Chapter 558 - Black Water Viper

As expected, many masters started entering this area, following the Martial Alliance’s footsteps. However, Ninth Passage Stage cultivators benefited the most from this excursion.

Usually, cultivators who reached the Earthly Martial Realm were recorded in the Martial Alliance’s database. Unless they were very good at running away, they would be caught by the Martial Alliance, who would give them two choices. Either they pledge loyalty to the Martial Alliance, or die. That was why the vast majority of Earthly Martial Realm cultivators had been absorbed by the Martial Alliance already, or at least had to call themselves members of the Martial Alliance. Even a major faction like the Ancient Demon Domain had to call themselves part of the Martial Alliance, let alone the others.

When the number of humans increased, the other King-tier beasts strangely disappeared.

The Martial Alliance members traveled for a long time, but they did not run into any more King-tier beasts. Places that should have been home to King-tier beasts were empty.

“Perhaps they’ve ... run away?” Long Chen said.

These King-tier beasts could take human form, so they also had intelligence. With so many experts here, the beasts around Category One King-tier must have hid themselves temporarily as they knew that fighting the Martial Alliance would only mean trouble.

Long Chen had a feeling that the Red Emperor Seal would appear in this place.

They continued to venture deeper.

At this point, many people surpassed Long Chen’s group to sneak toward the Martial Alliance members. With them around, the Dragon clan could finally follow without sneaking around.

There were now many people following the Martial Alliance.

“Martial Emperor Yang, shall I kill them?” asked one of the Martial Kings.

“There’s no need. They are insignificant figures; what can they do? Even if I put the Red Emperor Seal in front of them, they would not dare take it,” said Yang Ningfeng, who did not even take one look at them.

That was when one of the men said, “The Fire Soul Crystal is heating up! It has likely sensed the presence of the Red Emperor Seal! That way!”

The Martial Alliance members quickly rushed in the direction the man had pointed to.

“They’ve discovered something.” Long Yue gestured for her group to quickly follow them. They were fast and good at hiding themselves, so they soon closed in on the Martial Alliance while blending in with the crowd. Of course, they still made an effort to keep themselves hidden.

Boom!

There was an explosion, and sky-high flames burned brightly ahead. Firelight lit up half the sky, then it suddenly disappeared! The humid air of the Cloud Dream Swamp suddenly turned dry and hot!

“The Red Emperor Seal is that way!”

“Yes, it must be!”

Everyone started shouting, and Long Yue’s face changed. She quickly instructed Jiang Wuya, “Protect them!”

Then she disappeared right in front of Long Chen’s eyes!

She’s fast.

Long Chen was startled. With such a huge commotion, there would surely be a huge crowd coming to this area. They had a great advantage because they were so close. Since Long Yue had gone to fight for the Red Emperor Seal, they did not dare slow down. With Jiang Wuya leading them, the Dragon clan quickly passed countless people and followed the Martial Alliance members closely. In fact, they were not much farther from the Red Emperor Seal than the Martial Alliance!

Just like Long Yue, the leader of the Martial Alliance’s squad, Yang Ningfeng, had also long disappeared. They were the strongest, so it was expected that the fight for the Red Emperor Seal would be initiated by the strongest people. Long Chen and the rest merely took supporting roles.

The Dragon clan and the Martial Alliance instantly left everyone else behind as they shot off towards the location of the fire. The Martial Alliance had already discovered the Dragon clan, and they had two Second Earthly Martial-Stage Martial Saints leading their team!

They were a little stronger than Long Chen’s squad.

However, the real fight had yet to begin, so they did not attack Long Chen’s squad. As for the Dragon clan, they knew that they would meet a tragic end if they fought without a huge advantage!

That was why neither side had attacked.

The true fight would be between Long Yue and Yang Ningfeng.

Long Chen and the rest quickly arrived at a location just two hundred meters away from Long Yue’s target location. Everyone halted here because Long Yue and Yang Ningfeng were heading towards the same destination!

“Long Yue! You again! You’re looking for death!” The moment Yang Ningfeng saw her, he knew who it was. There were only a handful of Third Earthly Martial Stage cultivators in the Divine Martial Empire.

