Night without Borders

Chapter 376 Brilliant Yet apocalyptic
Under the long night, "fireflies" flicker—densely packed with light particles, seemingly dazzling, but possibly a death omen released by the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom, foretelling an imminent natural disaster.

Qin Ming's eyes were glazed over, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white. He couldn't tell if this was real or an illusion, whether he had returned to Yezhou or was still in another world.

"This is a great disaster! Report to the patriarch! Hurry! Seal off Kunlun and warn the whole world!" The blood splattered in the tunnel was shocking. A grandmaster struggled to extend a pale hand.

Those guarding outside were all pale-faced; none of them had expected it to trigger such a dramatic change.

"Why is this happening? The Nine-Colored Divine Mushroom can pull people into the Void Realm, allowing them to experience death and the cycle of life, killing them invisibly. Even patriarchs might fall into it. How come a Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom has appeared now? That alien realm is like a colorful and special hell!"

"clang!"

Kunlun Mountain, the golden bell tolls, its sound echoing for miles!

This is a broken bell that fell from Yujing. It should not be struck unless in an extremely urgent or momentous event.

Qin Ming shook his head vigorously, his consciousness merging with the light of heaven, transforming into a precious mirror that illuminated his true self and allowed him to see directly into his true nature. However, he still could not discern the truth.

Initially, he felt he had escaped the illusion, but the sudden and terrifying "change of heaven" before him plunged him into self-doubt.

puff!
Of the sixteen people he rescued, eleven instantly exploded, their flesh glowing and emitting large amounts of glowing spores—a bloody and gruesome sight.

The survivors began to gag painfully, and then with a "whoosh," they opened their mouths and vomited out a dense mass of alluring, ethereal mushrooms, their faces turning deathly pale.

In an instant, several people withered away, their dull, old skin cracking easily like paper being violently destroyed, releasing spores. In addition, many blood-stained spirit mushrooms fell to the ground and quickly took root.

The last five also met a tragic end.

Qin Ming watched this scene helplessly. In fact, he himself was also in a bad state, with a large number of light particles flowing through his body in his blood.

Although he was doing his best to refine and stop it, with the revival of the ten-colored divine mushroom spores in the world, the light spots in his body were also resonating, exceeding his control.

When he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood, which was colorful and looked like highly poisonous blood, causing the ground to hiss and smoke as it was corroded.

Qin Ming stumbled backward, clutching his head in excruciating pain. He was still in a precarious situation.

In the darkness, countless "fireflies" appeared, densely packed, resonating with the light particles within his body, surging towards him.

Qin Ming couldn't escape even if he wanted to, because the entire night sky was filled with spores, and the area where Tu City was located had been completely invaded by the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom.

He was submerged, completely covered in it.

"what……"

Qin Ming let out a painful growl. He felt that his head was full of glowing particles that were about to grow mushrooms. Many colorful spirit mushrooms, which were degenerated divine mushrooms, were being reborn in his body.

With a "poof," his right arm exploded, feeding the divine mushroom spores. Then his shoulder shattered, and blood mist billowed out—countless spores drinking blood.

Qin Ming knew that he was "feeding demons," and this pain was like falling into purgatory, watching and experiencing firsthand how he was feeding the terrifying creatures of another realm with his own flesh and blood.

Then, his temples throbbed violently, and then his skin ruptured, splattering blood.

Then, his skull began to ache unbearably and was slowly cracking; he could clearly hear the cracking sound.

For a moment, Qin Ming thought of ending it all himself to avoid further torment, but he quickly suppressed that thought and continued to endure and resist.

In the end, his head shattered like a ripe watermelon struck by a heavy blow, splattering blood and "tofu pudding" everywhere.

Qin Ming's vision went black. At the last moment, he saw the top of his head fly past him, and then he was plunged into a dark despair.

His consciousness froze, his vital signs disappeared, and the consciousness and light that had escaped were submerged by the massive amount of luminous spores, becoming their nourishment.

Suddenly, Qin Ming "awoke" in excruciating pain. He gasped for breath, his body covered in blood. There were indeed many glowing spores in the world, but his body was not broken.

"After I was infected, I've been trapped in the illusion and haven't truly broken free yet?" He was pale and noticed some blood seeping from his pores.

Clearly, there was something wrong with his body, but his calligraphy was extremely domineering. When he was fully activated, it killed a large number of divine mushroom "offspring" in his blood.

And all those he had rescued had indeed died.

"You ate the degenerate form of the Great Dream Mushroom—the mutated Five-Colored Spirit Mushroom. You will have to go through at least five illusions, gradually approaching reality from the distant virtual realm. Remember, do not commit suicide during the process!"

