Chapter 1211: Hall Master Xing's Out-of-Body Tribulation

The power that the man-eating lotus had just devoured in an instant was fast, fierce, and precise, just as Master Ji had said—even ordinary Mortal Transcendence realm experts would find it hard to escape.

If this thing were planted in a residence, it would be difficult for ordinary people to enter.

Besides the man-eating lotus, there are also some special poisonous insects living beneath the swamp. If one falls in and gets bitten, they will be instantly paralyzed, unable to use any of their strength, and will gradually sink into the swamp, becoming bleached bones. Every year, no fewer than a hundred thousand renowned masters and cultivators die here. For this reason, it was once declared a forbidden zone, prohibiting cultivators from taking risks here!

As he spoke, Master Ji took a piece of cooked meat from his ring and casually tossed it into the swamp nearby.

The meat initially floated on the mud, but moments later, some black-shelled insects emerged from the mud and bit into it. In the blink of an eye, it visibly dissolved into a liquid, as if corroded by strong acid.

Seeing this, everyone's expressions turned unpleasant.

They had known before coming that this place was terrifying, but they hadn't expected it to be so terrifying. Even though they were all experts above the Divine Soul realm, they couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines.

However, there's no need to worry too much. No matter how deadly a place, there is always a chance for survival. The swamp has some exposed ground surfaces connected like floating bridges. As long as we find these spots, we can continue forward without too much concern!

Master Ji smiled, shook his body, and leaped over ten meters, landing on a firm spot in the swamp. Everyone follow closely behind me, don't step wrong or fall behind!

With that, he continued jumping forward. After a dozen leaps, he was already hundreds of meters away.

Zhang Xuan looked closely. The places where he landed had a slightly different color, somewhat bluish. Although they also lacked vegetation, they gave a sense of being able to nurture life, distinctly different from the pitch-black surroundings.

It's unlikely that these surfaces formed naturally; they were probably built by later generations...

He didn't know the cause of the swamp, but once formed, it must have been a complete collapse. Having a spot every few dozen meters that could support a person standing was most likely man-made.

Let's go!

Not dwelling on these issues, Zhang Xuan left the flying sacred beast to wait in place, and the others followed closely behind, leaping over as well.

Everyone was a Saint Domain expert with strong memories. Although the other had only walked the path once, they had already memorized the specific positions and followed closely without any deviation.

Master Ji, I heard there are sacred beasts here. How do they survive?

If it's this troublesome for us to enter once, how do the sacred beasts manage to live?

Further into this swamp, there will be some landmasses, the largest only a few kilometers in diameter. Due to the special environment, some spiritual herbs or special ores can be born. Many sacred beasts, to enhance themselves, will occupy a hill and guard a spot, fighting with cultivators who come to explore, even killing them!

Master Ji introduced: Look, there's one ahead!

Everyone looked and indeed saw a patch of land not far away, lush green, like an island in the sea, covered with various vegetation, and even many birds living there.

They advanced quickly, and after walking for over ten minutes, they arrived at its edge.

This landmass was about five hundred meters in diameter, with a small hill standing on it, floating above the swamp like an inverted turtle shell.

Arriving above, everyone descended.

"Let's hurry. We need to reach the center of the swamp before dark; otherwise, the swamp at night is even more terrifying!"

Seeing that the group was curious and intended to wander around on land, Ji Shi said.

"Mm."

Glancing at the sun, Zhang Xuan instructed, "Let's go."

Although it was still early before dark, the swamp was too vast, and they couldn't fly. If they traveled this way, it would likely take at least one or two hours, so they couldn't afford to delay.

With Ji Shi leading the way, it was indeed much safer. They detoured around areas with sacred beasts and avoided dangerous spots in advance. After nearly two hours of travel, they finally reached the depths of the swamp.

Along the way, they encountered several groups of adventuring cultivators, who actively avoided them.

To conceal their identities, although they weren't wearing master's robes, their strength was evident. In cities, with the Master Teacher Academy overseeing, everyone followed rules and dared not act recklessly. But here, once others were found to have treasures, mutual killings and robberies were not uncommon.

This place was like a lawless land. As long as the bodies were thrown into the swamp, even a master teacher would find it hard to investigate.

"That island ahead is the center of the entire swamp. To find the Ghost Cave, we must first come here, then find a way to search bit by bit. Even I don't have a better method."

After another half hour, the sun was already setting in the west. Ji Shi pointed forward and said.

Following the direction of his finger, everyone looked and saw a huge landmass appear before them, about seven or eight kilometers in diameter. A steep mountain peak stood in its midst, covered with dense vegetation. From afar, it looked like a city.

"Let's go over."

Following closely, everyone soon arrived on the island.

It was no different from the land outside, except that the spiritual energy here was even richer, giving a refreshing feeling.

"No wonder sacred beasts choose to live here and are unwilling to leave... Cultivating here indeed yields twice the results with half the effort."

After sensing it, Zhang Xuan nodded.

