Chapter 145: Where Did the Devil Mushroom Go?

The mountain gate of the Floating Cloud Sect.

Zhao Qingxie hurriedly returned from the Illusory Realm. The massive disturbances back in the Mortal Realm couldn’t escape these World Guardian True Immortals. All had returned to investigate.

Compared to others, a vague, unspeakable thought lingered in her heart. She knew better than anyone just who this “Xu Changsheng” of the Yunhua Sect really was.

While finding it absurd and laughable, she also felt a tiny flicker of pride — But, that’s the Calamity-Bearing Human King! Are you insane?

If nothing changed, even fighting with his life, he could hold out for three months at most.

Adding her own strength, they might push it to four months…

Enough. Just have a life repay a life. End this cursed entanglement sooner, find peace sooner.

She was already in hell. What else was there to fear?

“Hmm?”

Zhao Qingxie suddenly froze. Before her, that Blood Coffin had inexplicably vanished.

What happened?

Had the Blood Coffin Curse lifted itself?

Impossible. Even though the Giant Mushroom was mostly devoured by Muan now, its corrupting power wouldn’t have diminished much. The Blood Coffin Curse connected directly to the Giant Mushroom’s corrupting essence, like pulling one thread moves the whole web. Unless the Giant Mushroom itself withdrew it, how could this happen?

Thoughts raced chaotically in Zhao Qingxie’s mind, but she remained cautious. She slowly circulated her Immortal Spirit Energy within her body. It flowed smoothly! Not only was the Blood Coffin Curse gone, even that sealing net had vanished. This… this couldn’t be because of Li Si, could it?

She cautiously stood up and walked toward the door. As she pushed it open, a ray of bright sunlight streamed in, making her freeze completely.

Though she had missed the Dao rhymes of the dawn sunrise, her current strength, once a True Immortal and now near the Tribulation Crossing Grand Completion realm, allowed her to instantly sense the thin, almost imperceptible trace of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy in this world, faintly, but truly beginning to recover.

“Master, you can come out?”

Nearby, Jiang Ying emerged from the Teaching Hall, having just finished instructing the sect’s disciples. Her eyes immediately fell on Zhao Qingxie leaning against the doorframe, face filled with pleasant surprise, as if glowing. It was like a painting that stunned time itself…

“Shhh!”

Zhao Qingxie raised a jade-green finger to her lips. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath under the sunlight, seeming to melt into the light. This feeling of regaining what was lost was incredible; even her damaged Dao Heart had mended considerably.

“No return from death, remaking the universe — this is my Dao.”

Leaving these words, facing the direction of the Yunhua Sect’s encampment, she breathed out a stream of Immortal Spirit Energy. She was using her very own Dao Foundation to help this world regain its order.

Moments later, even Jiang Ying could sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy suddenly accelerating its recovery. But Zhao Qingxie’s body suddenly scattered like snowflakes in the wind.

“Master!”

Jiang Ying cried out.

“Do not panic, disciple. Your master merely used her Mortal Realm True Immortal Dao Foundation to place some bets for… this world. If we win, your master will naturally reforged her Dao Foundation, hoping for Great Luotian Immortal status. If not, we just die together.”

“Build a Divine Idol for your master here. Your master remains in the Illusory Realm. Report anything new promptly.”

Zhao Qingxie’s voice faded away. Jiang Ying stared blankly. Hearing the explanation, she certainly didn’t think her master was committing suicide. But… what difference was there, really?

“The root is probably my level is too low.”

At the same time, ten thousand miles away at the Shendan Sect.

Shendanzi suddenly went offline. He pushed aside his disciple, Ji Yuan, who had been carrying him on his back, threw his head back, and laughed uproariously.

“Master?”

“Disciples! A massive fortune! Your choice of direction wasn’t wrong, oh no… However, there’s no need to go to the Yunhua Sect encampment now. Move forward five thousand miles more. There is a mountain that looks like a medicinal cauldron. Below it lies Wangshan Town. Go there. That will be the mountain gate of the Heaven-Mending Sect!”

“Master, aren’t we the Shendan Sect?” Ji Yuan was confused.

“From now on, we are the Heaven-Mending Sect! Mending the heavens’ deficiencies, the great fortune! Hahaha! Remember to build a Divine Idol for me.”

Shendanzi laughed maniacally, exhaling a stream of Immortal Spirit Energy. Within it flickered the phantom of a medicinal cauldron, flying swiftly ahead. A moment later, his physical body in the Mortal Realm dissipated!

This was a major gamble. Primarily, the Calamity-Bearing Human King’s starting three moves were played too perfectly. Seizing the moment, as an experienced old coin, not knowing to double the stakes would just be wild.

If this world truly restarted its era, the losses incurred now — their Dao Foundation, Immortal bodies — would be reforged, carrying with them a portion of the world’s Fortune.

Then, even if only getting a cut of 100 Purple Qi Luck, it would be enough for them to Ascend to the Land of Infinite Vastness.

So, investing like this depended on the situation, required acting early, and required being steady, precise, and ruthless. Like…

Not only Shendanzi and Zhao Qingxie acted this way. In fact, Jiuxuanzi, after returning to the Mortal Realm, acted even more decisively. The Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect even held an advantage over Shendanzi. After simple arrangements, Jiuxuanzi breathed out her Immortal Spirit Energy, used her own Dao Foundation, and forcefully transformed a small hill outside Greyrock City into a towering mountain. Within the mountain, spiritual energy surged, all things revived. In less than a day, it pulsed with vitality.

