Mushroom Man

Chapter 266 I am you, and you are me

To become... an immortal?
Is Zhuge Huowang really that kind-hearted?

Wu Liang hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I wonder what exactly is Mr. Zhuge's superior method of prolonging life?"

Zhuge Huowang stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the entire blessed land, and slowly began to speak.

"If we are talking about prolonging life, we must first understand what lifespan actually is."

"The so-called lifespan is actually a trace of the Dao of Heaven contained within the body of every living being in the world."

"If these marks decrease, the mushroom master will age; conversely, if they increase, he will live a long and immortal life."

Upon hearing this, Wu Liang nodded.

Lifespan is a product of the traces of the Dao of Heaven. In today's mushroom industry, anyone who pays a little attention will naturally understand this.

However, the Way of Heaven is quite special and rarely manifests itself in the world.

Most people in the mushroom world may know about the Heavenly Dao school of thought, but no one understands what the Heavenly Dao actually is.

It's unclear, the way is unclear.

Mysterious beyond mystery, wondrous beyond wonder, seemingly without a trace, yet omnipresent.

Wu Liang learned about the Heavenly Dao because he once wanted to know what kind of immortal mushroom the "Seeing Hand Blue" belonged to, so he consulted ancient books and biographies and learned of the existence of the Heavenly Dao.

There was a time when he even suspected that the Boletus luridus was the legendary Heavenly Immortal Mushroom.

After all, the ability to see a person's secrets is similar to that of Taoism, but not entirely the same.

The school of thought that believes in the Way does not obtain information and secrets without reason.

The channel excels at reconnaissance and analyzing others' intelligence based on various clues.

"Seeing hands" refers to directly revealing other people's secrets without any reason.

Even secrets that others have never revealed to anyone, secrets known only to heaven and earth, can be easily discovered by Jian Shouqing.

That's why Wu Liang had some doubts at the time, thinking that the "See Hand Blue" might be the most mysterious Heavenly Immortal Mushroom.

However, he later rejected the idea.

Because the Heavenly Path Mushrooms are not found in the world, whether in the Four Continents or the Nine Heavens, apart from the Longevity Mushroom, no other Heavenly Path Mushrooms have been passed down.

Of course, there may be other Heavenly Dao mushrooms, but Wu Liang just doesn't know about them.

But that's not the most important thing...

The key factor that truly led Wu Liang to exclude Jian Shouqing from the Heavenly Path school was that the Heavenly Path school was closely related to the will of Heaven.

The extraterrestrial demons from other worlds are undoubtedly enemies of Heaven's Will.

As an extraterrestrial demon, Wu Liang was already lucky if Heaven didn't target him, let alone expect any favor from Heaven or any Heavenly Immortal Mushroom.

At this moment, Zhuge Huowang was unaware of what Wu Liang was thinking.

He continued talking eloquently without pausing, showing none of the airs one would expect from a celestial being.

"Under the whole heaven, the only thing that can increase this Heavenly Dao mark that symbolizes lifespan is the Longevity Mushroom, which is a Heavenly Dao mushroom."

"Longevity Mushroom can directly increase the Dao traces of Heaven without any cost, thereby extending lifespan."

"Therefore, of all the methods of prolonging life in the world, only the longevity mushroom can be considered the right path, as it can solve the problem at its root."

"However, longevity mushrooms are hard to find. Longevity mushrooms are judged by their age, not their number of cycles. Even a longevity mushroom that is ten years old is enough to tempt the Mushroom Fairy."

Wu Liang fully agreed with Zhuge Huowang's words.

The value of longevity mushrooms has always been higher than imagined.

In the mushroom world, lifespan has always been the ultimate problem that plagues everyone, even the Nine-Turn Venerable.

No one's lifespan will change as their cultivation level increases.

Even if the mushroom master ascends to immortality, his lifespan will still be only a hundred years.

Therefore, no one would complain about having a long life, and if there are longevity mushrooms, the more the better.

This has resulted in the fact that the value of longevity mushrooms has always been high but there is no market for them.

Even the worst ten-year-old mushroom can attract immortals to fight over it.

Only in the Buddhist Pure Land is there no shortage of longevity mushrooms, and there is no need to compete with others for them.

It is said that the Buddhist sect, based on the methods left behind by the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Salvation, has mastered the means to locate the newborn longevity mushroom.

However, this is just a rumor, and the truth remains unknown.

Zhuge Huowang looked at Wu Liang and said with a half-smile, "If I get the longevity mushroom, I will definitely prioritize myself. You are definitely not fortunate enough to have that."

"but……"

"The life-extending method that I have prepared for you is in no way inferior to the life-extending method of longevity mushrooms, and may even be better."

"As we all know, the Dao traces that symbolize lifespan only exist on the physical bodies of living beings."

"And the souls of living beings do not possess any traces of the Heavenly Dao."

"The reason why living beings die of old age is entirely because after the physical body ages and dies, it can no longer bear the soul."

"When the soul loses its physical body, it will be attracted to the underworld, embark on the road to the underworld, and from then on, its consciousness will be confused and it will completely perish."

"As long as this point can be resolved, any method can be called a life-extending method."

