Jade Grass

Light and mycelium battled on the tree trunk, advancing and retreating in a constant tug-of-war, but the giant tree was clearly at a disadvantage.

At the base of the tree, a thin emerald light membrane formed a dome like an inverted bowl, protecting a small area.

Inside the light membrane lay over a dozen eggs.

The eggs varied in size; some were only as large as a fist, while others were as big as water vats.

Their colors differed as well. Each egg emitted a glow that passed through the membrane and reflected off the surrounding rock walls, illuminating the entire space in a dreamlike aura.

Chen Zhou frowned.

Ever since he had entered this space, his Cloud Sea Resplendence authority had been flickering, as if it were trying to warn him of something.

He had initially thought the mushrooms were interfering with the heavenly secrets, but now it seemed that was not the case.

The mushrooms possessed no sentience and acted entirely on instinct, much like the most primitive common evil spirits. They could not possibly interfere with the heavenly secrets.

Then what exactly was causing his authority to flicker incessantly?

Furthermore, Chen Zhou abruptly sensed a distinctly familiar aura lingering in this place.

Chen Zhou looked up at the giant tree.

Could it be this tree?

Just as Chen Zhou was about to step closer for a better look, the ground suddenly began to vibrate.

The mushrooms parasitic on the tree seemed to sense something. They all turned in unison, their caps pointing toward Chen Zhou and the Plague Rat.

Then, mycelium erupted frantically from the ground, surging toward the two of them.

At the same time, the caps opened, spraying thick clouds of spore mist. The mist condensed in the air, transforming into giant palms that reached out to seize them.

Chen Zhou frowned. His Ghost Domain expanded abruptly, and his death qi transformed into a bone wall that stood before him.

The palms clawed at the bone wall, leaving deep gashes. Fine fungal patches sprouted along the edges of the gashes and began to spread rapidly.

Chen Zhou increased the output of his death qi. The cracks in the bone wall healed instantly, and the fungal patches were swallowed by the death qi.

However, the mushrooms' attacks grew increasingly fierce, coming in wave after wave without any sign of stopping.

Chen Zhou noticed that they had abandoned their consumption of the giant tree, diverting all their power to deal with him.

Chen Zhou sensed that these mushrooms seemed to have absorbed something, as their strength was rising rapidly.

They had previously been around the sixth or seventh stage, but now they had soared to the peak of the seventh stage and were still climbing.

He channeled his death qi, and the gray-white Ghost Domain expanded again, enveloping all the mushrooms within a radius of several hundred zhang.

Within the Ghost Domain, the Domain of Defiled Earth was activated.

The ground began to soften, turning into gray-white defiled earth. Countless bone hands reached out from the earth, grabbing the mushrooms' mycelium and tearing at them with force.

The mushrooms emitted sharp screeches, and their mycelium struggled frantically, but the bone hands grew more numerous and dense, ripping the mycelium apart strand by strand.

Chen Zhou took the opportunity to walk toward the giant tree.

The mushrooms grew even more frantic. They threw themselves recklessly at Chen Zhou, slamming their bodies against the Ghost Domain, entangling the bone wall with mycelium, and trying to corrode everything with their spore mist.

The Ghost Domain began to tremble under their assault, its edges turning translucent as if it might shatter at any moment.

Chen Zhou frowned and increased his death qi output, restabilizing the Ghost Domain.

But he discovered that the mushrooms' strength was still rising.

They had already broken through to the eighth stage.

The eighth-stage Siming.

Although they were only at the early phase and lacked sentience, acting purely on instinct, their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Like a swarm of ants taking down an elephant, they covered everything.

Cracks began to appear in Chen Zhou's Ghost Domain, and the rate of death qi consumption far exceeded its recovery.

Seeing that things were going poorly, the Plague Rat rushed forward to help.

Great Plague Heaven operated at full power. Dark green mist surged from his body, mingling with the mushrooms' spore mist.

