This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 313, Section 312: The Puji Master's Deal with Puji
The city walls in the distance have already stood tall, and the huge stone outline is about to be fully closed.

Although there are still many complex magic circles to be inscribed and activated, from the moment they are closed, Mushroom Town will officially be upgraded to a real city.

I've heard that important figures, led by Far, have begun discussing the official naming of this new city.

Nowadays, the number of scattered Puji wandering the streets of Mushroom Town has significantly decreased. Instead, there are more and more "Puji Masters" walking around surrounded by a dozen or twenty Puji.

As expected, this peculiar new "profession" that is difficult to define by the traditional occupational system has quietly become popular.

Whether you're a warrior, mage, archer, or even a powerless commoner, theoretically anyone can become a Puji Master, as long as you have the courage to experience a near-death experience and willingly allow yourself to be parasitized by those strange mycelium...

Those who choose this path are mostly mediocre adventurers with stagnant abilities or ordinary people who yearn to change their fate.

In the eyes of those who truly possess ability and talent, this is undoubtedly a crooked path fraught with unknown risks.

Furthermore, there are many limitations. For example, because magic power needs to be continuously replenished to maintain Puji activities, Puji practitioners cannot stay away from the creep area for long.

After all, expensive magic potions are not something that these people from the lower classes can easily afford as daily expenses.

As the number of Puji Masters increases, various aspects of Mushroom Town begin to show corresponding changes.

Among the negative changes, the most prominent is that the roads are overburdened.

A Puji master and his Puji team often occupy a space that would normally be enough for ten people to stand in.

Even though Chairman Far had planned the roads on the scale of a large city, they were still stretched thin in this unprecedented situation.

Currently, the number of Pujishi is not large enough to make it passable, but if the number continues to increase, traffic congestion will inevitably become a major and difficult problem.

It is said that Chairman Fal is deeply conflicted about this, unable to decide whether to take advantage of the current situation to expand the roads or simply introduce policies to restrict the travel of Puji Masters.
Of course, there is a positive side to these changes.

With the right combination of characters, one person can function as a small adventure team.

Therefore, some Puji players have begun to form a new mode of solo or duo operations, breaking the traditional convention that teams of three or four must be formed.

The rise of Puji Masters naturally spurred the emergence of a new trading market to support them.

Craftsmen specially tailor protective leather armor for Puji to prevent these little guys from dying easily in battle; merchants sell diluted magic potions, whose effects are too weak for humans, but just right for Puji.

The most important change is that, as people gradually realized that not only are there many types of Puji, but individual attributes also differ, a brand new and vibrant "Puji trading market" emerged.

……

Two weary Puji Masters stepped into the bustling Puji trading market.

Their leather armor was stained with dried, dark bloodstains, not their own, but from a gang of thieves who had once occupied the trade route between Mushroom Town and Fishing Port.

Those reckless fools dared to rob people in the territory of the currently powerful Mushroom Town. As you can imagine, they were completely wiped out less than ten days after the bounty was issued.

The two silver-level Puji Masters in front of us were the ones who completed this cleanup mission.

It should be noted that there were several ruthless bandits with silver-level strength among that gang of thieves, but they were all wiped out by these two with a large group of puji under their command and some clever tactical coordination!
Of course, the process was not a smooth and overwhelming victory.

Although the two Puji Masters themselves were unharmed, their Puji teams suffered heavy losses. At this moment, only six Puji remained behind them. Their mission was to replenish their lost "troops".

Personally venturing into the dungeon to capture new Puji is certainly an option, but due to the uncertainty of the types and attributes of Puji produced on the dungeon creep, the replenishment efficiency would be somewhat low for two people with relatively mature combat patterns who need a fixed team.

Although the prices on the trading market are a bit higher, they are convenient and quick, allowing you to choose according to your needs.

Upon entering the market, they impatiently waved away several vendors who approached them to promote their so-called "elite products," all of whom were swindlers who preyed on novices.

