Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 447 - 438: Nurturing

Long ago, Lin Jun realized that to level up, he needed to kill more demons and disassemble more corpses than those adventurers.

He made many guesses, the more practical one being that whether it’s killing, disassembling, or energy collection through the Fungal Mat, all these activities are done by the Pukis and the mat extended from him, not by the main body personally.

In the process of transferring experience, there might be a huge loss, which is evident from the efficiency of using the Pukis to practice skills.

If he could truly gain proficiency without loss, wouldn’t his ten thousand Pukis practicing for a day equal others’ thirty years of skill?

But reality is, although the practice efficiency is indeed not low, it is far from reaching such an incredible level.

Lin Jun always thought that the experience and proficiency drastically shrink when transferred to him.

Now it seems...is it really not like that?

Is it simply that the experience needed for him to level up is much more than others, not just one or two times more, but hundreds or even thousands of times?

Is it because of the soul’s reason...

After all, the biggest difference between him and other beings is probably his gigantic soul.

Lin Jun couldn’t help but wonder, if he had reincarnated not as a mushroom, but as an ordinary human or Demon Race, with this kind of experience requirement, would he not be able to breakthrough Level 20 in this lifetime?

Among humans and Demon Race, indeed there are many individuals stuck at low levels for life, and the number is rather large.

Since the Fungal Mat spread to the surface, Lin Jun has spent time carefully observing these people.

But through [Inspiration Level 7] to sense, their soul size showed no abnormality.

Moreover, they are not slow in leveling up but once they reach a certain level, it’s as if they hit an invisible wall, and without special circumstances, they remain stuck there.

Even with great effort, they can only climb one or two more levels, the perfect example being Old Dylan.

This is clearly different from Lin Jun’s continued growth where the main issue is the massive experience demand.

To find that the Life Water has limited effect on his level, it’s hard not to feel disappointed.

But to be fair, Lin Jun’s current leveling speed is not considered slow.

Since the Fungal Mat network keeps expanding, with the large-scale [Magic Collection] paired with [Photosynthesis], the time spent from Level 63 to 64 is even shorter than from 60 to 61.

The skill [Life Essence] when used by himself, is a super enhancement skill.

Lin Jun once tried loading it onto the S-Class Demon Crystal Knight Puki, and as a result, the knight unleashed Palace Level combat power and its endurance far surpassed the ordinary.

Whereas normally, absorbing the produced Life Water now seems somewhat wasteful, it’s better to distribute it.

Of course, it’s after dilution!

The core members definitely must have their share, Xiao Hai can get more, as the growth value is there, if not for the diminishing effect from excessive consumption, Lin Jun would even want to feed half of the Life Water to her.

As for why it’s half, because there’s another stock with potential in the current team—Ming!

[Physical Immunity]!

Lin Jun doesn’t even know how strong it will be after cultivation.

Originally felt the upgrading was too slow, might be taken as a physical immunity shield like the Yellow-covered Book, but with [Life Essence], he can quickly feed him into a master!

As for Norris, Little Pig, Hunting, and the like, just let them drink diluted ones.

Speaking of Ming, it’s time for cultivating relationships again.

...

Pu—ki—

Puki Puki Puki—

Marshal Puki still wore that bright red cloak, sitting high on the specially designed Fat Otaku Mushroom Hat throne.

Around the Fat Otaku Puki, there was an honor guard of eighteen Pukis.

These guards were equipped with the [Chitin Shell] skill, and meticulously sculpted later, creating a cool appearance full of gaps despite being impractical.

Although Marshal Puki isn’t the true main body, in most Fungus Castle residents’ eyes, it indeed represents Lin Jun’s image, so the display can’t be plain.

Passing through several caves consecutively, the Demon Race cultivating plants or breeding demons stopped their work upon seeing the honor guard, performing a somewhat crude tribal ritual.

This wasn’t a demand from Lin Jun, but for them, the leader now is far more than just a couple of tribal chiefs.

Anyone with intact memory would instantly know when comparing the current Fungus Castle to their past tribe, the strength of Fungus Castle goes far beyond the limits of a Northern Territory tribe, evolving towards something like a Northern King.

And for the leader of such a power, the fungus people with less direct contact with Lin Jun tend to develop emotions of fear, admiration, reverence, or desire, gradually forming this simple ceremonial under Xing Huo’s deliberate guidance.

As for why Xing Huo guided this way, as the diplomatic figurehead of Fungus Castle, he felt with the leader having a majestic image, it’s easier for other tribes to surrender and join.

Although no tribal chief has ever felt the Marshal Puki was majestic at first glance...

Puki King finally arrived at a vastly remodeled cave.

Calling it a cave is already inaccurate, it resembles more a vast underground arena, with the air filled with a mild blood scent, though Lin Jun wouldn’t smell it.

This is Ming’s daily training ground.

By this time, the dueling arena was already piled with a variety of low-level demon carcasses, evidently Ming had completed the first stage of battle training today, now moving to the second stage—combat with humans!

In front of Ming, there are several carefully chosen D Level personnel with similar levels to Ming.

If they can defeat Ming, they earn the right to leave that dungeon, and under concealed identity, enjoy a week of pleasant life in the Fungus Castle!

This reward has become dearly coveted by this group of D Level personnel, so they fight extremely hard in combat with Ming!

Of course, Ming isn’t some harmless kitten, looking at those demon carcasses it’s evident, occasionally consuming one or two D Level personnel during duels is a common occurrence.

Just like this match, the D Level personnel team was very aware of Ming’s astounding defensive prowess, two mages as the main attackers, three melee fighters handling containment, ultimately aimed to capture Ming.

It’s not they don’t want to kill, but Ming is not only [Physical Immunity], he also has [Magic Resistance] at Level 9, not to mention [Regeneration] skill, even low-level mages may not blow him up even if they use all their Magic Power.

Today’s match-up was relatively balanced, Ming was almost subdued several times, but eventually found an opening, killed a warrior in one strike, knocked a mage flying in another, then it’s a sweeping victory.

Leaving the arena, covered in blood and breathing deeply to recover Physical Strength, Ming saw Marshal Puki in the stands, immediately running over excitedly!

His eyes filled with anticipation: "Boss! I won again today!"

Marshal Puki extended a tentacle, wrapping around Ming’s blood-covered head: "Well done, you’re indeed my Ming! You’ll surely become one of my most reliable assistants."

Hearing the praise from the boss as he wished, Ming smiled with satisfaction: "Not just one of, I’ll definitely become the very best helper for the boss!"

"You’ve got ambition, but you need to become stronger to achieve that! Let your boss give you a hand!" Saying this, Marshal Puki extended a tentacle feeding fresh Life Water to Ming.

[Level Up: LV22→LV23]

Quickly grow... (Next Chapter at 1 o’clock)