46: Chapter 46 Misty Swamp, Poisonous Miasma City

The guidance of the ancient soul scale became increasingly clear and scorching, like a lit compass, pointing unwaveringly to the northeast.

In the northwestern hinterland of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the terrain gradually transitioned from steep, precipitous mountains to soft, muddy lowlands.

The air was no longer dry and scorching; instead, it became thick and humid, carrying a mixed scent of decaying branches and leaves and a faint, cloying sweetness.

Dense forests began to be replaced by twisted, bizarre swamp vegetation. Tall metasequoias hung down aerial roots, slippery moss covered rotting trunks, and underfoot, the ground was no longer solid earth, but a quagmire where one could sink at any moment with each uneven step.

This was the destination pointed to by the ancient soul scale—the edge of the Mist Swamp.

Lin Yan stopped and scanned the front with a grave gaze.

Even in the daytime, the depths of the swamp were perpetually shrouded in a thin layer of grayish-white miasma that seemed to be composed of countless fine dust particles and mist.

This miasma was not particularly thick, yet it stretched for unknown miles, obscuring vision and making the sunlight appear dim and hazy.

Within the miasma, faint, strangely shaped silhouettes could be seen, indistinguishable as either plants or lurking venomous creatures.

The cloying, sweet scent permeating the air was one of the sources of this miasma; inhaling even a little caused dizziness, and the circulation of Dou Qi became slightly sluggish.

"It is 'Soul-Bewitching Poisonous Miasma,' formed from a mixture of at least dozens of swamp poisonous plant pollens, the aura of decaying venomous creatures, and the gloomy energy from underground. Its toxicity is not fierce, but it excels in being persistent, hallucinogenic, and capable of slowly eroding Dou Qi. Inhaling it for a long time would make even a Dou Ling expert feel uncomfortable."

Xiao Yi Xian sniffed the air lightly, a strange glint flashing in her emerald eyes.

For the miasma that ordinary people would avoid at all costs, for her, it was like returning to a familiar home turf.

Her Calamity Poison Body was not only unaffected, but it could also extract strands of components that had a weak nourishing effect on her poison power from this complex miasma.

She took out a few simple detox pills she had refined and handed them to Lin Yan and Chi Rong: "Keep these in your mouths; they can resist most of the hallucinogenic and erosive effects. But deep within this miasma, I fear there are even more formidable things."

Lin Yan took the pills and swallowed them. A cool sensation spread through his chest and abdomen, and his mind immediately became much clearer.

He looked at the ancient soul scale in his hand. That scale, which belonged to this place, was currently slightly hot. The dark gold patterns on it flowed like water ripples, emitting a strange fluctuation that faintly harmonized with the surrounding miasma environment, seeming both excited and resonating with some distant existence.

"The direction is deep within this swamp." Lin Yan pointed to the area where the grayish-white miasma was thickest. "Chi Rong, your attribute conflicts with this place, and you were not lightly injured in the previous battle, so stay at the edge of the swamp to provide support, hide your aura, and keep a lookout."

"Yes, Master!" Chi Rong growled in response.

It indeed felt very uncomfortable; the damp and gloomy environment here made the circulation of its lava energy become sluggish.

It retreated according to orders to a relatively dry highland in the rear, lay down, and restrained its own scorching aura to the extreme.

Lin Yan looked at Xiao Yi Xian: "Follow me closely. Your poison body has a great advantage here; perhaps you can sense danger in advance. But be careful, the venomous creatures here are strange; do not be careless."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded, took a deep breath of the air carrying the miasma, and a strange sense of comfort appeared on her face: "Rest assured, I feel… the poison here is very 'intimate'."

The two spoke no more, unfolded their movement techniques, and like two wisps of smoke, silently swept into the grayish-white miasma.

Once they entered the depths of the swamp, the light immediately became even dimmer, with visibility less than ten zhang.

Underfoot was soft and slippery mud, with bubbles occasionally emerging from the depths of the swamp, emitting a more pungent, rotten odor when they burst.

Twisted vines and aquatic plants were intertwined, forming natural traps and obstacles.

In the air, besides the Soul-Bewitching Poisonous Miasma, there was also a mix of the faint hissing of various venomous insects and the sound of unknown creatures paddling through the water.

