"Why wouldn't I dare!" Hesitation lasted only a moment, and soon Xu Yan agreed!
At first, he doubted whether Qi Zhiheng really had a way to identify the growth time of the Netherworld Fungus. But after thinking about it carefully, how long had Qi Zhiheng been in contact with the Netherworld Fungus? How could he possibly have a way to identify it? It must be a bluff. If he refused, Qi Zhiheng could use this to accuse them of framing him.
Therefore, Xu Yan made a vow to his inner demons: if Qi Zhiheng could prove that most of the Netherworld Fungus had grown recently, Xu Yan would be haunted by inner demons and his cultivation would be forever stuck at the Nascent Soul stage, unable to break through!
Xu Yan's inner demon oath was quite ruthless; he was betting that Qi Zhiheng was bluffing! He was originally supposed to go to Zhongzhou during the next selection of people, but if he lost the possibility of promotion at this time, then going to Zhongzhou would be meaningless.
Originally, he went to the Central Continent to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. If he couldn't break through, he might as well stay in the Southern Continent and be happier! After all, he was considered a top figure in the Southern Continent. If he went to the Central Continent and still couldn't break through, he would only be a low-level cultivator for the rest of his life!
Qi Zhiheng was surprised that Xu Yan agreed to his request so readily. He stepped forward and explained the whole story to everyone. (The remaining text appears to be random characters and doesn't form coherent sentences.)
“Senior Xu said that the origin of this Netherworld Fungus is the God-Slaying Sect, so let me sort out the sequence.” Qi Zhiheng took two steps forward.
“According to Senior Xu, these Netherworld Fungi started appearing half a year ago, or even earlier. So I’ll venture to guess that Senior Xu meant a year ago.” Qi Zhiheng looked at everyone present. Xu Yan had no objection. From a timeline perspective, it was about right.
Qi Zhiheng continued, "Then there is this female cultivator, Bai Yilian. Let me explain. Half a year ago, I learned that her physique was special and could serve as a carrier for the Netherworld Bacteria. So I devised a plan to abolish her cultivation and then took the opportunity to inject the Netherworld Seed into her body to seal it and prevent its further spread. Putting aside the question of whether it was a false accusation or not, I want to ask you, where did I inject the Netherworld Seed into you?"
Tianyuan Sect had already prepared a story for Bai Yilian. At this moment, Bai Yilian calmly said, "It was right under that crack. There is a cave underneath that can shelter us from the wind and rain. Everything was done there."
Qi Zhiheng asked, "Before you were brought here, was this place already ravaged by Netherworld Fungus? It looks quite different from the scene now?"
Bai Yilian immediately replied, "It was already pretty much like this before I came here, only less so than what I see now, but the difference isn't significant."
She wasn't stupid. Since she wanted to establish the origin of the Netherworld Fungus here, and also wanted to distance herself from it, she had to say that this was how it was before she came. Otherwise, people would easily see her as the source of the Netherworld Fungus.
Qi Zhiheng nodded and said, "I understand what you mean. In other words, when you came here six months ago, this place had already become the source of the Netherworld Fungus."
Xu Yan said, "Isn't this an obvious fact? Since you want to prove that these Netherworld Fungi haven't been around for long, then you should prove it properly."
Someone asked, "Fellow Daoist Qi, since this female cultivator says that the source is at the bottom of the crack, should we go down and take a look?" This person's sect had some connections with the Slaughtering God Sect, so he was naturally a little anxious about this.
Qi Zhiheng smiled in response, indicating that the other party should remain calm.
Qi Zhiheng said, "Since everyone has already discovered the Netherworld Fungus, it would be unreasonable for our Lu Shen Sect to say that we had never discovered it before. Therefore, our Lu Shen Sect had already discovered the traces of the Netherworld Fungus before and conducted certain tests on it, including the various patterns of its spread range and time."
Neither the forces allied with Tianyuan Sect nor those allied with Lushen Sect intended to narrate Qi Zhiheng's story at this time.
The group led by Tianyuan Sect intended to see what he would say so they could refute him.
The leaders of the Slaughter God Sect wanted to see what kind of evidence Qi Zhiheng had.
“After certain tests, it was found that even with sufficient spiritual energy, the spread of the Netherworld Fungus is limited. Its growth environment is not demanding, but its growth itself is greatly restricted. Within three days, the Netherworld Fungus can spread at most one meter, and this spread does not include the number of fungi. With sufficient spiritual energy, the number of Netherworld Fungus can grow greatly, just like the Netherworld Fungus here.” Qi Zhiheng pointed to a group of Netherworld Fungus, which were densely packed within one meter, while the surrounding Netherworld Fungus were very sparse.
"This cluster of ghost bacteria is growing very densely, but its spread will not increase as a result. Therefore, the sparse ghost bacteria around it only grow after it has spread. It is difficult to change the growth range unless it is artificially transplanted."
Xu Yan's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down and began to think about these things.
Qi Zhiheng glanced at Xu Yan, then said to everyone, "These Netherworld Fungi can be transplanted, but they must be transplanted with soil attached. If they are not transplanted with soil attached, the Netherworld Fungi will lose their effectiveness."
