Ye Liuyun instructed everyone to change into fifth-rank armor and kept their previous ones.

Gong Wanting asked in curiosity, "Why are we reducing the defense?"

"The frogs in this swamp are not very high-ranked and don’t have strong attacks, fifth-rank armours are enough for defense. Their main strength is in their poison. Our armor is for battles, but if it gets corroded by their poison, it will be a great loss!"

Ye Liuyun then relayed the message to ten soldiers, "There’s no need to be afraid, just do your best to defend! If you’re poisoned, I’ll get you detoxed and let you some rest."

Following that, Ye Liuyun ordered the team to depart.

In the beginning, it was manageable, with only a few frogs attacking them, which they could directly stop them with their genuine energy.

However, the attacks became more frequent as they went, striking their armor and shields like an arrow rain.

None of Ye Liuyun’s group used their genuine energy to resist the attacks; their armor could directly block them. They just absorbed the poison while on the move.

Those ten soldiers and the disciples, however, had to utilize their energy to fend off the attacks.

Inevitably, more and more frogs started to surround the group.

Ye Liuyun made Fyeng Wanru the vanguard in order to let her practice on the frogs. Their progress was slowing down as more frogs appeared.

The Northsky Sect had nothing more to say, as Ye Liuyun and his comrades were doing their best to clear the path. They could only follow slowly.

As the night fell, the frogs became more active and their count increased.

The soldiers who hadn’t taken any antidote initially were not only defending themselves but also bearing a part of the attack for the others. Quick enough there were those who ran out of genuine energy and got hit by the poison.

At first, they could use armor to shield it, but steadily their faces began to darken.

Jian, along with a few male disciples, were initially pleased in secret when they heard the soldiers being hit.

"Heh, these guys won’t share their treasures with us, now they are paying the price!" The group was still communicating telepathically, taking pleasure in others’ misfortune.

Seeing their expressions, Song could only helplessly shake his head.

Soon, the soldiers began to drop one after another.

Ye Liuyun immediately took the fallen soldiers back into his spatial world, absorbed the poison from their bodies and let them some rest.

As more soldiers fell, Ye Liuyun became busy collecting them one by one.

As these soldiers were all taken back into the space world by Ye Liuyun, the disciples finally got a taste of their own medicine.

Now, with no one to defend them, they had to drain their own genuine energy to resist the attack.

The smiles of arrogance slowly faded from their faces as they quickly realized that at this rate, they wouldn’t be able to get out of the swamp.

The poisonous gas around them was also getting thicker. They might end up trapped here if they kept this up, in great danger.

"Captain Ye, we can’t keep moving this slow! We’ll all be trapped here and die if this goes on for too long. Let’s speed up and charge forward!" Jian suggested.

"Alright!" Ye Liuyun agreed and ordered the team to speed up.

However, Fyeng Wanru was gleefully killing at the front and couldn’t go any faster. The others also agreed, attacking the frogs even more ferociously, but their speed did not visibly increase.

Jian and the rest were getting increasingly anxious, constantly rushing the team.

"What’s the rush! Can’t you see we’re all trying our best here? Why don’t you go to the front and lead the way!" Their rushes were getting on Lei Ming’s nerves, so she simply stopped fighting.

"We’ll definitely be faster than you!" One of the disciples stood out, volunteering to lead the way.

"Great!" Ye Liuyun agreed immediately, assigning Lei Ming and the others to the rear to help block the attacks.

The disciple promptly took over from Fyeng Wanru, only to discover that the gas at the front line was denser. His genuine energy had rapidly been diminished.

The clone was secretly releasing more poison with a scepter at his back, sneering at his retreating figure.

"Oh, no good!" The disciple realized the danger and immediately retreated.

"What’s the matter?" Jian inwardly cursed him as useless.

"There’s more frogs up front, and the poison is stronger. I’m afraid I can’t hold on for even half an hour!"

At this point, Song suggested, "Sir, how about I lead you all out first, then wait for Captain Ye outside the swamp? They have rich experience and should be able to get out of the swamp fast without us dragging them behind."

Ye Liuyun looked at him and thought to himself, "This old cunning fox, guessing that we have been purposely delaying. But thinking of leaving us behind after taking the advantage, that’s not happening!"

The clone’s blended his own poison with the swamp’s, taking advantage of the poison attacks of the two disciples on both sides.

To save energy, they both could put up only the barest energy shield, just enough to block ordinary attacks from the poison frogs.

They didn’t pay it any mind, thinking that the frog poisons might have occasionally breached their defense from their pill.

Jian immediately agreed, "Captain Ye, then we will leave first, see you outside the swamp!"

"Can’t we all take them with us?" Gong Wanting asked.

"We’ll get slower if the team gets big. I’m afraid even I won’t be able to get out!" Song quickly responded.

Ye Liuyun also confirmed, "No worries, if you guys could get out, we surely will make it as well!"

"We should go now!" Song urged.

"Let’s move!" Jian led the disciples out, trotting right behind Song.

They didn’t even bother killing another frog and merely broke through with energy shield. Only Song, who had reached the sixth-realm, possessed ample genuine energy. Otherwise, their remaining of it wouldn’t be enough for them to make their way out of the swamp.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and his team remained quietly at the spot, watching them leave.

After they walked far enough, Lei Ming began to laugh, "Hmph, they tried to fool us! We’ll show them who’s boss!"

"Song must have figured something out!" Fyeng Wanru remarked.

"So what if he did? He can’t just defame us without proof!" Scorch responded nonchalantly. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

They all started to drop their guards and allowed the frogs to attack at will.

"Let’s rest a bit before we move on. It’s a rare chance to cultivate with poison source!" The clone said as he plunged the scepter into the swamp, letting it to take in the poison on its own.

Blue Serpentine was grabbing the frogs around her and played with them as food.

The two disciples that were poisoned by the clone suddenly noticed signs of poisoning as they continued walking. They didn’t pay it much heed, assuming they’d been more heavily attacked from the outside. They immediately took another pill to suppress the poisoning.

However, after walking for a while, they noticed that the poison was getting stronger, so they quickly took more pills.