When Zhao Hai saw Buffy release such a wide-ranged magic spell, he quickly felt something was wrong and avoided it by entering the s.p.a.ce. Immediately opening the screen, he saw the situation outside on the battlefield. Obviously, the red dots represented his side while that lone green dot represented Buffy. The magic that Buffy casted on the battlefield took away all of the attention, so it was harder to spot him.

However, this was enough. Zhao Hai managed to find out that Buffy was planning to head back into the Carrion Swamp. He understood Buffy’s intent; allowing Buffy to escape and re-enter the swamp would make him difficult to find, even if they had the s.p.a.ce and weren’t afraid of the poison fog.

Zhao Hai’s hand pointed out at the green dot and he launched the Capture function. He immediately went out of the s.p.a.ce, wanting to see if the Capture function would be successful.

Upon leaving the s.p.a.ce, a large hand appeared in the sky. This large hand was white, a gleaming white that soared directly towards Buffy.

This large hand was very quick and Buffy couldn’t escape the large hand, even though he wasn’t slow. As it was about to catch Buffy, the large hand suddenly opened and Buffy was caught in its palm.

Buffy still hadn’t understood what had happened before he was suddenly grabbed. He hastened to escape. However, at this moment, a large fly swatter appeared in the sky, targeting Buffy’s head.

This fly swatter was fast and everyone could only see a blurred motion before the fly swatter slammed a total of twenty times onto Buffy’s head. Buffy fell directly to the ground.

However, it was obvious that Buffy’s strength was a lot stronger than Zhao Hai’s, as he wasn’t dead. At this time, a Light Sword flew out from the s.p.a.ce, cutting across Buffy’s neck, cleanly separating his head from his body.

After Buffy died, the huge tornado disappeared. Green quickly ran towards Buffy and looked down at his corpse.

Taking a moment to breathe, Green said, “He was indeed a Rank Nine expert. If not for Master moving in during the final moments, he would’ve been able to escape.”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “It’s nothing. Anyway, he wasn’t able to escape. Grandpa Green, watch me.”

After he said that, he picked up Buffy with his right hand and transformed him into a high rank skeleton.

It really was a magical thing, this black magic. Zhao Hai cast his Soul Trap technique and the head that had flown away now came flying back to Buffy’s body. The disappearance of flesh followed quickly and a skeleton appeared in front of Zhao Hai.

With Zhao Hai’s intent, Green, along with the others, returned to the s.p.a.ce. Upon entering the s.p.a.ce, the s.p.a.ce immediately gave Buffy upgrades. Buffy became a zombie and now looked younger many times over compared to when he was still alive. He now looked like a middle-aged man.

Zombies didn't necessarily decay or waste away when they died after a time. On the contrary, people who were turned into zombies would have their bodies strengthened. They would undergo transformations which would result in some changes. For instance, Buffy looked younger as an example of a change.

After being transformed into a zombie, a tongue would be reproduced and their consciousness would become their own once again. These zombies would then be able to speak like a normal person. This was the result Zhao Hai wanted. He wanted Buffy to tell him his knowledge of the Carrion Swamp. If Buffy were only a skeleton, then only Zhao Hai could communicate with him. Zhao Hai would then have to reiterate everything to Green and the others, which would be troublesome.2

After Buffy was transformed into a zombie, the s.p.a.ce suddenly beeped:

[Discovered new magical energy.

Prompting energy.

Strengthening the s.p.a.ce’s attack performance.]

Zhao Hai’s attention was focused on the Ghost Cane’s notes. He immediately understood what the s.p.a.ce meant. Right now, the Ghost Cane could use spells from a new magic element, that of the wind element.

Zhao Hai didn’t care about this and led Green and the others back into the villa. He asked Buffy, “Buffy, tell us everything you know about the Carrion Swamp.”

Buffy bowed to Zhao Hai and said, “Yes Master. This time around, I had gone deep into the Carrion Swamp, over 5,000 kilometers3. Everything was going well then and I only encountered some poisonous plants and flying insect magic beasts, as well as other magic beasts. I didn’t encounter too many risks during this time. However, as I went deeper into the swamp, after traveling around a 10 square kilometer area4, I found a city.”

Zhao Hai and Green seemed distracted for a moment. Then Green looked at Buffy and asked, “Did you just say a ‘City’?”

Buffy nodded. “Yes, it was a city, also a very large city. However, there was no one in the city, not even magic beasts or undead. The entire city was full of flowers though, a strange kind of flower.”

Green immediately asked, “What kind of flower?”

Buffy said, “This flower was very strange as it was like a vine that grew upright on its own. It had thorns on its vines, and the vines were dark green in color. At the top there was a fully bloomed flower with seven petals. Each petal had its own color. It was just like the different colors of the smog covering the Carrion Swamp and they were very bright.”

Zhao Hai and the others looked surprised as this was the first time they had heard about it. The entire city was full of flowers? What kind of situation was that?

Zhao Hai then asked, “How many people could live in that city?”

Buffy replied, “It is very big. Although it was a little smaller than Casa City, it is about the size of an average medium-sized city. So, around half a million people could live in it. Furthermore, this city had its own wall, and the walls were made of stone. However, the strange flower was odd. As it could give birth to vine roots, these roots attached themselves to the stone. I tried attacking it with my Wind Bladedge to move the flowers, but failed. The entire city was covered by this flower, which was very strange.”

