42: Chapter 42 discusses how to cook bizarre dishes using a copy of the "Compendium of Materia Medica".
The gray fog was a greedy giant mouth, inch by inch devouring the territory of the Heavenly River Sword Sect.
The once majestic main peak hall was completely covered by a thick gray fungal mat.
The white jade pillars were covered with dense, eyeball-shaped fungi, blinking with the wind and emitting a wet, sticky 'pop-pop' sound.
In the center of this ruined landscape, only the Scripture Pavilion stood firm, like a lonely island, stubbornly emitting a dim yellow light.
"Quick! Get in! No one is allowed to look back!"
Sect Master Gu Canghai stood on the steps of the Scripture Pavilion, his hair disheveled, his luxurious magic robe covered in mud and ash.
He brandished his broken sword, desperately blocking several charging 'Fungified Spirit Cranes'.
The once elegant immortal birds were now covered in gray fur, transformed into shrieking, predatory monsters.
"Sect Master! That's Little White!" A female Disciple cried, unable to bring herself to strike.
"That's not Little White!"
"That's a walking mass of mold!"
Gu Canghai brought his sword down, severing the crane's head.
There was no blood at the severed neck, only a puff of spores violently exploding.
"It's long dead! If you don't want to be buried with it, get into the Scripture Pavilion!"
Amidst his roar, the last batch of Outer Sect Disciples rushed into the open great doors, crying and scrambling.
Gu Canghai took one last look back at the Sect that was rapidly dying.
Sorrow flashed in his eyes and was immediately replaced by ferocity.
He gritted his teeth, turned, and stepped into the Scripture Pavilion.
"Bang!"
The moment his heel landed, the two heavy wooden doors were pulled by an invisible force and slammed shut!
Almost simultaneously, the surging gray fog slammed against the door.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
Green smoke rose from the cracks in the door, accompanied by a skin-crawling sound of scratching and gnawing.
Something outside was frantically trying to burrow in.
"Are we... safe...?"
The Grand Elder collapsed on the ground, gasping heavily.
As a Cultivator in the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, he felt more exhausted than if he were Undergoing Tribulation.
"No."
A calm voice came from above his head.
"We've just changed the way we die."
Everyone looked up in horror.
On the railing of the second floor, the mysterious sweeping Servant, Li Mo, was leaning there.
He was holding a handful of melon seeds, watching the Cultivators who had survived the disaster downstairs with great interest, his eyes like those appreciating an interesting play.
Only then did the Disciples look around in terror.
The interior of the Scripture Pavilion was far more... bizarre than the outside.
All the windows had been sealed by countless heavy tomes that moved on their own, leaving no room for air.
Rows of bookshelves were slowly shifting, silent, as if arranging troops for battle.
The most outrageous thing was the ever-burning lamps providing light.
What burned in the wicks was not lamp oil, but a ghastly green ghost fire, casting everyone's faces like vengeful spirits seeking lives.
"This... is the legendary Scripture Pavilion?"
A new Disciple's legs trembled with fear. He felt the floor beneath his feet gently rubbing against his calves, as if... tasting his flavor?
"Silence."
Li Mo spat out a melon seed husk.
The husk trailed a faint light in the air, accurately sticking to the new Disciple's mouth, instantly silencing him.
"Welcome to the 'Sanctuary of Truth'."
Li Mo stood up straight, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the nearly one thousand frightened Cultivators below.
"The mushrooms outside are the collapse of 'Reality'."
"And this place is the reorganization of 'Logic'."
"If you want to survive here, there is only one rule."
Li Mo raised a finger, pointing to the plaque above his head inscribed with the three characters [Scripture Pavilion].
"Be obedient."
"Obey my words, and you must also obey... the words of the books."
Before his voice faded.
Boom—!!!
With a massive sound, the entire Scripture Pavilion shook violently.
Some colossal entity was battering the door.
A huge human-shaped bulge suddenly appeared on the sturdy door panel.
It was the 'Fungus Man' that had devoured the patrolling Disciple!
