Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 309 - 301: Promotion

Puki came down with a bunch of "fresh wolf fur."

After all, Xiao Lan couldn’t return with his furry appearance, so Puki considerately provided grooming services for him.

There was so much wolf fur that Puki couldn’t even hold it all, though it wasn’t necessary to have that much.

When Lin Jun came back with the wolf fur, the scene was in utter chaos.

The Yellow-covered Book was in Norris’s hand, angrily directing the Demon Race members responsible for carving the Magic Array.

[Fools! This line needs to be straight! Do you know what a straight line is?!]

Norris leaned in to take a closer look, "Isn’t this a straight line?"

[You’ve got a lizard brain! Are you blind or am I blind?! That bulge! See it?! Make them redo it! Now! Immediately!]

Norris scratched his head and had no choice but to call over a Demon Race member to point out the Yellow-covered Book’s concerns.

[Why so polite?! Scold him! This useless tool! Can’t even carve a straight line, trying to get me killed?!]

"Didn’t you say this ritual was for Louisa? How would it kill you?" Norris muttered under his breath.

[...]

Seeing Puki appear with the wolf fur, the Yellow-covered Book instantly acted as if salvation had come:

[Boss! You’re finally back! You have to do something! If these idiots keep messing around, Louisa is doomed!]

With no other options, Lin Jun summoned Xing Huo. This new priest of the Demon Tribe had barely managed to earn the Yellow-covered Book’s picky approval for his understanding of the Magic Array.

On another note, the problem with Demon Crystals.

The Combat Puppet definitely couldn’t be dismantled. It was the last and strongest line of defense in the Underground City!

So, they had to produce them themselves...

Piles of Demon Crystals were brought out and stacked into small mountains.

Six special Puki surrounded the pile, continuously absorbing the essence from inside the crystal stones.

Accompanied by the sound of "crackling," the Demon Crystals quickly darkened, cracked, and turned to useless powdery residue.

The absorbed energy slowly and laboriously condensed into S Level Demon Crystals inside the Puki.

This was all of Lin Jun’s stock!

Not that the Underground City would be out of Demon Crystals after using them up, but extracting so many again would take an unknown amount of time!

Oddly enough, the most distressed about this wasn’t Lin Jun himself, but Xiao Hai.

Little Black, who routinely checked her "little treasury" after waking up, keenly noticed the anomaly today—Puki were "ruining" her future Bright Crystal!

Although these Demon Crystals were at best "glass ball" level in her eyes—no match for Silver Scale or gemstones—they were still Bright Crystals!

Seeing the Demon Crystals that originally glowed dimly being crushed by Puki, Xiao Hai lunged forward with urgency, growling at the Puki, her tail and wings spreading wide to shield the Demon Crystals and try to stop the Puki’s "atrocity."

In the end, Lin Jun could only "agree" to General Black’s request.

Watching the Fat Otaku Puki put the Demon Crystals back, Xiao Hai finally relaxed. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Then Lin Jun found an even more secluded corner to continue his "money-burning" endeavors.

Three days later.

When almost ninety percent of the Demon Crystal stock had vanished, six palm-sized, exquisitely clear S Level Demon Crystals finally formed with difficulty!

Looking at this substantial "result," it felt like being a father selling everything to fund his child’s higher education, with his heart bleeding.

To increase the success rate, Lin Jun even used Magic Power to provide Louisa with recovery abilities like [Fungal Filament Reassembly] and [Regeneration].

"Little Pig, you have to succeed!" (Or I’ll lose everything!)

[Louisa, you mustn’t die!] (If you do, the boss will kill me!)

"Sister Blood, give it your best!" (Sincerely)

With everyone’s sincere hopes, Louisa stood at the center of the ritual Magic Array.

Six S Level Demon Crystals were embedded at the nodes of the Magic Array, several Magic Storage Puki supplied energy, and the brilliance of the magic flowed through the Array like stars.

Of course, the essential sacrifice was the great Vampire Count Yuni’er.

She was dragged over by the Puki like a dead pig.

