Chapter 2570: Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom
Night Wanderer pointed to the sky with his finger, speaking with conviction: "Master, I swear to the heavens, the reason I suppressed him was truly just because I found him displeasing to the eye. I never thought of seizing the sacred medicines on him, let alone killing him. Think about it—at my age and cultivation level, while he, a mere Immortal Realm junior, repeatedly showed me disrespect. Shouldn't I teach him a small lesson?"
"In fact, my sacred medicines were all snatched away by you!" Blood Butcher said resentfully.
Night Wanderer glared at him: "Snatched? How can taking sacred medicines from one of our own be called snatching? I was keeping them safe for you. Think about it—with your third-rate cultivation, if I hadn't been safeguarding them, they would have been taken by other cultivators long ago!"
"Then give them back to me now!" Blood Butcher said.
Night Wanderer put on a benevolent expression: "Child, the Origin Divine Temple is unsafe. How could I feel at ease entrusting them to you? Once we leave this place, I will return every single one to you without fail."
Blood Butcher could no longer endure it. This old coot was actually treating him like a child to be fooled. Just because he had lived over twenty thousand years longer, he was acting like an elder and putting on airs.
"Not giving them back, huh? Then I'll take them myself."
Blood Butcher lunged forward unexpectedly, tackling Night Wanderer to the ground and rummaging through his clothes.
"Kid... where are you touching? Stop it! If you don't stop, this master won't be polite..."
...
Zhang Ruochen paid no attention to the argument behind him. From the massive divine corpse, he retrieved the sacred medicines that Hai Ke had taken from Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor.
"Take these—they belong to you." Zhang Ruochen returned them to the two.
Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor knew that Zhang Ruochen was not lacking in sacred medicines, so they did not stand on ceremony, but silently remembered his kindness that day.
"Bang!"
A figure flew past above the three.
It was Blood Butcher, kicked away like a ball by Night Wanderer.
Night Wanderer, his black robe disheveled, climbed up from the ground, fastening his belt while cursing: "How dare you show such disrespect to me! If you weren't Master's junior disciple, I would have kicked you to death."
Blood Butcher rushed back. Whether he had learned from Night Wanderer or not, he shamelessly plopped down at Zhang Ruochen's feet, grabbed his leg, and said: "Senior Brother, you must stand up for me."
He had wanted to kneel, but he simply couldn't bring himself to do it, and he would never be able to kneel as naturally and sincerely as Night Wanderer.
Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze to Night Wanderer, about to speak.
But Night Wanderer suddenly burst into tears, slumping to the ground in despair. The belt he had half-fastened was pulled open again as he said: "How many years has it been? This old, decaying body of mine has been so humiliated by a junior, losing every last shred of dignity."
Then, he shouted with a sob: "Master, I will absolutely not return those sacred medicines! They are what he owes me in compensation. He deserves it—he touched me!"
"What's there to touch on an old man like you? Saying it like that just makes me feel disgusted!"
Blood Butcher shuddered with revulsion. His baseline of understanding had been shattered once again. He never imagined that a Great Saint could reach such a level of shamelessness.
Night Wanderer glared at him resentfully, tears glistening in his eyes, and snapped: "You didn't feel disgusted when you were touching me?"
Blood Butcher felt so nauseated that he wanted to cut off the hands that had touched him. If word of this got out, this old coot could pretend nothing had happened, but how could he, Blood Butcher Divine Son, ever hold his head up in the Hell Realm again?
Suddenly, Blood Butcher thought of something and burst into laughter.
Night Wanderer narrowed his eyes, sensing trouble.
"Let me tell you the truth—those sacred medicines actually belong to Senior Brother." As he said this, Blood Butcher bowed to Zhang Ruochen, then shot a cold smirk at Night Wanderer, as if to say, "If I can't have them, you won't either."
"Damn it, this little brat is ruthless enough to use a mutual destruction tactic. Fine, since that's the case, this old man will have to be even more ruthless."