This place had abundant spiritual energy and was a natural cultivation treasure. Cultivating here would surely lead to a much faster advancement rate than outside.

Many sacred beasts must have discovered this secret and, despite knowing the danger, still flocked here.

"Let's rest here tonight. We'll look for the Ghost Cave when it's light. At night, poisonous insects in the swamp crawl out. If we encounter them, it will be dangerous..."

With a flick of his wrist, Ji Shi took out some urine of high-level sacred beasts and sprinkled it around to warn off poisonous insects and beasts, keeping them away.

Having traveled all the way, everyone had also felt the terror of the swamp. They said no more and took out their prepared items.

With fine wine and roasted meat, the meal was quite sumptuous.

After dinner, Zhang Xuan did not rest but sat cross-legged on the ground to continue his cultivation.

The Heavenly Dao true qi flowed through his body, repeatedly washing over the fetal infant, striving to hasten its transformation.

After cultivating the Five Radiance Golden Body to perfection, Zhang Xuan had merged many techniques from the Master Teacher Academy's Defense Hall into the Heavenly Dao Golden Body, with decent results. At this moment, his physical body, though not comparable to the Gold Origin Cauldron, was not far off.

"Hmm?"

After cultivating for an unknown period, he suddenly sensed a surge of energy not far away. Turning his head, he saw Hall Master Xing's face flushed red, as if he could barely suppress the power within him.

"What's wrong?"

In two steps, he was at his side.

The others also awakened from their cultivation and gathered around.

"Teacher Zhang, I might be about to undergo the Nascent Soul Tribulation..."

Hall Master Xing said.

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit had been damaged, but with Zhang Xuan's help, it had been repaired, allowing him to quickly break through to half-step Nascent Soul and reach the pseudo-Nascent Soul realm. Under normal circumstances, whenever he wished, he could trigger the lightning tribulation and become a true Nascent Soul realm expert. Why was it starting here all of a sudden?

"What happened?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"I don't know either. I only cultivated for a short while, and then I felt my primordial spirit had reached a saturated state. I tried to suppress it, but couldn't..."

His face flushed, true qi from Hall Master Xing's body shot out through his pores, and then everyone felt dark clouds gathering overhead as the lightning tribulation arrived.

"Don't be nervous. It's just the Nascent Soul Tribulation. With your strength, you can easily withstand it!"

Motioning for everyone to leave the tribulation area to avoid being affected, Zhang Xuan smiled and said.

As the hall master of the War Teacher Hall, his combat strength was astonishing. Although the tribulation had come somewhat abruptly, it should not be difficult for him to get through it.

Boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, lightning struck down, crashing straight down.

Whoosh!

With a thought, Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit left his physical body and flew straight toward the lightning.

Sizzle!

Upon contact, it was like cotton wool scorched by fire, its size continuously shrinking, as if enduring unbearable torment.

"Hmm?"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

"The Nascent Soul Tribulation is extremely dangerous. Normally, one uses the physical body to resist it, right? Hall Master Xing, why did he send his primordial spirit out to meet it? This... is too dangerous!"

Teacher Wu was also incredulous.

In the Nascent Soul Tribulation, lightning tempers the primordial spirit. Under normal circumstances, to make it easier to pass, many cultivators use their physical bodies to resist part of the lightning, letting the primordial spirit absorb the rest... But Hall Master Xing directly sent his primordial spirit out to meet it, which was no different from seeking death.

"He probably can't control himself..."

His Eye of Insight twitching, Zhang Xuan's face darkened.

"Can't control himself?"

The others were puzzled.

"It seems a Soul Spirit Master has acted against him. Knowing he was about to break through, they stirred his primordial spirit, intending to use the lightning's power to eliminate him first, or to make us expend our strength to protect him..." Zhang Xuan squinted.

"A Soul Spirit Master? Have we... been discovered?"

Teacher Wu and the others all looked grim.

They had changed out of their master teacher robes and come here without any delay, hoping to find the other party before Qingtian Emperor's teacher discovered them.

Unexpectedly, they knew nothing about the enemy, but one of their own had already fallen victim.

"Probably..."

Nodding, Zhang Xuan continued to look up at the sky, where under the lightning's scorching, Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit grew weaker and weaker, on the verge of being completely consumed.

Although his personal strength was considerable, his primordial spirit had been damaged before, and coupled with his lack of preparation, the Nascent Soul Tribulation's assault on his primordial spirit was already too much to bear.

"If this continues... Hall Master Xing might die..."

Hall Master Wei and Hall Master Liao were extremely anxious.

As old friends who had known each other for several hundred years, they could not bear to watch their good friend be struck dead by lightning.

"Teacher Zhang, do you have a way? You must save him..."

The two looked at him simultaneously.

If anyone here could save him, it was probably only this one.

"Don't worry..."

Even without them asking, Zhang Xuan would have acted. Without any hesitation, his Eye of Insight twitched as he looked forward.