# Chapter 25: Deep Fog
The journey to the Miasma Wetlands took Xìng Huáng through landscapes that showcased the Blood Demon Martial Realm's hostile beauty in ways he was still learning to appreciate. Rolling hills of crimson stone gave way to twisted forests where the trees themselves pulsed with spiritual energy, their bark formations creating natural cultivation arrays that enhanced the ambient power density.
But it was when he reached the wetlands' perimeter that the true scope of his mission's challenges became apparent.
The fog began as wisps of pale vapor drifting between normal vegetation, easy to dismiss as natural atmospheric moisture. But as he ventured deeper into the mission area, those innocent wisps condensed into walls of impenetrable mist that seemed to actively resist both physical navigation and spiritual perception.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS: MIASMA WETLANDS
Atmospheric Composition: 67% TOXIC VAPORS
Spiritual Energy Density: UNSTABLE *(Fluctuating between depleted and oversaturated)*
Visibility Range: 3-7 METERS *(Depending on fog density)*
Navigation Difficulty: EXTREME
His sect-provided environmental protection gear included breathing apparatus designed to filter out most airborne toxins, but the deeper he ventured into the wetlands, the more apparent it became that the miasma wasn't simply poisonous air—it was spiritually active, interacting with his cultivation in ways that suggested conscious malevolence.
HIDDEN INTERFACE: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT
MIASMA COMPOSITION: CORRUPTED SPIRITUAL ENERGY + TOXIC BIOLOGICALS
EFFECT: CULTIVATION INTERFERENCE *(Lord of Greed heritage shows resistance)*
CORRUPTION SOURCE: BLOODLUST PLAGUE MANIFESTATION
RECOMMENDATION: DIVINE AUTHORITY MAY PROVIDE SUPERIOR PROTECTION
The mention of Bloodlust Plague was new information that hadn't appeared in the sect's mission briefings. His divine heritage interface was providing intelligence that even Azure Mountain's archives apparently lacked.
As if summoned by his growing awareness of the environment's true nature, the first corrupted creature emerged from the fog with predatory intent.
CORRUPTED MARSH STALKER *(Bloodlust Plague Victim)*
Original Species: UNKNOWN *(Transformation too advanced for identification)*
Cultivation Level: BLACK IRON - HIGH
Corruption Status: MODERATE BLOODLUST INFECTION
Behavioral Pattern: AGGRESSIVE, TERRITORIAL, PLAGUE CARRIER
The creature that shambled out of the fog bore only passing resemblance to any natural wetland species. Its form was a nightmare amalgamation of amphibian and predator characteristics, with elongated limbs that ended in claws designed for both swimming and dismemberment. But most disturbing were its eyes—they held intelligence corrupted by an overwhelming compulsion for violence that had nothing to do with hunger or territory and everything to do with the simple pleasure of causing suffering.
Bloodlust Plague, his divine heritage whispered. Not essence theft like the corruption he'd encountered before, but something deeper—the transformation of natural aggression into supernatural compulsion for violence and destruction.
The Marsh Stalker attacked with the kind of reckless ferocity that characterized plague victims, its movements showing complete disregard for self-preservation in favor of maximum damage potential. But its corruption also made it predictable—every attack prioritized inflicting injury over tactical advantage.
Xìng Huáng's Blood Seeker techniques, enhanced by his carefully concealed Lord of Greed heritage, turned the creature's mindless aggression into a tactical liability. His blade work followed patterns designed to exploit openings created by reckless assault, while his spiritual energy circulation remained disciplined and defensive.
The fight lasted less than three minutes, ending when his improvised weapon found the gap between what had once been ribs in the creature's transformed anatomy.