"The so-called 'zombie-like life-extending technique' simply means that after the physical body dies, the soul forcibly remains in the body through the means of a zombie-like fungus, thus extending life."

"As for the ghost-transformation to prolong life, it is a way for living beings to forcibly sever the attraction from the Yellow Springs by relying on their powerful soul foundation, thus lingering in the world as lonely ghosts."

"However, neither of these two methods can be called a slow death. Only a mediocre person would consider turning a zombie into a ghost."

Zhuge Huowang raised his chin, his tone becoming quite arrogant.

His gaze towards Wu Liang subtly shifted, and his tone became enigmatic. "And the way I can extend your lifespan is... to make you become me."

Upon hearing this, Wu Liang was startled.

What does it mean to make you become me?

The moment Wu Liang heard these words, he realized that they were by no means kind.

as predicted……

Perhaps sensing Wu Liang's confusion, Zhuge Huowang stopped beating around the bush and spoke directly.

"Young friend Wu, as long as your soul merges with mine, becoming one with mine, and sharing my immortal body."

"At that time, my lifespan, cultivation level, and even blessed land will all be yours, so you will naturally no longer need to worry about lifespan."

"You could even use this to ascend to the heavens in one step, directly transforming from a mortal mushroom master into a sacred mushroom immortal. Why not?"

"Young friend Wu, how is it? Are you satisfied with this superior longevity method?"

satisfaction?

Satisfied my ass!

Wu Liang remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was already cursing.

He wasn't stupid; he knew perfectly well what this so-called superior longevity method was all about.

They say they are inseparable, their souls intertwined...

But wouldn't that just turn him into a fragment of his soul?
Once he becomes a fragment of Zhuge Huowang's soul, it's hard to say whether he can still be considered Wu Liang.

Whether they can even retain consciousness is still unknown.

Moreover, even if his consciousness could be preserved, this tiny fragment of his soul would be unable to influence anything; the main soul, Zhuge Huowang, would still have the upper hand.

At that time, what difference was there between him and someone who was dead?
This method of prolonging life is, in some ways, even less effective than using the parasitic flea to prolong life and merely survive.

"Mr. Zhuge is joking..."

Does it really matter whether the younger generation is satisfied with this?

Wu Liang knew he had no room to refuse, and his voice was bitter and hoarse.

He knew perfectly well that Zhuge Huowang had not consulted with him at all.

It seemed like they were asking for his opinion, but in reality, they were just informing him.

Zhuge Huowang smiled and shook his head, saying, "Young friend Wu, there's no need to be so pessimistic."

"This is a mutually beneficial approach that will allow us to achieve a win-win situation."

“Young friend Wu, you are the most talented among the few Wuxiang successors I know, and also the one who is most like that Wuxiang Heavenly Venerable.”

"I'm willing to place my bets on you; you should be happy."

Throughout history, all those who have attained enlightenment have had protectors by their side.

"Once you become a part of Xiao Ke, from now on you are me, and I am you."

"At that time, I can be both your protector and your successor in the Formless Realm."

"While other successors of the Formless lineage are still worrying about how to save their lives, you and I have already become Mushroom Immortals."

"When the time comes for the Void Treasury, who can compete with you and me?"

"You and I are the future Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerables, destined to suppress the world and roam freely."

Upon hearing this, Wu Liang remained silent for a long time.

Mutually beneficial?

He couldn't see any mutual benefit in it; Zhuge Huowang's actions were clearly only in his own interest.

Clearly, Zhuge Huowang valued his so-called talent and his identity as the successor of the Wuxiang lineage.

It's even quite possible that they mistook him for some kind of divine resurrection plot device.

Zhuge Huowang wanted to make him a part of himself, which was clearly an attempt to steal the Venerable's legacy and even become the Venerable himself.

However, family members know their own affairs.

Wu Liang knew perfectly well that he was not some kind of backup plan from the Formless Celestial Venerable.

He got to where he is today entirely through his own hard work.

Zhuge Huowang wanted to replace him, but he was even worse off replacing Morobi, since that guy was a True Martial Demon-Slaying Body.

To think that one can replace him and become the Formless Celestial Venerable, or even the future Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable, is undoubtedly a grave mistake.

However, Zhuge Huowang may have already considered this point.

For Zhuge Huowang, whether Wu Liang was Wu Xiang Tianzun's backup plan was not that important.

If you gamble wrong, you gamble wrong.

After all, making Wu Liang a part of himself, one of his many divided souls, would not cause him any loss.

Even if Wu Liang isn't, he can still capture another Wuxiang successor and turn them into his own fragmented soul.

All those who inherit the formless lineage will become a part of him.

So, whichever one of them is the manifestation of the Formless Celestial Venerable, he will become the sole successor of the Formless Celestial Venerable, the protector of the Formless Celestial Venerable, and even the Formless Celestial Venerable himself.

However, Wu Liang was somewhat puzzled by this, and even completely baffled...

He simply couldn't understand where Zhuge Huowang got the confidence to use this method to overthrow Wuxiang Tianzun.

How come this guy has absolutely no reverence for an existence like the Formless Celestial Venerable?

(End of this chapter)