Chapter 41: Revealing the Truth

Inside the stone house, Li Si drank the Great Soul-Returning Broth in big gulps, feeling utterly refreshed.

Somehow, over the past few days, the Old Madam had stopped eating entirely. Before, even with five meals a day, she would always have three bowls per meal.

“Master, won’t you eat something?”

Jiang Ying asked softly, full of worry, but the Old Madam seemed to have turned into a clay statue, unmoving and silent.

In the end, with no other choice, those three bowls of Great Soul-Returning Broth were all given to Li Si, because if left too long, it would lose its effect.

“Senior Sister, I’m full.”

Putting down the big bowl, Li Si did not stay in the stone house for a single moment longer. He always felt that even if the clay statue Old Madam had truly become a clay statue, she could still see through his reality and illusion.

“Hey, Junior Brother, wait! Don’t go out on patrol this afternoon.”

Jiang Ying called out urgently, but Li Si had already run far away. Seriously, if he didn’t go out, how could he generate profit?

On the way, he met the cold-faced Ji Chang. Ji Chang had already cleared out all the abandoned houses in the village and was now building a second stone house. However, for stacking the stone blocks, he didn’t use mud or common adhesives, but a kind of dark green slurry. He carried it in a large gourd, sprinkling it evenly on each layer of stone blocks before stacking them, simultaneously filling the gaps to ensure no leaks.

After completing this, he would also stick a Demon Sealing Talisman on each stone block.

“Senior Brother Ji, looking at these stone blocks, I think they should be enough to build two stone houses, right?”

Li Si watched for a while and then asked.

“None for you, don’t get any ideas. This stone house is meant to be a quiet room for artifact refining and cultivation, so the requirements are very high.” Ji Chang said proudly. This was his area of expertise.

Hearing this, Li Si’s heart stirred. For a cultivation sect to develop, they couldn’t just throw up buildings casually like mortals. A quiet room suitable for artifact refining and cultivation was one of the most basic and important structures.

“Then, Senior Brother Ji, is there any way I can help?”

“No help needed. I, an old man who has lived for three hundred years, should have more awareness than a little brat like you?” Ji Chang glared at Li Si, then sighed, as if thinking of something. “Sigouzi, don’t blame me for not treating you as a person before. It’s just that I truly saw no hope…”

“Your grandfather and I grew up together. Our fathers were both members of the Floating Cloud Sect. None of them feared death. I once didn’t fear death either, but… you don’t know the price we paid. Time and again we ignited hope, time and again we strove, time and again we failed, time and again we fled and retreated. Each time, a great many people you knew, you respected, you loved, died just like that, so simply. No matter how hard we tried, it seemed we could never escape the cycle of death.”

“It’s as if we are all puppets of the Evil God. You have never experienced this kind of despair. When your parents died, you were only this big…”

Ji Chang paused here, steadying his emotions. Li Si was already preparing to act, but today the Melancholy Mushrooms were out of stock…

“That Xu Shen, he wasn’t bad when he was young. Then some things happened… Now, even though death is near, he managed to slay his inner demon and achieve Dao Heart Purity. That’s his luck.”

“Since he wants to make a strong effort, I will naturally go along and stir things up. Whether we succeed or not doesn’t matter anymore. Death is death. Consider it paving the way for you little brats. Sigh, I’d rather you little ones die before me. You have no idea how cruel the road ahead is. These days, I often dream of my father. He holds the young me in his arms and smiles at me…”

Ji Chang turned around, rubbing his eyes. At this moment, his figure seemed unexpectedly desolate.

Li Si didn’t speak, just discreetly cast a Disaster Warding Aura on Ji Chang. The result showed nothing amiss.

He had truly grown old, and accepted it.

So his negativity was beyond reason. Was there such a thing as a Negativity Mushroom? Negativity counts as an emotion too, right?

Li Si pondered, but in the end, could only pat Ji Chang’s arm, say nothing, and leave.

He suddenly felt that perhaps the Old Madam wasn’t really trying to play mysterious, pretending to be a big spider manipulating people’s hearts.

Rather, she had truly done her best. To suppress the Fate/Luck, most of her power was probably tied up and couldn’t be withdrawn.

Fifty years ago, when she brought the remaining Floating Cloud Sect disciples to this hidden place, the Old Madam could still move around normally and direct everyone to establish the village.

But fifty years later today, she was almost turning into a clay statue.

Maybe one day, she would completely become a clay statue—no, merge with this world.

This was the price of suppressing Fate/Luck. Without being able to establish towns, cities, or great settlements to anchor it, she could only use herself to suppress it.

And this was the kind of person, a True Immortal, he had been doubting. His previous suspicions were actually quite laughable.

“I must speed up. If the Old Madam really turns into a clay statue, who knows what consequences it might trigger. If the Fate/Luck scatters because of it and is exploited by the Evil God, it would be even worse.”

With this thought, Li Si strode out of the village. He didn’t go far, just about a mile away, pretending to patrol while deliberately trying out various emotions like great joy, great sorrow, great anger, melancholy, longing, negativity, and grievance.

At this stage, he hadn’t found the patterns for other Evil Entities yet, but he showed no mercy to Evil Entities like the Seven Emotions Mushrooms and Dark Mist Mushrooms. He’d rather brush them off twice a day than let them strut around on his turf!

Not convinced?

If you’re not convinced, form a group and come fight me!

