New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 101 Holy Light Forbidden Zone
Yuan Zhu carefully surveyed the structure of the underground space. Both in front of him and behind him, there was an endless, thick darkness. It felt like being in a dark subway tunnel, feeling deeply depressed, confused, and lonely.

Although the mud walls and the cave ceiling were covered with fungi that emitted a faint blue-purple glow, they could only barely mark the direction of travel within a very short range and could not provide any illumination at all.

This environment was perfectly suited for the Tiger Demon. Darkness and shadows filled the air, giving him a sense of returning to home turf. But he didn't rush to switch forms. This was a team mission, after all. What if his teammates were nearby?
Yuan Zhu immediately took out the Bluetooth mouse from his backpack, handed it over to La Tiao, and instructed: "Help me call my companions and locate them."

"Roger that, sir."

The rat, with its half-robot head, suddenly stood up straight and saluted Yuan Zhu with one of its short arms. Using its insectoid limbs, it slowly extended its antenna, swaying left and right in search of a signal, before automatically calling out.

After some effort, Little Latiao responded disappointedly, "Boss, the call failed! The underground space has a strong signal shielding ability. The 'mental waves' sent by the rat are all absorbed by the roots above. The space we are in is like a signal cage. No information can be sent out! This rat is half-dead from the start."

Yuan Zhu: "It seems to be the roots above the head."

He was now alone in the pitch-black underground tunnel, separated from his companions, his communicator disconnected, and with no idea of how deep he was. The air he breathed was not only murky but also mingled with the smell of earth, an indescribable, unfamiliar stench of decay, and a highly concentrated scent of pollution.

"What a bad start!" He sighed, and flicked his fingertips. A small ball of jellyfish-shaped holy light suddenly lit up and floated in the air, illuminating the darkness. The surrounding scene suddenly became clearer.

This was a little trick he had figured out in the Garden of Disease [Lighting Technique].

Throwing a small ball of Holy Light into the air using a [Holy Cough] will slowly release a limited amount of light like a flash flare. It has zero damage and only provides basic lighting.

If the burning speed of the Holy Cough is reduced to the lowest setting, it can provide a weak illumination for 2-3 minutes. Due to the special properties of the 'light', it will not fall or sink. Instead, it will be controlled by the Holy Cough, allowing it to float and move, barely being a small light bulb.

As for the jellyfish shape? That's entirely a problem with the Holy Cough itself. His holy light, for some unknown reason, inexplicably exhibited properties like stickiness, adhesion, and tentacles. Fortunately, the holy light itself was visually appealing, looking quite divine and lovely. Yuan Zhu named it "Whispers of Light" to increase public acceptance.

As the "illumination technique" twisted and turned in the air like a jellyfish, the slime molds, mushrooms, and even the roots above the head that originally emitted faint fluorescence were illuminated by the light and made rustling sounds.

Everything touched by the Holy Light emitted a foul, burning odor, then rotted, withered, and dissolved, transforming into a foul, sticky substance. Even the few roots on the ceiling, like strands of hair touched by the flames, curled and released a sickening, highly toxic, and polluted aura.

Yuan Zhu frowned and increased his Holy Light output, hoping to purify the pollution. Unexpectedly, this triggered a chain reaction, burning and purifying more roots with the Holy Light, releasing even more polluted toxic gases, rapidly worsening the already turbid air. The air was no longer breathable.

With the eruption and release of these poisonous auras and the release of polluted energy... the melted sticky substances began to flash with faint fluorescence again as if they were injected with chicken blood, but before they could be resurrected and redeveloped again, they were illuminated by the [Holy Light] again, burned and inactivated again, and turned into a pool of foul smell.

It was like he had hit a dead end, but as the [Holy Light] continued to be released, more pollution exploded in the limited space... forcing him to extinguish the [Illumination], exert force with his feet, jump several meters away, and run hundreds of meters deep into the dark tunnel before he felt the pollution concentration in the air gradually return to normal.

Looking back at the area that had just been contaminated by the [Holy Light], the toxic smell in the air began to slowly subside. Instead, the "fluorescent slime mold" on the ground, walls, and ceiling became more gorgeous, and various colors appeared one after another, ushering in a grand growth carnival.

