240: Chapter 240 Arrival at the Evil Waters, the Golden Crocodile!

Warships pierced the sky, banners fluttering.

Sun Chengzhu stood at the prow of the flagship, his dark gold Daoist robe fluttering, his Sword Intent contained rather than revealed.

On both sides behind him stood dozens of Foundation Establishment Cultivator, all of whom were Elders within White Cloud Temple or Clan Chiefs of the vassal families under its rule.

For this expedition to Evil Water Marsh, White Cloud Temple could be said to have sent out all its elite forces.

In addition to Sun Chengzhu, this newly advanced Golden Core Master leading the team, there were over a dozen Foundation Establishment forces under its rule that had relocated their entire clans to join the expedition.

The three warships currently here were merely the vanguard.

After initially occupying a piece of territory, they would continuously transfer the population later to accelerate the progress of exploration and slowly transform this wild land.

The reason why there were families migrating...

...ultimately boiled down to the fact that the northern territory of Ming Prefecture was too narrow.

To be precise, it was not a problem of being narrow.

It was that the current scale of White Cloud Temple was too large, and coupled with White Cloud Temple's continuous expansion over the years, internal interests had long been completely carved up.

This led to an increasing number of Foundation Establishment families within!

One must know that when Ming Prefecture was first established, White Cloud Temple had only about seventy Foundation Establishment forces under its command, but now, it had as many as over one hundred Foundation Establishment Family forces...

Furthermore, when they explored Hua Prefecture and established a branch altar, over a dozen had already moved away.

One could imagine what the competition in northern Ming Prefecture and internally had become, which also led to this southward expansion.

Many Foundation Establishment families were willing to follow White Cloud Temple and migrate south.

Now that Evil Water Marsh, this big piece of fat meat, was placed before them, who wouldn't want to take a bite?

Going out might mean becoming a local hegemon; staying behind meant only eating leftovers and continuing to compete endlessly with other clans.

If one could not compete, naturally seeking another path was the best strategy.

Each Clan Chief calculated this account better than anyone else.

Daoist Yun Du remained at White Cloud Temple to oversee the overall situation; the Yunjian Mountain Range, where the Sect was located, was the main base and could not afford any loss.

In the hold of another warship.

Kuang Dou, Elder Rat, Shuang Yu, and other major Yao Beasts were each entrenched there.

The elites of the Five Bear Lineages, the scouts of the Wind Rat lineage, and the war beasts of the Black Dog Clan were all dormant here...

Shi Jian lay in a specially crafted Formation, absorbing the power of lightning and thunder, resting with his eyes closed.

Half a month later.

The outline of Evil Water Marsh finally appeared at the end of the horizon.

There were no famous mountains or great rivers here, only a grey-green swamp that stretched as far as the eye could see, with miasma like a thick quilt, tightly covering this land.

The muddy water bubbled and gurgled, emitting a pungent, putrid smell.

When the warships stopped at the edge of Evil Water Marsh.

"Pass the order, set up camp according to the original plan!"

Sun Chengzhu's voice spread across the three ships.

Immediately, thousands of Cultivators filed out, each performing their duties.

Formation Masters threw out Formation Plates to disperse the poisonous miasma; Earth Dao Cultivators moved giant rocks to tamp down the foundation.

Over a dozen Foundation Establishment forces were assigned to peripheral nodes, each establishing outpost strongholds, like nails driven fiercely into this wild land.

However, the natives of this land clearly did not intend to hand it over willingly.

Such massive construction soon attracted many gazes; how many years had passed, and once again, members of the Human Race wanted to occupy this place.

Night fell.

There were no stars or moon, only boundless darkness and miasma.

"Enemy attack!"

A shrill warning pierced the night sky.

Immediately following, the ground began to tremble.

In the depths of the swamp, countless scarlet eyes lit up. As the muddy water surged, thousands upon thousands of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts poured out like a tide.

Iron-Armored Crocodiles, Poison Frogs, Bloodthirsty Vine Snakes... densely packed, covering the sky and earth.

Clearly, this was a beast tide launched by the local Yao Race!

"Form ranks!"

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator at each stronghold soared into the sky, the light from sword beams, Talismans, and Magical Artifacts illuminating the night sky.

Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and roars shook the heavens.

But there were too many Yao Beasts, seemingly endless, continuously launching attacks from all directions.

Just when the defensive line was tottering, a heaven-shaking roar came from the depths of the swamp, sounding like a mix of an ox and a tiger.

Low, hoarse, and carrying an aura of wild, tyrannical ferocity!

"Roar—!"

The sound waves turned into tangible ripples, sweeping away layers of poisonous miasma.

A behemoth nearly a hundred zhang in length slowly emerged from the mud swamp, and when everyone looked, they saw it was a Golden Giant Crocodile.

Its entire body was covered in dark golden scales, each scale as large as a millstone, shimmering with a metallic luster. Its four limbs were thick as pillars, and a casual sweep of its long tail smashed a small hill to pieces.

Level 5 Yao Beast, Early Stage Golden Core Yao General!

The Golden Giant Crocodile's vertical pupils revealed a cruelty as it stared fixedly at the Human Race's camp.

Opening its large mouth, a torrent of earth-yellow mud and rock turned into a giant Dragon, roaring as it crashed into a stronghold at the very front.

The Formation light screen flickered violently, and several Foundation Establishment Cultivator spat out blood, tottering.

The next instant, they were completely wiped out!

An entire camp, over a hundred Cultivators, and several Foundation Establishment Cultivator perished on the spot; the entire station was covered by mud and rock, as if it were a natural disaster!

A single Realm difference was like heaven and earth.

Let alone putting up a fight; being able to take one strike without dying was already considered a top-tier existence among Cultivators of the same Realm.

Even a weak Golden Core was still a Golden Core, and no matter how strong a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was, they were merely Foundation Establishment; ants would always be ants.

To a Golden Core, Foundation Establishment Cultivator were, at most, just slightly larger ants!

Sun Chengzhu stood in mid-air, hand on his sword hilt, just about to draw his sword to slay the Yao, when he heard a voice transmission ring in his ear.

"Chengzu, stand down."

The next instant, the sky suddenly brightened.

The night sky, originally shrouded in poisonous miasma, was instantly torn apart by purple-gold lightning.

The violent lightning-attribute Spiritual Pressure poured down like the Milky Way from the Nine Heavens, instantly covering a radius of a hundred miles, and the heavens and earth changed color because of it!

In an instant, dark clouds covered the heavens and earth, and thunder roared continuously!

Above the dark clouds, a phantom of a giant bear appeared and disappeared, like a wild beast wielding the divine thunder of the Nine Heavens, descending into this world.

The Indestructible Wild Thunder, ten thousand bolts tilting down, was like a waterfall in the sky, venting its Divine Might of lightning onto the earth.

At this moment, all beasts were silent; there was only the sound of thunder!

Even that Golden Giant Crocodile suddenly raised its head, a flash of suspicion in its eyes, carrying even a trace of terror.

Boom!!

A thick purple-gold divine thunderbolt struck down, instantly turning a patch of the swamp into nothingness, disintegrating it completely!

The lightning dissipated, and Shi Jian's massive body was revealed.

The giant bear stood upright, over seven zhang tall.

Compared to the hundred-zhang-long Golden Giant Crocodile, he seemed somewhat insignificant, but this aura as deep as an abyss and as heavy as a prison made the Golden Giant Crocodile instinctively take half a step back.

Strong!

Very strong! Not just ordinarily strong!

Just standing in front of him, a feeling of being suppressed arose naturally from the depths of its Bloodline...