Arrival and Atmosphere
The light of the teleportation faded, and a rush of hot, humid, and heavy air, laden with the stench of rich decay, instantly enveloped the four students. The clean spiritual energy characteristic of Dragon's Zenith Academy was entirely cut off, replaced by a viscous dampness that seemed to seep into their pores. The sudden change was taxing; Li Shulai instinctively drew a protective layer of Mana around himself, only to realize the chaotic nature of the local energy made maintaining such a shield extremely inefficient.
Before them stretched an endless expanse of gray and lifeless scenery. Gnarled, dead trees jutted out of the water like distorted skeletons, and a thick, whitish-gray mist pressed low over the marsh, limiting visibility to a few dozen meters. Beyond that, the deeper areas were a heart-pounding blur that swallowed light. Beneath their feet, the footing was treacherous and soft; every step they pulled free brought a squelching sound and the pungent odor of marsh gas.
"Hmph, I thought this was supposed to be difficult. Turns out it's just picking a few flowers." Li Shulai swung his long sword, the silver gleam sliced through a cluster of spiky, dark-green vines blocking their path, his tone carried the excitement of entering a dangerous new place, mixed with a hint of casual disdain. "The mission rating is low-tier, so it seems the Academy knew we were freshmen and gave us something easy to adjust to."
He Lingxuan ignored him, her entire focus fixed on the pale blue light screen projected from the crystal card in her hand. At the center of the screen, a small, elegantly shaped flower, with nearly transparent petals and edges flowing with a hazy, dreamlike blue light, slowly rotated.
"The Fog-Shrouded Bloom," her cool voice cut through the silent marsh air, clear as the striking of jade. "It thrives in damp, shaded conditions, often growing beside rotten wood or in waterside rock crevices. Its petals are extremely sensitive to Mana fluctuations; harvesting requires a jade tool. Touching it with bare hands or even a slight surge of spiritual power will cause it to instantly wither, rendering the effort fruitless." She raised her eyes, sweeping her gaze over the deathly still but secretly thriving environment. "The low difficulty rating may not be due to the safety of the environment, but because the target object itself is extremely fragile, testing patience, observation, and delicate operation, rather than pure combat prowess."
Chen Ruipeng walked silently at the forefront. His door-sized great axe served as a useful path-breaker, occasionally necessary to hack through overly tough vegetation, but mostly he used it to carefully push aside drooping vines. His footing was unusually steady; he deliberately avoided the darker, bubbling soft pools of water, striving to step only on relatively firm ground. He was the one most keenly aware of the physical toll the heavy, moist air was taking; every breath felt heavier than usual.
Lin Yan moved in the middle of the formation. His own Mana was inherently weak, and his senses struggled immensely in this marsh of chaotic spiritual energy and pervasive miasma, feeling as if they were sinking into mud. He had to concentrate intensely, observing the flow of the invisible 'Qi' in the environment. Here, the Qi was tumultuous; vibrant vitality and sinking stillness were intertwined in a bizarre way, creating a sense of suffocating oppression.
"Student Li, Student Chen, Student He," his voice retained its characteristic polite detachment, but his tone was serious. "Please try to avoid overly brightly colored fungi and vegetation. This place is permeated with miasma that, while not immediately fatal, excessive inhalation will gradually numb the meridians and slow the circulation of spiritual power."
Li Shulai stopped short, a slight frown crossing his face. He appreciated Lin Yan's advice in a battle, but this cautiousness felt stifling. "Got it, Student Lin, no need to be so nervous," he repeated, only this time his tone held a definite challenge. "But this is just basic swamp miasma. We're Cultivators, not common folk. Are we really going to waste our limited anti-toxin pills for every little puff of gas? Your spiritual energy is the lowest here, yet you're the most concerned about Mana circulation. What exactly are you seeing that we aren't?"
Lin Yan didn't take the challenge personally. He knew Li Shulai was asking for proof, not picking a fight. He paused, pointing subtly toward a cluster of vibrant blue-cap mushrooms. "Look at the decay around that root system. The life energy is being absorbed at ten times the normal rate, yet the air is full of noxious, stagnant Qi." Lin Yan explained, choosing his words carefully. "The problem isn't the current miasma level; the problem is the imbalance it creates. Any creature or enemy we face here will draw strength from the surrounding stagnant energy, while we must fight against it. Slowed circulation isn't a symptom of illness, it's the environment using our own Mana against us. Conserving our core vitality is mandatory."
