Chapter 60: The Return of the Undying Witch Fiend

In the secret chamber of the Ancient Cloud Hall, Zhang Yang sat meditating, surrounded by three or four empty pill bottles. Master Guyun sat to the side, his face stern, observing him closely.

After the three Unsurpassed Purple Seeds had all sprouted their first leaf, Master Guyun could no longer remain patient. He had secretly brought the secluded Zhang Yang to his chamber, feeding him several of his treasured pills to accelerate his own breakthrough.

After swallowing the pills, Zhang Yang’s skin took on a strange red hue, his face so flushed it looked as if it would drip blood. The pills dissolved into a potent spiritual energy that rampaged through his body. Unflustered, he guided the surging power into his Spirit Sprout. Under the abundant supply of energy, the sprout absorbed it at an incredible rate, and he could feel it transforming.

Master Guyun looked at the empty bottles with a pained expression, but to prevent his precious disciple from being left too far behind, he had no choice. He knew Zhang Yang was close to the Sprouting Stage, just needing a final push. The cost was great, but if he could help him keep pace with the Purple Seeds and create a legend of a Gray Seed surpassing them, any price was worth it.

Zhang Yang meditated for the entire night. At dawn, his body finally showed all the signs of an impending breakthrough.

Master Guyun was both overjoyed and saddened. He had expended so many resources just to let Zhang Yang barely keep up, yet he was still a step behind. He had underestimated the heaven-defying nature of the Purple Seeds. If only he could get his hands on a legendary One-Leaf Golden Lotus, Zhang Yang could surely surpass them all, at least for a time. But such a treasure was something that even the thousand-year-old Grand Ancestors could only dream of.

He could never have imagined that Qin Haoxuan, the very person he was plotting to turn into a Corpse Soldier, had swallowed one of those legendary herbs whole. If he knew, he would probably have a stroke.

The next morning, a commotion erupted outside Zhang Yang’s room. Zhang Kuang and Li Jing both emerged and saw him surrounded by a crowd of sycophants.

“So what if our boss is a Gray Seed? His cultivation speed is no slower than any Purple Seed!”

“That’s right! Zhang Kuang and Li Jing only broke through last evening, and our boss has already done it this morning! He is without a doubt the number one Gray Seed, in no way inferior to them!”

“Go, boss! Sprout your second leaf soon and show those Purple Seeds what you’re made of!”

“And that Qin Haoxuan, he’s been so arrogant lately, riding on the coattails of Xu Yu and Murong Chao. Even Zhang Kuang has been quiet these days.”

Hearing this, the expressions of Zhang Kuang’s followers changed, and they glanced nervously at their leader.

A calm smile was on Zhang Kuang’s face, but deep in his pupils, a thick killing intent flickered. “Why should I care what others say? They are all just ants. As for Qin Haoxuan, by the time I reach the Eleventh-Leaf, he probably won’t have even sprouted one. Killing him then will be as easy as turning my hand. And as for Zhang Yang? There’s no need to rush. When the gap between our cultivation levels is insurmountable, wouldn’t it be more satisfying to let him live and taste true despair?”

His followers realized that their Junior Brother Zhang had truly changed. In his eyes, Qin Haoxuan was no longer even on the same level.

In the Rooting Stage, he can only use Spiritual Talismans. But I, at the First-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm, can learn spiritual techniques. Talismans are a finite resource, but techniques can be used endlessly. Won’t playing him to death be a simple matter?

Before the three-month training period was even over, four new disciples had reached the Sprouting Stage. The news made the other menial disciples burn with envy.

Zhang Kuang, Li Jing, and Xu Yu were Purple Seeds, so their success could be attributed to their rare talent. But Zhang Yang was just a Gray Seed, and he had broken through only a day after them. His progress was truly astonishing.

Li Jing walked out of his room, shot a cold look at the smug Zhang Yang, snorted, and then headed for the lecture hall.

The next few days passed peacefully. Zhang Kuang, Zhang Yang, and Li Jing, surprisingly, did not cause any trouble for Qin Haoxuan. And he, as usual, either meditated or slept in class, and at night, he would go to his secluded thicket to cultivate and consume the Corrosion Pills that Master Guyun brought him every day.

