Ghostly Meat Ganoderma

Time flew by.

Evening.

Late at night.

At this moment.

On the battlefield outside the city, every corpse had been burned to ashes in a great fire, leaving behind only bone ash and a few remnants.

And at this time, three figures appeared here.

The view drew closer.

One was a slovenly old Taoist, another was a young maiden with her face veiled in gauze, and the last was a mysterious person wearing a Clown Mask.

"Heh heh."

The slovenly old Taoist chuckled. "You two arrived just in time. Since you're here, let's begin quickly, lest the night grow long and dreams multiply."

"What a pity."

The young maiden with the gauze veil sighed softly. Her voice was gentle and lovely, yet her tone carried regret. Her enchanting voice made one unable to resist the urge to glimpse her true face. "It's still a little too early. If we could wait another half a month, until the number of refugees and disaster victims gathered reached one hundred thousand—"

"Then."

"The Great Array of Ghostly Flesh and Blood could nurture an even more perfect Ghostly Meat Ganoderma."

"Hee hee hee..."

The mysterious figure in the Clown Mask let out peals of laughter, making exaggeratedly comical movements with all four limbs. "You humans truly are ruthless toward your own kind."

"Begin."

"Activate the array!"

"Open!"

As soon as the words fell.

The old Taoist, the young maiden, and the masked clown exchanged glances, then each cut open his or her wrist, letting blood flow out.

They stood at three different positions in the very center of the battlefield. Once their blood dripped onto the ground, it immediately began to change.

Buzz! Buzz!

First.

Lines of bloody patterns emerged, crimson markings appearing across the ground and spreading outward in every direction.

Before long.

At the places where the old Taoist, the young maiden, and the masked clown stood, their blood formed the image of a crimson lotus.

Boom! Boom!!!

In an instant.

With the appearance of that crimson lotus pattern, the great array that Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohe had already shattered formed once more.

However.

This was an even deeper layer of the array.

Before long.

A crimson lotus began to take shape. Throughout the battlefield, wisps of inexplicable eerie aura, yin energy, death energy, evil energy, and more—

All gathered toward that crimson lotus.

All around.

Upon the battlefield.

Crimson lotuses bloomed from the remaining corpses and bone ash scattered across the ground.

Eerie, bloody, beautiful...

Like Mandala Flowers blooming in hell.

Clearly.

The old Taoist, the young maiden, and the masked clown were the masterminds behind this matter. They had actually prepared for it for a long time, and now, at last, it was time to reap the harvest.

Great Array of Ghostly Flesh and Blood.

Ghostly Meat Ganoderma.

Using the lives and flesh of sixty thousand commoners, and borrowing the Qingbei Town yamen's hand to slaughter them, it was the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma nurtured from countless corpses.

Legend had it.

That so long as one consumed the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma, any existence could directly ignore all barriers and obstructions, passing unimpeded from the First Realm: Mortal World into the Second Realm: Transcendent.

For example.

For martial artists cultivating the martial path, the First Realm: Mortal World was divided into two stages. The first stage was the Force Realm, namely overt force, hidden force, transformed force, and pellet force.

After that.

One entered the second stage: the Aura Realm, namely external aura, internal aura, Innate Gang Qi, and See God Not Bad.

All of these belonged to the First Realm: Mortal World.

As the saying went.

All things under heaven were born in the mortal world, living by heaven and earth. Amid the towering dust of the human world, they comprehended the myriad facets of life—martial arts, the immortal path, demons and devils, gods and ghosts, and more. Before truly shedding one's mortal flesh, all remained within the First Realm: Mortal World.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!!!

The crimson lotus grew increasingly demonic. The array revolved, the lotus bloomed, drawing in countless auras. From the very center of the crimson lotus, a bloody lump of flesh slowly grew.

Puff!

The next moment.

The bloody lump burst apart, and a ganoderma grew from it. The ganoderma was entirely pink, plump and fleshy in appearance, giving off wisps of faint fragrance.

That fragrance seemed capable of stirring the soul.

"Heh heh, it's about to succeed."

The slovenly old Taoist chuckled.

"Mm."

The young maiden concentrated.

"..."

The masked clown said nothing.

Buzz!

Finally.

Half an hour later.

The Ghostly Meat Ganoderma had been fully nurtured. As the crimson lotus withered, every trace of aura across the battlefield was completely absorbed.

Boom!

The Ghostly Meat Ganoderma also changed. It twisted and grew without end, then transformed into a small pink fleshling. With a whoosh, it tried to burrow into the ground and flee.

"Where do you think you're running?"

The young maiden waved her jade-like hand. A golden net had long been buried beneath the ground. Just as the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma tried to burrow underground, she swiftly drew in the golden net.

Thus.

The Ghostly Meat Ganoderma was captured.

It could not escape.

"Good, good, good."

The masked clown laughed as well.

"It's mine."

Boom!

Suddenly.

At that very moment.

