Chapter 120 Poison Dragon Pool
The grayish-green mist surrounding the Poison Dragon Pool carried a pungent, sweet-smelling odor, making it even more deadly than the miasma in other parts of the Blackwater Marsh.
Even after taking the Clearing Miasma Pill and Awakening Grass, everyone still felt dizzy and their internal energy circulation was sluggish.
"Conserve your inner strength and try to withstand the force with your bodies!" Lou Jin ordered in a deep voice. He had also sensed the strangeness of the mist. "Save every bit of strength."
Shi Long and his men from Black Stone Village turned pale. Although they were brave and fierce, they had never seen such a terrifying scene.
"Is...is this really a place where a person can go?"
Arno took out a few dark purple, dried leaves from his bag and distributed them to everyone: "Put them under your tongue. These are leaves of the Purple Blood Vine. They can temporarily resist this bone-corroding poison, but they can only last for half an hour at most."
Upon tasting the leaf, an intense bitterness instantly spread, almost making one want to vomit, but this was followed by a refreshing sensation that rushed to the top of the head, significantly reducing the dizziness.
"Let's go!" Lou Jin didn't hesitate at all and stepped into the gray-green poisonous fog first.
Ye Xunyang followed closely behind, his gaze resolute.
Once inside the poisonous fog, visibility became even more blurred, and one could only see a few steps in front of them.
The ground beneath my feet became hard and slippery, covered with a layer of purplish-black moss.
A thick, deathly silence filled the air; even the strange noises that could be heard occasionally from the swamp had completely disappeared, leaving only the suppressed breathing and heartbeats of the crowd.
The team advanced cautiously into the depths, forming a battle formation.
They hadn't gone far when Wushan, who was scouting ahead, suddenly warned, "Watch out! Something's coming!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than footsteps came from the poisonous fog ahead—more than one!
Immediately afterwards, several tall figures slowly appeared.
Upon seeing what was coming, everyone gasped in shock.
It was still a corpse puppet, but the corpse puppet in front of me was completely different from the ones I had encountered before.
Their bodies were much larger, their skin had a metallic bluish-black sheen, their joints were covered with bone-like growths, and their eyes flickered with eerie green flames, radiating a chilling sense of oppression.
"It's an Iron Corpse!"
"The corpse puppets, repeatedly tempered using secret methods, are impervious to blades and spears, possess immense strength, and are the elite among the Shadow Guards!"
The leading iron corpse let out a roar that was not human, suddenly accelerated, and charged forward.
"Scatter!" Lou Jin shouted, and at the same time, he dodged the Iron Corpse's charge with a flash, and his long sword, carrying a sharp sword aura, slashed towards its neck.
A piercing clang of metal rang out, sparks flying everywhere.
Lou Jin felt a jolt in his arm, but the longsword failed to penetrate even an inch, leaving only a white mark on his bluish-black skin.
Ye Xunyang thrust his sword at the side of the Iron Corpse's ribs with a clang, and the sword tip slid away.
"Such a tough defense." Ye Xunyang's expression changed slightly.
At this moment, several other iron corpses also rushed into the group. They ignored ordinary sword and knife strikes, and their arms swung with tremendous force. A man from Black Stone Village was unable to dodge in time and was punched in the chest. His sternum shattered instantly, and he flew backward, spitting out blood. He was clearly going to die.
"Form ranks! Attack the joints and eyes." Lou Jin remained calm under pressure and quickly changed his strategy.
The guards and assassins immediately tightened their formation, providing cover for each other, and concentrated their attacks on the iron corpse's knees, elbows, and eye sockets.
However, the Iron Corpse is not clumsy and has a tight defense, making it difficult for ordinary attacks to be effective.
Shi Long roared and swung a heavy machete he had picked up, using all his strength to chop at the back of an iron corpse's leg.
"Clang!" The cleaver broke open, and the iron corpse only staggered for a moment before punching the stone dragon back several steps, its tiger's mouth split open and blood gushing out.
The battle quickly became a stalemate. The team was tightly bound by these iron corpses, unable to move an inch, and people kept getting injured.
The gray-green poisonous fog continued to erode their physical strength and internal energy.
Lou Jin's eyes were icy cold; he knew he couldn't delay any longer.
He took a deep breath, his inner strength began to circulate slowly, and he abandoned his sword to use his palms, which instantly turned crimson.
"Dragon Shock Palm!"
Lou Jin let out a low shout, his figure moving like a dragon, and struck the chest of the nearest iron corpse with a palm! The palm wind howled, carrying a scorching wave of air!
With a muffled thud, the chest of the seemingly invulnerable iron corpse visibly caved in, and a charred handprint appeared on its bluish-black skin.
Lou Jin landed a successful blow, and his breathing became slightly disordered, but he did not pause at all. He raised his palm again and attacked another iron corpse.
Ye Xunyang also channeled his inner energy to the fullest extent, causing the sword to glow with a blazing white light as he targeted the iron corpse's weak points, such as its joints and eye sockets.
With Lou Jin's powerful defense-breaking ability, his attacks were finally able to deal effective damage.
Arno wasn't idle either, constantly offering pointers: "Attack the third vertebra of their neck."
With a clear objective, the group worked together to focus their attack on the back of the iron corpse's neck.
With the combined force of Lou Jin's powerful palm strike and Ye Xunyang's blazing sword energy, Ye Xunyang finally pierced the back of the neck of an iron corpse with a single sword strike.
Having found a method, the remaining iron corpses, though troublesome, were defeated one by one by the combined efforts of the group.
When the last iron corpse fell, everyone was almost exhausted, with injuries on their bodies and a huge depletion of their internal energy.
"Quick! The effects of the Purple Blood Vine are wearing off!" Arno urged.
No one dared to linger; they forced themselves to keep going despite their exhaustion and quickened their pace to rush deeper into the poisonous fog.
The fog ahead seemed to have thinned a bit, and a dark cave entrance could be vaguely seen. A cold wind blew out of the cave, carrying a strong smell of blood.
The medicinal effects of the purple blood vine leaves were rapidly fading, and the bitterness on my tongue was gradually replaced by a numbness, causing my head to spin again.
We must enter the cave as soon as possible and find a relatively safe environment.
"There might be an ambush at the cave entrance, be careful." Lou Jin's voice was low, and despite his great internal energy depletion, he still walked at the front.
Ye Xunyang followed closely beside him, never leaving his side.
Arno took a deep breath, took out a smaller jade bottle from his pocket, poured out a few scarlet pills and swallowed them himself, then handed them to Lou Jin and Ye Xunyang: "These are Blood Burning Pills, which can stimulate potential and suppress poison in a short time, but will severely damage your vitality after the effects wear off... Use them only in critical moments."
Lou Jin accepted it and carefully put it away: "Thank you."
The group carefully stepped into the cave.
The entrance to the cave is narrow, allowing only two or three people to walk side by side, but once inside, the interior space opens up dramatically, yet becomes even more eerie and terrifying.
The cave's interior was not naturally formed; the rock walls bore obvious signs of human excavation and were inlaid with phosphorescent stones that emitted a ghostly green light, providing a faint and eerie glow.
The air was damp and cold, and underfoot lay filth that had accumulated for who knows how long.
Even more chilling is that on the rock walls on both sides, one can occasionally see the skeletons that have long since turned to white bones, as well as the disemboweled carcasses of wild beasts, which were obviously used in some kind of evil ritual.
"This place... is like hell on earth," one of the guards whispered, his voice filled with suppressed fear.
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