Rise of Humanity

Xin Huo replied, “This is also the first time I’ve come across this saint herb. It may not be as great as the three great saint herb, but it is also a saint herb very much desired by many.”

He added, “See those mushroom caps? They all look disgustingly black but they are exotic creations birthed by the heaven and earth! This saint herb can’t raise your lifespan or your sensitivity towards the Dao but it can be your extra life!”

Zhong Yue’s expression turned weird, Extra life?

“This saint herb is extremely unique and odd, but once you obtain and cultivate it, unless you encounter a destined death, this mushroom can help you to substitute death!”

Xin Huo continued, “Your deaths will be absorbed by the mushroom. There are a total of nine mushroom caps, meaning you essentially have nine lives. Now tell me, is the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom much more suitable than the Nine Umbrellas Saint Mushroom?”

Zhong Yue nodded right away and retook control of his body. This was a saint herb that was essentially another life. He never thought that there would be such a precious item in this universe!

“But this saint herb has already been used twice, its previous owner must’ve been a monarch. Strange, the owner died before the mushroom was used up. Dao Venerate Fu Min is indeed extraordinary, if he wants to kill a monarch, not even the mushroom can save that monarch.”

The little flame sat in Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean and explained, “Though the Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom is a saint herb, rumor had it that this Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom is also very demonic. It’s been said that before the saint herb is fully cultivated, it will substitute someone else for its death rather than becoming the sacrifice itself. They said that this Nine Lives Black Wok Mushroom is an absolutely demonic saint herb!”

“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….

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?”