Chapter 58: The True Malignant Entity

This morgue was unexpectedly vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. There were no silver cabinets, only rows upon rows of beds. Each bed was a crib, and on each lay a quietly sleeping infant. The arrangement was orderly, with hundreds of them, at least.

Zhang Kai was stunned.

What on earth was this?

Could illusions be layered upon each other like this?

“What a remarkable spiritual illusion space—reality and fantasy reversed, the false made real, interlocking in endless cycles. Without finding the core, I fear we cannot leave,” Madam Liu spoke up, her tone oddly appreciative.

Zhang Kai asked, “Is this the spiritual illusion space?”

“Yes, and it’s only just formed. If it hadn’t encountered us and had enough room to grow, who knows what it might have become?” Madam Liu replied.

Zhang Kai raised an eyebrow. “So, we must destroy it, or it’ll cause endless harm?”

“Find the core first, then we’ll see. This thing makes me feel as though my ten thousand years of experience are wasted—it’s a new breed I’ve never seen before,” Madam Liu sounded disheartened.

Zhang Kai pondered. “Could the building itself be the core? Maybe that old man mentioned it on purpose, so we’d overlook it?”

“The key is, how do we break this illusion? Destroy one, another appears. It’s endless. Plus, we lack understanding of this thing—we don’t know what can counter it,” Madam Liu said.

Zhang Kai replied, “It doesn’t matter if we don’t know; we’ll try everything one by one.”

He extended his hand, a violet ring of light appearing in his palm. With a flick, he sent out a Seven-Spiral Slash, then fired off dozens more. The light wheels shot in all directions, slicing through the cribs, which vanished instantly.

In a short while, the entire space was left blank and white, nothing remaining.

Zhang Kai frowned.

He then unleashed the Divine Palm of Tathagata, swastikas filling the air, Buddhist chants echoing throughout the space for several minutes, but nothing changed.

Was there no way to break through?

This spiritual illusion space was truly troublesome.

“Darling, I have an idea, but I’m not sure if I should say it,” Madam Liu suddenly spoke.

“What’s your idea?” Zhang Kai asked.

“This thing always uses children as tools—maybe it’s a minor itself. How about we make love here to embarrass it? If it gets shy and hides, maybe we can escape,” Madam Liu gazed at Zhang Kai expectantly.

Zhang Kai: “……”

Are you some kind of demon?

“Can you use your brain normally?” Zhang Kai said, exasperated.

“What’s abnormal about it? Let me tell you: when I was underage, I saw Big Madam and her husband making love. I was so embarrassed I covered my eyes with willow leaves,” Madam Liu retorted, full of self-righteousness.

Zhang Kai couldn’t be bothered to respond.

You’re just a tree; you don’t even have eyes.

Yet her words gave him an idea.

If he couldn’t trust himself, let Madam Liu go at it. Though she hadn’t regained her power, her true form remained.

Looking at Madam Liu, Zhang Kai said, “Come down and grow big.”

Madam Liu giggled and quickly grew to nearly Zhang Kai’s height, her chest puffed up like two giant papayas.

“Big enough? I can go even bigger—wrap you inside, give you a massage too,” she grinned.

Zhang Kai bared his teeth. “I meant your original form, the one I first saw.”

“Huh? How will you operate like that? Isn’t it a bit difficult?” Madam Liu hesitated.

Zhang Kai’s face darkened; he stared at her without a word.

Madam Liu immediately conceded. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

She hopped several meters away, stretched lazily, then her body grew madly, branches unfurling, trunk swelling, countless roots spreading in all directions.

In an instant, Madam Liu became a tree over a hundred meters tall, filling the entire space.

“Hehe, so this spiritual illusion space is only so big—it can’t even contain me. Compared to the Buddhist Palm World or the Daoist Sleeve Universe, it’s far inferior,” she laughed.

Zhang Kai snorted coldly.

She’d been feigning ignorance all along.

I knew it—ten thousand years as an old demon, even when facing something novel, how could she be afraid?

Damn it, ancient hag, absorb the earth!

Yes—absorb!

A thought struck, and Zhang Kai continued, “Madam Liu, compost this spiritual illusion space for yourself.”

“Hehe, finally you thought of that. But I don’t like this stuff; it’s low quality and mixed with all sorts of nonsense, makes digestion troublesome,” Madam Liu protested.

“I’ll grant you a reasonable request. Also, analyze the essence of these things for me,” Zhang Kai said.

“Alright! If you’d said so earlier, I’d have gotten to work. Watch me,” Madam Liu enthused. Her roots danced upward, then penetrated below.

“Trash! Even gods and Buddhas couldn’t withstand a suck from me in the old days, and you dare trap me?” she laughed, unleashing her innate powers.

Countless roots voraciously devoured the evil energy gathered in the spiritual illusion space, like a sponge in water. Within a few breaths, the whole space began to tremble.

A sharp cry rang out—urgent, panicked, like a baby, yet metallic.

Crack!

With a sound like shattering glass, the space broke apart, fragments falling everywhere, all consumed by Madam Liu.

Her enormous tree form gradually shrank.

When the dust settled, Zhang Kai found himself still in the delivery room, everything intact.

Moreover, he saw several people: nurses, doctors, patients, all kneeling before a birthing bed, their bodies shriveled as if dead for decades.

The birthing bed was covered in blood, saturated with immense resentment.

To Zhang Kai’s eyes, that resentment took the form of countless unformed infants, densely packed, howling and struggling.

It was terrifying—and heartbreaking.

After a moment of silent observation, Zhang Kai approached, placed his hand on the birthing bed, and unleashed his inner strength. A golden palm print descended.

Bang!

The birthing bed shattered, fragments flying, and the resentful infants slowly faded in the golden light.

“So this was the core—a bed turned spirit! From the evil energy I absorbed, they complemented each other: resentment gave birth to the bed, the bed gathered the resentment, and with the changes in the world, it evolved, resulting in this spiritual illusion space,” Madam Liu, now thumb-sized, perched on Zhang Kai’s shoulder, clicking her tongue in wonder.

Zhang Kai didn’t respond; his heart was heavy.

Not just because of what he had seen, but because the revival of spiritual energy was causing such changes—he was beginning to understand.

This new era of cultivation could turn past tragedies, once endured passively, into deadly monsters.

Given this, should he allow the revival of spiritual energy to continue?

He would benefit, but humanity would suffer.

No, wait.

Suddenly, Zhang Kai recalled something and asked, “Madam Liu, is that old man still outside?”

Madam Liu pursed her lips in a smile. “He ran off long ago.”

“You’ve been watching him?” Zhang Kai looked at her, brow furrowed.

“Don’t look at me like that. Watching him is pointless—the old man is just a mortal, but inside him lives a fallen deity. Even if we kill him, the deity would remain unharmed,” Madam Liu replied calmly.

Zhang Kai stared deeply at Madam Liu. “So you’ve been hiding things from me. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”

“I do, but let’s discuss reasonable requests first,” Madam Liu smiled, the corners of her mouth lifting.