"This is a city where mortals and cultivators live together. They will only check the identity of some cultivators and will not harass mortals.
In fact, the check of cultivators is just a formality. After all, the City Lord is only a Middle-stage Golden Immortal. He won't take the initiative to cause trouble, "Hu San explained when he saw that Han Li was a little surprised.
"This is a lot more convenient. It seems that Fellow Daoist Hu San has chosen this place after careful consideration," Han Li praised.
As they talked, they passed through the city's north where mortals lived and arrived at the city's south.
The south of the city occupied one-third of the entire city and was mainly the area where cultivators gathered. The City Lord's Mansion was located here.
Not far from the City Lord's Mansion, there was a small mountain in the city called Smoky Gazing Mountain. It was only about five hundred feet high and the top of the mountain was the largest Immortal Inn in the entire Smoky Wave City. Han Li and the others chose to stay here.
According to the information from the Samsara Temple, the last time the Hallucinatory Smoke appeared in the Hallucinatory Smoke Swamp was about three thousand five hundred years ago. Therefore, it should have been about a hundred years since the appearance of the Hallucinatory Smoke Swamp.
Less than a hundred years of time was like a lifetime in the secular world, but for cultivators, especially Perfected Immortals like Han Li, it was just a snap of the fingers.
Han Li and the others thought that they would soon enter the Hallucinatory Smoke Swamp. They did not expect that after more than a hundred and thirty years, the Hallucinatory Smoke Swamp was still peaceful and unchanged.
Regarding this matter, Hu San was naturally the most anxious one. Shi Chuankong and the Hot Flame Immortal were also a little anxious. Only Han Li did not think that it was important. He was more concerned about the method of dispelling the Evil Qi in the Samsara Temple. Unfortunately, there was no response so far.
However, after such a long period of meditation in seclusion, the fifth level of the Art of Cultivation of the Spirit, which he previously thought was too difficult to make any progress, was now beginning to make some headway and gradually began to enter a better state. In the "Flowery Branch" grotto-heaven, the Dao soldiers and various kinds of spirit herbs were also growing well.
On this day, Han Li had just finished watering the Dao Soldiers in the grotto-heaven. After he exited the grotto-heaven, he stood before the window of the pavilion he resided in and looked into the distance. His gaze passed over the scenery in the city and landed on the Illusory Smoke Swamp in the distance.
It was noon, and it was a sunny day. The fog above the Illusory Smoke Swamp had dissipated a lot, and their field of vision was much wider than usual. They could clearly see the Floating Island in the distance without using their Spirit Eyes.
Hidden Floating Island, in essence, could not be considered an island at all. It was just a mudflat formed by some aquatic plants and silt mixed with a layer of floating soil. Its surface area was no more than ten kilometers, and there were some shrubs with shallow roots growing on it.
Han Li originally planned to continue cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique after watching for a while, but at this moment, he suddenly raised his eyebrows. His eyes lit up with a purple light, and he focused his attention in the direction of the Floating Island.
He saw a grayish-white stone pillar protruding from the ink-black shrubs of the floating island, as if it had suddenly grown out of the floating island. It was only six feet tall, just a little taller than the shrubs. If not for Han Li's amazing eyesight, it would have been difficult to discover it.
Immediately after, wisps of pink smoke suddenly emerged from around the stone pillar, gurgling and growing thicker. Very quickly, it spread out and spread along the shallow ground of the swamp. Not long after, it submerged the entire Floating Island.
"It's here …" Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he sighed softly.
Almost at the same time, a voice sounded outside the pavilion, "Fellow Li, the Illusory Dust Smoke has appeared. We have to hurry and set off."
Han Li recognized Hu San's voice and immediately responded, "Fellow Fox San, please wait a moment, we'll be right there."
A moment later, Han Li and the others gathered at the top of the Misty Sky Mountain, ready to set off for the Floating Island.
"Everyone, please don't blame me for rushing you. This time, the Illusory Dust Smoke appeared a few years later than expected. Many cultivators who wanted to risk their lives to enter the Illusory Smoke Swamp have already arrived at Smoke Wave City.
Although it's impossible for them to find the entrance of the ruins, it's not a good thing if too many people see our whereabouts, "Hu San said.
"It's alright, there's no time to lose, let's set off now," Shi Chuankong said.
Han Li and Hot Flame Immortal Venerable looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
The four of them then flew into the sky, ignoring the strict rule of flying over the city walls, and directly turned into several streaks of light, speeding away.
After leaving Smoke Wave City, Han Li suddenly heard a burst of chaotic sounds coming from below. Looking down, he saw a group of several hundred people rushing along the official road outside the city towards the Illusory Smoke Swamp, beating drums and gongs.
The dozens of people in the lead were wearing strange masks that were almost half the height of a person. They were holding two burning tobacco sticks in their hands, and their limbs were performing an exaggerated strange dance as they rushed forward.
"Fellow Daoist Hu San, those people should be mortals, right?
What are they doing? "Han Li asked in confusion.
