Among the rippling waves, several blurry figures gradually emerged.
Li Nanzhu thought for a moment and said without hesitation, "My seventh senior brother, Duan Xianxing. The one with the thunder spiritual root."
Fearing Xiao Yan wouldn't know which one she meant, she specifically added the spiritual root attribute.
Li Nanzhu had already made up her mind. Although she cared about Cang Dongqing's progress, the other woman's Foundation Establishment was a foregone conclusion—an established fact that no one could change.
The greatest opportunity here already belonged to her. The other party couldn't enter the alchemy room or the Hundred Herbs Heaven, and Xiao Yan had confirmed there was nothing else left; even that foundation establishment pill had just been something Xiao Yan accidentally dropped there.
There was no need to waste more time on her.
As for the people from the Sword Heart Sect, she wasn't interested. In the original story, they had stayed perfectly safe, and there was no reason they should end up dead or crippled just because she had joined them.
Her second senior brother was at the Golden Core stage, and Liu Qingyang had plenty of defensive magic tools on him. The only one worth worrying about was Duan Xianxing.
After all, he had neither pills nor magic tools. Li Nanzhu was truly worried that something might happen to him without her knowing.
"That kid?" Xiao Yan's expression turned a bit strange. "He's actually from your Five Elements Dao Sect as well?"
As he finished speaking, the water rippled, and a cloud of seven-colored spores suddenly exploded in the image.
Duan Xianxing rushed out of the smoke with a head full of fluorescent green mushrooms. His clothes were no longer their original purple, and his entire body was covered in multicolored spores, making him look like a walking humanoid rainbow.
"What's going on now?" Li Nanzhu massaged her forehead.
In the image, Duan Xianxing suddenly sneezed. "A-choo! Who's badmouthing me behind my back!"
Li Nanzhu: "..."
It certainly wasn't her.
She only heard him mutter, "I wonder how Little Junior Sister, Second Senior Brother, and Brother Liu are doing. Do they miss me? A-choo! A-choo!"
Just as a warmth rose in Li Nanzhu's eyes, her pupils suddenly shrank—the mycelium of the fluorescent mushrooms by Duan Xianxing's feet was silently coiling around his ankle.
This familiar scene immediately reminded her of the mycelium she had encountered in the corridor earlier!
She whipped her head around to look at Xiao Yan, only to see him looking on with great interest. Seeing this, she felt slightly more at ease. Seventh Senior Brother was also part of the Five Elements Dao Sect; Xiao Yan wouldn't harm him. She would... ask later.
Li Nanzhu had just barely suppressed the doubt in her heart when the sound of Duan Xianxing's continuous sneezing reached them.
"A-choo! This mushroom powder... is too..."
Duan Xianxing was still sneezing when he suddenly felt something was wrong. He looked down and nearly jumped out of his skin. It was that familiar mycelium again. Before he could react further, the surrounding mushrooms shook their caps in unison and leaped toward him as a group!
"Wait! I didn't wake you up on purpose!" As Duan Xianxing stumbled back, a crisp crack sounded from under his boot.
The entire mushroom forest instantly went silent. Every cap turned toward the source of the sound—the giant fluorescent mushroom he had stepped on was now oozing blue juice.
"I said... I didn't do it on purpose. Do you believe me?" Duan Xianxing held his hands high, barely squeezing out a smile. The next second, he saw the mushrooms within a ten-foot radius turn from blue to red at a visible speed, their gills vibrating violently as they sprayed clouds of seven-colored spores.
"I'm doomed!"
Duan Xianxing turned and ran, pursued by a crowd of hopping mushrooms. The scene was somehow... hilarious?
"Cough, cough..." Li Nanzhu nearly choked on her own saliva. What in the world was this?
However, the way those mushrooms turned red reminded her of a game she used to love called Angry Birds. No, it should be called Angry Mushrooms now!
