novelraw Chapter 137 : Mushroom Forest
Chapter 137 : Mushroom Forest
He wiped his face, gritted his teeth, and after spending a good half hour breaking through this array within an array,
As soon as everyone stepped out,
Screams rang out in the next second—
"Not good, there's poison gas!"
"Run quickly!!!"
"Ahhh, how despicable and shameless!!!"
That damned thing had actually set up poison gas outside the array. Although this poison gas couldn't cause fatal damage to cultivators like them, it was mainly meant to be insulting and demoralizing.
The Pill Condensation Sect people spent quite some time clearing the poison gas. They were all like startled birds, extremely cautious with every step afterwards. When they reached a safe place and confirmed there were no more traps, everyone let out a big sigh of relief, then fell into wordless silence for a while.
"How about we cooperate?" Cui Xiu proactively extended an olive branch to the other two sects.
The Eight Trigrams Sect mainly specialized in talisman and array attacks, pill supplies were indispensable, and the Alchemy Sect disciples had no shortage of magical treasures, which also played an indispensable role in the secret realm.
The three sects with no attack power were attempting to huddle together for warmth first.
Zhao Yun was the first to raise his hand, "I agree."
To be frank, Liu Yuanqing didn't want to team up with other sects. In the eyes of the proud pill refiners, disciples from other sects were all useless.
But unfortunately, reality was harsh. Without protection, their group of weak pill refiners would be beaten wherever they went. They would probably be the first to be eliminated from the Pill Condensation Sect.
He said with a slightly dark face, "...Fine."
Thus, the alliance of the three sects was formed.
The good news was that they had finally cooperated as the elders had envisioned.
The bad news was that the cooperation was for revenge, to hunt down and kill that damned bastard Chu Sang!
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"Achoo!"
Chu Sang sneezed several times in a row, rubbing her nose. "Who's thinking about me?"
Tantai Ming mercilessly twisted the knife, "Little Junior Sister, are you sure it's not someone cursing you?"
Given Little Junior Sister's ability to attract hatred, it was fortunate they were on the same team. Otherwise, even he would want to curse.
Chu Sang said seriously, "I forbid you to slander my noble personal charm."
As the saying goes, show off when it's time to show off, work hard when it's time to work hard. The group rushed fiercely towards where the rift had appeared. With Chu Sang's high-grade speed talismans, now upgraded to version 3.0, their travel speed was much faster than others. They arrived a step ahead and casually set up a few traps.
They had originally planned to trap the Pill Condensation Sect, but the Alchemy Sect and Eight Trigrams Sect teams were also rushing over.
Well, trapping one was trapping, trapping two was trapping, trapping three was also trapping.
Might as well kill three birds with one stone.
"What is this?" Tantai Ming looked at the forest before him, expressing his lack of experience. "Such big mushrooms, even taller than trees!"
He wondered what it would taste like to take a bite.
By the time they had rushed to the vicinity of the space-time rift, the surrounding forests had disappeared. They had unknowingly entered a mushroom forest - a true mushroom "forest". Mushrooms as big as trees covered the ground, towering into the clouds, blocking out the sky.
Apart from being excessively large, the mushroom "trees" in the forest were actually quite similar to ordinary mushrooms, just with their forms magnified countless times. It was surprising at first glance, but after looking for a while, it was just that.
To reach the space-time rift, they had to pass through this mushroom forest.
The further they went, the more mushroom "trees" there were and the taller they grew. It was unclear what nutrients they had absorbed to grow so vigorously.
In the air, tiny white fluff-like particles seemed to be floating, silently approaching these intruders. As soon as they touched skin, they would quickly adhere, like insatiable parasites, draining their blood, flesh, and spiritual energy.
"Everyone be careful, these are ghost mushrooms. Don't let these spores touch you. They'll drain your spiritual energy."
Mu Chihuai waved out a spiritual fire to burn away the spores trying to approach him.
Now they knew why the mushrooms in this forest grew so vigorously. Who knows how many cultivators' flesh and bones were buried in the soil below. Growing by eating human flesh, drinking human blood, and absorbing spiritual energy, this mushroom colony was truly worthy of being called a forest of death.
After entering this mushroom forest, they could no longer fly on swords. Once they flew on swords, they would be contaminated with more spores. Forget about escaping, they would only die faster.
Fortunately, there were many fire spirit roots in the team, and a fire-attribute demon beast. These spores and plants were extremely afraid of spiritual fire. After being burned, they shrank back timidly.
