"You idiot!" Wu He was anxious. He had followed Luo Feng when they were initially selected for the army because Luo Feng had defeated him, and since they were the only two new recruits, Wu He stuck with him. Based on his experience, showing weakness and following Luo Feng meant that if danger arose, his own life-saving trump cards would likely see Luo Feng die first. He just never expected Luo Feng to be this insane.
He dared not continue following Luo Feng's reckless path. If things went on like this, Luo Feng might die, but Wu He himself would probably not escape the melee among the True God level beings.
Wu He transmitted his voice in a furious roar, "You have absolutely no idea what a Calamity Level mission means! Since you insist, you fight your fight, and I’ll fight mine! I’m not sticking with you anymore."
Swish!
Wu He immediately slipped away quietly and swiftly, rapidly closing in on the chaotic battlefield.
Luo Feng watched Wu He depart, sighing softly. His only companion since joining the army had left.
"He never truly trusted me either," Luo Feng murmured, shaking his head again. He remained hidden in the tall grass, silently observing the massive battle raging in the sky overhead. After watching for a long time, he finally began to move, quietly.
Across the entire Nine Smoke Marsh, there were three major battle zones.
These were: the Domain Lord battle zone, which had the largest numbers and was the most chaotic; the True God battle zone, involving over ten thousand True Gods; and the Void Battle zone, featuring the six Void True Gods.
Among these, the Domain Lord battle zone covered the largest area and was the most dispersed. Domain Lords were clashing everywhere—in the sky, the swamps, and deep within the mire.
Although the True Gods were also fighting in the sky and the swamps, their engagements were concentrated, primarily around the Zi Teng Marsh area of the Nine Smoke Marsh. Since their numbers were not overwhelming, the area around the Zi Teng Marsh was sufficient for their fights. Moreover, the Domain Lords consciously avoided this zone, unwilling to approach the area where True Gods were locked in combat.
After all, being caught in the crossfire of a True God brawl could easily lead to instant death.
"The True God level battlefield." Luo Feng advanced stealthily, moving with incredible speed toward the True God battle zone. However, on his way, he encountered three skirmishes. In all three instances, it was Domain Lords from the Nine Smoke Marsh faction who spotted Luo Feng and immediately identified him...
...as a tribal warrior from Xuan Ji Mountain.
In those three fights, Luo Feng only wanted to reach the True God battle zone as quickly as possible and couldn't be bothered to bully Domain Lords. But since his opponents insisted on running straight into his blade, Luo Feng had no choice. In these three encounters, though unintentional, Luo Feng killed one Domain Lord each time.
After considerable effort, Luo Feng stood atop a patch of swamp, gazing into the distance.
"It's right there."
Luo Feng watched quietly.
In the distance, the swamp was covered in a dense growth of large purple vines and grass—this was the 'Zi Teng Marsh' region of the Nine Smoke Marsh. Above this area, countless True Gods from alien beasts and tribal factions were interlocking and fighting. Many True Gods even burst forth from the trembling marsh, indicating that a massive melee was also occurring beneath the water.
"It seems they don't want too many casualties either," Luo Feng observed. "Both sides' True Gods are mixed together, fighting one another—there's one of them in every group. This way, there won't be any large-scale, coordinated attacks."
These one-on-one or two-on-one skirmishes resulted in only one falling after a significant duration.
If there were collective assaults, several would perish in a single sweep. Both sides instinctively charged into the opposing formation to engage in close-quarters fighting. After all, True Gods were fewer in number than Domain Lords, and no superpower could afford to carelessly waste powerful True God experts.
"A corpse." Luo Feng watched with anticipation. He was now just waiting for a True God level corpse to appear.
As Luo Feng hid near the edge of the True God battlefield, quietly awaiting his moment, far away on the periphery of the same battle zone, a squad of Domain Lords was also concealed.
"Captain, you are incredible! That True God battle zone is so terrifying, yet Captain so easily secured a True God corpse."
"Amazing!"
"For the Captain, it seems simple. If it were me, I surely wouldn't have survived."
Eighteen Domain Lords were hidden in the distant tall grass. This was the squad dispatched by the Mang River Army, led by their captain. The other soldiers were flattering their captain, who just moments ago had displayed his strength by perilously snatching a True God corpse belonging to the Nine Smoke Marsh faction.
Their praise stemmed from two things: first, genuine admiration, as the Captain was indeed powerful. Second, they hoped the Captain would snatch a few more True God corpses to help them fulfill their military objectives.
"Enough," the Captain, clearly enjoying the flattery, finally commanded via voice transmission.
The other soldiers might not know the full story, but the Captain was acutely aware of how dangerous that maneuver had been.
"One time is luck, two times is inviting disaster." The Captain swept his gaze over them, dashing their hopes slightly. "None of those Domain Lords near the True God battle zone dared to approach earlier. My sudden appearance to seize a corpse caught them completely off guard; they were unprepared, allowing me to escape quickly. Even so, I took a hit. If I had been slightly slower, surrounded by a few True Gods..."
The Captain shook his head as he spoke.
