The scaled horse carriages continued to attack for nearly a month, and Zhang Qing finally arrived at the easternmost area of Yunmengze.
Ahead, there is a swamp with no visible boundary. It is said that it spreads from here to the bottom of the Junchengfang City.
"Can't the carriage pass through?" Looking at the swamp in front of him, Zhang Qing could already imagine what would happen if the carriage forced its way in.
But fortunately, where there is demand, there is a market, and storing mobility devices on the edge of Pine Lake Swamp can also be a good source of income.
Stepping into the swamp alone, Zhang Qing's vision became blurry as he went east.
The hazy white smoke rising from the swamp ground in all directions has the effect of disorienting and gradually suffocating people.
The monks can more or less defend themselves, but for mortals, I'm afraid they have no other choice but to die here.
It's smoke, not fog, and it's man-made.
Hundreds of years ago, for unknown reasons, Yunmeng Pavilion spent many means to turn the entire Songhu Swamp into a desert. It was difficult for weak monks to survive here.
After that, Pine Lake Swamp became a forbidden area for mortals. Hundreds of years later, these ripples of white smoke have become a major feature of Pine Lake Swamp.
"The white smoke seems to have a guiding effect. Some people have picked up the remains of dead monks under the swamp, and some people have followed the white smoke by coincidence and found valuable spiritual objects."
"So, could there be a very powerful treasure under this swamp? Was it buried or coveted by the former Yunmeng Pavilion?"
Zhang Qing looked at his feet. This was something that every monk who entered the Songhu Swamp would be curious about.
"The Jinlan Sect and the three major families didn't react much. If there is something, they should know it best. From this point of view, the possibility of there being any treasure here is reduced."
As one of the four clans, the Zhang family knew a lot of things and had an advantage over those headless cultivators.
Just a piece of information that Jinlan Sect and the three major families were separated from Yunmeng Pavilion can declare the useless efforts of those casual cultivators who have stayed in the swamp for decades trying to find opportunities.
If those people are not in a hurry, will others have a chance?
Even without the strength to build a foundation, Zhang Qing, who had the power of White Deer, could easily cross the Pine Lake Swamp, so he quickly arrived at the family's residence here, a manor so huge that it could wrap a mountain peak.
The blazing flame sign dispersed the surrounding white smoke, letting everyone passing by know that this place belonged to the Zhang family in Chihu.
After a brief investigation, Zhang Qing finally saw the mine that was closely related to him.
The manor did not include a mountain peak, but it truly enveloped an underground mine. The rich aura environment even made Zhang Qing a little uncomfortable.
The huge pit of the mine downwards occupies almost 50% of the area here. Looking down from the layers, it looks like an inverted terraced pyramid. The space becomes narrower as you go downwards.
What makes people feel the ingenuity of the monk's power is a high-rise building suspended above the huge pit. Hundreds of waist-thick metal chains connect the ground from the high-rise building to the surrounding ground, which looks more like it is sealed there.
"If this place was filled with water, wouldn't this building be right on the water surface?" Zhang Qing looked at the tall building and flew towards it.
Well, this building is where the foundation-building monks are located. After all, it is difficult for ordinary people to get close to the attic suspended by chains.
Entering the building and reaching the top floor, Zhang Qing saw a middle-aged man.
"Zhang Qing has met the elder of the Wu Gong clan."
Zhang Wugong, whose family guarded the Songhu Mine in the later stages of foundation building, is not much older, but has a much higher seniority than Zhang Qing.
So he can only be called clan elder, which means the elder in the clan.
Such rules also save the Zhang family a lot of meaningless titles and time.
Zhang Qing's arrival made Zhang Wugong nodded slightly, and then pointed to the hundreds of chains outside that connected the surrounding ground.
"We have now dug down a total of 120 floors. Each floor is smaller than the previous one. The 120th floor can only accommodate three or five people. Do you think this formation can hold up the first floor?" The opening of one hundred and twenty-one floors?"
Zhang Qing looked around at the top floor of the attic, and then realized that this high-rise building was suspended above the huge pit of the mine, not for the level of foundation-building monks, but to stabilize the entire mine.
After all, what kind of place is this? There is no hard ground in the Pine Lake Swamp. Digging a hole anywhere will not only dig out the mud, but you can also see the mud from all directions refilling the hole in your breath.
It buries the hole like quicksand, and the swamp remains the same flat swamp.
But here, the Zhang family forcibly dug down more than a hundred layers of terrace-like pit space. It seemed that it could easily accommodate a small mountain peak, but they could not feel the surrounding soft mud moving into the huge pit. Collapse.
It is easy to make a hole in a stone, but it is difficult to make a hole in the mud.
The price the Zhang family paid here was definitely not what Zhang Qing knew. They had to pay a large number of monks every year to resist the ubiquitous attacks.
"Over the years, all the spiritual stones mined by the family in Songhu Mine have been used here, and none of them have been transported back to Chihu. But now there are almost not enough spiritual stones."
"Unless we can continue to open up space downwards, we can only ask the family for help."
"The head of the family asked you to come to Songhu at this time, so I asked you what you think."
"We cannot lose money when mining a spiritual stone vein, otherwise there will be no point in this place."
"I'm not sure if this formation can support the opening of the 121st floor, even if that floor may be just a hole the size of a fist, allowing a person to put down a toe."
"Once it fails, the entire formation will collapse, and the Songhu Mine that was developed bit by bit over five years will be submerged in the swamp again."
Zhang Wugong turned his head and looked at Zhang Qing, "Can you solve it?"
The latter calmly shook his head, "Not for the time being."
Hearing this, Zhang Wugong finally smiled on his face, "I am very satisfied with your answer. At least you are not arrogant enough to think that you can solve it yourself, and at the same time, you do not deny that you may have such an ability."
"It seems you can survive here."
After leaving the high-rise building, Zhang Qing listened to a qi-training monk explaining everything about Songhu Swamp to him, and he roughly understood what Zhang Wugong said before.
The other party used simple questions to open up a cruel world of practice to Zhang Qing.
This is the edge of Yunmengze, so no one will care about the threats of the four clans. As long as they can beat them, those monks who lick blood from the blade will never let any disciple of the force go.
Being cautious, neither arrogant nor inferior is the qualification to survive.
