The Challengers All Fall

The Great Dream Divine Mushroom was very likely a creature at the peak of the Earth Immortal realm—and that was a conservative estimate! For two months, people across every city in Night Province had spoken of nothing else. If mishandled, this could turn into a world-ending catastrophe. Helian Chengyun, Leng Mingkong, and Present Rulai had each relied on special armaments to enter the earthen city several times, gathering details and assessing potential solutions. People realized more and more just how astonishing those relics were. A broken arrow, a damaged Sky-Measuring Ruler, a cracked demon-subduing pestle—severely damaged though they were, they could still hold off the corrosive taint of the illusory realm and the divine spores. "The situation does not look good." According to news brought out by the top masters, even the founding ancestors were frazzled. A portion of them had already fallen prey to the affliction. "The Twelve Golden Immortals took the field multiple times. After brutal battles, several have lost all combat ability." With every invasion of the illusory realm and flare-up of the divine-grade spores, people's very essence was eroded away, leaving some masters as withered husks of skin and bones. Had the earthen city not possessed abundant resources and sustenance, many would never have held out. Most terrifying of all, once afflicted, even those who endured multiple bloody dreams would inevitably be dragged back under, trapped in endless reincarnation. Recently, ancestral masters from every path outside had begun testing methods. Beyond the Thirty-Six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes, they cordoned off a territory, laid down several grand arrays, and drew in a small trickle of Great Dream Divine Mushroom spores for careful analysis. Far from the main body, these reviving divine spores seemed weaker, making them ideal for study. "Fellow cultivators, does anyone wish to challenge the erosion of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom's spores? Ancestral masters of every path will stand guard to safeguard you this time. There is no danger to your lives, and you stand to gain immense benefits." Once the news broke, it sparked widespread discussion. Seniors from every path confirmed that they truly needed people to test methods. At first, no one was willing to take the risk. But before long, people realized the standout talents and elite figures of each path were setting out, journeying forward to challenge the Great Dream's cycles of rebirth. Moreover, word soon spread that anyone who lived through those bloody dreams walked away with tangible gains. At the very least, their spirits, vital energy, and wills were tempered, leaving their foundations far more solid. Above all, when ancestral masters conducted tests, sitting idly by while disciples died would constitute an "incident"—something they would never allow to happen. Within days, more people stepped forward to take the "challenge," both old and young, eager to see for themselves just how horrifying this bizarrely rumored illusory realm and its divine spores truly were. "Brother Qian Yuan, come quickly! The ancestral masters are standing guard to protect us, helping us temper our spirit and willpower! What's more, we can freely absorb spiritual substance to nourish our physical bodies. Though it won't break us through to the next realm, it is an unimaginable baptism!" Letters flew back and forth as people called on their close friends to hurry over. "Brother Mingcheng, come quickly to Kunling to take the challenge! This is a rare chance to solidify your cultivation!" ... Clearly, as people went from fear to curiosity and then to eager participation, mindsets shifted drastically. The pool of test subjects available to the ancestral masters surged by a wide margin. "It truly lives up to its legendary name. Even with degenerate spores and mutated spirit mushrooms, that corrosive power remains overbearingly potent. An ordinary person simply cannot bear it." Countless eyes remained fixed on the matter. Any progress made was splashed across the headlines of the Night Paper and the World Paper at the earliest opportunity. With ancestral masters watching their backs, notable figures entered the fray one after another, wanting to test their limits and see if they could survive the illusory realm and resist the erosion of the divine spores. "The immortal seed of the Sun Land has failed! Tortured to death's door, all his blood became saturated with colorful spores. He needed an ancestral master's intervention just to pull through!" Not every divine or immortal seed had gone to the earthen city for the Immortal Peach Banquet. The peerless prodigies who stepped forward to test the method this time suffered setback after setback. Up to this point, not a single seed from any path had succeeded. All of them had been battered into excruciating agony. Yet once the old eccentrics intervened and guided them out of danger, each challenger