115: Chapter 115 Exploring the Black Miasma Swamp in Search of Minerals, Encountering a Poisonous Dragon Displaying Its Power

After submitting the mission and collecting his reward, Ye Qing did not linger in Zhenbei City for long.

He returned to his private courtyard at the Yuelai Inn, adjusted his condition to his Peak, and carefully studied the annotations on the animal skin map regarding the Black Miasma Swamp and its surrounding areas before setting off once again.

Three moons of different colors still hung high in the sky, casting a fantastical radiance.

Ye Qing's figure, like a ghost, swept silently across the vast sea of forests, flying towards the area marked as the "Black Miasma Swamp" in the northwest direction of the Canglang Mountain Range.

The Black Miasma Swamp, as the name suggests, is shrouded year-round in a gray-black, highly toxic miasma.

This miasma is not only highly toxic, capable of corroding a Cultivator's mana and Physical Body, but it also interferes with Divine Sense detection, greatly reducing its range.

Ordinary Golden Core Cultivators, without specialized Medicinal Pill for detoxification or anti-poison Magic Treasure, would never dare to venture deep inside easily.

Although Ye Qing had his Chaos Infant Essence to protect his body and was immune to all poisons, he did not want to consume his mana for no reason to resist the miasma.

As he approached the edge of the swamp, he lowered his escape light and took out a pigeon-egg-sized, emerald-green Medicinal Pill that emitted a fresh herbal fragrance from his Storage Pouch, placing it in his mouth.

This pill was called the "Miasma-Avoiding Pill," which he had casually concocted using several types of detoxifying Spiritual Plant grown in his Cave Heaven World; its quality was excellent, sufficient to resist the erosion of ordinary miasma and toxic fog.

After doing this, he stepped into the swamp area shrouded in gray-black miasma in a leisurely manner.

Upon stepping into the swamp, the surrounding environment instantly became gloomy and oppressive.

The ground underfoot was wet, soft, and muddy, covered with rotting plants and the bones of unknown creatures, making a "guji guji" sound when stepped upon.

The air was filled with a heavy scent of decay and the pungent smell of toxic miasma, severely obstructing his vision, with visibility less than a hundred zhang.

The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the occasional "gudu" sound of bubbles bursting from deep within the mud, and the faint, strange hissing of unknown creatures from the distance, adding to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

Ye Qing maintained his Divine Sense within a range of two hundred zhang around him, his steps steady as he walked step by step towards the location of the abandoned mine marked on the map.

His pace appeared slow, but in reality, every step he took covered a distance of several tens of zhang, his figure flickering in and out of sight in the gray-black miasma, like a ghost.

Along the way, he saw many poisonous insects and Spiritual Plant that were rarely seen in the outside world.

There were highly poisonous, colorful spiders the size of millstones lurking in dark corners, waiting for prey to fall into their traps.

There were venomous snakes that looked like withered vines but could instantly strike and strangle their prey, camouflaged on rotting tree trunks.

There were also patches of highly poisonous mushrooms emitting a faint, eerie phosphorescent glow, beautiful yet deadly.

To ordinary Cultivators, these poisonous creatures were nightmares they would avoid at all costs.

But in Ye Qing's eyes, they were all excellent Alchemy Materials or species that could be introduced and cultivated in his Cave Heaven World.

Adhering to the principle of "a thief never leaves empty-handed," he picked up any poisonous insects or Spiritual Plant he encountered along the way that were of good quality or had special uses, "inviting" them into his Cave Heaven World to be decomposed, absorbed, or cultivated by the Cave Heaven.

In this way, although his travel speed was somewhat affected, his mood was quite pleasant.

"This Black Miasma Swamp is simply a natural treasure trove! It's just a pity that the smell is too unpleasant."

While complaining, he carefully dug up a strange, jet-black Lingzhi that emitted a cold aura and was shaped like a ghost claw, roots and soil included, and sent it into the Cave Heaven.

According to the map annotations and the information provided by the Azure Wind Wolf King, that abandoned mine was located deep in the Black Miasma Swamp, near the edge of a mountain range known as "Poison Dragon Ridge."

Ye Qing traveled through the swamp for about two hours, avoiding several areas clearly occupied by powerful poisonous insects along the way, and finally arrived at a hilly area with relatively higher terrain and thinner miasma.

"According to the map, the entrance to the mine should be within these hills."

He stopped, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding hills of various shapes shrouded in gray-black miasma, his Divine Sense pouring over every inch of land like liquid mercury, carefully searching.

Soon, his Divine Sense caught a trace of extremely weak but exceptionally pure Spiritual Qi fluctuations at the foot of an inconspicuous low hill covered with dark green moss, a few miles away.

