Chapter 48: Everyone Loves Little Immortal Mushroom (VI)

Previous Chapter ◊ Table of Content ◊ Next Chapter

Chapter 48: Everyone Loves Little Immortal Mushroom (VI)

Every day, the future Demon Lord invited him along to commit all kinds of atrocities. Shang Ke was under tremendous pressure. Whenever he could hide, he hid; when he couldn’t, he simply transformed into a mushroom and quietly grew in some dark corner.

Seeing him so “incorrigibly stubborn,” Yan Lu did not force the issue and instead went out “foraging” on his own. When he returned surrounded by a dense murderous aura, Shang Ke was startled—not because he was afraid, but because it was almost as though he had smelled something delicious. The demon core inside him leapt with excitement, and every pore in his body seemed to open.

Yan Lu said, “Since you refuse to absorb other people’s vital essence, I’ll do it for you.”

All Yan Lu had to do was gather more vital essence each time without immediately absorbing it, then return and cultivate together with Little Mushroom. Because Little Mushroom was a spirit, dual cultivation had also given Yan Lu a trace of demon aura, allowing him to easily drain the vital essence of ordinary people. Although their essence was low in quality, it had the advantages of being abundant and easy to obtain.

“Little Mushroom, transform into human form.” Yan Lu pinched Shang Ke’s soft mushroom cap.

Shang Ke remained perfectly still.

“If you don’t transform, I’ll put you in my mouth. We can still dual cultivate that way.” Yan Lu spoke leisurely as he loosened his robes.

Put. Me. In. His. Mouth?! Did his tastes have to be this extreme? Shang Ke’s mushroom body trembled. After struggling internally for a moment, he finally transformed into human form.

Yan Lu caught him in his arms, turned smoothly, and sat down on the stone bed, familiarly wrapping Shang Ke’s legs around his waist.

Their lower bodies pressed together as they leaned intimately against each other.

Shang Ke liked Yan Lu’s aura. More precisely, his demon core liked it. It was like a bee discovering nectar—the temptation was almost impossible to resist.

But no matter how irresistible it felt, he could not allow Yan Lu’s demonic cultivation to continue smoothly.

Yan Lu lifted his chin and transferred stream after stream of vital essence into his mouth. Dozens of minutes later, when the transfer was complete, Yan Lu started to pull away, only for Shang Ke to wrap his arms around his neck and capture his lips. His tongue slipped between Yan Lu’s teeth, kissing and sucking insistently, and Yan Lu immediately felt the vital essence inside his body begin draining away at astonishing speed.

Little Mushroom is absorbing my vital essence? Yan Lu was rather surprised. He rested both hands on Shang Ke’s waist but made no attempt to stop him.

Shang Ke’s half-lidded eyes grew increasingly alluring as he sucked in the vital essence with all his strength. His soft white hair drifted lightly, occasionally brushing across Yan Lu’s brows and eyes. As he absorbed more and more essence, his appearance became increasingly bewitching, his eyes glittering like gemstones beneath the light.

Watching his vital essence continuously drain away, Yan Lu originally intended to push aside this greedy little mushroom, but the instant their eyes met, his hand abruptly stopped.

Give me everything you have. The message in Shang Ke’s eyes was unmistakable, intense and unwavering.

[Yan Lu, I’ll cultivate the demonic path in your place. I’ll bear Heaven’s punishment for you. I’m even willing to give my life for you. All I ask is that you don’t fall into the demonic path and harm innocent lives.]

Yan Lu narrowed his eyes. His large hand slid slowly up Shang Ke’s spine until it reached the nape of his neck. With the slightest twist, he could immediately teach him a painful lesson.

[Yan Lu, there are countless paths of cultivation. Why insist on choosing the demonic path rejected by Heaven and Earth?]

Yan Lu could not understand why Little Mushroom was always trying to stop him from cultivating the demonic path. He saw nothing wrong with it—especially when it meant cultivating together with Little Mushroom.

Once his body reached its limit, Shang Ke stopped absorbing. He lightly licked Yan Lu’s lips as though savoring the lingering taste, his tongue tracing along the line of his mouth and drawing out a thin strand of saliva.

Having absorbed too much vital essence, Shang Ke instinctively sought Yan Lu’s closeness. Every movement carried an unconscious allure, like a cat’s paw lightly scratching at Yan Lu’s heart. All the tolerance and tenderness Shang Ke had shown this man seemed to have seeped completely into Yan Lu’s soul.

Ripples spread across the still lake of Yan Lu’s heart. His lower abdomen tightened, and desire gradually kindled in his eyes.

After unconsciously tempting him for a while, Shang Ke suddenly froze as though finally coming back to his senses. He looked at their current position and screamed inwardly, Fuck! Am I seducing him?! No, no, no! This wasn’t the plan! He merely wanted to drain Yan Lu’s vital essence and true essence completely until his demonic cultivation dispersed, forcing him to start over.

