After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 389: Chapter 388: Death Substitute

The Fungal Mat wasn’t as perceptive as other Demons; it only realized something was wrong after being force-fed until it was completely bloated. But the Cloud-Glow Robe blocking the entrance was of too high a quality; the Fungal Mat couldn’t squeeze past it.

It tried to sever its connection with the ladybugs—better them than me.

However, it was too late.

A force ten times more powerful than before suddenly erupted from Hee Lingchuan’s meridians. It surged through the ladybugs’ bodies and instantly flooded the Fungal Mat!

How could the Fungal Mat possibly withstand such a torrent? To shed the excess True Power, the mushrooms growing on its surface suddenly ballooned to ten times their size.

At the same time, in some twenty-four or twenty-five other locations throughout the forest, patches of Fungal Mat expanded explosively, rapidly blanketing the ground, rocks, and mountain streams. The ladybugs within them fled in droves, while the assorted mushrooms on the mats themselves also grew frantically, some even emitting blue and green fluorescent light.

They burst, regrew, and burst again, trying to expend the excess True Power. Soon, the entire mountain forest was filled with strange, poisonous smoke and glowing motes of light.

Birds and beasts collapsed at the first whiff, while the survivors fled in a frenzy.

Three-Heart Plateau, which had only just quieted down after the arrival of the Emperor’s Liquid, was plunged into a frenzy once more. Many Demons who had consumed the liquid and were in the middle of a breakthrough were overcome by the toxic smoke and dropped dead on the spot.

Hee Lingchuan knew nothing about this.

He only knew that the True Power in his body was like a stampede of ten thousand horses, threatening to tear him to pieces, when suddenly, hundreds of tiny holes opened up along his meridians, allowing the True Power to vent out unceasingly.

’But it’s not enough. Far from it.’

’This outflow is too small to save me from this crisis.’

Hee Lingchuan didn’t know what was happening and had no time to think. All he could do was push the True Power from his Chest and Qi Sea outward with all his might.

’If I can get it out, I’ll live.’

The Mirror witnessed it all, too stunned to speak. Then, with a deafening BANG—

The Fungal Mat exploded.

And not just in this den.

All across the forest, the frantically swelling Fungal Mats burst at the exact same moment.

Mycelia, spores, dust, and glowing particles rained down everywhere. The forest hadn’t been this bizarre even when the Emperor’s Liquid had descended the day before.

Soon, all manner of roars and cries echoed from every direction.

It was as if a riot had broken out under the cover of night.

But the chaos didn’t affect the den in the mountain stream.

After the Fungal Mat exploded, most of the excess True Power in Hee Lingchuan’s body was expelled. His condition was finally beginning to stabilize.

His Chest Acupoint had been successfully opened up, forming a second Dantian. Though the process had been brutal, the Emperor’s Liquid once again played a protective role, mending all the damage he had sustained.

The once-chaotic space had now transformed into a Qi Sea. The Yin Yang True Power Hee Lingchuan cultivated took up residence, circling a few times to acclimate itself, seemingly quite satisfied with its new home.

With the second Dantian established, the excess True Power now had a place to reside.

Now, True Power could flow unimpeded from his Guanyuan to his Chest. Even the Ren and Du Meridians had become high-speed channels.

Still feeling invigorated, Hee Lingchuan struck while the iron was hot, performing a few Grand Circulations before slowly concluding his session.

The moment he opened his eyes, he let out a series of sneezes. ”ACHOO! ACHOO!”

”What’s going on?”

It looked like a red snowstorm had hit the inside of the stone den. ’Why are there strange filaments everywhere?’ Hee Lingchuan noticed he was covered in dust and specks of glowing light.

He shook his clothes. Damn, a huge cloud of dust billowed out!

A few dead white insects also fell off him, each one... the size of an egg.

’Whoa, ladybugs this big?’ It was the first time he’d ever seen any. Luckily, they were all dead.

”I’m over here!” a weak voice sounded from the corner.

Hee Lingchuan walked over and pulled the Heart-Protecting Mirror out from under a thick layer of mycelia:

”How did you end up here? What happened?”

The Eye Spider crawled out from somewhere and jumped onto him.

”You were almost eaten by the Cannibal Mushroom.” The Mirror didn’t know how to explain. ”No, you *were* eaten. I watched the Cannibal Mushroom suck the True Power from your body and swell up. But not long after, the Fungal Mat exploded.”

Hee Lingchuan finally understood what was covering the ground. He’d only ever heard of the infamous Cannibal Mushroom; he never expected one to sneak up on him while he was cultivating. ”Where did it get in?”

”Right here,” the Heart-Protecting Mirror said. ”That big patch of dry moss at the bottom of the den was it!”

’No wonder my defenses were useless. They were meant for enemies trying to get in, not one that was already here.’

It was a blessing in disguise; otherwise, he would have been the one blown to smithereens by his own True Power. ”So this thing actually helped me?”

”You call this helping?” the Mirror said, exasperated. ”Did you break through?”

”Yeah, I guess so.”

’It can work like that?’ The Heart-Protecting Mirror muttered, ”You’re just too lucky for your own good.”

Hee Lingchuan gave a dry laugh. He was getting tired of hearing those two words: ”too lucky.”

’How could I be so lucky again? Just when I was about to burst, a scapegoat showed up to take the fall.’

Now that Hee Lingchuan was growing more experienced and knowledgeable, this kind of outrageous luck was actually starting to unnerve him.

Regardless, it was true that good fortune followed disaster.

He put away the Heart-Protecting Mirror and the Cloud-Glow Robe, pinched his nose, and left the den.

