Survival at Sea: I Became Number One by Growing Mushrooms

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: Three O'Clock Bro, how's it going on your end? I've reached the vicinity of the pollution source.]

[...I have arrived in the area ravaged by the volcano.]

Xu Jiawei: ...I didn't expect that we would end up in the same place by different paths. No, I should say that the path you are on now is the path I came from, but this sentence still feels a bit strange.

It will take at least two or three days for Si Yunming to arrive here. In the next few days, she will explore the surrounding environment. However, after going around, she found nothing amiss. It seems that the source of pollution is clearly distinct from the structure of the other environment, and it is not noticeable from the outside.

However, the closer you are to the pollution source, the higher the concentration of pollution.

At night, Xu Jiawei couldn't stand being outside for four hours. She immediately moved away from the source of pollution and returned to the vicinity of the oasis. There, she found a large rock, dug a hole, and crawled inside, finally managing to stop the pollution from spreading.

This was the first time she had spent the night near a source of pollution, and she hadn't expected it to be so dangerous.

We can only be thankful that the last time the source of pollution was found on the island, it was during the day.

Having spent an unforgettable night inside the stone, Xu Jiawei decided not to venture near the source of pollution again until Si Yunming arrived. She thought she might as well use this time to observe the hedgehog some more. If she could learn the hedgehog's trick, wouldn't she be able to go wherever she wanted, and even the vines of the Death Tree would no longer be able to stop her?

Xu Jiawei observed and practiced at the same time. Even if she failed, she didn't care. Learning is not that simple.

She was also observing the hedgehogs' peculiarities. Could it be that they possessed a special talent—a spatial ability? That would allow them to use spatial skills.

However, Mo Feng doesn't have spatial talent either, yet he can still teleport. Xu Jiawei still hasn't learned that move.

There are differences between levels nine. If the level ten exam were to be opened for mages, Mo Feng would undoubtedly become a level ten mage.

Even the teleportation technique is something most level nine mages don't know, which shows how powerful Mo Feng is.

It shouldn't be said that Xu Jiawei didn't learn it; rather, she only understood it but hadn't put it into practice. Mo Feng only had time to explain the principles to her before she came to the island and could no longer be contacted.

Since the hedgehog's skill failed for some unknown reason, why not practice the method taught by Mo Feng first? If we learn Mo Feng's method, we might be able to find out the cause of the problem.

However, the method taught by Mo Feng was obviously not that simple, and was even very complicated. His method was not much different from drawing a teleportation magic circle. The only difference was that this skill was drawn with magic power and constructed inside the body.

However, building it inside the body is no joke. If it fails, the magic will explode inside the body, and you'll lose half your life. In severe cases, you might even die.

No wonder so few level nine mages have mastered this skill. Everyone is too afraid of death. They finally reach the level nine mage level, and they would rather sacrifice themselves to learn a teleportation skill that they don't even know if they'll ever use. Only a fool would do that.

Xu Jiawei carefully drew a magic circle within her body, immediately cutting off the magic supply if anything went wrong. Even so, she still suffered considerable damage, but fortunately, the magic was cut off in time, preventing more serious consequences.

Xu Jiawei was immersed in this self-torturing practice, experiencing both pain and pleasure, especially feeling that she had gained a deeper understanding of space, and even wanted the pain to come more intensely.

She completely forgot what Mo Feng had told her: the worst thing about practicing this skill is being impatient. Other mages practiced this skill cautiously, afraid of injuring themselves, but who was Xu Jiawei? With her superb recovery ability, even if she was injured, she would heal herself in less than a minute.

Other mages might need to rest for half a month or drink potions after being damaged by the counterattack, which would naturally slow down their progress.

Even a genius like Mo Feng took three months to learn it.

She practiced all day long, and Xu Jiawei lost count of how many times she was injured by the counterattacks. In the last few hours, she made no progress at all, and she was becoming numb.

However, she also knew that she couldn't learn this skill in a short time. Even though she had a very precise control over magic, she was still not used to constructing magic circles in her body.

Si Yunming also kept sending her messages to update her on his schedule.

[...I came to a high mountain, and beyond the mountain I saw a grassland.]

"Hmm, it seems his itinerary isn't exactly the same as hers. Could it be that he came from a different direction than her?" Xu Jiawei asked after thinking for a moment.

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: Mountains? Grasslands? I don't think I encountered any; I encountered swamps, forests, and wastelands.]

[...I am traveling from east to southwest.]

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: Oh, never mind then. I was traveling from north to south.] It seems the area ravaged by lava is quite vast.

Sure enough, their routes were slightly different, but another question remains: if every island has a desert area, how did Si Yunming escape?

With his luck, it would have been impossible for him not to encounter the vines. Others might not have, but this was Si Yunming, the unluckiest guy.

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: Three O'Clock Bro, did you encounter the Death Tree on the last island?]

[...: I've encountered them before, but there were only one or two, and they escaped quickly.]

Xu Jiawei: ......Okay, then what does it mean that she was besieged by thousands of vines? Does it mean she is hated?

[...If you don't provoke it, it generally won't kill you.]

Another knife was thrust at her. Xu Jiawei felt a surge of grief and indignation. What did it mean that she was being relentlessly attacked by the Death Tree? That damned Dark God, she would skin him alive sooner or later and see if he would still dare to be so arrogant.

As a god, he not only lacked any prestige, but also subtly targeted her, a young person in her 70s.

She knew from the past that the Dark God was very petty, but she didn't expect him to be so tasteless.

However, Xu Jiawei also had to admit that if she were the God of Darkness, she would do the same. How could she allow those who had repeatedly thwarted her plans to continue their antics?

After chatting, Xu Jiawei searched for food near the oasis, put it into Rainbow's belly, and then continued practicing her skills.

Life was very simple, and Xu Jiawei lived a routine life between home and work for a few days before finally receiving another reply from Si Yunming.

[...I've arrived in the desert, I'll be there soon.]

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: I'll have Rainbow pick you up.]

She took a deep breath, feeling somewhat frustrated. This was the first time she had encountered such a setback in practicing her skills, and anyone would feel frustrated if they didn't make any progress for several days.

【...:good.】

Si Yunming didn't stand on ceremony, because he remembered that Xu Jiawei had asked him for help. It had been so long, she must be getting anxious, and now was not the time to be polite.

Upon hearing that she needed to take action herself, Rainbow immediately ran out. Since Si Yunming had said he came from the east, she would just head northeast to search for him.