Signal for Help

Red light pulsed on the jade slip like a bleeding warning—it was a signal for help from a fellow disciple!

Feng Qingping’s fingertips trembled, causing the array disk to clatter onto the ground with a sharp crack. Feng Weilan’s short dagger was already unsheathed, its cold glint reflecting his suddenly grim expression.

"It’s Fourth Senior Brother’s distress signal." Feng Qingping’s voice was tight as she scrutinized the specific coordinates attached to the signal. "It’s coming from the direction of the Blackwater Marsh, but the exact location..." Her brow furrowed deeply. "Something is interfering with it."

Li Nanzhu’s heart sank. Jiang Yifan—the fourth senior brother who, in the original story, loved to travel in search of refinery materials. According to the original plot, he shouldn't have encountered that particular disaster for at least another three months.

Anxiety spread through her chest. The plot was deviating further and further; she had to see for herself how her fourth senior brother was doing.

"Let’s go." Feng Weilan’s short dagger transformed back into a long blade. The dark-red patterns on the pitch-black blade emitted an ominous glow.

"I’m coming too!" Li Nanzhu blurted out, her silver sword already in hand.

Feng Weilan frowned. "You just reached the Foundation Establishment..."

Feng Qingping instinctively wanted to refuse as well, but when she saw the determination in Li Nanzhu’s eyes, the words died in her throat.

"Fifth Senior Sister." Li Nanzhu’s voice was soft but exceptionally firm. "Our sect is one entity. There is no reason for me to stand by and do nothing while a fellow disciple is in danger." She paused, pulling a thick stack of talismans and several bottles of pills from her storage bag. "Besides, I’ve hoarded quite a lot of supplies recently. And there’s Suisui..."

Before she could finish, a series of mechanical clicks echoed as Suisui’s joints rapidly rearranged themselves. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a bone bird half the height of a person. Soul fire burned fiercely in its hollow eye sockets, and a sudden gust of wind rose as it spread its wings.

Feng Qingping and Feng Weilan exchanged a look before finally nodding. "Fine. But you must stay close to us."

Li Nanzhu breathed a sigh of relief, though she suddenly realized that neither of them had mentioned looking for Feng Yi.

Her heart stirred. She recalled that in the original book, Feng Yi never seemed to care whether his disciples lived or died. Seeing Feng Qingping and Feng Weilan’s reactions, it was clear they were long accustomed to handling crises on their own.

"Eldest Senior Brother’s signal has cut out again. Eldest Senior Sister is likely in the mortal realm. Second Senior Brother and Seventh Junior Brother are in seclusion..." Feng Qingping counted them off in a low voice, finally shaking her head helplessly. "As for Third Senior Brother..."

"He’d be useless even if he came," Feng Weilan cut in coldly.

Li Nanzhu remained silent. It seemed that in the entire Five Elements Dao Sect, the only ones she could truly rely on were the two standing before her.

Just as she was about to step onto Suisui’s bony spine, Feng Qingping pulled her back. "Suisui will need to protect you later. Don't waste too much of its spiritual energy. Just come with me."

Saying this, she pulled out a spirit sword and led Li Nanzhu onto it. Suisui quickly shrank back to its original form and hopped onto Li Nanzhu’s shoulder.

"Move out!" Feng Weilan leveled his long blade and took to the air first.

Two streaks of sword light sliced through the sky. On Feng Qingping’s flying sword, Li Nanzhu gripped her senior sister’s sleeve tightly. Suisui clung to her shoulder, its soul fire flickering as if it might be snuffed out by the rushing wind.

"Hold tight!" Feng Qingping performed a hand seal, and the flying sword’s speed increased by thirty percent. "We’ll head to Qingyun City first to use the teleportation array."

Li Nanzhu nodded. The fierce wind made it nearly impossible to keep her eyes open as the mountains below receded at high speed. Looking at the backs of her senior brother and sister, she suddenly realized how much she had changed. At first, she had only thought about saving the eldest and seventh senior brothers, but now she was genuinely worried for the safety of her other fellow disciples.

