Chapter 650: Emergence

"This is a city inhabited by both mortals and cultivators, and only cultivators will be screened, while mortals are left alone. Even the tests administered on cultivators are nothing more than a formality. After all, the city lord is only a mid-Golden Immortal cultivator, so he'd do well to stay out of trouble," Fox 3 said.

"That makes things much more convenient. It sounds like you considered the options carefully before choosing this place," Han Li said.

With that, the group passed through the northern part of the city, which was inhabited by mortals, and arrived in the southern part of the city.

The southern section took up a third of the city, and the city lord's manor was situated there.

In the city not far away from the manor was a small mountain by the name of Smoke Watch Mountina, and it was only around five thousand feet tall. The largest immortal inn in the entire city was perched on the mountain summit, and that was where Han Li's group chose to stay.

According to information from the Reincarnation Palace, the last time that the illusory smoke appeared on the Illusory Smoke Swamp was around 3,500 years ago, so it should only be about a century before the illusory smoke was set to appear again.

For cultivators of Han Li's caliber, a century was nothing more than the blink of an eye.

Han Li and the others had thought that it wouldn't be long before they entered the Illusory Smoke Swamp, but even after over 130 years had passed, there was still no sign of the illusory smoke that they were searching for.

Fox 3 was naturally the one who was feeling most agitated by the unexpectedly long wait, and Shi Chuankong and Immortal Lord Hot Flame were also feeling rather apprehensive, while Han Li remained unbothered. He was much more interested in getting his hands on a baleful qi eradication method, but unfortunately, there had been no responses to the missions that he had released in the Reincarnation Palace.

On the bright side, through his extensive seclusion, he had begun to make some very encouraging progress in the fifth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique, and all of hte spirit plants in the Flower Branch domain were also coming along nicely.

On this day, Han Li had just finished watering his Dao Warrior primary beans, and he emerged from the domain, then cast his gaze out of the window of the room that he was staying in to observe the Illusory Smoke Swamp in the distance.

At the moment, it was around noon, and it was also a bright and sunny day, so most of the mist above the swamp had cleared up. As a result, he was able to see Serene Floating Island in the distance even without using his spirit eye abilities.

Strictly speaking, Serene Floating Island wasn't really an island. It was nothing more than a conglomeration of waterweeds and mud with a layer of soil on top. It was less than ten kilometers in size, and there were some shrubs with shallow root systems growing on it.

Han Li's plan was to look at the island for a short while before resuming his cultivation of the Spirit Refinement Technique, but right at this moment, an intrigued look appeared on his face as he activated his Infernal Devilish Eyes.

He had spotted a gray stone pillar jutting out of the shrubs on the island in a rather jarring fashion. It was as if it had grown out of the island, and it was only around six feet tall, just barely taller than the shrubs, so it would've been almost impossible to spot had it not been for Han Li's exceptional eyesight.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Immediately thereafter, wisps of pink mist suddenly began to emerge from around the stone pillar, and it was becoming thicker and thicker while quickly spreading over the surrounding area to inundate the entire island.

Finally...

Almost at the exact same moment, a voice rang out from outside his room.

"Fellow Daoist Li, the illusory smoke has already emerged, we must set off right away."

Han Li could tell that it was Fox 3's voice, and he immediately replied, "I'll be with you in a moment, Fellow Daoist Fox 3."

Shortly thereafter, Han Li's group appeared on the summit of Smoke Watch Mountain, preparing to set off for Serene Floating Island.

"Please pardon my urgency, fellow daoists. This bout of illusory smoke has emerged quite a bit later than anticipated, and many other cultivators have already arrived in Smoke Wave City to try their luck.There's no way they'll be able to find the entrance to the ruins, but it still won't be a good thing for too many people to see us," Fox 3 explained.

"It's fine. Time is of the essence, so let's set off right away," Shi Chuankong said.

Han Li exchanged a glance with Immortal Lord Hot Flame, and both of them nodded in unison.

With that, the four of them rose up into the air, completely disregarding the rule that prohibited flying over the city wall.

Upon emerging from Smoke Wave City, Han Li suddenly heard a chorus of chaotic sounds ring out from down below, and he looked down to discover a group of several hundred people making their way toward the Illusory Smoke Swamp while playing a series of percussion instruments.

The group was led by several dozen figures who were wearing extremely large and strange masks, holding onto burning tobacco stalks as they led the way forward while dancing with peculiar and exaggerated motions.

"Those are all mortals, aren't they, Fellow Daoist Fox 3? What are they doing?" Han Li asked.