Night Wanderer wiped the tears from his eyes, pulled out a storage bag from who knows where, and presented it to Zhang Ruochen: "Master, this bag contains a small token of your disciple's sincerity. You must accept it."
Blood Butcher's face changed drastically. The sacred medicines in that bag were ones he had painstakingly gathered. He had originally planned to find a chance to slip away, hide on some uninhabited planet in the universe, cultivate for a few hundred years, consume all the sacred medicines, and then return to the Blood Heaven Tribe.
After Night Wanderer took them, knowing his own cultivation was insufficient to reclaim them, he had gritted his teeth and, as a last resort, intended to hand these sacred medicines over to Zhang Ruochen to settle his debts.
But now, Night Wanderer had gone even further, directly offering these sacred medicines to Zhang Ruochen.
Thus, not only did Blood Butcher fail to get his sacred medicines back, but he still owed Zhang Ruochen the debt.
Blood Butcher grabbed Zhang Ruochen's wrist: "Senior Brother... these sacred medicines were all painstakingly gathered by me. I even fought with them and suffered serious injuries."
Zhang Ruochen took the storage bag from Night Wanderer and opened it. Inside were indeed many sacred medicines, each containing pure source power, their value immeasurable.
If Blood Butcher obtained these sacred medicines and spent a few hundred years cultivating, he could probably reach the Supreme Realm, and would surely be a top-tier expert within it.
These were truly medicines to defy fate and change one's destiny.
Zhang Ruochen took out the least conspicuous one—a Eon-level sacred medicine with three leaves—and stuffed it into Blood Butcher's hand: "Use this to heal your injuries."
Blood Butcher stared longingly at the storage bag: "Senior Brother, what about my debt to you?"
"No rush. You can repay it slowly later." Zhang Ruochen patted his shoulder.
"Pfft!"
Blood Butcher spat out a mouthful of blood. Whether it was from genuine injury or anger was unclear.
He didn't hate Zhang Ruochen, but knelt on one knee, glaring fiercely at the smiling Night Wanderer, silently vowing: "The grudge of today, I will repay tenfold in the future."
On the other side, Seven-Handed Old Man took out an ancient bronze dagger, cut open the divine corpse's chest, and carefully dissected the divine heart, which was the size of a palace.
Night Wanderer immediately rushed over, exasperated: "We had an agreement—the divine corpse is mine, so the divine heart naturally belongs to me too."
"I know, I know. Look how nervous you are."
Seven-Handed Old Man jumped into the massive heart, shimmering with divine light, and searched for a while. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he saw a "large umbrella" growing in the shattered heart sea.
Standing in the water, Zhang Ruochen smelled a rich fragrance and looked over.
"What a wonderful scent. What is it?"
Night Wanderer grew tense and was about to jump into the heart when he saw Seven-Handed Old Man fly out, holding the large umbrella.
The fragrance grew even stronger.
"Haha! That Hai Ke was completely shrouded in deathly aura, but I could tell there was a vast life force within his heart. Think about it—how dense is the deathly aura of a divine corpse, and how profound is Hai Ke's cultivation? Anything that could grow inside his body must be a miraculous treasure. Killing Hai Ke—I admit there was an element of gambling—but I gambled right. This job was worth it."
Seven-Handed Old Man's other five hands involuntarily grew out from his body.
All seven hands caressed the fragrant "large umbrella," his intoxicated expression as if he were holding a naked peerless beauty.
"Do you know what treasure this is?" he asked smugly.
Night Wanderer's eyes were fixed on it as he walked forward: "Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom? How could it be a Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom?"
Seven-Handed Old Man quickly retreated, putting distance between them: "We already agreed—you get the Divine Source, the Calamity War Axe, and the divine corpse. It's too late to regret now!"
Night Wanderer was indeed filled with regret. He should have guessed—without an absolutely tempting treasure, how would Seven-Handed Old Man have dared to take such a huge risk to ambush and kill Hai Ke?
What was the most important thing for Night Wanderer and Seven-Handed Old Man right now?
Breaking through to godhood, of course.
