Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"But are we really going to be alright going so far into the Great Poison Swamp? Even if Elder Proud Bear is powerful and is capable of dealing with most of the poisonous insects and demon beasts, he won't be able to account for them more unique insects that appear in the deeper parts of the Great Poison Swamp…"

As the group of three youths were continuing deeper inside the Great Poison Swamp under the watch of the elder in the Domain Lord Realm, one of the youths could not help nervously asking this after seeing an especially powerful demon beasts watching them from a distance.

Even without the demon beast letting any of its killing intent leak out due to the presence of Elder Proud Bear, its strength was not hidden in the slightest. Allowing the three youths to understand that the demon beast was actually Half a Step into the Domain Lord Realm!

"This… You don't have to worry about it. If it really ends up getting too dangerous, we can always get Elder Proud Bear to carry us and escape. From what I heard, the demon beasts here do not chase for too long due to them fearing that their territory will get invaded by all sorts of unknown poisonous insects that will end up posing a lethal threat if it can't find all of them…"

"Senior brother is correct, just look at all the demon beasts we encountered so far. Even the demon beasts that were far stronger than us and couldn't see through Elder Proud Bear's strength didn't dare attack us if we were too far away from them."

"I get it… It's just that I'm feeling a bit nervous with all the poisonous insects and demon beasts around. Especially after the recent news that one of the Dark Sky Kingdom's Domain Lords went missing in here just a day earlier…" Hearing what his two fellow disciples said, the nervous youth started to calm down as he said this.

""…""

Seeing that their friend had calmed down, the other two both kept silent as a serious expression appeared on their faces upon hearing what the nervous one had mentioned.

A Domain Lord from the Dark Sky Kingdom had gone missing…

Even if they understood that it was normal for a Domain Lord to go missing inside the Great Poison Swamp every now and then, they also understood why their friend got more and more nervous the deeper inside of the Great Poison Swamp they went.

To be honest, both of them also understood what their friend was feeling, as both of them were in a similar nervous state. The only difference was that they didn't outwardly show it…

"Haha, you three are already getting nervous? We have only just crossed the outer region of the Great Poison Swamp and entered the boundary between the outer and inner region of the Great Poison Swamp!

To get the Poisonous Devil Leaves from the Poisonous Devil Tree that you three are here for, we will have to cross the boundary. After all, the Poisonous Devil Tree can only be found in the inner region of the Great Poison Swamp!"

Having walked over as all three youths had unconsciously come to a stop in the middle of a small piece of dry land inside the mostly wet swampland of the Great Poison Swamp, Elder Proud Bear could not help chuckling to himself as he said with a teasing smile on his face.

Although he had been assigned to look after the three youths during their mission to get their hands of the leaves of the Poisonous Devil Tree, it wouldn't hurt if he interacted with them for a few minutes.

"""Elder!"""

Not expecting for Elder Proud Bear to come over, all three of them jumped up in surprise as they called out with happy expressions on their faces.

Even if they understood Elder Proud Bear was watching over them from a distance due to them having to navigate the Great Poison Swamp and avoid the different poisonous insects by themselves, they could not help feeling happy after he showed up next to them

"Calm down you three, I'm just here to tell you to get moving instead of standing around. Haven't you noticed that the nearby poisonous demon beasts have already started encircling this place?"

"Wha-!?"

"This…"

"They really have started surrounding us…"

Hearing what their elder told them, the three youths quickly looked around themselves and realized that the different demon beasts they had seen from afar before, were now only standing a few dozen meters away from them.

If not for the fact that Elder Proud Bear had shown up an told them…

"L-let's get going! We still have to find the Poisonous Devil Tree and get the leaves before we can leave. The faster we get them, the faster we can leave the Great Poison Swamp!"

""Yeah!""

Not wasting any time after hearing what their senior brother said, the two other youths quickly followed him as all three of them quickly made their way out of the almost complete encirclement by the poisonous demon beasts-

Roar!

Roar!

Roar!

However, some of the poisonous demon beasts did not seem too happy about their pray just leaving, as they pounced forward the moment the three youths were about to fully leave the incomplete encirclement.

Fwoosh-!

"Hmph!"

However, just as these poisonous demon beasts were about to reach the three youths, a terrifying domain engulfed all of them.

Roar-

Bang!

Not even able to even make a small roar, all the poisonous demon beasts were crushed to death beneath the terrifying domain!

The only poisonous demon beasts that stayed alive was the one that was already Half a Step into the Domain Lord Realm, as it had already recognized the strength of Elder Proud Bear and was wise enough to stay away when the rest of the nearby poisonous demon beasts had decided to encircle the three youths and Elder Proud Bear.

"Hm? What are you three standing there for? Get going!"

Turning towards the three youths who were all gazing up at him filled with amazement, Elder Proud Bear waved for them to continue, while secretly smiling to himself upon seeing their reaction. Feeling quite happy at the admiration he got from the three youths after having displayed his power.

"Y-Yes Elder!"

Filled with amazement after seeing the awesome display of power by Elder Proud Bear, the oldest among the three youths was the first to calm down as he quickly bowed his head in respect before dragging his junior brother and sister along with him. Not wanting to attract more poisonous demon beasts and having to rely on Elder Proud Bear once again.

…

"This should be the inner region of the Great Poison Swamp…"

Seeing a very clear line of trees giving off a demonic feeling appearing in the distance, Xuan Hao slowed down his speed as he slowly approached the line of trees in the distance cautiously.

Poisonous devil trees… According to what Yi Min said, these trees signal the beginning of the inner region of the Great Poison Swamp. Not only that, but their leaves are rather special and can be considered a great ingredient in not only poisonous potions and pills, but also healing ones…

Thinking about this, Xuan Hao narrowed his eyes and focused on the small creatures crawling all over the leaves of the Poisonous Devil Trees.

"Devil Bugs…" Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine upon remembering Yi Min's description of these small insects.

Devil Bugs were a special kind of insect that only lived on the Poisonous Devil Tree and would die the moment it went too far away from the tree. The insect in question was not that strong and its poison was only barely strong enough to kill someone in the Core Formation. However, things would be different if there was more than one Devil Bug around…

"The more of them are around, the stronger they get and when the number of Devil Bugs reaches a certain level, they become near unkillable, and their poison will get strong enough to even kill someone in the Domain Lord Realm!

And… The only place where the concentration of Devil Bugs has reached this level, is the border between the outer region and the inner region of the Great Poison Swamp…" Shaking his head as he said this while looking towards the endless number of Devil Bugs covering the Poisonous Devil Trees in the distance, Xuan Hao could not help growing even more nervous as he got closer.

Even if there was a rather simple way to pass through the border wall formed by the dangerous Devil Bugs and the Poisonous Devil Trees, Xuan Hao still did could not stop himself from feeling a bit fearful when facing the harmless looking Devil Bugs.

After all, the Devil Bugs in front of him had claimed the lives of many powerful cultivators before the method to safely pass through the border wall was found. According to Yi Min, a powerful expert in the Soul Ascension Realm had even died to the Devil Bugs in the past before a method to safely enter the inner region of the Great Poison Swamp was found!