Fox 3 took a nonchalant glance down below, then explained, "These people used to be indigenous inhabitants of the Illusory Smoke Swamp, and they're no different from normal humans, but all of them have remarkably long lifespans, able to live for over two hundred years. They only moved out of the swamp just over ten thousand years ago.

“Their ancestors don't know what the illusory smoke is, but every time it appears, some of their brethren would die or go missing. Over time, they came to regard the illusory smoke as some type of divine punishment from the gods, so they'll perform this ceremonial dance whenever it arises."

"At this point, they're already learned about what the illusory smoke is from the cultivators passing through this area, but they'll still abide by their traditions whenever it appears, performing their ceremonial dance at the edge of the swamp," Shi Chuankong added.

"I see," Han Li replied as he turned his gaze away from those people.

A few minutes later, the group arrived at the edge of the Illusory Smoke Swamp before descending onto it.

There was smoke swirling all over the surface of the swamp, resembling a vast river, and upon approaching the swamp, one would discover dark green waterweeds gently swaying beneath the water. Some white bubbles would also occasionally emerge on the surface of the water, producing a faint popping sound whenever they burst.

The illusory smoke was spreading quite quickly, and at this point, it had already encompassed the entire surrounding area within a radius of several dozen kilometers of Serene Floating Island. At this point, even mortals could clearly see the pink mist spreading over the landscape.

"I've already said this many times, but I still want to remind all of you once again that this illusory smoke can be very dangerous. Once we enter it, make sure to protect your mind so that you aren't fooled by the illusions presented to you," Fox 3 warned with a serious expression.

"I've prepared some Divine Spirit Pills that can stabilize the soul and cleanse the consciousness. They should be somewhat effective against the effects of the illusory smoke, so I suggest all of us take one each," Shi Chuankong said a he flipped a hand over to produce a dark green jade box.

"Where did you get these pills from? I haven't even been able to purchase them from the Reincarnation Palace!" Fox 3 asked with a surprised expression.

"Just because the Reincarnation Palace can't acquire these pills doesn't mean that the Vast Origin House is in the same boat," Shi Chuankong replied, then opened the jade box and plucked out one of the pills before swallowing it.

"This will certainly make things a lot safer," Fox 3 said as he also took one of the pills.

Meanwhile, Immortal Lord Hot Flame turned to Han Li with a slightly hesitant look in his eyes.

"You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Shi," Han Li said with a smile, then plucked out a pill for himself.

He briefly inspected the pill to ensure that there was nothing amiss about it, then promptly swallowed it.

However, as soon as he closed his mouth, a burst of silver flames emerged from his throat to envelop the pill, sealing it within his stomach.

He was quite confident in his own spiritual sense, so he wasn't planning to actually take the Divine Spirit Pill unless it was absolutely necessary to do so.

With the example set by Han Li, Immortal Lord Hot Flame also followed suit, taking a pill as well.

"Fellow daoists, all of us have to make sure to maintain our spiritual connections with one another so we don't get split up in the illusory smoke," Fox 3 said, then swept a sleeve through the air to produce an intricate silver flying boat that landed on the surface of the swamp.

Everyone stepped onto the boat, and Fox 3 made a hand seal, upon which a burst of silver light emerged from all of the runes on the boat, and it was lifted up by about half a foot before shooting over the water.

Only then did Han Li notice that the water in the swamp was a lot heavier than normal water. The momentum of the flying boat should've been enough to send waves churning in all directions, but there were only slight ripples surging over the swamp's surface.

He leaned down and extended two of his fingers, the ones with the Flower Branch refined into them, into the water, and he immediately realized why this was the case.

As it turned out, the water here was interspersed with some type of black sandy substance that possessed certain corrosive properties, but of course, it was unable to harm his Golden Immortal body.

Even though the boat still hadn't entered the illusory smoke yet, the sun was already beginning to set, making the smoke on the swamp appear darker and denser than before.

As they passed by a giant mass of green duckweed, the surface of the water suddenly exploded, and a massive wave erupted upward as a huge black shadow sprang out of the swamp before crashing down upon Han Li's group.

Han Li turned to discover that it was a giant fish that was covered in black scales. The mass of duckweed was actually a plume of disheveled hair on its head, and its cavernous mouth was filled with sharp teeth.

Han Li and the others had already detected the approaching fish even before it attacked, and none of them had paid it any heed, with Fox 3 even jokingly mocking its hideous appearance.

Shi Chuankong casually swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a streak of silver light that sliced the fish into two with ease.

However, no blood seeped out of the fish's body as its wounds were sealed by a burst of spatial power, and only after it had fallen back into the swamp did its blood begin to spread through the water.