Seven-Handed Old Man had already gathered many sacred medicines. Cultivating his spiritual power to the seventieth rank and becoming a spiritual power deity was no longer too difficult.
Now, with the Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom in hand, breaking through the seventieth rank within a hundred years was a certainty.
Seven-Handed Old Man was a bit carried away and continued to provoke Night Wanderer, laughing: "Hai Ke had only recently developed intelligence, but this divine corpse has existed for over ten Eons. The Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom must have been nurtured in its heart for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years."
"I suspect that Hai Ke and his master didn't pick and refine the Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom because they wanted to continue nurturing it—both as a parasitic entity and as a great medicine to break through to Eon-level representative status. Too bad, it's now mine."
"The Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom is immensely beneficial for Supreme Realm Great Saints, especially for demonic path cultivators—it's an unparalleled treasure."
Just then, Zhang Ruochen sensed something and intended to warn Seven-Handed Old Man, who was still provoking Night Wanderer.
But the waters had already been shrouded in red demonic mist.
A silvery laugh rang out: "Unexpected gains. The Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom is indeed an unparalleled treasure for me."
"Bang! Bang!"
A slender red figure appeared beside Seven-Handed Old Man. They clashed seven times, and on the eighth, Seven-Handed Old Man couldn't hold his ground, flying sideways and crashing into the mud.
The red-veiled woman grabbed the fragrant "large umbrella," her beautiful eyes sparkling: "It really is this legendary demonic treasure. Thank you—I'll take it!"
Night Wanderer was overjoyed. Earlier, when the Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom was in Seven-Handed Old Man's hands, he had no reason to forcefully take it. Now, an opportunity had arisen!
"Excellent, you demoness! You dare seize my close friend's treasure? Watch how I deal with you."
Night Wanderer grabbed his bone staff and pointed it at her, about to unleash his powerful spiritual power. But before he could, he was swept away by the red demonic mist in the water.
The mist was like unbreakable silk or Dao chains, wrapping Night Wanderer tightly.
Night Wanderer's expression finally changed. He realized this demoness was no ordinary foe.
Her demonic techniques and stunning beauty reminded him of a terrifying place.
The Rakshasa Clan's most dangerous land—Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
Could she be the heir of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm?
Lightning crackled around Night Wanderer as he broke through layers of demonic mist, landing on his feet with a cold expression: "May I ask your name, young lady? Are you from Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm?"
"At least you have some discernment. My surname is She."
She Jing put away the Divine Fragrance Demon Mushroom, crossed her arms over her full chest, and stared straight at Night Wanderer: "Weren't you going to deal with me? Go ahead. Your strength is mediocre, but you have backbone and are willing to stand up for a friend. For that, I'll grant you a quick death."
Night Wanderer groaned inwardly. How had he provoked the heir of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm?
Known as the most dangerous place in the Rakshasa Clan, any demoness emerging from there was an extremely vicious existence. Even if all of them combined, they probably wouldn't be enough for her to kill.
Rakshasa women loved to eat people. Would she eat ghosts?
He was doomed. Today, he had truly fallen into a deep pit.
Night Wanderer felt his legs going weak again, but this time he steadied himself, because he had thought of a way to escape.
"Demoness, do you know who stands beside me? He is the famous Eon-level genius, Zhang Ruochen." Night Wanderer pointed at Zhang Ruochen, smiling.
In Night Wanderer's view, he was just an old ghost with little time left. This Rakshasa woman would have little interest in him. But revealing Zhang Ruochen's identity was a different matter entirely.
Which Rakshasa woman wouldn't want a bite of an Eon-level genius's flesh?
Moreover, all cultivators in the Hell Realm knew that Zhang Ruochen carried countless treasures. This heir of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm would surely strike at Zhang Ruochen first.
Taking this chance, he could naturally escape.
Thinking this, Night Wanderer silently admired his own quick wit and chuckled inwardly: "Master, forgive me. Your disciple wants to live, so I have no choice but to sacrifice you to that Rakshasa woman."