Mushroom Man

Chapter 166 Learning from Past Mistakes: Subduing the Hairy Zombie

"Ah……"

"Looks like another bunch of people who don't know what's good for them."

"Don't underestimate this zombie, it's quite formidable."

The shifty-eyed black market merchant noticed Wu Liang's suspicion.

He looked disdainful and gave a cold laugh.

"Oh?"

"What a powerful method?"

Wu Liang didn't mind at all; instead, he went along with what he was saying and asked a question.

The black market merchant, wanting to show off, knocked on the iron cage and said, "This zombie is no ordinary creature..."

"Its aura fluctuates in strength, sometimes only reaching one or two revolutions, and sometimes reaching three or four revolutions."

"Although we do not know what methods he used in his lifetime to cause himself to become this grotesque state."

"But one thing is certain: he was at least a fourth-level mushroom master during his lifetime."

The black market merchant's tone turned somewhat regretful as he spoke.

"This guy is probably nearing the end of his lifespan and hasn't been able to find a suitable way to prolong it."

"So, out of desperation, I used some zombie-themed transformation mushrooms to turn myself into a zombie in order to survive in this world."

"However, judging from the zombie's appearance, it is just a mindless, level 3 zombie."

"Therefore, we were unable to preserve this guy's cultivation level from his lifetime."

"What a pity..."

Wu Liang understood after hearing this.

So that's how it is. No wonder the Third Young Master cares so much about this zombie.

So this zombie really is a fourth or fifth level creature.

However, these four or five transformations were his cultivation level during his lifetime.

After his death, due to his method of transforming himself into a zombie, he only reached the third level of transformation.

Consequently, he only transformed into a third-stage hairy zombie, failing to fully inherit his cultivation from his previous life.

This is why the zombie's aura is so unstable, fluctuating between strong and weak.

Even so, this guy can at least be considered a peak third-tier combatant.

Although it's not very stable, for the Third Young Master, buying this guy to participate in the Eight-Cornered Holy Battle is more than enough.

After all, there are only two leaders in the entire Bajiao Mountain who are fourth-level mushroom masters.

A zombie at its peak third rank is already powerful enough to crush most mushroom masters.

Thinking of this, Wu Liang stroked his chin thoughtfully.

It seems that turning into a zombie and surviving in this world isn't so simple.

He currently possesses a second-tier Blood Corpse Mushroom.

He had originally planned that if his lifespan was nearing its end and he was unable to find a suitable way to prolong it, he would use the Blood Corpse Mushroom to transform himself into a zombie.

But now that Wu Liang has learned from the example of this zombie predecessor, he feels that this matter needs to be reconsidered.

If even a third-stage hairy zombie looks like this, then the second-stage wandering zombie he transformed using the second-stage blood corpse mushroom will probably be even worse.

He didn't want to become a mindless walking corpse after his transformation.

This zombie predecessor is a living example of what not to do!
No matter how powerful one's cultivation was in life, if one cannot find a suitable zombie-type mushroom, one can only become a mindless hairy zombie after death.

Once you become a living dead, what difference does it make whether you're alive or dead?

"Iron Slave, pay up..."

Wu Liang suppressed his distracting thoughts and stopped overthinking, then decisively ordered Tie Nu to hand over the silver water.

The black market merchant's attitude immediately became much more amiable upon seeing Yinshui.

He turned around and handed Wu Liang a three-stage mushroom, saying, "This three-stage corpse-driving mushroom is used to control this hairy zombie."

"Take it back and give it to your third young master, and let him figure out a way to refine it."

"Important: Do not open the iron cage before you have refined this mushroom."

"When I first pulled this guy out of the Youzi River, he was really fierce."

"Completely irrational, like a wild beast, with a penchant for cannibalism."

"If you open the cage rashly, this guy might eat you."

After giving a few instructions, the black market merchant settled the transaction and immediately took his leave.

"I never expected you to be fished out of the Youzi River. We seem to have some kind of fate..."

Wu Liang raised an eyebrow and walked over to Mao Jiang with great interest.

He had never heard of any fourth-level mushroom master turning into a zombie and jumping into the Cimu River.

Therefore, this guy should just be a mushroom master from near Youzi River. After turning into a hairy zombie, he unfortunately fell into Youzi River, which is why he was picked up by a black market merchant.

Perhaps because of the iron cage, Mao Jiang kept his eyes closed the whole time.

Even if there were signs of human presence around it, it did not react at all.

Wu Liang nodded slightly and instantly refined the Corpse-Driving Mushroom.

In an instant, he established a faint connection with the hairy zombie.

Wu Liang's eyes flickered slightly, and he tentatively used this connection to make a move.

Suddenly, the fur-bearing zombie, whose eyes had been tightly closed, opened them wide.

Its eyes had no whites, were completely black, and looked quite frightening.

It stretched out its withered, bronze-colored arm and forcefully pried open a gap in the huge iron cage, then walked out of it.

"This is……"

"Copper skin and iron bones?"

Wu Liang was a discerning person; after all, the eighteen bronze statues of the Songzi Temple were made of copper and iron.

He immediately recognized that this hairy zombie also had been modified with a body of copper and iron.

Like Jade Skin, Copper Skin Iron Bones is a modified fungus. However, Copper Skin Iron Bones is far superior to Jade Skin in terms of defense.

After all, the Copper Skin and Iron Bones constitution requires two mushrooms—Copper Skin Mushroom and Iron Bones Mushroom—to be transformed.