The two mists corroded and devoured each other, producing a constant sizzling sound.

The Plague Rat's face grew increasingly pale, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

He felt his Great Plague Heaven being counter-corroded by the mushrooms' spore mist.

Spores burrowed into his body, taking root and sprouting, growing into new mushrooms that in turn devoured his death qi.

"Damn it!" the Plague Rat cursed loudly. "These things can even backlash against Lord Rat?"

Mushrooms sprouted all over his arms, legs, and chest.

The mushrooms absorbed his death qi and grew larger and larger; some were already the size of a fist.

The Plague Rat let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the ground.

He desperately tried to channel his death qi to force the mushrooms out, but they were rooted too deeply, having merged with his flesh and begun to assimilate his death qi.

Chen Zhou frowned. He took a few steps over and pressed his hand onto the Plague Rat.

Gray-white death qi surged into the Plague Rat's body, uprooting those mushrooms and crushing them into powder.

The Plague Rat gasped for breath, covered in blood and deathly pale.

"Milord, these things are far too bizarre."

"I am already an evil spirit, yet they can actually turn around and absorb my death qi."

Chen Zhou said nothing. For the Plague Rat, dealing with eighth-stage mushrooms was indeed pushing his limits.

Although these mushrooms were evil spirits and had reached the eighth stage, they did not possess godheads.

Unranked beings could not be compared to a ranked god.

Chen Zhou activated Festering Calamity, setting it to its maximum range. Then, he caused the Ghost Domain to contract abruptly, gathering all the mushrooms and compressing them into an extremely small area.

The gray-white death qi transformed into countless bone spikes that erupted from the ground, pinning the mushrooms to the earth.

The mushrooms struggled frantically, their mycelium snapping and their caps shattering. Their struggles grew weaker and weaker until they finally stopped moving altogether.

But they were not dead.

They were merely suppressed, temporarily losing their ability to act.

The moment Chen Zhou withdrew his Ghost Domain and the calamity, they would recover immediately.

As he was thinking, he suddenly felt a weight lift from his finger.

The Cloud-Hiding Silk detached from its bone ring form, transforming into a white ribbon that drifted gently in the air.

The ribbon was pure white, embroidered with intricate cloud patterns that flowed slowly, creating a dreamlike effect.

Chen Zhou was momentarily stunned.

Since he had obtained the Cloud-Hiding Silk at the Immortal-Slaying Shrine, its role had always been to passively boost the authority of Cloud Sea Resplendence. It had never taken the initiative to act before.

And now it was moving on its own?

The ribbon circled the air once before pouncing toward the suppressed mushrooms.

White light surged from the ribbon, enveloping all the mushrooms within it.

The mushrooms began to tremble and shrivel.

They shrank from hundreds of zhang tall to dozens of zhang, then to several zhang, and finally down to just a few feet.

Ultimately, all the mushrooms converged, condensing into a single palm-sized, flat, wood-like mushroom.

The mushroom was dark red, its surface covered in fine lines. Seven golden spots grew on its cap, arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper and emitting a soft glow.

The system notification rang in his mind.

【You have obtained an eighth-stage evil spirit — Jade Grass】

【This evil spirit has been suppressed by Cloud-Hiding Silk and is currently in a dormant state. It can be safely contained.】

Chen Zhou was stunned.

Jade Grass?

Isn't that just a Lingzhi?

He recalled a legend from his previous life.

Legend had it that Yaoji, the daughter of the Flame Emperor, died before she could marry and was buried on the southern slope of Mount Wu. Her essence spirit clung to a plant, which was actually a Lingzhi.

The resemblance was too striking. Could the A Yao in the Fallen Dream be the Yaoji of legend?

Or perhaps this evil spirit known as Jade Grass was a remnant left behind after A Yao's death, which was why it had triggered a reaction from the Cloud-Hiding Silk, the artifact she had worn in life?

Since the artifact possessed a spirit, could it sense its master's aura more clearly than any outsider?