Zhao Hai, Green, and the others were shocked. A city that could be populated by half a million people, on the Ark Continent, wouldn’t be small. Such a big city was covered by a strange flower, how large a flower could that be?

Moreover, the flower’s root could attach itself to the stone, which was amazing. What root of a plant could be this sharp? Most importantly, a Rank Nine magician’s Wind Bladedge couldn’t even cut or move the vines? In the end, what kind of flower was this?

Furthermore, there was one point that Green was mostly concerned about. Buffy had said that the color of the flower’s petals were the same colors as the smog covering the Carrion Swamp. Could there be a link between this flower and the Carrion Swamp? Was the flower the cause of the smog, as well as the variation of the smog’s color?

They really wanted to enter the Carrion Swamp, so these circ.u.mstances were very important for them. Zhao Hai turned to Buffy and asked, “What else is there? Tell us everything.”

Buffy nodded his head and said, “Originally, everything was normal. There were many undead and magic beasts in the Carrion Swamp, and they had their own territories. The outer periphery had low ranks, while the areas nearer to the city had the higher ranking magic beasts and undead. During the four weeks that I had been exploring, I saw several Rank Eights and Rank Nines, but they didn’t attack me. However, after I attacked using the Wind Bladedges to cut the flower, they suddenly attacked me. Thus, I ran away, finally escaping the battle. ”

Zhao Hai nodded and turned to Green. “Grandpa Green, how do you see this?”

Green nodded his head, saying, “It seems like that flower is very mysterious, If I guessed correctly, the seven colored smog that covers the Carrion Swamp should be related to the flower. Otherwise, those magic beasts and undead wouldn’t guard the flower. As it is, Buffy wasn’t a problem. However, once he attacked the flower, issues arose. Seemingly, this flower is the key.”

“If this is the case, then it will be troublesome.“ Zhao Hai frowned. “We are separated by 5,000 kilometers, from here to there. That should also be the central area of the Carrion Swamp. If we want to solve the threat of the Carrion Swamp, then we must start with that flower.”

Green nodded and said, “Buffy was not attacked when he explored the swamp, probably because he was quite strong. Those undead and magic beasts were Rank Eight and Nine and their intelligence wasn’t any lower than that of humans, so they didn’t want to mess with Buffy. However, Buffy attacked the flower which made them anxious. This shows the importance of the flower to them. Buffy, is there anything else to be reported?“

Buffy nodded and said, “There is another situation, but I’m just guessing and I’m not sure if it’s accurate. I find it very strange that inside Flower City, the more I head towards the middle of the city market area, the more robust the flower vines became. The flowers covering the entire city is probably only one flower, and all the other flowers branch out from that main one.”

After Buffy said that, Green was even more stunned. The flowers that covered the entire city was actually one? This argument was truly terrifying. What kind of flower could grow as much as this? Even the legendary Tree City5 of the elves6 wouldn’t be this big, right?

Green looked at Buffy and asked, “Buffy, are you really telling us the truth? When you observed the city, the flowers that surrounded it really only branched out from that one flower?”

Buffy nodded and said, “This is just my hypothesis, but it seemed like it had its own consciousness. If I just touched it gently, there wouldn’t be any reaction. However, if I attack using my Wind Bladedge, it acted crazily and even spewed smog from the colored flowers. Then the vine started attacking me. That flower vine is quite fast, although its strength couldn’t be compared to a Rank Nine. Also, it seems like it couldn’t leave Flower City. Thus, when I left the city, the flowers slowly retreated, but then the magic beasts began attacking me.”

Green’s face became ugly as he said, “It seems like the root of everything in the Carrion Swamp really is that flower. What is strange is why those that came out of the Carrion Swamp before didn't explain these things.”

Green knew that there were some experts that had managed to escape from the Carrion Swamp before. They might have even said something about all of this. However, in the recent thousand years, no one dared to enter the Carrion Swamp. As such, these things had been slowly forgotten.

Notes:

- This chapter was MTL'ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice.

- Please support the author if you love this novel.

- Please check out the Editor's footnotes, thanks.

1 花的城市 - Huā de chéngshì. Basically, Flower City. ↩

2 I've notices several odd, logical(?) things about this… For starters, if he turns into an skeleton first, then wouldn’t his brain be destroyed, thus erasing all of his previous memories? How does the head stick on and why didn’t he become a Dullahan instead?↩

3 Was original 10,000 li (裡), and a li is around 500 meters. As such, 5,000 kilometers.↩

4 The measurement in this section is very odd. For this, 15,000, he uses 畝 (mu), which is a unit for area, like acre or square kilometers. Very odd. Unless he means, within a 10 square km area of the place he was at, he found the city. As such, I just stuck with the author’s intent to use measurement of area, square kilometers.↩

5 樹城 - Shù chéng. Basically, Tree City.↩

6 精靈一族 - Jīnglíng yīzú. Very odd name that supposedly translates to elves. Basically means Fine (精) Spirit (靈) Family/Clan (一族).↩