Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  “Demonic? Could it be that this Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom is the second test?”

  Zhong Yue finally had the answer to his question; Dao Venerate Fu Min placed this saint herb here after the owner’s death and it became a demonic item, whoever entered the scene would enter the vicinity of the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom and endless sinister and unpredictable events would descend!

  That being said, Evil Monarch’s disciples cultivated the most nefarious arts in this universe so that the mushroom may have nothing on them! It’s better to enter earlier to locate the mushroom before the others do!

  Hundun Yu and Zhong Yue entered the scene right away and Zhong Yue said, “Senior Martial Brother, stick close and make sure you follow my steps exactly… Senior Martial Brother Yu?”

  He turned around and to his horror, Hundun Yu was nowhere in sight, having been replaced by a monster with a fish head!

  The monster opened its jaw and it shot vicious glares from its eyes!

  Where did this monster come from?

  Zhong Yue had goosebumps all over, but the monster had already leaped towards him. In midair, the monster blew out a breath of chaotic Qi that turned into a chaotic Heaven, which Zhong Yue slashed apart with his saber before continuing to swing it towards the monster.

  Suddenly, something struck Zhong Yue and he immediately stopped his attack, “Is that you, Senior Martial Brother Yu?”

  The monster with fish head replied, “Mister Yi? Since when did you become a huge insect with massive antennas?”

  Zhong Yue let out a relieved breath and he smiled, “Probably some hallucination caused by the saint herb, a mere herb is trying to hinder our senses, how amusing….”

  “Is that you, Mister Yi?”

  And that was when another fish headed monster walked out, “Who are you talking to?”

  Zhong Yue’s mind went blank, if a Hundun Yu was already standing beside him, then who was this new arrival?”

  “He’s a fake!” shouted the monster standing beside Zhong Yue.

  “No, you’re the fake one!” The other fish headed monster smirked, “You are just an imposter! Do you even know my arts? If you don’t, then you are an imposter!”

  The two monsters clashed together right away, both casting the Hundun Clan’s arts and wielding the Hundun Clan’s divine weapons. They blasted all sorts of attacks that were from Hundun Yu’s arsenal.

  “Divine third eye, open!”

  The eye in Zhong Yue’ forehead opened up, but he saw nothing when he looked towards the two monsters. Another voice could then be heard shouting, “Mister Yi! I’m over here!”

  Zhong Yue turned around and he saw a giant black spider running towards him with Hundun Yu’s upper half on the spider’s body. Seeing the two fish-headed monsters, this Hundun Yu shouted angrily, “How dare you pose as me!”

  With that said, he charged right into the battle.

  “Mister Yi, what is this?” another Hundun Yu appeared. This time, he had the tentacles of an octopus and he charged right into the battle.

  Then, another one appeared, now with a face full of eyes, and it shouted, “Who gave you the guts to pose as me!”

  “Have you seen our Hundun Clan’s Fusang Divine Tree?” Another Hundun Yu challenged.

  Not long after, there were already eight Hundun Yu’s fighting each other beside Zhong Yue. Despite Zhong Yue’s divine third eye that was able to see through everything, he couldn’t determine which Hundun Yu was the real one.

  “No wonder it’s called the demonic saint herb.”

  Zhong Yue inhaled deeply before six arms grew out from his back, all making a sign. He shouted, “The universe may move and change, but the Dao heart will remain unwavering!”

  His six arms slammed onto the group of Hundun Yu’s that were fighting each other, and the dimension rumbled. Hallucinations cleared and Hundun Yu was could now be seen talking to the air.

  With the [Ancient Time Unmoving Seal]’s help, Hundun Yu regained his consciousness and the looked towards Zhong Yue with weariness.

  “Mister Yi, I suspect this test is a test of the Dao heart.”

  After recovering, Hundun Yu said, “If one’s Dao heart is not strong enough, he will see…..Huh? Chaos Divine Fruit!”

  Glee flashed across his eyes as he started running forward, “So many! I’ve never eaten such an innate fruit …”

  “Oh no!”

