50: Chapter 50 Misty Swamp, Swarm of Poisonous Miasma

The journey to the northeast was longer and more treacherous than imagined.

The resonance of the ancient soul scale was like a lighthouse in the dark, pointing weakly but firmly into the depths of the Mist Swamp. However, the blurry shadow on the map representing the swamp only revealed its true ferocity after actually stepping into it.

The air became thick and damp, as if every breath required extra effort. Dense miasma permeated the forest like a living thing, its color constantly changing—sometimes grayish-white like fog, sometimes carrying eerie shades of pinkish-purple or ink green. These miasmas not only obscured vision but also contained complex toxins that could erode Dou Qi and paralyze nerves; even experienced mercenaries and herb gatherers needed specialized anti-miasma pills to dare venture deep inside.

Rotten mud swamps were the dominant feature here, their surfaces covered in thick, slippery moss and aquatic plants. They looked level, but one step could cause you to sink deep into them, where sharp aquatic grass roots and unknown poisonous insects lay hidden in the sludge. The twisted roots of ancient trees protruded from the water like a monster's tentacles, draped in damp vines. Some vines had barbs and secreted sticky sap; once touched, skin would become red, swollen, and fester.

The sounds here were also exceptionally monotonous and unsettling. There were no bird calls or beast roars, only the monotonous hissing of unknown insects, the gurgling sound of bubbles bursting in the swamp, and the occasional eerie sound of something sliding across the water. Everywhere in the dead silence, killing intent lurked.

Lin Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Chi Rong—who had shrunk its size (restraining its energy fluctuations to barely maintain a length of three to four meters) and was struggling to walk—had already been trekking through this poisonous swamp for seven full days.

"The direction is correct, but the sensing... seems to be interfered with by something, it's intermittent." Lin Yan spread out the water and yin attribute ancient soul scale in his hand that guided the way. The light of the dark gold patterns on it flickered, and the direction occasionally shifted briefly. The dense mixed energy field of water, yin, and poison attributes in the swamp was clearly affecting the precise sensing of the ancient soul scale.

Xiao Yi Xian walked at the front, her emerald eyes shimmering in the miasma; her keen perception of toxicity made her the best pathfinder. Her complexion was more rosy than before, and her aura was becoming increasingly calm and restrained. For these seven days, she had been constantly fighting the various miasma poisons invading her body, using the methods from the Seven-Colored Poison Manual to refine and absorb them. Her Calamity Poison Body was like a fish in water in this environment; not only had her resistance to poison greatly increased, but her control and application of poison power had also reached a higher level. The grayish-purple poison power that occasionally lingered on her fingertips now faintly carried a trace of the eerie hue of the swamp miasma, becoming even more difficult to deal with.

"Three hundred paces ahead, there is something under the swamp on the left. The aura... is very mixed, like a gathering of many small poisonous insects." Xiao Yi Xian stopped and whispered a warning.

Chi Rong let out an uneasy low growl. Its fire attribute was severely suppressed in this humid and venomous environment, making it feel uncomfortable all over. It could only barely emit a faint heat to disperse the approaching poisonous insects and some of the miasma. If not for the restriction of the Soul Contract and Lin Yan's soothing, it would have likely already erupted and sprayed fire to clear the area—which would only have attracted even more troublesome things.

Lin Yan's soul perception (although still sluggish, its range was large enough) also captured the abnormality in that area. The energy fluctuations were dense and weak, like an undercurrent.

"Go around it." He made a prompt decision. In a place like this, unnecessary battles should be avoided whenever possible.

They carefully adjusted their direction, bypassing the edge of a relatively solid group of decaying wood covered in strange fungi. The colorful mushrooms on the decaying wood emitted a sweet, cloying fragrance, but they carried a strong hallucinogenic toxicity.

Just as they were about to bypass that area, an unexpected change occurred!

"Bzzzz—!!!" A low, dense, scalp-numbing buzzing sound suddenly erupted from behind them, from beneath the swamp they were originally going to bypass! Immediately after, ink-green mud exploded like a fountain, and countless dark red lights swarmed out from within, rushing towards the three of them like a tide!

Those were flying insects the size of fists, pitch-black all over, with shiny carapaces, dark red compound eyes, and ferocious mouthparts! Their numbers were so vast they blotted out the sky, and the buzzing of their vibrating wings converged into a heart-palpitating wave of sound! Even more terrifying was that wherever they flew, the air was filled with a sweet, fishy, corrosive poisonous mist, and even the hard decaying wood made sizzling sounds as it was eroded!

