Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 282 - 274: Searching

The No. 4 Scout Puki, which flew back to the sixth floor, ultimately returned empty-handed.

The group of elves, needless to say, had long since fled, and they did not encounter them on the way down.

As for the Tree Demon in a Frenzy state, who knows where it ran off to.

In fact, Lin Jun couldn’t even find a single Tree Demon in the sixth-floor area.

Are they operating in deeper areas?

Lin Jun couldn’t figure it out either; whether that group of elves had specifically brought the Tree Demon to the sixth floor or if a wandering Tree Demon just happened to bump into them.

Scout No. 4 attempted to continue exploring downward but was eaten by a giant Demon Frog on the seventh floor.

[Refraction Invisibility LV7] is not without flaws; it still creates a slight distortion in light, though most people and demons can’t discern it.

But this big frog clearly belongs to the type that can perceive it.

More importantly, Lin Jun never expected its tongue could spring out 30 meters in an instant, catching No. 4 off guard in a sneak attack.

With No. 4 down, Lin Jun temporarily gave up the idea of further exploration downwards.

Opening the map up to the sixth floor is enough for now. Lin Jun plans for his fungal mat to first extend to the surface since the Elf Cemetery is still waiting for him.

The fungal mat expansion in the Divine Wood Dungeon area is quite smooth, mainly because there’s a lack of demons here that could cause large-scale damage to the fungal mat.

Slimes and Mud Monsters are present, but the former are scarce and sporadically distributed, and the latter have fixed areas, so they can be bypassed.

Other demons might nibble on the mushrooms, but they mostly ignore the fungal mat itself.

However, while digging the underground network, there was a nest of demon mice that would nibble on the Drilling Puki’s rear.

Lin Jun poisoned them along the tunnel, spending some time to finally wipe them out completely.

Meanwhile, hidden in a tree hole, Scout Puki No. 1 had just performed a "surgery" on itself to remove the symbiotic Demon Crystal from its body.

The purpose of installing Demon Crystals in the Scout Pukis was originally to enhance combat capabilities. But now No. 1 has infiltrated the Elf City, no longer needing this combat enhancement, and having the Demon Crystal inside it is bad if discovered, so it was simply removed.

After all, cutting open the body to remove the fused Demon Crystal could risk suicide if not done properly.

Only with Lin Jun being able to monitor blood volume data on the panel can the depth and range of the separation be precisely controlled, barely completing this high-risk surgery.

At this moment, the B Level Demon Crystal, still attached with some fungal filaments, lay in the tree hole.

Scout Puki lay weakly nearby, its body bearing a glaringly shocking crack waiting for the [Fungal Filament Reassembly] skill to slowly repair.

The cracked body immobilized Puki, with only its fungal tendrils able to move.

At such a time, if any random demon came by, Puki might get killed.

Fortunately, such a thing wouldn’t happen. Before the surgery, Lin Jun meticulously chose this elf-scarce area and preemptively cleared out all the threatening wild demons nearby.

Within the Elf City, apart from the domesticated ones, there were hardly any wild demons exceeding Gold Level, which Scout Puki could easily handle.

Let’s just lie here for a day...

-----------------

"Xiao Ji—!" Elarwen’s bright call echoed through the forest, startling several birds into flight.

"Actually... you don’t have to be so loud." Salian, beside her, reminded her with slight resignation.

His long hands were held upwards, and above his palms floated a slowly rotating, semi-transparent spherical phantom.

At the center of the phantom, the small figures of him and his sister were clearly reflected, with the image radiating out in a sixty-meter radius around them.

Whether blocked by ancient trees or the roots and insects buried deep in the soil, every tangible object was vividly presented in this magical space projection.

Tier Eight Magic—Space Exploration Technique.

Tier Three Magic—Phantom.

Salian skillfully combined these two magic spells, forming a probing sphere that continuously moved with their steps.

This was not a simple superimposition but required a deep understanding of both magic spells, as well as painstaking studying of the subtle resonance and conflicts when their magic nodes intertwined.

This unique spherical space phantom was the crystallization of his personal research.

By digging deeper into this path, he might even create a variant advanced magic of the Space Exploration Technique.

And now, this promising mage was using this "semi-finished product" still in the testing phase to help his sister find the lost mutated Puki...

Salian tiredly dispelled the phantom in his hand, pulled out a bottle of blue Magic Potion from the lining of his Mage Robe, and tilted his head back to drink it.

After two consecutive days of high-intensity activation of this unoptimized combination magic, even he was feeling exhausted.

"Maybe... it’s already run far away?" He carefully selected his words, subtly implying that his sister might have to give up.

Having just finished that exhausting negotiation and not even having time to rest before being dragged into this, Salian felt completely drained physically and mentally.

"No way!" Elarwen suddenly turned around, her face full of worry, "Xiao Ji is just a Puki! Even if this is Ishildorin, it’s still too dangerous for it! What if a fierce Forest Owl or Burrow Lizard snatches it away? It clearly saved me, and I brought it out from the Underground City, now it might be in danger because of me..."

Salian’s mind instantly flashed through images of that Puki easily defeating other demons of his sister, his mouth twitching slightly: "Ishildorin probably isn’t as dangerous for it as you think..."

"You’re the one who scared it off!" Shorter by a head, Elarwen stared straight at him with those clear green eyes.

Salian finally resignedly sighed; "...Alright, alright, let’s keep searching then."

He refocused, magic power gathering once more, and the semi-transparent probing sphere slowly floated into his palm. The siblings’ figures were again engulfed by the verdant forest canopy.

After two more days of searching, they still found nothing.

On the fourth day, completely worn out, Salian hid out at home, refusing to come out.

Elarwen could only continue searching alone, venturing into areas within the Tree City they hadn’t searched before.

...

Scout No. 1 had now fully recovered.

The Demon Crystal that was dug out had been casually buried by Lin Jun.

It was just a B Level Demon Crystal, and Lin Jun had no shortage of them.

The reason Scout Puki didn’t return to Elarwen’s cabin was mainly because Lin Jun’s attention was captured by an elven Magic Potion Shop!

Dumb Wind Town also has a Magic Potion Shop, but the shopkeeper at most could make Basic Magic Potion and Basic Life Potion. Most other Magic Potions were sourced from elsewhere.

However, the standard of this Elf Magic Potion Shop was completely different; all the Magic Potions inside were concocted by the shop itself!