Luoshen Swamp is more than ten thousand miles away from Qianyuan City and is surrounded by high mountains and steep cliffs.
According to historical records, the area of the entire swamp is equivalent to the original Tianyuan Continent.
The spirit boat was very fast, had a powerful defensive formation, and had the Zhang family's mark on it. Apart from encountering some harassment from flying monsters along the way, there were no other accidents.
We successfully reached the edge of the swamp.
Along the way, Chen Lin communicated with Xu Shanjing through telepathy to get a brief introduction of the monks who would participate in the treasure hunt.
Including Elder Chu and the other three, there were less than twenty cultivators in total, with more men than women.
Most of them are family cultivators related to Qianyuan Sect, and there are only five independent cultivators.
Even in a big city like Qianyuan City, there are not many independent cultivators who can cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage, and most of them are cruel and ruthless, and it is difficult to distinguish between good and evil. The Zhang family cultivator was too willing to use them, and the five independent cultivators who joined were all introduced by trustworthy people.
The purpose of Elder Chu organizing this treasure hunt is to help Zhang family disciples break through to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul, that is, the two young cultivators who have been following him, one of whom is a woman dressed as a man.
These are two siblings. Xu Shanjing doesn’t know them very well, but they are probably not from the main branch of the Zhang family, and their status in the family is definitely not high.
Otherwise, with the strength of the Zhang family, there is no need to ask outside cultivators for help. If a few late Nascent Soul or Perfect cultivators in the family are sent out, the Infant Spirit Fruit will naturally be easily obtained.
Unlike now, except for Elder Chu, all of them are in the early Nascent Soul stage.
In treasure hunting under such circumstances, ten Yuanying early stage cultivators are no match for one Yuanying late stage cultivator.
"Okay, fellow Taoists, the poisonous miasma area is ahead. Everyone, take the Jie Shen Pill first, and then I will explain the details of the operation to you."
Elder Chu spoke up and took out some pill bottles to distribute to everyone.
Chen Lin opened it and took a look. Inside were ten pills emitting a strange fragrance. They were the Shenjie Pills.
One pill of this kind can be effective for three days, and ten pills can be effective for one month. If there are no accidents, it should be enough.
But he had no intention of using these pills.
One must always be on guard against others. Although the Zhang family had a good reputation and there was no reason for him to harm them, to be on the safe side, he went to the market and bought dozens of Shendan Pills before leaving the city.
Anyway, there is no shortage of spirit stones, so there is no need to take risks. Besides, the remaining pills can be sold later.
While no one was paying attention, Chen Lin put the pill bottle given by the Zhang family into his sleeve, then took out his own pill bottle, poured out a pill and swallowed it.
A strange feeling appeared, but it quickly disappeared.
After everyone had finished taking the pills, Elder Chu took out a stack of spiritual contracts and asked everyone to sign the agreement.
There were not too many restrictions, and they were all similar to what was agreed upon yesterday. The main thing was to ensure that the other party could obtain the three infant spirit fruits first, and that the person who discovered the spirit fruits first was not allowed to take them for themselves, and that people were not allowed to fight and snatch the treasures after seeing them.
In addition, before obtaining the Infant Spirit Fruit, you must not tell others the destination of the treasure hunt to prevent others from getting there first.
This was as it should be, and no one objected.
After the spiritual contract was signed, Elder Chu gave each person a jade slip.
Then explain.
"The jade slip contains the location of our trip. The location is not too deep, but the information I got is not very accurate. I only know that the spirit tree is in this area and will mature soon. The exact location still needs everyone to explore."
At this point, he took out another stack of talismans and distributed them to everyone, saying, "This is a specially made communication talisman that can be used in the depths of the poisonous miasma. When we reach our destination, we will form groups of three and explore separately. We can use the communication talismans to keep in touch at any time."
Chen Lin probed his spiritual sense into the jade slip and couldn't help but frowned.
The area that needs to be explored is not small, no wonder so many monks have to come together. Although this area is not an extremely dangerous area, it has gone deep to a certain extent.
The other party took out the jade map at this time. In addition to being worried about it being spread, he also had some intention of concealing something.
Sure enough, after reading the map in the jade slip, the other cultivators looked somewhat unhappy, but at this point, it was not easy to leave the team, so no one stepped forward.
Chen Lin did not say anything. Anyway, there was no stipulation in the spiritual contract that one could not quit midway. If the situation was dangerous, he could just leave on his own.
The main reason is that the characteristic of the infant spirit fruit is that it must be eaten immediately once it is ripe, which is too frustrating. Otherwise, there would be no need for him to take the risk himself.
When a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul stage, the resources he needs become scarce. Even though the resources in the upper realm are abundant, there are not many things that can help break through the bottleneck, and most of them are difficult to buy with spirit stones.
Unless he relies on time to grind, there is really no good way for him to advance to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul.
"Okay, now I will assign the team members, but there is one thing I want to tell you in advance. The team that first discovers the spirit tree will have the priority to obtain the infant spirit fruit, except for us. So everyone should not fish in troubled waters. After all, it is still unknown how many spirit fruits there are on the infant spirit fruit tree. Don't complain if you don't get any spirit fruit in the end."
