Stranger Danger-Chapter 1792: Taisui Mushroom

“Look! What is that?”

The dark red mycelia were decreasing rapidly. The trio were moments away from breaking free. It was at this moment the ground suddenly exploded, and a gigantic creature crawled out to the surface.

The creature was as big as a mountain, tall and vast. It was wide up top and narrow down below. It vaguely resembled the appearance of a mushroom except that its surface was covered in rotten flesh, and the rotten flesh was a vomit-inducing dark red color. It looked as if it had been corroded by countless years of evil and darkness.

The surface of the rotten flesh was sticky. It also smelled of vomit-inducing rot.

The surface of the mushroom was covered in crisscrossing red mycelia, and the mycelia writhed and spread along the rotten flesh like living creatures. They glowed ominously and somehow looked both like insects or beasts.

One thing for certain, it was a man-eater.

“Is... is that the Taisui Mushroom?”

The trio suddenly recalled the robber’s earlier words.

Before they could think more, more dark red mycelia flew out of the Taisui Mushroom and surged toward them like a great fog.

Left with no choice, the trio could only resume their killing of the mycelia.

However, their killing rate was fast, but the mycelia’s reproduction rate was faster. Their numbers also seemed to be endless and infinite.

“What do we do now?”

Shi Xiaotian crushed an entire chunk of mycelia with his bare hands, but his expression was ugly. Although the mycelia was incredibly frail, they were also innumerable and everywhere. It would take forever to kill all of them, if such a task was even possible.

The most troublesome thing was that their protective true qi was useless against the mycelia. In fact, it would only promote its growth and reproduction. If they grew lax, and even a single mycelium managed to make it into their body, then the consequences would be unimaginable.

The Southern Sea Dragon King and Supreme Firmament Trueman did not say anything. They just kept killing the mycelia.

It wasn’t because they were pretending to be aloof. They just didn’t have a solution to offer.

“Are you stupid? Haven’t you heard of capturing the leader to deal with the group? The Taisui Mushroom is right in front of you, so kill its ass!”

The trio were still wondering when the voice rang again. It sounded exasperated as if he couldn’t believe how dumb they were. “Otherwise, you could die from exhaustion and still not annihilate the mycelia.”

The three Sages frowned deeply. It wasn’t that the solution hadn’t crossed their minds, it was just that the Taisui Mushroom clearly did not look like an easy foe. An idiot could tell that it would be a bad idea to rush in without thought.

“Don’t be a scaredy cat now! The Taisui Mushroom may look scary, but it’s really weak on the inside. The mycelia is its greatest and only weapon. If you can get close to the Taisui Mushroom, then killing it is as easy as one two three!”

Seeing that the trio were still hesitating, the robber urged, “You! Shi Xiaotian, right? Aren’t you a body-tempering warrior? Get in there!”

“And you, Southern Sea Dragon King. You’re a goddamn true dragon! There’s no way the mycelia can get through your physical defenses before you kill the Taisui Mushroom! The fuck are you waiting for?” 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

For some reason, the robber sounded more anxious than they were.

Unable to bear the robber’s incessant mumblings any longer, the Southern Sea Dragon King yelled, “If you think it’s so easy, then you do it!”

“Er...”

......

Outside the pentachromatic cloud, Ye Qing rubbed his nose with a speechless expression. I’m giving them ideas, and they act like I’m too noisy! What ingrates!

“I told you you’re just going to get yelled at eventually!” Feng Qingyou giggled beside him.

“Sigh. It’s so hard to be a good guy in this world!” Ye Qing shrugged with an innocent expression.

“Good guy? If you’re a good guy, then there are no bad guys in this world!” Floating above their heads, Elder Furnace took a jab at him.

“We’re on the same team, Elder Furnace! How can you say that?”

Ye Qing was feeling very hurt right now. No wonder they said that the worst pain you could receive was the one that came from those closest to you. “Besides, you’re the one who told me the Taisui Mushroom’s weakness. You’re just as bad as I am, just not as overt! Pot calling kettle black much?”

Elder Furnace retorted loudly, “I was talking about the old Taisui Mushroom, not this monstrous one! Heavens only know what kind of hidden danger this Taisui Mushroom hides!”

Ye Qing shrugged. “That’s why I’m making them do our dirty work for us! Only then can we know if it’s dangerous or not.”

“They’re free labor anyway. The only ones losing out if we don’t use them are us!”

The Taisui Mushroom was one of the twelve divine herbs of the Hundred Grass Shennong Heaven. Just like the other divine herbs, it possessed a magical and unbelievable quality.

The flesh of the Taisui Mushroom possessed the magical power to bring the dead back to life. It was probably the most valuable spirit medicine in the entire world. No matter how severe one’s injuries were, a mouthful of Taisui Mushroom flesh could heal them and restore their energies as if magic.

Not only that, the Taisui Mushroom possessed a unique regeneration power. Given enough spiritual energies, it could regenerate its flesh without end.

Unfortunately, this Taisui Mushroom had clearly been corrupted by all sorts of evil and taint after the fall of the Divine Court. It had become scary and terrifying.

Of course, the reason he tricked the three Sages into fighting the Taisui Mushroom for him wasn’t because he wanted the divine herb. Judging from its monstrous appearance, forget restoring anything, he would write his name backward if its flesh didn’t kill the person who consumed it.

He was doing this because he wanted to leave the Hundred Grass Shennong Heaven and head to another Heaven.

According to Elder Furnace, one must pass through the Hundred Grass Platform of the Shennong Hall to leave the Hundred Grass Shennong Heaven. Unfortunately, the Hundred Grass Platform was being guarded by the Taisui Mushroom right now.

One must kill it before they could leave the Hundred Grass Shennong Heaven.

However, Ye Qing wasn’t sure if the Taisui Mushroom was deadly, terrible, or both. Luckily for them, the Southern Sea Dragon King, Shi Xiaotian and Supreme Firmament Trueman were present. So, he decided to put these worthless pieces of garbage to good use.

If they could kill the Taisui Mushroom, then that would be ideal. If not, then it was fine either. They could still use the battle to pinpoint the Taisui Mushroom’s weakness and weaken it. It was always a fun time to play the fisherman.

Yes, he robbed them earlier, and yes, he was using them for his own purpose, but... oh, screw it, he couldn’t be bothered to defend himself.

Yes, it was totally immoral for him to do so, but so what? This was the jianghu. Hell, they might even thank him for it later.

......

Meanwhile, the three Sages realized after fighting for a bit that the mycelia really were endless and infinite as Ye Qing claimed. So, despite knowing that Ye Qing had an ulterior motive, they had no choice but to do as he said and attack the Taisui Mushroom.

As soon as they approached the Taisui Mushroom, as if sensing the threat they posed, the dark red mycelia covering its surface immediately joined together into a thick swarm of tentacles. Flashing with dark red light that looked both like fire and blood, they attacked the trio with terrible corruption and distortion.

Rumble...

The Southern Sea Dragon King manifested his true body and charged toward the Taisui Mountain like an unstoppable force.

Shi Xiaotian’s skin turned greenish gray like a rock, and more rocks and soil flew out of the earth and attached themselves to his body.

In just the blink of an eye, Shi Xiaotian had become as big as a three hundred meter tall mountain. When he descended toward the Taisui Mushroom, wind howled, sky fell, and earth collapsed.