Chapter 26 Part 1

“Have you grown taller?”

Three days later, Lian Yunzhi looked at Mu Cheng’s tight-fitting clothes and fell into thought.

Little Mu Cheng tugged at his clothes and wiggled his toes. “My shoes are squeezing my feet.”

Lian Yunzhi pondered. “It’s probably related to those Spiritual Persimmons you ate a few days ago. The Spiritual Persimmons in the Persimmon Mountain Secret Realm are dangerous, but they’re all spirit fruits. Your cultivation is too low to refine them, so all the energy went straight into your body.”

“Oh.” Mu Cheng nodded.

“No helping it,” Lian Yunzhi sighed. “Come on, let’s go out and buy you some new clothes.”

.

Lian Yunzhi never imagined that simply taking Little Mu Cheng out to buy clothes would lead to a joint pursuit by the Four Great Families.

They had disguised themselves thoroughly, and he had only killed the Mu Family Head. Yet the remaining three families hunted him down relentlessly, like dogs spotting meat. Even when Lian Yunzhi fled back into the Persimmon Mountain Secret Realm, the pursuit didn’t stop.

Lian Yunzhi just couldn’t figure out how these assassins kept finding him time and again?!

The killers came in waves, and died in waves.

As a cultivator, Lian Yunzhi had no desire to create unnecessary karma through killing, but he had no choice but to slay one after another.

Killing brought Lian Yunzhi pain, but what tormented him even more was—Little Mu Cheng had started suffering from the Madness Illness.

And from Lian Yunzhi’s observations, every time he killed someone, Little Mu Cheng would have an episode of the Madness Illness.

Each one worse than the last.

At first, Little Mu Cheng would tremble all over and cling to Lian Yunzhi without letting go, but it would pass after a while.

By the end, he began biting Lian Yunzhi with bloodshot eyes, refusing to stop until he drew blood.

Because of Little Mu Cheng’s Madness Illness, Lian Yunzhi no longer dared to kill recklessly. But the more he hid, the more the Four Great Families thought he was afraid, and their pursuit grew even fiercer.

With no other choice, on a dark and windy night, Lian Yunzhi sneaked into Four Directions City and killed the family heads of the other three families. Only then did the mad chase finally end.

But that night, Little Mu Cheng suffered the worst episode of Madness Illness yet.

Sucking blood from Lian Yunzhi’s wrist was no longer enough. Mu Cheng nearly bit off a chunk of Lian Yunzhi’s flesh. Of course, Lian Yunzhi didn’t let him succeed. He simply slapped him unconscious and proficiently swallowed a Blood Replenishing Pill and a Pain Relief Pill.

Little Mu Cheng woke up that same night.

When Lian Yunzhi returned from his bath, Little Mu Cheng sat on a vine chair by the cave entrance, staring blankly at the moon on the horizon.

“Why do I go mad?” Little Mu Cheng murmured.

Lian Yunzhi’s instinct told him it was related to the truth of the Reincarnation Secret Realm, but he couldn’t say it.

“Everyone has some minor affliction or another,” Lian Yunzhi said, stroking Mu Cheng’s head.

“Will it go away when I grow up?” Mu Cheng asked hopefully.

……No, it would only get worse.

“It will. It’ll get better,” Lian Yunzhi coaxed him.

Mu Cheng pounced over and hugged Lian Yunzhi’s waist tightly. Lian Yunzhi naturally stroked the back of his head.

“I wish I could grow up right away. I want to open my eyes tomorrow and be an adult already,” Little Mu Cheng murmured to himself.

Lian Yunzhi chuckled.

Tch, so even Mu Heavenly Pride had been this childish as a kid.

.

After skillfully feeding him a calming pill and lulling him to sleep, Lian Yunzhi opened his Prayer Mat, sat cross-legged, and continued practicing his Divine Soul Technique.

Cultivating the Divine Soul Technique required no spiritual power—only refining the spirit, soul, and heart.

Lian Yunzhi had practiced intermittently for a while and made some progress. At the very least, he could now extend his divine sense over a small area within the cavern. It had been a great help when he went to Four Directions City to kill the three family heads.

But today, Lian Yunzhi had opened his Knowledge Sea for the first time.

He didn’t know what others’ Knowledge Seas looked like, but his was a dense expanse of black mist, with only his plant-shaped Primordial Spirit emitting a faint glow, its roots buried in the depths.

With a thought of his divine sense, Lian Yunzhi examined his Primordial Spirit closely. He realized it wasn’t actually glowing; rather, he had cleared the black mist around it, carving out a single patch of clarity.

But as Lian Yunzhi observed, he noticed something off. Perhaps due to his Top-Grade Wood Spiritual Root, his Primordial Spirit took the form of a plant. Yet at that moment, a ring of black mist bound its leaves and stems, stunting its growth.

This ring of black mist looked no different from the rest—just a bit more condensed. If he could clear the surrounding black mist, why couldn’t he dispel this ring?

Lian Yunzhi began to try.

……

Thus, the bound Primordial Spirit launched its assault. The condensed black ring wasn’t expelled; instead, it was purified and absorbed.

One, two, three…

Pop.

Lian Yunzhi heard the binding rings shatter one by one.

The plant stretched and grew, and Lian Yunzhi felt refreshed, his body brimming with vitality.

Lian Yunzhi opened his eyes.

Then, he couldn’t help but curve his lips.

—The black mist that had blocked his meridians was completely refined. Not only could he use spiritual power again, but his Early Golden Core cultivation had advanced to Mid Golden Core!

He truly was a cultivation genius!

Lian Yunzhi satisfiedly flicked his sleeve and stood, intending to find Little Mu Cheng and show off. But as he turned, the smile on his face froze.

“You’re finally awake.”

A youth in a treasure-blue Daoist robe walked toward him step by step, his tone a mix of joy and complaint.

“You’ve been in seclusion for seven years.”

Lian Yunzhi’s mind went blank. He glanced at Mu Cheng’s height, surveyed their surroundings, then closed and opened his eyes.