Ahead of him, a grandmaster sternly shouted, a warning and a rescue.

"Am I in Yezhou?" Qin Ming realized that some of his experiences were not illusions, but real events.

“Each time you overcome a level of illusion, you will see a brief moment of reality, but it will also contain a small amount of falsehood. Don’t believe it all!” The Grandmaster guarding the entrance to the Purple Cloud Cave said with an extremely solemn expression.

"How can I tell? Please tell me, senior, whether I saved sixteen people when I returned."

The Grandmaster informed them: "You did indeed save people and bring them back, but only eight of them. They didn't make it through and died in the second level of the Void Realm."

Qin Ming was briefly "awake," but what he experienced was only partially true.

He wasn't even sure if what he was experiencing was real or an illusion; everything was so clear, and even if it was fake, there were no flaws.

"Boom!"

In the night sky, the resounding sound of the great bell echoed throughout heaven and earth. It was the golden bell of Kunlun, sounding a warning. It would only ring out when there was a possibility of danger to Yezhou.

There, golden rays of light soared straight into the sky, their intensity reaching the heavens.

The entire Kunlun Mountains region was illuminated, with all the clouds shining through!
"Gentlemen, the golden bell tolls, cleansing your minds and temporarily restoring your clarity. Please remember this real feeling. You need to endure countless illusions to return to reality. You must learn to save yourselves..."

The patriarch himself transmitted the message, which resounded throughout heaven and earth.

Qin Ming's expression was solemn. He chose to believe these words because he was asking himself, and his instincts told him that his mind was not clouded by this brief return to reality.

He looked at the world, where spores fell like glowing raindrops, everywhere, in a massive quantity, much like the countless stars described in ancient books, blown down endlessly, engulfing the Kunlun region under the long night.

At the same time, he saw that the Grandmaster whose blood had splattered in the tunnel had been carried out, and a huge eight-colored spirit mushroom was growing on his body.

To be precise, it is the offspring of the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom!

Is this a bloody, real scene? Even grandmasters fell victim to it and couldn't withstand it!
Qin Ming didn't know whether he should be glad that he had only encountered the Five-Colored Spirit Mushroom, rather than a higher-level mutated spirit mushroom.

His pupils contracted as he saw the patriarch and the "first ancestor" of Tucheng swaying as they emerged from the Zixia Cave, both with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes.

Qin Ming sensed something was terribly wrong. Could it be that some of the patriarchs had also fallen into the void?
After all, the Ten-Colored God Mushroom, which is suspected of having a will to be born, has been born.

Then he saw Jiang Ran, Cui Chonghe, Xiao Rulai and others, all in terrible condition, staggering out.

"Is this real or an illusion? Have they all entered another world and encountered calamities?" Qin Ming's heart sank.

"Roar!" A patriarch roared, seemingly about to go mad. On his back, covered in blood, a nine-colored divine mushroom was manifesting a terrifying rudimentary form.

Someone shouted, "This is bad! Everyone, join forces to suppress him! Also, use the pure Yang light to protect the seeds on each path!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming turned and left. Whether it was true or false, he could not stay near Zixia Cave and needed to stay away from the problematic patriarch.

Otherwise, if they go mad, no one can stop them, and he will inevitably be implicated and die a tragic death.

Qin Ming rushed into the darkness. In fact, even in the darkest place, where there was no fire spring, it was no longer as completely dark as the abyss, because the night sky was full of glowing spores.

He fled to a far, dark place, panting heavily, and slowly came to a stop, because he saw his... grandfather!
Qin Ming knew that once he entered the illusion again, he would be trapped in a terrifying virtual realm.

"Only by experiencing the brink of death can one be considered to have survived a virtual realm, but one cannot commit suicide, nor can one actively seek out someone to kill oneself, in case a real person is nearby and attacks me..."

In the illusion, Qin Ming felt his head was as big as a bucket, and he felt that this harsh environment was quite terrifying.

He was in excruciating pain all over his body, feeling as if spores were eroding his bones, and even his bone marrow was filled with glowing particles. Then he felt as if he was being torn apart, and mushrooms began to grow inside his body.

At the same time, that kind old man... made a move against him.

Qin Ming was forced into a passive defensive posture, which was a double torment of mind and body.

He "died" again, revived from the pain, and found himself lying on the cold ground, covered in sweat and blood.

He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. If this continued, he felt he would overdraw his own energy and spirit. Every time he survived the Void Realm, the consumption was enormous.

Qin Ming felt much weaker; his body was dull and his skin lacked luster. Those spores had indeed damaged his vital energy.

After enduring this ordeal, he briefly regained consciousness.