Both of them ran as fast as they could!

Long Chen looked up and saw a fireball floating in the air fifty meters ahead. He could not see it clearly, but if there was a fire in a wet and humid place like the Cloud Dream Swamp, then it had to be the Red Emperor Seal!

Although it was a precious treasure, the first ones who noticed it were two of the strongest people in the Divine Martial Empire. This meant that other people did not have much of a chance to take it for themselves.

Everyone was watching the battle between Long Yue and Yang Ningfeng. One was the Glacier Dragon Emperor, while the other was the Martial Emperor of the Martial Alliance. Who was stronger?

Everyone was curious.

However, Long Chen sensed that something was off. When he used the Soul Swallowing Gaze, his face changed and he roared, “Long Yue! Careful of the swamp!”

To prevent any confusion at such a critical moment, Long Chen had yelled her name. Long Yue was in a race against Yang Ningfeng, and she heard Long Chen’s shout.

She recognized Long Chen’s voice, so she diverted some of her attention to the swamp beneath her as she ran forward. The moment she noticed it, her face changed and she quickly dodged sideways!

Yang Ningfeng both heard Long Chen and saw Long Yue’s reaction. He was no idiot, so he knew that if Long Yue was dodging something, it was a good idea to pay attention to the swamp below. After sensing the being beneath the mud, his face changed.

Just like Long Yue, he swerved!

Suddenly, the whole Cloud Dream Swamp trembled. This was tens of times more severe than the commotion caused by the Blood Ocean Viper! The whole swamp seemed to be boiling and mud flew in all directions!

There was a

boom

, and the moment Long Yue and Yang Ningfeng dodged, their previous location exploded. Mud shot into the sky and something that looked like a black mountain shot out. The black mountain was actually a black snakehead!

Indeed, it was the king of the Cloud Dream Swamp, the Black Water Snake!

Its head alone was a small hill, and it was ten times larger than the Blood Ocean Viper. If the head alone was that big, its body had to be more than a thousand meters long!

“Fuck!” Yang Ningfeng was upset because the moment the Black Water Viper emerged, it swallowed the Red Emperor Seal. Then it gradually emerged from the swamp. When a third of its body was above ground, the mud level lowered by a whole meter!

This showed how immense this creature was!

Everyone looked up at the gigantic black snake slowly emerging right in front of them.

The Black Water Viper’s head was hundreds of meters above the ground. Its emerald, shining eyes looked down at them. They were just like ants in its eyes.

“The Black Water Viper!”

Many people cried in surprise. To them, the Black Water Viper was just a legend of the Cloud Dream Swamp as it had not revealed itself for countless years. They had not expected to see it today.

However, it was not a pleasant surprise in the least.

After it swallowed the Red Emperor Seal and postured itself above, it looked down and spat out black mist!

Due to its size, the black mist covered a large area. Everyone felt like a black tsunami was crashing towards them, causing their scalps to go numb from fear.

“Run!”

“The poison gas will eat into our bodies! We’ll be done for the second we touch it!”

“Save me!”

The other cultivators screamed in agony as they ran. However, only those at the Ninth Passage Stage and above managed to break free. Those who were too close could not escape, not even the people at the Ninth Passage Stage.

Long Chen and the rest were in the thick of it, so the black mist reached them first!

“Protect yourselves with essence!” commanded Jiang Wuya, then he immediately pulled Long Chen to his side and protected him.

Rumble!

The thick, black mist crashed through the area.

The Martial Realm cultivators could protect themselves with their essence. The rest were simply unlucky. A single attack from the Black Water Viper had killed half of the people here!

The remaining half were terrified and quickly hid themselves far away. Some of them were already screaming for their parents as they ran off. Some were unwilling to give up and watched from far away. The only remaining people were the stronger cultivators, which were a few Earthly Martial Realm cultivators, as well as the Dragon clan and the Martial Alliance.

However, another team approached.

They had been hiding amongst the crowd until now, but after the black mist, they were exposed. They were the Ancient Demon Domain members.