Alchemy Master

Chapter 961, Swamp Catastrophe

Translator: Silavin

After Mu Yanfeng’s identity spread, the hearts of the powerful experts near Prison Dragon Slope, which had been restless, became even more subdued.

Originally, they had merely been wary of the strength of the Mu Family’s group. Now, however, they were even more wary of Mu Yanfeng’s identity!

The slight hope they had harboured in their hearts vanished completely.

How could they compete with a Sacred Master Candidate of a Sacred Land?

One day passed in the blink of an eye.

During this day, Qin Yichen spent almost all his time talking with Chen Hui, discussing childhood anecdotes. Mu Yanfeng found it rather dull and left after listening for a while.

However, Feng Qianxue listened with great interest, even pestering Qin Yichen to tell her about his own experiences.

This conversation lasted more than a day.

During this time, Prison Dragon Slope remained extremely quiet.

There were no anomalies.

Even the beast roars and insect chirps had disappeared.

Early morning.

Qin Yichen suddenly stopped the smile on his face. His expression grew grave as he stood up, his eyes glowing with divine light as he looked towards the depths of Prison Dragon Slope.

Everything seemed normal, very peaceful.

“Something’s wrong…” A faint unease stirred in Qin Yichen’s heart.

[It’s too peaceful! This is Prison Dragon Slope. How could it be so tranquil?]

He swept his gaze around and discovered that in the swampland where moisture was heaviest, there was not even any dew on the surroundings, as if the water had evaporated.

Yet the temperature clearly had not changed.

“Senior Brother Mu.” He woke Mu Yanfeng, who was still meditating in the tent. “We must leave this place immediately!”

“Oh.” Mu Yanfeng emerged, and moments later, his expression also grew grave.

Clearly, he too had sensed the anomaly in their surroundings.

Under the puzzled gazes of the surrounding powerful experts, the Mu Family members departed from the vicinity of Prison Dragon Slope, once again retreating into the swamp.

“What’s happening? Has the Mu Family given up? Or do they simply not care for the treasure?”

They were filled with doubt. Of course, some keener experts also detected an unusual atmosphere and quietly withdrew. However, more people felt that with the Mu Family withdrawing, they now had hope!

Many advanced rather than retreated.

Qin Yichen’s group retreated a full hundred kilometres before stopping.

However, for some reason, while in the swampland, the unease deep in his heart grew even more intense.

[Where exactly is the problem?]

He surveyed their surroundings and discovered that the entire swampland was also terrifyingly quiet. As his Spiritual Energy spread outwards, he could not find a single living creature.

The poisonous insects that should have been everywhere seemed to have gone extinct.

“Not good, we must completely exit the swamp!” Vaguely, Qin Yichen felt that his unease stemmed from this swamp.

“We will be withdrawing further!” Mu Yanfeng made an immediate decision.

Though there were no signs yet, he trusted Qin Yichen completely.

Immediately, the group swiftly traversed through the swamp.

And during their retreat, some anomalies gradually appeared…

Unlike the previous anomalies, this time, the phenomena came from the swamp itself.

Whether they were the experts who had retreated into the swamp or those still lingering near Prison Dragon Slope, at the same moment they all felt the earth beneath their feet trembling.

Especially in the swampland, those dangerous areas that had devoured numerous experts were now boiling like heated water, rolling and churning as though some terrifying thing was about to crawl out from underground.

Scene after scene left the experts in the swampland terrified and trembling. One by one, they ran frantically, trying to escape.

In the panicked flight, who knew how many more perished miserably.

Because they discovered with horror that the routes that had been safe on the way in had now collapsed in many places, rolling and churning like those Forbidden Areas, bubbling with black gas.

Qin Yichen’s group witnessed all this when they were halfway through their escape.

The Mu Family lost two people, while Fei Yunxiao’s group suffered even heavier losses of nearly ten.

However, at this moment, no one could afford to care about such matters.

If they delayed and could not exit the range of the swamp, everyone might be buried in this swampland.

When they still had a small portion of the distance remaining, the entire ground beneath their feet began rolling, rising and falling. Several more people were swallowed by the swamp, leaving only trails of screams.

This swamp had become like a gigantic maw at this moment, devouring everything.

Qin Yichen and the others were already travelling through the air, gliding beneath the miasma that hung like dark clouds.

Many other experts did the same, but getting too close to the miasma caused them to rise into the air only to quickly plummet down again.

However, Qin Yichen’s group was different. They had Pills refined by Qin Yichen that could suppress the miasma’s poison.

Of course, when they had retreated to the swamp, Qin Yichen had given Chen Hui one. However, this fellow was not skilled at flight, so Qin Yichen had to support him to keep up.

This made everyone feel extremely fortunate.

If they lacked Qin Yichen’s Pills and had ventured in, everyone would likely have met their end here.

Who could have anticipated that the entire swamp would undergo such a dramatic transformation?

[What on earth is happening!?] Looking at the churning ground beneath his feet, Qin Yichen’s eyes flickered uncertainly.

He had never experienced this kind of situation before.

It was far too bizarre.

He vaguely felt that something seemed about to erupt from beneath the swamp.

Especially seeing the swamp rolling more and more violently, this feeling grew increasingly strong.

Outside the swamp, there were also many people.

Most of them had cultivation too low; coming here was merely to observe. However, at this moment, they witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

The vast swampland seemed to come alive, undulating up and down. From their vantage point, the entire swamp appeared to have transformed into a lake, with tides rising and falling unpredictably.

However, these tides were black, like melted black plastic.

*Boom!*

Finally, at a certain moment, a black beam of light shot skyward from somewhere in the swampland, piercing straight into the Heavens.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!…*

Like a fuse being ignited, throughout the entire swampland, black beams of light erupted from various locations without pattern, becoming more and more numerous.

In an instant, Black energy soared into the sky across the entire swamp. Though it had been daytime, this region darkened like the apocalypse.

Within all this, countless experts perished. Even outside the swamp, as the Black energy erupted, black rain began to fall. Many who were touched by the black rain saw their entire bodies rot. In moments, not even their bones remained! They were corroded into pools of black water!

Qin Yichen’s group still had some distance before escaping the swampland when the black rain fell. Everyone’s Yuan Energy rose to resist it.

However, the black rain was extremely strange. It could even corrode Yuan Energy shields. When it fell on those people, they plummeted down without suspense.

Clearly, this black rain’s poison was not the miasma poison.

“This black rain…” However, Qin Yichen’s pupils dilated. Moments later, Yuan Energy permeated outwards as he said to Mu Yanfeng, “Everyone! Get close to me!”