Mushroom Man

Chapter 260 Extending Life Through Ghostly Transformation and Zombie Transformation

"Your Excellency, look at those madmen..."

Gu Zhenren looked out over Xiaohun Ridge and frowned.

The madmen who had been hanging on the bone tree were now, under the sweep of the ecstasy wind, reduced to palm-sized, pure souls like those of infants.

The impurities in his soul turned into countless fragments, which merged into the blessed land and became part of Zhuge Huowang's soul essence.

As for the remaining soul infants, they will likely continue to repeat the previous process, exchanging pain for bitter fruit, strengthening their souls, and then being cut apart by the Soul-Destroying Wind.

To Zhuge Huowang, these lunatics were just one crop of leeks after another.

Of course, some souls, overwhelmed by the burden and unable to find peace, are blown away by the seductive wind and eventually perish completely.

In the eyes of those madmen, this complete dissipation of the soul is precisely what is meant by ascending to immortality.

After all, his soul was scattered and merged into the blessed land, becoming part of Zhuge Huowang's soul path foundation. In a sense, he did become an immortal.

However, neither Wu Liang nor Gu Zhenren could accept this method willingly, like those madmen.

Looking at the miserable state of those madmen, Gu Zhenren couldn't help but feel a lingering fear in his eyes.

"Your Excellency, you saved my life!"

"Fortunately, the special envoy pulled me into the mushroom house, thus escaping the enchanting wind."

"Otherwise, these delirious madmen would probably be my fate."

Upon hearing this, Wu Liang shook his head and said, "Old Bone, you are a trusted confidant that I personally recruited into the Holy Sect."

"I will need your strong support in the future to help me complete the grand plan of the Holy Church."

"It was just a small favor, nothing to mention."

When Gu Zhenren heard the words "confidant," his heart immediately burned with excitement.

The special envoy is a disciple of an immortal.

He has become a confidant of the immortal's disciple, and his future achievements are absolutely limitless. He might even have a chance to catch a glimpse of the scenery above the nine heavens.

At the same time, Wu Liang seemed to notice something and raised an eyebrow.

He walked to a white bone tree, stopped, and stood still.

On that bone tree, a bitter fruit the size of a lotus seed was growing.

Clearly, this was what remained of those madmen who hadn't had time to take it before being blown away by the ecstasy wind.

"This is good stuff."

"It should be some kind of fungus, perhaps it can be called bitter mushroom."

"Judging from the cases of those madmen who swallowed bitterness and strengthened their souls, the effect should be quite good."

"I just don't know if this bitter fruit, born from the suffering of others, can strengthen my soul."

Wu Liang hesitated for a moment, then picked them off.

When he encountered the ecstasy before, he wanted to snatch a few bitter pills from the madman and experience them for himself.

It's just that the alluring wind came too quickly, preventing him from finding an opportunity.

Wu Liang played with the bitter pill, but did not take it rashly. Instead, he tossed it to Bone Master.

"Old Bone, eat this thing."

Having seen those madmen take this stuff, Bone Master naturally knows the bitter effects.

He guessed that the special envoy was probably using himself as a 'test case'.

However, he didn't care and, relying on his skill and courage, ate it without hesitation.

Now is the perfect time to show his loyalty, so how could he let this opportunity pass?

He was confident that even if there was something wrong with this thing, as the special envoy's confidant, the special envoy would not sit idly by.

"Hiss, this feeling..."

After enduring the hardship, Master Gu felt a deep bitterness welling up in his heart.

Even though he is now a living dead man without any sense of taste, he still cannot help but feel a bitter taste in his mouth.

bitter!
It was so tough!

Even the stiff, old face of the Bone Immortal twisted into a pretzel shape.

After about three to five breaths, the intense, tearful pain gradually faded until it disappeared completely.

"Your Majesty the Special Envoy..."

"This stuff doesn't seem to have any other effects besides being incredibly bitter."

After carefully sensing it, Bone Master spoke up, seemingly uncertain.

Clearly, after suffering this hardship, he did not experience any spiritual growth like those madmen.

"It's just as I expected..."

Upon hearing this, Wu Liang stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

It seems that the suffering brought about by this unforgettable mushroom can only be experienced by those who produce and consume it themselves; others have no chance to suffer it.

To strengthen one's soul through hardship, one must truly suffer, such as by inflicting wounds on oneself like those madmen.

This makes sense.

After all, if the suffering of others can also benefit others, wouldn't that be equivalent to the spirit mushroom of Burial Soul Mountain?
Of the three great wonders of the Soul Path, Soul-Destroying Ridge is merely a sacred place for dividing souls, while Soul-Burial Mountain is the sacred place for strengthening souls.

The so-called "enduring hardship to strengthen one's spirit" is clearly no match for the "spirit mushroom."

The method of strengthening the soul through hardship has many limitations; the suffering must be borne by oneself to achieve the desired result.

Perhaps for this reason, Zhuge Huowang raised a group of madmen, made them suffer to strengthen their souls, and then had them harvested by Xiaohunfeng, thus bypassing the suffering to cleverly strengthen their souls.

"It seems that the path of strengthening the soul and transforming it into a ghost to prolong life is not feasible..."