Human cultivators could begin cultivating again after dispersing their power as long as their spiritual roots remained intact. Spirits were different. If Shang Ke dispersed his cultivation, he would immediately be beaten back into his original form and become an ordinary mushroom. He would have no chance to start over. Otherwise, everything would be much simpler—dual cultivating with Yan Lu using an immortal spirit body would have been perfectly natural.

While Shang Ke was still lost in thought, his body was suddenly lifted off the ground and then pressed heavily onto the stone bed. Yan Lu drove straight inside him and began thrusting hard.

Unexpectedly, Yan Lu did not cultivate this time. He was simply having sex with him, driven by raw physical desire—wild and instinctive, completely different from their first dual cultivation. There had perhaps been pleasure then, but not this overwhelming hunger driving him forward…

They continued until the following day. If Shang Ke had not transformed back into his mushroom form in time, a certain inexhaustible someone might have kept going for several more days and nights.

Yan Lu loosely draped a robe around himself, exposing much of his muscular chest along with several faint scratch marks. He leaned lazily against the wall, gazing darkly at Little Mushroom in the corner, his erection still hard between his legs and his expression plainly saying he had not had enough.

Shang Ke felt as though what little integrity he had left was rapidly disappearing. Things between them seemed to be getting somewhat out of control. Still, as long as Yan Lu continued allowing him to “drain” his power, there was hope of saving him. With Yan Lu’s current cultivation, another three to five times at most should be enough to completely disperse his demonic cultivation and let him begin again.

Unfortunately, if Yan Lu’s will were that easy to shake, he would never become the great Demon Lord who would one day overturn the entire cultivation world.

Apart from becoming more intimate with Shang Ke, Yan Lu remained completely ruthless about draining other people’s vital essence. If Shang Ke refused to dual cultivate, Yan Lu did not pressure him. Instead, from time to time, he separated out a portion of the essence he had gathered and used it to “feed” his Little Mushroom, apparently finding that entertaining in its own way.

Shang Ke had no choice but to change strategies. From then on, whenever Yan Lu went out to forage, Shang Ke followed him and did everything possible to prevent excessive killing. If Yan Lu absorbed only a small amount of another person’s vital essence, it would not cost them their life.

Yan Lu did not mind Little Mushroom interfering. If anything, he found the sight of Shang Ke worrying over him rather amusing.

By now, Yan Lu was not actually especially attached to demonic cultivation. The only reason he refused to disperse it was Little Mushroom. If he switched to the righteous path, wouldn’t that mean he could no longer “dual cultivate” with Little Mushroom? That would take away far too much enjoyment. So he might as well continue cultivating the demonic path.

If Shang Ke knew what Yan Lu was thinking, he would probably cough up three liters of blood.

And so the two continued westward.

After they left, the dozens of ordinary people who had been unconscious gradually woke. Every one of them was pale and weak, as though recovering from a serious illness.

Two cultivators descended from the sky on their flying swords. Seeing the scene before them, both wore grave expressions.

“What a strong demon aura.” One gray-robed man closed his eyes and sensed the surroundings for a moment before saying solemnly, “This spirit’s cultivation must be quite high.”

“These people merely had part of their vital essence drained. Their lives aren’t in danger for now.” The other man, dressed in white, examined the victims.

The gray-robed man frowned. “We must find this evil spirit as quickly as possible. We cannot allow it to continue harming mortals. At the rate it is absorbing vital essence, it may reach full mastery within a few hundred years. By then, dealing with it will be far more difficult.”

The white-robed man nodded. “Senior Brother is right.”

A town well over a hundred kilometers away had experienced a similar incident.

“Wenjie, is this demon aura the same as that spirit we encountered in Xialiang City that day?” Daoist Qingchong stared coldly at Yu Wenjie.

Yu Wenjie smiled bitterly. “Yes.”

“Hmph!” Daoist Qingchong rebuked him sternly. “If you hadn’t pleaded for him that day, why would I ever have let him leave? These people would never have suffered like this.”

Yu Wenjie lowered his head without speaking, shame written across his face. Although he did not want to believe it, the evidence was right before him, and he could find no excuse for Shang Ke.

“Draw a portrait of that spirit and distribute it among the disciples of our sect. The moment anyone finds his trail, report back immediately.”

“…Yes.”

Yan Lu and Shang Ke continued westward. Wherever they passed, Yan Lu gathered vital essence. If Shang Ke had not done everything possible to restrain him, Yan Lu might not have left a single person alive.

Neither of them knew that their actions had already attracted the attention of numerous cultivators. Large groups were searching for their trail—or, more accurately, for Shang Ke’s trail.

One day, the two found a secluded place to rest for a while. Yan Lu cultivated while Shang Ke stood guard.

Shang Ke was studying the artifact-refining methods recorded in a jade slip when he suddenly heard movement outside.

He extended his spiritual sense toward the sound and discovered dozens of cultivators flying rapidly in their direction.

At first, Shang Ke assumed they were merely passing by. Then he noticed one of them holding a strange magical artifact that projected a beam of light directly toward the cave where he and Yan Lu were hiding.

He then recognized several familiar figures among the group, including Yu Wenjie and Daoist Qingchong, and realized that they were probably coming for him.

