Chapter 109: The First World-Quelling True Immortal to Abandon

In the early morning, as the Dark Mist dispersed, a faint glimmer of light pierced through the tangled Blood Cloud, pale as if trying to comfort this world.

Amidst the chaotic mountains, in a similarly dilapidated small village, a Greater Mist Demon faded away, satisfied. Meanwhile, inside what should have been a well-guarded Stone House, the wooden door was broken with a large hole. Several corrupted Demon Men were chewing and tearing at the corpses of two middle-aged individuals.

Behind those two bodies, in a corner, a girl of about sixteen or seventeen sat quietly, a blissful smile on her face. Yet, below her neck, colorful Little Mushrooms covered her body. She had been dead for a long time, her soul completely gone.

At the center of the room, a dried-up, clay-like corpse of an Old Man sat in meditation. Strangely, neither the Little Mushrooms, the Mist Demon, nor the Demon Men approached him.

But then, the clay Old Man’s eyelashes twitched slightly. A power awakened, and his clay-like body rapidly restored, no longer shriveled.

“Si Tu? Mu Ying? Xiao Die?”

He tried calling out, but there was no response. Gloom and shock instantly clouded his face. The next moment, he struggled to turn his head, gazing upon the tragic scene in the corner. His entire body trembled uncontrollably. Beneath his messy beard, he wanted to scream, but no sound came out, his shaking only intensifying.

After a long while, a turbid teardrop rolled down, scattering chaotically along the deep wrinkles on his face.

Then, he let out a howl like a wounded beast. With this wail, endless Little Mushrooms emerged around the deserted village. Yet the Old Man seemed completely unaware, only screaming heart-wrenchingly, oblivious to the Blood Coffin gradually manifesting before him and the countless crimson chains wrapping tighter around him.

“It was your master who harmed you all!”

“I hate this so much!”

“For this world, for the so-called living beings, for the damn Fortune—what the hell did I gain?”

“Tens of thousands of disciples of the Facing Heaven Sect died until not a single one remained. You shouted ‘no regrets’ and foolishly charged toward certain death. But I regret it! I regret it! I regret it! I regret it!”

“To hell with Fortune! To hell with world-quelling!”

Amidst his mad roars, an immense force directly struck from high above, piercing through ten thousand miles of Blood Cloud. Countless drops of blood rain fell, revealing brilliant sunlight, though even this sunlight now carried a bloody hue.

“Go die!”

A colossal figure, ten thousand meters tall, furiously charged back from the void. No force could restrain him.

With a simple palm strike, all the blood rain within a thousand-mile radius evaporated instantly. Every Evil Entity and Evil Spirit that surfaced within this range was incinerated completely. As for the Blood Coffin, he merely spat on it, shattering and smashing it through. With a backhand punch, he pierced through the Illusory Void, even destroying the Blood Coffin’s true form within.

Yet in the Mortal Realm, the blood rain fell heavier. Across a hundred thousand miles, mountains collapsed, rivers ran dry, seas boiled. Over a dozen cities, dozens of towns, a kingdom of millions—all perished instantly, not a single soul left. Their blood gushed out, their souls wailed miserably. Endless resentment from living beings gathered, pouring in from the Illusory Realm.

Soon, the sun was obscured again. A thicker, more condensed Blood Cloud formed. Even a brief glance would draw one in, consumed by the resentment of the beings above.

This hundred-thousand-mile region became utterly lifeless.

The only thing remaining was the ten-thousand-meter-tall figure. He stood in the Mortal Realm, his eyes seeing the Illusory Void, his face filled with sorrow.

The Fortune of Heaven and Earth he was meant to guard wildly dispersed. Some was gathered by other World Guardian True Immortals, while the rest vanished into the deepest parts of the Illusory Realm.

“Muan, you’ve gone mad! What are you doing?”

From within the Illusory Realm, World Guardian True Immortals from other directions roared in fury. Here, the Twelve World-Quelling True Immortals could watch over each other, but now their once-intact defense had a gaping hole.

“It’s hopeless. This world is doomed. Even the Herb Gatherer admitted it—in three months, the Devil Mushroom will run rampant. Our persistence is meaningless. This world means nothing to me anymore!”