A figure hidden in the darkness finally made a move. He was incredibly fast, and when he rushed out from the darkness, he was like a sharp arrow, charging straight toward the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma.

"Sky-Splitting Palm!"

Boom!

The hidden figure raised his hand and blasted out a palm strike.

"Don't even think about it."

Bang!

The young maiden waved her left hand, sending out a strip of silk. In her hands, that seemingly weightless silk became like an iron rod weighing ten thousand jin, smashing rapidly toward her opponent.

Boom!

A tremendous crash rang out.

The hidden figure was forced back.

However.

He was not the only one who had been waiting here. There were four people in total.

And every one of them had reached a level comparable to See God Not Bad.

"Not good!"

"!!!"

The old Taoist and the masked clown's expressions changed in shock.

Without hesitation.

They swiftly made their moves, rushing forward at top speed to stop them from taking the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma. Battle erupted between both sides in an instant.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

One had to know.

They had all reached a level comparable to See God Not Bad. Within Qingbei Town, they were the most elite experts. Even Bu Wuyun and Wei Wohe were a level beneath them.

Puff!!!

Rip...

In the end.

The young maiden's golden net was torn apart, and the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma escaped from within. Yet the instant it emerged, it was smashed into several pieces.

As a result.

The seven foremost experts of Qingbei Town present each seized a piece of flesh from the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma. Each person took one-seventh.

"Damn it!!!"

The young maiden's face darkened.

"!!"

The old Taoist's expression was furious as well.

"Hee hee hee..."

The masked clown laughed. "Interesting, far too interesting. No wonder you didn't stop this from happening. So you had long intended to take a share of the spoils."

"You humans truly have filthy hearts."

"Hmph!"

"The next time we meet, I'll kill you!"

"..."

The four figures who had concealed their true appearances snorted coldly.

Then.

They all departed.

"Let's go!"

"..."

The old Taoist, the young maiden, and the masked clown also left.

Elsewhere.

Xu Qing's residence.

Xu Qing knew nothing about what had happened outside the city, nor was he particularly interested in knowing. Although the Ghostly Meat Ganoderma sounded quite good, even if Xu Qing had known about it, he would not have coveted it.

With the help of the Omni-Codex, entering the Second Realm: Transcendent was only a matter of time.

Xu Qing had great confidence.

At this time.

Xu Qing had already finished practicing the Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking. It was late, so he returned to his bedroom to rest. As usual, he summoned the Shaman Evil Ghost to guard his safety.

In the blink of an eye.

The next day.

Morning.

Xu Qing woke early. Since all the refugees and disaster victims outside the city had died, from today onward, he no longer needed to patrol outside the city.

Morning.

Azure Hawk Martial Arts School.

This time, Azure Hawk Martial Arts School had suffered considerable losses. Including Xu Qing, only one hundred and eighty-three formal disciples remained. Even more outer-court students had died.

However, it did not matter.

Before long, there would surely be more outer-court students.

Fortunately.

None of Azure Hawk Martial Arts School's seven true disciples had come to harm. Only Jin Hong had been injured, but his injuries were not serious, and his life was not in danger.

"A major incident occurred outside the city. All the refugees and disaster victims died. The yamen also suffered considerable losses, and quite a few people from our martial arts school died as well."

Du Cangying coughed. His face was slightly pale. He had participated in the great battle outside the city too, and there had been no way around it, so he had been injured as well. He had not yet fully recovered.

"From today onward, you no longer need to patrol outside the city. I believe Qingbei Town will remain peaceful for quite some time to come, and nothing else will happen."

Du Cangying continued, "Train well and improve your strength. Only then can you preserve your lives amid turmoil."

"Wonderful."

"We finally don't have to patrol anymore."

"Good, good, good."

"..."

Everyone was overjoyed.

"Xu Qing."

Du Cangying called out.

"Master."

Xu Qing stepped forward.

"The night before last, I did not find you outside the city. How did you escape back?"

Du Cangying's gaze sharpened slightly.

One had to know—

Under the circumstances that night, nearly all those on patrol had died. Only a very few had survived and escaped, yet Xu Qing had somehow made it back as well.

"Master."

Xu Qing spoke frankly. "That night, I happened to encounter that mysterious swordsmanship master, Lü Dongbin. I secretly followed behind Lü Dongbin and escaped."

"Only, I lost him halfway through. Still, I was fortunate enough to get out alive."

"Not bad luck."

Du Cangying looked deeply at Xu Qing, then asked, "How are your cultivation and realm now? To what extent have you reached? Have you attained peak Bright Force?"

"Soon, Master."

Xu Qing said.

"Too slow."

Du Cangying shook his head, his gaze growing even sharper. "I'll give you one more month. If you fail to reach peak Bright Force, leave Azure Hawk Martial Arts School yourself."

"Yes."

Xu Qing lowered his head. "This disciple will surely reach peak Bright Force within one month."

"Mm."

Du Cangying asked no further questions.