That evening, Master Guyun brought the pill as usual, encouraging him with a kind smile, but his eyes glinted. After Qin Haoxuan swallowed the pill and closed his eyes to cultivate, a look of heartache was clearly visible on his face.

He had eaten dozens of Corrosion Pills, yet his Spiritual Sense had not been corroded. This bizarre outcome made Master Guyun both happy and resentful. Happy because the stronger Qin Haoxuan was, the more powerful the Corpse Soldier he would become. Resentful because this was costing him a fortune.

The pill’s poison was, as usual, devoured, half by his Spiritual Sense and half by his Immortal-Demon Seed.

Not long after Master Guyun left, Qin Haoxuan felt the spiritual energy in his body churn. The pill’s power was like a drop of water in boiling oil, setting off a violent chain reaction.

The Immortal Seed in his dantian, already much larger than a normal one, began to frantically absorb spiritual energy and expand again.

Is it time? Qin Haoxuan was overjoyed. He absorbed external spiritual energy while trying to suppress the violent energy within him, channeling it all into the seed. Under the ceaseless supply, the seed grew even larger.

Just then, the crack at the top of the seed began to widen. He could feel an incredibly vigorous life force emanating from it, as if a new life was about to be born.

It’s the Sprouting Stage! His heart leaped with joy, but he did not dare to be complacent. He methodically continued to supply his seed with energy. If the flow was interrupted at this critical moment, not only would he fail, but it could severely impact his future cultivation.

Time flowed by. He was completely immersed in his own world, feeling the expansion of the seed, carefully channeling the energy.

If he were relying only on the external spiritual energy he could absorb, he wouldn’t be able to sprout his seedling even by dawn. But he had swallowed the One-Leaf Golden Lotus. As if sensing his impending breakthrough, the remaining power of the lotus stirred and actively began to flow towards his dantian.

With this supplement, the seed’s expansion accelerated rapidly. In just a quarter of an hour, it had doubled in size again.

Perhaps because the shell had become so thin, the seed finally shattered without much resistance.

A crisp, green seedling struggled to poke its head out from the crack. The intense life force it radiated invigorated him.

He opened his eyes in disbelief. If the news that he had reached the Sprouting Stage in under three months got out, it would be no less shocking than Zhang Yang sprouting his first leaf.

He could feel that his state of mind had undergone an unprecedented elevation. Before, a blade of grass was just a blade of grass. But now, the plants and trees in his eyes were brimming with a vibrant life force, as if they could speak.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and complete the final step, the Undying Witch Fiend in the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley suddenly awoke. His murky eyes were brighter than they had ever been, his deathly aura replaced by the desperate hope of a drowning man grasping at a final straw.

“The heavens have taken pity on me! After being trapped for so many years, on the verge of death, they have finally sent me the hope of rebirth! Haha…”

The fiend gathered all his remaining strength and let out a wild laugh at the dark, gray sky. He could finally leave this place that had imprisoned him for millennia.

The thought of his future body, a perfect Immortal-Demon Seed with 600 perfectly rooted immortal roots, made him unable to wait any longer. He detonated the demonic thought he had planted in Qin Haoxuan’s body. The moment the seedling was about to emerge was the perfect time for possession.

He abandoned his original body, and his entire demonic consciousness surged towards Qin Haoxuan. A black thought-form erupted from his withered corpse, spreading like a dark cloud that blotted out the sky, transforming into a black rainbow that streaked towards the Spirit Field Valley.

Just as he was about to complete the Sprouting Stage, Qin Haoxuan suddenly felt a powerful demonic thought emerge from his Immortal Seed. It grew stronger, turning into a black qi that rushed towards his mind.

He was about to try and suppress it when he found himself enveloped in a thick, black fog. The evil aura made his skin crawl, and a chill ran up his spine.

“Boy, thank you for helping me escape,” the fiend’s voice echoed in his mind. “After I devour your Spiritual Sense, I will take good care of your body. You may go in peace.”

The voice sent a wave of cold sweat over Qin Haoxuan. In an instant, he understood everything.

This Undying Witch Fiend had planted a trace of his demonic intent in him from the very beginning, just waiting for this moment to seize his body.

Although he had long suspected him, he had never imagined his plot was so vicious. To devour his Spiritual Sense and steal his body… his body was a gift from his parents. If this old fiend took it, who would be there to care for them? And why should he give his body to this evil creature?