Perfect: I am Shi An from Shicun, and I am Huang’s brother!

Chapter 425 Blackwater Swamp
Shi An swept forward, his fists cleaving the path of life and death, his feet treading the earth of reincarnation. Wherever he passed, all strange phenomena were crushed into dust.

Meanwhile, along the way, he also sensed something unusual. From time to time, violent energy fluctuations and brief screams could be heard from various places in the distance, indicating that many prodigies had met with misfortune.

But he did not stop there; instead, he continued walking, his boots making a slight scraping sound as they trod on the solid ancient path.

Three days later, the environment ahead suddenly changed. The desolate stone forest disappeared, and in its place appeared a vast and boundless black swamp.

The water was pitch black, extremely viscous, and emitted a foul stench that corroded the primordial spirit and magical power. A gray-black mist shrouded the area above, suppressing any attempt to probe with divine sense.

However, the golden road lies right here in this great swamp.

Clearly, we must cross this swamp in order to continue our journey.

Turning around, one could see that thousands of prodigies had already been blocked at the edge of the great swamp, each with a solemn expression.

Some people attempted to fly across, but shortly after taking off, they were horrified to find their magical power rapidly draining away, their bodies swaying precariously, and they were forced to retreat.

Someone summoned a magical ship, but the artifact dimmed upon contact with the black water and was quickly corroded.

"Damn it! This black water can actually corrupt magical artifacts and devour divine power!"

A young man holding a treasure bottle, his body enveloped in divine flames, looked pale-faced as he gazed at the magical artifact, whose spiritual power had clearly been greatly diminished after he had regained it, and felt lingering fear.

"The air contains extremely strong anti-air laws, and forcibly flying across it consumes too much energy. Moreover, the mist seems to be able to obscure divine sense, making it extremely difficult to discern directions. If one accidentally deviates from the golden path, one may be completely lost in this strange swamp!"

Another young man, wielding a divine bird talisman, spoke with a trembling voice. His divine bird phantom struggled and flickered in the mist, as if it might collapse at any moment.

"Should we dive across? But this black water... it's difficult to penetrate with our divine sense, and we don't know what kind of ferocious creatures are lurking below."

Someone stared at the horribly still surface of the Kurosawa River, where only one or two huge, murky bubbles occasionally surfaced, their voice filled with fear.

Despair and anxiety filled the crowd, and everyone discussed the matter but were at a loss.

Even though Shi An had once been a star in the Immortal Ancient Arena and had the backing of Liu Shen, his arrival was like a pebble thrown into a chaotic pond, not causing much of a ripple.

Because everyone is now in a state of fear, all their thoughts are focused on how to find a glimmer of hope in this deathly inky wasteland, and they have no time to think about anything else.

Shi An stood at the edge of the Black Swamp, his gaze slightly narrowed. He probed the pitch-black water with his divine sense, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea, instantly swallowed up.

"It can even corrode divine consciousness?"

This situation made him raise an eyebrow slightly, feeling somewhat surprised.

"drink!"

Just then, a burly young man wielding a giant axe suddenly roared, his muscles bulging as he attempted to forcefully carve out a path through the water.

"Boom!"

With a resounding crash, he strode into the black water. With each step, large black waves splashed up. As he swung his giant axe, he generated gusts of sharp wind, temporarily forcing the approaching black water back.

However, the black water seemed to have endless corrosive power. Even with his divine power protecting him, his feet were gradually eroded, making a sizzling sound and emitting puffs of black smoke.

"what!"

Before long, the burly genius couldn't help but let out a painful roar and had to retreat back to the shore. Looking at his battered feet, his eyes were filled with anger and resentment.

Then, several other prodigies skilled in water-attribute techniques joined forces to try to purify the black water with water-based magic. They chanted incantations and formed hand seals, and streams of azure water gushed from their hands, rushing towards the black water.

But it was all in vain. The moment the azure water came into contact with the black water, it was quickly assimilated, turning pitch black, and even turned against them, frightening everyone into retreating. Shi An stood quietly by the lake, his eyes as deep as stars.

The Kurosawa was deathly still; the viscous, inky water remained undisturbed, yet it exuded an eerie aura that seemed to devour everything.

Before long, several impatient prodigies joined forces to summon a jade bone boat, but the runes were corroded by the black water as soon as they lit up, breaking into pieces and sinking in an instant. Even the controller suffered a backlash, coughing up blood and retreating.

"This road is blocked. Is the test to take a detour?"

Upon seeing this, another anxious growl rang out.

"Grrrrrr!"

Suddenly, a huge bubble rose from Zexin, ink gushed out, and then, under everyone's tense gaze, an enormous shadow slowly rose.

Upon closer inspection, everyone discovered that it was actually the rotting carcass of an ancient beast, with its spine protruding like a mountain range and eerie green flames flickering in its eye sockets.

It opened its mouth and inhaled, and the terrifying suction force immediately grabbed several people on the shore, attempting to devour them.

"Oh no! It's a mutated form of the ancient venomous dragon Turtle!"

Some people recognized the danger and exclaimed in horror.

As for the few prodigies who were caught in the entanglement, they immediately began to struggle desperately, bombarding the corpses with divine spells as if their lives depended on it, but only managed to splash a few drops of filthy, sticky fluid. They were on the verge of being dragged into the abyss...
"call out!"

Just then, a dazzling sword beam cleaved through the gloom, like a celestial being descending from the heavens, precisely striking the center of the suction vortex, causing the corpse of the venomous dragon to let out a muffled roar, and the suction abruptly ceased.

Before everyone could recover from their shock, they saw Shi An had already stepped forward, his fingers pointing like a sword, a faint, clear light swirling around him, keeping the corrosive aura three zhang away.

“The corpses can be used as boats to cross this marsh.”

Then, he calmly spoke, gesturing to everyone.

His sword strike just now wasn't aimed at the enemy, but rather he injected a rune into the corpse's skull, temporarily suppressing its ferocity.

Upon hearing this, everyone understood, but no one dared to be the first to step onto the hideous corpse's back.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Shi An said no more. With a flash, he landed on the broad skull of the Poison Dragon Turtle like a falling leaf.

Where the toes landed, golden runes spread out, directly suppressing the restless death energy of the opponent.

He stood with his hands behind his back on the corpse's back, his clothes fluttering in the putrid wind.

Seeing that someone was taking the lead and that the corpses showed no signs of movement, the remaining prodigies gritted their teeth and leaped up, each using their unique abilities to protect themselves, and carefully spread out.

The corpses were enormous, yet the space still appeared empty despite containing thousands of people.

After everyone had come ashore, Shi An moved his mind slightly, steered the remains of the poisonous dragon turtle, swung its remaining limbs, broke through the dark water, and slowly swam towards Ze Xin.

The road was deathly silent, with only the faint sound of bones moving through the black water sending chills down one's spine.

Time flies, and before we knew it, the journey was halfway over. Just when everyone thought that nothing would happen on the trip, something unexpected happened!
"Puff puff puff..."

Dark shadows darted about underwater, and countless strange insects and ferocious creatures, fueled by death energy, were drawn by the presence of living beings. They swarmed forward, frantically gnawing at the skeletons and making a sickening scraping sound.

In an instant, the entire corpse boat trembled violently, and the protective divine light was rapidly weakened, causing exclamations to rise from all sides.

(End of this chapter)