If you don’t come fight me, you’re not my bro.

After making a round and not catching a single Little Mushroom, Li Si felt reassured and left boldly, heading straight for Western Mountain. Using the Demon Slaying Thorn to enchant the spear tip and the Artifact-Control Incantation to manipulate it, he skillfully hunted Alien Trees within a hundred meters, simultaneously gathering various materials.

Ji Chang’s “Talisman Path True Explanation” recorded a vast number of talisman-making materials. These talisman materials were completely different from those used a thousand years ago. Most were gradually figured out by generations of Floating Cloud Sect disciples from Evil Entities and systematically compiled by Ji Chang.

It could be said this was extremely valuable practical experience.

Relying on the “Talisman Path True Explanation,” Li Si could easily identify different types of Alien Trees, Strange Grass, anomalous stones, and aberrant soil, then collect and categorize them accordingly.

That entire afternoon, Western Mountain practically became Li Si’s botanical garden.

As dusk approached and the Dark Mist began to appear, he shouldered a full fifty Aberrant Wood Husks, his Storage Pouch filled with various materials, and strode back confidently, paying no mind to the Dark Mist following less than a hundred meters behind.

This wasn’t arrogance; his Mind-cleansing Aura had developed quite good resistance to this Dark Mist. If Xu Shen managed to craft that Mist Demon hide into a Black Fog Cloak, he might even be able to go out at night and hunt Mist Demons within the Dark Mist.

This was no joke.

Because of the Dark Mist, they were confined to the village for most of the day. With such limited productivity, how could they possibly improve?

To break the Evil God’s blockade, they had to take the initiative.

Each person having a Black Fog Cloak should be the standard equipment for the Floating Cloud Sect.

When Li Si reached the village entrance, he indeed saw Xu Shen waiting there, ready to provide support if needed.

“No need to lecture me. Both you and I know time waits for no one. From now on, I believe the Great Soul-Returning Broth must be supplied without limits. Only with sufficient Magic Power recovery can we get things done. Have Senior Brother Ji focus on making more Talisman Paper. You, Senior Brother Xu, handle the Formation Arrays. I’ll go fetch water tomorrow.”

As soon as they met, Li Si said seriously. He didn’t plan to pretend anymore; the feeling of being held back was just too terrible.

Strangely, Xu Shen didn’t argue this time. He just took most of the Aberrant Wood Husks from Li Si, and the two walked back together.

“This afternoon, I asked Jiang Ying. She said the Master helped you unblock your meridians. If I hadn’t recovered my Foundation Building Stage strength, you would already be the strongest among us. So I won’t try to persuade you anymore. But tomorrow, fetching water…”

“Give me two Swift Movement Talismans and one Divine Concealment Talisman. That’s enough.” Li Si spoke with confidence.

Xu Shen looked at him for a long time, then finally nodded. “Alright. Tonight, I’ll craft the Black Fog Cloak for you. But considering the night situation, I need you to stand guard outside the quiet room. Also, I’ve repaired the Five Tribulations Thunderlight Array. Senior Brother Ji made twenty Spirit Gathering Talismans in one go, ensuring last night’s situation won’t happen again.”

“No problem, I can guarantee that too.”

Li Si smiled. Finally, he had reached a basic understanding with this guy. Well, mainly because his own strength could finally be legitimized, especially with the Old Madam now in a half-clay statue state and unable to explain anything!

Back in the stone house, Jiang Ying had already brewed three pots of Great Soul-Returning Broth and one pot of Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction. These were now supplied freely. Although consuming them still accumulated Aberrant Corruption toxicity, as long as one didn’t personally go out to hunt Strange Grass and Alien Trees, the aberrant pollution could still be controlled.

This was also why Li Si went all out hunting Alien Trees. As long as he secured the source of the ‘food,’ then the Floating Cloud Sect disciples could obtain massive amounts of Magic Power at an extremely low cost. And with Magic Power, a Cultivator was a dragon; without it, they were a worm.

Like now, oil lamps were lit inside the stone house—a rare sight. The well-fed little brats could no longer laze around sleeping; they were all learning to draw talismans.

As for Shanwazi, he could already draw simple Evil-Warding Talismans and Spirit Gathering Talismans, but he still needed to make them one after another.

He didn’t have any cheats; he had to practice constantly to gradually improve his talisman-drawing skills.

This process consumed large amounts of Magic Power and blank Talisman Paper.

So, truly, without resources, it just wouldn’t work. It created a vicious cycle.

“Senior Brother Ji, please take these materials first.” Li Si walked up to Ji Chang and directly took out all the materials he had gathered from his Storage Pouch, ‘accidentally’ including three Mushroom Remnant Husks. These could be used to make the Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction; they were precious materials with the lowest aberrant pollution toxicity and the highest Magic Power restoration.

Ji Chang was sitting by the fire, where a special medicine pot was placed, boiling bizarre green liquid inside—all for making blank Talisman Paper.

But seeing Li Si take out so many materials at once, he couldn’t help but shudder.

“Junior Brother, don’t push yourself too hard.”

Li Si gave a silly grin, glanced at the motionless clay statue Old Madam, directly took ten sheets of blank Talisman Paper from beside Ji Chang. In front of the clay statue Old Madam, he wouldn’t speak falsely, so no explanation was needed.

He then went to Jiang Ying, drank three big bowls of Great Soul-Returning Broth, wiped his mouth, and left