Martial Dao: Starting from the Village Fungus God

Zhu Ge burst from the poison cloud, his feet never stopping.

Behind him, the mournful cry of the Plague God Sparrow still echoed across the sky, but it was immediately drowned out by a shriek filled with furious rage.

“You insignificant insect! It’s you!”

A streak of dark green light shot over from the south, its speed astonishingly fast.

The Plague God Sparrow was wreathed in smoldering flames, its feathers charred black, but its dark green eyes were locked firmly on Zhu Ge’s position.

With its shrine destroyed, its power had plummeted.

Right now, its first priority was to kill the one who had destroyed its shrine.

“Here it comes?” Zhu Ge glanced back, the corners of his mouth curling into a slight smile.

He executed the Incense Lighting Body Technique, pushing his speed to the absolute limit.

The agility techniques of the Thief Dao made his every step light and silent, while the explosive burst from the Incense Lighting Body Technique sent him flying like an arrow loosed from its bow.

The vegetation on the ground blurred past him, and the wind howled in his ears.

Six Paths Valley was in the northwest, about two hundred li from Yuan Yang City.

Zhu Ge ran incredibly fast, but the Plague God Sparrow flew even faster.

Even heavily injured, it was still a Great Immortal.

Its wings spread, and every flap kicked up a gale. Dark green poison mist seeped from its feathers, leaving a long trail in the air.

“You insignificant insect! Stop!”

The Plague God Sparrow’s voice was sharp and ear-piercing, drilling straight into his mind.

Zhu Ge felt his very soul tremble, but he didn’t stop. “Liusha, protect my soul!”

“Got it!” Instantly, Hua Liusha’s red mist enveloped Zhu Ge’s giant, egg-shaped soul, shielding it from the Plague God Sparrow’s sonic assault.

Zhu Ge kept running.

Ten li.

Fifty li.

One hundred li.

The Plague God Sparrow was getting closer and closer. Zhu Ge could even feel the gale from its flapping wings and smell the putrid stench of plague coming from it.

‘Almost there.’ Zhu Ge gritted his teeth, pulling out a pale green jade tablet and infusing it with his Blood Qi.

A pale green barrier of light, ten zhang in diameter, expanded around him, completely enveloping him.

A cloud of poison mist spat by the Plague God Sparrow slammed into the light barrier, its power weakened by thirty percent. The remaining mist was blocked by Hua Liusha’s red mist.

“You have a defensive treasure?” The Plague God Sparrow sneered. “But how long can you last?”

“I saw you earlier. I thought you were just an insect, but I didn’t expect you to become such a grave threat to me today!”

It stopped spewing poison mist and instead dove straight down, its sharp talons extended to snatch at Zhu Ge.

Zhu Ge dodged to the side and swung his Purgatory Star Rod, smashing it against the Plague God Sparrow’s talons.

CLANG—

The clash of metal echoed.

Dawn Intent!

The “Dawn Intent,” which condensed all the power of Zhu Ge’s past and present lives, only managed to knock the Plague God Sparrow’s talons slightly off course.

“Second Realm?” A trace of surprise flashed in the Plague God Sparrow’s eyes. “A mere Second Realm cultivator actually managed to destroy my shrine?”

Zhu Ge didn’t answer. He turned and used the momentum from the blow to continue running.

The Plague God Sparrow lunged again, its talons, wings, and beak all becoming weapons.

Zhu Ge dodged as he ran, occasionally turning back to strike with his rod.

Each clash worsened his own injuries.

Although he couldn’t injure the Plague God Sparrow, each block slowed it down a fraction, allowing him to gain some distance.

Good thing he practiced Body Refinement; otherwise, the recoil force alone would have been enough to kill him.

The chase continued for another fifty li.

Six Paths Valley was now visible in the distance.

‘I’m here.’ A sharp glint flashed in Zhu Ge’s eyes as he raced toward the mouth of the valley.

The Plague God Sparrow also dove down, claws spread wide, ready to tear Zhu Ge to shreds in one fell swoop.

Just as it was about to charge into the valley, Zhu Ge stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and gave it a wide grin.