"It's the 'Bone-Corroding Poison Bee'! Predators from the depths of the swamp, they are gregarious, their mouthparts can secrete a potent poison that corrodes Dou Qi and bones, and their poisonous mist can paralyze the soul!" Xiao Yi Xian's expression changed slightly as she spoke quickly. She had seen records of this kind of poisonous bee in the Poison Manual; they were extremely troublesome and usually only active in the core area of the swamp. Why would they appear here? And in such huge numbers—it was as if they had been disturbed by something?

"Chi Rong, protect above! Xiao Yi Xian, the poisonous mist is up to you!" Lin Yan reacted instantly, his eyes cold. He circulated his Dou Qi and the Seed Flame of Void Devouring Flame simultaneously, forming a semi-illusory, semi-real pitch-black flame shield in front of him, while the Pure Corrosion Soul Seal between his brows glowed slightly, preparing to deal with any potential soul toxins.

Chi Rong roared and opened its mouth to spray a ring of relatively gentle but extremely wide-ranging crimson fire, enveloping the sky above and temporarily blocking the bee swarm's dive. Xiao Yi Xian formed hand seals, and her grayish-purple poison power mixed with the cold air of the Xuanming True Water, turning into a pale purple mist that met the sweet, fishy poisonous mist emitted by the bee swarm. When the two met, they produced intense sounds of corrosive neutralization.

However, the number of bees was simply too great! Chi Rong's fire ring quickly dimmed under the fearless assault of countless poisonous bees. Although Lin Yan's Void Swallowing Flame shield could devour the approaching poisonous bees, its range was limited, and facing this tidal offensive, the consumption was immense. Even more troublesome was that the bee swarm seemed to possess some kind of simple tactical intelligence; one part continued to attack head-on, while another part bypassed the flames and poisonous mist to flank and surround them from the sides and the ground (some poisonous bees could actually crawl on the swamp surface for short periods)!

"This won't do! We must find the hive or disperse them!" Lin Yan said in a deep voice. His soul perception swept with full force towards the direction of the swamp from which the bee swarm had emerged, trying to find the cause or a weakness.

Just then, the ancient soul scale in his hand, which had been flickering incessantly, suddenly erupted with unprecedented intense light! The dark gold patterns seemed to come alive, flashing violently, no longer pointing to the northeast, but rather... to the depths of the swamp from which the bee swarm had emerged!

At the same time, an extremely faint yet incomparably pure and ancient "poison" aura, mixed within the violent toxicity fluctuations of the bee swarm, was keenly captured by Lin Yan! This aura resonated slightly with the water and yin attribute ancient soul scale in his body, but it was more violent, more... lethal!

It was another ancient soul scale! And it was a poison attribute one! It was right under that swamp! These Bone-Corroding Poison Bees were very likely attracted by the faint aura emitted by the ancient soul scale, or they were simply guarding that scale!

"Target found! But we must deal with these bugs first!" A flash of brilliance appeared in Lin Yan's eyes, and he quickly made a decision. "Chi Rong, concentrate your firepower! In the direction I point, use your strongest breath to blast open the swamp! Xiao Yi Xian, cooperate with me, use your poison to create a path!"

Before his words had even faded, Lin Yan moved first. He no longer defended passively but took the initiative to attack! With Explosive Step, he blasted the mud and water under his feet, his figure turning into a blurry shadow as he charged towards the densest direction of the bee swarm! At the same time, he gripped his right hand in the air, and the pitch-black, deep Void Swallowing Flame condensed and compressed in his palm, turning into a "Seed of Void" the size of a fist, with what appeared to be a black hole rotating inside!

"Go!" Lin Yan shouted in a low voice, throwing this black flame seed, which contained terrifying devouring power, fiercely towards the core area from which the bee swarm had emerged!

"Chi Rong! Now!"

Chi Rong had long been ready. Upon hearing the command, it opened its huge mouth, and the lava energy within its body gathered frantically, ignoring the environmental suppression. A lava beam, only as thick as an arm but condensed to the extreme, appearing dark gold in color and causing the surrounding space to slightly distort, shot towards the same spot, following closely behind the Seed of Void!

Xiao Yi Xian also attacked at the same time. She bit the tip of her tongue and sprayed a mouthful of essence blood containing the origin of her Calamity Poison Body, merging it into the grayish-purple poison power surrounding her. The poison power surged instantly, its color turning into a dull purple-black, transforming into a ferocious poisonous flood dragon that roared and charged towards the bee swarm. Wherever it passed, the poisonous bees fell like raindrops, their bodies rapidly rotting!

