Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 723: Chapter 57: The Filthy Swamp

Long Long and others, carrying Qi Qiaofa, dashed along the waterways toward the east, rushing fiercely the entire way.

Qi Yingzhu had only given them a quarter of an hour’s time. Once the time expired, she would immediately pursue them, so they naturally had to disregard everything and flee with all their might.

Finally reaching the boundary of Two Rivers Plain, Long Long didn’t hesitate to throw Qi Qiaofa onto the shore and then continued sprinting eastward.

“Long Long,” Qin Zhou asked anxiously, “just like that, you’re letting him go?”

“Killing him is meaningless,” Long Long said calmly.

...

“That’s not it.” Qin Zhou hesitated, then after a long pause, said, “If we could have taken him with us all along, even if we were pursued later on, couldn’t we have ensured our safety?”

“If we choose to break our word and take him hostage, those who were not chasing us would start to do so,” Long Long said with a slight smile.

About two quarters of an hour later, numerous cultivators from the Horned Clan and the Mao Clan arrived at the scene and rescued the injured Qi Qiaofa.

Seeing that Qi Qiaofa was safe, Empress Lü Ya finally felt relieved. Turning to look at the indifferent Qi Yingzhu, she wanted to give her daughter a slap, but although she raised her hand, she let it fall again.

“Why did Your Highness let them go?” Lv Yan asked the expressionless Qi Yingzhu seriously.

“If I hadn’t let them go, where would that have left my brother’s life?” Qi Yingzhu threw the question back at him.

“If the opponent had reached this point and still had not released him, your brother’s life would have been threatened anyway,” Lv Yan said meaningfully, “Why not engage with him, delaying until we arrived?”

“He wouldn’t have held back,” Qi Yingzhu replied.

“But why?”

“He wouldn’t entirely break ties with us,” Qi Yingzhu said indifferently, “Killing my brother is all harm and no benefit to him. He is not one to act recklessly, without regard for the bigger picture.”

Hearing this, Lv Yan lapsed into deep thought, but Empress Lü Ya burst into anger:

“Who are you accusing of not regarding the bigger picture?”

Qi Yingzhu turned her head away and did not reply.

“Your Majesty, please calm down,” Lv Yan quickly tried to smooth things over, “It now seems that Your Highness’ decision to let Long Long and his party go was not really a bad move. At the very least, the Second Prince’s life has been preserved.”

“You go east immediately with your men and capture that little thief!” Lü Ya commanded decisively before turning to glare at Qi Yingzhu, and said coldly:

“Do you still delusionally hope to marry that little thief?”

“Daughter dares not,” Qi Yingzhu bowed her head and closed her eyes.

“If the Dragon Clan loses this time, you might still have a chance,” Lü Ya said with a sinister sneer, “but if the Dragon Clan wins, you and he truly will have no possibility at all.”

“Think it through, my foolish daughter.”

Lv Yan led his men away from Two Rivers Plain, hastening eastward.

“General,” a deputy asked beside him, “if the Dragon Clan fully activates the Water Escape Technique, it won’t be easy for us to catch up. And if we venture too deep into South State, could it be detrimental to us?”

“If he continues to flee eastward along the river, it will naturally be somewhat difficult for us to catch up,” Lv Yan replied steadily, “but if they want to return to Eastern State, they must leave the water and head north.”

“From Jinjiang River north to the Three-Tail Mountain Range, the shortest distance is also around one thousand four hundred li. As long as we move ahead to the east, we will be able to block their way home.”

——————

“What, we’re going into the sea?” Qin Zhou asked incredulously.

“Yes, we must enter the sea,” Long Long replied.

He sketched a map of the eastern part of South State rapidly on the fine sands at the river bottom:

“The tributary we are on is called Jinjiang.”

“If Jinjiang continues eastward, there’s a large swamp known as ‘the Filthy.’ Cross through the Filthy, over the Qiyun Mountain Range, and it empties into the ocean.”

“If we wish to return to Eastern State, we need to leave the waterway before Jinjiang merges into the Filthy and head northeast. The journey will be at least a thousand li and fraught with great risk.”

“It’s better to cross through the Filthy, the Qiyun Mountain Range, then enter the sea to circuitously return to Eastern State.”

“It is said that the swamp is filled with miasma, and ordinary cultivators who enter risk losing their bearings and ultimately succumbing to the poison.” Qin Ye also added, “Long Long brother, if we enter the Filthy, the biggest enemy isn’t the pursuers but the terrain itself.”

“Don’t worry.” Unable to admit he could scan, Long Long could only put on an act as if he had all the answers, saying comfortably, “I have a secret technique that can discern directions within this Filthy swamp.”

Since he mentioned it was a secret technique, nobody could really question it further. Plus, given the credibility he’d established along the way, they had no choice but to trust him.

The group continued along Jinjiang without any rest and finally arrived at the Filthy.

On the other side, from the Filthy to the Three-Legged Mountain Range, the patrol had finished setting up their ambush but had not managed to ensnare Long Long and his group as they had hoped.

“The situation has changed,” Lv Yan suddenly said solemnly, “They must have entered the Filthy.”

“The Filthy?” the deputy asked in astonishment, “Isn’t that place full of miasma, with visibility only within a few zhang?”

“Do they know we are lying in wait here, so they’ve chosen to take a risk in desperation?”

“No need to bother,” Lv Yan said calmly, “Since the enemy has been forced into the Filthy, His Majesty’s orders are considered completed. We withdraw our troops.”

Seeing Lv Yan show no sign of surprise, the deputy had a moment of insight, realizing that this newly promoted elder had never really intended to catch Long Long.

Otherwise, all it would’ve taken was to split forces, blocking the path to the Three-Legged Mountain Range while he pursued them alone to the Filthy—then Long Long and his people would never have escaped so easily.

What exactly was the general thinking? Thinking back to Qi Yingzhu from before, the deputy’s expression was pensive.

——————

Jinjiang was originally fairly clear, but as soon as it merged with the Filthy, it quickly turned a strange shade of green.

The closer to the surface of the swamp, the more intense the green hue became, mixed with a strong miasma that made one feel dizzy and nauseous with just a whiff.

The party had no choice but to follow the riverbed forward, doing their best to resist the poisonous miasma.

“What kind of poison is this?” Long Long, troubled by the miasma, exclaimed, “Why is it so powerful!”

“It should be Jia Wood poison.” Green Duckweed Sword, silent until now, suddenly spoke up, “If one only cultivates Jia Wood without cultivating Yimu and takes Jia Wood to the extreme, it can transform into death, producing this life-infused intense poison.”

“I see.” Long Long naturally understood the principle of imbalance without opposites.

In theory, the more one cultivated the Jia Wood Dao, the more powerful the Wood System spells became, but the consumption of True Yuan also increased significantly. Yimu could reduce spell usage, which is why most Wood System Daoists didn’t intentionally avoid it.

According to Qing Ping, this miasma seemed to originate from a high-realm cultivator of the Demon Race who, due to a lack of Yimu while cultivating their Bloodline Supernatural Power, had taken Jia Wood to its limits, causing an imbalance between yin and yang, which resulted in this so-called “Jia Wood poison.”

“Ah Jing, can you detect the direction?” Long Long asked.

“I can’t scan it for now,” the Kunlun Mirror replied, “However, if you just follow the direction where the miasma is most potent, won’t you find its source?”

“You’re truly clever, Ah Jing!” Long Long praised.

“Hmph, buttering me up won’t work,” the Kunlun Mirror said proudly, “You’d better think about how to convince them to follow you to the source of that intense poison.”