“Welcome.”

Before the word left his lips, countless white fungal threads erupted from within the valley.

The Fungus God Destruction Array activated!

The Plague God Sparrow’s pupils contracted. It instinctively tried to beat its wings and fly higher.

But it was too late.

“Refine!” Liu Jianjian, who had long been in hiding, let out a soft cry, and a Demon Qi Lock Chain shot out to bind the Plague God Sparrow.

Every strand of her hair floated up, the tip of each one glowing with white light.

“AHHHH! REFINE! REFINE! REFINE!” Sword Hero’s voice was the first to ring out.

“All my Demon Qi, it’s all yours, Master!”

“KILL! KILL! KILL! Kill the Plague God Sparrow and make a name for ourselves in the Demon Realm!!!”

“What are you talking about? What’s the Demon Realm?”

“I dunno! I just made it up.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’. It doesn’t matter if we get famous or not. At the very least, our great master is probably going to make a name for himself.”

“Yeah! The great master is definitely going to get on the Sheji Chart!”

“Hehe, if the great master is living large, how could our master miss out? And if our master’s eating good, she’s gotta leave some soup for us, right?”

“Hey, you two idiots, stop chatting! Hurry up and give all your Demon Qi to our master!”

From the tips of her hair, countless Demon Beasts roared, continuously channeling their Demon Qi to Liu Jianjian.

With a gaze as sharp as a blade, Liu Jianjian directed her power along the Demon Qi Lock Chain, striking toward the Plague God Sparrow.

The Plague God Sparrow’s body trembled, but it was like a mosquito colliding with a stampeding herd of horses.

“Hmph. Pathetic ants.” The Plague God Sparrow snorted in disdain and immediately tried to soar into the sky.

In an instant, Liu Jianjian spat out a mouthful of blood, her demon heart nearly shattered, and then her eyes rolled back as she fell backward.

The Demon Beasts in her hair also fell silent at once, their clamor ceasing.

But in that single instant, fungal threads surged from all directions like a Heaven and Earth Net, wrapping around the Plague God Sparrow layer by layer.

“What is this?!” the Plague God Sparrow cried out in sudden alarm.

The fungal threads instantly enveloped the Plague God Sparrow. Dark green poison mist spewed from its feathers, trying to corrode the threads.

But the fungal threads didn’t budge at all; instead, they tightened their grip.

“Did it work?” Zhu Ge stood outside the array, gasping for breath.

The Bone Monster Avatar emerged from the White Bone Cave underground, ghastly white flames flickering in its empty eye sockets.

It held a pale white seed in its mouth—the Seed of the Fungus God!

Limitless power surged from the Bone Monster Avatar and the seed, and the Fungus God Destruction Array enveloped the Plague God Sparrow like a cocoon.

However, Zhu Ge wasn’t in a hurry to kill the Plague God Sparrow.

In other words, killing the Plague God Sparrow now would be the same as not killing it at all.

After all, the original Second Realm Fungus God had two shrines.

At the Third Realm, they gained a third.

As a Great Being, the sparrow would have at least four.

Under these circumstances, Zhu Ge couldn’t just destroy the Plague God Sparrow’s current physical body.

Follow the trail!

As long as this Plague God Sparrow wasn’t dead, Zhu Ge could try to use the Fungus God Destruction Array, sending the fungal threads along some mysterious connection between the Plague God Sparrow and its shrines to destroy all of them at once!

Let alone Zhu Ge, even someone like the Hongmi Immortal probably couldn’t pull this off.

But the Fungus God Destruction Array was built by the True Monarch of the Lantern. It was mysterious and unfathomably powerful, so Zhu Ge had to give it a try.

He immediately sat down cross-legged and poured his entire Heart Spirit into the Bone Monster Avatar.

The next moment, however, dark clouds suddenly gathered high in the sky, accompanied by a growing BUZZZZ.

Seeing this, Zhu Ge’s eyes snapped open.

‘As expected. My earlier suspicions were correct…’

Looking up at the sky, Zhu Ge couldn’t help but sneer.

‘Good. Everything is still within my calculations.’