Chapter 51: Side Story

1.

Fang Tianxin felt that the biggest joke this world had played on him was—after he emerged from three years of secluded cultivation, his good brother had ascended.

What?

Ascended?!

No way, he had only been in seclusion for three years!

“Lian Yunzhi went to the Near Heaven Tower. One day inside the tower equals a year outside, so he ascended so quickly,” Fu Qing explained.

Fang Tianxin let out a sigh of relief: “So he stayed in the tower for three years, which means he used a thousand years to ascend? No wonder…”

Fu Qing: “No, he stayed inside for sixteen days.”

Fang Tianxin: “…”

Fang Tianxin stared blankly, his eyes wide.

2.

“You still haven’t realized that Lian Yunzhi isn’t human?” Fu Qing asked.

Fang Tianxin: “Huh?”

Fu Qing sighed: “When we left the Illusion Realm back then, even though we hid inside the bell, you saw it, right? Lian Yunzhi turned into a massive plant. That was absolutely not a form that a Top-Grade Wood Spiritual Root could transform into. And haven’t you noticed that after he came out, he never mentioned his previous memories or his life before entering the Illusion Realm? It was as if Xiaoze State was his home… Moreover, everyone said he took the Immortal Treasure from Xiaoze State, but he never refuted it, nor did he ever use it… What do you think the Immortal Treasure is?”

“What is it?” Fang Tianxin asked dazedly.

“Idiot!” Fu Qing knocked Fang Tianxin on the head in frustration, as if disappointed by his lack of steel. “The Immortal Treasure is Lian Yunzhi himself! His true form should be an Immortal Grass!”

Fang Tianxin opened his eyes wide in shock.

Fu Qing stroked his chin thoughtfully: “But what kind of Immortal Grass is he exactly? The leaf shape looks a bit like Spirit Capturing Grass, but it couldn’t be Spirit Capturing Grass… And Spirit Capturing Grass doesn’t have vines…”

And so, after learning of his friend’s ascension, Fang Tianxin received the bombshell news that his friend was actually a stalk of grass.

3.

While Fang Tianxin was practicing his sword one day and staring blankly at the Spirit Capturing Grass in the corner of the Sword Field—which was said to resemble his friend—lost in thought, the Spirit Capturing Grass suddenly spat out a Message Paper Crane formed of spiritual mist toward him.

【Fang Tianxin! Congratulations on breaking through to Foundation Establishment Mid Stage! You’ve heard by now, right? I ascended hahahahaha… But I’ve been a bit busy these past couple of days. Once I’m done, I’ll come down to hang out with you… Oh, right, I have some cultivation resources here that I don’t need. You have to cultivate hard too and ascend early! The Heavenly Realm is so boring. I don’t even have friends here…】

The Message Paper Crane vanished without a trace, and what landed in Fang Tianxin’s hand was a massive-capacity Storage Ring filled with mountains of Spirit Stones and treasures. Any ordinary cultivator would faint from excitement at the mere sight.

Tears streamed down Fang Tianxin’s face as he finally understood what it meant to “one person attains the Dao, even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.”

4.

Yes, Lian Yunzhi was very busy right now—so busy that even sharing his joy with Fang Tianxin was squeezed out of a rare gap in his schedule. The moment he secretly sent off the Message Paper Crane, Mu Cheng dragged him back and flipped him over.

“Zhi Zhi, you’re not focusing.”

Mu Cheng laced his fingers through Lian Yunzhi’s, leaned down, and bit his lip as if meting out punishment.

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Help, how many days had it been already?

Although Lian Yunzhi had told Fang Tianxin in the letter that the Heavenly Realm was boring, in reality, he hadn’t even gotten a clear look at what his own Immortal Palace’s front gate looked like!

5.

One day in the Heavenly Realm equaled one year in the lower realms.

And so, when Lian Yunzhi finally “finished being busy” and went to hang out with Fang Tianxin, that blockhead had already reached Soul Transformation.

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Lian Yunzhi stomped hard on Mu Cheng’s foot.

6.

Ascended Immortals generally did not easily descend to the mortal world, but Lian Yunzhi controlled all the Spirit Capturing Grasses under heaven, while Mu Cheng oversaw “evil.” Thus, the grasses passed messages, and Mu Cheng eliminated treacherous evildoers. In the end, the two of them spent more time in the lower realms than in the Heavenly Realm.

