Upon hearing this, Qi Zhiheng thought to himself, "Could it be that the people of Tianyuan Sect intend to distance themselves from anything related to demonic energy? Is that why they launched a preemptive strike?"
But Qi Zhiheng's thoughts told him that things were not so simple. He might really want to clear himself of the blame, but he probably also wanted to pin the blame on someone else.
As for who should be blamed, Qi Zhiheng thought it must be the Lu Shen Sect, which ranks second in Nanzhou!
Xu Yuanzhou on the stage continued, "The way these demonic energies appear is very peculiar. Usually, they are just ordinary mushrooms, but as long as spiritual energy or divine sense comes into contact with them, they will be infected by the demonic energy hidden in the mushrooms, thus allowing inner demons to lurk."
These words caused an uproar among the crowd.
"Demonic energy has actually spread to our cultivators' territory?"
"But isn't the only place in the Southern Continent with demonic energy the Blood Cave? How can there be demonic energy in the territory of cultivators in the Southern Continent?"
"Could there be a mistake?"
Some sects that were completely unaware of the situation naturally did not believe it, but among the cultivators who came to participate in this Buddhist cultivation forum, there were many who had been corrupted by demonic energy, and they naturally knew about the demonic mushroom.
Wu Xin asked, "What is the thing that Benefactor Xu is talking about?" Que Hanhai had been communicating with Wu Xin, and when he talked with Qi Zhiheng before, he also learned that there was indeed a demonic mushroom. However, this demonic mushroom was only Que Hanhai's side of the story, and Wu Xin could not say that he completely believed it.
Although Que Hanhai mentioned the Demonic Qi Mushroom in his letter, he didn't explain its cause or how to resolve it. After all, they couldn't simply accuse the Tianyuan Sect of being the culprit and the Shenmu Sect of being their accomplice without evidence.
He simply explained that the disciples of the Slaughtering God Sect were infected by demonic energy and needed the help of the Dustless Temple.
Xu Yuanzhou said, "After our Tianyuan Sect investigated the situation, we learned that the mushroom is called the Netherworld Fungus, a type of fungus that harbors demonic energy. The terrifying thing about the Netherworld Fungus is that it can reproduce rapidly, is impervious to water and fire, and even spiritual energy will be infected by demonic energy if it comes into contact with the fungus." He described the characteristics of the Netherworld Fungus, emphasizing that it is extremely difficult to deal with. Apart from Buddhist magic, it would be very difficult to remove the demonic energy.
Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian listened from below with strange expressions.
According to Xu Yuanzhou, this Netherworld Fungus (also known as the Demonic Mushroom) is extremely powerful, and there is basically no other solution besides Buddhist cultivation techniques. Even if there were a solution, they are not yet fully aware of it.
Yang Yitian and Qi Zhiheng secretly transmitted their voices to each other: "If Xu Yuanzhou knew that all it takes is a virgin boy's urine to solve the problem, would he be so angry that he would die?"
Qi Zhiheng suppressed a smile and transmitted his voice, "Who knows?" He knew that Xu Yuanzhou was not as gentle and refined as he appeared; he was actually a very irritable person.
Besides Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian, there were many other sect members present who had been infected by the Demonic Mushroom and knew the inside story. Upon hearing Xu Yuanzhou's description, their expressions also stiffened.
Xu Yuanzhou added, "These Netherworld Fungus appeared in some places frequented by many cultivators within our Tianyuan Sect territory. Before we arrived, there weren't many of these Demonic Mushrooms, but now they have probably spread."
There were quite a few people discussing it below. Everyone was curious about the Netherworld Fungus and wanted to know if it had also spread within their sect's territory.
“Our Tianyuan Sect and Shenmu Sect jointly investigated this Netherworld Fungus and found that its origin was within the territory of a sect. When we sent people to investigate, we were blocked by the sect’s people. After that, these Netherworld Fungus spread to other territories!” Xu Yuanzhou continued, “Presumably, the demonic mushrooms of other sects were sent from this sect to spread out.”
At this moment, someone couldn't help but ask, "Which sect is this! Could it be that they deliberately allowed this Netherworld Fungus to spread?"
"Yes, otherwise why wouldn't this matter be discussed openly?"
Qi Zhiheng understood that these words were meant to sow discord, but he didn't refute them at the moment and waited for Xu Yuanzhou to speak for him personally.
Xu Yuanzhou said with a hint of regret, "There are also disciples from this sect here. I would like to ask this sect for an explanation!" After he finished speaking, he looked at the location of Qi Zhiheng and the others.
When the disciples of the Slaughtering God Sect saw Xu Yuanzhou looking in their direction, some of the disciples who were unaware of the truth of the matter felt a little strange.
"What does this guy mean? Why is he staring at us?"
"Your eyesight isn't good, is it?"
Of course, the Slaughtering God Sect wouldn't think that their sect would allow such a thing to develop if they hadn't provoked you, so naturally they wouldn't think that the Netherworld Fungus would be in their sect's territory.
Qi Zhiheng remained calm, revealing no emotion.
Xu Yuanzhou felt a surge of satisfaction upon seeing Qi Zhiheng's demeanor! He guessed that Qi Zhiheng was merely putting on a brave face!
The spread of the Netherworld Fungus was so rapid that the Slaughtering God Sect couldn't have missed it. Since they had discovered it, they must not have found a way to deal with the Netherworld Fungus yet! Otherwise, when their people went to investigate, they wouldn't have been able to find so many Netherworld Fungus.
