This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

Fireball!

Lightning Bolt!

Mud Swamp!

Without relying on the framework of mana nodes, the condensation and shaping of mana became unprecedentedly direct, and the construction speed increased significantly.

However, after careful comparison, Lin Jun still discovered its drawback. Maintaining mana stability without passing through nodes required several times more mental control than normal spellcasting.

The difference was extremely subtle, so subtle that Lin Jun didn’t notice it at first.

Thinking about it, it was only reasonable. The node system itself was an excellent spellcasting framework, providing stability and repeatability.

Breaking free of the framework granted freedom, but maintaining a spell’s stability and precision without it undoubtedly placed much harsher demands on the caster.

Fortunately, for Lin Jun, it made no real difference.

It was just that… reading was really hard…

In the Overcasting Library, Lin Jun’s reading progress caught up to Ivan’s within just a few days.

This was with Lin Jun reusing [Mental Guidance] every night to enter the dream. If he could stay inside continuously, without having to withdraw all the invested mental power every morning, the progress would have been countless times faster.

But from this point onward, the content became increasingly complex, even starting to analyze mana itself, with a trend toward delving into the microscopic.

Simply put, Lin Jun read fast, but he was starting to struggle to digest it.

That said, there was an old saying in the mushroom garden: a mushroom is not born extraordinary; it excels by borrowing puji.

Wasn’t No. 10 quite talented in magic? This was a perfect chance to let him try.

As for No. 10’s limited mental strength… as a unique individual half-separated from Lin Jun’s soul, he happened to be able to use a new method Lin Jun had recently learned in the abyssal space involving the use of a Sunstone.

…

The Elven Royal Palace Library.

In the spacious arched hall, light streamed through the high glass windows, forming mottled pillars of light that fell upon ancient, heavy wooden tables and bookshelves.

The air carried a mixed scent of old paper, parchment, and a certain cool, woody fragrance.

Only a handful of elves were scattered throughout the hall. Some sat, some stood, all focused on the volumes in their hands, with only the occasional soft rustle of turning pages.

Still, whenever the sound of “puji puji” rang out, they couldn’t help but turn their gazes toward the puji repeatedly fetching and reading books.

Slender tentacles made up for its lack of height, allowing it to easily reach the books it wanted.

It wasn’t that they found it noisy. The palace elves wouldn’t be displeased by such minor movement.

It was simply novel to see a puji inside the royal palace library.

After all, half a year ago, puji were still classified as monsters.

Even now, mages and druids were still arguing over whether puji should be categorized as a sapient race or as highly intelligent magical beasts.

This was the first floor of the palace library. There were no forbidden books here, but ordinary outsiders still weren’t qualified to enter.

This was thanks to Pink puji and No. 14. No. 10 had merely made a tentative request, and Galadriel, who had already completely fallen into the Mushroom Lord’s beautiful mushroom scheme and was infatuated with No. 14’s mushroom body, had generously approved it.

Thinking of this, No. 10 sincerely praised the Mushroom Lord’s greatness in his heart.

With just a small trick, he had played the elven king— even if only the acting one— a figure of immense importance on the continent, right into the palm of his tentacles.

In the future, the entire continent would surely bow beneath the Mushroom Lord’s mushroom cap!

And he himself had to be even more diligent, acquiring more knowledge and mastering greater power, to prove his worth and become an indispensable right-hand subordinate of the Mushroom Lord!

Looking around within the mushroom race, the other kin were either still indulging in power struggles from the clan’s early days, or content with the status quo, or even sinking into the gentle embraces of humans or other races. None of them had realized that only knowledge and power were the true foundation of the mushroom race!

The only one who could truly be called a threat was No. 14, and now…

Inside the library, No. 10 didn’t limit himself to magical tomes. As long as the content held value, whether historical records, alchemical principles, basic elemental theory, or even certain monster bestiaries, he accepted them all.

Relying on mental perception far surpassing that of ordinary sapient races, his reading was closer to efficient scanning and storage. Pages flipped rapidly under his mycelial tentacles, producing a continuous, soft rustling sound.

It was precisely this frequent movement and fetching that occasionally produced the signature “puji” sound.

When Lin Jun felt the mushroom race’s mental strength was limited, that conclusion was drawn with himself as the reference.

“No. 10, you’re working hard,” Lin Jun’s gentle voice suddenly sounded directly within No. 10’s consciousness without warning.

“Mushroom Lord!” Being suddenly noticed by the Mushroom Lord, No. 10 responded instinctively.

