Into the Sishui Marsh

After Chi Qiu received the Seven Stars Step that day, she packed her belongings and departed from Sang City. Several days had passed, and Chi Qiu was now over a thousand li away from the city.

She continued her routine: traveling by day while comprehending secret arts and divine abilities, then halting to cultivate at night.

Chi Qiu’s urgent desire to break through to the Heart Scripture Realm stemmed largely from the sheer size of her current baggage.

Besides the spirit stones, spirit jade, spirit pills, flying boat, brocade oilcloth, and cooking utensils she already carried, Chi Qiu had also brought several luxurious dresses and various silks from Sang City this time. These had been given to her as compensation by Ding Shi.

Additionally, her bags contained over two jin of Sang Tea, a stone mortar for crushing it, a tea set for brewing, and a map worth one hundred and sixty spirit stones.

All these items were crammed into Chi Qiu’s pack, which now loomed larger than she did, causing her to travel at a leisurely pace.

While such weight was negligible for Chi Qiu, who was in the Spirit Nourishing Realm, carrying such a massive bundle significantly hampered her travel speed.

This was precisely why Chi Qiu yearned to advance quickly to the Heart Scripture Realm: it would allow her to wield magical treasures and store her luggage within the bronze storage ring on her finger.

Yet, the Heart Scripture Realm was a domain Chi Qiu had never before trod. Even with the aid of Sang Tea, she had merely comprehended the third chapter of the Moon Gaze Treasure Canon, and she was still far from the stage of opening her heart aperture and cultivating true qi.

Su Hanxing had previously deduced that Chi Qiu’s opportunities lay to the east, so after leaving Sang City, she headed directly in that direction.

She had consulted her map, noting that the further east one traveled, the more rivers and lakes appeared. From Chi Qiu’s current location, another month of travel would bring her to a vast marshland known as Sishui Marsh.

Most of the demonic beasts at the Sanwei Meeting had originated from the outer reaches of Sishui Marsh. They would typically depart the marsh a month in advance, lying in wait outside Sang City until the auspicious phenomena appeared, then surge into the city to seize their opportunities.

Sishui Marsh was immensely vast, spanning hundreds of thousands of li. Greater demons were common throughout, and ancient gods and devils were rumored to roam its core regions.

On the map, Sishui Marsh was marked with an extremely dangerous icon as a warning.

Chi Qiu had no intention of bypassing Sishui Marsh. In her view, danger and opportunity always coexisted, and since Su Hanxing had indicated her opportunity lay to the east, it was highly probable that it resided within this very marsh.

The world today had largely been explored by the Daqi Imperial Family, the various prominent clans, and ancient aristocratic families.

Opportunities, inheritances, battlefields, and cave dwellings had long been divided amongst them. Only perilous regions like Sishui Marsh remained unexplored, as there was no guarantee of opportunities, and the established powers risked losing powerful cultivators.

This was precisely Chi Qiu’s chance; thus, she was willing to brave the risks and venture into Sishui Marsh to uncover its secrets.

Naturally, Chi Qiu had no intention of venturing into the deepest parts of Sishui Marsh. While she was indeed willing to take risks, she would not commit such a suicidal act.

A month passed in this manner. Rivers and lakes around Chi Qiu gradually increased, the air grew humid, and heavy rain and dense fog often descended.

Chi Qiu meticulously studied her map. This location was only a thousand li from Sishui Marsh, and lately, she had encountered minor demons in the Transcendent and Spirit Nourishing Realms.

This forced Chi Qiu to slow her pace and carefully consider where to enter the marsh.

“Swish!”

Chi Qiu casually severed a six-foot-long lizard with a single sword stroke. The lizard, newly entered into the Transcendent Realm, had been lying motionless beneath the grass, attempting to ambush Chi Qiu, only to be impaled by her sword instead.

Chi Qiu sheathed her sword and continued her journey. Dense fog had appeared before her at some unknown point.

She glanced left and right, only to find the fog’s expanse vast and boundless. Helpless, she could only grit her teeth and plunge into the mist.

Deep within the dense fog, Chi Qiu instantly lost her sense of direction, struggling to discern objects even a zhang away.

At once, Chi Qiu activated her divine ability, ‘Blooming Life’. Vast swathes of indigo flowers rapidly sprouted, spreading outwards to a hundred zhang within mere breaths.

Although the fog here was thick, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was exceptionally rich. The indigo flower sea Chi Qiu summoned grew much faster here than it had previously in Sang City.

Relying on the indigo flower sea, Chi Qiu regarded the dense fog as nonexistent, and her travel speed actually increased significantly.

Within the dense fog, numerous minor demons of various kinds roamed aimlessly.

Should two minor demons collide, a brutal fight would immediately erupt. Such loud skirmishes would swiftly attract more minor demons, eventually escalating into a chaotic melee.

Chi Qiu moved with great speed. Although activating the indigo flower sea consumed very little spiritual energy, it was not without cost.

Given the immense expanse of the fog, she naturally had to make haste and exit before her spiritual reserves were depleted.

After traveling rapidly for an entire day, the fog ahead finally began to thin. Chi Qiu no longer needed the indigo flowers’ enhanced vision to clearly see the towering, several-zhang-wide cypress trees around her.

Realizing she had exited the foggy region, Chi Qiu deactivated her divine ability and slowed her pace.

“Splish-splash.”

Although Chi Qiu had lightened her steps, the sound of her soles meeting the muddy water was exceptionally clear.

This ground is incredibly damp, Chi Qiu mused.