Shang Ke glanced back at Yan Lu, who was still immersed in secluded cultivation, then rose and flew beyond the protective ward, swiftly heading in another direction.

“Over there!” someone shouted behind him. Immediately afterward came a chorus of sharp sounds tearing through the air as dozens of sword-shadows gave chase.

“Evil spirit, let’s see where you can run!” One long and one short flying sword tore through the sky, shooting toward Shang Ke’s back like meteors.

Under Yan Lu’s persistent “encouragement,” Shang Ke’s cultivation had improved as well. His figure flashed aside, nimbly dodging the flying swords.

The flying swords, however, seemed to possess minds of their own. They curved sharply around and attacked Shang Ke again, sealing off his escape.

The dozens of cultivators behind him quickly caught up and completely surrounded Shang Ke…

Inside the cave, Yan Lu’s eyes suddenly opened. He swept his gaze around but did not see the familiar figure. A vague sense of foreboding rose within him, and he sprang to his feet, rushed from the cave, and followed Shang Ke’s aura at full speed.

In the distance, sword-light and blade-shadows filled the air with murderous intent.

Surrounded and attacked by dozens of cultivators, Shang Ke was soon covered in wounds.

“Evil spirit, if you had known your place, stayed away from the mortal world, and cultivated quietly in seclusion, you would not have come to this end today,” one Daoist lectured righteously.

Shang Ke knew they had blamed all of Yan Lu’s crimes on him. He could not explain, nor did he want to. In truth, he was already beginning to feel powerless. No matter how he interfered, guided, or sabotaged Yan Lu, all he had managed to do was reduce the amount of killing. He still could not make Yan Lu abandon evil and return to the righteous path. Yan Lu was like a block of ice frozen for a thousand years—even if Shang Ke burned away his entire life, he might never melt him.

After seemingly endless waiting and hopeless struggle, Shang Ke felt that he was nearing his limit.

But he did not want to give up. Even if only the faintest thread of hope remained, he wanted to persist until the very end.

Several streaks of sword-light shot toward Shang Ke, blooming like beautiful sword-flowers within his clear eyes. His vision gradually blurred, and he seemed to see that familiar figure flying toward him from the horizon.

Yan Lu arrived just in time to see several flying swords pierce straight through Shang Ke’s body. Blood sprayed through the air, instantly staining Yan Lu’s vision crimson.

Little Mushroom!

Yan Lu stopped abruptly, frozen in midair as he watched Little Mushroom fall backward into a pool of blood.

“Brother Yan?” Yu Wenjie noticed Yan Lu and greeted him hesitantly.

“What happened?” Yan Lu’s face was expressionless, his voice cold.

Yu Wenjie looked bitter. “Brother Yan, do you know Shang Ke’s true identity?”

Yan Lu gave no response.

Yu Wenjie continued, “Recently, people in many towns have had their vital essence drained, leaving them weak. The culprit left behind a demon aura, so fellow Daoists from the various sects followed it and found Shang Ke.”

They had not truly found Shang Ke at all. Shang Ke had deliberately allowed himself to be discovered and lured them away, solely to protect Yan Lu—the real culprit.

Yan Lu silently stared at Shang Ke lying in the blood while a violent, savage force seemed to rampage inside him.

Yu Wenjie’s expression changed abruptly when he sensed the danger emanating from Yan Lu. He instinctively retreated, but it was already too late. Yan Lu’s figure flashed and appeared behind him in an instant. A sword blade burst from Yu Wenjie’s chest, taking his life before he could even make a sound.

Yan Lu hovered in the open sky, his gaze utterly cold as he raised his killing-intent-filled sword toward everyone present…

Two hours later, Yan Lu walked unsteadily through ground soaked in blood, one arm hanging limp at his side, until he reached Shang Ke.

Bloodstained fingers gently traced Shang Ke’s face. It was still warm.

“Little Mushroom…” Yan Lu whispered.

Shang Ke’s eyelashes trembled several times, and his eyes opened halfway. The moment he parted his lips, a large amount of blood poured from his mouth.

He had wanted to make one final attempt to persuade Yan Lu to choose the righteous path, but he no longer had the strength. Looking at the broken corpses and blood scattered all around them, he suspected there was truly no hope left this time.

Shang Ke looked at Yan Lu and vaguely caught an unfamiliar fluctuation in his eyes—something like fear, and something like confusion.

So I really do matter to him, at least a little…

Shang Ke’s consciousness gradually blurred. His eyes closed, and he sank completely into darkness.

At the instant his eyes closed, golden light suddenly burst from the right side of his chest. The golden seed Immortal Luo He had given him sprouted within that light and rapidly grew into a crimson flower, slowly blooming over his chest. Its shape was astonishingly identical to the Crimson Skyfire.

As the flower bloomed, Shang Ke’s body began to shrink until he returned to his original mushroom form. Layer after layer of phantom petals wrapped around him, transforming him into a small crimson flower bud that gently descended into Yan Lu’s palm…

Previous Chapter ◊ Table of Content ◊ Next Chapter