Chapter 598 - 358: A Big Problem
"Stop dancing and start searching!"
Lian Zexing’s roar jolted his subordinates, who were still performing the Shaking Flower Hand, back to their senses.
This showed that even though Zou Feng had retracted his Skill, the effects of his Domain were already in place.
Anyone who entered this Domain would still be unable to control their frantic urge to dance.
Seeing that they were all beginning to follow Lian Zexing’s search order, Zou Feng naturally had to make a move himself.
"Palace Master, you can give me a private dance tonight. For now, let’s see if we can find anything good..."
Zou Feng patted Su Qingyu on the instep, then charged into the guild hall first.
The modified Celestial Generals had burned themselves out in their frenzied dance, leaving the entire guild hall deathly silent.
Only a terribly foul odor permeated the air.
But while the smell was acrid, prolonged exposure was intoxicating, making one unconsciously want to take a few more deep breaths.
Rushing into the guild hall, he saw that the place had already been bombed beyond recognition by Jiang Wanzhao’s earlier long-range attack, leaving nothing but a scene of rubble and ruin.
Seeing this, Zou Feng immediately grew more vigilant.
He realized that even though the place had been bombed to this state, the modified Celestial Generals from before had been largely unharmed.
’Part of this was due to the Domain’s own impressive defenses, but there was another possibility... A true Celestial General was just here and had neutralized part of the bombardment’s power...’
However, the real Celestial General had most likely already slipped away.
"Brother Zou, be careful! I’m afraid there might still be Tribulation Cultivators lurking nearby!" Lian Zexing said as he caught up, looking even more nervous than Zou Feng.
Zou Feng glanced back at the man. "It’s fine."
With that, he plunged directly into the ruins and began to carefully search for anything useful.
The foul smell from before was emanating from the guild hall’s ruins.
Now that he was closer, he could follow the source of the smell and see that the area was densely packed with... human heads!?
Focusing his gaze, Zou Feng saw that they were merely fungi that looked very much like human heads.
He had heard of lion’s mane mushrooms before, but never human head mushrooms.
But these mushrooms were definitely not a natural product; they must have been cultivated using some kind of Evil Skill.
As for their effect, it was most likely hallucinogenic.
’I could actually use these to enhance my Great Universal Hand.’
At this thought, Zou Feng struck out with his palm, blasting all the human head mushrooms to pieces.
As the human head mushrooms exploded, they all released a pale red dust.
"Careful, that poison will..."
Lian Zexing’s warning voice came from behind him again.
Zou Feng couldn’t be bothered with him. With a motion like a great whale drinking the sea, he inhaled all the explosive dust into his mouth and nose.
"Ah, Brother Zou, you mustn’t!" Lian Zexing cried, darting over in a single bound.
Lian Zexing was already prepared to strike at any moment. In his view, Zou Feng’s suicidal act of inhaling the dust would most likely cause him to instantly go berserk, becoming a madman obsessed with Ascension to the Immortal Realm.
By now, Zou Feng had finished inhaling. He turned to face Lian Zexing, his expression completely unchanged.
"And why not?"
Lian Zexing was stunned. He stammered in disbelief, "Those poisonous mushrooms... are a potent poison commonly used by the Ninefold Celestial Court to bewitch people’s minds... Brother Zou, are you alright?"
"One man’s poison is another man’s medicine. Others would have a problem if they inhaled this, but for me, it’s no different from a tonic!"
With that, he ignored Lian Zexing and resumed his search elsewhere.
Of course, although he had absorbed the mushroom dust, he had not yet completed its Refinement. He would have to wait until he entered his Cultivation mode and let his ’Big Bro’ take over.
After searching for a while longer, he found nothing else, much to his disappointment.
It seemed that when the real Celestial Generals had fled, they had taken everything of value with them, leaving only the human head mushrooms behind.
His hope of finding the Ninefold Celestial Court’s Evil Skill manuals had come to nothing.
If he hadn’t obtained the mushroom powder, this trip would have been a complete waste.
"Bah! They’re this poor, and they still want to become Immortals?!"
Su Qingyu, who had also found nothing, couldn’t help but curse under her breath.
As for whether Lian Zexing and his group had found anything, Zou Feng had no way of knowing for now.
After all, that group was clearly still on guard against him and Su Qingyu, showing no intention of cooperating in good faith.
Therefore, Zou Feng couldn’t be bothered to feign civility with Lian Zexing any longer. He gave a brief farewell and left on his own with Su Qingyu.
Seeing Zou Feng finally about to leave, Lian Zexing was visibly relieved, offering a farewell with a cupped-fist salute and a fake smile.
The moment Zou Feng and Su Qingyu’s backs disappeared from view, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by a look of utter irritation...
Meanwhile, Su Qingyu and Zou Feng quickly returned to the main street of Jade Dragon Marketplace.
"Do our fellow disciples from the Celestial Hearing Tower dislike us that much?"
Su Qingyu had, of course, also noticed how strange Lian Zexing was acting.
Hearing this, Zou Feng slowly shook his head. "It’s more than just dislike..."
He had just checked the List of Gods, and Lian Zexing’s name was on it.
This left Zou Feng completely baffled.
’No matter how much they might resent us newcomers, it shouldn’t have reached the point of wanting to kill me, right?’
’Besides, Lian Zexing already knew full well that I was no ordinary Core Disciple; his arrogant attitude had changed on a dime just now.’
’And on top of that, he had witnessed the power of my Universal Salvation Burial Flower Domain...’
’So what kind of logic was this? The more he realized how powerful I was, the more he wanted me dead?’
Lian Zexing, the Chief Inspection Envoy of Jade Dragon Marketplace, inexplicably wanted to kill a fellow disciple. The more Zou Feng thought about it, the more terrifying the implications became.