Her dress and shoes, however, were crafted from superior spirit-brocade, impervious to water and fire, and unstained by dirt, thus unaffected by the mud. This particular ensemble was the most valuable item among Ding Shi’s reparations.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on Chi Qiu. She surveyed the surrounding cypress trees, then looked down at the numerous puddles on the ground, belatedly discovering that she had stumbled into a swamp.

Her heart tightened immediately. With a leap, she cleared a puddle, reached a cypress tree, and swiftly climbed its trunk until she reached the very top.

By now, the sky had completely darkened. Chi Qiu observed the starry expanse to discern her direction and strained to make out the scenery around her.

After a thorough observation, Chi Qiu finally confirmed it: she had entered the boundaries of Sishui Marsh.

Within the dense fog, Chi Qiu had been unable to rely on the sun to orient herself. Furthermore, her attempts to bypass various minor demons along the way had caused her to lose her sense of direction, ultimately leading her to plunge headfirst into the marsh.

Traveling at night was inconvenient, and her spiritual energy was almost depleted. Chi Qiu decided to stay put for the time being, resting on the cypress tree for the night.

She would make further plans once she could ascertain her exact location the following morning.

Having decided to spend the night on the cypress tree, Chi Qiu activated her divine ability, ‘Blooming Life’. Night Ling Vines sprouted from the ground, winding around the cypress and climbing upwards, eventually extending across the tree crown.

Chi Qiu sat cross-legged on the vines. Then, the Night Ling Vines grew further, several tendrils coiling around her, shielding and protecting her. Soon after, Night Ling flowers bloomed, their subtle fragrance drifting on the wind.

Chi Qiu touched the Night Ling Vines around her, feeling a sense of calm settle within her heart. She closed her eyes and entered a state of cultivation.

“Roar!”

“Wail—”

Chi Qiu awoke from her cultivation as the sun slowly rose. The roars and cries of various demonic beasts echoed in her ears.

Chi Qiu retracted the Night Ling Vines and climbed to the top of the cypress tree, surveying the surrounding landscape.

She saw an endless, boundless marsh stretching in all directions – east, west, north, and south.

Rivers crisscrossed the vast marsh, and large lakes dotted the landscape. Birds occasionally soared overhead. The lakes themselves were rich with aquatic plants, their surfaces shimmering as massive demonic beasts traversed the waters.

Now this… Chi Qiu thought.

Chi Qiu searched for a long time but couldn’t find a way out of Sishui Marsh. Instead, she spotted several demonic beasts over a hundred zhang in size.

She made a mental note of their locations, knowing she would have to avoid them when exploring the marsh later.

Finding no path, Chi Qiu descended the cypress tree to the ground. After orienting herself using the sun, she decided to continue heading east.

Chi Qiu returned the map to her pack, then drew her Azure Frost Sword. Concentrating her mind, she slowly made her way through the cypress forest.

When Chi Qiu had been a man, he had visited many desolate wildernesses teeming with demonic beasts, accumulating extensive experience in dealing with them.

Demonic beasts in the Transcendent and Spirit Nourishing Realms fed on ordinary animals and mostly roamed about, searching for prey.

Heart Scripture Realm demonic beasts, however, were vastly different. Their intelligence awakened, they would command their kin to hunt for them while they themselves built lairs to cultivate their demonic power.

Upon reaching the God Concealing stage, demonic beasts possessed extremely high intelligence and could speak human languages. They were known as Greater Demons, building their own cave dwellings and enslaving lower-realm demonic beasts.

Within their cave dwellings, Greater Demons not only cultivated their demonic power but also planted spirit herbs and precious fruits for their own cultivation.

Demonic beasts had extremely long lifespans; even those in the Transcendent Realm could live for several centuries.

It was quite normal for God Concealing stage Greater Demons to live for thousands of years. It was precisely due to such abundant lifespans that they would plant spirit herbs and precious fruits that took centuries to mature.

As for demonic beasts above the God Concealing stage, Chi Qiu had never encountered them. She had only heard that demonic beasts who cultivated to the Dharma Manifestation realm could transform into human forms and walk among mortals, though she didn’t know if this was true or false.

Currently, the demonic beasts within Sishui Marsh seemed no different from those elsewhere. As Chi Qiu traversed the forest, the few demonic beasts she encountered were all below the Heart Scripture Realm, which eased her mind slightly.

With caution, Chi Qiu left the cypress forest, then bypassed a vast swamp. Beyond the swamp lay a large lake, which Chi Qiu had observed earlier from the top of the cypress tree.

With Chi Qiu’s current strength, swimming across the lake would be akin to courting death. She had no choice but to walk along its edge, circumventing the vast body of water.

After two days of detouring, Chi Qiu reached the opposite shore of the lake. There, the vast swamps gave way to a mountain forest.

Seeing the mountain forest, Chi Qiu let out a long breath of relief. While traveling through the swamp earlier, her indigo flower sea couldn’t grow, making her journey a terrifying ordeal.

Now, entering the mountain forest, her indigo flower sea could spread freely, providing a significant boost to her safety.

With a thought, Chi Qiu’s indigo flowers instantly spread, bringing everything within several hundred zhang into her mind’s perception.

“This is…”

On a nearby tall mountain, something was emitting powerful spiritual energy, which her indigo flower sea had detected.

Chi Qiu’s face, tense for days, finally broke into a smile. Demonic beasts only emitted demonic qi; anything radiating spiritual energy must surely be a spirit plant growing within this great marsh.

Joy filled Chi Qiu’s heart as she strode toward the direction from which the spiritual energy emanated.