731 Shadowy Figure

Bang!

Landing on the ground after having passed through the gap in space created by the ancient teleportation artifact, Xuan Hao looked around himself and could not help letting out a sigh of relief after discovering that there weren't any powerful demon beasts or other dangers around him.

Instead, the only thing around him was the all too familiar miasma and the swampy ground beneath his feet. The only change from the swamp he had been in just a second ago, was that the miasma around him was far thicker and more powerful. Preventing his divine sense from moving more than a few dozen meters away from his body before being corroded by the miasma.

Whoosh~!

Not thinking too much about the miasma after determining that he was not in danger, Xuan Hao used his domain to create a barrier around himself before focusing on the injuries he had received from the dark blue spear exploding before he had managed to cross through the tear in space created by the ancient teleportation artifact.

"Hah... The power of that explosion from earlier really was too powerful. Even if only a small part of the power contained inside that spear managed to reach me before I got away, it still managed to injure me to this degree..."

Looking over his injuries through his divine sense, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a sigh before closing his eyes and focusing on recovering.

Given that he had arrived in an unknown location that might be far more dangerous than the core region of the Great Poison Swamp, it was best to first recover from his injuries before he started exploring his surroundings.

At the very least most of the injuries he had received were not too bad and he should be able to recover back to full strength in less than an hour!

...

"Where is this place? I clearly remember approaching the bright light before I suddenly lost consciousness again..."

At the same time Xuan Hao was quietly recovering from the injuries he had received, the young boy who had having been transported to a place filled with corpses of powerful demon beasts, was looking around himself filled with confusion.

Just a second ago, he had approached the light that pierced through the thick miasma covering the Great Poison Swamp and then... He once again lost consciousness before waking up in a completely unfamiliar place that could barely be seen through the thick miasma that was present everywhere around him.

"Why is the miasma so thick!? I can't even see where I am- Hm? Why am I getting so dizzy all of a sudden...?"

Not able to see more than a few centimeters in front of him due to the thick miasma, the young boy was about to take a step forward when he suddenly felt everything around him spinning before his breathing started getting erratic.

"The poison in the mist is also stronger!?"

Not taking more than a split second to realize what was happening to him after feeling what was happening to his body, the young boy began panicking as he clumsily reached into a small bag hanging by his waist before taking out a small green pill that he quickly swallowed.

Soon after eating the green pill, the young boy felt his breathing growing stable again before he felt that the poison affecting his body had been dealt with by the green pill.

"That was dangerous... If not for the detoxification pills Elder Proud Bear gave us before we entered the Great Poison Swamp, I would not have been able to resist the poison of the miasma!" Muttering this to himself as he felt grateful for the pills Elder Proud Bear had handed to him and the other two, the young boy's expression soon took a turn for the worse as he glanced back down into the small bags with the pills inside of it.

Elder Proud Bear said that a single detoxification pill should last between one or two hours depending on how powerful the poison is... And I only have four left, I should really find a way out of this place as quickly as possible!

Feeling a frown slowly making a way onto his face as he realized this, the young boy did not dare waste any time as he quickly began moving in one direction-

Bang!

"Ouch!"

However, he did not manage to make it more than a few meters before he suddenly crashed into a wall covered in all sorts of ancient symbol that shone with a barely visible light.

"This... I'm inside a room!?"

However, the young boy completely ignored the ancient symbols, as he was instead more focused on the fact that he found himself inside a room.

Did the Great Poison Swamp have ruins...?

Filled with confusion as he looked at the stone wall in front of him filled with all sorts of ancient symbols, the young boy tried his best to remember everything he had learnt about the Great Poison Swamp before having come for the core disciple promotion test.

Wait... Isn't the core region of the Great Poison Swamp said to be connected to the dangerous ruins of an ancient sect just next to the Great Poison Swamp!?

Feeling a shiver go down his thought as he remembered that the ruins of an ancient sect that were located just next to the Great Poison Swamp, the young boy could not help shivering all over as he looked at the wall in front of him filled with fear.

The reason for this reaction was normal. After all, the ancient sect ruins located next to the Great Poison Swamp, was a place that even Soul Ascension Realm Experts feared. For a small Core Formation Realm cultivator like himself, it would mean certain death to enter such a location!

"I have to get out of here..."

Standing frozen for what felt like hours as he realized just how much danger he was in, the young boy managed to calm himself down as he slowly began moving along the wall of the room to hopefully find a way outside where he hoped that he would be able to find a path out of the place he now found himself inside of.

"Hm? A door!"

Not more than a few seconds after he had began feeling along the wall for a way out, he felt the handle of a door.

Creak~

Not wasting any time, he pulled on the handle and opened the door before making his way outside the room he found himself inside of. Soon smiling happily after noticing the miasma had grown thinner. Allowing him to see a few meters in front of him instead of a few centimeters.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

However, the happiness he felt from being able to see more soon disappeared when he heard the loud sound of heavy footsteps slowly approaching from the distance.

Whoosh~!

Even without knowing what was approaching him, the young boy still understood very clearly that it would be best to hide, as he silently dashed towards a small crate just next to the door he had just left the room behind him through.

Thump!

At the same time that he heard the heavy footsteps stopping just beside the door leading inside the room he had appeared inside of, the young boy had already hidden inside the crate next to the door.

"..."

Silently peeking  through a small hole inside the crate, the young boy felt a shiver run down his spine upon seeing the origin of the heavy footsteps he heard.

Standing more than three meters tall, a large shadowy figure barely visible to him through the thick miasma stood silently in front of the door to the room he had been inside of just a second ago.

Even if he could not clearly see the features of the shadowy figure, part of him felt certain that the figure in front of him was not human.

Creak~!

Hearing as the shadowy figure slowly opened the door before entering the room, the young boy felt his heart drop upon realizing that the shadowy figure had mostly arrived due to him appearing inside the small room.

Should I try to escape before it gets back outside?

Hesitating for only a short moment as this thought passed through his head, the young boy silently slipped out of the crate he was hiding inside of after seeing the door to the room that the shadowy figure had entered slowly closing.

Swish~

Doing his best to remain silent, the young boy quickly began moving away from the door and the room he had just been inside of. Not wanting to be anywhere near the place when the shadowy figure discovered that there wasn't anyone inside the room it had just entered.

Beneath him, the young boy noticed that there was no muddy land like everywhere inside Great Poison Swamp. Instead, it was a paved stone road. Further confirming the fact that he was indeed not inside the Great Poison Swamp any longer!