felt their spirit brimming, as though thoroughly refined. "The pain is unbearable! Spores take root and sprout inside your bone marrow, bursting into mushrooms through the crevices of your bones. What's more, you cannot tell illusion from reality at all. No one can hold out to the end!" These were the exact words of a divine seed from an esoteric sect. Even as he recalled it, his knuckles turned white from tension, lingering dread written plainly across his face. Without question, such discussions only fueled the unprecedented fervor among the eccentrics and prodigies of every path, driving them to step up and try the challenge. Even dazzling figures from beyond the territory who had not entered the earthen city rushed over, eager to test themselves. Reality proved cruel. Many coughed up blood from the torment, their bodies nearly shattering, and even so-called elegant fairy maidens wound up completely disheveled. "Failure is nothing to be ashamed of. I dare say no one could endure it on their own!" declared Wei Cheng, an immortal seed of the outer pure land, with absolute conviction. Everyone nodded, their faces painted with helplessness. Every young challenger had failed; the current predicament seemed entirely insoluble. After much research, the ancestral masters concluded that the illusory realm and spores of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom were not only rooted deep in a victim's physical flesh, but also entangled with their consciousness. Once locked on, rooting them out entirely was near impossible. "One must burn them away with immortal fire, and when striking, the technique must approach the Dao. Otherwise, the slightest slip will burn away the conscious mind alongside them and scorch the marrow dry." This was the consensus among several ancestral masters. None of these methods were within the grasp of the younger generation. As for the top-tier divine fires and immortal fires involved, a few supreme geniuses might manage to cultivate a spark in the fourth realm, but demanding meticulous control refined near the level of the Dao was asking far too much. Another ancestral master remarked, "There is one other possibility for the younger generation to endure it: to meet it head-on with pure innate talent. If their techniques possess tremendous might and their control is refined to the absolute apex, they might pass." Yet achieving this was far easier said than done. According to the ancestral masters, only two or three individuals in the younger generation—someone like Jiang Ran, perhaps—held any hope of success. This immediately ignited fierce discussion. People debated who among them possessed the ability to survive such a fatal tribulation unaided. "Word has it Qin Ming may have already perished in the forbidden zone where divine spores fill the sky. If so, his gifts must fall short of Jiang Ran's." "No, I believe he would have been one of the two or three who could succeed. The only reason he met with disaster was likely because he didn't make it into the earthen city in time." "If left alone in the wilderness, cycling through the Great Dream over and over, not a single soul could endure it!" Still, these were merely street rumors. There was no confirming whether Qin Ming had truly fallen near Purple Dawn Cave. All of it was derived by discerning individuals who noted Meng Xinghai's anxious reactions. It was not that Old Meng lacked caution, but that he had truly been pushed to his limit. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined a natural disaster of this scale would erupt—that the sealed Great Dream Divine Mushroom would see the light of day once more! At this moment, the true situation inside the earthen city was dire beyond measure. Every trapped seed was repeatedly cycling through the Great Dream's rebirths. Without an ancestral master stepping in, disaster would almost certainly claim them. The Thirty-Six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes pinned down the veins of heaven and earth, towering into the dark clouds, sealing the sky and locking the earth to contain the forbidden zone where the earthen city stood. Under the long night, "fireflies" drifted across this desolate domain. Countless brightly colored mushrooms soared into the dark sky like towering trees, draped in a hazy glow. Viewed as scenery alone, it was undeniably beautiful. There were even colossal "canopies" reaching directly into the cloud layer, grand and spectacular. Yet each and every one was exceptionally lethal. Now, spirit mushrooms large and small could awaken at any moment and transform into mushroom men. Over the past two-plus months, they had launched at least five bloody assaults on the city. And today marked the sixth assault. A massive army of mushroom men marched toward the earthen city. Though they spoke no words and made no sound, their full-force charge shook the earth and rattled the mountains, blowing apart the dark clouds overhead. Most perilous of all, the consciousness