“You’re very good. Your temperament is resilient, your handling of matters calm, and more importantly, you know to proactively seek knowledge and study magic on your own. Your response in the underground ruins last time was also commendable.”

Receiving the Mushroom Lord’s recognition, even No. 10’s usually calm heart couldn’t help but surge with excitement.

“In light of your performance, I plan to give you a reward. There is a precious opportunity related to magical knowledge, or you may choose to exchange it for other things you need, such as more S-rank magic crystals or other resources. I will satisfy you.”

“I choose that opportunity!” Without hesitation, to No. 10, external items like magic crystals couldn’t possibly compare to magical knowledge that even the Mushroom Lord deemed precious.

“But it won’t be easy. You might not be able to grasp it. If that happens, this reward will be wasted. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?” Lin Jun kindly reminded him.

“I… I can do it! Mushroom Lord, please believe in me!”

“Good!”

The next instant, the mycelial tentacle No. 10 had been using to touch the pages suddenly slackened, and his round mushroom body seemed to lose all support at once, collapsing softly onto the floor with a “pu” sound.

Not far away, an elven scholar who had been buried in documents was startled by the movement. He looked up, saw the puji lying motionless on the ground, and immediately stood and hurried over, concern and confusion on his face, bending down to check on it.

However, the limp puji had already shakily stood back up on its own.

It methodically closed the open book, returned it to its place with a mycelial tentacle, then turned around and left the library under the gaze of several elves.

No one knew that this was no longer No. 10.

…

Having left the mushroom body, No. 10 naturally lost all perception of the outside world.

His consciousness sank into a hazy state.

He felt his soul wrapped in countless warm, flexible mycelial strands. The sensation was incomparably comfortable, as if returning to the most primordial peace of life.

It felt as though with just a gentle push, he could merge into these endless mycelia, leaving all disturbances behind and entering eternal, tranquil rest.

Unfortunately, in his soul state, he couldn’t even muster the simple intention of “merging.”

That carefree comfort washed over him like a tide, coming quickly and leaving just as fast.

When he came back to his senses, he was already inside a cannon-fodder puji body, surrounded by a small, enclosed space.

A faint sense of loss arose in his heart. This was a minor aftereffect that accompanied every soul transfer.

He quickly pulled himself together, preparing to face that opportunity and challenge!

“Don’t rush,” Lin Jun soothed. “Before we start, there’s still some preparatory work to do. It can help increase your success rate.”

A Sunstone was brought in by a puji, but instead of spreading its warm light throughout the surroundings as usual, under Lin Jun’s control, the light was gathered and condensed, ultimately forming a slender yet stable bridge of light that enveloped No. 10’s mushroom body.

No. 10 immediately noticed the change. His mental power was actually increasing continuously!

“This is…”

“Quiet. Focus on adapting to the change.”

No. 10 didn’t ask further. He devoted himself completely to it, concentrating on experiencing this unprecedented sensation of “soul expansion.”

The source of this power wasn’t created from nothing. In fact, Lin Jun was actively transferring a portion of his own soul power.

This was one of the minor uses of a Sunstone, adjusting the proportion between the split soul fragments and Lin Jun’s main body.

For most beings, this would probably be useless. Split it off and you lose it; lose it and you weaken.

But Lin Jun was different. What he lacked was never total quantity, but methods of dispatching and utilizing this massive volume.

The portion split to No. 10, even at the maximum No. 10 could currently bear, was merely a drop in the ocean for Lin Jun.

And this massive increase in mental power would ensure that during No. 10’s upcoming journey into the Overcasting Library, he could read that knowledge much faster. The rest would depend on his own learning ability.

As for the other puji, although they didn’t lack soul volume, it seemed giving it to them would be pointless for now, so there was no need to waste it.

No. 10’s upgrade, or rather the adjustment of his soul volume, wouldn’t take long. On Ivan’s side, preparations also needed to begin.

Sneaking in at night and withdrawing at dawn was ultimately too inefficient and carried the risk of exposure.

Moreover, if left alone, that halfling mage truly wouldn’t live much longer. His mental power was being rapidly worn away.

Even for the sake of No. 10’s studies, Lin Jun needed to first keep him alive. That required a reasonable, legitimate identity that could stay long-term in the Silver Thorn squad’s courtyard.

…

Norvid, at the corner of a secluded alley.

A figure wrapped head to toe in an unremarkable dark gray-brown cloak, even their face hidden beneath the hood’s shadow, quietly raised an arm and stopped the elven Night Owl as she lightly vaulted over the side wall.