He had been through countless missions—repeated army assignments, and he had even survived Reincarnation Level missions. He knew clearly that at a critical moment, one must strike and take a risk! He had brought this group of soldiers along... but at least securing one corpse first would guarantee his own mission completion. Helping the others could wait until later.
"Captain..."
They all looked toward him.
"I won't abandon you all," the Captain transmitted. If he intended to do so, he would have left immediately. "We wait. When the opportunity arises, you will all follow my orders, and I will do my utmost to help everyone."
"Captain, just give the order, we will surely obey..."
The soldiers spoke those words, yet worry churned in their hearts.
Regardless, the Captain already possessed one True God corpse, sufficient for his military merits. But there were still seventeen other soldiers, meaning they needed seventeen True God corpses from the Nine Smoke Marsh faction.
"Securing seventeen True God corpses?" The soldiers worried.
"The Captain made it look easy before. If we act by complete surprise, seize the corpse swiftly, and flee immediately—even I might succeed," some of those soldiers who initially thought the Captain made it look easy felt that they, too, might risk it and succeed.
If things dragged on and no corpse appeared, they might resort to that extreme measure out of desperation!
The Captain surveyed them, frowned, and transmitted sternly, "Remember, one time is luck, the second time they will definitely be on guard. Those True Gods missed me, but they won't let me succeed again. None of you dare take risks. If anyone dares to act recklessly, I will leave this battlefield immediately."
"Yes, sir."
"We certainly won't act rashly," they replied in unison.
The Captain and his contingent waited patiently for an opportunity.
Luo Feng was also waiting.
He just didn't know that the Captain and his group were also waiting in the vicinity of this area. After all, the Captain was vastly experienced; his planning and decision-making were much more decisive, causing him to arrive earlier and secure a True God corpse before Luo Feng.
"One Thought Void."
"The entire Nine Smoke Marsh is enveloped by the Void domain. Within this range, any artifact based on domains or similar laws becomes useless. Even if the Shi Wu Wings remain, control over space and time would likely be nullified," Luo Feng understood this. On this battlefield, only the Void True Gods could truly control the overall situation.
Other True Gods and Domain Lords relied solely on sight and divine sense perception.
"I can only rely on sight and divine sense," Luo Feng stared intently.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
It was as if the heavens were collapsing and the earth splitting apart.
The True God battlefield was in utter chaos. Luo Feng, observing from afar, meticulously analyzed every location, waiting for the moment to appear.
Peng!
A monstrous, grotesque body was blasted out of the muddy swamp, tumbling backward, seemingly unconscious. Immediately following, the lightning-fast silhouette of a tribal True God shot out from the swamp, wielding a strange stone club, the tip of which was exceedingly sharp.
He raised the stone club high, following the trajectory of the flying, tumbling alien beast’s body, and plunged it down fiercely!
Pfft!
The sharp end of the club pierced directly into the head of the alien beast's body. This stab drove the rolling corpse deeper into the swamp. The massive alien beast corpse crashed down, sending water splashing everywhere. The stone club lodged in the True God alien beast's skull, releasing terrifying ripples of energy along its length.
"Aaaah—" Accompanied by a painful cry, the True God alien beast finally lowered its head and became motionless.
"Hahaha!" Three alien beast figures swept toward the tribal True God almost simultaneously.
"We can only bully the little ones who haven't acquired True God Battle Armor," roared one.
"Damn it."
"Scum from the Xuan Beng Mountain tribe!" The three alien beast True Gods charged forward with roars, forcing the tribal True God to flee instantly.
It was a matter of picking on the weak. More than half of the True Gods—both alien beasts and tribal warriors—had never joined an army! Therefore, quite a few of them did not possess 'True God Battle Armor,' just like the alien beast True God Luo Feng encountered when Heng Xing Mo Shen first arrived.
In the distance.
"A True God corpse! From the Nine Smoke Marsh faction!" The soldiers under the Captain's command were all green with envy.
"No risks! I told you, no risks!" The Captain scanned his surroundings. His authority and power forced these soldiers to suppress their greed. After all, they lacked confidence themselves and were hoping the Captain would take the risk for them... but the Captain was no fool...
At another location on the outskirts of the True God battlefield.
Luo Feng was also watching. He looked at the grotesque corpse lying in the swamp in the distance—a corpse hundreds of thousands of kilometers long, more than half submerged beneath the swamp water, with the rest exposed.
"A True God corpse! Belonging to the Nine Smoke Marsh faction!" Luo Feng's eyes lit up.
Luo Feng glanced at the positions of the other True Gods on the battlefield, using his divine sense to precisely map out the location of every single one.
"Right now, they are deeply entangled. Even if they try to intercept me later, based on their distances, a maximum of five True Gods could react in time. Just five True Gods—that's no threat!" Eight potential routes materialized in Luo Feng's mind, and he acted immediately. As he closed in, he continuously adjusted his path according to the movements of the warring True Gods, calculating the risks.
Whoosh!
"Approaching the danger zone."
"From this second onward, I could be discovered at any moment. The later I am discovered, the easier it will be for me to escape." Luo Feng had already plunged into the terrifying, heaven-and-earth-shattering True God level battlefield.