"I have survived three near-death experiences and am about to enter the fourth level of the illusory realm. If there are only five levels, I am indeed getting closer and closer to reality."

At this moment, Qin Ming felt the heavens and earth shaking, and the ground trembling violently.

He sat up abruptly and saw a huge pillar, swirling with numerous immortal runes, descending from the depths of the dark night sky and striking the earth.

Each pillar is taller than the mountain peak, like a pillar supporting the sky, and each one shines like a radiant sun.

Qin Ming lost his footing and was thrown off the ground by the shock.

His expression was grave, his heart sinking, knowing what it was!
"Thirty-six Heaven-Stabilizing Pillars!"

Qin Ming stared intently, his eyes deep. This was the supreme treasure of Yezhou, and every time it was used, it meant that a terrifying event was about to occur, as it concerned the fate of the clan!

The patriarchs of each path unleashed this powerful weapon, sealing off the area where spores were flying everywhere, thus isolating the entire region from the outside world.

"I wonder if Kunling City is also under lockdown."

Qin Ming sighed. Exploring another world had unexpectedly brought about such a natural disaster; this was truly bad news.

At this moment, he could see that in the distance, a giant mushroom covered the sky and the earth, seemingly even more magnificent than the earthen city, its umbrella-shaped top almost disappearing into the clouds.

Moreover, that's not all; other giant mushrooms have sprung up around it.

In fact, not far from Qin Ming, there was a giant mushroom that flowed with eight-colored light. At first, it was like a towering tree, and then it grew like a small mountain, growing rapidly.

Qin Ming was about to inhale the night fog, but then he shut his mouth, afraid of being affected. He activated his Heavenly Light Force to purify the air around him before daring to breathe.

He quickly fled into the darkness, sensing that this place was likely doomed!

Not long after, he experienced his fourth death ordeal, barely surviving the illusory realm. He was completely exhausted, and every pore of his body was bleeding.

Qin Ming lay silently on the ground. In the distance, spores were flying everywhere, and one after another, huge mushrooms stood up, like mountains rising from the ground. The scene was too terrifying.

Moreover, he heard shouts of battle; the area around Tucheng was in complete chaos, filled with blood and fire.

"Could there be an internal war among the founders?"

Suddenly, he saw a figure, unsteady on its feet, staggering and fleeing in his direction.

"Tang Xumi!" Qin Ming, having traversed four layers of illusion and drawing ever closer to reality, was in a brief state of lucidity and recognized the person at a glance. "Who are you? I can't go on, I can't make it this time." Tang Xumi approached, his face deathly pale, and collapsed to the ground.

He was emaciated, as if all the energy and vitality in his body had been drained.

When natural disaster strikes, they experience not only illusions but also real death, as the "offspring" of the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom devour everyone's essence.

Tang Xumi was panting heavily. He was getting weaker and weaker. He had just survived a illusory realm and was currently using his conscious time to escape and had come here.

He said, "I'm going to die. Without the help of the patriarch, even a seed-level genius like me can't survive past the fifth or sixth level of the Void Realm. I'll be drained dry by the massive amount of spores. This time, the Great Dream Mushroom is reviving. I estimate that everyone will have to feed on demons, and we simply can't stop it."

"Who exactly are you?" he asked again.

Qin Ming revealed his true face, causing the latter to be shaken.

"Brother Qin, you... what a pity." Tang Xumi informed him that the Patriarch had taken the seeds from all paths into the earthen city, and the city gates were now completely closed.

"How are you?" Qin Ming asked him.

Tang Xumi gave a bitter laugh: "I have consumed the Five-Colored Spirit Mushroom. It takes at least five illusions to pass through. It should be the spores of the degenerated Great Dream Mushroom. If it is fully revived, how many illusions there will be is unknown."

Qin Ming asked, "Why didn't you enter Tu City with the patriarchs?"

"When I escaped from Zixia Cave by the skin of my teeth, it was too late. There was a chaotic battle going on there, and the city gates would no longer be opened for the few remaining people," he said sadly.

At this time, the territory outside Tu City was occupied by the Great Dream Mushroom.

He lowered his head and whispered, "I didn't listen to advice and insisted on going to another world. I never thought I would end up like this."

Tang Xumi looked dejected. He had no background and relied entirely on himself. Through numerous battles and countless efforts, he finally became one of the contemporary immortals of the Pure Land of the Mortal World.

He is very inspiring. He did not become a disciple of a master in his early years, and it was not easy for him to get to where he is today with his ordinary background.

Qin Ming knew about his past. While Li Qingxu drank "dragon blood" and became an immortal, Tang Xumi was still "struggling to cross over" and finally achieved his goal through sheer strength.