Muan’s true form let out mournful sighs. The colored lights on his body flickered, black energy breathed in and out, and bloody light surged—all bad omens.

“Muan, are you planning to turn demon? Why go this far? We still have a chance to break out from here, to ascend to the Land of Infinite Vastness. You’re a World Guardian True Immortal—can’t you endure even this difficulty?”

“What the hell do you know? All my disciples are dead! Even my last successor is gone! What would I do in the Land of Infinite Vastness—be a dog dancing on its back for others? Everyone, I’m not acting on a whim. I just want to destroy that Devil Mushroom. What kind of crap is it? Don’t worry, I’ll boil it into soup!”

“Does it think it can do whatever it wants by threatening the Mortal Realm’s living beings? So what if it turns demon!”

Muan let out a piercing, mad laugh. His true form, which still flickered with colored lights, suddenly transformed into a vast vortex, swallowing all the Blood Cloud across a hundred thousand miles, including the endless resentment of living beings. The next moment, Muan didn’t linger in the Mortal Realm but strode directly into the Illusory Void, heading deep within, vanishing without a trace.

Gradually, the Mortal Realm calmed down, as if nothing had happened.

—

Li Si was in a rather cheerful mood at the moment.

After all, a single net of Little Mushrooms had earned him a hundred thousand units of Black Fate Fuel. He wouldn’t trade it even for the position of Floating Cloud Sect leader.

So far, he still had 1,021 units of White Fate Firewood, three hundred four thousand two hundred units of Black Fate Fuel, with gray ones negligible.

Additionally, he had twenty measures of earth energy, seven Deity and Demon relics, two premium Thousand-Eyes Masks, the magical artifact Medicine King Cauldron, the Acquired Spirit Treasure Dusty Flying Sword, and the My Brother Shunliu Pearl.

“Hmm, does this count as getting out of poverty? It should, right?”

Li Si wasn’t sure how long these assets could last in the great storm three months later. He could only do his best.

Next, he took out the [Peace Mantra] he had exchanged yesterday in the third level of the Palace Ruins Secret Realm for a stick of candied hawthorn. It was a yellowed piece of parchment, but more likely it was human skin…

On it was a smear of snot, or something snot-like, looking very strange.

“Comprehend!”

Li Si focused his mind on it, and instantly information appeared.

“Would you like to comprehend the ancient cultivation curse [Peace Mantra]? Requires 1 unit of Black Fortune to master, but each activation demands a certain cost.”

“Ancient cultivation? Curse?”

Li Si hesitated briefly but chose to comprehend and master it. Even if just for reference, the Peace Mantra’s effect was quite impressive, provided the cost wasn’t too high.

As a unit of Black Fortune was consumed, the human-skin paper suddenly burst into flames. The snot-like substance quickly melted, and before Li Si could react, it splattered onto his right hand.

Almost simultaneously, a cold, malicious energy fiercely drilled into his skin. Half of his palm rotted into a bloody mess in the blink of an eye.

“Bam! Bam!”

In an instant, faint glows flickered around Li Si—his Disaster-Averting Domain and Heart-Clearing Domain exploded in succession. Finally, with the resistance of his Fetal Breathing Dao Body and Flawless Dao Body, he managed to resist this bodily Aberrant Corruption.

At the same time, terrifying scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood appeared in Li Si’s mind—this was Soul Corruption.

He endured for one second before, under the protection of his Crystal Clear Dao Heart + Bedrock Dao Heart + two Soul Lamps, he withstood this Soul Corruption.

What the hell was this?

It had simultaneously inflicted 800% instant-death bodily Aberrant Corruption and 500% instant-death Soul Alienation Contamination.

If it were anyone else but Li Si, they would have been corrupted and killed instantly.

Li Si was about to curse, but then he froze.

“The Peace Mantra has been activated. Sufficient Fortune has been stored for you in advance. Over the next six months, it will automatically activate when struck by misfortune, capable of resisting up to 700% bodily Aberrant Corruption and 400% Soul Alienation Contamination.”

