This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

Four initially wanted to roll away, but then realized he was frozen in place as well.

He tried to use his huge stubby legs to kick the Elemental Lord away, but the moment he pushed off, before even touching her, that leg froze solid too.

Extreme cold was not enough to kill the highly resilient beast puji, but it completely pinned him in place.

Four made a split-second decision. While his tentacles could still move, he shoved them into his belly, fished Inanna out, and hurled her with all his strength toward the distance.

Inanna had been stuffed inside the whole time and had no idea what was happening outside. She only felt the surroundings growing colder and colder.

Suddenly being thrown out, she rolled twice on the ground before stabilizing herself. When she looked up, she found that pale blue figure had already drifted to right in front of her.

The Frost Elemental Lord extended a slender finger formed of ice crystal and gently cupped Inanna’s cheek.

The moment she touched her, frost spread rapidly across Inanna’s body.

Only then did Inanna truly see the other party’s appearance — an ice lady with a face smooth as a mirror, devoid of any facial features. Star-like points of light seemed to shimmer within her chest. Elegant, yet filled with inhuman emptiness and icy death.

Cold white mist surged up and completely swallowed Inanna.

……

Pink puji!

Although he had said long ago that it would be dangerous, when pink puji really did get frozen into an ice sculpture because she helped him, Lin Jun still felt a bit guilty.

Fortunately, Lin Jun had prepared for this long ago. That stone tablet at the bottom of the lake had already been salvaged in advance…

No, wait!

Now wasn’t the time to think about that.

Lin Jun, Lin Jun, how can you wallow in grief at a time like this? The most urgent thing right now is to figure out how to transport pink puji’s ice sculpture onto the fungal carpet…

Hm?

Pink puji, why is your status panel still there?

There was even an extra brand-new line in the status bar:

[Frost Blessing]

The enveloping frost mist gradually dispersed.

On Inanna’s body now appeared a long ceremonial gown formed from condensed ice crystals. Its style was identical to the Elemental Lord’s own gown — light and flowing, not heavy in the slightest.

Inanna’s Cold Resistance had not increased, but all the chill was absorbed by that gown, as if an extra insulating layer had been added.

And the Elemental Lord was slowly floating around Inanna, crystalline fingers occasionally brushing her cheek, the movements gentle.

The Snow Attendant and Frost Knight, the two high-tier frost spirits, finally broke free of their restraints and rushed over.

But they could only stop ten meters away, gazing pitifully as the Elemental Lord monopolized Inanna.

Four shattered the frozen parts of his body, regenerating as he clumsily stood back up. Looking at this harmonious scene, he tilted his enormous mushroom cap.

“Uh… are we still fighting?”

……

All the intruding blood race members had now been dealt with. Lin Jun handed Inanna back to the frost spirits, letting them gather in one corner of the ruins.

Aside from a few unlucky frost spirits that had missed the chance to attend the gathering, there was basically no longer any threat left in the ruins.

Next came the rescue operations.

Large numbers of corridors and rooms inside the spiral structure had collapsed, and many soldiers from Puji Fort were buried beneath rubble and ice spikes.

Fortunately, after fungal symbiosis, everyone’s vitality had more than doubled. As long as they weren’t unlucky enough to die instantly, it was hard for them to perish from such injuries.

Combined with the perception granted by the fungus network, no one would be missed during rescue.

After two full days of rescue work, all surviving soldiers were pulled out.

However, more than seventy soldiers still returned to the fungal carpet, making this the deadliest operation since Puji Fort was established.

While Lin Jun was decomposing them with tears in his eyes, a small incident occurred.

Most souls, after being decomposed, were like slick loaches — Lin Jun couldn’t retain them at all.

But this time there was an exception. After being drained clean, one soul did not immediately merge into the world. Instead, it clung to the surface of Lin Jun’s soul for two seconds before finally detaching and vanishing.

Although it was extremely brief and Lin Jun had no time to do anything, this anomaly still caught his attention.

Was there something special about this one?

Lin Jun went back and checked on the deceased half-demon.

He had originally been a slave in a medium-sized tribe. Due to the drop in temperature, the entire tribe was eventually absorbed by Puji Fort, and he came along as well.

Puji Fort did not need slavery, so he gained his freedom. After that, he volunteered to enlist, joined Puji Fort’s army, and trained under Piglet for several months.

In short, an ordinary soldier with no family ties, and nowhere even to send compensation.

But… there was nothing special about that.

There were plenty of people in Puji Fort with similar backgrounds, and he himself had no special skills either. It couldn’t be some hidden half-demon bloodline, could it?

With no further clues, the matter could only be shelved for the time being. After all, the affairs of the ruins were not yet over.

……

The first and foremost issue was naturally the Elemental Lord.

As the root cause of the continuous cooling in the northern region, destroying her outright would be a permanent solution. But given her current obsession with pink puji, she could be considered half an ally to some extent — a power that could be utilized.

A sneak attack to kill her wasn’t impossible, but no matter how one thought about it, it felt like a waste.

Yet if left unchecked, there was no telling when the cold wave would completely spiral out of control and cause an even greater disaster.

Moreover, these soulless beings only became docile near Inanna. Once Inanna left, they would still attack whoever they should attack. Inanna couldn’t exactly stay here forever as a stabilizing pillar, could she?

The Yellow Book proactively offered a suggestion:

[Boss, use a seal!]

“You have a magic array that can seal an Elemental Spirit of this level?”

[I don’t have a ready-made one here.]

“Then are you messing with me?”

[I wouldn’t dare! What I mean is, I don’t have one, but I know where to get it!]

[Boss, don’t we still have that passage leading to the dwarves’ Moltenfire underground city?]

[Back then, the dwarves sealed that Elemental Lord for hundreds of years!]

[If you let me study the damaged seal structure, I should be able to replicate something similar!]

“A magic array master?”

The two pages rubbed together sheepishly.

[Hehe, I just picked up a bit from my former master.]

Lin Jun didn’t immediately agree, but it was indeed a viable line of thought.

Besides relying on the Yellow Book, he could also consider using Inanna’s identity in the human kingdom to try directly requesting the sealing technology from the dwarves.

The chances might be slim, but it was worth trying.

After adding the Elemental Lord to the planning list, there was one final matter left in the ruins — treasure.

The war constructs were one aspect. People had already been dispatched to follow the two dwarves back to re-explore the forge. With no frost spirit threat this time, they could search thoroughly.

Whether intact war constructs with research value or valuable scrolls, everything would be collected and transported out.

The dwarf named Torin was so busy he was overjoyed. Lin Jun even suspected the guy would be willing to pay just to work overtime.

The other treasure was the vampire marquis’s treasure map!

Cassinar had a very stubborn mouth. Lin Jun and the Yellow Book patiently “guided” him in a secret chamber for three full days before he finally opened up and explained everything.

Following the instructions, their subordinates dug out a room that was still completely intact beneath the rubble.

It had originally been located in the upper levels of the building’s core area. Due to the collapse, it had fallen here, yet miraculously remained whole — which alone demonstrated its special nature.

The door was engraved with complex mana patterns, forming a precise password lock. A puji pressed its tentacles against the surface and, following the sheepskin scroll’s guidance, lit up the nodes in the pattern one by one in a specific sequence.

When the final rune lit up, the door slowly slid inward, revealing a pile of items stacked inside.