  Zhong Yue gave chase right away, but Hundun Yu still managed to shake him off..

  With a frown, Zhong Yue cast the [Ancient Time Unmoving Seal] again as he thought, This demonic saint herb is more powerful than I thought, it affected even Senior Martial Brother Yu’s Chaos Dao Heart. This place is really dangerous. But if I find the saint herb and cultivate it, I will be able to recover everything, including Senior Martial Brother Yu!

  He then started walking on the path he remembered in his mind and soon arrived at the center of the mountains in no time. He scaled the divine mountain located at the center and quickly found the mushroom standing firm on the peak of the mountain.

  Upon reaching the peak, the nefarious aura intensified and Zhong Yue continued casting [Ancient Time Unmoving Seal] to prevent himself from losing his mind. He harvested the mushroom, channeling his energy into the mushroom to refine it.

  With that, all the abnormalities around cleared away.

  After that, he located Hundun Yu and the happy duo immediately progressed with the test, defeating the many challengers and obtaining the seventh secret realm’s heritage that was left behind by Dao Venerate Fu Min.

  Time slowly passed, and after another few hundred years of serving Imperial Emperor Xian Tian, having helped the Imperial Emperor obtain the throne, his true identity was revealed right before his lord. The lord and former servant became enemies right away and Zhong Yue managed to escape death with the help of the mushroom.

  After years of battling each other, Zhong Yue finally achieved in the seventh secret realm, bestowing him the power to kill Imperial Emperor Xian Tian and usurp him.

  Following that, the enemies lurking in the ancient universe and Zi Wei emerged, the ancient monarch showed up and called for a war against the Fuxi monarch. The Fuxi monarch then stood up and with a call, the Fuxi Celestial Race’s remaining forces appeared.

  The two sides then started a massive war that the world had never seen!

  The universe trembled before the war, Dark Monarch, Evil Monarch and the others took part in the battle right away, pushing Zhong Yue’s forces back. Without any choices left, Zhong Yue fought his way into the Void Realm, summoning the Fuxi Celestial Race’s monarch spirits to the lower realm while Xin Huo opened the treasury that contained the many inheritors’ wealth.

  But when Zhong Yue was gaining the upper hand, Heaven appeared and the momentum in the war shifted in an instant!

  Zhong Yue gathered the monarchs’ power immediately, creating an item so powerful that it had allowed them to turn the tables, only to encounter the creator of the [Daoless Heaven], who demolished Zhong Yue’s power right away. With that, a purge started and Zhong Yue’s forces were all routed!

  Even with the innate dragon god and Goddess Hou Tu’s help, the war did not favor them and at the most crucial time, Zhong Yue had mastered the Eight Paths Reincarnation, defeating the creator of [Daoless Heaven] and leading his army to victory.

  From the start to the end, the war had lasted over 40,000 years. When the war ended, Zhong Yue had already become old, but thanks to the seals in the human race being lifted, the Fuxi Celestial Race slowly returned to glory.

  After another 10,000 years, Zhong Yue finally passed Xin Huo onto an outstanding successor, and a smile spread across his face as he looked at the prosperity of his family and his race.

  On this day, his life slowly came to an end. The entire universe had shown up before his palace as they watched this unrivaled monarch slowly depart from the world.

  This is all thanks to the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom….

&nbs
p; With one last breath, Zhong Yue’s eyes closed slowly, If I did not find the saint herb, I would have been killed by Imperial Emperor Xian Tian… Wait!

  He struggled to keep his eyes opened, fear instilled into his eyes, If I did not obtain the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom, what if I am still in the hallucination created by the mushroom? What if everything I experienced was a hallucination?

  “Your Majesty, what is your last will?” cried Yin Fanxuan.

  “You are all fake! You, you and you! This is nothing but an illusion!” shouted Zhong Yue as he struggled up.

  “Your Majesty!”

  The servants knelt down in fear as Zhong Yue limped around shouting, “Xin Huo! Xin Huo!”

  “Your Majesty, please!”

  Everyone knelt down and cried, “Your Majesty, your soul can’t take it anymore, please rest in peace from now on!”

