Chapter 91: Little Mushroom’s Revenge

The dark mist swirled, and the night was lightless.

Around Kao Mountain Town, there were no longer sounds of fighting and killing.

On the four city walls—east, west, south, and north—a golden light ring flickered faintly. It was this golden light ring that ended the last battle of the night.

All the Mist Demons were blocked outside, howling and roaring, but they did not dare to come any closer.

People could not help but marvel. The Spirit Cultivator method of Lanshan Sect turned out to be even more effective than Floating Cloud Sect’s Three Talents Demon-Purging Array.

Li Si wore the Black Fog Cloak and returned to the battlefield, continuously issuing Divine Decrees to make subtle adjustments.

His subtle adjustments were very timely. Otherwise, the 791 surrendered Evil God Priests, Evil God Cultists, and Black-Armored Warriors would have most likely been killed by their own frenzied comrades.

This was a very delicate matter.

Even though they once shared the same identity and had all committed the same bad deeds, they still felt a sense of superiority.

So, Li Si did not let these 791 people enter the town. Without a word, he first gave each of them ten rounds of Divine Grace Baptism, letting them experience what it felt like to be human again.

After that, Li Si had these people gather the catapults and various war machines. Most importantly, there were the eight warships—this was a huge fortune.

With this fleet, they could roam freely across the Blackwater River.

But before that, there was one more thing to do.

Li Si walked up to a Greater Mist Demon and cast a Heart Cleansing Curse on it. The creature instantly regained clarity. Its already huge body grew even larger and more solidified. It roared angrily, about to launch an attack on Kao Mountain Town, but in the next second, Li Si restrained it in place using the Iron Prison Discipline.

“Release me! Release me!”

It kept shouting. If it weren’t for the Iron Prison holding it, it might have attacked Li Si.

“Who sent you here?”

Li Si asked calmly. The Mist Demon did not answer, only repeating the same phrase. So, he cast another Heart Cleansing Curse on it. This time, it completely transformed. It began to have a solid body, and even armor appeared on its surface. However, there were some discordant features: two goat horns sprouted from its head, an ox tail grew from its rear, and its two hands became as sharp as a file or a praying mantis.

But it looked confused.

“Who are you, and why did you come here?”

Li Si asked again.

This time, the Mist Demon, which had regained its human form, finally answered, “Great immortal, spare my life! I am a demon cultivator from Blackwind Ridge, originally a spirit goat who gained the Dao. I… I don’t know what happened either?”

“Demon cultivator? Mist Demon?”

Li Si understood a little more.

“Why did you attack this human town? Think carefully.”

“Why?”

The Mist Demon looked at the town again. The confusion in its eyes was quickly replaced by a blood-red color. It wailed, “We can’t survive! We can’t survive! If we don’t want to die, we have to kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Li Si watched it quietly for a long time. Then, he unfolded the Deduction Method, enveloping the entire Mist Demon. It was invisible and colorless, but soon a spark flickered, revealing everything the Mist Demon had seen in its life—including what it remembered and what it didn’t—all mercilessly displayed.

It had to be said, this Deduction Method was extremely powerful.

After a long while, Li Si sighed softly. When the Evil Gods invaded, it wasn’t just the Human Race that suffered; the Demon Tribe was also in deep trouble. These Mist Demons were transformed from demon cultivators who had been corrupted and died. They could also be called demon ghosts.

However, these Mist Demons did not come here innocently. They were being controlled. Behind them was a powerful Mist Demon King. This fiend had colluded with the Evil God Cult, which led to several attacks on Kao Mountain Town.

How to put it? This Mist Demon King actually wanted to be recruited and pardoned. It believed this was the trend of the times.

Li Si expressionlessly removed the Black Fog Cloak. The surrounding Mist Demons instantly erupted in chaos, like a pack of wolves discovering a tiger disguised in sheep’s clothing.

Once, he had thought that these Mist Demons might have been wrongfully killed or perhaps rebellious righteous soldiers. So, even though the profit from killing a single Mist Demon was very high—averaging 100 to 150 portions of Black Fate Fuel—he had not brought down the butcher’s blade.

But these guys came again and again to cause trouble. Tonight, 329 people died in Kao Mountain Town, most of them killed by these Mist Demons.

This was intolerable.

“Boom!”

Thunder rumbled, and lightning flickered. Li Si casually cast a Palm Thunder, followed by a Demon Slaying Thorn, and began a massacre.

From south to north, east to west, within a hundred-mile radius, wherever there were Mist Demons, he spared none.

Until dawn, after he had killed every single Mist Demon in the area, the dark mist suddenly receded. Two lines of information appeared.

“You successfully gained the friendship of the Dark Mist Demon King.”

“You obtained the Dark Mist Mark. From now on, wherever you are, Mist Demons will come a hundredfold to seek revenge!”

“Roar!”

From the depths of the gradually receding dark mist in the distance, a faint but angry roar could be heard. Then, a wisp of dark mist transformed into a skull and shot like an arrow into Li Si’s shoulder.

Pulling open his collar, he saw a skull mark vividly branded there.

Li Si curled his lips. Damn it, Mist Demon King, huh? What are you so arrogant about? If you have the guts, don’t unfollow or block me. This isn’t over!

He sneered coldly and instantly teleported back to the Quiet Room of Floating Cloud Sect, pretending he had been diligently cultivating all night.

