332: Chapter 332 Rare Concern

The next day.

Nie Ning stretched and climbed out of bed.

Looking out the window, the morning outside was still shrouded in mist.

Perhaps due to the geography, the weather within the Dark Swamp's sphere of influence was never very good; the sun was almost never seen throughout the four seasons.

If not for the Transcendent plants developed by Wizards, the people here would have no way of surviving in such a humid region.

After washing up, Nie Ning walked downstairs, where Old Bogge was already waiting.

On a nearby table, many materials were laid out, clearly collected by Old Bogge last night. There were even several mid-grade magic crystals placed beside them.

"My Lord, these are the materials you requested. Unfortunately, this place is crude and resources are scarce, so I could only gather this much."

Old Bogge said, bowing slightly with a look of shame.

Nie Ning nodded upon hearing this, then walked to the table to inspect the materials.

Although the condition of many materials wasn't great, there was no lack of precious items among them, far exceeding the value of the magic crystals he had given out.

"Not bad. This is your payment."

Nie Ning casually tossed ten mid-grade magic crystals to Old Bogge.

"My Lord, you mustn't! You have already helped us immensely. This is just a small token of our gratitude; please, accept it."

Old Bogge hurriedly pushed the magic crystals back in front of Nie Ning.

If not for Nie Ning, they might have died last night.

Moreover, he had solved that big trouble for them; these materials really didn't compare to the magnitude of Nie Ning's help.

"Business is business."

Nie Ning shook his head slightly. "I already received my payment for last night, so there's no need to mention it again."

He very much liked the Wizard's rule of equivalent exchange, as it avoided the entanglements of social obligations.

He had already obtained the Kapok Bone-Eating Powder last night, which was sufficient payment. After all, to him, it was just a trivial matter.

Old Bogge wanted to say more, but he was stopped by Nie Ning's sharp gaze.

"Then, thank you very much, My Lord."

After a long silence, Old Bogge thanked him from the bottom of his heart.

What was a casual act for Nie Ning was extremely rare in their eyes.

In this Transcendent World, or specifically in this region of the Dark Swamp, people like him were no longer common.

To become stronger and to survive, almost every Transcendent would exert all their effort to gain as much profit as possible; who would care about the life or death of others?

Being able to avoid looking for trouble was already good enough; helping others was something almost unthinkable.

"Don't forget to be careful when spreading the news. Otherwise, if you are found out, your fate likely won't be good."

Nie Ning said while collecting the materials.

"Rest assured, My Lord, I will certainly handle it well."

Old Bogge clenched his fists and spoke solemnly.

After all, this concerned their lives.

Now that several Transcendents from Earth Wolf Valley were dead, if Earth Wolf Valley intended to investigate, they wouldn't be able to escape suspicion.

Only by spreading the news about Iron Mountain Fortress would the people of Earth Wolf Valley have no time to worry about them. Perhaps they could even use this to directly wipe out Earth Wolf Valley and eliminate future troubles.

Nie Ning nodded, then chatted with Old Bogge about the situation in the Dark Swamp.

As for Berly, Nie Ning didn't ask.

If they couldn't even handle such a small matter, then it could only be said that heaven wanted them dead.

Besides, he didn't need to fear Earth Wolf Valley; even if people found out, it wouldn't be a big deal.

He would leave as soon as he found what he needed. If those people had the guts to chase him out, Nie Ning might actually think a bit more highly of them.

Regional discrimination among Wizards was very serious.

Given Earth Wolf Valley's reputation, they would probably be shot full of holes the moment they entered Yishi Mansion's territory.

After learning the basic situation of the Dark Swamp, Nie Ning took Xiao Guang and left Tushi Town directly.

Because the next destination was very far and crafting the Mirror Pupil was urgent, he had to find those items as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it would delay his cultivation too much.

...

...

Half a month later.

In a swamp forest.

In the very center, a massive Earth-Ripping Lizard lay in a pool of blood.

Meanwhile, Nie Ning and Xiao Guang were covered in wounds, standing nearby and panting heavily.

"How is this thing so tough?"

Looking at the giant lizard, which was nearly ten meters long, Nie Ning's mind was full of questions.

Since Xiao Guang was about to advance to the fifth rank, she needed a large amount of meat for energy.

The energy required for the fifth-rank advancement was enormous. Creatures below the third rank couldn't provide enough energy for Xiao Guang. To this end, the man and fox had been searching through this place called the Earth-Rending Forest.

They eventually found this Earth-Ripping Lizard, which was only at the peak of the fourth rank but possessed incredibly formidable strength.

Perhaps because its bloodline purification had reached a certain level, this Earth-Ripping Lizard's scales and physique far surpassed a normal fourth-rank Earth-Ripping Lizard.

Despite its energy level being at the fourth rank, it was effectively a fourth-rank exotic beast wearing a fifth-rank shell.

Against this beast with high attack and high defense, the man and fox could only use hit-and-run tactics. Even so, they were still injured by this troublesome creature.

Specifically, to save Xiao Guang, Nie Ning had been directly struck by the Earth-Ripping Lizard.

At that moment, the light screen of the xielin turtle shield was shattered, and for a split second, Nie Ning felt as if he were about to ascend to heaven.

"Are you okay?"

Xiao Guang looked up at Nie Ning, showing concern for him for the very first time.

"If you're feeling worried, why not consider my previous suggestion? Let's choose to take human form. What do you think?"

Nie Ning spat out some blood and leaned in eagerly, speaking with a smile.

Hearing this, Xiao Guang rolled her eyes, then opened her mouth and fired a Light Explosion Bomb at Nie Ning's face, sending him flying.

Looking at the rather pathetic Nie Ning, Xiao Guang couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Over the past half month, Nie Ning had brought this up countless times.

Clearly, maintaining her exotic beast form provided the greatest boost to her strength and the most help to Nie Ning. Yet, Nie Ning would always list the various disadvantages of being an exotic beast, just to make her advance toward a human form.

But she was an exotic beast after all; she was very different from humans in many aspects.

Previously, she was indeed tempted by Nie Ning's suggestion to become a Wizard, but it wasn't as simple as she had imagined.

She frequently entered the Transcendent World, so she knew a lot of information regarding this.

If she wanted to evolve into the kind of shapeshifted creature that could practice wizardry, she had to make the layout of the meridians in her body approximate a human's. She would need to re-purify the magic power in her crystal core to make it gentler.

There were also all sorts of extremely troublesome matters.

The first requirement alone was a huge challenge for her.

Meanwhile, Nie Ning only talked big and blindly provided various resources, but never truly understood the dangers of shapeshifting.

With the slightest slip-up, not only would her strength be lost, but it could even be life-threatening.

Otherwise, in the vast Blood Rainbow City, why hadn't a single shapeshifted exotic beast been seen?

...