The world enters the fungal world

Chapter 111 The Mushroom Man (Thanks to reader 20201222191139875 for the donation)

Unexpectedly, there was an even wider space on this rock face, with a dense cluster of buildings in sight.

These buildings look ancient and are full of ancient style, with blue tile roofs, mottled archways, and layered towers, but they are all covered with mushrooms.

The gaps between the roof tiles were crowded with mushroom caps, large and small, layer upon layer. Some were like small umbrellas carved from white jade, crystal clear, while others were dark brown with curled edges like withered leaves.

Li Yu saw a dilapidated hall not far away. Mushrooms grew around the base of the hall's vermilion pillars, and mycelium spread across the wood grain like a spider web. There was also a broken wooden plaque next to it, as if it had fallen from the top of the hall, with some writing still on it.

Lin Muying, Fang Mingxuan, Qian Lili and Zhou Xigang climbed up one after another and appeared beside Li Yu. Looking at the scene in front of them, they all showed surprise.

Who would have thought that such an ancient architectural complex would be hidden in this underground world? Could it be that humans once lived here?

Li Yu slowly walked towards the dilapidated main hall in front of him, looking down at the broken wooden plaque.

Two characters remain on the wooden sign; upon closer inspection, they are identified as "Fungi".

"Fungi people?"

Zhou Xi touched his nose, then looked up at the buildings in front of him, a thoughtful expression on his face. He said, "Could it be that a tribe called the Fungus People once lived here in ancient times?"

Lin Muying frowned slightly and said, "Do you remember the humanoid creature we found inside that crystal wall before?"

Li Yu glanced at her and said, "You mean those might be the mushroom people?"

Lin Muying hummed in agreement and nodded, saying, "Perhaps these mushroom people encountered something that caused them to transform into the form inside the crystal wall."

Li Yu slightly raised his eyes, looked around, and slowly said, "Mushrooms generally refer to fungi. So, if we take the literal meaning of 'mushroom people,' they would be mushroom people or fungal people. Could it be that, since ancient times, there has been a human race on Earth that was invaded or symbiotic with fungi?"

Zhou Xigang said, "Who knows? This place is strange and unusual; nothing could possibly happen here."

Li Yu nodded slightly, walked around the main hall in front of him, and headed towards the ancient architectural complex that had been assimilated by mushrooms.

The group carefully made their way through, glancing around frequently, both to be wary of danger and to hope for a discovery.

Soon, Li Yu stopped and looked at a building in front of him.

It was a courtyard where the stone slabs were stretched open by mycelium, and clusters of small mushrooms emitting a soft, cool light emerged from the cracks.

The cap of this little mushroom has tiny, shimmering stars on its surface, which is quite magical.

Upon seeing these small mushrooms, Li Yu stopped abruptly, activated his "Eye of Truth and Delusion" to observe his surroundings, and only approached after confirming there was no danger.

Zhou Xigang couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "A fluorescent mushroom?" His tone was both surprised and delighted.

The Glowing Star Mushroom, a level four edible fungus, is priced at twice the price of the Jelly Mushroom at supply points.

Not only is it more nutritious and tastes better than jelly mushrooms, but it also has special benefits, such as calming the mind and reducing nightmares.

Qian Lili recognized it too, and looked equally excited: "These Glowing Mushrooms can be sold for 100 gold coins at the supply point, and if you want to buy them, it will cost 200 gold coins."

There must be at least one hundred Glowing Mushrooms here; if sold to the supply point, that would be worth ten thousand gold coins.

"It seems that with 10,000 gold coins, we can go to Lingxu City, sell these Star Mushrooms, and that would be enough for one of us to go to Lingxu City," Zhou Xigang exclaimed in amazement.

The crowd gathered around, carefully squatted down, then threw away all the freshly picked green mushrooms, and each person ate a gromwell mushroom to taste its flavor.

These fluorescent mushrooms melt in your mouth, like a cool liquid flowing into your throat, leaving you feeling indescribably comfortable after eating them.

Afterwards, I carefully picked these fluorescent mushrooms and put them in my backpack.

Besides the few people who ate the Glowing Star Mushrooms, there were still 107 Glowing Star Mushrooms left. Fortunately, these Glowing Star Mushrooms were very small and could be completely contained in a backpack.

Afterwards, Qian Lili carefully picked up the backpack, knowing the value of the fluorescent mushroom, she felt as if she were carrying a bag of gold.

"With so many Glowing Star Mushrooms, we can sell them or keep them to eat. I feel that our spores grow faster when we eat Level 4 edible mushrooms. Do you guys feel the same way?"

Zhou Xigang became more and more excited as he spoke.

Lin Muying nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I feel the same way."

Zhou Xigang said, "We will be promoted to intermediate level two days later than Li Yu. Even if we grow a little slower than Li Yu, we will probably be promoted to advanced level only two or three days later."

He paused for a moment and said, "I don't know the exact time here, but if I estimate, at least a day has passed since Li Yu was promoted to advanced level. This means that we will definitely be able to reach advanced level in a day or two, or at most two or three days."

Of course, Fang Mingxuan was not included among the "we" he mentioned.