“Note: Peace Fortune has top priority, cannot be maliciously dispelled, and does not conflict with other protective Dao Techniques or Divine Abilities. If you possess other types of Divine Abilities or Dao Techniques that can resist misfortune and corruption, the Peace Fortune will not trigger.”

—

“So that’s what the Peace Mantra means. Feels like a bank!”

Li Si thought strangely. Front and back, it had skimmed 100% bodily Aberrant Corruption resistance and 100% Soul Alienation Contamination resistance from him. The interest was almost as high as his Little Mushroom factory.

However, considering that the Peace Mantra couldn’t be maliciously dispelled, he still found it very worthwhile. Most importantly, it would raise his bodily Aberrant Corruption resistance to at least 1200% and his Soul Alienation Contamination resistance to over 1100%.

As long as he didn’t directly face the Seven Emotions Tribulation, his survival ability would be greatly enhanced.

“Pity, for now, I can’t unlock a third Dao Heart. Otherwise, I could have advanced further in the Palace Ruins Secret Realm.”

Next, Li Si quickly enhanced the Lanshan Sect’s [Spirit Stabilization Curse], [Dispelling Curse], and [Golden Radiance Chant] all to advanced Divine Abilities. And surprisingly, there were quite pleasant surprises.

[Spirit Stabilization Curse: Advanced Divine Ability]

[Activation Requirement: Foundation Building Spirit Cultivator]

[Effect: Consumes 3000 Soul Power to form a Spirit Stabilization Seal. Can be used on oneself or other targets, reducing 50% Soul Corruption. Can stack with similar Divine Abilities or Dao Techniques.]

—

[Dispelling Curse: Advanced Divine Ability]

[Activation Requirement: Foundation Building Spirit Cultivator]

[Effect: Consumes 3000 Soul Power. Can be used on oneself or other targets, instantly resolving 10% bodily Alienation Contamination Degree, but cannot halt ongoing Aberrant Corruption.]

—

[Golden Radiance Chant: Advanced Divine Ability]

[Activation Requirement: Foundation Building Spirit Cultivator]

[Effect: Consumes 8000 Soul Power to form a Yang God Barrier. Can cover up to one square kilometer or be cast on a specific target. Deals significant damage to ghost-type targets and living beings’ resentment.]

—

Including the previously mastered [Heart-Interrogation Mantra], Li Si now possessed all four remaining Soul Cultivation System Dao Techniques of the Lanshan Sect. But judging from the nature of these four techniques, the Soul Cultivation System was incredibly weak in combat compared to the True Cultivator System.

Yet, the Soul Cultivation System’s suppression effects on living beings’ resentment and Soul Corruption were exceptionally strong.

While the Floating Cloud Sect also had Dao Techniques to counter Soul Corruption, like the [Soul-Searching Curse].

But enhancing the Soul-Searching Curse to an advanced Divine Ability required the Golden Core Realm and 50,000 Magic Power to activate, and it only resolved 50% Soul Corruption.

In comparison, the Lanshan Sect’s Spirit Stabilization Curse only needed 3000 Soul Power, nearly twenty times less consumption, yet with the same effect.

Of course, the Soul-Searching Curse’s nine Soul-Searching Domains were extremely powerful.

But what if he encountered situations where soul-searching wasn’t needed, only resolving Soul Corruption was required?

Activating it once cost 50,000 Magic Power. Even a wealthy cultivator like Li Si couldn’t afford that.

So without hesitation, Li Si imprinted the Spirit Stabilization Curse into the Soul Lamp on his left shoulder. Good quality at a low price—that described it perfectly.

Just as Li Si was prepared and about to challenge the Palace Ruins Secret Realm again, his heart suddenly trembled violently. He immediately sensed that his Idol of Fortune at the Palace Ruins entrance had inexplicably grown three meters taller.

Then the Hundred-League Law Seal floated up and automatically entered the surface of the Illusory Realm. Li Si hurriedly extended his consciousness to follow and saw a shocking scene.

The entire surface of the Illusory Realm was stirred. He even saw the positions of the other twelve World Guardian True Immortals besides the Old Madam, though that was meaningless.

Because earlier this morning, a World Guardian True Immortal named Mu An had turned demon.