"Boom—!!!" First, the Seed of Void exploded silently in the swamp, forming a brief devouring domain that instantly cleared the mud, poisonous bees, and poisonous mist in that area, revealing the even deeper darkness below.

Immediately after, Chi Rong's dark gold lava beam shot accurately into that cleared area, piercing fiercely into the depths of the swamp! The extreme high temperature and violent flame energy erupted instantly, evaporating and melting a large area of mud, forming a continuously expanding scorched black pit!

"Squeak—!!!" A screech, sharp enough to pierce eardrums, came from deep within the pit! The sound was full of pain and rage. Obviously, this strike from Chi Rong had hit something critical, very likely the core of the hive, or... the guardian of that poison attribute ancient soul scale!

The bee swarm's offensive suddenly fell into disarray! A large number of poisonous bees stopped attacking Lin Yan and the others, instead emitting frantic and chaotic buzzing, turning around and charging towards the exploded pit, as if wanting to go back to rescue.

"Chance! Follow me!" Lin Yan did not hesitate at all. Taking advantage of the chaos in the bee swarm, he protected his body with the Void Swallowing Flame and charged first towards the still-smoking scorched black pit! Xiao Yi Xian and Chi Rong followed closely behind.

The pit was deeper than imagined, extending diagonally downwards. The interior had been scorched by Chi Rong's flames, creating a charred tunnel. The air was filled with a mixture of burnt, fishy, and a strange, heart-palpitating sweet fragrance.

All the way down, they could see a large number of Bone-Corroding Poison Bee corpses that had been burned or shocked to death, as well as some scorched, beeswax-like hive remnants.

After descending about several dozen zhang, the area ahead suddenly opened up; it was actually a hollowed-out underground cave. In the center of the cave, there was a strange hive piled up like a small mountain, composed of various poisonous insect carapaces, bones, and some kind of dark red sticky substance. The hive was now collapsed by half on one side by Chi Rong's breath, and dark red, sweet-fishy smelling fluid was continuously flowing out.

And at the very center of the hive wreckage, a dim, deep purple light that seemed to absorb all light was quietly floating. Within the light, one could vaguely see a palm-sized, irregularly shaped scale, pitch-black verging on deep purple, with its surface covered in what appeared to be naturally formed, twisted and ferocious dark gold poison patterns! It was the poison attribute ancient soul scale!

However, next to that scale, in the shadows of the hive, a pair of miserable green, huge compound eyes filled with endless resentment and violence were staring fixedly at the uninvited guests who had broken in.

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of carapace friction, a behemoth slowly crawled out from the shadows.

It was a monster with a body size comparable to Chi Rong, resembling a Bone-Corroding Poison Bee magnified a thousand times! But it was even more ferocious; its entire carapace presented a dull purple-black color, shimmering with a metallic luster. Its six thick, jointed limbs were like sharp scythes, and ink-green poisonous saliva dripped as its mouthparts opened and closed. On its back grew three pairs of translucent wings covered in eerie purple patterns, which were now vibrating at high speed due to anger, emitting a piercing buzzing sound.

Most heart-palpitating of all was that at the end of its huge abdomen, a ferocious poisonous stinger, a zhang long and flickering with a deep purple cold light, was aimed directly at the three of them!

A Rank 5 peak Magical Beast—the Bone-Corroding Bee Queen! And it was a Bee Queen that had undergone a terrifying mutation after being long-term infected by the aura of the poison attribute ancient soul scale!

"Roar—!!!" Chi Rong sensed the ferocious aura emitted by the opponent, far exceeding that of a normal Rank 5, and the lethal poison attribute threat. It let out a low roar, blocking in front of Lin Yan and Xiao Yi Xian, and lava energy began to gather again, but it was obviously more strenuous than before; its attribute was being suppressed too severely.

Xiao Yi Xian's expression was grave. She could feel that the toxicity emitted from this Bee Queen was more than ten times stronger than that of the Bone-Corroding Poison Bees outside, and it was even more eerie, even more... close to a certain violent level within the origin of her poison body.

Lin Yan gripped the water and yin attribute ancient soul scale in his hand tightly, then looked at the deep purple poison scale, and finally, his gaze fell on the ferocious and terrifying Bee Queen, his eyes sharp as knives.

It seemed that to obtain this poison scale, it would be impossible without first passing the hurdle of this mutated Bee Queen. A fierce battle was inevitable. And this underground cave in the swamp was about to become their new battlefield.