Chu Sang's divine sense covered several li of land, and she quickly discovered something was amiss. These spores were far more troublesome than they had imagined.
After retreating to hidden corners, these spores gathered together again, forming huge white human faces. Rather than human faces, they were more like ghost faces, as if they were the souls of cultivators whose flesh and blood had been drained by these ghost mushrooms. With sharp whistling sounds like ghosts screaming, they surrounded them heavily, attempting to devour them.
Chu Sang took two steps back, shielding her Senior Brothers and Sisters. She drew the Karma Burns the Three Realms bow.
"Break!"
The divine fire carried an inherent scorching effect.
The arrows pierced through these terrifying ghost faces, scattering them back into spores. The scorching effect continued to cover them, burning the fleeing spores to ashes.
After she violently crushed several nearby mushroom trees, demonstrating a round of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, the entire mushroom forest finally quieted down again, trembling and not daring to cause more trouble.
Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, Chu Sang collected all the spores from the mushroom trees she had shot to pieces. Her hoarding habit indicated that they would be useful sooner or later.
Just as they were about to leave, another group caught up. It was the female protagonist's group again.
Qin Xixue held a spirit tool similar to a compass in her hand. Thanks to the mushroom forest not causing trouble, they had caught up quickly after escaping the traps.
With people from three sects behind her, Qin Xixue felt more confident this time.
She stepped forward, her watery eyes flickering. "Second Senior Sister, we are all sect disciples. How can you be so despicable and shameless? It's truly disheartening!"
Tantai Ming sighed, leaning back. "Weren't you the ones who attacked first?"
If they didn't know the whole story, they might have thought they were the villains.
Qin Xixue naturally wanted to unite the other sects in shared hatred.
He smiled maliciously and countered, "To be honest, our Little Junior Sister only intended to trap you and the Pill Condensation Sect. The other two sects were just unlucky coincidences caught in the crossfire. In a way, you're the one who dragged them into this!"
The smile on Qin Xixue's face indeed stiffened a bit.
Chu Sang couldn't help but give her Seventh Senior Brother a thumbs up in her heart. She hadn't expected that Seventh Senior Brother, who usually seemed so foolish, could be so quick-witted when needed. She suddenly felt she had become much kinder.
The Alchemy Sect and Eight Trigrams Sect weren't very interested in the grudges between these two sides. They only had one thing on their minds: to quickly reach the time rift, repair it, and get points.
They had delayed too much time and needed to catch up on progress quickly!
The rankings had just been updated—Tianyan Sect and Beast Taming Sect had already repaired one rift. The sense of urgency immediately increased.
On the surface, Qin Xixue stood with the Pill Condensation Sect side, but she was currently only a disciple of Tianyan Sect. Naturally, in her heart, she hoped Tianyan Sect could get first place. As long as they took the top spot, they could go to the legendary immortal mansion inheritance grounds!
And in this competition, with the diligent little bee Mo Qingchen leading other Tianyan Sect disciples to work hard and earn points at the forefront, she only needed to lie flat, chat about ideals with the Pill Condensation Sect's top disciple to promote their relationship, and when necessary, block Chu Sang's group's progress to ensure Tianyan Sect could smoothly obtain the top spot this time.
Whether there was a reason or not didn't matter, but this move had to be made.
Qin Xixue raised a spiritual fire from her fingertip and directly attacked Chu Sang.
"Again with the sneak attacks without a word? Is this a tradition for you people?"
Tantai Ming cursed as he blocked the attack, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
Having just sworn an oath of alliance, they couldn't break it now, could they? The other two sects were also a bit resentful. Why did Qin Xixue start trouble as soon as they arrived??
But there was no choice. They had to join in.
After all, this group from Lingqing Sect was indeed a menace, especially Chu Sang herself. Only by dealing with them first would the rest of the secret realm return to normal difficulty.
The two sides clashed again, with various spells, talismans, and magical treasures flying about in a colorful display. But to be honest, the other side was full of pill refiners, tool refiners, and talisman refiners, all bottom-tier in combat ability. No matter how beautifully they cast their spells, they couldn't escape being beaten by the strong sword cultivators.
Qin Xixue naturally understood their side's combat power, so she took advantage of the chaotic fighting to secretly retreat a few steps, summoning a dazzling flame from her fingertip.
Outside, knowledgeable cultivators exclaimed in surprise,
"Heavens, is that a strange fire?"
"This female cultivator is really something. I've been watching her all along. Just in these few days in the secret realm, she's already pulled out no less than ten spirit tools. I've never seen any personal disciple more extravagant than her."
