Book 8: Chapter 10: Sky Above and Earth Below

When the first strand of dawn scattered down from the sky, Lin Xi saw the legendary Great Desolate Swamp.

It was like a completely different world.

The endless black water that covered the swamp, the hills above, the dark clouds that sunk especially low, all of it made him feel that this wasn’t real, as if this was an artificially produced movie backdrop.

There were some giant birds he didn’t know the names of who flew across the swamp, disappearing into the dark clouds that were much lower than in other places. From time to time, there were giant birds that landed from the dark clouds.

In the limits of his line of sight, there were expanses of lakes and muddy areas everywhere. Even the slightly drier muddy earth had reed-like straw plants that were much higher than people.

An unimaginable savage pressure rushed at him, giving off a suffocating feeling.

It was to the extent where Lin Xi didn’t even see any larger chunks of stone.

There was rock everywhere in Dragon Snake Mountain Range, yet once Dragon Snake Mountain Range was crossed, when they just arrived at the foot of the mountain, the layers of white rock were like roots that penetrated deeply into the black earth, no traces to be found. Even those hilltops that seemed to reach into dark clouds, surface covered in all types of thorny trees and other large leaved plants were filled with a magical aura, they were all made of piles of black mud. They were all exactly the same as well, round like steamed buns.

According to the Border Army resources, it was recorded that the cave barbarians normally lived in the caves within these types of hills.

During the endless winters, they would use some of the roots and bug pupae as their main source of food.

The white rock mountains and black great earth formed a clear black and white contrast. There was an exceptionally clear dividing line. Lin Xi stood precisely on this dividing line, observing this brand new world.

Xin Weigai didn’t rush Lin Xi.

He knew that the first time one saw the Great Desolate Swamp, anyone would feel deeply shocked. Moreover, the soldiers behind him also needed a set amount of time to rest.

They were all extremely loyal to Yunqin, they were soldiers who pursued glory, which was why they couldn’t try to figure out the meaning behind every single order. As long as the military order was really passed down, even if they were sent to a place of absolute death, they would still decisively advance, carry out the order.

…

Two large and tall cave barbarians made their way through stalks of Traveler’s Root.

Traveler’s Root was the most commonly seen broad-leaved plant in Great Desolate Swamp, these plants not having taro-like stem tubers that could be eaten, but the inside of the stalks and leaves were like a traveler’s palm, containing large amounts of slightly sweet water. As long as a deep hole was made, the water would pour out like a spring. The other most important characteristic of this plant was that it was extremely large, reaching five meters or greater after growing for three years. Not only did it block out sunlight from above, it would also suck out large amounts of nutrients and water suited for plant growth, which is why wherever large amounts of this Traveler’s Root grew, the ground surface would be extremely clean.

Right now, two cave barbarians were precisely in this type of Traveler’s Root jungle with plants already exceeding six meters in height. When their bare, callus covered feet stepped on the soft, dry and weedless black earth, there wasn’t the slightest bit of sound released.

These two cave barbarians paid great attention to advancing stealthily as well, continuously looking around them, displaying a strange stance that was entirely different from their massive frames.

In the Traveler’s Root jungle sixty to seventy feet behind these two cave barbarians, there was a troop of over a hundred cave barbarians who also silently advanced, these two cave barbarians clearly the scouts of this troop.

With the cave barbarians’ strength and endurance, as long as there was fifty to sixty steps of distance between them and Yunqin’s army, unless it was an especially powerful cultivator, Yunqin’s troops had no way of catching any fleeing cave barbarians in this great Desolate Swamp.

Suddenly, a black-armored soldier descended from a leaf above the two cave barbarian scouts, a wide longsword aimed at a cave barbarian’s nape.

Even though this Traveler’s Root was thick and tall, the leaves were rather soft and tender. However, this black-armored soldier actually crawled to the very top, hiding in the leaf there. When he slid down at this time, it was even more so light and graceful like a small water droplet that slid down the center of the leaf, actually not making the slightest sound. Only when he directly approached these two cave barbarians’ heads, did they sense an abnormal wind and coldness, suddenly turning their bodies around.

The instant they turned around, one of the cave barbarians saw the sword edge that was rapidly approaching. Before he could make any movements, the forked sword edge dug fiercely into his nape, instantly severing the blood supply to his head. His battle-ax that seemed as light as a feather in his hands just begun to move upwards, but already lost the power to continue up, thus sliding out of his hands in ruin.

Pu!

At the same time, a silver spear carrying tremendous power was thrown over, directly penetrating the body of the other cave barbarian who had just turned around.

This cave barbarian released a miserable scream. He wanted to stand still, but just this persistence already exhausted the last of his strength. He stood still and didn’t fall, but could not make any other movements ever again.

