Chapter 227: Back To That Key Moment ⑥

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Chapter 227: Back To That Key Moment ⑥

When Shang Ke regained consciousness, he had already entered the next world. His soul had fused with a mushroom, which was automatically absorbing the essence of heaven and earth as it slowly cultivated.

Had he come to Yan Lu’s world this time?

【Cultivation progress: 67%. Estimated time until transformation: within thirty years.】 the System helpfully informed him.

Thirty years… Just thinking about having to remain a mushroom for another thirty years made Shang Ke feel faint.

Had he returned to a point before he ever met Yan Lu?

【The current point in time is thirty years after Yan Lu survived his heavenly tribulation and advanced into a Divine Lord.】

Shang Ke was delighted at first, but worry quickly followed. If Yan Lu had become a Divine Lord, wouldn’t he already have entered the divine realm? Shang Ke was still a little mushroom that could not even take human form. How long would he have to cultivate before he could go find him?

【Dear Host, please rest assured. After the Host’s “death,” Yan Lu forcibly underwent his tribulation. His inner demon invaded, slaughter consumed him, and his cultivation fell drastically. He is therefore still wandering the cultivation world.】

What? What happened? Where was he now? Shang Ke ignored the schadenfreude in the System’s tone. All he wanted to know was Yan Lu’s current condition.

【Dear Host, for now, please cultivate in peace. Once you can take human form, you may go look for him.】 With that, the System disappeared again.

Shang Ke thought for a moment, then extended his spiritual sense and began searching for traces of Yan Lu. At his current level, his spiritual sense covered only a radius of five thousand meters. He was not discouraged. Every day, whenever he was not cultivating, he searched every inch of terrain he could reach. Day after day, he never stopped.

Two months later, Shang Ke finally found him outside a small city. Yet Yan Lu looked so different that Shang Ke almost did not recognize him.

The once carefree and unrestrained Yan Lu, whom the cultivation world had acclaimed as the “Hidden Saint,” now wandered the mountains in ragged clothes with his hair hanging in disarray, his mind muddled and unfocused. As a lofty Divine Lord, he should have been revered by countless people. Instead, he was bullied at will and lived like a beggar.

Shang Ke’s spiritual sense followed him constantly. He watched Yan Lu drift through all the warmth and cruelty of the human world without seeming to notice any of it, sleeping outdoors, eating wherever he could, and wandering from place to place. The sight made Shang Ke’s heart ache beyond words.

After enduring it for a month, Shang Ke finally could not bear any more. He decided to force an early transformation!

【Dear Host, forcing your transformation will severely affect your future cultivation. Please consider carefully.】 the System reminded him at exactly the right moment.

He was still thirty years away from being able to transform naturally. How could Shang Ke possibly let Yan Lu wander around half-mad for another thirty years? Trading several hundred years of cultivation for a few decades of peace for Yan Lu was worth it.

Once his mind was made up, Shang Ke ignored the System’s warning, began condensing a demon core, and forcibly pushed himself toward transformation.

Three days later, dazzling white light suddenly burst from the cliffside. A vague human silhouette slowly condensed within it before finally taking the form of a handsome young man.

The young man was completely naked, his short snow-white hair dancing in the wind. His figure was graceful, his aura pure and otherworldly, and his natural allure impossible to conceal.

This young man was Shang Ke, the mushroom spirit who had only just completed his transformation. He used spiritual power to conjure a temporary set of clothes for himself.

Just then, a flash of white crossed the edge of his vision. When he focused, he saw a round lop-eared rabbit. It bounded toward him in several leaps, launched itself into Shang Ke’s arms like an arrow, and bit him on the neck.

Where had this idiot rabbit come from? Shang Ke grabbed it by the ears and peeled it off his neck. “Did you come here to give me some meat?”

The rabbit bared its teeth and claws, looking ferocious.

“I may be a mushroom now, but that doesn’t mean just any rabbit gets to eat me.” Shang Ke looked down at it disdainfully. “Don’t think we mushrooms are easy to bully. I’ve already escaped the food chain and reached heights you rabbits can only dream of.”

Whether or not the rabbit understood him, it whined a few times and gradually stopped struggling.

Shang Ke released it and said with distaste, “Count yourself lucky. I’ve been eating vegetarian lately, so I’m not interested in rabbit meat. Go play somewhere else.”

With that, Shang Ke ignored it and followed Yan Lu’s location.

At that moment, Yan Lu was carrying three sacks of sand and gravel. Under the foreman’s orders, he followed the other laborers toward the riverbank in a daze. Two days earlier, the foreman had seen that Yan Lu was strong but simple-minded and brought him back as free labor. He soon discovered that Yan Lu was not only unbelievably strong and willing to do any task without complaint, but also demanded no wages and ate very little. He was practically every foreman’s dream worker.

With Yan Lu around, the crew’s efficiency multiplied, while the foreman quietly pocketed the wages that should have belonged to him.

The muddleheaded Yan Lu had no idea he was being exploited. As long as no one tried to take his ring, he did not seem to care what anyone made him do.

When Shang Ke found him, Yan Lu was lying among a group of rough laborers reeking of sweat, staring blankly up at the thatched roof overhead.

Holy shit! How did you manage to make yourself this miserable?

Shang Ke rushed over and pulled Yan Lu into his arms. “I finally found you.”

Then Shang Ke took him away from the worksite, led him out of the small city, and headed straight into the mountains.

When they reached a lake, Shang Ke stripped off Yan Lu’s tattered clothes, pulled him into the water, and began washing him.

Yan Lu’s formerly sleek black hair was now caked with grease and dirt, tangled together like straw. Scraggly beard growth covered the area around his mouth, and his skin looked as though it had been coated in mud. Shang Ke scrubbed him vigorously for a long while before he finally managed to restore some semblance of Yan Lu’s former appearance.

