Chapter 35: Little Purple Mushroom

The night passed without incident.

At least, that was the case for Li Si.

Early in the night, he had been a bit worried about the defense of the Demon Sealing Domain. But later, he found there was nothing to worry about. Within three meters around the Demon Sealing Domain, that strange dark mist simply could not get close.

So he went to sleep.

There was no choice. He could not cultivate, but he still had to sleep. He had the Disaster Warding Aura, the Mind-cleansing Aura, plus the Evil-Warding Aura and the Demon Sealing Domain. It basically covered all defensive methods. Whatever or whoever came, he was not afraid. Unless another Golden Core Devil showed up—then Li Si would admit defeat…

As it turned out, he slept extremely comfortably.

When he opened his eyes again, wow, it was already daylight. The rolling dark mist had already dispersed, and his Demon Sealing Domain was about to fade. But looking toward the Stone House, it was still shrouded by something misty. What was that thing?

Also, the whole night had passed. Had Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and Jiang Ying not finished yet?

What about the Old Madam?

Was she not thinking of testing me?

Li Si thought about the situation in the Stone House and felt there was still no need to worry. Never mind anything else, inside sat a True Immortal!

For that reason alone, he decided it was better to stay calm.

So next, he first went to the village entrance. Great joy, great shock, great anger, great sorrow, and finally a shot of longing. He smoothly gathered the day’s Little Mushrooms, with a net profit of as much as 6,200 portions of Gray Fate Fuel.

Very satisfying.

Hmm, it must be said—these past few days, the output of these Little Mushrooms had been quite abundant. But no matter how abundant, he could handle it.

He casually refined 20 portions of Gray Fortune, suppressing his own Alienation Contamination Degree back to 15%, and also increased his Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress to 30%.

After breaking through this barrier, Li Si felt he was somewhat different. But exactly how, he did not have a clear feeling. Plus, no information appeared, so he did not delve into it.

Next, he walked a loop around the village, using the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl to scout the surroundings. He confirmed there was no danger, then replenished his state and returned to the Stone House.

Huh?

There was still no movement from the Stone House. However, the eerie mist shrouding it had thinned slightly.

Li Si tentatively threw a Demon Slaying Thorn into the mist. Flames roiled, and the mist instantly emitted a piercing shriek. It seemed something was wriggling madly. In an instant, a huge monster emerged from the mist. Its exact form was unclear, but it undoubtedly held the Stone House in its mouth.

“Pfft!”

Two puffs of mist were expelled by the monster. Then its figure began to disappear again. This method was quite impressive. But now the dark mist had retreated. Playing like this—were you performing “covering your ears while stealing a bell” for me?

So Li Si immediately threw two more Demon Slaying Thorns at it. By now, he could not worry about the Old Madam noticing something off. He was starting to get concerned.

But unexpectedly, when Li Si launched another Demon Slaying Thorn, the colossal monster in the mist suddenly shrieked and convulsed. It deflated like a balloon, hissing and shrinking into a huge skin. The mist and everything else vanished. The Stone House reappeared before him.

And at the same time—

“Alienation Contamination Degree +5%.”

“Due to your Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress, 3.5% was mitigated.”

“Due to your Mind-cleansing Aura, 1% was mitigated.”

“Slayed Mist Demon. Obtained 100 portions of Black Fate Fuel. Obtained one complete Mist Demon skin.”

—

“This—this was too easy, wasn’t it?”

Li Si stood there, dumbfounded, feeling like he was dreaming. And this Mist Demon actually dropped 100 portions of Black Fate Fuel at once!

By heaven and earth above, let’s become sworn brothers!

Just as Li Si stood there dreaming about the future, the wooden door of the Stone House finally opened. The moment it opened, the three Demon Sealing Talismans pasted on the door turned directly to dust. Even the wooden door creaked with decay, then crumbled with a crash into fragments. At the same time, a stench as if something had rotted for a thousand years rushed out, nearly knocking him over.

But the people inside were still alive—just a bit weak…

Li Si looked in surprise at Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and Jiang Ying. Their faces were pale, with deep dark circles. Even Shanwazi and the few little ones were not spared. Anyone who didn’t know would think a nest of zombies had crawled out!

Oh, and the Old Madam. No, the Old Madam still had that same detached look, sitting firmly as Mount Tai, unmoving.

“Senior Sister Jiang, brothers, you…”

“Stay there! Don’t move!”

Li Si wanted to step forward to support the swaying Senior Sister Jiang. But Jiang Ying reacted like a bristling old cat, extremely fierce.