When the actions of Zhao Qingxie, Shendanzi, and Jiuxuanzi were relayed back to the Hall of Fate, they immediately drew the attention of the other World Guardian True Immortals. Yet, unlike those three who had resolutely invested, the others felt they had gone mad.

Who invests by following the Calamity-Bearing Human King?

But it was a good thing. With these three World Guardian True Immortals staking themselves, aiding the Calamity-Bearing Human King at the cost of their Dao Foundation and Immortal Bodies, this world would at least gain six months, maybe even over a year, to breathe.

That was ample time for them to lay plans and cultivate a few more qualified backup Human Kings.

Everyone pursued their own goals, perceptive but discreet.

However, one thing was truly baffling.

“The Devil Mushroom is gone! It seems obscured by an unusual kind of force and trapped within. Consequently, it’s frantically retracting its power. The Blood Coffin Curse affecting everyone in the Mortal Realm should already be dissolving. The Evil God Cult is now a tree without roots or water. If we can seize this chance to blow apart the Blood Cloud, and if others follow the example of our three fellow cultivators Qingyunzi and the rest, our chances of restoring this world to normal soar to eighty percent!”

In the Hall of Fate, Herb Gatherer Xia Xiaowan passionately suggested, almost seeing the key to victory.

But that wasn’t the main point.

Who was willing to abandon everything they owned to gamble on an unknowable future? Shen Danzi, Qingyunzi, and Jiuxuanzi had dared gamble precisely because they were within just a ten-thousand-mile radius of the Yunhua Sect. But everyone else was in the Mortal Realm, millions of miles beyond the Yunhua border. What was there to gamble?

Hadn’t they seen Lingjingzi, only thirty thousand miles from the Yunhua camp, hadn’t gambled?

Dao Foundation and Immortal Body — that was the foundation of their True Immortal cultivation, painstakingly built over thousands of years. To send it all back to square one would just be crazy.

Moreover, the Blood Coffin Curse was indeed gone. The Evil God Cult seemed truly ruined. This indicated the Seven Emotions Great Medicine Devil Mushroom had indeed encountered some problem. But who knew what was really happening?

What if this was the prelude to Muan finally devouring the Devil Mushroom?

Once Muan had swallowed the Devil Mushroom, what state would he be in? No one knew.

Keep the Dao Foundation and Immortal Body safe. As long as they weren’t ambushed like Muan, even if this world truly collapsed, they could likely escape. Though that would be a headache, leaving them as panicked as cockroaches.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

That reasoning made real sense.

So, everyone sidestepped the topic, offering no direct response.

Xia Xiaowan could only sigh heavily. She was powerless. Being a ghost immortal herself, she would easily lose control if she went to the Mortal Realm, unable to invest anyhow. Otherwise, she would have invested without reservation.

Still, the silver lining was that this world finally gained approximately one year to recuperate — provided the Devil Mushroom hadn’t been swallowed by Muan.

So, where on earth did the Devil Mushroom go?

To solve this, Xia Xiaowan deliberately consulted Zhao Qingxie, Shendanzi, and Jiuxuanzi. None could give a clear explanation. Nor did they attempt to persuade the others, seemingly afraid of diluting their potential merit rewards. Truly, this cohort held a baffling mix of blind confidence and intense paranoia. This generation of True Immortals was excessively hard to cater to.

—

“This Lord of the Mist is a bit strong.”

In the Mortal Realm, the Yunhua Sect headquarters. Li Si—Master Accountant—was tallying gains and losses. After all, this time he had truly put all his savings and life into it. Getting nothing wouldn’t do!

At this moment, he remained unaware of the butterfly effect caused by the Giant Mushroom losing contact. He could only roughly determine one thing: this Lord of the Mist must be in the same league as that Big Fly Unknown Deity/Demon.

Wow, intense pressure!

But hey, it smells so good!

Li Si inspected the nearly person-sized forged Book of Life and Death leaf, and the complete, forged Book of Life and Death itself.

Though forgeries, these were truly potent magical items; otherwise, the Fate Forge wouldn’t have awarded high accolades.

[Book of Life and Death Leaf (Forged): Mist Construct, extremely rare]

[Usage One: Write a name upon it. Within 500 miles of that person, strip one year from their lifespan.]

[Usage Two: Keep it blank. Transform into a Mist Boat capable of ferrying the souls of 100 deceased through the Mist to a specified Pure Land of the Underworld.]

[Book of Life and Death Entire (Forged): Mist Construct, exceptionally rare and precious]

[Usage: Fuse with a Land Deed Seal to establish a Pure Land of the Underworld, constructing a Reincarnation Path linked to the Mortal Realm.]

[Primary Function: Maximize capacity of one million vengeful spirits. Gradually awaken each, then guide them onto the Reincarnation Path.]

—

Two business opportunities stood out to Li Si in these forged Books of Life and Death.

First: Expanding the population. Currently, in the Mortal Realm, the Demon Tribe had fled far away while the Human Race languished. For the Fortune of Heaven and Earth to thrive, the Human Race must strive hard for rejuvenation, but they need people.

Second: Perhaps achieving safer navigation of the Seven Emotions Tribulation in the future. Because the complete forged Book boasted the capacity to house one million resentful souls, this would eliminate the dread of uncontrollably flooding resentful spirits escaping from the Illusory Realm come tribulation days.

By deploying this item at the opportune moment, the vengeful tide would be instantly broken off. Persons crossing the Seven Emotions Tribulation would then gain pivotal breathing space to seize control of the ordeal rather than inevitably be washed away and fatally slammed by endless, unending ghosts…