A small glass vial held a few drops of clear liquid.
It looked like water but was thicker. When the vial tilted, the liquid slid slowly along the inner wall, leaving faint traces.
All of it collected from Lin Jun's main body.
Ever since reclaiming the skill, his blue mushroom cap had begun secreting this fluid. That initial sense of "moistness" was the first sign.
Now that he thought about it, the reason he hadn't noticed this when the skill was loaded on other Puchi was probably just a matter of scale.
Even on a heavy-armor Puchi, a few extra drops of fluid inside the body wouldn't cause noticeable changes.
This must be life source's output. But what was it for?
He needed... test subjects...
Lin Jun's gaze shifted to Norris, who was setting traps and establishing perimeter alerts near his mushroom hut...
No, no. That was just reflexive.
Now that the operation was large-scale, risky projects no longer required Norris personally.
His perspective shifted again, arriving at another cavern in the deep zone that no one knew about.
Lin Jun's main lair being unknown was for safety. This place being unknown? That was because Lin Jun didn't want his subordinates to mistake him for some inhumanely cruel tyrant overlord—bad for unity.
Dim glow illuminated huddled figures in the cavern.
Most were humans from Mushroom City.
Among them: serial killers, unscrupulous adventurers, bullies, gangsters... Basically, anyone who met two criteria—their disappearance wouldn't draw much attention, and experimenting on them carried no psychological burden. Those people would end up here.
Besides humans, there were also a few half-demons and lizardfolk.
These were captives who'd committed unforgivable crimes. Among this type, those with gold-tier+ strength would be fully parasitized to become mushroomkin guards, while the weak—too pathetic to even justify wasting Puchi capacity on full parasitism—got dumped here to contribute to the mushroom garden however possible.
Sigmund's ability to enjoy fine red wine was also thanks to this place.
Puff—squish—
A plump recluse Puchi stepped into the cavern. The previously quiet space erupted with activity.
When they saw it wasn't the blood-draining green-skinned vampire Puchi but a plump recluse Puchi instead—
Whether demon or human, everyone desperately shrank back, wishing they could hide in the stone cracks.
Those taken away by plump recluse Puchi never returned. No one believed they'd been released...
The plump recluse Puchi's thick tentacle swept over their heads like someone selecting vegetables, finally choosing a dull-eyed man who didn't dodge or hide.
Lin Jun still remembered him. Out of pure jealousy and envy, he'd quietly poisoned his teammate who was planning to retire, then cleverly redirected the constable's investigation so he was never caught. Lin Jun had internally praised him as a high-IQ criminal.
Then on a dark and windy night, he'd used charm Puchi to bring him here.
When first brought in, he'd cursed and tried to resist and escape. Who'd have thought that in less than two months, he'd already be broken.
Someone with no will to live would die soon anyway if left alone—better to use him before that happened.
Only after those heavy footsteps completely faded did the deathly silent cavern erupt with rough, ragged breathing. Several people hadn't even dared breathe earlier.
...
One drop down the throat, and the effect was immediate.
Like equipping high-tier regeneration, the overlapping old and new scrapes and bruises on the test subject's body visibly healed and faded, leaving not even a trace of scarring.
The warrior Puchi beside him struck with a mycelial blade whip at the perfect moment. With a piercing scream, the subject's left arm was severed at the shoulder, blood spurting.
Yet the consumed liquid continued exerting its effects.
The flesh at the break and the mycelium embedded in his body writhed and interwove frantically, regenerating at shocking speed until most of the arm had regrown before stopping.
One more drop and it fully regrew.
Mm... future spending on limb regeneration potions could be saved?
Just as Lin Jun found this result somewhat underwhelming, he suddenly noticed changes appearing on the test subject's status panel.
[Level Up: LV28 → LV29]
Level up?!
The complete restoration of his body, combined with this sudden power increase, seemed to reignite the will to live in the subject's eyes.
A growl rumbled from his throat. His previously limp body suddenly exploded with strength. The muscles in his mycelium-bound arm bulged, and he actually tore through the plump recluse Puchi's tentacle!
Only then did Lin Jun notice—his stats had somehow suddenly increased by nearly fifty percent.
The subject tore away the remaining mycelium on his body, made a desperate roll to narrowly dodge the blade whip striking again, then like a headless fly, frantically ran toward a relatively wide passage opening.
Puff puff puff—
The next second, the subject covered in mushrooms tumbled to the ground, rolling and leaving broken mycelium chunks everywhere.
Ignoring the now fully mushroomified test subject, Lin Jun felt like he'd finally glimpsed a ray of hope!
Perfect timing—his main body had secreted quite a bit more liquid. The plump recluse Puchi turned back and selected a few new lab rats.
After a thorough round of experimentation, Lin Jun finally figured out what this liquid actually was.
After consumption, it would prioritize healing all injuries, with effects even surpassing limb regeneration potions.
In combat situations, once injuries healed, remaining energy would convert to temporary stat boosts, with almost none of the side effects of regular berserk potions.
The best-performing test subject nearly doubled his stats temporarily.
If there were neither injuries nor combat, the energy would be peacefully absorbed by the body, steadily converting to experience points and promoting level advancement.
Though consuming too much in a short period seemed to cause some efficiency decay in absorption.
In summary, it was like an experience potion + berserk potion + regeneration potion.
That's how it seemed to work in practice, but the liquid itself was probably pure life energy!
Lin Jun even suspected it had life-extending functions, though that was impossible to test.
Recalling that artifact called the Yggdrasil Wood Core, its operating method was similarly about controlling and utilizing life force.
This life source truly fit the Divine Tree boss's power style.
By this logic, relying on this endless stream of life energy liquid, couldn't he rapidly break through level 70, push past the level 80 barrier, charge to 90, and ultimately transcend limits to stand at the world's peak?!
Though absorption efficiency decreased with quantity, as long as production was high enough and he absorbed it all himself, he could brute-force his way through, right?!
In the following days, Lin Jun consciously controlled his main body to reabsorb all the secreted life energy liquid.
This cycle repeated for many days as he eagerly anticipated changes in himself.
However, the expected rapid level progression never occurred. He didn't level up at all.
Full of confusion, Lin Jun had to set up a control group—he brought in Little Black, who'd just reached LV63, only one level below him.
Each day's production of life liquid was split in two, consumed by both him and this "control group."
Of course, he didn't consult Little Black about this, and Little Black didn't notice anything amiss either—just felt that Puchi had gotten stickier lately, making smacking sounds when eating.
Then one day, Little Black successfully advanced to LV64, matching a certain mushroom's level. Meanwhile, Lin Jun, who'd consumed so much more life water over those days, still hadn't leveled up.
Such cruel experimental results forced Lin Jun to seriously reconsider a question he'd pondered before:
Just how much more experience did he need to level up compared to others?!
(End of Chapter)
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