Chapter 274: Spiritual Mushroom and Giant Flower

Everyone's already like this, I…… you……

Inside the house, the girl's voice continued speaking, though it was unclear whether due to loss or panic, her tone sounded somewhat strange.

The boy said, "I, I, it's not that I'm incapable, it's just that the monsters outside are about to break in; I truly… have the will but lack the strength."

"Whimper…" the girl burst into tears, wailing.

Then came a silence.

Heng Xian confirmed that the "vehicle" couldn't be started, so he walked to the window, pushed the paper window half open, and peered inside.

The room's light was somewhat dim; in the center was a fire about to die out, with a chicken roasting above it; in the corner lay a bed, on which sat a girl, her clothes disheveled, arms wrapped around her knees, softly weeping, her appearance still decent.

By the bed stood a young man with a square face, a few faint whiskers, his complexion deathly pale, half-heartedly putting on his clothes while occasionally glancing toward the door.

Yet they completely failed to notice that someone had appeared by the window.

Heng Xian stared at the two, sizing them up, realized they weren't part of the batch of fourteen-sect disciples who had come with him, then extended a finger and tapped on the window lattice.

The man and woman jerked their heads toward him; upon seeing his mask, they shuddered in fright.

Nevertheless, the training of a major-sect disciple remained; instantly one waved a demon-subduing pestle, the other gripped a sword, and without a word they launched an attack.

"Boom——"

The entire windowsill collapsed in an instant.

The two smashed through brick and tile, ending up outside.

The girl turned her body, her sword spinning to thrust back.

The boy leapt into the air, head down, feet up, and brought the demon-subduing pestle down upon his head.

Both were at the seventh or eighth layer of Qi Refining; their techniques and martial arts were top-notch, and their combined strike sounded like wind and thunder—fierce yet ingenious; even a cultivator at the first or second layer of the Qi Sea Realm would surely be seriously injured if careless, let alone a humanoid monster.

However, the masked person in the dust vanished strangely, thrusting at empty air.

The two landed back on the ground, glanced at each other, immediately scanned their surroundings, and when they looked inside the house, their faces changed simultaneously.

Only then did they see that the "masked person" had at some point entered the ruined room, standing by the fire, picking up the chicken they had roasted and sniffing it.

He appeared relaxed and at ease, with not a speck of dust from the shattered windowsill on him.

In other words, while the two were just smashing the windowsill, this person had already brushed past their bodies and entered the room.

If he had wanted to kill them, they would likely already be corpses.

The difference in strength between the two sides is too great! We can't beat him!

"Whoosh——"

The two breathed heavily, beads of sweat dotting their foreheads, bodies tensed, daring not to move.

"The chicken is cooked, but the technique is terrible—no oil brushed, no prior marination, just slapped on the rack and baked hard; the smoky flavor is overpowering, with a hint of gaminess."

Heng Xian said this, tore off a drumstick, then pulled a small bottle of his own homemade seasoning from his pocket and sprinkled it on.

"Can you speak human language?"

The man and woman stared, then their faces lit up with delight; they hurried into the room, clasped their fists in salute, and said, "Guangfa Palace's Lin Wu / Da Luo Holy Sect's Wu Lian, we pay our respects… to this senior brother!"

Heng Xian picked up the drumstick, took a bite, found it edible enough, and said, "Senior brother? Aren't you afraid I'm a monster?"

Lin Wu returned the salute, saying, "Senior brother, you jest; the humanoid monsters here cannot speak, from the lowly gray-clad to the high-ranking blue, white, and silver-clad—we've verified that!"

Wu Lian also said, "Exactly! Primordial Dan Realm senior brothers and sisters have slain many humanoid monsters; they only attack people and lack any language ability."

"Oh?"

Heng Xian asked, "Who have you brought?"

Lin Wu replied, "We gathered in four batches; after arriving via the teleportation array, only over a hundred remained, led by Senior Brother Zhou Zhan Yi of the Great Expansion Sect, Senior Sister Bai Lianhua of the Tianyuan Sect, Senior Brother Jiang Wuya of the East Emperor Palace, and Senior Sister Puyin of Lingtai Mountain."

