Chapter 328: Chapter 315: Deep into Cloud Mist Marsh
From the time Zhouyang entered the Purple Star Pavilion until he swept away the treasures from the shop and left, the whole event lasted no more than one or two hours.
Due to the Purple Star Pavilion already being closed for business and activating the protective array beforehand, no one noticed that the situation inside had changed dramatically.
It wasn’t until Zhouyang fled with the treasures and the cultivators he had knocked out reported the incident that the news began to spread.
By then, Zhouyang had already left the Immortal City, and no one knew where he went. Even though the Seven Glows Sect behind the Seven-Colored Immortal City investigated his origins, they couldn’t locate his whereabouts. Ultimately, the matter remained unsettled amidst the bickering between the Seven Glows Sect and the Purple Star Sect.
On the other side, after leaving the Seven-Colored Immortal City, Zhouyang immediately headed south straight towards the "Cloud Mist Marsh".
After flying continuously for half a day, he could see the endless sea of mist hundreds of miles away.
The mist of the "Cloud Mist Marsh" stretches high into the sky, connecting with the clouds several thousand feet above, while below, it merges with the earth, rocks, and lakes.
The anomalous power within the mist pervades even the earth and rock beneath, so that cultivators attempting to enter the restricted zone via Earth Escape or Water Escape will likewise face that invasive force.
A river separates the mist area from the outside region; on one side lies a verdant riverside grassland, while the other side is a white, obscured fog zone.
Zhouyang had already purchased pertinent information about the "Cloud Mist Marsh" from a bookstore within the Seven-Colored Immortal City.
According to the records he saw, the landscape inside "Cloud Mist Marsh" mainly consists of swamp waters, hence the name "marsh".
However, due to its vast area, it also contains nearly one-tenth land and islands, and it is said that a thousand-foot peak at the center of "Cloud Mist Marsh" holds a convergence of Tier Six Spiritual Veins.
Whether it’s the land islands or the swamp areas, the Spiritual Qi inside is significantly richer than outside, which has led to the growth of many rare spirit elixirs and the emergence of numerous formidable demon beasts.
Demon beasts inherently have strong bodies and are more adept at adapting to harsh environments than human cultivators. Those living in the "Cloud Mist Marsh", whether because they were born there or have survived there for years, have already adapted to the enigmatic forces within the mist.
Moreover, the mist’s suppression of cultivators’ divine sense and environmental constraints greatly reduce the advantage low-to-middle-tier cultivators have against demon beasts of the same tier within the "Cloud Mist Marsh".
Therefore, normally, cultivators below the Purple Mansion Stage venturing into the "Cloud Mist Marsh" for exploration and treasure hunting would form teams, with few daring to enter alone.
Only Purple Mansion Stage cultivators and Golden Core Stage cultivators dare to venture alone, deep into areas unreached by lower-tier cultivators to search for rare spiritual objects seldom seen outside.
Zhouyang entered the "Cloud Mist Marsh" with no specific goal; he simply wanted to go inside and test his luck.
It would be great if he could find something of value.
Even if he didn’t gain anything, he could later include in his autobiography a description of his journey to the forbidden zone of the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, "Cloud Mist Marsh", at a certain year and month.
Therefore, after pausing for a moment at the fog zone’s edge, he piloted the "Illusory Cloud Ship" and plunged into the endless white mist.
As soon as the "Illusory Cloud Ship" entered the white mist, Zhouyang felt his mind sink, as if back in the Spirit Stone Ore, facing immense suppression of his divine sense, while his visual range instantly dropped to less than ten feet.
Bear in mind, outside, with his divine sense fully extended, he could survey over twenty miles, and his eyesight was keen enough to see a bee more than ten miles away!
But inside the "Cloud Mist Marsh", this range was compressed by around seventy percent, only allowing him to probe less than six miles, effectively reducing his divine sense to the level of a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
This equated to his divine sense, akin to that of an eighth or ninth layer Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, being severely suppressed, which gives a sense of how serious the suppression faced by Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators or even Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators in there is.
It was then that he realized the information stating Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivators could not extend their divine sense more than ten feet within the "Cloud Mist Marsh" was not an exaggeration!
"This is only the outer area, yet the suppression is already so great, and according to the information, every ten thousand miles deeper would increase this suppressive force by several levels; no wonder they say only Nascent Soul Stage cultivators can truly reach the core depths!"
Zhouyang frowned deeply, his eyes filled with shock.
The origin of "Cloud Mist Marsh", although widely debated, the most popular and believed explanation is that it was the cultivation site of a Great Divine Power cultivator from ancient times. The white mist here is the result of an array restriction set by that Great Divine Power cultivator to prevent outsiders from disturbing their cultivation and to conceal their cultivation abode.
Originally, Zhouyang disagreed with this explanation because the "Cloud Mist Marsh" is too extensive, so much that even the legendary existence of the Tier Seven Array, of uncertain existence, couldn’t possibly cover or affect such a large area.