Although the Spiritual Qi fluctuation was weak, it carried the deep and heavy aura unique to a Spirit Stone mine.

"Found it!"

Ye Qing was delighted; his figure flickered, and he dashed towards the low hill.

Arriving at the foot of the low hill, he discovered that there was indeed more than met the eye here.

A huge, blue-gray rock that looked as if it had been sliced by a Sharp Weapon was half-buried in the soil and vines.

The surface of the rock was covered with thick moss and soil; if one did not look carefully, one would only think it was an ordinary mountain rock.

But Ye Qing's Divine Sense clearly "saw" that behind this giant rock, there was a deep, downward-sloping cave entrance that had been artificially excavated.

The entrance was sealed by an even larger Dragon-Severing Stone that was almost integrated with the mountain; on the Dragon-Severing Stone, there remained some blurred but discernible Formation patterns, emitting a faint light.

"The entrance to the Xuanhuang Sect's abandoned mine... it was indeed sealed. However, this Seal seems to be very weak, and there are obvious signs of damage caused by external force."

Ye Qing carefully observed the Formation patterns on the Dragon-Severing Stone and found that although these patterns were exquisite, they had long since lost much of their power after the erosion of endless years, and there were many fractures and damages.

Even on the edge of the Dragon-Severing Stone, one could see some fresh marks caused by attacks from a Sharp Weapon or Spell.

"It seems that someone discovered this place earlier than I did and tried to break the Seal, but it seems they did not succeed."

He pondered in his heart, slowly raising his right hand with his fingers spread, aiming at the huge Dragon-Severing Stone.

He did not try to decipher those broken Formation patterns; that would be too time-consuming.

He chose the simplest, most direct method, one that also fit his identity as a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

"Since you are blocking my path, then... shatter."

His tone was flat, as if he were stating a trivial matter.

As his voice fell, his palm, pressed against the Dragon-Severing Stone, gave a slight tremor.

An invisible and intangible, yet terrifying power that seemed capable of shattering mountains, like a sleeping Dragon awakening, instantly passed through his palm and was transmitted to the huge Dragon-Severing Stone.

Crack!

A crisp sound, like an eggshell breaking, rang out in the silent swamp.

Immediately following, dense cracks, centered on where Ye Qing's palm had pressed down, rapidly spread like a spider web across the entire Dragon-Severing Stone!

Rumble—!!!

Accompanied by a low, deafening roar, the Dragon-Severing Stone, weighing over ten thousand jin and sealing the mine for who knows how many years, collapsed!

It turned into countless fragments of various sizes, rolling into the cave and kicking up a sky full of dust!

As the dust settled, a deep, downward-sloping mine entrance was completely exposed before Ye Qing's eyes.

Inside the entrance, it was pitch black and bottomless; a breeze, mixed with rich Spiritual Qi and the scent of decay, as if it had been sealed for ages, slowly blew out from the cave, carrying an ancient and desolate flavor.

Ye Qing stood at the entrance, gazing calmly into the deep darkness, a satisfied smile on his face.

"The Xuanhuang Sect's abandoned mine... I hope you won't disappoint me."

He straightened his robes, hesitated no longer, took a step forward, and his figure disappeared into the deep darkness.

Just at the moment Ye Qing's figure disappeared into the mine entrance—

About a hundred miles away, deeper in the Black Miasma Swamp, at the bottom of a black lake shrouded in thick, impenetrable dark green toxic fog, emitting a cold and evil aura.

A behemoth coiled at the bottom of the lake, over ten zhang long, covered from head to tail in jet-black scales, with a pair of dark red, coral-like branching horns on its head, resembling a Dragon but with three ferocious heads, suddenly opened its six eyes!

Those six eyes, like six dark red lanterns, emitted a cold, ferocious, and offended, dignified light in the pitch-black lake bottom.

"Who... dares to trespass into this King's territory... and destroy that... ruin Seal that even this King couldn't be bothered to touch..."

A hoarse, low voice, as if coming from the nine underworlds of Hell, echoed at the bottom of the lake, carrying a hint of displeasure at being awakened and a trace of curiosity.

It slowly swished its tail, which looked like it was cast from steel and covered in barbs, and the entire lake's water surged violently, stirring up monstrous waves!

"Interesting... It has been a long time since... such an interesting thing happened... Let this King see... which ignorant little bug it is..."

The whispers of the Three-Headed Poison Flood Dragon slowly echoed at the bottom of the lake, carrying a hint of playfulness and cold murderous intent.

And at this moment, Ye Qing, completely unaware of this, had already stepped into the long-sealed mine, beginning his new journey of exploration and harvest.