After Elder Chu finished his instructions, he began to assign teams.
Several independent cultivators were reorganized and one was assigned to each team. Chen Lin was assigned to Xu Shanjing's team.
In addition to the two of them, there was also an old man in a yellow robe, who was from an affiliated family of the Qianyuan Sect.
The team is led by Xu Shanjing. After all, he is the outer sect elder of Qianyuan Sect and is trustworthy.
Chen Lin paid close attention and found that Qu Sanniang was not assigned to any team, but stood with the two Zhang family members.
This made him frown, but he also understood why Elder Chu wanted three Infant Spirit Fruits. He himself was in the late Nascent Soul stage, and it would be a waste to use these things. There were only two descendants of the Zhang family, and the remaining one should be left for Qu Sanniang.
According to Xu Shanjing, Qu Sanniang was the mistress of a certain Divine Transformation cultivator from the Zhang family, and they had a falling out. But in the current situation, could it be that they have reconciled again
Then why did the other party get close to him again and again
Chen Lin was a little confused about the situation for a moment, but he didn't want to explore it. Since the other party was taking advantage of him, he had to be prepared to pay the price.
"Okay, let's go!"
After the preparations were ready, Elder Chu activated the spirit boat again and led everyone into the swamp.
Shortly after the spirit boat disappeared, three figures emerged from the void.
A plain-looking woman was in the middle, with two men floating behind her.
"Humph, the little bitch actually still wants to get promoted. Let her and those two bastards be fed to the poisonous insects here!"
The woman spoke with resentment, and then said to the two people behind her: "Handle it cleanly, don't let the Zhang family catch the whole thing. It doesn't matter whether that bitch lives or dies, but if anything happens to the two little bastards, that old man Zhang Shuogu will definitely investigate thoroughly."
"Yes, Miss!"
The two nodded in agreement, then flashed and flew into the swamp.
It was very dark in the poisonous miasma and the spirit boat was flying very slowly. Chen Lin and the others looked around solemnly and took precautions.
Even in the periphery, there is a possibility of high-level poisonous insects and monsters appearing, and the poisonous insects here often come in groups. Once you encounter them, if you cannot avoid them in advance, you will be surrounded.
The deeper they went, the thicker the poisonous miasma became, and it even suppressed the cultivators' consciousness, making it impossible to determine the direction from a long distance, and the spirit boat flew slower and slower.
Chen Lin held the Xuanwu Shield in his hand, and touched the purple spirit ring on his wrist, feeling a little relieved.
With two magic treasures in hand, one for attack and one for defense, there should be no danger in this place where there are no fifth-level monsters as long as you are not besieged by a large number of monsters.
In addition, he also prepared a one-time teleportation jade talisman, so if it really doesn't work, he can teleport away.
After repeatedly thinking about the possible dangers and simulating various solutions, Chen Lin gradually relaxed.
"Does Brother Lin want to get the Infant Spirit Fruit?"
Suddenly, Qu Sanniang's voice sounded in Chen Lin's mind.
He was stunned for a moment. This turned out to be soul transmission. The other party actually had this method!
Before he could react, the voice rang out again.
"You don't have to respond to me. There may be my enemies in the team. Ordinary voice transmission is easy to be discovered. You just need to listen to me."
Upon hearing this, Chen Lin stopped his attempt to transmit sound. Although he could also transmit sound through his soul, he wanted to hear what the other party was up to first.
Qu Sanniang's voice sounded again.
"I know you must have known that I was using you as a shield, and you must be resentful. I even sensed your murderous intent towards me, but it doesn't matter. We can still cooperate."
Chen Lin raised his eyebrows slightly, remaining calm.
It seems that what he thought before was wrong. This woman is more complicated than he thought, and seems to be planning something.
Before he could guess, Qu Sanniang answered his question.
The other party continued to transmit the message, with a strong sense of helplessness in his tone.
"To be honest with you, Fellow Daoist Lin, the two Zhang family members around me are actually my children. You should know my story. Yes, they are the illegitimate children of me and that man from the Zhang family. Now someone can't tolerate the three of us, mother and son, so I planned this action and took the opportunity to escape from Qianyuan City."
Then he added: "But I know that woman will not let us go. She will definitely send people to hunt us down. Moreover, she has the support of the Yang family and can mobilize many powerful people. I estimate that there are Divine Transformation cultivators near the Spirit Boat now."
Chen Lin quickly thought about what the other party said and felt that it was highly credible, and most of the information was consistent with what Xu Shanjing said.
This left him speechless.
From the beginning of his cultivation until now, he has almost never taken the initiative to participate in any treasure hunting operations. He did not expect that such twists and turns would occur this time.
If someone wants to get rid of the other party, then they, the participants, will definitely be affected. It is natural for a powerful God Transformation Realm expert to kill a few Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivators to silence them, not to mention in this extremely secretive environment.
However, the other party knew that he would be hunted down, but still chose this way to escape. He must have some backup plan.
Chen Lin's mind was in turmoil as he continued to wait for the other party's next words.