CORRUPTION PURIFICATION ACHIEVED
BLOODLUST PLAGUE: CLEANSED *(Divine authority automatic response)*
ESSENCE ABSORBED: 156 *(Enhanced by Lord of Greed heritage)*
ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE: UPDATED
But as the creature dissolved into purified spiritual energy, something unprecedented occurred. The fog around him began to thin, not through natural dissipation but through active withdrawal, as if the miasma itself recognized that he represented a threat to whatever force was maintaining the wetland's corrupted state.
LORD OF GREED HERITAGE: PASSIVE MANIFESTATION DETECTED
EFFECT: ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY *(Miasma responds to divine presence)*
VISIBILITY IMPROVEMENT: 3-7 METERS → 15-20 METERS**
SPIRITUAL INTERFERENCE: SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED
The improvement in conditions was dramatic enough to be concerning. If his divine heritage was manifesting environmental effects without conscious activation, maintaining his concealment would become increasingly difficult as he ventured deeper into the wetlands.
But the enhanced visibility also revealed something that explained why previous missions had failed so catastrophically.
The Miasma Wetlands weren't simply a dangerous environment populated by corrupted creatures. They were a territory actively maintained and defended by an organized force of Bloodlust Plague victims who had retained enough intelligence to establish defensive perimeters and coordinated patrol patterns.
Through the thinning fog, he could see structures that had once been natural formations—fallen trees, rock outcroppings, elevated ground—now arranged into strategic positions that provided both concealment and overlapping fields of observation. More disturbing were the signs of systematic cultivation: cleared paths that led deeper into the wetlands, modification of natural water flows to create defensive barriers, and most ominously, evidence of herb harvesting that suggested the corrupted inhabitants were actively using the rare cultivation resources for their own development.
TACTICAL ANALYSIS: ORGANIZED CORRUPTION TERRITORY
DEFENSIVE POSITIONS: MULTIPLE LAYERS *(Professional military arrangement)*
PATROL PATTERNS: SYSTEMATIC** *(Intelligence-driven rather than random)*
Resource Utilization: ACTIVE *(Cultivation advancement among corruption leaders)*
Threat Assessment: EXTREME *(Far beyond mission parameters)*
The realization that he was facing not just environmental hazards and random corrupted creatures, but a functioning military organization led by plague-enhanced cultivators, should have prompted immediate retreat and mission abort.
Instead, his Lord of Greed heritage responded with something approaching hunger.
This wasn't just a resource gathering mission anymore—it was a direct confrontation with organized forces that had claimed authority over cultivation resources through corruption and violence. Every instinct of his divine nature recognized this as exactly the kind of worthy opposition that provided maximum advancement opportunities for those brave enough to assert legitimate authority over stolen power.
But as he advanced deeper into the wetlands, following paths that led toward the herb locations marked in his mission parameters, the fog began to thicken again despite his divine presence. Whatever intelligence commanded the corrupted forces had recognized him as a significant threat and was adapting its defensive measures accordingly.
The deep fog that surrounded him now carried whispers—voices speaking in languages he didn't recognize, but with emotional content that transcended linguistic barriers. Promises of power, threats of violence, and underneath it all, the constant compulsion toward bloodlust that defined the plague's fundamental nature.
BLOODLUST PLAGUE INFLUENCE: DETECTED
MENTAL RESISTANCE: DIVINE AUTHORITY PROVIDES IMMUNITY
ENVIRONMENTAL ESCALATION: MAJOR *(Territory defending itself)*
MISSION STATUS: EVOLVED BEYOND ORIGINAL PARAMETERS
As visibility dropped back to mere meters despite his divine heritage's environmental effects, Xìng Huáng realized that the Miasma Wetlands represented something far more significant than Azure Mountain Sect's intelligence had suggested.
This was a proving ground where the fundamental question of legitimate versus corrupted authority would be decided through direct confrontation in an environment designed to favor those who had embraced violence as a path to power.
The deep fog swirled around him like a living entity, carrying with it the promise that before his mission was complete, he would either prove his divine heritage's authority over corruption, or become another casualty claimed by the endless hunger of the Bloodlust Plague.