Ah, I am so hardworking. What happened outside? Why do I feel my cultivation has greatly improved, and I have hope of forming a Golden Core in this lifetime…

After some mental preparation, Li Si walked out of the Quiet Room full of energy. Overnight, he seemed like a different person. Not exactly ethereally handsome, but he had an immortal aura.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one who had changed. Besides Old Madam, everyone in Floating Cloud Sect, from Xu Shen down to Little Radish, every single one had received Divine Grace Baptism. Everyone gained huge benefits.

As the saying goes, if a genius doesn’t want to stand out, the best way is to turn everyone else into geniuses.

Sure enough, after Li Si came out, he saw Xu Shen deep in thought. Xu Shen was playing the role of a nanny, entertaining Little Radish while brewing Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction, and also supervising Little Bean and Little Vegetable Root in their studies.

He didn’t see anyone else because they were all in seclusion—from Ji Chang, to Jiang Ying, to Yue Shan, Bai Yu, and Qi Linger.

“Senior Brother Xu, what happened last night? I feel like I can advance to Golden Core.”

Li Si shared the good news, but Xu Shen didn’t even look up, as if he were numb.

“Not just you can advance to Golden Core. Senior Brother Ji Chang will likely advance to Golden Core too. Also, your Senior Sister Jiang Ying has already recovered her Foundation Building Stage strength. She also has hope of advancing to Golden Core in the future, if there’s enough time.”

“As for Yue Shan, Bai Yu, and Qi Linger, they now have a high chance of Foundation Building, and in the future, they may also advance to Golden Core.”

Listening to Xu Shen’s calm recounting, Li Si widened his eyes as if he had heard something unbelievable. Since when did Golden Core become as common as cabbage?

He was so ‘shocked.’

Then Xu Shen added,

“From now on, Kao Mountain Town will truly become our backing. Junior Brother, later you should make a trip to Kao Mountain Town. Master wants us to have deeper contact with them. If there’s a chance to pay respects to that Kaoshan Patriarch, that would be best.”

“Oh, this is the formal letter Master wrote. Be careful on the way.”

“Uh, Senior Brother, can I have breakfast before I go?”

“Why so much talk? This is serious. Otherwise, Master wouldn’t have written a letter personally. Stop pretending to be dead. Yesterday you received nine Divine Graces. I didn’t miscount. Get lost now!”

Xu Shen seemed a bit irritable, or perhaps all nannies were like this?

Li Si grinned. Ah, I forgot, last night I only gave Xu Shen one Divine Grace. Such a petty guy. Looks like I need to invite your grandpa back to teach you a lesson.

Taking the letter, Li Si hurried off. He hadn’t gone to bully Little Mushroom today yet. For his pocket money, work hard, strive!

As for delivering the letter to Old Madam, that was no big deal. He could guess what it was about—probably last night Floating Cloud Sect’s hideout was exposed, and the righteous old lady wanted to discuss how to cooperate on defense.

But to be honest, Li Si didn’t want to go to the Hall of Fate. He was afraid Jiuxuanzi would go back on his word. What if he changed his mind and asked for the Dusty Flying Sword back?

This is my flying sword! Mine! Everything is mine.

Li Si’s greed, lust, and many other desires and emotions erupted all at once. It was a rare grand slam, a big four happiness. He couldn’t control it even if he wanted to. Hmm, why control it?

Wait, is this the complete Seven Emotions and Six Desires Tribulation?

No, this is the Evil God’s friendship.

In an instant, it was as if a tear opened in the sky. An endless blood river and boundless resentment poured into Li Si’s soul like soup filling a dumpling.

Only then did he understand: what Old Madam feared wasn’t the Seven Emotions Tribulation or the Six Desires Tribulation. Instead, these two tribulations were like two doors. Inside was his soul; outside was the resentment of countless wronged souls in this world. With no outlet for their resentment, once there was a vent, no matter if it was Golden Core, Nascent Soul, or even a World Guardian True Immortal, none could withstand it.

“Qin Ke’s death back then wasn’t unjust!”

This was the last thought in Li Si’s mind before he was submerged by the endless resentment.

The next second, information from the Fate Forge appeared.

“You are experiencing the Seven Emotions Tribulation and Six Desires Tribulation. Soul Corruption +1%…”

“Soul Corruption +1%…”

“…”

In the brief moment Li Si remained conscious, the endless stream of corruption messages nearly scared him out of his wits.

At this moment, using any Dao Technique or Divine Ability was meaningless. Because in this short time, the Soul Corruption had accumulated to 800%, and it was still exploding.

What could he do?

What else could he do?

Li Si had only one last method: transfer.

Swish, swish, swish!

“You exempted 500% Soul Corruption. One of your Statue Avatars bore it all and is now blackening…”

…

Li Si was desperate too. Fortunately, with these two great Statue Avatars, he finally gained a little time to counterattack.

Without another word, he took out the ten-thousand-year thunder-struck peach wood heart obtained from killing the Peach Blossom Evil Spirit. But before he could take any further action, the ten-thousand-year thunder-struck peach wood heart rotted and grew maggots—the endless resentment had crushed it.

“You exempted 500% Soul Corruption. Your ten-thousand-year thunder-struck peach wood bore it all and is now rotting…”

Damn!

Li Si was almost scared to death. Was this the so-called good and evil eventually get retribution, the way of heaven goes round and round? If you don’t believe it, look up—has heaven ever spared anyone?