Black Journey to the West: The Imposter Star Lord

Chapter 77; If you don't take it, how will the Star Lord take it? (Fourth update, 10,000 words daily, please subscribe!)

"roar!!!"

Outside the Five Plagues Temple, a deep roar came, the sound shaking the surrounding clouds.

It resembles a lion but is not a lion, and it resembles a wolf but is not a wolf.

The forest trembled, unsettling many people.

[Success! Someone has broken through to the Golden Core stage!]

It's that long worm from the Spirit Saint Palace!

[A powerful demon at the Golden Core stage, hahaha, this time it's a sure thing! I'm going to raise the bet and go all in!]

All in! All in!!

[Wait, how did this long worm break through so quickly?]

[How could it not be fast? The Spirit Saint Palace has a total of eight demon cultivators, and this serpent has devoured all of his junior brothers.]

Holy crap, is that even possible?!

A demon is a demon; cultivation cannot change its nature.

As the first great demon to break through to the Golden Core stage appeared, a dense barrage of comments appeared on the Heavenly Net.

Although the various factions agreed that only those in the Foundation Establishment stage could participate in the incense-grabbing contest, this did not prevent them from breaking through during the contest.

Once you break through, that is the path to the Golden Core.

Once the Dao of Alchemy is perfected, the Three Flowers Gather at the Top and the Five Qi Return to the Origin. The next step is to attain Immortality, which is completely incomparable to those who have only reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Even the same supernatural power, when used by a Golden Core demon, has vastly different effects than when used by a Foundation Establishment demon.

It can be said that when a Foundation Establishment cultivator faces a Golden Core cultivator, there is no other possibility but to wait for death.

So even though Ling Sheng Palace's ranking has dropped to the bottom, it has actually attracted more people to place bets.

Some even went all in, betting their entire fortune.

"Brilliant!"

On the high tower, Xin Tianjun saw the new data through the Heavenly Net and couldn't help but clap his hands in praise.

"As expected of the Star Lord's miraculous skill, it is beyond our reach."

"Hahaha, according to the ratio planned by the Star Lord, if they add 100 taels, they can get 300 taels of bet. But if this snake dies here, hey, according to the bet, these people will even owe us three times that amount. I'm afraid he can't afford to pay it back even if he sells his entire fortune."

The three gods were grinning from ear to ear. According to their previous plan, they were going to use the Sun Bird to create such a big commotion.

Compared to the Star Lord's methods, their methods are truly insignificant.

At this moment, Jinlang frowned and said, "Heavenly Lord, the Star Lord has modified our plan this time, which clearly shows that he is not satisfied with our original plan. From now on..."

He stopped there and didn't continue.

Xin Tianjun and Yang Wenhui were both very clever, and upon hearing this, the joy on their faces froze.

To put it bluntly, this whole thing was a case of them messing things up, and the big boss had to step in and clean up their mess.

Although they may profit from this, it's hard to guarantee that they won't leave a bad impression on the Star Lord.

These four words of evaluation were enough to make them stop their journey to godhood.

Not to mention whether they could even get close to the Star Lord.

"How about we hand over all the profits from this trip, and consider it as learning from Xingjun?" Jinlang suggested after a moment's thought.

"Foolish!" Xin Tianjun, being a level above Jin Langjiang, saw things more clearly and immediately interrupted Jin Langjiang's thoughts.

"If you don't take these benefits, how will Fairy Qing'e take them? If Fairy Qing'e doesn't take them, how will Star Lord take them? If Star Lord doesn't take them, how can we progress!"

"You're not giving the Star Lord a gift, you're handing him a knife."

Jin Lang's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "I was confused. Thank you for reminding me, Heavenly Lord."

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Yang Wenhui quickly tried to smooth things over: "General Jin was just being impatient and didn't mean to offend anyone. In my opinion, let's get the job done first. As for what happens afterward, there's really no need to worry."

"Oh! What are your thoughts, Envoy Yang?" The new Heavenly Emperor looked at General Jin Lang.

Yang Wenhui stroked his beard and smiled, "Don't worry, Heavenly Lord, I have already made arrangements." As he spoke, his gaze was already fixed on the Five Plague Temple where Cao Xing and the others were.

Inside the temple, heavy breathing and painful howls could be heard intermittently.

Inside the entire temple, only Cao Xing and Chen Xiang remained, sitting calmly and steadily in meditation.

However, neither of them was in good condition.

Cao Xing's entire body was covered in red pimples, and the tingling sensation was absolutely maddening.

Chen Xiang was in no better shape. His once handsome face was now rotten, with pus dripping down his cheeks, and the stench was nauseating.

As for the others, they lay on the ground, writhing in agony.

Some of the joints are already deformed.

Some had festering sores all over their bodies and lay on the ground, only able to exhale but not inhale.

In particular, Xing Haitao's lower body was rotten, and he was limp on the ground, excreting feces and urine.

Of course, there is one exception: Wu Peng.

Not only Cao Xing was surprised, but even Wu Peng himself was surprised. While everyone else was dying of pain, he was acting as if nothing had happened.

Wu Peng couldn't explain this either, but precisely because he didn't seem to be acting strangely, he became the busiest person among them.

"Senior brother, why are you disobeying me again? Don't go out, or you'll get into trouble, and you'll lose points."

"Hey, Zhou Hai, calm down. Your legs are all deformed, so stop climbing around."

