Lin Jun found [Rainbow Glow] paired with [Charm] worked like a charm!
[Charm] was solid but tricky to trigger—targets needed to stare at a Charm Puffshroom long enough for it to sink in.
That trick might work on clueless werewolves, but seasoned adventurers or sharp-eyed foes would look away the second they sensed something off, breaking the spell.
But add [Rainbow Glow]? Game-changer.
The skill seemed useless, just making Puffshrooms flashy and dazzling.
Yet that sudden visual punch made targets chalk up their unease to “awe,” “curiosity,” or “being drawn in,” stretching their gaze before reason kicked in, spiking [Charm]’s success rate.
Why target Solarin? Her recent odd moves caught Lin Jun’s eye.
Sure, the human higher-ups seemed on board, but this stubborn Wings of Judgment captain’s constant reports were a hassle.
Lin Jun planned a “gentle” way to show her the “beauty of Puffshrooms.”
This try got cut short, but no rush—plenty of chances later.
The Puffshroom Master community was booming as expected, growing on its own even without Lin Jun’s nudge.
But the “Strange Dream” battlefield hit a new stalemate.
The enemy, using some trick, stopped fighting directly. Each night, Lin Jun faced a vast, complex, but dull and empty dreamscape.
It was a tough shell guarding their core mind. Without smashing it, he couldn’t reach their true dream.
With his nightly mental strength, breaking that shell before the dream’s time limit was a stretch.
Unsure how long they could turtle up, Lin Jun banked on leveling up [Mind Guidance] to crack that pesky barrier.
Meanwhile, Godwood Dungeon’s exploration saw fresh progress.
A seven-elf elite squad sped through Godwood Dungeon.
Salian, who reported the anomaly, stayed in town to set up the critical “Monitoring Array,” skipping this mission.
The team’s lineup showed the elves’ priority: a hall-tier captain leading, five diamond-tier elites as muscle, plus a gold-tier druid with rare sensing skills.
“Don’t you think the mushrooms here are way too many?” a nimble hunter asked, keeping a wary pace. “Last year, this place’s ecosystem wasn’t like this.”
“Not just mushrooms,” another added. “Glowgrass is nearly gone, and those fluorescent mushrooms are dimmer.”
“That proves something’s off deep in the dungeon. This trip won’t be a bust.”
“A bust? We’re on floor seven and haven’t seen a hint of those ‘red-veined treants’!”
“Quiet!” The captain raised a hand, halting the team.
His eyes locked on a pitch-black patch ahead, no fluorescent mushrooms in sight.
Then, a scarlet flash lit the dark!
A shrill whoosh hit as a sticky, lightning-fast tongue, dozens of meters long, shot at the captain!
“Giant forest frog!” a teammate identified the beast.
The captain’s face stayed calm. His elf blade, etched with intricate runes and glowing like moonlight, flicked out, slicing the tongue clean in half!
Before the frog could retract or strike again, the team’s mage and hunter acted. A sharp stone spike and two arrows plunged into the dark.
A pained wail erupted, then faded fast.
Soon, the seven reached the frog’s massive corpse. Under the mage’s orange illumination spell, faint, twisting red veins showed beneath its rough skin.
The captain approached, the mage silently casting a mental shield.
As his fingers touched the red veins, a familiar, uneasy jolt hit, matching the red treant hide from before.
“This is worse than we thought,” the captain said grimly. “It’s not just treants.”
“The forest is scared…” the druid said, palm pressed to a giant tree.
“Keep moving.” The captain sliced off a veined chunk of frog flesh, bagged it, and stood.
They had to gauge how deep this went to report back.
At floor thirteen, half-demon Bastardos, hidden in a gnarled ancient tree’s branches, saw the infection’s terrifying scale.
Below, countless red-glowing figures roared and tore at each other, the chaos of screams and ripping flesh unending.
Above, flying beasts, once bound by food chains, went berserk—hunters ignored kills, prey charged predators in suicidal rushes.
All reason and order collapsed. Godwood Dungeon’s ages-old ecosystem was burning out in this mad frenzy.
Even hall-tier Bastardos felt the pressure, moving extra cautiously, speed slowed.
“What a waste!” Lin Jun’s heart ached.
He wanted to roll out the mycelium right there to save these lost souls.
Whoosh!
Bastardos calmly shot an arrow, dropping a crazed giant bird mid-dive. He checked his dwindling quiver in the Puffshroom backpack, asking, “Boss, keep going deeper?”
Early on, he could retrieve arrows.
Now, in this unhinged chaos, trying would risk more arrows and bigger trouble.
His remaining arrows, by strict count, barely covered a safe retreat.
Going deeper meant melee.
After seeing [Madness]’s horror, Bastardos wanted no part of getting dirty.
Even without close combat, this blood-soaked hell was creeping into his calm, a faint manic itch stirring.
Luckily, Lin Jun wasn’t unreasonable.
He quickly okayed Bastardos’s retreat request, based on the situation.
“Pull back, Dylan Two. But first, grab that!”
Following the Puffshroom backpack’s mycelium tendril, Bastardos’s gaze cut through leafy gaps to a bizarre small tree.
Its veins glowed like liquid starlight, radiating a soft, mystic shine.
The tree moved slowly on its own. Any beast nearing it, weak or strong, dropped dead, poisoned, in moments.
Its winding branches bore plump, crystal-clear, juicy-looking fruits!
[Juicy]!
(End of Chapter)
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