Wu Lian added, "They are all the top-ranked cultivators of their respective sects, with extraordinary strength; almost all the trials along the way have been led by them."

Heng Xian smiled and said, "Then why did you end up alone?"

Lin Wu glanced cautiously outside, seeing that the gray-clad men surrounding the courtyard had disappeared; feeling a bit puzzled, and seeing Heng Xian's question, he dared not refuse to answer: "We've been here three days; this place is called Ku Cheng, vast in area, but every three to five li a tiny Spiritual Mushroom appears, and every fifty-six li a giant flower appears,

Eating these mushrooms allows one to absorb a large amount of spiritual qi, and in the mind they rehearse an ancient technique—truly miraculous!

As for that giant flower, it's remarkable; sitting inside it not only increases cultivation speed tenfold, but also allows one to be infused with a powerful spell.

At first we searched for the mushrooms, but they were too few, far from enough to share, so the senior brothers had us split up to look.

However, Ku Cheng is everywhere filled with those unkillable humanoid monsters, danger lurking everywhere; we nine managed to reach this place together, but having found no mushrooms, two died, and we two were forced here—without the senior brothers' rescue, we would surely die!"

Heng Xian nodded; these people aren't stupid either, but though the mushrooms and giant flower are good, they aren't the key to this stage.

Wu Lian timidly glanced outside and said, "I don't know… which sect or school you belong to, senior brother, and why…"

Lin Wu quickly slapped her: "Junior Sister Wu, be silent; the senior brother hides his face, naturally he doesn't want to reveal his identity."

"You're a smart person." Heng Xian glanced at Lin Wu and tossed over half a chicken.

"Thank you for the praise, senior brother!" Lin Wu gave a dry laugh, took the roasted chicken, pointed outside, and tentatively asked, "I don't know about those monsters out there…"

"Killed." Heng Xian replied offhand.

"Uh……" Lin Wu and Wu Lian exchanged a glance, each seeing a hint of shock in the other's eyes.

They knew well how hard those humanoid monsters were to kill; only a few senior brothers and sisters at the later stage of the Qi Sea Realm and in the Primordial Dan Realm, having obtained weapons from the monster house, could barely manage to slay them.

This person before us has, without realizing it, knocked out a dozen or so? How strong must he be?

Thinking this, the two almost simultaneously bowed deeply: "Please, senior brother, in light of the fourteen sects all being major cultivation powers of the Dongyu realm, go rescue Yuantong and them!"

"Yuantong?" Heng Xian said.

"Isn't 'Yuantong' the dharma name of Sun Bufan?"

Wu Lian said, "Yuantong is a disciple of Lingtai Mountain; we nine had agreed to come here together to look for Spiritual Mushrooms, but we were pursued by a group of white-clad and blue-clad beings, two died along the way, we two fled here, and the remaining five Yuantong were captured!"

The "white-clad" and "blue-clad" likely refer to types of humanoid monsters.

Heng Xian asked, "Capture, not kill?"

Lin Wu explained, "Silver-clad humanoid monsters eat people; they might have been captured to be fed to the silver-clad!"

Heng Xian tossed aside the chicken bone: 'Lead the way!'

The two were overjoyed and hurriedly led the way ahead.

The three left the courtyard, seeing pitch-black corpses strewn everywhere; Lin Wu and the two were still a bit startled, and their looks at Heng Xian grew more reverent.

They immediately turned into a small side alley and headed straight ahead.

Along the way Lin Wu explained that Ku Cheng's humanoid monsters come in four kinds—gray-clad, blue-clad, white-clad, and silver-clad—with strength distinguished by clothing color.

The highest silver-clad monster has already attained the power of the Primordial Dan Realm; it not only eats people, but with a wave of its hand and a lift of its foot, houses collapse, heaven and earth split—utterly terrifying.

The green-clad monster Heng Xian encountered in a sedan chair, however, is only ranked third.

As they walked and talked, the further they went, the more frequent the humanoid monsters became; they dodged many gray-clad fellows along the way, until they reached a stretch of old houses.

Wu Lian whispered: 'This is the place!'

(End of chapter)