Hu San casually glanced at them and explained:
"These people are the indigenous survivors of the Illusory Smoke Swamp. They are no different from ordinary humans, but they are born with longevity, living for more than two hundred years. They only moved out of the swamp about ten thousand years ago.
Their ancestors didn't know what the Illusory Dust Smoke was, they only knew that every time this pink smoke appeared, their clansmen would disappear and die. As time passed, they thought that it was a divine miracle that had appeared to punish them, so they left behind this custom of performing the 'exorcism dance' to worship the heavens and earth.
"In fact, now that they have interacted with cultivators, they more or less know the reason behind the Illusory Dust Smoke's appearance. But every time the Illusory Dust Smoke appears, they will still follow the custom and go to the edge of the swamp to pray to the heavens and earth," Shi Chuankong added.
"I see." Han Li nodded and no longer looked at those people.
About a quarter of an hour later, the group arrived at the edge of the Illusory Smoke Swamp and flew down.
The swamp was filled with a faint smoke, looking like a vast lake. As they approached, they could see a layer of shallow lake water, with dark green aquatic plants swaying leisurely at the bottom. From time to time, white bubbles would appear on the surface of the water, and when they popped, they would make a soft 'pop' sound.
The Illusory Dust Smoke was expanding at a rapid pace. At this moment, it had already enveloped an area of fifty kilometers around the Hidden Floating Island. Even ordinary people with naked eyes could clearly see that the pink smoke was blotting out the sky and covering the earth at this moment.
"I've already said it many times before, but I still can't help but remind everyone that the power of this Illusory Dust Smoke is not small. Once you enter it, you must guard your soul tightly and maintain your mind. Don't be deceived by the illusion and lose your mind." Hu San put away his usual casual expression and solemnly exhorted.
"I've prepared some Divine Spirit Pills here. They can stabilize the Spirit Soul and clear the Sea of Consciousness. They also have some effect on resisting the Illusory Dust Smoke. You might as well take one in advance." Shi Chuankong flipped his palm and a dark green jade box appeared in his palm.
"Brother Shi, these Divine Spirit Pills are not easy to get. I couldn't even buy them in the Samsara Palace. Where did you get them?" Hu San was slightly surprised and asked.
"What the Samsara Palace can't get doesn't mean that the Vast Origin House can't." Shi Chuankong raised his eyebrows and said calmly.
After saying that, he opened the jade box, picked up a pill and swallowed it.
"With this thing, it'll be much safer." Hu San grinned and also took a pill from the box and swallowed it.
Hot Flame Immortal looked at Han Li with a hint of hesitation on his face.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Shi." Han Li also took out a pill and said with a smile.
After taking the pill, he examined it for a while and didn't find anything wrong with it, so he naturally put it into his mouth.
But as soon as he closed his mouth, a silver flame immediately appeared in his throat and wrapped around the Divine Spirit Pill, drawing it into his abdomen and sealing it.
Han Li still had some confidence in his Spirit Soul, so he didn't plan to really take this Divine Spirit Pill unless it was necessary.
On the other side, seeing that Han Li had already taken the pill, Hot Flame Immortal also took out a pill and put it into his mouth.
"Everyone, when we enter the Illusory Dust Smoke, we must use our Spirit Souls to guide each other. Don't get separated." Hu San said after the preparation was done.
After saying that, he waved his hand and an exquisite silver flying boat appeared out of thin air and landed on the surface of the swamp.
After Han Li and the others boarded the boat, he made a hand seal and activated it.
The runes on the silver flying boat suddenly lit up, and a layer of silver light lit up from the bottom of the boat, lifting the spirit boat by half a foot and shooting out along the surface of the water.
Han Li noticed that the water in the Illusory Smoke Swamp was obviously different from other places. The water seemed to be quite heavy. Even under the whirlwind brought by the flying boat, the water did not splash, but only ripples.
He bent down and stretched out two snow-white jade-like fingers, gently stroking the water surface, and suddenly understood.
The water here was also not ordinary. It seemed to be mixed with some kind of black sand, which had a certain degree of corrosiveness, but for his current Golden Immortal body, it was naturally not a problem.
The silver flying boat sped all the way. Although the few people had not yet entered the range of the Illusory Dust Smoke, as the sun set in the west, the smoke above the swamp began to gradually thicken.
When they passed by a huge piece of green duckweed, the surface of the water suddenly shook violently, and a large splash rushed into the sky. A huge black shadow rushed out of the water, and leaped into the air, crashing down towards them.
Han Li squinted his eyes and saw that it was a huge strange fish with black scales all over its body. The green duckweed was a clump of messy hair on its head, and its bloody mouth was full of sharp teeth.
The four people on the flying boat had already noticed the strange fish's sudden attack, but they didn't pay much attention to it. In fact, Hu San even joked, "This guy is really ugly."
Shi Chuankong made a hand seal and waved his hand in the air. A silver streak of light swept over the heads of the few people, and easily cut the strange fish in half.
The strange thing was that the two sides of the strange fish's wounds seemed to be sealed by a spatial force, and not a single drop of blood spilled out. It was only when the fish fell into the swamp that the jet-black blood started to spread.