Swampsea Woods earned its name for two reasons. First, most of the area is an endless expanse of densely packed forest. Second, unlike other forests, any spot in Swampsea Woods might actually be part of a swamp. A place that looks perfectly normal could, with a single step, turn out to be a hidden marsh. Once you set foot in one of these concealed swamps, escaping is nearly impossible.
If not for Sprout’s keen sense of danger, Joe Di and Garrett would have fallen into the swamp countless times. Thanks to Sprout, the three of them only encountered a few spirit beasts along the way, never stumbling into real peril.
Even so, after two days of travel, Garrett still ended up trapped in a swamp.
It was clearly a huge boulder—Garrett had only stepped onto it. In an instant, the boulder melted away, and in the blink of an eye, Garrett was surrounded by swampy sludge. Being only at the second level of Qi Refining, he had no way to climb out of the mire.
Joe Di tried to fly on his sword, but just as the jade slip had described, flight was impossible in the swamps of Swampsea Woods. Worse yet, if you tried to fly above the swamps, you’d be sucked down instantly.
"Don’t move! I’ll refine a rope first." Seeing Garrett sink another foot after struggling, Joe Di quickly shouted.
"There’s no time…" Garrett knew it was too late. By the time Joe Di finished refining the rope and tried to pull him out, he’d be swallowed by the swamp. He’d just begun to enjoy the pleasures of cultivation—he never imagined he’d die here in Swampsea Woods. If his mother found out, she’d be heartbroken.
Sinking deep into the swamp, even if he stayed still, it was like falling into water—he kept sinking lower and lower.
Before Joe Di could react, Sprout extended a vine, wrapping it around Garrett in the swamp. With a sweeping arc through the air, Sprout deposited Garrett safely at the edge of the swamp.
Joe Di was overjoyed—he’d actually forgotten about his little tree companion.
Garrett had narrowly escaped death and kept thanking Sprout over and over. "Thank you, Sprout. Without you, I’d be dead for sure."
Sprout was basking in pride, eager to find words to show off its greatness, when suddenly the marsh churned violently and a massive, fiery red beast burst out.
"Run! We can’t fight that beast!" Joe Di’s voice was urgent as he saw the Marsh Lion’s overwhelming presence. He recognized it instantly from the jade slip’s description—Marsh Lion.
The Marsh Lion had a weakness: if its prey escaped far enough, it couldn’t leave the marsh to pursue.
"Joe, where do we go now?" Garrett asked, still shaken even after they’d escaped the danger zone.
"We’ve flown for most of the day, farther than most people would travel. The map I bought doesn’t mark our location, so I say we keep heading deeper. We’ll walk and cultivate as we go." Joe Di still felt unsafe—the area was too close to Swampsea Town.
Both Sprout and Garrett now followed Joe Di’s lead.
...
With a slash of his blade, Joe Di felled a Marsh Lion. He turned to Garrett, who had just slain another in the distance. "Let’s find a place nearby to cultivate for a while. I also need to sort through my things."
"Alright." Garrett and Sprout responded, having finished off the other Marsh Lion together.
Three months had passed since they entered Swampsea Woods. During that time, Joe Di had only managed to refine a high-grade saber from the treasures he’d seized, without organizing the rest.
Joe Di, well-versed in the art of escape, knew the most critical time was the first month. Now, after three months on the run, they were theoretically safe.
They were now deep within Swampsea Woods. Over their three months of flight, they’d encountered powerful beasts more than once. Joe Di even suspected he’d come across a monster beyond the Golden Core realm, but thankfully, it had no interest in the three of them and left them alone.
It was all thanks to Sprout’s guidance. Without Sprout, Joe Di figured they’d have been devoured long ago, nothing but fertilizer for Swampsea Woods.
For over three months, they’d fled and fought beasts along the way. Joe Di’s cultivation had recovered to the seventh tier of Energy Refinement. With his constant array practice, he could now easily craft flags for fourth-tier formations. As for basic materials and low-grade spirit herbs, his medicine garden was nearly full.