This time, Tang Xumi also did not receive an invitation to the Peach Banquet. He wanted to enter the other world to search for spiritual objects and improve himself, but he encountered a "heavenly change".

Qin Ming felt a pang of regret for this person.

Tang Xumi also felt this and sighed softly, "Brother Qin, you must have mastered the Silk Script on your own, right? That's probably unprecedented, with unparalleled combat power in the same field. It would be such a pity for you to die here like this..."

Qin Ming said, "Stop talking. You need to try your best to get through the Void Realm."

"It's difficult. When the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom is born, all the spirit mushrooms left behind during its period of degeneration will be revived." Tang Xumi shook his head weakly.

Then, he sat up abruptly, his eyes wide, and exclaimed, "It...it's here again!"

Qin Ming saw that the blood in the boy's body was boiling, filled with densely packed light particles, including inside his head.

That scalding, five-colored blood roared and raged through his limbs and bones, with astonishing destructive power.

If it were just an illusion, many people could endure it. However, in the illusion, one must also endure the erosion of the divine mushroom spores, which even immortal beings cannot withstand.

Qin Ming stepped forward, wanting to lend him a hand.

However, even if he used the most domineering Hunyuan Jin, it was already too late; that colorful blood had already entered his brain and seeped into his bone marrow.

In his final moments, Tang Xumi murmured, "I have become a celestial being, the most powerful youth in our small town in a hundred years, but it is still useless. I am about to die, and I am so insignificant."

With a soft "poof," his body shattered one after another, sending up bursts of blood. Even his skull cracked open, releasing large amounts of spores, and his flesh gradually withered.

When the night wind blew, he dissipated, his withered flesh turning into flames.

Tang Xumi fell silent, his death extremely gruesome.

Qin Ming watched this tragedy unfold. He wanted to help, but he was powerless to change anything.

Back when he saw the Overlord's Last Will and Testament in Luofu City, Tang Xumi even helped him bargain. Later, when he went to the Pure Land of the Immortals, the other party gave him the "Standing Ape Demon Scripture".

All those past events seem like they happened just yesterday, and thus, the life of a celestial being came to an end.

Qin Ming's "awake" time has also reached the critical point. However, having passed through four layers of illusion, he is already very close to reality, and what he sees is already half true and half false.

His blood was boiling, his body temperature was terrifyingly high, his bone marrow was multicolored, and his entire body was covered with countless tiny points of light.

"The Great Dream Mushroom, could it have once been a god-level being?" This was a thought deep in Qin Ming's mind, otherwise how could its spores be so terrifying?
This time, he narrowly escaped death and barely survived this ordeal. He traversed five layers of illusion, and the colorful light particles in his body were extinguished, completely destroyed by the Hunyuan Force.

Qin Ming found himself unusually tired, his flesh and blood were not as plump, as if he had lost one-fifth of his body weight.

He opened his eyes, and the dim night and the countless spores like fireflies were clearly reflected in his mind.

He hoped that everything he had experienced was a dream, but the pile of ashes on the ground in front of him, as well as the tattered clothes left by Tang Xumi, indicated that some of the tragedy was not unreal.

Qin Ming buried Tang Xumi here, and after a heavy sigh, he began to survey the land.

In such a short time, towering giant mushrooms have appeared in the distance, one after another. They are rooted in the ground, drawing power from the fire spring, and growing extremely fast.

Even in the darkest, most gloomy place, there are super hot springs deep underground. The Great Dream Mushroom has revived here and has no shortage of the substances to support its growth.

Qin Ming felt a heavy weight in his heart. If it weren't for the thirty-six Heaven-Stabilizing Divine Stakes that isolated this place, with spores flying everywhere, the entire Night State would probably have fallen.

He strongly suspected that there was a serious problem with that otherworldly realm, and that they had inadvertently released a monster capable of destroying the world.

Not far from him, there was a giant mushroom towering into the night sky, its huge canopy resembling a thick cloud, exuding a sense of oppression.

Suddenly, Qin Ming was horrified to discover that many of the towering giant mushrooms were dimming, turning from colorful to pitch black, and rapidly decaying, followed by black dust falling down.

"Are they self-destructing?"

Even here, black powder was falling, and he quickly dodged it.

Then, Qin Ming saw that inside each of the shattered giant mushrooms, there was a highly condensed ball of divine light, dazzling to the extreme, all of which soared into the air and flew towards a towering giant divine mushroom in front of the earthen city.