"Junior Brother Haitao, just hang in there a little longer. What? It's rotten? Well, rotten is rotten. You won't need it for cultivation in the future. It'll just help you avoid the worry of losing your pill. I have experience in this area. I'll introduce you to a senior alchemist. One pill from him will be enough to make you soar."

Wu Peng kept pulling his fellow students who were trying to escape back from the doorway.

If they still had the energy to curse, Xing Haitao and the others would probably have already started cursing Wu Peng's entire family and ancestors for eighteen generations.

But now they don't even have the strength to open their mouths and curse; they only have one thought in their minds.

escape!

Leave this temple, the farther the better, even dying outside would be a quick death.

Lying here now, they can even clearly feel their internal organs and limbs rotting away little by little.

I've tried talismans, elixirs, and every other method I could think of, but nothing has worked.

As they watched their bodies rot away, emitting a pungent stench and covered in pink spores, the feeling was worse than death itself.

It's only been three hours. If they continue like this, they'll probably rot here.

Zhang Jue and Zhou Hai tried several times to leave this evil Five Plague Temple, but Wu Peng, that oddball, kept pulling them back from the door.

You'd think this kid was kind, but he still managed to steal all the silver notes from my person.

Of course, it wasn't just Xing Haitao and his group who criticized Wu Peng.

At this moment, the barrage of insults directed at Wu Peng in the audience outside caused Tianluo to experience lag.

Wait, what's wrong with this kid? Why is he completely unharmed??

Did he cheat? This guy doesn't seem human.

Could it be some kind of mechanical puppet?

Why isn't he sick? Even the powerful demons at the Core Formation stage are lying on the ground, too lazy to move, how can he still be so energetic?!

[Reported!]

The barrage of insults and curses was constant, and even Jin Yuan Dao Ren, a Core Formation cultivator, was subjected to a torrent of abuse.

No wonder they were criticized so harshly; the rankings of Juxian Temple, Yalong Cave, Sanqing Temple, and others that were originally at the top have gradually fallen.

The pain from the illness intensifies, sometimes making life worse than death. Some people can't bear it and try to escape, and some even resort to violence.

On the contrary, thanks to Wu Peng's constant efforts to bring people back, Shangfangguan's ranking remained unchanged, and even rose from sixth to fourth place.

Currently, the three places ranked last are Tianlongzhai, Baixi Temple, and Guangji Temple.

The data on the strength of these three companies is also declining rapidly.

Those who invested in the three companies were furious.

A series of pop-up messages appeared in front of them: "Do you want to increase your bet to change your environment?"

If the additional bet reaches 30 taels, their environment can be changed, for example, by adding some medicine or a medicine pool to relieve pain.

"What the hell are you chasing? Those idiots from Tianlong Village, only one late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and one early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator are still holding on. The rest have all run away. Damn it, we were blind to bet on such trash."

In the teahouse, a middle-aged man angrily smashed his teacup and began to curse loudly.

This man had a leopard-like face, a full beard, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, and he had a very bad temper.

Seeing this, everyone smiled without saying a word. Tianlong Village was just a group of rogue cultivators who had put together a force. You could tell from the name that they didn't have any real strength, yet people were still throwing money at them.

The waiter at the teahouse walked over with a smile and poured a cup of tea for the leopard-faced man: "Sir, calm down. This is just for fun, it won't cost much. Winning is great, but losing isn't a big deal either."

Hearing this, the leopard-faced man felt much relieved. He hadn't actually invested much; it was probably only about three hundred taels of silver.

Thanks to the benefits, even if you win, it's only a little over a thousand taels of silver, and if you lose, it doesn't matter.

After taking a sip of tea, he casually asked the waiter, "Which company did you apply to?"

"Hehe, I don't know much about these things either. I just followed the shopkeeper and placed an bet on Baolin Temple. I didn't bet much, just over twenty taels. My shopkeeper is the big spender, he put down eight thousand taels of silver. If Baolin Temple can win the incense this time, my shopkeeper is planning to go and cultivate immortality."

"Baolin Temple!"

Another tea drinker nearby sneered upon hearing this, "Your manager is probably going to lose money, since Baolin Temple's main force hasn't even broken through yet."

"Yes, I heard that Baolin Temple in Wuji Kingdom is almost squeezed out by Shangfang Temple. I'm afraid it won't be able to hold on for another two years," someone else chimed in.

Baolin Temple was once the national temple of Wuji Kingdom. It was the royal temple of the Wuji Kingdom's ruler, but that was many years ago. Now, with the Taoist priest of Shangfang Temple serving as the national preceptor, Baolin Temple has gradually declined.

This attempt to seize the incense was nothing more than a death throes.

Upon hearing this, the waiter's face showed worry. Just as he was about to argue, he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Zhang Qiang!"

At the counter behind the shop, the shopkeeper called out softly, summoning the waiter over. He then gently tapped the waiter, Zhang Qiang, on the forehead: "You're so talkative."

"Hehe, yes, yes, shopkeeper, is it really possible to steal incense at Baolin Temple?"

The waiter, though reprimanded, was not angry. Instead, he inquired about the situation at Baolin Temple with concern.

The shopkeeper patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, Baolin Temple has sent out its best personnel this time, and even brought the relics of eminent monks from past generations. There will definitely be no mistakes."

After Zhang Qiang turned to get back to work, the shopkeeper fiddled with the abacus, a thought creeping into his mind: "What if? No, I have to raise the bet. Baolin Temple can't afford to lose, no matter what."

Immediately, the shopkeeper mobilized his funds and invested all the money in Baolin Temple.