"This world doesn't seem to welcome the Holy Light." Whether it's the fluorescent slime mold, mushrooms, or the 'corrupted roots' in the ceiling that are suspected to be Kunlun's dead roots, all of them carry polluted energy and are purified by the indiscriminate attack of the Holy Light.

Because the lifeforms were weak and the pollution concentration was limited, they were easily burned and destroyed by the light, but they would release a foul odor. The roots in particular were like dry grass and firewood containing energy. They would ignite at the touch of holy light, and then release "highly toxic spiritual energy" that would pollute and corrode the underground environment.

After he fled, the slime mold and mushroom spores actually suppressed the "toxic pollution" released by the roots. By absorbing and decomposing the polluted gases in the air, they rapidly multiplied and spread, purifying the air in the underground space and releasing oxygen and a strange smell.

If we exclude the supposedly nonexistent [Holy Light], slime mold and mushrooms appear to suppress roots. The ubiquitous roots, however, contain corrupted spiritual energy, which can serve as energy, fuel, and nutrition, nourishing the underground ecosystem.

rustling...

There was another burst of itchy scalp noises. Yuan Zhu mobilized the power of the shadow uniform, took out a pair of night vision goggles from his backpack and put them on his face. Then he saw a group of black bugs the size of little finger nails appearing in the distance. They crawled towards the newly grown slime molds and mushrooms and began to gnaw on them.

As the beetles ate, some of them trembled violently, others inexplicably stiffened and fell to the ground, motionless and splattered like rain, clearly poisoned. Some, while feeding, were pierced by the "roots" that extended from the ceiling, which began to absorb nutrients. Still others, after finishing their meal, retreated like a tide...

It was clear that the dead beetles had excessive levels of pollution in their bodies, causing them to become excessively deformed and die instantly. The ones that survived were all highly polluted, demonized species. Some were unlucky enough to be pierced by the weak roots and absorbed as nutrient packets.

The dead beetles that had fallen to the ground suddenly struggled to their feet, hyphae emerging from the cracks in their shells, the hyphae above them glowing brightly. A group of slime molds and their spores successfully boarded cars, driving the tiny beetles through underground tunnels, spreading their seeds even further afield.

All of this was simply a random irradiation of his [Holy Light], disrupting the balance of the underground space and releasing excessive pollution, immediately triggering a massive explosion in the closed ecosystem.

The elf watched the entire process with the help of Mouse's polluted vision and couldn't help but exclaimed: "How exaggerated!"

Yuan Zhu: "Logically, I understand that decaying wood (roots) releases toxic gases, slime molds parasitize decaying wood, insects eat the slime molds, and spore hyphae parasitize insects to spread their seeds... all of this is understandable and consistent with common biological knowledge. But, isn't this process too fast? Does it take more than a minute?"

The scenes just now were like pressing the super fast forward button.

"Got it. The whole thing took more than two and a half minutes. Perhaps this is a microcosm of the new world's 'ecosystem'? The ecological cycle of the underground world should be based on the 'spiritual roots' above our heads. I just captured three types of pollution. The first is the 'corrupted spiritual energy pollution' contained in the roots. It looks like Kunlun spiritual energy? But it's very decayed, probably the spiritual energy that rots after death! The other is the polluted energy within the beetles, which I've named 'insect pollution'. It's likely the 'insect-nurturing power' required by the [Furry King]. Finally, the interior of those slime mold spores contains pollution somewhat similar to 'corrupted spiritual energy', but it has vitality and activity. One more thing: the internal pollution of roots, insects, and mushrooms is not a pure single type, but a mixed and mixed type. The data is too little to analyze, please continue collecting."

Yuan Zhu frowned, wrapped his body in uniform, put on a gas mask, and continued walking into the darkness.

He felt like he was in a sealed, flammable, and explosive warehouse, and the Holy Light was the source of the ignition. He couldn't use it lightly, or it would detonate the seemingly peaceful underground space.

(End of this chapter)