Even though Lin Jun wanted to engage in some philosophical conversation with her, the high cost of the six S Level Demon Crystals made him suppress his itching urge and choose the most secure method—rendering the sacrifice completely paralyzed!

As the ritual commenced under Louisa’s guidance, the flowing starlight gradually turned blood-red. Then, a crimson light shot up to the ceiling, forming a twisted beam that enveloped Louisa and Yuni’er entirely!

Countless energy-formed lines resembling blood vessels surged from the Array, fiercely piercing into Louisa’s limbs and body, while another thicker, greedier line pierced Yuni’er’s heart!

"Ahh——!!!"

The intense pain even jolted Yuni’er awake from her unconsciousness, emitting a shriek so guttural it barely sounded human!

However, Lin Jun had multiple layers of safeguards, giving Yuni’er no chance to resist.

Her body convulsed and spasmed violently, visibly shriveling, her skin losing luster, turning gray and wrinkled, while her luxurious golden hair withered and turned gray as if she had rapidly aged.

The intense pain left her unable to utter any words apart from screams.

Lin Jun watched the soul’s change in the ritual with curiosity, the Yellow-covered Book nervously monitored the ritual’s progress, and only Norris displayed a hint of reluctance yet couldn’t look away.

The essence blood within Yuni’er, containing Origin Power, was forcibly extracted by the crimson threads, briskly injected into Louisa!

Louisa also let out agonizing roars!

Her body swelled like a balloon being rapidly inflated, veins and blood vessels bulging like writhing dragons under her skin, bones creaking under the strain, muscles contorting and deforming from the energy, almost about to explode!

[Hold on! Guide it! Break the shackles!] The Yellow-covered Book was desperate, while Norris promptly recited the words.

Yet the situation continued to worsen.

[No way, although her will is sustaining, her body can’t hold on! The backlash from her unique condition causing bloodline differences is worse than anticipated!]

The Yellow-covered Book was nearly blaming the fungus.

[There’s still a chance, let me in!]

Lin Jun didn’t waste words, immediately throwing it in.

As soon as it entered the Magic Array, the Yellow-covered Book floated, and Lin Jun enveloped the essence of the Yellow-covered Book completely with his soul, preparing to crush it at any moment.

Fortunately, the Yellow-covered Book genuinely didn’t seem to be playing tricks this time, instead connecting several Magic Silk Threads to itself as a transfer point, reducing the direct impact on Louisa.

However, it merely slowed down the deterioration.

Louisa’s Life Value on the panel kept dropping under the ritual’s impact, on the brink of failure, Lin Jun contemplated whether to abort when—

The fungus moved!

Inside Louisa, the fungal filaments that had long coexisted with her flesh and blood, spurred by some skill or perhaps by parasitic instinct.

When Louisa’s body reached a critical point of collapse, they started expanding for the second time since the parasitism.

The filaments absorbed the frenzied energy, divided and spread, filling the damaged areas.

As they diminished, the pressure on Louisa was significantly alleviated.

Finally, amidst Louisa’s roars, the entire crimson beam rushed into her body.

Feeling the surge of new power within, Louisa, unable to stand steadily, grinned with her mouth torn and bleeding from the previous screams, "Ha... This feels... pretty good."

However, as soon as she finished speaking, she blacked out and completely fainted.

The light of the Magic Array dimmed, the six S Level Demon Crystals turned entirely into ash-gray powder, and the Yellow-covered Book also fell down.

The moment the book touched the ground, a flattering line of text impatiently surfaced:

[Boss, about that, could you...]

Lin Jun knew what it wanted, glancing at Little Pig’s panel showing Level 53, and agreed: "Alright."

[Boss is generous!]

In the next instant, an invisible suction force wrapped around the shriveled corpse of Count Yuni’er. In the [Inspiration] view, the Vampire Count’s soul was forcibly extracted, as if being swept into a vortex, absorbed into the Yellow-covered Book.

A brand-new special page with simple light-gold edges quietly formed. (Next Chapter around 2 o’clock)