Lin Yan contracted his soul perception to a range of twenty zhang around him; even so, he felt his perception was severely interfered with by the miasma, becoming blurry and unclear.

The Pure Corrosion Soul Seal between his eyebrows emitted a faint, cold aura, helping him resist the hallucinogenic factors in the miasma and keep his mind clear.

The Seed Flame of Void Devouring Flame flowed slowly through his meridians, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

Xiao Yi Xian was like a fish entering water, her movements even more agile than Lin Yan's.

Her poison power spread out like invisible tentacles, not only unaffected by the miasma but also able to sense in advance whether there were large venomous creatures lurking or energy anomalies ahead through the subtle flow of the miasma.

Occasionally, venomous snakes would spring out from the mud, or colorful poisonous spiders would fall from the canopy; before Lin Yan could act, they were precisely killed by the poison needles flicked from Xiao Yi Xian's fingertips, their corpses instantly corroded into a pool of pus by her poison power and merged into the swamp.

"Fifty steps to the front left, there is something under the mud, the aura is cold, the size is not small, go around it." Xiao Yi Xian suddenly whispered a reminder.

Lin Yan turned as instructed. Sure enough, a moment later, that patch of mud churned without warning, revealing a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth, as large as a millstone, and then it slowly sank back down, clearly a lurking giant swamp crocodile, with at least Tier 3 strength.

Avoiding several similar lurking crises without incident, the two gradually went deeper into the swamp.

The surrounding grayish-white miasma became thicker and thicker, and its color faintly revealed a hint of dark green; the toxicity clearly increased.

The effect of the detox pills refined by Xiao Yi Xian began to weaken; Lin Yan had to occasionally circulate the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame to form a weak curtain of fire between his mouth and nose to filter the air.

Just then, from the depths of the miasma ahead, a strange, faint crying sound suddenly came!

The sound was shrill and ethereal, sometimes far and sometimes near, as if a woman was wailing in despair, or like an infant crying in pain, piercing directly into the heart, making one involuntarily feel creeped out and shaken in spirit!

"It is 'Soul-Weeping Miasma'! When the miasma condenses to a certain degree, it fuses with the resentment of the wandering souls here and the special geomagnetism to form phantasmal sounds, which can directly attack the soul!"

Xiao Yi Xian's face changed slightly, and she hurriedly circulated the method of clearing the heart and guarding the spirit from the Seven-Colored Poison Manual, while looking at Lin Yan, "Be careful, this sound will stir up inner demons and cause people to hallucinate!"

Lin Yan also felt that the crying sound was like an invisible ice pick, piercing directly into his soul. The Pure Corrosion Soul Seal between his eyebrows spontaneously lit up with a faint light, releasing a colder soul power fluctuation, offsetting most of the negative emotions and soul attack intent within the sound.

But he could feel that the power of this "Soul-Weeping Miasma" was definitely not something an ordinary Dou Ling could easily resist; no wonder this place was rarely visited.

The crying sound became clearer and clearer, closer and closer, as if lingering right by his ears.

The surrounding miasma also began to churn violently, vaguely manifesting all kinds of twisted, painful human faces and ghost shadows, pouncing with bared fangs and brandished claws, bringing gusts of bone-chilling, gloomy wind.

Lin Yan snorted coldly and no longer defended passively.

With a thought, he activated the Pure Corrosion Soul Seal between his eyebrows, combined it with a wisp of the Void Swallowing Flame's aura, and emitted a silent, sharp soul shriek!

"Soul Seal Shock—Break Illusion!"

An invisible ripple of cold soul power spread out with Lin Yan as the center!

Wherever it passed, those ghost shadows and human faces manifested by the miasma shattered and dissipated like bubbles!

The shrill crying sound was also suddenly interrupted as if its throat had been grabbed, leaving only the wailing wind of the churning miasma.

The confrontation at the soul level was fleeting. But Lin Yan also felt that his soul power consumption was not small.

"Hurry! The Soul-Weeping Miasma has been dispersed, it might attract more troublesome things!" Xiao Yi Xian urged.

She did not know much about soul attacks, but she instinctively felt uneasy.

The two accelerated their pace. After traveling for about another half an hour, in the grayish-white miasma ahead, an unusual… clearing suddenly appeared?