It had fused with more fungi, transforming into a five-meter-tall aggregate, trying to break through the door.
"It's coming in!"
"Defend! Formations!"
Gu Canghai instinctively prepared to circulate his spiritual power, but his face instantly turned pale.
Inside this pavilion, his spiritual power was suppressed as if he were a Mortal; he couldn't even conjure the simplest Fireball spell.
"Don't waste your effort."
Li Mo spoke lightly. "Spiritual power is contraband; it will only be treated as nourishment, making it eat more happily."
"Then what do we do? Wait to die?!" The Grand Elder shouted in despair.
"Who said we need to use spiritual power?"
A smile curled on Li Mo's lips, an arc that outsiders could not comprehend. He beckoned towards the C-marked bookshelf.
"Little Grass, time to work."
As his voice fell, the C-marked bookshelf trembled violently.
A thread-bound book with a yellowed cover flew out from the shelf with extreme excitement.
The title: 'Compendium of Spiritual Plants (Revised Edition)'.
A sharp-eyed Disciple stared in horror and noticed that the book's cover actually depicted a greedy mouth, with saliva resembling chlorophyll dripping from its corners.
Crack!
The great door finally couldn't bear the strain and was smashed open with a large hole.
A giant hand woven from countless grayish-white mycelia stretched in!
The fingers dripped with sickeningly sweet saliva, emitting a nauseating fragrance.
"Food... Fresh... flesh and blood..."
A chaotic roar came from outside the door.
All the Disciples closed their eyes in despair.
However, the expected massacre did not arrive.
The 'Compendium of Spiritual Plants' flying in the air suddenly burst forth with a dazzling green light.
Whoosh!
The pages flipped open and flew directly in front of the giant mycelial hand.
No Sword Qi shot out of the book, nor did any raging fire spray forth.
Instead, countless translucent tentacles, resembling plant roots, shot out and savagely pierced into the giant mycelial hand!
A cold, mechanical thought echoed in everyone's minds.
[Judgment: High-activity fungal aggregate detected.]
[Classification: Ingredient / Fertilizer.]
[Processing Method: Forced categorization, execute photosynthetic conversion.]
The next second.
A scene that overturned everyone's worldview and crushed all common sense occurred.
That terrifying mycelial hand, capable of devouring the spiritual power of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, began to tremble violently like chaff the moment it was pierced by the book.
The originally gray and dead mycelia started changing color at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Turning green.
Becoming vividly emerald green, brimming with vitality.
"No... What is this... rule... I am of the Abyss... I do not perform photosynthesis..."
The monster outside the door let out an unbelievable, terrified shriek. It tried to pull its hand back, but it was too late.
The 'Compendium of Spiritual Plants' acted like an overbearing and unreasonable farmer, forcibly instilling a brand-new concept into the abyssal monster:
You are not a monster; you are a thriving head of cabbage.
In just three breaths.
That terrifying giant hand turned into a huge, emerald green... broccoli that looked like it could drip water.
"Snap."
The book closed, casually tapping the base of the 'broccoli' with its thick spine.
Thud.
The giant broccoli snapped off and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
The monster outside the door let out an extremely piercing scream, recoiling as if electrocuted, and never dared to approach the great door again.
Silence descended upon the entire area.
Sect Master Gu Canghai's mouth hung open, staring blankly at the giant head of broccoli on the ground that emitted the fresh scent of vegetables.
He felt like his centuries of arduous cultivation had been wasted.
It was... over?
The bizarre monster that nearly wiped out the entire Sect was turned into a dish by a book?
"Tsk, the quality is not bad."
Li Mo beckoned casually.
The 'Compendium of Spiritual Plants' immediately scurried back into his hand, affectionately rubbing against his palm, looking as if it was seeking praise.
"Take it to the kitchen; we're having an extra meal tonight."
Li Mo pointed at the broccoli on the ground and spoke to the gray mouse named 'Squeak' in the corner.
"Squeak!" (Got it, Boss!)