"It's a misunderstanding! I really didn't step on your mushroom on purpose!" Duan Xianxing howled as he ran aimlessly. He felt that the world behind this light gate was not friendly to him at all. He had finally managed to crawl out of an illusion, only to run into these mushrooms and that mycelium the moment he emerged!
He truly hadn't gotten a single benefit; he'd just been chased the entire time!
Meanwhile, the leading giant mushroom puffed out a cloud of spores, instantly turning Duan Xianxing into a rainbow-colored mess.
Li Nanzhu: "..."
It seemed these mushrooms and the mycelium in the corridor were indeed not the same kind of thing... but why did she feel that her seventh senior brother always had some sort of grudge with mushrooms?
Suisui, on the other hand, was watching with great relish. When Duan Xianxing turned multicolored, it kept tugging at Li Nanzhu's sleeve, pointing at him and then at itself.
Only then did Li Nanzhu remember the seven-colored Suisui from yesterday...
...Did it think Duan Xianxing was one of its kind now?
In the image, Duan Xianxing suddenly tripped over a tree root during his escape and dove face-first into a puddle of mud.
Just as he lifted his head, he saw the group of mushrooms had already surrounded him. The leading giant red mushroom sprayed another cloud of purple spores, plastering them directly onto his face.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Duan Xianxing coughed violently, his entire face turning a purplish-red.
To his horror, tiny little mushrooms began to sprout on his arms!
"It's over, it's over!" Duan Xianxing frantically slapped at the mushrooms on his body. "I'm going to turn into a mushroom person!!"
Suisui's soul fire flickered with excitement; it seemed very happy.
Li Nanzhu's pupils shrank. This scene... was all too familiar!
She hurriedly grabbed Xiao Yan's sleeve, her heart pounding with panic. "Master, are these spores poisonous? They won't turn a person into nutrients, will they?"
"Nutrients?" Xiao Yan gave her a strange look. "This is just a tiny punishment for him. They'll fall off in a few days. Why?"
Li Nanzhu opened her mouth, then sighed in relief and shook her head. "As long as that's the case. As for the other matter... Master, I'll tell you about it in a while."
Xiao Yan looked at Li Nanzhu's silent face and frowned slightly, but since his little disciple intended to talk later, he wasn't in a hurry for an answer.
On the other side, Duan Xianxing watched the mushrooms sprouting on his arms in despair. He couldn't even run away. Was he going to become nutrients just like those people in the corridor!
He quickly channeled his spiritual energy, but the more he used it, the more mushrooms grew. Despair gradually filled his heart. Was he going to die here? He didn't want to! He hadn't used up all his pills or exchanged his demonic beast cores for money yet!
Just as he closed his eyes to give up, something hit him hard on the head. He snapped his eyes open and saw the giant mushroom using its mycelium to smack him, as if telling him he wasn't allowed to slack off.
Duan Xianxing blinked. He wasn't dead! He looked at the mushrooms on his hands again; they didn't seem to be parasitic like the mycelium in the corridor—they were simply growing on him.
Realizing this, Duan Xianxing's tense muscles relaxed slightly. He coughed twice, attempting to negotiate with the mushrooms.
"Mushroom, mushroom, can we talk about this? Look at how I'm the handsomest man in the world. It's so ugly to have mushrooms growing on me. Can you take them off?"
Li Nanzhu fell silent.
Even Xiao Yan fell silent, then suddenly slammed the table.
"I'm the handsomest in the world! He doesn't look half as good as I do!"
Li Nanzhu: "..."
As long as you two are happy.
The mushrooms in the water mirror seemed even more enraged by Duan Xianxing's words. With several more puffs, they sprayed more spores, and even more mushrooms grew on his body.
Duan Xianxing was filled with despair and tried to run again, but this time he didn't even get the chance to move his legs before they were entangled by the mushrooms' mycelium!
The sight overlapped once more with the scene of the mycelium in the corridor, causing Duan Xianxing's heart to skip a beat!
Rate on N.U.
