Mu Feng looked at his son, who was smiling leisurely in front of him. Though still a little doubtful, he found it amusing. Even he, with his rich experience, hadn't found a way for everyone to cross the mire. Could his son really solve it?
"Tell me how you'd do it," Mu Feng said with a smile. "If you're just guessing, it's been a long time since I last disciplined you."
Mu Chen looked at the vast Black Poisonous Mire and said:
"Even sparrows find it hard to fly through this Black Poisonous Mire. If you step into it, you'll sink deep and be unable to escape. Flying above it is also difficult due to the dense poisonous mist. If we use floating materials as stepping stones to cross, we could indeed walk on water. But the problem is, it's hard to do that for long. If you stop, countless Black Poisonous Alligators will rush to tear you apart."
"Do you think your father doesn't know those things?" Mu Feng scoffed with a laugh.
"Actually, crossing isn't difficult," Mu Chen said with a smile. "In this mire, what can move freely back and forth?"
"Move freely?" Mu Feng furrowed his brow in thought, then suddenly exclaimed, "The Black Poisonous Alligators?"
"Exactly. We just need to catch a few Black Poisonous Alligators, skin them, and wrap their hides around a boat. Then we can travel through the mire without getting stuck. The scent of Black Poisonous Alligators emanating from the boat will also help us avoid unexpected attacks from other Black Poisonous Alligators."
"Is it that simple?" Mu Feng frowned in thought. Not to mention other difficulties, even if Black Poisonous Alligator hides could work for crossing the mire, it would be hard to guarantee the safety of the entire group.
"Haha, actually, one more step is needed," Mu Chen chuckled. "Black Poisonous Alligators are quite dull-witted, but they are still mire assassins. They won't be easily fooled by just a scent."
"This final step will have to wait until the previous steps are completed. Dad, hunting the Black Poisonous Alligators is everyone's job."
Everyone who heard this widened their eyes in doubt. No one could guess what Mu Chen intended to do.
"You brat, you'd better not be tricking me!" Mu Feng growled. At this point, they had no other options, and time was pressing. Any further delay would put them far behind the Liu Territory.
"Zhou Ye, let's make our move. Everyone else, prepare the boats." Mu Feng directly gave the order, mobilizing everyone.
"Understood!" Although everyone was skeptical of Mu Chen's method, once Mu Feng gave an order, no one dared to disobey. They began to spread out, chopping down trees for wood.
Mu Feng and Zhou Ye advanced together, powerful spiritual energy surging forth from their bodies. With a slight movement, Mu Feng appeared in the air above the Black Poisonous Mire. Fiery spiritual energy erupted behind him, transforming into a gigantic Flame Condor. The body of the flame bird was covered in red-pink reptilian scales, its wings like a dragon's. Full of power, a mighty pressure radiated all around, causing the creatures beneath the Black Poisonous Mire to panic. The mire stirred, and a Black Poisonous Alligator emerged from the mud, looking up in fearful vigilance at the shadow of the flame bird in the sky.
"Roar!"
Zhou Ye also hovered in mid-air. Behind him, a rhinoceros as large as a mountain appeared, its immense weight causing the very air to tremble.
Any powerful practitioner at the Divine Soul Stage who refines the essence soul of a spiritual beast will possess the characteristics and power of that spiritual beast. For example, the Flame Dragon Condor bestowed Mu Feng with enhanced speed, while the Mountain Spirit Rhinoceros granted Zhou Ye immense weight and physical strength.
Mu Chen looked at the two majestic spiritual beasts behind the two men, his eyes unable to hide a look of longing and anticipation. The Divine Soul Stage was truly powerful, far surpassing the Spirit Wheel Stage.
Zhou Ye clenched his hand into a fist, let out a soft shout, and unleashed a punch. Dark golden spiritual energy, like a pillar of light, burst from his hand, roaring like rolling boulders as it fiercely slammed into the swamp.
“Boom!”
Everything shook. A deep hole was gouged into the swamp, and the impact sent over a dozen Black Venom Alligators flying out of the water.
Mu Feng immediately coordinated. The Blazing Dragon Eagle behind him stretched its neck and shrieked, unleashing a furious blaze that swept out, engulfing the Black Venom Alligators that had been launched into the air.
Over a dozen Black Venom Alligators, all at the Spirit Wheel Realm, were instantly killed. Mu Feng skillfully controlled his spiritual energy to toss the alligator carcasses onto the bank, right where his subordinates were waiting.
As Mu Feng and Zhou Ye made their move, not far from the black venom swamp, on a path along the cliff face, a group of people moving suddenly stopped. They were the members of the Liu Domain whom Mu Feng had previously encountered.
“This ancient spiritual energy fluctuation…”
Liu Zong stopped, looking in the direction from which the spiritual energy fluctuation emanated:
“It’s Mu Feng and Zhou Ye… looks like they’ve run into trouble.”