"The effect of this Glowing Star Mushroom is definitely better than that of Jelly Mushroom, not to mention those level 5 edible fungi. This will further increase our growth rate. If we think about it this way, we may be able to advance to the advanced level sooner than we thought."

After Li Yu advanced to the intermediate level, he ate mostly level 5 edible fungi for the first few days. Even in this underground world, he ate jelly mushrooms, which were less effective than the Glowing Star Mushroom.

Now they can directly consume the more effective Glowing Star Mushroom, which will definitely shorten the time it takes for them to advance to a higher level.

Zhou Xigang's face lit up with excitement. He had already obtained the Swift Shadow Bacteria twice and felt that his strength had increased significantly.

If he could advance to the advanced level, further enhance his strength, and fuse with a second type of symbiotic bacteria, then he felt that his strength would be comparable to Li Yu's, and it wouldn't be surprising if he even surpassed him.

The only thing that cannot be estimated is the yellowish-brown cocoon that Li Yu obtained. It is unknown what kind of symbiotic bacteria it contains or how much of a boost to his strength it can bring.

In Zhou Xigang's mind, he always believed that he was the protagonist, possessing great fortune. After lying low for so long, it was time for him to take off.

"Since there are Glowing Star Mushrooms here, could there be some elsewhere? Let's try to look again."

Qian Lili thought that these 100 Glowing Star Mushrooms could be sold for 10,000 gold coins. If she could find 500 of them, she could sell them for 50,000. The five of them would need exactly 50,000 gold coins to enter Lingxu City.

Afterwards, the group searched among the surrounding buildings. Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, although they found many level 5 edible fungi, they failed to find any more level 4 edible fungi.

Finally, the group arrived at the end of the complex and discovered a building that resembled a temple.

This temple is quite magnificent and covers a large area. In the center, there is a high platform with a human-shaped statue that is more than ten meters tall.

The statue is sculpted with human-like facial features and has long hair; judging from its appearance, it should be a female deity.

He wore a floral crown on his head, with a circle of small mushrooms carved on it, and held a scepter in his hand, the top of which was a mushroom cap.

At this moment, a large number of crystal fungus tendrils hung down around the temple, their surfaces faintly glowing with a silvery-purple light.

"It seems that these mushroom people have a deity to worship, but I wonder what the deity is called?" Zhou Xigang said as he walked around the statue of the deity in front of him and looked into the interior of the temple.

Qian Lili casually replied, "Since it's a deity of the mushroom people, it must be called the Mushroom God."

Zhou Xigang said, "This is a goddess, perhaps called the Mushroom Goddess."

"All you know is goddess, why can't you call her Mother Goddess? Maybe you could call her the Mushroom Mother Goddess."

As Li Yu listened to their verbal sparring, he walked deeper into the temple and noticed that there was nothing in the temple except for a door at the far end.

The five people walked into the doorway, which was a passage about five meters long. When they came out of the passageway, they found that behind the temple was a giant cave.

A huge crack, more than a meter wide, split open in the cave floor, from which fine, hair-like crystalline fungal tendrils extended.

Light was slowly flowing through the crack, attracting their attention.

The five people cautiously approached the edge of the crack and peered inside. Upon seeing what they saw, they were all shocked, their faces showing expressions of horror.

Through the cracks in the ground, they saw that a vast space was hidden underground.

In this space, countless crystal fungal tendrils spread, intertwining to form an enormous net that covers the entire space.

Above these crystal tendrils, a giant mushroom grows, supporting the entire space.

Li Yu and his group of five could not describe exactly how big this giant mushroom was. Its cap was at least over a kilometer in diameter, and it was a translucent silver-purple color. Its surface was covered with star-like fluorescent patterns that refracted a mesmerizing light.

The cap is adorned with hundreds of meters long, amethyst-like tendrils that sway gently like a purple galaxy.

The stipe beneath the cap is over 100 meters in diameter and over 1,000 meters long. It resembles white jade, with its surface covered in silvery-purple blood vessels, and its interior appears to be flowing with blood.

Everyone stared in disbelief, their mouths agape. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, they would never have imagined that such an outrageously large giant mushroom was buried deep underground.

Li Yu opened the "Eye of Truth and Delusion" and observed carefully, feeling an extreme shock in his heart.

The countless luminescent mycelia covering the earth's surface, resembling the origin and end of a neural network, are this enormous, silver-purple mushroom.

Its roots are buried deep underground, and it is unknown where they have spread to. Even with Li Yu's current "Eye of Truth and Delusion," he cannot see the end of them.

What they can see now is only the tip of the iceberg of its true essence.

This entire underground world seems to be the source of all life.

In his "eye of truth and falsehood," he can see the fluctuations of life below, and a light source representing energy flowing slowly. All energy and life originate from it and return to it.

If there truly is a deity behind all these fungi and mushrooms, then this one hidden deep within the cracks of the earth is the deity of these fungi.

At the center of this translucent, silvery-purple cap, there is a bright and dazzling radiance, like a sun radiating a dazzling beam of light downwards.

It pierced through the center of the stipe below, penetrating the core of light formed by countless mycelial networks.