Qi Zhiheng walked a few meters back the way he came, then turned back to the crowd and said, "Next, please come with me. We will soon prove that these Netherworld Fungi have been growing for no more than half a year!" After he finished speaking, he walked straight out, and the crowd behind him had no choice but to follow.
After walking for a while, Qi Zhiheng stopped. The distance wasn't far, only about 500 meters in total.
Qi Zhiheng swept his soul power and squatted down under a pile of Netherworld Fungus.
Someone kindly reminded him, "The Netherworld Fungus is dangerous; Fellow Daoist Qi, it's best not to get so close."
Qi Zhiheng: "Please be patient. I just want to show you some things." As he spoke, he took out a small shovel, shoveled away a pile of Netherworld Fungus, and moved some to the side.
Everyone turned to look at Qi Zhiheng, wondering what he wanted to show them.
As Qi Zhiheng shoveled away the Netherworld Fungus, he said, "As you all know, the Netherworld Fungus can infect cultivators with demonic energy through spiritual power. Therefore, in any situation where there is a possibility of contact with the Netherworld Fungus, those in the know will not use any spiritual power or divine sense. So, even if someone wants to do something to the Netherworld Fungus, they cannot use any magic."
The crowd didn't understand Qi Zhiheng's meaning. It was true that magic could not be used, but what did that have to do with this matter?
Qi Zhiheng stopped what he was doing at this point: "I'm sure you're all curious about what the connection is between what I said about not being able to use magic and the time it takes to prove it? Of course, there is a connection! Please take a look."
He stood up, allowing everyone to see the Netherworld Fungus directly.
Qi Zhiheng broke off a branch from a nearby tree, removed the twigs and leaves, and pointed the branch to the base of a clump of Netherworld Fungus: "There are signs of transplanting under this clump of Netherworld Fungus. The soil here is yellowish, while the soil in the crack where we were just now was completely black. There is a large patch of black soil under this Netherworld Fungus that is clearly separated from the surrounding soil! And because we can't use magic, we can only cover the surface with a shallow layer of yellow soil. Under normal circumstances, no one would use divine sense, so this situation would be easily overlooked."
Everyone suddenly realized something.
Que Hanhai laughed and said, "So, the Netherworld Fungus on this black soil was transplanted from the cracks!"
“That’s right. The person who transplanted them wanted to create the illusion that the Netherworld Fungus was becoming more and more dense. In reality, the growth rate of the Netherworld Fungus around here is almost the same, except for these transplanted Netherworld Fungus!” Qi Zhiheng’s voice entered everyone’s ears, and half of the truth had been revealed.
Xu Yan clenched his fists, ready to fight. Qi Zhiheng had already figured out seven or eight parts of the situation here. If he let him continue like this, his inner demon oath would take effect! He couldn't let this happen! He had to stop it!
The forces that had originally sided with the Tianyuan Sect were now somewhat doubtful and looked at Xu Yan. Back then, the Tianyuan Sect had confidently claimed that the Lushen Sect was the origin of the Netherworld Fungus, and it was because they believed the Tianyuan Sect's so-called "evidence" that they had gathered here! Now that Qi Zhiheng's evidence pointed out that the Lushen Sect might not be the origin of the Netherworld Fungus, they were also hesitant.
Just as Qi Zhiheng was about to speak again, Xu Yan shouted, "Nonsense! Qi Zhiheng, don't try to mislead the other fellow Daoists!" As soon as he finished speaking, his hand moved with a sharp edge!
At this moment, Xu Yan couldn't think of a better solution; his mind was completely consumed by the desire for Qi Zhiheng to die! Only if Qi Zhiheng died would the oath he had sworn to his heart not become a reality!
As a Nascent Soul cultivator, it was naturally not difficult for him to attack a Core Formation cultivator!
However, he wasn't the only one at the Nascent Soul stage present!
Just as Xu Yan made his move, Que Hanhai waved his hand, and an attack flew out, instantly hitting Xu Yan's hidden hand!
The two attacks from Nascent Soul stage cultivators collided, creating a deafening roar! Several cultivators who were relatively close by were thrown back!
Xu Yan had originally planned to deliver a fatal blow, so the power of this attack was naturally considerable! As a result, some of the affected cultivators were knocked down and coughed up blood!
Qi Zhiheng was not harmed in the slightest. With his abilities, even without Que Hanhai's help, Xu Yan would not be a match for him.
Qi Zhiheng stepped forward: "Senior Xu, are you enraged? Unable to bear the oath of your inner demons, you want to kill me to silence me?"
Que Hanhai said, "Xu Yan! If you can't handle losing, don't gamble. Now that you've lost, you want to back out! There's no such thing as a free lunch! I advise you to behave yourself, or don't blame me for being impolite!"
Ye Yunchuan of the Shenmu Sect stepped forward and said, "Sect Master Que, please calm down. Fellow Daoist Xu was just in a moment of impatience and made a few mistakes. It didn't cause any real danger to his life. Why don't we just let this matter go?"
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