Bear in mind, even the Tier Six Top Grade Array can only cover and affect an area of about ten thousand miles at most.
Yet, the "Cloud Mist Marsh" spans around two to three hundred thousand miles!
Apart from the severe limitations on divine sense within the mist, Zhouyang also felt the body’s erosion by the mist’s anomalous power.
However, due to being a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, and his body being reinforced over the years by the Qianyang Immortal Light, stronger than typical Purple Mansion cultivators, after careful observation, he discovered.
If the anomalous power within the mist continues to erode at the current speed, he won’t have to worry about it for at least three months, which is double the time mentioned in the records for Purple Mansion Stage cultivators!
This discovery delighted him, and he couldn’t help but mutter to himself: "By the way, Qianyang Immortal Light can eliminate erysipelas; I wonder if it would have an effect on the anomalous power within this mist?"
Thinking this way, Zhouyang didn’t act on it immediately.
There are two reasons. Firstly, he had just entered the "Cloud Mist Marsh," and the mist’s anomalous erosive power had too negligible an effect on his body. Even if he eliminated the erosive power using "Qianyang Immortal Light," he could not make a hasty conclusion.
Secondly, he was too close to the outside world, and the manifestations after using "Qianyang Immortal Light" were too obvious, risking revealing his greatest secret.
Thus, his flying ship moved swiftly, flying into the depths of the vast white mist.
Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, due to only being able to stay in the "Cloud Mist Marsh" for up to three days, can only operate in the outer area of two to three thousand miles deep; venturing further typically leads to no return.
Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, however, can use sword flight and stay for up to half a month, thus having a much larger range of activity.
If one is daring enough, venturing five or six thousand miles deep isn’t impossible.
Of course, for safety reasons, ninety percent of Foundation Establishment cultivators won’t venture beyond three thousand miles, usually operating within the range of one to three thousand miles.
Purple Mansion Stage cultivators typically operate in the range of three to eight thousand miles deep.
Zhouyang ventured deep into the area, benefiting from the powerful illusion and concealment techniques of the "Illusory Cloud Ship"; for the first two thousand miles, he wasn’t discovered by any demon beasts, naturally not needing to stop.
However, upon entering two thousand miles deep, due to an increased number of Tier Three demon beasts, some sensory-sensitive beasts noticed his presence.
These demon beasts, living long-term in the "Cloud Mist Marsh," perhaps due to the long-term impact of the mist’s erosive power, are all extremely irritable and bloodthirsty, encountering human cultivators without any sense of retreat.
Even though the aura Zhouyang emanated was clearly a whole realm higher than theirs, those Tier Three demon beasts, upon discovering his presence, usually roared and attacked him.
Zhouyang, naturally handling these oblivious beasts with ease, nonetheless had to consciously slow his speed.
He feared frequent battles might attract Tier Four demon beasts or the attention of other high-tier cultivators.
It’s important to realize that dangers in the "Cloud Mist Marsh" aren’t limited to demon beasts; sometimes the cultivators within are far more dangerous.
The unique environment allows those who kill and plunder to perfectly conceal their traces, leaving no hints that they acted.
Thus, cultivators venturing to explore and search for treasures in the "Cloud Mist Marsh" generally avoid encounters with other cultivators and would choose to flee immediately if unavoidable.
Zhouyang harbored no desire to harm others, yet he couldn’t help but remain vigilant.
After nearly a whole day, he finally ventured into the five thousand-mile deep area of the "Cloud Mist Marsh."
At five thousand miles deep in the fog area, the range of Zhouyang’s divine sense had been compressed to three or four miles.
At this depth, his flight was entirely blind, and he dared not fly too quickly, fearing collision with some Tier Four demon beast or a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, or even Tier Five demon beasts and Golden Core Stage cultivators!
Hence, Zhouyang decisively halted his advance and began to circle the fog area, searching for a place to land and look for spiritual objects.
The land in the "Cloud Mist Marsh" is not connected into one piece but exists like islands scattered across a great ocean.
Furthermore, spiritual objects don’t only grow on land; they can also thrive on the water surface or underwater as numerous aquatic spirit elixirs.
Even the "Cloud Mist Pearl" among the "Three Wonders of Cloud Mist" could possibly crystallize upon certain plants on the water surface.
In short, finding treasures in the "Cloud Mist Marsh" largely depends on luck.
Zhouyang had always been quite fortunate, and combined with a divine sense naturally surpassing other cultivators of the same tier, it took him less than three days to find seven or eight kinds of Tier Three spirit elixirs while lowering altitude close to the water looking for suitable landing lands.
As for spirit elixirs below Tier Three, Zhouyang wouldn’t even bother looking at them. With his current cultivation, picking low-tier spirit elixirs would be of no use.
Thus, by the fifth day of entering the Cloud Mist Marsh, while Zhouyang was searching for spiritual objects and land, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering beast roar full of anger echoing from deep within the fog ahead.
This startled him, and he gazed toward the direction from which the roar came, his eyes flickering in contemplation.