If someone were truly lucky enough to acquire an elite Puji with strength of at least silver rank, they would have been surrounded by layers of adventurers bidding against them long ago. There would be no need for them to be so humble, hawking their Puji along the street. Inside the market, legitimate Puji vendors usually have their Puji quietly sitting around their stalls, forming temporary display areas where customers can stop, look, and choose for themselves.

The process of transferring ownership of a Puji is exceptionally simple. Both the buyer and seller only need to place their hands on the target Puji and confirm "giving over" and "receiving" in their minds, and the transaction is completed instantly.

It is precisely because of this form of mind-based transaction that the profession of stealing Puji (a type of virtual currency) did not emerge.

The two walked and stopped frequently, carefully selecting and adding several suitable Puji.

Just as they were about to leave, a large group of people gathered not far away caught their attention.

As mentioned before, the crowd gathering in such layers indicates either a conflict or a fight has broken out, or a "powerful Puji" with excellent attributes has appeared!

Joining the fun is an adventurer's instinct, and the two exchanged a glance before immediately squeezing into the crowd without hesitation.

……

"30 gold coins! Anything higher?" On the high platform, a horn held aloft a seemingly ordinary-looking Puji with a bright red mushroom cap, and shouted in a loud voice, "This is a genuine 'Level 7 Delicious' Puji! There's an official guild appraisal report to prove it!"

As he spoke, he deftly pulled out a roll of parchment stamped with the guild's bright red seal and unfolded it in front of everyone. On the skill list, the words "[Delicious LV7]" were clearly visible.

"This appraisal alone cost 5 gold coins! Is anyone willing to offer more?"

Sure enough, with the support of a reliable appraisal report, the bidding enthusiasm was instantly ignited.

"30 gold!"

"35 gold!"

"40 gold!"

No wonder everyone is so enthusiastic; this is an unprecedented [Delicious LV7]!
I'm afraid even the vast majority of nobles have never tasted it!
Many of the adventurers who eagerly bid in the audience were not buying it for themselves, but rather planning to treat it as a rare commodity and resell it to the nobles.

As prices soared, Horn couldn't stop smiling.

After selling the information about "symbiosis" before, and still not having paid off his debts, he deliberately kept some gold coins and exchanged them all for monster corpses to smoke Puji. It was indeed a wise move!
"100 gold coins!" A clear female voice interrupted the bidding. Someone recognized the bidder as Lillian, the personal maid of Guild Master Fal.

"105 gold coins." Some people were still unwilling to give up and tried to raise the price.

"120 gold coins!" Lillian raised the price again without hesitation.

This price finally silenced the entire room.

Horn beamed as he handed the precious Puji to Lillian. The price had exceeded his expectations; it would not only pay off his debts but also leave him with some money to buy more monster corpses!

Since Lillian was not parasitized by the mycelium, she was unable to complete the transfer of ownership at the consciousness level, but anyway, this Puji wasn't meant for combat.

She simply picked up Puji by one foot, like lifting a fat chicken ready to be cooked, and calmly carried it away from the market.

In the distance, Far stood by the window overlooking the trading market and asked Aidin beside him, "Aidin, what do you think of these Puji Masters?"

After a moment's thought, Aidin replied, "We're currently in a crucial phase of the new city's construction, and stability is paramount. Moreover, this emerging profession does objectively enhance the overall strength of lower-level adventurers. My suggestion is to neither openly encourage it nor forcibly intervene; maintain the status quo and continue to publicize the potential risks. Since the trend has already taken shape, instead of racking our brains about how to restrict its development, we should seriously consider whether to tax Puji trading. And if so, what tax rate should be set?"

Far nodded in agreement: "Aidin, it's fortunate that you were there to help with the analysis. If I had to make all the decisions by myself, I'm afraid I would have been exhausted."

Then he changed the subject, his tone becoming more relaxed: "By the way, let's try this 'Delicious LV7' Puji together tonight!"

(End of this chapter)