The magic formation cannot draw sufficient magical power from underground?
Lin Jun looked at his mycelial network that spread throughout the underground of the demon tribe settlement... Ha, this is really strange, completely incomprehensible...
Lin Jun swore to Dylan's broken tombstone that he really didn't do it on purpose!
With his half-baked knowledge of magic formations, he could barely manage to set up a single third-tier magic formation, let alone understand the precise combination formation in the Cradle. Who knew its operating principle was so dependent on ley line magical power?
However... this works out just fine.
Hearing the voice in his mind, Shou's heart sank slightly, but he still asked: "Do you have any solution?"
The sound of flapping wings came from above, and a bat Puffshroom swayed unsteadily as it landed, precisely settling into the natural curve of Shou's horns—there was no helping it, the curved span of those two horns was just too convenient for Puffshrooms to perch on!
"Can you let me in?" Lin Jun asked.
Starfire stared somewhat dazedly at the suddenly appearing Puffshroom. As an important new priest, he had neither gone to the Mushroom Garden to "work" nor been parasitized by mycelium, so this was his first time seeing this legendary mushroom spirit with his own eyes.
But among the other demons, quite a few noticed this suddenly appearing Puffshroom, though they hadn't yet figured out what was happening.
Shou glanced at Starfire and the other tribesmen, and after only brief consideration, headed toward the stone house with the Puffshroom on his head.
When entering, he deliberately lowered his head to prevent the Puffshroom from hitting the top.
Inside the stone house, the newborn demon youth lay quietly on the ground. Deep blue Magic Patterns spread from the faintly glowing Magic Core in his chest, but they only extended to his arms before coming to an abrupt halt.
The ritual had clearly been interrupted before completion. The remaining Magic Patterns were dim and useless—at least on the status panel, there was no [Cold Resistance] at all.
What Lin Jun found somewhat surprising was that demons were already born in youth form.
Worthy of being a race that could reproduce asexually like mushrooms—their efficiency was much higher than those bisexual creatures that needed to slowly give birth and raise offspring!
The youth hadn't awakened, but his body was instinctively trembling in the cold.
His HP was already starting to drop on the status panel. In a little while, this newborn demon would die in his sleep.
Wrapping him in fur blankets now and warming him by a fire might let him survive temporarily, but such actions would be meaningless, only prolonging his suffering—he wouldn't be able to endure the journey away from the Far North.
But this life-threatening problem was just a matter of adding a skill to a blank slate for Lin Jun.
However, before that...
Some commotion arose outside the stone house, and soon several more Puffshrooms squeezed in.
Unlike the bat Puffshroom, these were warming-type burrowing Puffshrooms that Lin Jun had temporarily generated—naturally, they had made a show of running in from outside the tribal gates!
The Puffshrooms surrounded the newborn demon youth but didn't immediately begin heating... his HP needed to drop a bit more.
Shou stood in the center of the stone house, calmly blocking the Cradle behind him while quietly observing the Puffshrooms' actions.
After a while longer, when the HP had dropped to about a quarter, the four burrowing Puffshrooms all began operating at once.
With buzzing sounds, the temperature inside the stone house quickly rose, and the newborn demon's continuously draining life gradually stabilized.
At this point, the bat Puffshroom that had been perched on Shou's horns lightly jumped down, landing on the youth's chest. It shook its mushroom cap, and fine spores scattered evenly.
Shou could see what this was doing—every tribesman connected to the mycelial network would be sprinkled with spores.
However... so being bitten by a vampire wasn't a necessary step...
Parasitization complete.
Then they needed to connect to the fungal carpet...
A burrowing Puffshroom nimbly ran to a corner of the stone house where no formation had been drawn and immediately began drilling downward.
Shou instinctively raised his hand slightly, as if wanting to stop it, but ultimately chose to acquiesce, letting the Puffshrooms do their work.
More than ten minutes later, mycelium appeared at the hole opening.
A few minutes after that, a patch of fungal carpet had already grown in one corner of the stone house.
This scene made Shou's eyelids twitch.
Having worked under the Puffshrooms for so long, he naturally knew how the fungal carpet spread, and he knew there was fungal carpet existing outside the Dungeon as well.
But he hadn't expected that in less than half an hour, the fungal carpet could spread into the settlement. This indicated that there were likely already vast areas of fungal carpet underground!
Everything happening before his eyes reminded him that their tribe, though appearing normal on the surface, had probably long been surrounded by Puffshrooms. Even the recent magical power shortage might have been...
Lin Jun didn't care what Shou was thinking, and wouldn't have minded even if he knew.
After thoroughly understanding the so-called "Cradle" and "Birth Ceremony," Lin Jun was certain that the demons would absolutely be unable to leave him in the future, as long as he demonstrated the power of this "blessing" to them!
The Puffshrooms dragged the newborn demon onto the fungal carpet, and the mycelium automatically connected. Magical power surged through the fungal carpet into the demon's body.
The incomplete ice-blue Magic Patterns on the youth's body suddenly blazed bright for an instant, then dimmed again.
Lin Jun didn't know what that sudden flash meant, but just then, [Cold Resistance LV8] had been applied!
The magical power consumed was negligible, not even comparable to creating a cannon mushroom, since this newborn demon didn't have any skills yet.
The burrowing Puffshrooms stopped heating, and the warmth in the stone house gradually dissipated. Shou's heart rose to his throat.
However, not only did the youth on the ground not shiver, but he actually relaxed his brow in his sleep, breathing steadily as if he were in the most comfortable environment.
"This...?!" Shou's voice carried unbelievable trembling.
Lin Jun's voice was like a gentle whisper, carrying just the right touch of allure, speaking directly in Shou's mind: "It's nothing special, just that I... happen to have mastered some small techniques for granting power to 'followers.'"
"Followers..." Shou repeatedly savored this word.
"Of course," Lin Jun said candidly, "don't let the easy process fool you—the price paid is quite significant. If they weren't truly my own people, how would they be worth such help? But you needn't mind—I have no other meaning. You've helped me quite a bit recently, so consider this time a small token of gratitude!"
...
Shou, holding the newborn demon, walked out of the stone house. He looked around at the tribesmen who had gathered with worried expressions, took a deep breath, and announced: "The ritual... was successful! We have a new tribesman!"
After a brief silence, thunderous cheers erupted!
The demons excitedly embraced and jumped, some even spontaneously performing ritual dances.
The large pot that had been prepared was set up, and mushroom soup mixed with insect meat, mushrooms, and a small amount of Delicious Mushrooms began to boil—celebrating the birth of new life was the demon tribe's only festival.
Only Starfire had a face full of shock and confusion.
Carrying the newborn demon back into the main tent, he settled him on the relatively comfortable bed.
Generally speaking, newly born demons needed several days of sleep to consolidate their consciousness—just let him sleep.
Starfire followed closely behind, carefully examining the still-incomplete Magic Patterns on the youth's body, asking in confusion: "How exactly was this accomplished?"
"This... is the Puffshrooms' ability."
"The Puffshrooms' ability?"
Shou didn't continue explaining. Instead, he slowly took out the Magic Core that the elder had given him before dying, silently contemplating.
He thought of many things—the tribe's current situation, the tribesmen who had already formed a symbiotic relationship with the mycelium, Qiong who loved eating Delicious Mushrooms, the large amount of fungal carpet that might exist underground in the settlement, and even more so the Puffshrooms' methods that rivaled those of the legendary Demon Lord!
After a long while, he finally raised his head to look at Starfire, looking at this tribe's only remaining upper-tier warrior and priest besides himself, saying word by word: "Starfire, we... should surrender to the mushrooms!"
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