of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom's main body was steadily reviving. It no longer operated purely on instinct, beginning to exude the true presence of a god or fiend! Several of the Twelve Golden Immortals had been crippled, the founding ancestors were overwhelmed with dread, and many were heavily wounded. All they could do was pray that this Great Dream Divine Mushroom went no further than the Earth Immortal realm—that it would never awaken into an ancient Heavenly Immortal capable of ending the world. Though protected by grand arrays and guarded by peerless masters, the earthen city was pushed near its breaking point by the relentless, unending siege of the vast mushroom army. The ground split open, and endless underground Fire Springs were drawn up by the Great Dream Divine Mushroom. It traced glyphs across the void and the earth, pouring the Fire Springs into them to activate the formations under its command, aiming to tear the earthen city apart. Soon, mountain peaks across the region were ripped from the earth, soil and rock trailing behind them as they rose above the clouds, only to come hurtling violently back down upon the earthen city! Soil, rock, and fractured peaks blazed fiercely as they fell like meteors from beyond the heavens, carrying catastrophic force. The barrier of light shielding the earthen city was battered into immediate dents, kicking up vast sheets of flowing radiance and billowing waves of energy. ... Far away, on the outer perimeter adjacent to the Thirty-Six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes, Qin Ming staggered along, severely emaciated. The past two months had taken an enormous toll on him, reducing him nearly to skin and bones. Yet the fact that he still lived was nothing short of a miracle! To any outsider, a member of the younger generation trapped alone in this forbidden zone would have died without question, their bones long turned to dust. Yet he remained standing. At this moment, he had slain a mushroom man and draped the large mushroom over himself as a suit of armor, running alongside the horde. Fortunately, these mushroom men knew only how to attack. Bereft of clear consciousness, they acted more like slaughter tools guided by instinct, allowing him to slip past unnoticed. Crucially, the Great Dream Divine Mushroom had not fully awakened either; had it been lucid, these mushroom men would have been an entirely different matter. Even so, in the early days, Qin Ming had endured countless bloody battles, fighting the mushroom men until utterly spent. Now, his entire body was coated in the aura of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom's spores. After more than two months of continuous erosion and ceaseless resistance, he had been "baptized" from head to toe by the divine spores. It was impossible for his body to remain untouched by that aura. During this time, Qin Ming had occasionally doubted himself. What kind of state was he actually in? He cycled through illusory realms over and over, as if living through an endless cycle of great dreams. At times, he felt all of this was illusory and unreal—that he might still be in the otherworld's mushroom forest, having never returned to Night Province. At other times, he felt entirely lucid, as though he truly had returned, weathering a fatal tribulation while caught in the battle waves directed by an Earth Immortal-grade Great Dream Divine Mushroom against the earthen city. "Eroded day after day, my foundational essence is draining rapidly. If this goes on, I will wither away and die." Qin Ming looked at his body, which was truly reduced to skin and bones. Another half-month, and he might turn into a living skeleton! "I'll risk it. Since I'm already enduring fatal tribulations inside these illusory realms, what difference does eating a few more spirit mushrooms make?" Qin Ming reasoned that since the spores treated him as food every single day, drawing nourishment from him, he might as well feast on them in return. As the horde charged into battle, he poked around everywhere, searching for fresh spirit mushrooms. He needed to "nourish" himself. Even if it plunged him into deeper, bloodier dreams, he would not back down; he had to regain what he lost through consumption. ... In the outer pure land, Li Qingyue was in seclusion, dressed in white robes with dark hair cascading down, resembling a heavenly maiden carved from mutton-fat jade. Suddenly, she was jarred awake. Before her, the ancient Eight Trigrams Furnace flared with brilliant light, melting into trickling streams that instantly enveloped her slender, ethereal form. The celestial furnace, forged from a blend of several exotic metals, completely changed its shape. It became a suit of armor that concealed even her flawless face and wrapped around her bare jade feet. Such defense left no gap from head to toe, interwoven with immortal runes that cast her in a sacred, transcendent light. "Someone is prying," the armor formed by the Eight Trigrams Furnace communicated with a faint