Yan Lu cooperated throughout the entire process—or rather, he did not seem to possess any instinct to resist.

As Shang Ke cleaned him, his heart ached. It took a full two hours before Yan Lu was finally scrubbed clean and radiant again. Once dressed in fresh clothes, traces of his former elegance could finally be seen.

“Yan Lu, from now on, let’s settle here on Great Shadow Mountain.”

You’ve already traveled too far, killed too many people, and suffered too much. So stop worrying about the conflicts of the world. Live peacefully, enjoy your days, and cultivate slowly in a place cut off from everything else.

Shang Ke built a bamboo teahouse in the mountains to serve as their home.

By the time he finished arranging everything, it was already late at night. Shang Ke suddenly felt weak. His figure flickered and vanished from the spot, leaving only a pile of clothing behind.

Yan Lu noticed almost immediately that Shang Ke had disappeared. Panic flashed through his eyes as he looked around helplessly.

“Down here. I’m right here,” Shang Ke’s voice called from below.

Yan Lu lowered his head and saw a small white mushroom standing in the middle of the courtyard, bobbing its cap at him. “Don’t worry. Every few days I’ll turn back into a mushroom so I can absorb earth qi and nourish my spirit. By tomorrow, I’ll be able to take human form again.”

Yan Lu slowly lay down beside the little mushroom and stared at him without blinking.

“Don’t sleep out here. Go inside,” Shang Ke told him.

Yan Lu acted as though he had not heard a word. His eyes remained fixed on Shang Ke without so much as a blink.

“Fine. Whatever makes you happy. Next time I’ll remember to plant myself indoors.”

The night breeze drifted softly through the courtyard. Everything around them was quiet.

After an unknown amount of time, Yan Lu, who had remained silent all this while, suddenly murmured in a hoarse voice, “Little Mushroom… so you’re Little Mushroom…”

There was joy in his voice, but also deep attachment, as though a heart that had wandered for far too long had finally found where it belonged…

The next day, Shang Ke transformed into human form again and changed Yan Lu out of the clothes he had dirtied overnight. Then he took him into the mountains to gather wild tea, along with useful timber, ingredients, minerals, and anything else they could use to furnish their teahouse.

Great Shadow Mountain was densely forested and rich in spiritual qi, with naturally formed treasures scattered everywhere. Of course, they were “treasures” mainly from the perspective of ordinary mortals. To cultivators, spiritual materials less than a hundred years old were scarcely more valuable than wild vegetables and ordinary stones.

Shang Ke was not pursuing transcendence or rare treasures. He simply gathered whatever caught his fancy—and very quickly discovered that a single carrying basket was nowhere near enough. Catching sight of the storage ring on Yan Lu’s hand, he casually asked, “Can I borrow your storage ring for a bit?”

Yan Lu immediately clenched his hand into a fist and pulled it to his chest, looking tense as though Shang Ke might snatch it away.

“Don’t be so stingy. I only want to borrow it. I’m not going to take it from you.” Shang Ke negotiated with him, amused.

Yan Lu knitted his brows and hesitated for a long time before finally extending his hand toward Shang Ke.

Smiling, Shang Ke took his hand. This was the same storage ring he himself had used before, and even the restriction on it had not changed. With a thought, his spiritual sense entered the ring without resistance. A moment later, he froze at the mountain of mushrooms piled throughout the storage space.

Shang Ke raised his head and looked at Yan Lu, silver light shimmering faintly in his eyes.

Yan Lu still wore the same blank expression, completely unaware of the shock surging through Shang Ke’s heart.

“Come on. Let’s go home.” Shang Ke did not use the storage ring after all. He simply held Yan Lu’s hand tightly and led him back toward their home.

That evening, Shang Ke prepared a lavish dinner from the fresh ingredients they had gathered. Yan Lu had long since reached the point where he no longer needed ordinary food, but there was nothing wrong with occasionally enjoying fresh, natural game and mountain produce. After dinner came a cup of clear tea. Surrounded by green mountains and clear water, breathing in the scent of grass, trees, and flowers, they seemed to merge with nature itself. It was deeply peaceful.

Yan Lu seemed to enjoy it as well. Holding a cup of hot tea, he leaned against Shang Ke with narrowed eyes and an expression of complete contentment.

Shang Ke had examined his body. Yan Lu’s cultivation had fallen considerably, and the divine power within him was impure and circulating chaotically. That was one of the reasons his mind remained confused. Unfortunately, Shang Ke was still too weak to help him straighten out the disorder. But they had plenty of time. They could nurse him back slowly.

The two formally began a secluded life away from worldly conflict. Every morning, the first thing Shang Ke did was wash and dress Yan Lu before taking him into the mountains to hunt for useful treasures. After returning, he might work on the courtyard, experiment with food, refine artifacts, play the flute, or go fishing. At night, he turned back into a little mushroom and slept beside Yan Lu.

After only a few days together, Yan Lu’s initial unfamiliarity faded. He grew increasingly attached to Shang Ke until he followed him almost like a shadow.

Half a month later, Shang Ke’s teahouse was finally complete. Everything they needed had been prepared. Bamboo leaves swayed in the refreshing breeze, flowers bloomed throughout the courtyard, and a pleasant fragrance filled the air. The bamboo house stood quietly among the mountains, accompanied now and then by the clear tinkling of wind chimes.

Yan Lu sat on a stone stool beneath the bamboo pavilion, watching Shang Ke sort through tea leaves.

“Little Mushroom?”

“Mm?”

“Hehe.”

Shang Ke: “…”

That angelically foolish smile really left him with nothing to say…

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