Sprout had also made great progress, reaching the peak of Energy Refinement. Among beasts, it was now at the pinnacle of the first tier, and in time, it could advance to the second tier.
The biggest change was in Garrett, whose cultivation had reached the peak of the third tier of Energy Refinement. Their training was always on the move—at best, they’d get half a day to cultivate before setting off again.
What truly changed for Garrett was his combat ability. Back when Joe Di fought Shawn Qi, Garrett hadn’t even reacted—or if he had, he wouldn’t have dared to intervene.
Now, wielding his massive axe, he’d slain more than ten first-tier mid- and late-stage beasts. As for weaker ones, he’d killed even more.
Garrett still had no axe techniques, relying solely on his abundant true energy. Joe Di couldn’t help but marvel—on the battlefield, Garrett would be a born warlord.
As they ventured deeper into Swampsea Woods, the beasts grew ever stronger. That was why Joe Di wanted to stop and cultivate for a while. Their combat experience had soared, but their strength was still lacking—experience alone couldn’t bridge the gap.
Garrett needed new techniques—and so did Joe Di.
"I’ll find us a place," Sprout said, ever alert. Their survival was mostly thanks to its vigilance.
Sprout wasn’t boasting. In just half a day, it found an abandoned swamp abode.
In Swampsea Woods, the marshes were both the most dangerous and the safest places. Over ninety percent couldn’t be traversed by flight and hid deadly beasts. Only a few were normal marshes, and among those, even fewer concealed cultivation abodes—this was the first Sprout had discovered.
Because the abode was deep in the marsh, it was nearly impossible for ordinary people to find.
Once inside such an abode, they could train in safety.
Sprout’s find wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t the smallest either. With some effort, they divided it into three cultivation rooms—one for each of them.
Sprout was eager to advance to the second tier, while Garrett was a training fanatic. As soon as they entered, both began cultivating furiously.
Joe Di, however, set up various arrays outside the abode. He avoided the Spirit Gathering Array, which would only attract beasts faster. Instead, he placed a warning array in the marsh, a trapping array below, a defensive array outside, and finally, a Concealment Array.
The Concealment Array’s main function was to hide spiritual energy fluctuations during cultivation.
After his lesson in Swampsea Town, Joe Di wasn’t about to repeat the same mistake.
Once all the arrays were set, Joe Di returned to his room in the abode. His first task was to sort through the loot he’d gained at the Qi Trading House.
...
North Ridge City—the largest cultivation city in North Domain, bar none.
The Qi Trading House’s headquarters in North Domain was located in North Ridge City. In this city, where every inch was precious, the Qi Trading House stretched across nearly half a main street.
Not only did it house various shops, but also a cluster of cultivation abodes for the Qi Trading House.
Simon Qi walked out of his personal cultivation abode, satisfied. After half a year of seclusion, he had reached the peak of the Fourth Level Soul Ancestor. One more step, and he’d break through to the fifth level.
Simon Qi wasn’t the manager of the Qi Trading House in North Ridge City, but he held the highest authority here. As one of the Qi family’s top ten Soul Ancestors, he commanded great influence.
"Vincent, what’s going on?" Simon Qi asked, puzzled as he spotted Vincent Qi, the city’s manager, waiting outside his abode. Clearly, something was wrong.
Vincent Qi, at the seventh tier of the Golden Core stage, lacked the potential to reach Soul Ancestor and so managed the Qi Trading House in North Ridge City.
"Elder Simon, three months ago we received terrible news from Swampsea Town. Someone raided the Qi Trading House branch and killed Young Master Shawn..." Vincent Qi’s voice trembled with anxiety.
He knew exactly how much Shawn Qi meant to Simon Qi—his direct grandson and the most promising of them all. Shawn had been left in remote Swampsea Town to prove himself, and Simon Qi had even assigned a Golden Core cultivator, Fang Leng, as Shawn’s protector.
Now Shawn Qi had been killed, and someone dared to raid the Qi Trading House!
"Good. Good. Good..." Simon Qi repeated the word three times, unable to contain his murderous intent. Even Vincent Qi, at the seventh tier of the Golden Core, felt a chill run through his body.
(End of chapter.)