strand of consciousness, informing Li Qingyue that it had acted purely out of self-defense. Li Qingyue rose. Through the special war garment, her senses were exceptionally sharp, extending outward rapidly. That very day, she formally ended her seclusion. Moreover, she made no effort to hide it, striding outside while wearing the distinctive armor. This was tantamount to telling the world that she had indeed obtained the "control art." Since it could no longer be concealed, she preferred to reveal it openly and uprightly. Under such circumstances, if anyone attacked her, it would be blindingly clear they sought to seize the Eight Trigrams Furnace for themselves. In truth, Li Qingyue had thoroughly refined the Eight Trigrams Celestial Furnace, taking complete control of it. In critical moments, it would protect its master automatically, just as it had moments ago. She murmured softly, "After several months of bitter cultivation, so much has happened in the world outside." ... At the earthen city, the siege battle raged with savage fury. Mushroom men breached the city walls and fought cultivators to the death. Bereft of fear, these slaughter tools made for an exceptionally bloody spectacle. Beyond the territory, many major factions watched from the sidelines. Earth Immortals had even arrived in person, lingering and roaming the fringes of Night Province, waiting for an opportune moment to make their entrance. Yujing's temporary staging ground had been invaded by the Great Dream Divine Mushroom, an act that was an egregious offense by any standard. Outside Night Province, many great powers held their peace; the time had come to test the mettle of that untouchable land. If the Great Dream Divine Mushroom emerged unscathed, the other top-tier beings beyond the territory could set foot in Kunling as well! It was fair to say that every gaze across neighboring lands was focused on Kunling. For days on end, the challenge against the illusory realm and the divine spores in Kunling's "experimental grounds" raged on, yet still no one could pass. Even unfamiliar faces freshly arrived from beyond the territory—dazzling prodigies of immense renown—suffered major defeats here. Yet this failure only sparked a greater trend, drawing more and more challengers. Helian Zhaoyu arrived. Having tempered himself through countless trials and forged a golden body using the water-fire yin-yang method of Gonggong and Zhurong, he had once believed himself equal to the ancient sages. However, during his last encounter, Qin Ming had beaten him half to death, stripping away a layer of his brilliant halo. Now stronger than before, and hearing that his rival might have died here, he wished to challenge the trial as well. "Defeated again." Helian Zhaoyu awoke from the illusory realm, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "Even I... could not hold out." A descendant of an Earth Immortal from the West Sea wore a crestfallen expression. Then Li Qingyue arrived, drawing every eye. Yet her intention was to enter the forbidden zone sealed by the Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes. A commotion rippled through the crowd. She meant to plunge into such a perilous place? Some speculated that Qin Ming truly might be trapped inside. Many knew she shared a close bond with Qin Ming; had she come to step into the earthen city's vicinity to search for any trace of him? "Qingyue, you must not risk your life!" A great grandmaster immediately stepped in to block her, refusing to let her enter that exceptionally hazardous domain. "I wish to see Ancestral Master Helian!" Half a month later, when Helian Chengyun and Present Rulai departed for the earthen city, Li Qingyue accompanied them. Clang! The Eight Trigrams Furnace dissolved into flowing light, draping over her body to form a mysterious protective celestial garment. Clad in crimson armor and looking like a youth, Helian Chengyun warned, "The Great Dream Divine Mushroom is terrifying. Though not fully awakened, we must still tread with caution. You cannot venture deep into that territory." The main body of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom had been shattered and broken multiple times by the masters in the earthen city, but it quickly absorbed underground Fire Springs to regenerate, like an indestructible being. Li Qingyue nodded. She searched and probed within the limited permitted perimeter, but in the end found nothing, discovering not a single trace left behind by Qin Ming. Helian Chengyun remarked, "If he managed to survive under such conditions, he has truly surpassed our generation by a wide margin when we were young!" Present Rulai nodded in agreement. They too had investigated within the limited perimeter and concluded that not a single person had survived. Accompanied by the two masters, Li Qingyue searched the accessible areas repeatedly. In the end, she fell silent, turned, and headed toward the earthen city alongside them. ... Time slipped by. Four months had passed since the descent