"Not only has she tamed a late Nascent Soul stage white tiger, but she even has a rare strange fire at her disposal!"
Strange fire was a more precious and powerful existence than ordinary spiritual fire, possessing unimaginable flame power.
Ordinary cultivators could use strange fire to refine pills and tools, breaking through the limitations of spirit roots to become pill refiners or tool refiners.
And especially for fire spirit roots, having a strange fire was even more powerful.
Various strange fires, big and small, each had their own abilities. Among them, ninety-nine powerful strange fires were recorded, with the top ten being particularly mysterious and extraordinary.
"Look at the strange fire in her hand. When released, it forms waves of red lotus shapes... Could it be the legendary Red Lotus Karmic Fire?!"
"Damn, what kind of luck is this? She actually contracted the Red Lotus Karmic Fire. This is one of the top ten strange fires in the rankings. Is this person really the daughter of the Heavenly Dao??"
"Hmph, Chu Sang is done for this time. She's met her match. I don't believe she can pull off any more tricks!"
In the secret realm, seeing that Qin Xixue actually possessed the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, others were also shocked. Qin Xixue slightly curled her lips, a gentle smile hanging on her face. "Second Senior Sister, I'm sorry. We're all opponents in the secret realm. I don't want it to be this way either."
"You don't want to break face, right? Fine, I'll help you break it." Chu Sang imitated her coquettish and affected tone, also smiling slightly. "Then I'm sorry to you too."
What?
In the moment Qin Xixue was stunned, the red-robed girl also raised a strange fire in her hand.
Even more shocking was that this strange fire's pressure was several times stronger than the Red Lotus Karmic Fire in her hand, if not more!
"Damn, these two are really cheating!" It could be said that the entire focus was on these two girls, even the genius youth Mo Qingchen had to step aside.
The cultivators outside were so shocked they had become somewhat numb. These two were really one more outrageous than the other, able to pull out all sorts of unimaginable things, each more silencing than the last.
"The Red Lotus Karmic Fire is said to be ranked in the top ten on the legendary Strange Fire Rankings. Strange fires that can be stronger than the Red Lotus Karmic Fire are extremely rare... What kind of strange fire is in Chu Sang's hand?" Someone immediately pulled out an encyclopedia of strange fires, but after flipping through the entire book, they couldn't find the source of that strange fire.
"This strange fire doesn't look like an ordinary strange fire. It seems to contain an extremely pure dragon aura. No wonder even the Red Lotus Karmic Fire can't match its edge." A professional analyzed.
Mu Changqing snorted: Of course it's not an ordinary strange fire, that's his dragon fire!
Anyway, he was temporarily idle in the sect, and to avoid being stuck with the thankless task of guarding the sect again, he simply came to watch the competition with Fairy Chanyue and the others. Hearing the discussions of those mortals behind him, Mu Changqing felt a bit of pride in his heart. Of course his dragon fire was useful!
The strange fire that people outside couldn't identify after much discussion didn't hinder its power, which was shockingly strong.
Qin Xixue's face changed dramatically. The Red Lotus Strange Fire in her hand seemed like a weak little flame in comparison, about to be extinguished at any moment.
Strange fires have an instinct to devour their own kind. Qin Xixue only felt a pain at her fingertip. She screamed and quickly let go.
The Red Lotus Karmic Fire in her hand was almost instantly devoured by the dragon breath strange fire.
She angrily shouted, "Chu Sang!"
Making a soft beauty beloved by all shout in anger with a 70-decibel voice.
This was enough to show how despicable Chu Sang's behavior was.
But this was far from over. There was something even more despicable. Chu Sang had added the previous 10 points to her Comprehension, breaking through to the fifth level of Wood Essence Spirit in one go.
After breaking through to the fifth level of Wood Essence Spirit, she could freely manipulate the surrounding plants.
A green light appeared at the girl's fingertip, and the mushroom forest, which had already shown submission, became agitated again, actually starting to release large amounts of spores.
These spores naturally couldn't cause much damage to this group of one-in-a-million genius cultivators, but they were extremely limiting to speed, which was truly annoying.
From the outside, it only looked like these ghost mushrooms had gone crazy and started attacking again, but the Pill Condensation Sect side was particularly unlucky, always being hit by the attacks.
Leaving behind the crowd entangled with the ghosts, Chu Sang and her Senior Brothers and Sisters rushed to the destination on their flying swords, finally seeing the legendary space-time rift.