The tiger was right at the den’s entrance. When it saw him emerge, it wagged its tail. It had tried to get in earlier, but the Cloud-Glow Robe sealing the entrance had been too sturdy; it hadn’t been able to force its way through...

「By now, the sky was bright.」

Since he could see daylight even from the bottom of the ravine, Hee Lingchuan guessed it must be noon. ’Did I really take a whole night?’

”One night? Pah!” the Heart-Protecting Mirror cried. ”You were in that wretched hole for three whole nights!”

Hee Lingchuan drew a sharp breath. ’This meditation session actually took two days and three nights?’

He held up the Mirror and took a look. He was disheveled and grimy.

He leaped out of the ravine and started walking. The air was thick with floating ash and dust, making visibility poor.

He soon discovered the corpses of animals lying everywhere.

The Heart-Protecting Mirror explained: ”This dust is poisonous. Even after being exposed to the sun all day, ordinary beasts still can’t withstand it.”

Only then did Hee Lingchuan realize he had just taken another stroll past the Ghost Gate.

Just then, he heard a neighing sound from up ahead. A Big-horned Rock Sheep charged out from deep within the pine forest, pursued by a Giant Bear.

Apparently the bear wanted to eat the sheep, and its ambush had failed.

Upon seeing Hee Lingchuan, it switched targets. ’Two-legged beasts can’t run fast. An easier meal.’

The beast was burly and strong, like a small mountain charging forward.

Hee Lingchuan had just spent three nights cultivating. His True Power was still surging, and he was eager to test his newfound abilities. Why would he fear it?

He pushed off with the tips of his toes and drew his saber in a fluid, backhanded motion.

Ordinarily, he would have dodged the Bear Demon’s first strike and circled to its flank to attack.

It was the prudent and safe approach.

This time, however, what was meant to be a light step, like a dragonfly skimming water, left a shallow crater in the ground.

WHOOSH! Hee Lingchuan left an afterimage as he shot through the air, appearing right in front of the bear’s snout, almost nose-to-nose with it.

’So damn fast!’ The speed even startled him.

One step. With just one step, he had crossed a distance of over thirty feet!

Fortunately, the combat instincts he had honed day after day took over. A blade flashed, and the bear, which had just been raising its claws to counterattack, had half of its foreleg lopped off.

The Bear Demon howled in agony. Then it saw a fierce tiger leap from the dense woods, charging menacingly.

How could it fight one man and one tiger with only three good legs? The great bear’s anger instantly turned to fear.

It fled, he pursued, but there was no escape.

Only when the bear’s corpse hit the ground did Hee Lingchuan finally let out a long breath.

’That was almost too easy.’

This power, this speed, this feeling of being a fish back in water...

This was a true breakthrough, a complete enhancement of his abilities!

He sheathed his saber and turned, only to find that the Big-horned Rock Sheep hadn’t run off. It stood a short distance away, flicking its little tail and watching him with trepidation.

This sheep had light brown fur, long black patches on its belly, and a saddle on its back. He didn’t know whose mount it was.

Actually, it looked more like a deer than a sheep.

But the saddle was stained with blood and bore claw marks. He guessed its original owner had met an unfortunate end.

Looking closer at the bear’s corpse, he saw it had numerous injuries. Some were from claws and fangs, while others had been inflicted by a sharp weapon. Its large left fang was also broken.

It had clearly fought its share of battles with other Demons and humans. In fact, the two bloody holes in its hind legs were likely from the Big Horned Sheep, as Hee Lingchuan noticed bloodstains on its horns.

’This sheep seems to have a fiery temper, too.’

’Looks like life in the forest has been hard on everyone these past few days.’

He took two steps forward, and the Rock Sheep hastily backed away.

Hee Lingchuan ordered the tiger to retreat into the woods. Only then did he walk over, gently pat the Rock Sheep’s neck, and whisper some sweet words to it. He then took out a piece of corn candy, unwrapped it, and offered it to the animal.

The creature was surprisingly docile, likely intimidated by the clean, decisive strike with which Hee Lingchuan had felled the bear.

Of course, one candy wasn’t enough. It took at least three.

”You’ve come at the perfect time. Take me back.”

Hee Lingchuan found a small stream to wash his hands and face, then mounted the sheep and rushed out of the forest.

Along the way, he was attacked twice more, both times by Demons. But his new mount was incredibly fast, able to leap more than ten feet in the air with ease, which helped him avoid a great deal of trouble.

The entire forest was steeped in riot and frenzy.

He also came across several human corpses. Judging by the wounds, they all appeared to have been killed by beasts.

Just as expected, chaos reigned in the wake of the Emperor’s Liquid. Fortunately, he wasn’t far from the edge of the forest.

As the main culprit behind the forest’s turmoil, he felt not a shred of guilt and left with a perfectly clear conscience.

As for the tiger, he recalled the Evil Ghost possessing it and let the animal go free.

Through the connection with the Heart-Protecting Mirror, he knew clearly that the tiger bore him no ill will.

”Let’s let bygones be bygones and part on good terms.” He offered the tiger a Jade Bottle containing five newly refined Hundred Virtues Pills. ”A token of gratitude for your service as my Protector.”

Cultivators believed in karma. There was no longer any conflict between them, so why fight to the death?

After regaining its senses, the tiger didn’t attack him. It just gave him a look, took the bottle, and disappeared into the jungle in two bounds.

***

On his journey back, Hee Lingchuan saw that the towns were no longer as peaceful as they had been a few days prior. Members of the Village Defense Team were on patrol, and townsfolk were busy clearing corpses from the woods or repairing damaged homes.

There were noticeably fewer pedestrians and traveling merchants on the roads.

He delayed no further, traveling through the night to head straight back to Fufeng City.

Compared to its orderly state just a few days ago, Fufeng City now felt a little different.