Chapter 418: Swamps of Gloom, Land of Death (I) (2/2)

An hour passed very quickly. After Long Haochen’ group returned back to the hotel, they summarized the news they got altogether. Useful information regarding the actual situation inside the Swamps of Gloom was sparse and hard to get, as this was a very dangerous place where the survival rate of the demons was not high. Thus, the Swamps of Gloom gained the name land of death. Even by relying on their advantage of maneuverability on any terrain, the Devil Snake Clan demons didn’t enter it recklessly.

Everyone put their things in order, and they departed under Long Haochen’s lead.

Today, the weather was pretty good. The sun was shining brightly, but within the borders of the demon territory, even on a clear and bright day, birds were rarely seen, because all the birds and flying magical beasts had been eaten by demons over the past thousands years. How could there be any living animals left?

Upon arriving, they noticed that the air turned a lot more moist than on open ground, and that the swamps weren’t that huge. According to the map, if they kept going east, they would reach the coast after less than 250 km. There, many demons were in charge of fishing. According to the information from the demons, the coastal area was already sparse of fish due to extensive hunting by the demons. Very often, they had no choice but to hunt other creatures from the ocean to serve as food for them. To guarantee the capture of some amount of fish, even some demons of the ninth step joined the hunter’s ranks.

Perhaps it was because this land of death called Swamps of Gloom was excessively terrifying, but the closer they got, they encountered less and less demons. While everyone traveled at full speed, soon an hour passed and noon arrived. The air turned more and more humid, and the ground started to gradually soften. Occasionally, some rotten smell assaulted their noses. They were in the Swamps of Gloom.

After walking for half an hour, they finally reached their destination. However, everyone couldn’t help but show different expressions. Just by looking from a distance, they could all sense the terror of this land of death.

Afar, a large expanse of green fog covered this massive area. This green fog seemed as if it was undisturbed since time immemorial, even when bathed in the rays of sunlight, it didn’t appear to be affected in the slightest. One could clearly see that the closer they got to the fog, the deeper its color was. When reaching the edge of that fog, the ground turned black, and occasionally, some muddish bubbles ascended from wet patches.

They emitted strange smells along with the moisture sustaining the fog.

The size of the Swamps of Gloom was basically indistinct, and when Long Haochen especially rose to the sky after releasing his spiritual wings, he found out to his astonishment that the closer they got to the fog, the deeper its color. It increased in density until reaching the depths of the Swamps of Gloom, where its color was dark green. As for the size of these swamps, he was unable to estimate it, because of the the excessive concentration of the fog, his line of sight was obstructed.

Returning to the ground, Long Haochen gathered his comrades, and told them in a deep voice, “It looks like these Swamps of Gloom are even harder to handle than we imagined. Everyone take extra care when you act. When inside, our visibility will very possibly be affected to some extent, so don’t get lost, and stay close to me. I will use light magic to disperse the fog. If we get attacked, stay close to me as much as possible. We will first be taking a look at the edge of the swamps, and then attempt to enter.”

Han Yu responded, “Captain, how about letting me disperse the fog? As the core of the team, letting you preserve your strength should be our priority.”

Long Haochen shook his head, giving the reply, “Don’t worry. I have already broken through to the seventh step and opened three spiritual cavities. The recovery speed of my spiritual energy is now a lot faster than yours. This is really nothing. Let’s go now.”

The group of seven accompanied by the two holy guards and Yating followed, advancing to the edge of the swamps rapidly. The closer they got to the Swamps of Gloom, the softer the ground under their feet became. When entering its edge, the surface under their feet felt as if they moved on quicksand.

At that time, the Eleventh Holy Guard displayed his great utility. Releasing cold energy on the ground with no difficulty, he instantly turned the water in the swamps to ice, which could bear the weight of everyone.

Meanwhile, a dark golden light spread from Long Haochen’s body, enveloping the whole group. That was the light spell of the third step, Holy Mantle.

The reason why he used Holy Mantle instead of Divine Light Mantle was that the defensive strength of the former was a lot greater, and it also possessed healing and preserving effects. Furthermore, Long Haochen added his comprehension of the technique Ripples of Light, and therefore, didn’t only absorb a lot more light essence, but also raised its defensive strength to a spell at the fourth step. As long as they didn’t encounter an extremely powerful attack, his Holy Mantle provided some defense.

Atop of this, the greatest benefit of Holy Mantle was that the area covered by this pell could be changed depending on the amount of spiritual energy expended. The visibility inside the swamps was no good, so Long Haochen naturally made his Holy Mantle a bit bigger.

With the increase of his internal spiritual energy above 10,000 units, and two more spiritual cavities, in the space between his eyebrows and his underbelly, the concentration of spiritual energy in these cavities started to increase. Now, Long Haochen’s cultivation speed became a lot faster than at the time he was still at the sixth step. His growth in strength even shocked himself. In only half a month, his spiritual energy was already nearing 11,000 units.