"All rivers flow into the sea, is the Great Dream Mushroom about to emerge in Night State in its full glory?" Qin Ming was uneasy; the monster's revival and growth were simply too fast!
From the earthen city, a dazzling light shone down, striking the towering giant mushroom that reached into the clouds, causing it to crack and even partially crumble. However, it then drew upon the power of the fire spring and quickly healed itself.

In the earthen city, endless spores fell and disappeared into the fiery spring...

Qin Ming's heart sank. Could it be that even the patriarchs and progenitors who had hidden in Tu City couldn't stop them?

"Hmm?" Suddenly, he sensed that something was very wrong.

After the spores landed, more and more colorful spirit mushrooms sprouted from the soil, and he felt that various illusory scenes appeared before his eyes.

"Why is this happening?" Qin Minghan's hair stood on end. He had already survived the fifth level of the Void Realm and had been protecting himself with the Heavenly Light. How could he have been hit again?

Could it be that, after being entangled by the Great Dream Mushroom, he is destined to be forever trapped in the illusory realm, with no end in sight?
In his final moments of lucidity, Qin Ming saw that this time the spirit mushrooms were special; many of them had transformed into human forms, then rose from the ground and ran towards Tu City.

The ground trembled slightly as a massive army of mushroom-men charged toward the earthen city!
……

Yezhou was in an uproar.

No one expected that the Zixia Cave, which was excavated this time, would be so terrifying, attracting a world-destroying monster.

The newspapers, including the Night Report and the World Report, reported extensively on the matter. In the cities under the cover of night, people were filled with fear, thinking that if the Great Dream God Mushroom were to enter the world, it would be a catastrophe.

"Everyone, rest assured for now. It is currently isolated in Kunling, with thirty-six Heaven-Stabilizing Stakes in place. Even if a massive number of spores are floating around, they will not be able to escape."

This event also shocked the various tribes outside Yezhou.

Upon hearing this, some of the old monsters gasped in disbelief.

Because some of them had vaguely heard a legend.

"The Great Dream Mushroom, conservatively speaking, is a being at the peak of the Earth Immortal realm. It might even be a Celestial Immortal! It was sealed in a forbidden area, and this time some of its spores were unexpectedly drawn out. Is it about to revive in Night Continent?"

These are the original words of an old monster from outside Night State.

When the news spread, people learned the origins of the Great Dream Mushroom and felt a chill run down their spines.

If they were celestial beings, one wrong move and the end of the world would be upon them!

Helian Chengyun, Leng Mingkong, Dangshi Rulai, and the old monster of the Mijiao sect, four masters, clad in special armor, entered the isolated earthen city.

In the end, they had no choice but to withdraw.

According to estimates, the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom, which is constantly absorbing the super fire spring of Kunlun, is probably about to break through to the Earth Immortal level, and it is simply indestructible.

Their special armor can isolate them from the spores of the Great Dream Mushroom.

However, the group dared not bring any other people out, fearing that the spores in their bodies that had not been completely purified would spread across the land of Yezhou.

At the same time, the group brought out some very bad news: the people in Tucheng were in dire straits. Unless they had the protection of a patriarch, even powerful figures like Pei Shuyan, Cui Chonghe, and Xiao Rulai could not withstand the erosion of the Void Realm.

Even some of the patriarchs and the first ancestor were caught in the trap when they went to intercept the Ten-Colored Divine Mushroom. They are now in a daze, not yet dead, but in a bad state.

As news after news came in, everyone gasped. If the Great Dream Mushroom at the Great Perfection of Earth Immortal level were to officially return, how terrifying would that be?

"I'm afraid it has transcended the realm of Earth Immortals and is actually a sealed Celestial Immortal awakening!"

According to the judgment of Helian Chengyun, Dangshi Rulai and others, there should be no living people outside the earthen city, and they could not withstand the erosion of the layers of illusory realms.

Subsequently, people from all sides became restless and began to inquire whether their own experts and disciples had entered the earthen city.

Ultimately, when the list was released, some were happy and some were sad.

In Crimson Cloud City, Meng Xinghai suddenly stood up. He had received confirmation that Qin Ming was nowhere to be found in the city.

In fact, there are rumors that most of the people who explored the other world have died, and there are very few survivors.

Time flies, and two months have passed.

At this point, people were certain that, apart from Tucheng still holding out, no one could possibly survive in the territory occupied by the "offspring" of the Great Dream Mushroom.

"Qin Ming might be dead there," some people whispered among themselves.

"What?! He's actually trapped in the forbidden area of ​​the Divine Mushroom? That's such a surprise!"

Many people were shocked when they heard this. Without the protection of the patriarch, even a peerless talent like Xiao Jinye and Little Tathagata would most likely not have survived.

(End of this chapter)