Chapter 18: The Tangible Giant Mushroom

Gao Wu felt the mushroom-shaped object formed by the qi within his body and couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. What the hell was this? In this world, could anyone’s qi really condense into such a thing?

After entering the Martial Movement Realm, a warrior’s qi begins to refine and can be concretized into various forms within the body—animals, plants, even everyday objects—such as a white tiger, turtle shell, or rare and exotic herbs.

These concretized qi forms not only possess enhanced offensive power, but more importantly, they provide excellent defense, allowing warriors to withstand enemy attacks during battle.

Gao Wu was speechless yet somewhat relieved. Fortunately, in this world, the concretized qi only manifests internally; others cannot see it.

After Liu Yifei demonstrated her strength, the hidden spies inside and outside the Qingfeng Inn temporarily ceased their activities.

With no outsiders interfering, Gao Wu gained some extra time to stabilize and adapt to his new realm.

Touching the Netherworld Token, he focused his mind, and the martial information appeared.

Name: Netherworld Token
Bearer: Gao Wu
Identity: Sect Leader
Realm: Martial Movement Realm
Martial Arts: Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, Ambidextrous Technique, Dragon’s Roar of the Nine Heavens
Divinity: Summon Female Warrior—each realm advancement allows the summoning of one female warrior for personal use, automatically acquiring two martial arts from her (summonable)
Attributes:
1. Proof of Sect Leader identity.
2. Can sense the location of subordinate token bearers.
3. Comes with storage space that grows with the bearer’s strength.

Female Warrior: Little Dragon Maiden
Realm: Innate Realm
Martial Arts: Heavenly Net Formation, Beauty Fist Technique, Jade Maiden Swordplay, Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, Ambidextrous Technique, Jade Bee Needle, Bee Mastery, Ancient Tomb Sect Lightness Skill, Dragon’s Roar of the Nine Heavens

He could summon another female warrior, but Gao Wu hesitated. Previously, he summoned one due to urgent circumstances, and he hadn’t realized the summoning was from the real world. Liu Yifei’s strong mental fortitude allowed her to quickly adapt to this martial world. If someone with a weaker mind were summoned, it might break them, and then he would be a murderer.

Now that his martial roots had recovered and his realm had advanced to the Martial Movement Realm, he needed to perfect his martial arts system—focusing on offensive techniques, defensive skills, and agility arts without delay.

Looking at Liu Yifei, who wielded a vast array of martial arts while he only had three, he felt somewhat inadequate.

He wondered if Liu Yifei could teach him her martial arts. If so, mastering the Jade Maiden Swordplay and Ancient Tomb Sect Lightness Skill would save him a great deal.

As for weapons, after selling the weapons of the Five Lords of the Netherworld, he planned to find a good sword.

After this reflection, Gao Wu opened his eyes to see Liu Yifei lying on the hemp rope, asleep.

She wore a simple white gauze dress, reclining like a white camellia blooming amidst the frost and snow of a cold night.

Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, gently draping around the hemp rope, with a few playful strands falling.

Her face was cold and serene, carved as if from ice and jade; long lashes cast faint shadows beneath her eyelids like fluttering butterfly wings.

At this moment, her eyes were gently closed, breathing steady, chest rising and falling slightly as she sank into a peaceful dream.

It seemed that Liu Yifei had also exhausted much energy earlier when swiftly taking down the Five Lords of the Netherworld.

He smiled softly, marveling at fate’s wonder. Without this transmigration, they might never have met, let alone shared a room.

Elsewhere in the same city, at Jisheng Hall, a young apprentice hurriedly knocked on Doctor Sun’s door. “Master, there’s a secret message!”

“Oh, it’s late at night—can’t you be quiet?” Sun Simiao muttered as he donned a coat and opened the door.

He took the wax pellet from the apprentice, crushed it, and extracted the intelligence.

“The Five Lords of the Netherworld are dead, and Wuchang is dead too!”

Doctor Sun stared blankly for a moment before suddenly awakening.

“Celestial Immortal, it must have been the Celestial Immortal who acted!”

“Master?”

“Go, bring me my finest wine! I want to drink a whole jar to celebrate!”

The apprentice hesitated, looking troubled.

“Go now! What are you waiting for?”

“Master, you forgot—you drank the last jar in a fit of joy two days ago!”

“Ah? Really?” Doctor Sun laughed awkwardly. He was the kind who was both inept and fond of drinking—once drunk, he’d forget everything.

“It’s a pity—such good news without fine wine to accompany it, truly regrettable!”

The apprentice secretly rolled his eyes, thinking, “My master celebrates curing difficult illnesses, reuniting with old friends, and receiving good news all with wine. He’s just a glutton for drink, no matter how grand his words sound.”

News in the martial world spread swiftly. Within a day, word reached everywhere that Wanbao Tower had obtained a new Innate Realm manual. Families and wealthy patrons with some strength flocked to purchase it.

Innate martial arts were rare, and finding a set suited to oneself was even harder.

For great powers and noble families, a new Innate manual might mean little; but for those without deep backgrounds and wandering practitioners, buying from Wanbao Tower was their easiest option, though not an easy path.

Shopkeeper Tong traded a Black Jade Discontinuity Balm for a millennium fire spirit mushroom, then exchanged the mushroom for a new Innate martial art manual. This series of trades elevated her to silver-ranked shopkeeper at Wanbao Tower—and one more step would lead to the highest rank, gold-ranked shopkeeper.

Only seven gold-ranked shopkeepers existed in the Great Zhou Empire, each overseeing a province’s Wanbao Tower.

In the VIP reception room, Shopkeeper Tong smiled warmly at Gao Wu, cloaked in a black robe.

“Young Master Gao, you’re now quite renowned in Bianzhou. Maybe your name will appear on the next Talents List!”

“Are there rewards for making the list?”

“No.”

“Then what’s the point?” Gao Wu showed little interest. “Let’s be practical. I want to use these items to buy a good sword.”

The five different weapons of the Five Lords of the Netherworld, wrapped and carried by Gao Wu, were brought to Wanbao Tower.

Shopkeeper Tong glanced at them briefly and lost interest. “The Five Lords’ weapons? Whoever buys them will surely be at odds with the Netherworld Sect.”

“If the Netherworld Sect is destroyed, who cares about enemies?”

“Such bold words, Young Master Gao. You don’t think the Netherworld Sect consists only of the Five Lords, do you?”

Tong gently waved her delicate fan and explained, “Above the Five Lords, the Netherworld Sect has Meng Po and the two judges of Water and Fire. These three are at the Qi Sea Realm—nothing to worry about. But the Ghost King Zhu Youwen and the Underworld Emperor Zhu Yougui, these two brothers, are both Innate Realm!”

“Moreover, it is rumored that the Four Ancestor Corpses of the Netherworld Sect—‘Disjointed Remains’ subordinate, ‘Endless Nether Sea’ firefly hook, ‘Thousand-Mile Scorched Earth’ drought demon, and ‘Bloodstained Rivers and Mountains’ Hou Qing—have all reached the Innate Realm years ago. Though they retired to the mountains after helping the Underworld Emperor and Ghost King establish the Netherworld Sect, whether they truly retired or are secretly cultivating within the sect is unknown.”

“Young Master Gao, relying on just Dragon Maiden alone, it will be very difficult to destroy the Netherworld Sect.”