The Jade Skin is merely a constitution created by a single Jade Mushroom.

This Mao Jiang has a body of bronze skin and iron bones, so it can't be too weak.

"I wonder what level of cultivation this guy had in his previous life, that he ended up in such a miserable state."

"The dense aura of death emanating from this body suggests that his dantian is almost completely destroyed."

Wu Liang placed his hand on the body of the hairy zombie, and his true energy then probed into its dantian.

as predicted……

All that could be seen was Mao Jiang's dantian, which was already broken and lifeless, devoid of any vitality.

The soil, which should have been fertile, has now turned into gravel, making it impossible to grow any mushrooms.

Furthermore, as time goes by, the dantian continues to collapse and deteriorate.

Now it's less than an acre in size, not even as big as Wu Liang's.

In a normal mushroom master's dantian, there is a long river of true qi.

In the dead field of Mao Jiang, not to mention the long river of true energy, not even a wisp of true energy could be seen.

Wu Liang frowned.

No wonder a zombie comparable to the peak of the third rank, and sometimes even reaching the fourth rank, only sells for 10,000 silver coins.

Judging from the current state of this hairy zombie, it is estimated that within a month, its remaining dantian will completely collapse and shatter under the influence of the death energy.

At that time, without its dantian, this hairy zombie will become a dead thing, and its combat power will definitely decrease.

Without a doubt, spending 10,000 drops of silver water to buy such a defective product is a losing proposition.

However, the original third young master must have thought about this issue as well.

As the saying goes, one is willing to hit, and the other is willing to be hit.

The Third Young Master knew there was something wrong with this hairy zombie, yet he still spent a fortune to buy it, probably for the sake of the Eight-Cornered Saint Fighter.

It will take about a month for the dantian to completely collapse.

If he can defeat the Eight-Cornered Saint Fighter using the Mao Jiang within a month, then he won't have lost out.

After all, if he could really use Mao Jiang to defeat the Eight-Cornered Saint and take the position of leader, a mere ten thousand silver coins would be nothing at all.

"Oh well, I've already bought it anyway."

"If in the future, Mao Jiang's dantian is shattered and his strength drops too much, we can simply keep him as material for the Death Qi Mushroom."

"Whether it's feeding the Death Mushrooms or finding a way to refine them later, a large amount of Death Mushrooms is needed."

"And this hairy zombie has a strong aura of death on its body, which will save me some money on the silver water to feed the death aura mushroom."

Wu Liang didn't dwell on it too much.

After familiarizing himself with the Corpse-Driving Mushroom, he left the black market with the Hairy Zombie and the Iron Slave.

Outside the cave, the sun had not yet set, and the sunlight was bright.

Mao Jiang walked in the sun without showing any abnormality.

The three-turned hairy zombie is different from the wandering zombie; it is no longer afraid of ordinary fire and sunlight, and is impervious to swords and spears, water and fire.

So when he went out, apart from his blue-faced, fanged appearance, he was no different from an ordinary person.

Wu Liang did not linger outside for long. He transformed back into the appearance of the Third Young Master and returned to the White Horn Tribe.

When he returned to the tribe, the fury that followed him caused an instant sensation.

"hiss!"

"The Third Young Master is quite cunning. The zombie with him isn't afraid of sunlight; it must be a first-stage, hairy zombie!"

"I thought the Third Young Master had given up on the Eight-Cornered Holy Fight. But now it seems he might be able to compete for the leadership position."

"Come on, the Third Young Master's cultivation is only at the second level. He can barely control a hairy zombie. How can he possibly fight against the First and Second Young Masters?"

The mushroom masters from the White Horn tribe whispered among themselves, discussing the matter animatedly.

Wu Liang listened to the murmurs of the crowd without changing his expression and went straight back to the tiger-skin tent.

“Those guys are right…”

"With my current cultivation level of only the second stage, it is still a bit of a stretch to activate the Corpse-Driving Mushroom and control the third-stage Hairy Zombie."

"Fortunately, I will reach the peak of the second stage tomorrow and start preparing to break through to the third stage."

Wu Liang returned to the main tent and sat cross-legged.

He smiled slightly, then closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and began to cultivate.

In an instant, the river of true energy roared and surged.

The dantian, covering nine acres and eight fen, gradually grew larger and shone brightly.

……

The next day.

Perhaps it was because of Mao Jiang that the eldest and second young masters became wary of him.

Throughout the day, several mushroom growers were sent back and forth to test him, trying to invite him for drinks and meat.

However, Wu Liang was focused on his cultivation and had no time to pay attention to them, so Tie Nu blocked them all.

As for 'Madam Red', the eldest and second young masters also sent people over.

He wanted to spend the night with 'Madam Red' and, incidentally, inquire about the Third Young Master.

If it were the previous Lady Red, she would definitely have already climbed into their bed.

But the current 'Red Lady' is a fabrication created by Wu Liang, so how could it possibly fulfill their wishes?

Therefore, Madam Red, contrary to her usual behavior, rejected all the invitations from the eldest and second young masters.

And it was precisely because of this that, by sheer chance, the eldest and second young masters became even more wary of Wu Liang.

In their view, Wu Liang must have obtained something that would allow him to gain the assistance of the Eight-Cornered Saint.

Otherwise, how could someone as clever as 'Madam Red' ignore them and instead spend all her time in the Third Young Master's tent?

(End of this chapter)