“They must be stuck in the black venom swamp. Haha, it wouldn’t be difficult for Mu Feng and Zhou Ye, with their strength, to force their way through, but it would be a massive drain on their energy. As for supporting their subordinates who are following them, I’m afraid that’s impossible.”
Liu Qingtian, leading the group, turned his head and chuckled faintly:
“If that’s the case, then the next time we encounter them deeper inside, we’ll only be facing their scattered forces. That truly takes away the fun of competing.”
“It’s fortunate that Big Brother is so thoughtful. If we get the chance then, don’t let a single one escape. If the Mu Domain doesn’t have Mu Feng and Zhou Ye guarding it, ho ho, won’t it just be an item in our Liu Domain’s pocket?”
Liu Ming grinned sinisterly.
Liu Qingtian nodded with a light smile, his eyes containing a faint killing intent. If such an opportunity truly arose, he would naturally not let it go. For now, they just needed to get to that place first, lie in ambush, and wait for those defeated and exhausted forces to expend all their energy crossing the black venom swamp. At that point, everything would be decided.
“Mu Feng, you didn’t want to stay in the Mu Domain and enjoy your blessings, stubbornly insisting on competing with our Liu Domain for the Nine Nether Sparrow. In that case, you can’t blame me…”
“Boom.”
The ground trembled. Mu Chen looked at the dozen or so alligator carcasses that Mu Feng had brought over and couldn’t help but click his tongue. Every single one of these Black Venom Alligators possessed early Spirit Wheel Realm strength, yet in the hands of his father and Uncle Zhou, they hadn’t even put up a slight resistance.
Mu Chen secretly praised them for a moment, then called a few subordinates to skillfully use knives to skin the alligators. On the other side, the group of city lords had already cut down trees and finished making several simple small boats, which they then covered with the alligator skins.
If these crude wooden boats were to pass directly through the swamp, they would likely be submerged by the mire before going very far. But when covered with alligator skin, which still retained a slight spiritual energy fluctuation, it was just enough for the boats to float on the swamp water.
Everyone had finished their tasks. Without prior arrangement, they all looked towards Mu Chen, each wondering in their minds if this method could help them all cross the black venom swamp.
“It’s your turn to work.”
Mu Feng also looked at Mu Chen, his expression serious as he said:
“Don’t act carelessly. If trouble arises in the swamp, very few people will survive.”
“Father, rest assured.”
Mu Chen smiled honestly, then pointed at the swamp and said:
"Mainly, we just need to avoid the attacks of the Black Venomous Alligators, and there won't be any trouble. They are originally mid-tier spirit beasts, but because they always live in the swamp, their vision is limited. As long as we have a way to disrupt their vision, combined with the aura from this alligator skin, it will be more than enough for us to pass through."
"How can we make them disoriented?"
Mu Feng asked, his brows furrowed.
"This is also thanks to my father's arrangements for me to study a bit of spirit arrays during this time..."
Mu Chen smiled, opening his palm, eight shimmering spirit seals floated at his fingertips.
"You can already set up spirit arrays?"
Seeing the spirit seals on Mu Chen's fingertips, Mu Feng and Zhou Ye were both stunned in surprise, while the subordinates of the Mu Territory looked at their young master with admiration.
"Just a small spirit array."
Mu Chen chuckled: "The small spirit array I'm setting up is called the Bewildering Array. It has a slight bewildering effect; though not very strong, it's perfect for dealing with those blurry-eyed alligators."
Mu Feng and Zhou Ye were both surprised and delighted, mixed with a touch of lament. They hadn't expected Mu Chen to have such extensive knowledge of spirit beasts, even being a bit more experienced than the two of them.
After Mu Chen finished speaking, his expression changed, his fingers moved, and the eight spirit seals disappeared around the small boat. Everyone only vaguely felt a rather strange fluctuation in the air.
Mu Chen gestured, changing the hand seals, then let out a sigh of relief a moment later, wiping the sweat from his forehead: "It's done!"
Everyone looked again, seeing a faint mist seemingly covering the boat, obscuring its silhouette.
The extent of this mist's concealment was immediately obvious to them, but fortunately, the Black Venomous Alligators did not possess the eyesight of normal humans.
"The Young Master is truly talented."
Duan Wei exclaimed in admiration, previously treating him as a naive young master, but now realizing that his young master was not so simple after all.
Although he didn't know how effective this method would be, it still managed to inspire confidence in others.
Although Mu Feng's words seemed displeased, he was inwardly overflowing with pride and joy. Nevertheless, he spoke this way to prevent his son from becoming too complacent.
"Whether it's a donkey or a horse, we'll know once we get there."
Mu Chen pouted, pushing the small boat into the black venomous swamp, leading the group forward.