The logic—framed in terms of energy consumption and environmental warfare rather than fate reading—hit Li Shulai hard. He glanced at He Lingxuan, who gave a brief, confirming nod. The swordsman grumbled inwardly at his own impatience but lowered his saber slightly, acknowledging the wisdom. "Alright, noted. No unnecessary movements, conserve Mana," he conceded, albeit a little stiffly.
His warning was based purely on observation. He then carelessly chopped down a thick cluster of purple, fleshy leaves, which instantly released a puff of pungent, dark vapor. The swordsman coughed lightly, but quickly waved his hand, dismissing the symptom as mere swamp stench. This casual disregard for the unseen danger highlighted his overconfidence. Chen Ruipeng paused his step, paying closer attention to the ground. He Lingxuan, however, quietly took a 'Heart-Cleansing Detoxification Pill' and placed it in her mouth.
The squad moved cautiously deeper into the marsh, following He Lingxuan's directional guidance. The surroundings were terrifyingly silent, broken only by their sounds of stepping through the mud, pushing aside vegetation, and the faint chirping of distant, unknown insects. The mist seemed to be thickening, carrying a chilling dampness that tried to worm its way beneath their robes.
The First Ambush
After searching for about fifteen minutes, He Lingxuan's eyes suddenly narrowed. She lowered her voice: "Over there!"
Following her pointed direction, they saw a large piece of driftwood half-submerged in the murky water, covered in slick, dark-green moss from decay. Hidden deep in the shadows where the wood met the water, several small, almost transparent flowers with softly glowing blue edges were quietly blooming, a fragile, ethereal beauty contrasting sharply with the desolate environment.
It was the Fog-Shrouded Bloom!
All four spirits lifted. After their initial caution, finally finding their target naturally brought joy, and they quickened their pace, eager to collect them.
The sudden anomaly erupted!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Several long, slender black shadows, launched as if by a powerful crossbow, tore through the thick mist with a harsh, grating sound. Their target was Chen Ruipeng, the largest figure walking at the front!
They were an enormous species of jet-black, oily-slick leech, several times larger than normal, yet equipped with a circular, razor-toothed sucker mouth filled with dense, pale-white teeth—Poison Leeches! Their speed was startling, like black lightning!
"Watch out!" Chen Ruipeng roared, reacting instantly. His massive body didn't retreat but lunged forward. The great axe swept horizontally, generating a muffled pressure wave! There were no fancy moves, just the pure crushing power of force! Where the axe head passed, several Poison Leeches were instantly mashed into pulp, their foul-smelling bodily fluids splattering.
At the same time, Li Shulai's sword moved with his body. A fierce sword light flashed like a new moon, precisely cutting several leeches attacking from the flank cleanly in half.
He Lingxuan flicked her fingers, and a pinch of pale yellow medicinal powder silently diffused, forming a small, invisible barrier in front of her. Several leeches that charged into the powder's range instantly writhed violently as if hitting a hot iron, then dropped stiffly into the mud and were quickly corroded.
In a flash of lightning, the first wave of attack was neutralized.
"Tch, just some low-grade demonic creatures, easily defeated." Li Shulai shook his long sword, flicking off the stained blood, his tone reflecting the ease of their initial success. He flashed a triumphant look toward Lin Yan, clearly attempting to reassert the dominance of brute strength over caution. Individually, these leeches were weak.
However, Lin Yan's brow furrowed intensely. He keenly sensed that this leech attack was not a spontaneous, scattered ambush. They seemed to be coordinated... driving and probing the formation? The angle of attack subtly cut off their route to scatter laterally. Furthermore, the oppressive 'stillness' and 'chaos' of the Qi in the surrounding mist seemed to abruptly intensify the moment the leeches attacked, like a cold tide silently rising.
"Something is wrong," his voice was low but carried an undeniable gravity. "These are likely just the vanguards. The Qi here is malevolent; something far more dangerous may be lurking. We must leave immediately after collecting the Fog-Shrouded Bloom. We cannot stay long!"
As if to confirm the ominous feeling gripping both him and Lin Yan, He Lingxuan, having moved closer to the blooms, suddenly let out a suppressed cry: "No! These flowers... there's something wrong with them!" She knelt down, ignoring the mud, staring intently at the fragile flowers close at hand. Her voice was filled with disbelief. "The Fog-Shrouded Bloom described in the texts has soft, uniform blue light that is pure and transparent. But these few... look closely, their blue light core is subtly tinged with a faint, unnatural crimson! It's as if they've been polluted by some kind of sinister spiritual energy! These are not Fog-Shrouded Blooms; they are the extremely similar Blood-Mist Blooms!"