  Zhong Yue, however, ignored them and shouted angrily, “Where is Xin Huo? Why aren’t you coming back to me!”

  His body tensed up suddenly and a little flame started burning in his psyche ocean.

  “Three Eyes Heavenly Pupils!”

  Light covered Zhong Yue’s vision, the servants, generals, strategists, Yin Fanxuan, Hua Qianwen and the other goddesses vanished, leaving him lying in the middle of the mountains, lush green and river.

  Zhong Yue raised his hands, looking at the reflection in the mirror, where he saw the young him drenched in sweat.

  “Xin Huo, what if I died in the hallucination?” murmured Zhong Yue.

  “Then you would be dead now. The Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom kills without shedding blood, reaping your life in your sleep. If you find your soul fading, then you will really die. The Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom will indulge you in a dream in which you gradually turn old to the point that you can no longer distinguish illusion from reality…. Hmm? The Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom is just right there!”

  Zhong Yue looked up and happily found himself standing only three feet away from the mushroom.

  Zhong Yue immediately walked forward, but he stopped before the mushroom and said calmly, “Xin Huo, am I still hallucinating? Are you just another hallucination created by Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom?”

  Chapter 1041: Crushing the Dream |

  Xin Huo laughed out loud, “Zhong Yue’s little cow, what are you speaking? Have you forgotten? You’ve been calling for me desperately and woke me up. That’s how I used the [Three Eye Heavenly Pupils] and cast away the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom’s evil power and brought you back from the illusions! How can you suspect that I’m also a fake?”

  “Because Xin Huo isn’t a living creature, for whatever I’ve been going through, he shouldn’t be able to see it. And you just said the big mushroom had left me aged my whole life inside the illusions. Xin Huo wouldn’t know what I’ve been going through, so why would he say that?”

  Zhong Yue smiled, “In fact, it’d be more than easy to check if I am still in the illusions. Xin Huo, impart the [Three Eye Heavenly Pupils] to me. It is a cultivation technique that even I don’t know much about and I’ve also never cultivated it. Impart it to me. With my knowledge and attainments, I will be able to determine whether the cultivation technique’s geniune.”

  Xin Huo kept mum.

  All of a sudden, the little flame extinguished and disappeared from his psyche ocean.

  Zhong Yue sighed, he looked at his hands and mumbled, “That said, this mortal body I am in now is also fake?”

  What he feared most still happened.

  A weird expression climbed onto his face, like a laugh but not quite like one. He murmured, “When did my Yuan Shen come out of my mortal body? Big mushroom, where exactly is my mortal body? When did you bring my Yuan Shen out of my mortal body? Why didn’t I notice a single thing at all?”

  He glanced around and questioned the truth of everything?

  How could he resolve the evil saint herb’s evil powers and return to the real world?

  In front, the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom was still there, waiting obediently for him to pluck it, but Zhong Yue knew it was nothing more than an illusion. The moment he plucked it down, the illusions in the illusions would break, but things would turn stranger and stranger every second.

  The illusions formed by the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom’s evil powers were covered numerous layers. Zhong Yue now finally knew a little more about it. The more you followed the illusions, you deeper you would dive into the layers of illusions.

  One by one, it all stacked together. Even after you break out of one layer, there would be countless more layers unknown to you waiting for you to break.

  This was why the Nine Lives Black Work Mushroom was feared the most.

  Zhong Yue didn’t know when he entered the illusions, nor did he know if he had entered more in the past 60,000 years.

  These 60,000 years were more than enough for him to fall into hundreds of thousands or even millions of layers of illusions!

  His mortal body should still be in the midst of the mountains and rivers, but with so many layers of illusions in between, he couldn’t sense it at all!

  Even after he broke through all of the layers of illusions and returned to the real world, he had no way to tell if this ‘real world’ was just another illusion created by the Nine Lives Black Work Mushroom.

  “Is this a saint herb? Or an evil herb?”