Squeak immediately led a 'Housekeeping Squad' composed of mops and brooms that had achieved sentience, happily dragging the giant broccoli away.
Having done this, Li Mo's gaze once again fell upon the group of completely petrified Cultivators downstairs.
"Did you understand?"
His voice was not loud, but it exploded like thunder in everyone's hearts.
"What's outside is rewriting the rules. My books are defining the rules."
"If it says you are a mushroom, you must become a mushroom. But if my book says you are a vegetable, you must be a dish."
"This is knowledge is power."
Gu Canghai trembled violently.
He suddenly looked up, and a scorching light erupted in his extinguished eyes.
He seemed to have grasped a supreme state that transcended 'Techniques' and 'Methods,' reaching directly into 'Dao' and 'Principle'.
"May I ask, Senior..." Gu Canghai's voice trembled with excitement, "How can we master this power?"
Li Mo smiled.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
First, crush their pride with fear, then give them hope with a miracle, and finally, present an irresistible bait.
"Very simple."
Li Mo waved his sleeve.
Whoosh—
Hundreds upon thousands of books shot out from the shelves, landing precisely in everyone's arms.
"Three Years of Simulation, Five Years of Cultivation"
"On How to Communicate Friendly with Tentacle Monsters"
"The Cultivation of Self-Discipline for the Mentally Ill (Beginner's Guide)"
"The World After Sanity Value Hits Zero"
...
The book titles were strange and varied, and every single one emitted a faint, bizarre aura that was of the same origin as the outside but fundamentally different.
"From now on, the Heavenly River Sword Sect enters a 'Wartime State'."
Li Mo's gaze became serious, without a trace of joking.
"There is no Sect Master here, no Elders, only students."
"Everyone must finish reading the book in your hands within one hour and pass the 'In-Class Quiz' that comes with the book."
"Those who pass will receive residency rights and a temporary buff of 'High-Level Mental Resistance'."
"Failures..."
Li Mo pointed to the gray fog still churning outside the main doors.
"...Get out and become fertilizer for those mushrooms."
"Now, class begins."
As Li Mo uttered his final word, the entire Scripture Pavilion instantly transformed into a giant, enclosed classroom exuding an aura of pursuit of knowledge (madness).
"I object! I am an Elder of the Sect! How can I read this 'Postpartum Care for Sows'... Ahh!!"
An Elder was about to protest when the book in his arms suddenly opened its paper mouth and bit down hard on his nose.
"Ah! I'll read! Isn't it fine if I read! Stop biting!"
In an instant, screams, the sound of turning pages, and the dissatisfied chewing sounds of books rose and fell within the Scripture Pavilion, intertwining into an absurd symphony.
Li Mo watched the scene with satisfaction, turned, and returned to lie down in his rocking chair.
[Ding!]
[Detected that all members of the 'Heavenly River Sword Sect' have entered the Scripture Pavilion.]
["Popularity" value has met the standard, unlocking new entries...]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the Special Building Entry: [Asylum (Elementary)].]
[Entry Effect: Those within this area, the lower their Sanity Value, the clearer their logic, and the higher their combat power. Inflicts mental pollution rebound and conceptual confusion upon 'Abyssal System' bizarre entities.]
Li Mo looked at this new entry, his lips unable to stop curving upwards.
"Very good."
"The Abyss wants to turn the world into Hell?"
"Then I will first transform this place into a mental asylum that even the demons of Hell would avoid."
Outside the window at this moment.
The abyssal aggregate that had fled with its 'hand' severed had not left.
It lingered in the gray fog, countless compound eyes staring fixedly at this bizarre small building, unable to comprehend.
Why would a building with only a low-level energy reaction hide rules more unreasonable than the Abyss itself?
And on the horizon farther away.
A pitch-black rift was slowly opening.
An eye as vast as a star peered through the rift with a cold gaze.
The true Abyssal Lord was about to descend.
But it did not yet know.
On the land it was about to set foot upon, there was a nail that not only hurt its feet but would also bite it back.