He wiped clean the blood of the wicked from his hands. Vines gently lifted the young victim’s knees, preventing them from kneeling.

Lian Yunzhi departed on the wind with his immortal partner, off to share newly acquired fine wine with his friend.

The heavens and earth stretched on leisurely.

7.

Oh, right.

What about those Immortals trapped in the Pure Bottle?

What a pity. Lian Yunzhi had originally planned to release them after only eleven thousand two hundred thirty-two years and three months, but unfortunately, their wills were not firm enough. When Lian Yunzhi opened the Pure Bottle ten thousand years later, all seven Immortals had suffered Dao Heart collapses and perished.

What a pity, what a pity.

Lian Yunzhi retrieved the Pure Bottle, tapped its tip with a finger, and it shattered into powder in an instant. He absorbed all the immortal power within, then tossed the powder into the seabed of Xiaoze State.

“What are you doing?” Mu Cheng was stunned for a moment. “Wasn’t it a useful immortal artifact that had already submitted to you?”

“It has no use for me anymore,” Lian Yunzhi said. “Besides, I hate it. Every time I see it, I remember the suffering it brought you.”

“Am I being petty and holding grudges again?” Lian Yunzhi looked up and asked softly.

Mu Cheng did not answer.

He only felt that his beloved could disrupt his heartstrings after ten thousand years as fiercely as ever, making him more obsessed day by day, his love wrapping him in dense, foamy bliss.

8-9.

“Alright, alright, stop kissing!” Lian Yunzhi pushed away the unrestrained Mu Cheng. “We still have to hurry back to the Heavenly Realm for Fang Tianxin and Fu Qing’s immortal partner grand ceremony!”

The two rode clouds and mist back to the Heavenly Realm.

For some reason, in the night, they drew the attention of cultivators and mortals in the lower realms.

Lamps lit up in the streets and alleys. Some worshiped, some exclaimed in awe. Spirit grasses swayed in the wind, and countless voices shouted excitedly.

“It’s the Evil God!”

“And the Spirit-Trapping Grass God!”

Lian Yunzhi laughed loudly: “Evil God—I’ve heard it so many times, but it’s still so unpleasant… Hahahaha!”

Mu Cheng: “…”

The name of the Evil God had spread to every corner of the world. Even many mortals in the mundane realm pasted images of the Evil God on their doors to ward off evil and protect their homes.

However, whether it was pasted images or stone carvings, no one depicted the Evil God alone. They always added a young man whose fingertips sprouted vines beside him, or a small Spirit Capturing Grass.

Because the Evil God was forever with his beloved.

Many even believed that the Evil God was originally two people.

10.

As for that thin book that read “Mu Cheng is cruel and vicious, patricidal and matricidal,” Lian Yunzhi had burned every copy the first time he descended to the mortal world.

At that time, he compiled a new book revealing the truth of Xiaoze State and placed it in bookstores, even offering heavy rewards for the owners to sell it for free. But the effect wasn’t great back then.

However, as the “Evil God” gained fame, the twisted tales completely vanished. The truth of Xiaoze State was copied, spread, carved onto stone steles in the river of time, and became known to every household.

The new story did not hide the fact that Mu Cheng had once been an Evil Demon.

But no matter what.

He would be the last Evil Demon in this world.

11.

Of course, in the world of the Spirit Capturing Grasses, the story was different.

“We have to cultivate hard! Cultivate hard!”

The Spirit Capturing Grasses with spiritual awareness shouted.

“Our boss turned the Evil Demon into an Evil God. We Spirit Capturing Grasses are the strongest in the world!”

“The strongest! The strongest!”

The leaves of the Spirit Capturing Grasses sketched the form of a mutated Spirit Capturing Grass in the soil, worshiping and revering it day after day.

Because the Spirit-Trapping Grass God not only granted them the power to grow upward but also protected every Spirit Capturing Grass with awareness from being eaten.

Of course, they didn’t forget to draw a little person amid the branches and leaves of the Spirit Capturing Grass.

Because the Spirit-Trapping Grass God was forever with his beloved.

12.

And what were the Spirit-Trapping Grass God and his beloved Evil God doing?

They were up in the heavens, pondering whether to hold their own immortal partner grand ceremony too.

【Full Text Complete】