  Zhong Yue exhaled deeply, he lowered his voice, “In order to break the illusions, there’s only one way…”

  Two drums flew out from his Yuan Shen secret realms and fell down to the ground. Dong– Dong–

  Zhong Yue surged all of his arcane energy and swung his hands like sticks, he cast the [Daoless Heavens] and smashed them heavily onto the drums!

  The drums released thunderous booms and the [Daoless Heavens]’s powers burst out. In addition to the drums’ powers, everywhere the sounds reached, the scenary in Zhong Yue’s vision was stripped away layer by layer. In just a second, thousands of illusions had been shattered.

  Dong, Dong, Dong!

  Zhong Yue was drumming nonstop and the illusions around him continued to fall apart. Every pound of the drums would be followed by the fall of thousands of illusions disintegrating. Zhong Yue had struck the drum to the point that his hands were burned red; his fists, the skin, and flesh fell apart, leaving his bones exposed to the elements!

  “3 million… 8 million…”

  In the end, over 10 million illusions were shattered away. And finally, with the last sound of drums, no more illusions were shattered away anymore.

  Zhong Yue looked at the bones that were protruding out of his fists, he smirked coldly and suddenly, slammed down hard on the drums again!

  “The Yuan Shen had no bones, even when the fists were no more, there would still be no bones!”

  Dong, Dong, Dong–

  When the sounds of drumming broke the silence another time, the sky cracked and the earth split. Everything around cracked and shattered away as if they were never there before. Then, a huge stone tablet appeared floating above him.

  Beneath the stone tablet lay many Deity Emperors, Creators, and Imperial Emperors. None of them were standing and were on the floor as if they were sleeping.

  Zhong Yue was shocked, and suddenly, his scalp tingled. If the mountains and rivers and the beautiful environment they were in was also a layer of illusions; then since when had they entered the illusions?

  Could it be, when they walked out of the Create Evolve Mystic Gate, they had already entered the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom’ illusions and had been affected by its Extreme Evil Qi?!

  Beneath the stone tablet was a hill, and on the hill grew a black mushroom that had seven caps. It was only a few steps away from Zhong Yue.

  Mo Yuanshu, Shen Qiushan, Feng Yulan, and the others’ mortal body were just on the foot of the mountain. Even the likes of the Innate Evil Monarch’s disciple, Gao Yin, was also unknowningly caught by the illusions, he couldn’t have avoided it even with the [Evil Tom
e].

  Zhong Yue glanced around and saw his mortal body.

  There, it was just beside him, just a step away from the Nine Lives Black Work Mushroom, even closer to it than Zhong Yue himself!

  Then, there were also the Yuan Shen of the experts floating around. Some looked puzzled, not knowing where they were, and some had died a long time ago.

  Clearly, they were also caught in the illusions of the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom, deep in the hold of the illusions. And when the layers of illusions were crushed by Zhong Yue’s [Daoless Heavens], they were abruptly brought back to reality.

  However, among the experts, the one with the mystic lights was not here. Zhong Yue glanced around but couldn’t find him anywhere.

  “Why was my mortal body here?”

  Zhong Yue was still drumming hard, the drums continued, but this time, the world didn’t crack anymore. Instead, the mortal body and Yuan Shen of the experts were hit by the drums and they all sat out a mouthful of blood while their mortal bodies shuddered like zombies returning to life.

  Immediately, the experts’ Yuan Shen flew up and bolted back into their bodies, and technqiques were cast out all around as they defended themselves from the drums!

  “I’m out!”

  Zhong Yue laughed happily but was stunned when he saw his mortal body moving by itself. ‘He’ reached his hand out for the black mushroom and surged all the arcane energy and psyche into it as ‘he’ refined it!

  Zhong Yue’s scalp tingled as he thought, Am I still in the illusions? No, no, the [Daoless Heavens] is definitely a counter to the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom’s illusions. Then why is my mortal body moving by itself?

  Zhong Yue watched as his mortal body plucked the black mushroom, his face was plain dead, Am I truly back in the real world? Is this not another layer of illusions? How do I know if I’m back in reality?

  These thoughts shook his confidence as he started to question if he had actually escaped from the extremely evil saint herb’s illusions.