large that dozens of people would have to join hands to hug them. These were ancient trees that might have taken thousands or even tens of thousands of years to grow.
Even more strangely, the area where these giant trees grew should have been teeming with life, yet not a single living creature was in sight. Even the poisonous weeds and thorns that they occasionally saw when they first entered had all disappeared without a trace.
On the ground, besides the exposed roots of the ancient trees, there was only sturdy and slightly yellowish soil, which was extremely abnormal.
As the group looked around in confusion and vigilance, they unconsciously walked deeper into the forest, which was the center of the Dead Swamp's Inner Swamp.
A wooden wall towering several zhang high suddenly appeared, astonishing everyone, even the always composed Li Xiu was quite shaken.
The rough texture of the tree bark, the hardness with slight cracks, and the towering wooden wall, strong and powerful like a dragon, stood horizontally among the giant trees, deeply rooted in the soil.
As they moved forward, the wooden wall became taller and thicker, and by the end, this enormous wooden wall was over ten zhang high, harmoniously merging into an even larger object.
The shock and awe in everyone's hearts was plainly written on their faces, whether it was the cunning and calculating Ghost King or the spiritually elevated Pu Kong.
Because they had guessed what this towering wooden wall in front of them was, having seen too much on their journey, they just couldn't identify it without seeing its entirety.
It was actually a tree root! A tree root that was more than ten zhang thick!
What kind of shocking sight would the tree that grew this root be...
The group fell silent, lost in thought as they speculated that the rare treasure they had been seeking was most likely atop this giant tree. With no living creatures in sight, there was no need to worry about any dangers, so they all lifted their magic treasures and soared towards the treetop, driven by their greed and desire.
Although the disciples of the North Sea Red Blood Hall were not weak, they did not have the skill to fly. However, once they stepped onto the tree trunk, they could easily jump over a hundred zhang with a single step. They were just as fast as the others.
Li Xiu didn't use magic treasure or generate clouds. Instead, he enveloped his body with a strong force field, broke through the air, and flew straight up into the sky.
When Elder Nian saw this, he quickly summoned a blood-colored ancient mirror to step on and followed closely behind.
With the wind rushing in their faces, they flew straight for a quarter of an hour. Li Xiu became more and more amazed, feeling that the wonder of creation was truly incredible. The strange tree in front of them was probably more than ten million years old.
The height of this tree could no longer be measured in zhang. Even towering mountains could not compare to its magnificence. Li Xiu's eyesight was unable to determine its thickness, but he knew that he had already flown upwards for dozens of li and still had not seen the treetop...