His tone suddenly turned stern: "Fellow members of the Godslayer Sect! Do you acknowledge this?!"
Qi Zhiheng looked puzzled, turning his head left and right before pointing to himself and saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu, are you referring to our Slaughtering God Sect?" He was Luo Shen's representative this time, so naturally he had to speak on behalf of the Slaughtering God Sect.
"Master Qi, are you trying to say that this is a matter of the sect and you are not aware of it? Even if you try to delay, it will be useless! The Netherworld Fungus is right in your territory, so there's no point in making excuses."
Qi Zhiheng said innocently, "Fellow Daoist Xu, you are wronging our Lu Shen Sect. Although some disciples of the Lu Shen Sect have been corrupted by demonic energy, we have never even heard of this Netherworld Fungus."
"Master Qi, are you still trying to deny it?" Xu Yuanzhou pressed. "Our Lu Shen Sect and Shen Mu Sect have already investigated this matter thoroughly. Only the Lu Shen Sect's territory has the largest number of Netherworld Fungus. Such a large number cannot be described as unintentional. Our Tian Yuan Sect firmly believes that your Lu Shen Sect deliberately brought the Netherworld Fungus into the cultivation world, and even cultivated it in your own territory, which is why your disciples were infected."
Qi Zhiheng thought to himself, "Just as I thought!"
The Tianyuan Sect has gone to such lengths to spread this demonic energy, so they must know that they can't hide their tricks for long. In that case, they naturally have to throw this blame out on the outside world!
The Slaughter God Sect has been chasing after the Heavenly Origin Sect and is the most aggressive in competing with the Heavenly Origin Sect for resources. Its development in recent years has been very rapid. Seeing that it is still catching up with the Heavenly Origin Sect after being infected by demonic energy, who else should we target if not the Slaughter God Sect?
Qi Zhiheng said, "Even if your Tianyuan Sect is the number one sect in the Southern Continent, you can't just pin the blame on our Lushen Sect! You say our Lushen Sect is the origin of the Netherworld Fungus? I've never seen any Netherworld Fungus in the sect's territory! If you can't produce any evidence, then your words are just empty promises!"
“Evidence? Of course we have evidence! The evidence is right here in your Tianyuan Sect’s territory!” Xu Yuanzhou said, “There is no clear solution to the Netherworld Fungus yet. I’m sure the Netherworld Fungus has already spread in your territory. It would be difficult to deny it now. You might as well admit it now, so that you won’t lose face when the evidence is conclusive.”
Qi Zhiheng spread his hands and said, "Then I also suspect that your Tianyuan Sect is the origin of the Netherworld Fungus, since there is also Netherworld Fungus in your territory."
"Nonsense! It's obvious that your sect's territory has the most Netherworld Fungus Trees!" Xu Yuanzhou wouldn't let go of the matter of quantity!
Qi Zhiheng retorted, "Do you think our Slaughtering God Sect is stupid? Even if we needed a place to cultivate Netherworld Fungus, a fool wouldn't choose their own territory to cultivate it first. I ask everyone here, knowing this isn't anything good, would you throw it into someone else's territory or your own? Okay, even if someone is truly upright and doesn't want to throw something bad out to harm others, this argument still doesn't make sense! After all, Fellow Daoist Xu said that our Slaughtering God Sect has intentions to harm other sects. If our Slaughtering God Sect intends to harm other sects, why would we be so kind as to cultivate Netherworld Fungus on our own territory?"
After thinking about it, everyone felt that Qi Zhiheng's words made a lot of sense.
Qi Zhiheng continued, "If my Lu Shen Sect wants to harm other sects, let me think about it. I think if the Lu Shen Sect were to send this Netherworld Fungus out for cultivation, it would definitely send it to the territory of the Tian Yuan Sect! After all, the Tian Yuan Sect is always above our Lu Shen Sect, isn't it?"
Once these words were spoken, there was nothing the others couldn't understand.
Qi Zhiheng's words were interesting. Since if the Slaughter God Sect wanted to harm any sect, it would definitely want to harm the Heavenly Origin Sect, then his meaning was naturally implying that if anyone wanted to harm the Slaughter God Sect, it would definitely be the Heavenly Origin Sect, which was afraid of the Slaughter God Sect's counterattack, and the Divine Wood Sect, which had always been suppressed by the Slaughter God Sect!
Xu Yuanzhou just emphasized that the Tianyuan Sect and Shenmu Sect jointly investigated the situation. Doesn't this clearly show that the two sects are intentionally targeting the Lushen Sect?
However, none of the sects present dared to speak up, as neither the Tianyuan Sect, the Lushen Sect, nor the Shenmu Sect were ones they could afford to offend.
The Tianyuan Sect is powerful, the Lushen Sect is not far behind, and the Shenmu Sect has dealings with many sects in the trade of pills, all of which are sects that the others cannot afford to offend.
Among them are those who are on good terms with the God of Slaughter Sect, and their sects have also been infected by the Netherworld Fungus. However, the God of Slaughter Sect has already made a deal with them: if any of the sects under the Heavenly Origin Sect step forward to criticize the God of Slaughter Sect, then they will step forward; if no sect under the Heavenly Origin Sect steps forward, then they do not need to step forward for the time being.
Qi Zhiheng said to Xu Yuanzhou, "It's no use saying anything more now. Several months have passed, and many things may have gone wrong. Why don't you go back and investigate the situation first before coming back, Fellow Daoist Xu?"
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