Chapter 31 Part 4

The next instant.

A colossal Pure Bottle, massive enough to blot out the sky and sun, came crashing down on them hard—

.

Inside the Pure Bottle, everything was pitch black.

Darker than the world itself was the mist on Mu Cheng’s body.

Dense, chilling, endless Black Mist billowed from Mu Cheng’s body. The mist transformed into air, into sky, into sunlight, into bricks and tiles, into the passersby on the road.

Mu Cheng vanished.

The plant hated the sky here, hated the passersby here, hated everything here, because every strand of air in this world reeked of malice and filth.

The plant burrowed back underground and fell into slumber from then on.

.

It awoke again and emerged from the ground one afternoon.

It stretched its body, swaying lightly in the wind, and looked up at the sky, feeling that the air in the world smelled a little better.

Suddenly, it found the sky overhead and the courtyard around it somewhat familiar.

It turned its head.

And saw a youth nailed to a tree.

The youth looked down at it and smiled.

“Hey, what kind of grass are you? You smell so good. Hurry up and grow taller so I can have a taste.”

……

The world fell into an endless cycle from then on.

.

The world fell into an endless cycle from then on.

The youth would take the initiative to talk to it, would try to drip his blood onto it, would discover that it possessed spiritual awareness, would tell it about the world outside, would tempt the plant to consume his flesh and blood, devour his Spiritual Root, and transform into human form early.

The plant refused every time.

And every time, it received the youth’s tears.

Then the youth would mention the Broken Cliff Secret Realm to it, mention the Soul Scattering Needles, and say that he hoped the plant would use the Soul Scattering Needles to kill him after transforming into human form.

The plant agreed every time.

It accompanied the youth for a long time, watched the youth become a young man, watched the young man grow increasingly despondent under day after day of torment, watched the resentment in his blood and eyes accumulate daily, and then completely collapse after that moonlit night.

He devoured the souls of everyone he hated, lost his reason, fell into utter madness, and summoned boundless flames that burned Xiaoze State to the ground.

On the day the flames burned out, he dispersed the Black Mist from his body. The Black Mist rebuilt the world, and the world brought him torment anew. This was an endless cycle.

The plant could not save him.

Even though it had grown Vines, allowing it to avoid being devoured by a Demon Beast, and could preserve itself amid the flames, it still could not save Mu Cheng.

Once, it found Mu Cheng as an infant before Mu Kunrong did, but even those Vines, which seemed very powerful to it, could not lift the tiny Mu Cheng, let alone stop the robust Mu Kunrong.

Another time, it traveled a very long way and finally found the Broken Cliff Secret Realm. It wanted to retrieve the Soul Scattering Needles from that secret realm and fulfill its promise by killing Mu Cheng. But upon reaching the entrance, it discovered that the secret realm had a cultivation restriction—those below Foundation Establishment could not enter.

The plant could neither save Mu Cheng nor kill him.

It was merely a stalk of Spirit Capturing Grass.

Spirit Capturing Grass that grew wild across mountains and plains, Spirit Capturing Grass that could be found everywhere, Spirit Capturing Grass that even after mutation still worried about being swallowed by a Low-Tier Demon Beast.

The weak Spirit Capturing Grass dejectedly turned back.

.

The plant never made it back.

Because before it even reached Four Directions City, Mu Cheng went mad ahead of schedule, and the world entered a new cycle early.

After that time.

The plant deeply realized its own weakness.

It stopped attempting futile efforts.

It began to cultivate.

Even though this world formed by the Black Mist was loathsome, even though it could no longer capture the spiritual energy it liked from here.

But it was Spirit Capturing Grass.

Spirit Capturing Grass that grew wild across mountains and plains, Spirit Capturing Grass that could be found everywhere, Spirit Capturing Grass that could survive anywhere.

Ten years, a hundred years. A thousand years.

Cycle after cycle, mutation after mutation, practice after practice.

It finally learned how to capture the Black Mist and purify it into the power it needed.

This was naturally a great joyous occasion.

—If only the way Mu Cheng looked at it had not grown increasingly strange, and if he had not often murmured under his breath about how fragrant it was.

The plant fearfully shifted to the side a little.

.

The cycles restarted again and again, time flowed by once more.

A thousand years, ten thousand years.

One time, as the flames burned out, the plant suddenly had a realization—it was about to transform into human form.

But the power of the Illusion Realm space was too domineering. It might tolerate the spiritual awareness of a tiny Spirit Capturing Grass, but it could not tolerate another clear-headed cultivator’s soul.

Thus, at the moment the world restarted.

The plant vanished without a trace, its memories burned away completely.

In its place—

Deep in the Lian Family manor, an infant named Lian Yunzhi let out his first cry.

……

Lian Yunzhi opened his eyes.

Mu Cheng also opened his eyes.

The moment their gazes met, Lian Yunzhi suddenly realized that Mu Cheng had seen everything he had seen.

The collapsing world behind him was the best proof.

“Zhi Zhi.”

Mu Cheng suddenly laughed.

He had at some point retrieved the Soul Scattering Needle from the Storage Bracelet and placed it in Lian Yunzhi’s palm.

Mu Cheng gripped Lian Yunzhi’s hand and pressed the Soul Scattering Needle against his own spine.

He said softly.

“You should fulfill the promise you made ten thousand years ago.”