Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 269 - 261: Divine Wood Dungeon

After the decision of surrendering was made by the tribe, there were some doubts, but all were persuaded by the demon race that had already connected to the fungal network.

And these doubts naturally disappeared after the entire tribe completed the transformation.

Little Pig actively participated in the network integration ritual of the demon race, collecting a large amount of fresh blood. She knew this would probably be her entire food reserve for a while.

As for the new birth ceremony, after communicating with Xing Huo and Shou, Lin Jun instructed them to temporarily halt the ceremony.

It’s not too late to proceed after verifying their hypothesis. After all, the arrival of the two new members of the demon race has already successfully sparked the tribe’s confidence in the future.

Now being one of their own, Lin Jun certainly wasn’t stingy, and decisively raised the demon race’s contribution points salary by 50%.

As a result, Qiong, fresh from work, inexplicably received triple contribution points...

The entire demon tribe’s integration increased Puki’s capacity by several thousand at once, directly solving the insufficient Puki issue Lin Jun faced since taking control of the Underground City.

Currently, there are many demon race figures in the Deep Area.

Whether it’s planting, breeding, collecting demon crystals, or patrolling and clearing slimes, they have all participated.

Lin Jun could allocate more Puki to other tasks, like maintaining the operations of the first few floors, or even starting to introduce harmless-looking Puki to the surface to help humans gradually adapt...

...

On the other hand, Lin Jun did not halt the exploration of the Rift.

The new exploration site is a dense forest, with the Rift opening in the ruins originally occupied by the Fishmen on the seventh floor.

Upon discovery, only a few bloated corpses of drowned demons lay scattered near the Rift, clearly those that couldn’t swim.

In fact, the fifth floor also had a Rift connecting to the dense forest, but its location was too conspicuous, unlike this one, so Lin Jun sealed it off.

Lin Jun had investigated the so-called "dense forest," and through the types of demons that emerged, it was determined to be located in the Elf Forest, known as the "Esogal" dungeon.

"Esogal" is in the Elf Language, translating to "Divine Wood," also referred to by humans as the Divine Wood Dungeon.

Just the name alone makes Purple Crystal seem inferior...

Lin Jun held high expectations for the Divine Wood Dungeon.

Unlike the Scarecrow Abyss, this place evidently has more abundant species and resources, not to mention elves!

Perhaps they might find one or two elf corpses to learn natural magic and the Elf Language from.

A splash from Scout Puki leapt across the Rift, appearing silently by a tranquil small lake.

The lake was crystal clear, yet devoid of any fish, evidently a newborn lake formed by the leaking Rift water.

Looking around, apart from this small water body, there was the forest, a forest composed of enormous trees!

Puki silently disappeared, fluttering to the top of a giant tree, sensing its surroundings, and found only the forest within range!

Above the forest wasn’t the sky but a massive dome, towering over a thousand meters above the ground.

The trees here possessed the ability of [Photosynthesis], yet sunlight came not from above the dome but from where the dome met the forest’s edge, shining in at an angle.

As a result, only a tiny portion of the treetop branches could bathe in this precious gift.

No wonder these trees grew so tall, just to reach the light...

The angled sunlight was closely related to the unique structure of the Divine Wood Dungeon.

Unlike the Purple Crystal Dungeon or Scarecrow Abyss, which exist in special spaces, the Divine Wood Dungeon lies within the main world itself.

According to the information Lin Jun gathered, it’s a magnificent spiral structure, tapering down layer by layer, with Puki currently gazing at the dome, which is actually the ground of the level above.

The angled sunlight originates from a massive array at the spiral’s core, acting like a giant prism, collecting and refracting sunlight from the entrance to scatter it across every level.

This array is part of the inherent rules of the Divine Wood Dungeon.

Moreover, while the Divine Wood Dungeon is divided into layers one through fifteen, these are merely terms the elves used for positional descriptions, as it actually has no strict layers.

Adjacent levels often host similar species of demons.

But as the spiral penetrates deeper, the magic concentration escalates, naturally incubating more dangerous beings.

Puki stood on the treetop, letting the slanting sunlight fall upon itself, magic power within slowly recovering, proving this was indeed real sunlight, not some substitute like Firefly Grass.

Speaking of which, this forest also contains Firefly Grass.

Unlike those in the Purple Crystal Dungeon preferring to grow on domes, the Divine Wood’s Firefly Grass mostly roots deep within the forest, in its sunless and dim underlayer, providing a faint glow.

When it comes to exploration, naturally a direction must be chosen.

Lin Jun loves the sun, so naturally it’s best to head towards the light first and figure out roughly which level they’re on.

Just as Scout Puki was about to move, a bird landed on its mushroom cap!

To be precise, it was a large blue parrot.

But Lin Jun was in stealth mode at the time!

[Race: Azure Sky Parrot]

[Level: LV30]

[Skills: Acceleration LV8, Evasion LV8, Pecking Attack LV5, Magic Perception LV4...]

Magic Perception, huh...

Since it delivered itself, let’s consider it our first catch!

The blue parrot seemed to be full of curiosity about the invisible "platform" below its feet, pecking aggressively at Puki’s mushroom cap with its hard beak.

Scout Puki’s fungal tendrils silently lifted, approaching before suddenly coiling around.

However, with a flash of blue, the parrot fluttered its wings and easily evaded, its speed leaving only an afterimage.

So fast!

This creature, in terms of Power Attribute or Constitution Attribute, is as weak as a Puki, but its Agility Attribute far surpasses the silver standard.

Puki refused to be outdone, with four fungal tendrils striking in quick succession. But the blue parrot was incredibly nimble, evading each attack with precision, maintaining its composure.

Even more annoyingly, it didn’t flee far, instead lightly perching on Puki’s mushroom cap again, tilting its head and squawking!

This was pure provocation.

Scout Puki’s mushroom cap deflated slightly, promptly releasing hallucinogenic spores from under the parrot’s feet.

The parrot sensed danger, hurriedly attempting to escape, but still inhaled some spores, causing its movements to suddenly slow, with its previously smooth flight becoming erratic and drunken.

It tried to flee, while Scout Puki followed closely.

Although the parrot’s speed still surpassed Puki’s, its swaying figure and erratic path made it impossible to shake off the pursuing Puki.

Moreover, the effect of the hallucinogenic spores continued to ferment within.

Puki trailed unhurriedly behind, with Lin Jun relishing the slow pursuit of prey, especially after it had attempted to humiliate them!

The chase didn’t last long, as the hallucinogenic spores took full effect, and the blue parrot could no longer hold on, crashing into the forest and landing clumsily among some bushes before fainting completely.

Scout Puki landed gently, approached the collapsed parrot, unceremoniously stepping on it a few times in frustration, then collected it.

A small demon looking down on Puki, they must be brought back, plucked, and made into chicken soup for the Lizardmen!

After dealing with the parrot, Scout Puki was about to continue its exploration but suddenly halted.

"Huff... Huff..."

A faint, almost entirely swallowed by the rustling of the forest, strange sound reached Scout Puki’s keen detection.

[Sound Wave Detection] swept the surroundings in invisible ripples but failed to lock onto the source. Lin Jun swiftly switched to [Magic Perception].

Finally, they found it, within a giant tree.

Circling this massive tree which took several people to embrace, they indeed discovered a hidden entrance to a tree hole among the entwined roots.

Entering, Puki soon arrived at the source of the sound—a dying elf!