She... felt like she finally had a home.

She couldn't lose her family.

Even those she had never met.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the teleportation array in Qingyun City. Li Nanzhu had covered Suisui with a cloak beforehand to avoid causing a commotion.

Feng Qingping used the direct method of throwing money at the problem to activate the teleportation array ahead of schedule. After a flash of blinding golden light, the three people and one bone spirit vanished from the array.

When the golden light of the third teleportation faded, Li Nanzhu’s boots stepped onto scalding bluestone slabs. The scorching sun of Chishui City made the air shimmer and warp, but the northeastern sky was shrouded in an eerie grayish-black.

Feng Weilan’s face was pale; the consecutive teleportations had made him unsteady. Feng Qingping immediately supported his arm, her array disk emitting a steady green light. "Can you keep going?"

Feng Weilan forced down the wave of dizziness and nodded slightly. With a flick of his long blade, he took to the skies again. Two streaks of light flashed over Chishui City, racing toward the northeast.

As the distance closed, the strange expanse of black water ahead grew clearer.

The Blackwater Marsh—a famously perilous place in the cultivation world. It was named for its waters, which were as black as ink year-round. Even more terrifying was the pervasive miasma, which deterred even Golden Core stage cultivators from entering lightly.

Legend had it that a true dragon had fallen here in ancient times, its blood soaking into the earth and turning the marsh toxic. The "Bone-Sinking Swamp" was the most dangerous region within the Blackwater Marsh; it was said that even Nascent Soul stage cultivators would find it difficult to escape once trapped.

"Why would Fourth Senior Brother come to a place like this..." she murmured to herself.

"It’s said that a mineral called mysterious yin iron lies at the bottom of the water. It can be used to forge the highest grade of water-repelling magic tools."

Li Nanzhu’s heart leaped.

Mysterious yin iron—wasn't that the exact material her fourth senior brother was supposed to look for in the South Sea three months from now? Why had it appeared here ahead of time?

"Something’s wrong..." she muttered. "According to... uh, normally, shouldn't mysterious yin iron be in the South Sea..."

Feng Weilan suddenly interrupted. "Three months ago, rumors spread that a mutated mineral vein had appeared at the bottom of the Blackwater Marsh." He pointed his blade into the distance. "Fourth Senior Brother must have come for that."

Li Nanzhu’s pupils shrank. The plot really had deviated completely! Not only was the timing early, but the location had changed too.

And where exactly did this rumor come from? Li Nanzhu had a gut feeling that this rumor was specifically targeted at her fourth senior brother—with the goal of taking his life right here!

"Prepare to enter." Feng Weilan took out three poison-avoidance pills. "Hold them under your tongues. Do not use your spiritual energy."

As soon as they stepped into the marsh's range, a stench of rot and brine hit them. The ground beneath was wet and slimy; every step felt like treading on decaying flesh, producing a sickening squelch. Black mist drifted everywhere, compressing their vision to less than thirty feet and suppressing even their divine sense.

"Careful, the miasma here will erode your spiritual energy." Feng Qingping tapped her finger, and the array disk deployed a pale green barrier to protect the three of them. "Stay together. Don't get separated."

Li Nanzhu held her breath, not daring to relax for a second. Suisui’s soul fire grew dim, and its bone claws gripped her collar tightly while making clicking sounds. Clearly, the atmosphere here was extremely uncomfortable for Suisui, which was filled with life force.

"Suisui?" Li Nanzhu stroked its skull worriedly.

Feng Qingping’s array disk suddenly emitted a piercing hum. "Watch out! There’s something in the water!"

The pitch-black water surface exploded without warning as several tentacles covered in suckers lashed out like lightning!

Feng Weilan’s blade flashed like a bolt of electricity, severing two tentacles instantly. However, the severed limbs turned into black water the moment they hit the ground, seeping back into the earth!