...
Prepared a large amount of homemade tools, bottles, and jars.
Lin Suo tied the stomach pouch he bought from the black market around his waist, which, after being cleaned, didn't look bad at all; it resembled a leather fanny pack. With a Black Robe cloak thrown over, it was inconspicuous.
His first venture out to seek battle.
Everything was ready on all fronts.
He even took the time on the way to the Monster Salt Swamp to create an underground safe house using Earth Crystals.
Stocked with a large amount of living supplies, wound medicine, and so on.
In case of unforeseen events, he would have a place to hide.
Such caution.
Was also due to the experience learned from the handbook given by the deer antlers and the numerous harrowing tales from the black market.
Full of extreme caution.
Only after thorough preparation did he set off.
Wearing a Human Skin Mask with the features of a forest dweller, Lin Suo leisurely set off towards the Monster Salt Swamp.
Near Koster, besides the three great Wizard factions.
Occupying high Magic Power islands, self-sufficient.
Another high Magic Power environment is located at the Salt Marsh.
Magic Power, as a condensed fusion of Natural Elements, has extraordinary effects and must possess certain uniqueness to be produced.
One is from the leaking of underground magic veins.
Two is the man-made creation of a special construct that gathers Element, like the Element Pool found in every Wizard Tower.
Three occurs when an official Wizard dies, and their body automatically changes, capable of condensing a miniature magic vein, which acts similarly to an element converter.
Four is a certain kind of treasure.
And the fifth point, the most important one.
Dimensional rifts!
This phenomenon first appeared in the Wizard World three hundred years ago during the celestial confluence, bringing not only magical creatures but also a new source of Magic Power.
The Monster Salt Swamp formed when the original dimensional rifts opened, and Magic Power condensed afterward, creating a place although devoid of magic veins, the large number of living magical creatures caused the soil to mutate.
Naturally possessing the function of generating Magic Power.
Over time, the Monster Salt Swamp came into being.
It nurtured a large number of Wild Wizards, and aside from the magical creature sieges caused by the opening dimensional rifts, it was actually a blessing!
Since that time, Koster began to attract a large number of Wizards who gathered to develop the city, and today's three great Wizard factions came in search of it, took root, and grew to their current state.
Each faction has more than a dozen official Wizards.
Powerful.
In addition to hunting Swamp Frogs on this trip, Lin Suo also planned to dig up soil to bring back for improving his practice environment. After all, it needs to be perfected step by step. Soil taken by others might lose its mystical properties over time.
But Lin Suo... he had created Artificial Magic Stones.
No reason he couldn't make his own special constructs capable of gathering Magic Power.
Traveling thirty kilometers north, he would reach the Monster Salt Swamp.
Hunting expeditions were lively every day.
Along the way, Lin Suo checked on the safe house before arriving at a campsite near the Salt Swamp.
The campsite has a long history.
Built three hundred years ago.
Its name has changed over generations; every time there's a monster outbreak, it would be destroyed, so it was simply left unnamed.
Each outbreak caused heavy casualties.
But the Wizards didn't care, after all, a perfect hunting ground could be used for a long time, generation after generation reaping benefits. Even if capable, they were unwilling to clear it.
The concentration of Magic Power is useless to Apprentices.
Only official Wizards need it, so residing in the campsite is an official Wizard from one of the three powerful factions.
The Wild Wizard who wishes to enter must provide a "ticket".
Lin Suo spent half a day hurrying here.
First and foremost, investigate the environment. When arriving at a new place, one must at least have an understanding of the environment. Otherwise, in case of an accident, one wouldn't know in which direction to escape.
The camp is constructed in the shape of the Chinese character "井" (well), surrounded by a circular stone wall six ren high, which is eighteen meters.
Inside live a batch of commoners serving the Wizard lords.
In terms of currency, gold coins are basically not accepted.
Trading primarily in Magic Stones and bartering goods.
In the very center of the "井" shape, there stands a high tower sixteen and a half ren tall (fifty meters), even without entering one can see a colossal figure sitting cross-legged at the top!
Red-haired with bloodshot eyes, nearly one ren tall.
Draped in a black robe, puffy at the back, outlining the contours of an extra pair of arms, muscles knotted throughout, a magnificent sight.
Lin Suo glanced over and quickly lowered his head, not daring to look any longer.
Clearly, the "colossus" is the stationed official Wizard.
With a four-armed figure, either having undergone self-transformation or possessing some special bloodline, their body is unlike that of ordinary people.
Likely to be a close-combat type of Wizard.
No wonder the Knight's Path stopped at the human limit; nobody pursued further study. In Lin Suo's mind, Wizards and mages were almost the same, remote artillery!
Now it seems, close combat can also reach the pinnacle.
If Gandalf in a white robe were born here, he might very well create a "Flashy Muscle Flow" method...
Shaking his head, he cast aside the absurd ideas in his mind.
He honestly paid three Magic Stones for the ticket and entered smoothly.
The guard gave him a map of the Salt Marsh; nominally, the ticket did not exist, this money was for the map—it was just too expensive, painfully so.
The Monster Salt Swamp has a large coverage area, forty-six kilometers horizontally and thirty-one kilometers vertically, larger than the entirety of Koster.
And it's divided into two levels: underground and ground.
Underground, Wild Wizards are forbidden to enter. If one sneaks in, no one will stop you, but the outcome is often grim, generally ending in everyone disappearing.
Not a single survivor's message to be had.
Aboveground, there are five designated habitats for magic creatures.
Swamp Gulper, Horror Crocodile, Rusting Python, Decaying Ouroboros, Earth Cave Spider!
Five habitats, with a safe path carved out by the Wizard forces, not 100% safe, but with a 60% safety rating.
Not easily attacked by magic creatures.
Consider it a privilege that comes with the ticket.
If you wish to sneak in without using the main entrance, thinking you have memorized the relatively safe paths and can steal a march on the powers that be, you'd be gravely mistaken.
The map that comes with the ticket purchase is, in reality, a form of proof.
Once an intruder is discovered, they are executed on the spot.
On the other hand, safe paths change according to the shifts in the magic creatures' territories, updated daily, occasionally marking the birth of formidable Wizard-level creatures.
Not waiting for the three heads of the families to clear them out, encountering them means certain death.
The Salt Marsh's real-time information on day-to-day changes is also worth the price of admission.
Realizing this, Lin Suo no longer felt the pinch for the Magic Stones spent.
He began to research the habitat of Swamp Gulpers.
These creatures, once grown, boast strength comparable to an Upper Knight and possess two types of Bloodline Witchcraft.
Corrosive Mud Bomb and Tongue Arrow!
Both are Apprentice Level magical abilities.
If one mastered Spirit System magic, even just Apprentice Level, dealing with Swamp Gulpers would be much easier.
Unfortunately, Wild Wizards cannot learn it; it's not for sale to you.
While he pondered over the hunting scheme, he strolled leisurely through the camp.
Lin Suo also bought some unique supplies that could come in handy in the Salt Marsh, such as herbs to counteract miasma, dry powders to conceal one's scent, and advanced magic creature dung powders to prevent surprise attacks by magical beasts.