Chapter 84 Lotus Blossoms in the Mud
"Captain Meng, the center of this swamp is clearly a spiritually barren zone, making it impossible to fly on a sword. What do we do now?" The straightforward Ge Hui couldn't help but ask.
"Senior Brother Ge, don't worry! With so many of us here, if we work together, we'll surely come up with a solution," Meng Hanhai said.
He performed exceptionally well in previous battles, which improved everyone's impression of him. This proves that he is not just a boastful guy.
However, despite racking their brains for a full half hour, they still couldn't come up with any effective or feasible solutions.
"I have a suggestion. There is a bamboo forest behind us. We can build a large and sturdy bamboo raft, and then select strong fighters to guard the outer perimeter to deal with the ferocious beasts lurking in the swamp at any time."
The others used half of the pole to slide forward, while holding the other half of the long hook, using the nearby weeds and bushes for support. This might give them a chance to glide past the most dangerous spot,” Ah Chen said.
The reason he thought of this was because his mother told him a fantasy story when he was a child. In it, there was a part where everyone went to a desolate area and encountered a swampy place.
The people in that story used this method to cross the swamp.
Although he wasn't sure if it would work, no one had suggested any better methods, so they could only give this a try.
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they all responded to the suggestion.
They were still outside the swamp, and they could use all their spiritual energy and magical artifacts. With everyone working together, they quickly cut down a large pile of bamboo.
Then they took out the ropes they carried with them and tied them together to make a wide bamboo raft that was more than two meters wide and three meters long.
Just to be on the safe side, Meng Hanhai had Ni Zhiyong cultivate more than a dozen snake-head vines to wrap around the bamboo raft.
Nie Xiaoxiao contributed a lot of cactus thorns, which were hidden in the gaps at the bottom of the bamboo raft and some were also hidden among the snake-head vines.
In case some unruly beast tries to gnaw on the bamboo raft, it's easy to get pricked in the mouth by the thorns.
The thorns of the cactus have a paralyzing effect, and the effect is even faster when blood is drawn, which can effectively weaken the fighting power of the swamp beasts.
Of the remaining five students in the combat department, Meng Hanhai was still leading the way, with Jin Liu bringing up the rear.
In addition, Ah Chen was on each side, guarded by two powerful fighters.
The two puppet masters also took out their remaining six puppets, ready to join the battle at any time.
However, the puppets are all powered by the energy of spirit stones, and once they reach the Central Spirit-Severing Zone, they become a pile of scrap metal.
After the bamboo rafts were secured, the students from the weapon-refining department started their furnaces on the spot and forged more than a dozen long metal hooks, along with more than a dozen extended spiked clubs.
This was to deal with the ferocious beasts in the Spirit-Severing Zone, because once you get there, you won't be able to control any of the magical artifacts in your hands.
A magical artifact that has lost its spiritual power is actually less useful than an ordinary spiked club.
The reason it was made into an extended version was to deal with the ferocious beasts hiding in the swamp; if it were too short, they might not be able to reach it.
After making thorough preparations, everyone set off.
The underground structure of the swamp is very complex. Some places are similar to the land, only slightly softer, while other places are very loose.
If you're walking, you can easily sink into soft ground if you're not careful.
However, when the wide bamboo raft slides into it, because of the large area of force application, even if some parts are soft, they will be supported by the slightly harder parts next to them, so that the whole raft will not sink.
A person holding a long bamboo pole can use the pole to push the bamboo raft by inserting it into the not-too-soft mud.
Of course, you might accidentally stick the bamboo pole into soft soil. In that case, just discard the bamboo pole and replace it with another one. It's not worth the effort to pull out a bamboo pole stuck in the mud, as it will slow you down.
As the bamboo raft traveled, everyone saw many strange-looking creatures covered in mud.
They would suddenly leap out of the mud and try to attack the people on the bamboo raft, but without exception, they were all knocked back into the mud by the people and puppets responsible for the safety of the surrounding area.
Everyone was covered in mud, looking dirty and somewhat disheveled.
Fortunately, no one has been injured yet, but everyone is very nervous, fearing that a large wild animal might emerge from the swamp.
The closer they got to the center of the swamp, the thinner the spiritual energy became. Ah Chen said to Lin Zixia, who was in the puppet-type class:
"Senior Sister Lin, put your puppets away. There's no more spiritual energy ahead, so it won't be easy to store these puppets in your storage rings."
"Thank you for the reminder, junior brother! If we really can't put them in, we'll have to give them up in an emergency."
"Each of them is the result of my hard work; I would be heartbroken for a whole year if I lost them," Lin Zixia said gratefully.
"Wow! Everyone, look! There's a patch of lotus flowers over there, they're blooming so beautifully!" Ni Zhiyong suddenly exclaimed, pointing to a spot not far ahead.
He was a plant science major, so he paid special attention to plants. In addition, he was weak in combat and physical strength, so he kept using a long hook to find suitable amphibious plants for leverage.
Therefore, he was the first to discover this lotus flower.
Lotus flowers naturally grow in mud, so seeing lotus flowers in a swamp is not unusual. However, when the bamboo raft approached the lotus flowers, Ah Chen suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis.
"Quick! Change direction, get away from that lotus field!" he shouted.
Upon hearing this, Lele, who was pushing the bamboo raft forward with a long bamboo pole, immediately inserted the bamboo pole into the silt on the left, attempting to forcibly change the direction of the bamboo raft.
The bamboo pole was inserted into the soft muddy water, and although she was able to use it for leverage, she used too much force and the bamboo pole sank into the mud, forcing her to give up.
Fortunately, the bamboo raft was slightly off to the right at an angle of about 30 degrees, and was no longer heading straight for the lotus flowers.
Ni Zhiyong said with dissatisfaction, "Junior Brother Zuo Chen, why are you making such a fuss? There's only a lotus flower here, what danger is there?"
Moreover, this lotus is a third-tier Heavenly Heart Lotus, and its petals and seeds are excellent materials for alchemy, making it a rare and highly sought-after treasure.
Now that we've come across this, it would be foolish not to pick it!
"I think you're the fool! Wild spiritual plants are usually guarded by demonic beasts. We're stuck in the mud now, and it's uncertain whether we can get through safely."
"Are you trying to deliver food to a monster?" Nie Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him.
Before she finished speaking, the lotus flower began to sway. Even though there wasn't a breath of wind around, the situation seemed particularly eerie.
Soon, everyone saw that the mud around the lotus flower began to churn and bubbles rose to the surface.
Then everyone saw the bubbles burst, mud splattering everywhere, and from each broken bubble jumped out a huge ant covered in mud and water!
"Mud Spirit Ant Beast!" Nie Xiaoxiao exclaimed in disbelief!
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