After learning about the limitations of enduring hardship to strengthen the soul, Wu Liang's heart sank slightly. That's right!

Besides using the method of transforming zombies to prolong life, he also had the method of transforming ghosts to prolong life.

This method is to emulate the Wu clan chief of the past, whose soul leaves the body but does not perish, instead becoming an evil ghost to live on in the world.

However, this method of transforming ghosts to prolong life requires a large amount of spiritual essence.

The soul must be at least as powerful as that of the original Wu clan chief for there to be any hope.

In other words, it must be at least 10,000 souls or more.

Of course, this method of prolonging life only exists in Wu Liang's conception, and it is still uncertain whether it is feasible.

After all, when Chief Wu turned into a demon, he didn't last long either before he had to dissipate on his own.

The only being in the world who lives on in the form of a soul is the Celestial Venerable of Oblivion.

Wu Liang is naturally no match for the Celestial Venerable of Obscure Moon.

But he didn't want to live a real life as a soul, like the Celestial Venerable of Obscure Moon.

He just wanted to become a living dead, like a zombie.

Unfortunately, this path was stillborn before it even began.

To strengthen one's spirit through hardship, it must be hardship that one has personally endured.

Under these circumstances, Wu Liang would naturally not hang himself like those madmen.

Therefore, for the time being, they had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​transforming into a ghost to prolong life.

Now that the path of transforming into a ghost to prolong life is no longer viable, it seems that the only option left for him is to transform into a zombie to prolong life.

Upon thinking of this, Wu Liang's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately looked at Bone Master.

"Old Bone, could you perhaps share with me your method for dispelling zombies and prolonging life?"

Upon hearing this, Master Bone was taken aback.

He quickly realized what was happening, and then asked with a surprised look, "Your Excellency, do you perhaps wish to transform into a zombie like I have?"

"Since Your Excellency desires such a simple method for dispelling paralysis and prolonging life, I will naturally not hide it from you."

"However, Your Excellency should think carefully, as turning zombies into monsters is no joke."

"Once the body becomes stiff, there is no way back. The path forward is completely cut off, the dantian becomes a dead end, and there is no way to make any further progress."

"And as time goes by, their thoughts will gradually wither away, turning them into mindless walking corpses."

"The reason I am in such a desperate situation is because I had no other choice but to do this."

“But Your Excellency is different; you are a disciple of the Holy Immortal Zhuge Huowang.”

"As long as you ask Mr. Zhuge, what method of prolonging life can't you find?"

"Perhaps even the legendary longevity mushroom can be found for you by Mr. Zhuge."

"Under these circumstances, why should Your Excellency become a hopeless zombie like I have?"

Gu Zhenren seemed quite puzzled by Wu Liang's idea of ​​dissolving the zombie.

He spoke at length, earnestly and patiently.

In his view, Wu Liang, as a top-tier prodigy and a disciple of an immortal, had a limitless future.

If one were to choose to transform into a zombie like him, it would undoubtedly be a waste of talent and a recipe for trouble.

Once the body becomes stiff, the dantian becomes a dead zone, and the first-class aptitude becomes nothing more than a decoration.

Moreover, logically speaking, Wu Liang is a disciple of an immortal, and the immortal might already have a better method for prolonging life, so why would he need to come and learn from him?
Master Gu was completely baffled by this.

If possible, he really didn't want Wu Liang to become a zombie.

There are three reasons!
Firstly, if Wu Liang were to become a zombie, it would mean that he would have a very difficult time ascending to immortality in the future.

As for Bone Master, his confidant, he was already bound to him.

If Wu Liang cannot become an immortal, then Gu Zhenren will likely have even less of a chance.

Secondly, if Wu Liang really wants to transform into a zombie and, like him, belongs to the same lineage of corpses, then there might be a risk of conflict over the Dao in the future.

After all, if he were to become an immortal in his zombie form in the future, he would definitely have to refine the legendary incorruptible bones.

There is only one Immortal Mushroom, and only one Undissolving Bone.

In this situation, the more people who take this route, the greater the danger for Bone Master.

Thirdly, Wu Liang, the zombie, will definitely need to use the four-turn jumping zombie mushroom he obtained from the Black Horn Tribe.

Bone Immortal had long coveted this Jumping Zombie Mushroom.

If Wu Liang hadn't taken the path of transforming into a zombie, the four-turn jumping zombie mushroom would definitely have been his.

With that fourth-tier jumping zombie mushroom, he was confident that he could recover to his peak fourth-tier combat power as soon as possible.

But looking at it now...

Gu Zhenren was filled with trepidation, talking about the shortcomings of the transformation technique while praying that Wu Liang would back down.

However, what he didn't know at that moment was that Wu Liang had never had any other choice from beginning to end.

If he could, he wouldn't want to become a half-dead zombie.

But what can you do when his so-called immortal master is actually a fake?
In order to prolong his life and survive, he had no choice but to choose this path of no return.

Wu Liang sighed inwardly, but showed no sign of it on his face, remaining calm and composed.

His eyes flashed, and his tone carried an undeniable air as he spoke.

"Whether or not to resolve the stagnation is my decision; you need not say more..."

(End of this chapter)