The overbearing middle-aged man left.
Tears and snot streamed down his face, a truly heartbreaking sight.
As for the Monkey Aspect cultivator behind him, he remained glued to him, not leaving an inch.
Meanwhile, the patrons in the tavern all shook their heads and sighed, lamenting the decline of society, surprised to encounter such an odd pair today.
"If you're willing to stick around, then stick around."
"Anyway, I probably won't live for many more days."
Li Shiwuwu lowered his head, the black soil still beneath his feet, and the Seed Immortal Temple still encompassing him.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
He simply asked, "Let me ask you something, have you heard of the Seed Immortal Temple? It's a place with a piece of soil where immortals can be planted."
Ji Mo looked puzzled, "Seed Immortal Temple?"
"Dayao's lineages are as numerous as the stars, but I've never heard of the Seed Immortal Temple you mentioned."
"As for planting immortals in soil, are you trying to amuse me?"
"You should know, the concept of immortals seems too distant in this era."
Li Shiwuwu stopped responding, just stared at the rain outside the window, silent for a long time.
Suddenly.
He spoke again, "Ji Mo, tell me."
"For a seed to grow, doesn't it need nutrients, or else it will wither?"
Ji Mo replied casually, "Of course."
"What if the seed planted is a person?"
"No matter what you plant, be it an object or a person, it needs to absorb so-called 'nutrients'. Even the legendary immortals rely on the heavens and earth to sustain themselves!"
Li Shiwuwu rubbed his stomach.
Suddenly, he felt very 'hungry', increasingly 'hungry'.
The 'hunger' from his body continuously withering hit him like a tidal wave, instantly shattering his last shred of sanity.
He staggered to his feet, eyes glazed, letting the rain soak him, and walked step by step toward the temple outside the town.
As for Ji Mo, though confused, he still followed closely, not leaving his side.
Soon, the two arrived at the temple.
One hundred and two faceless corpses lay there, emanating a foul stench.
"Gulp..."
"Gulp..."
Li Shiwuwu's throat moved, the sound of swallowing saliva was clearly audible.
"Hey, what do you want to do?"
"I wanted to play you to death, not be disgusted to death by you!"
Seeing Li Shiwuwu's state, Ji Mo seemed to realize something, clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead.
Li Shiwuwu stared at the corpses, his eyes blood-red, breathing heavily as he asked, "Does a seed need nutrients?"
"Yes... it needs."
"Does a seed need nutrients?" Li Shiwuwu asked a second time, his voice growing more wooden, as if soulless.
"Yes... yes."
"Does a seed truly need nutrients?" Li Shiwuwu asked for the third time.
"It needs, I said it needs, you Li, what are you up to!" Ji Mo shouted angrily, looking down to see a layer of fine sweat on his palm.
"Oh, I see."
Li Shiwuwu nodded.
In an instant, the black soil beneath his feet seemed to come alive again.
The unparalleled blackness surged like waves, instantly breaking through the Seed Immortal Temple's constraints, spreading in all directions.
Roaring and leaping along the way.
Crossing hills, rivers, mountains, plains...
In almost the blink of an eye.
The entire land before him was dyed with that eerie black, turning into an endless sea of black soil.
And at the center of this blackness, stood a solitary temple.
Li Shiwuwu sat within.
Like a god high above the nine heavens, gazing down upon the world.
Or like a demon imprisoned, unable to take a step, never to be reborn.
"How could this be?"
"How could it be like this?"
In the temple, Li Shiwuwu suddenly regained clarity.
He looked out through the temple door, clearly seeing.
The vast land outside seemed to be dyed by the black soil beneath his feet, black and profound, black and soul-stirring.
"Ji Mo, can you see it?"
"See what?"
"The land, it's been dyed black."
"Are you crazy?" Ji Mo's expression was grim, feeling that ever since Li Shiwuwu entered this temple, he had been acting insane.
"So... you can't see it."
Li Shiwuwu understood, the land turned black, like the Seed Immortal Temple, could only be seen by him.
It was then that his gaze fell upon the one hundred and two corpses before him.
He saw these corpses 'melting'.
Turning into specks of milky white starlight, merging into the black soil, becoming the 'nutrients' contained within.
That everything that perished, whether human, livestock, or other, as long as it merged into the black soil, could become the 'nourishment' for his immortal seedling.
It wasn't that he wanted to eat the dead, but that the black soil beneath his feet wanted to.
"Huh, what's going on?"
Ji Mo's voice was astonished, seeing the corpses before him dissolving in a bizarre manner.
But then, something even more unexpected happened.
Li Shiwuwu's withered body, as if receiving rain after a long drought, expanded with blood and flesh, becoming rosy again, his once withered hair regaining its luster...
"Who... who are you?"
Seeing this, Ji Mo immediately dispelled his Monkey Aspect technique, distancing himself from Li Shiwuwu, eyes full of caution.
But it wasn't over.
A more horrifying scene unfolded.
At Li Shiwuwu's waist.
A brand new human leg grew out.
Then a second leg, a third leg, a fourth leg, a fifth leg...
In almost the blink of an eye.
Li Shiwuwu transformed into a humanoid monster with ten legs and flowing black hair.
"You... you... you..." Ji Mo's teeth chattered, seemingly terrified.
It was then.
The Faceless Sui Demon, humming a tune, walked into the temple with a money bag, cheerfully.
With just one glance, the silver coins fell to the ground, rolling everywhere.
It pointed at Li Shiwuwu, clutching its belly with laughter.
"Haha, I knew it, I knew it."
"Li Shiwuwu, you can keep growing faces, you can't possibly be human."
"You're like me, a Sui, a Sui Demon."
Li Shiwuwu looked down.
At his current form.
He guessed what was happening.
If his previous withered body was due to a lack of 'nutrients'.
Then now.
It was because the entire land was dyed black, providing him with too much 'nourishment', causing his 'immortal seedling' to grow wildly.
Only, it seemed to have grown a bit crooked.
"I'm an 'immortal seedling', not a vegetable seedling," Li Shiwuwu roared.
Then he glared in the direction of Qingyang Temple, eyes blazing with anger.
Gritting his teeth, he said, "Huoyanzi, if you dare say the Seed Immortal Temple is your fabrication again, I dare you!"
In an instant, his ten legs moved in succession, comically rushing out of the temple, disappearing into the rain.