He was completely baffled.

What happened?

Who am I?

Where am I?

And not only Jiang Ying was on high alert; Ji Chang and Xu Shen were the same.

“Heart Cleansing Curse! Give him a Heart Cleansing Curse first! See if he’s turned into an Evil Spirit?”

“My Magic Power is almost depleted. I can’t cast it.”

“A Heart-Calming Talisman would work too. Stick it on his forehead, and we’ll know.”

“That makes sense. But who will stick it on?”

Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and Jiang Ying were in a flurry, their hair standing on end, anxiously spinning around, but none dared approach to stick the Heart-Calming Talisman.

Finally, Li Si said, torn between laughter and tears, “Guys, how about I stick it on myself? I’ll stick it on myself, I promise no extra movements.”

Just as Ji Chang and the other two still hesitated, inside the Stone House, the Old Madam suddenly opened her eyes. “Enough! Don’t make fools of yourselves anymore. Li Si is not dead, and he is not an Evil Spirit. You, his senior brothers and sister, actually fall short compared to a junior brother.”

“Reflect carefully on why this happened. Usually, you drag your feet, afraid of losing a single day of lifespan. And what happens? A Mist Demon broke in and sucked away five years of your lifespan in one night. Are you happy now?”

“It’s like dropping a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.”

“Stupid! Foolish!”

The Old Madam scolded angrily for a while. Ji Chang and the other two stood there wronged, not daring to speak. Li Si also quickly assumed a solemn posture, eyes on his nose, nose on his mouth, mouth on his heart, his mind wandering heaven and earth.

Because aside from the unexpected factor of the Golden Core Devil, the remaining reason for this incident definitely related to the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array.

The Three Talents Demon-Purging Array was a special formation. It did not block physical targets. That is to say, even if those thirty-two demon corpses charged, they could not break it.

Its only function was to intercept the dark mist.

But the problem was, due to Xu Shen’s stinginess, he only allowed the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array to operate at its minimum standard. And there was only one Spirit Gathering Talisman responsible for energy supply.

As a result, when the Golden Core Devil summoned the gale and dark mist tornado, the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array resisted for a moment. Then, because the Spirit Gathering Talisman could no longer provide Magic Power, it automatically stopped operating.

Of course, this was also related to Li Si’s lack of experience. If he had known earlier, he would definitely have replaced the Spirit Gathering Talisman for the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array.

But then again, if not for this accident that trapped the Stone House with a Mist Demon, then Li Si killing a Golden Core Devil would have been definitely exposed. Now though, it seemed a bit troublesome too.

Sure enough, after scolding for a while, the Old Madam’s gaze fell on Li Si. Her expression softened slightly. It seemed his status was indeed rising steadily. Congratulations.

“Li Si, what happened last night?”

“Reporting to Master, last night, there was a strong gale and surging dark mist. The Three Talents Demon-Purging Array had to stop operating due to lack of Spirit Gathering Talismans. Immediately, the dark mist invaded, and over a dozen Demon Men charged over. They first destroyed the Five Directions Confusion Reversal Array, then attacked the Five Tribulations Thunderlight Array.”

“Seeing this, your disciple first protected himself with the Devil-Sealing Curse, Heart Cleansing Curse, and Evil-Warding Curse. Then I controlled the Array Control Disk to eliminate these Demon Men. Unfortunately, your disciple’s strength is low. After controlling the array to kill these Demon Men, the Five Tribulations Thunderlight Array was also destroyed. After that, the dark mist spread. Your disciple did not dare act recklessly. I stayed where I was, continuously maintaining with the Devil-Sealing Curse until daybreak. Then I used the Demon Slaying Thorn to break through the mist around the Stone House.”

Li Si quickly described the events in the simplest terms, but the core focus pointed directly at Xu Shen. After all, as fellow Four Heroes of Floating Cloud, since it was originally your fault, why not carry a few more burdens?

We Four Heroes of Floating Cloud share the same breath and branches. No need to be polite.

“Impossible! You’re lying! With your level of cultivation, how could you last a night in the dark mist? And still be able to cast Demon Slaying Thorn at dawn? Master, I suspect Junior Brother Li was already killed. He is an Evil Spirit!”

Xu Shen was furious!

His words, filled with anger and grievance, had just left his mouth when Ji Chang and Jiang Ying beside him instinctively leaped aside. The next moment, a small purple mushroom bloomed atop Xu Shen’s head, so delicate and lovely, evoking pity…