of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom. For Qin Ming, this period had been sheer torment. Every day spun between illusion and reality, but he endured each cycle, gradually growing accustomed to it. Initially reduced to a withered husk of skin and bones, he had resolved to be ruthless, gathering newly sprouted spirit mushrooms by the Fire Springs and gulping them down in large mouthfuls. Regardless of their "poison," he slowly nourished himself back to health. Of course, doing so had pushed him to the brink of madness at times; the erosion of those divine spores was utterly terrifying. Fortunately, he had weathered it through sheer grit. In truth, he had been left with no choice. There was a time when his foundational essence was so severely depleted that his cultivation realm nearly plunged, and his body suffered grave damage. With no alternative, he held fast against the erosion, and in the end, he endured. Qin Ming discovered that beyond his exceptionally strong physical constitution, which allowed him to "stomach it raw," the Southern Radiance Li Fire Classic unearthed from the hidden trove of the Li Fire Classic had played a massive role. Throughout these days, he had painstakingly cultivated this secret manual, birthing a tiny wisp of Southern Radiance Li Fire. Through his meticulous control, he gradually burned away the colorful light particles entangled with his conscious spirit and flesh. Later, he practiced the Golden Crow Illuminates the Night Classic, which also involved a form of divine fire! Using the silk book method, Qin Ming commanded the two seemingly faint divine fires, along with the earthly fire passed to him by Lu Zizai, scorching every inch of his flesh to purify his consciousness, yielding remarkable effects. Today, he felt he had thoroughly escaped the predicament, rarely falling into illusions any longer. Most crucial of all, he had elevated the Body Refining to Unite with the Dao Classic to an entirely new height, significantly strengthening his pure physical might. To achieve success in this true classic required not only bitter cultivation, but also strict conditions and rare spiritual materials. Originally, his pure physical combat strength lagged behind his heavenly light force, but now the two had pulled even once more. This meant that even without employing heavenly light, he could defeat opponents of the same realm with his bare hands. As for the pain of dropping realms, he had resolved it completely, having eaten his depleted essence back into abundance. Furthermore, through practicing the four jade book pages, Qin Ming gained brand-new insights. Instead of concocting the mind monkey medicine, he forged an Eight Trigrams Furnace, intending to refine the spirit mushrooms! "Let's see who consumes whom in the end!" he muttered ruthlessly. After suffering for over four months, had he not used the silk book method to merge the various fires and controlled them with an artistry approaching the Dao, he truly would have perished. Inside the earthen city, a group of founding ancestors stared at Helian Chengyun, Present Rulai, and the others who had come to visit once more, their expressions complicated. "You... are truly filial descendants!" What had this lot done? Whether it was excavating Golden Light Cave or boring through Purple Dawn Cave, each move had proven more disastrous than the last—utterly preposterous. "Ancestors, this truly was an accident. Who could have known we would dig right into the sealing ground of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom!" One of the founding ancestors spoke up: "All of this must end. Request Yujing to cast down its immortal light to illuminate the ten directions and slay the Great Dream Divine Mushroom." On that day, an Earth Immortal walked out from the blessed land behind the earthen city! Taking charge in person, he prepared to borrow the power of Yujing to slay the Great Dream Divine Mushroom in battle. That very day, a faint ripple spread outward from the earthen city. Amidst popping booms, vast fields of colorful mushrooms as tall as small mountains detonated, sweeping through like an unstoppable tide. Qin Ming was startled awake, then broke into a look of delight. "At last, a way out. Uncle Meng and the others couldn't possibly think I died here, could they?" Far more than his acquaintances thought so—even the Night Paper had published reports concluding that disaster had befallen him. In truth, throughout these final days, his body had been flowing with precious radiance, his condition better than ever before as he refined the divine spores into medicine. In Kunling, many masters from various paths gathered, including Li Qingyue, Meng Xinghai, and others, all awaiting the slaying of the Great Dream Divine Mushroom. "Little Qin... sigh!" Meng Xinghai sighed mournfully. As for the rest, they grew all the more convinced that Qin Ming had likely perished within the forbidden zone, having endured horrors far more agonizing than any challenger had faced.