No, it was not a real clearing, but rather the miasma had formed a huge, slowly rotating vortex-shaped hollow here.

The hollow was about a hundred zhang in diameter, and the miasma at the edge was as thick as a solid gray wall, constantly churning and surging, yet it was weirdly repelled by an invisible force, unable to invade the central area.

The ground inside the hollow was relatively dry, and surprisingly, some strange poisonous herbs and mushrooms that were rare in the outside world and emitted a faint, glowing light were growing there.

And in the very center of the hollow, a… dilapidated black stone building stood impressively!

The architectural style was extremely ancient, neither a tower nor a palace, but rather more like an altar or a small shrine that had been severely eroded by time.

The building was constructed entirely of an unknown black stone, its surface covered with traces of weathering and corrosion by the miasma, as well as a large number of blurry and indistinguishable, ferocious and weird-styled reliefs; one could faintly see the forms of venomous creatures like snakes, scorpions, and centipedes, as well as some patterns of twisted human or humanoid creatures struggling and offering sacrifices.

A desolate, ancient, and yet gloomy, poisonous, and fierce fluctuation radiated from that dilapidated building, and its resonance with the ancient soul scale in Lin Yan's hand reached its peak at this moment!

The scale was scorching hot, almost flying out of his hand!

"This is it…" Lin Yan gripped the ancient soul scale tightly, his eyes scanning that weird black building sharply.

He could feel that beneath this building, it seemed to be connected to some kind of larger, colder energy source; this was precisely the core of this "City of Mystery"-like miasma area!

Xiao Yi Xian watched the glowing poisonous herbs around the building without blinking, her breathing becoming slightly rapid: "'Netherworld Bone-Eroding Grass,' 'Seven-Colored Illusion Mushroom,' 'Earth-Yin Dragon Saliva Moss'… all are top-tier poisonous items recorded in the Seven-Colored Poison Manual, but extremely difficult to find! This place… is simply a holy land for poison practitioners!"

However, both knew that opportunities often coexist with danger.

This seemingly "safe" hollow area, and that dilapidated black building, were likely the most dangerous places in this Mist Swamp.

Lin Yan scanned the building with his full soul perception, only to find that his perception was like a clay ox entering the sea, completely isolated by that black stone and the layer of invisible force field lingering around the building!

Not even a trace of energy fluctuation could be detected!

"There is a restriction, and it is very ancient and powerful." Lin Yan said in a deep voice, "The guidance of the ancient soul scale ends here; next, I fear we need to explore it ourselves."

He looked at Xiao Yi Xian: "The poisonous herbs here are of great benefit to you, but do not be reckless. I will go and investigate the entrance of the building first."

"Be careful." Xiao Yi Xian nodded, but her gaze had already been firmly attracted by those top-tier poisonous items, and she began to cautiously approach and collect them, while remaining vigilant of the surroundings.

Lin Yan took a deep breath, adjusted his state to the best, and walked slowly towards the dilapidated black building.

As he approached, an invisible pressure began to act upon his body, as if the surrounding air had become thick and heavy.

The entrance of the building was an arched stone gate that had collapsed more than halfway, and it was pitch black inside, making it impossible to see the scene clearly.

Just when he was about three zhang away from the stone gate, a sudden change occurred!

On the ground on both sides of the stone gate, those seemingly chaotic black gravels suddenly came to life, violently flew up, combined, and in the blink of an eye, condensed into two ferocious stone statue guards that were two zhang tall, jet-black, and shaped like a combination of a giant scorpion and a poisonous spider!

In the hollow eye sockets of the stone statue guards, two points of eerie green firelight suddenly lit up, locking onto Lin Yan firmly!

At the same time, from the depths of the dilapidated building, came a low, hoarse, ancient sigh that sounded like a mixture of the hissing of countless venomous insects:

"Those who hold the 'poison scale'… may enter… the trial… begins…"

Accompanied by this sigh, the two stone statue guards made a harsh friction sound, brandishing their huge scorpion pincers and spider legs, and with a thick, decaying poisonous aura and heavy stone pressure, they pounced violently toward Lin Yan!

And in the depths of the building, it seemed that more, even weirder things were slowly awakening in the darkness…