Most of the cave barbarian army in the back saw the two cave barbarians’ blood spraying over the soft and dry earth below, saw a cave barbarian fall after his battle-axe fell, while the other cave barbarian was still standing but already dead.

However, right now, they already didn’t have time to worry about these two black-armored soldiers who were fifty to sixty feet from them. Right above their heads, on the five or six meter tall giant leaves, black-armored soldiers slid down like graceful water droplets one after another, like falling rain.

The instant they saw the interweaving flowery and also fine swimming snake-like runes on the black armor, these cave barbarians immediately sensed a world devouring aura of death.

Black Snake Army!

The cave barbarians might not know the name of this powerful and mysterious army in Dragon Snake Mountain Range, but after decades of battles, Black Snake, Back Dragon, Black Flag, these three armies, for them, always signified death.

…

Grave and stern black-armored soldiers landed on the ground one after another.

The five or six meters of distance didn’t seem to affect their movements in the slightest, only enough to produce blasts of black mist beneath their feet.

As the layers of flower-like black metal armor grinded against each other, there was no sound produced. The blood that splashed on its surface couldn’t remain either, flying off drop after drop.

As this dark color descended, chaos ensued.

Rings of blood waves surged.

Since all of this happened too quickly and because they weren’t given much time to adapt, even these normally exceptionally ruthless cave barbarians didn’t have time to release any shouts. Only sounds of blades slicing through the air and entering flesh could be heard, making this scene immediately seem extremely grave and tragic.

Waves of blood splashed out in the sky, landing on the soft black earth.

There were heavy cave barbarians who fell, as well as Black Snake Army soldiers who really were like black snakes that collapsed, only, the number of cave barbarians who fell was always far greater than the number of Black Snake Army soldiers.

In this solemn and grave instant, this mysterious and powerful Dragon Snake Border Army group already seized an absolute advantage.

When many cave barbarians finally released furious roars, they instead discovered that their line of sight was already filled with a deep, cold black color. Meanwhile, the shining bronze stone-like companions of theirs already fell, only cold black-armored soldiers whose bodies were reflecting blood radiance continued to slaughter their way over.

The Black Snake Army soldier who wielded the forked sword also already rushed to the intersection point between black and bronze.

Since his speed was faster than that of everyone here, almost all of the still surviving cave barbarians felt that he was this Black Snake Army’s commander.

A more than two meters tall cave barbarian carrying a rough iron club and a giant hammer made from a massive alligator skull had just sent a Black Snake Army soldier flying, his body now moving towards this Black Snake Army commander like a small mountain.

However, what he never expected was that after this Black Snake Army commander used the broadsword in his hand to get rid of the giant hammer, he charged straight at his midline, forcibly ramming into his body.

The large and tall cave barbarian felt as if what rammed into him was a true great mountain.

He heard the bones in his chest release shattering noises.

He discovered that even though he was twice the size of the other party, he was forced to continuously back up, his legs drawing out two grooves in the soft black earth.

The instantaneous feeling of suffocation and intense pain prevented his chest and arms from exerting power. Then, he watched as the other party’s broadsword hacked over, hacking at his neck.

…

The broadsword wielding Black Snake Army commander’s feet pressed against the rigid cave barbarian’s abdomen and then his entire body flew up, leaping over this cave barbarian who was more than a head taller than himself. Behind him, to the side of the cave barbarian’s neck, blood gushed out endlessly. This cave barbarian’s body that was shockingly sturdy slowly fell backwards.

All members of Black Snake Army, even if they weren’t cultivators, they still experienced endless tempering year-round, becoming powerful soldiers with strength and speed exceeding ordinary warriors.

Their running speeds wouldn’t be inferior to these cave barbarian soldiers to begin with, so even if these cave barbarian soldiers wanted to run, they couldn’t escape at all. However, right at this time, the moment this Black Snake Army commander’s eyes landed on a cave barbarian who was even larger than the one he just killed, even stronger, the black earth below him suddenly began to shake intensely.

All of the Black Snake Army soldiers sensed that something strange was happening, sensing the danger that came from underground.

A loud crash sounded.

A massive Traveler’s Root suddenly collapsed.

The moment sunlight scattered down from the direction where this Traveler’s Root collapsed, the massive stem and leaves of this Traveler’s Root breaking, sending endless water pouring out like a spring, a massive beast head appeared from the collapsed Traveler’s Root. Then, an even larger body followed.

The broadsword wielding Black Snake Army commander’s breathing stopped slightly.

As if doomsday suddenly descended, all of the Black Snake Army soldiers saw that around them, and even beneath them, the black earth caved in one chunk after another. Massive lizards roared as they leapt out from underground.

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