Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 291 - 283: Learning

[Seven Sins of Greed triggered]

[Plunder Skill: Elf Language LV1→LV2]

[Plunder Skill: Natural Magic LV2→LV3]

In the Elf Cemetery, some inconspicuous mushrooms have quietly sprouted recently.

Lin Jun did not lay the fungal mat with great fanfare; all operations were completed through the secret underground pathways.

After the elves’ burial rituals concluded, the Drilling Puki would dig to the burial sites from underground, decomposing the bodies until only skeletons remained.

Subsequently, the temporary fungal mats would be swiftly absorbed and decomposed, with the tunnels carefully refilled, leaving no obvious traces!

Of course, up until now, no one had discovered anything unusual.

This feeling was like waiting for the elves to feed them.

However, the frequency of elf funerals is quite low, with only two held this week.

Fortunately, Lin Jun is not in a hurry.

On the other side, Elarwen was idly staying at home.

Due to her near-death encounter during her last solo adventure, her brother Salian decisively imposed house arrest, strictly forbidding her to enter the Divine Wood Dungeon alone again unless she could find reliable teammates.

To this end, Salian even specifically informed the Guards patrolling the forest perimeter, cutting off her thoughts of sneaking out.

As for finding a group of strangers to team up for the adventure?

That would be as good as killing her!

"Why don’t animal companions count as teammates?" Elarwen buried her face in Fur Ball’s soft, fluffy fur and complained, "Clearly, you guys are so much more reliable than those strangers! Don’t you agree, Fur Ball?"

The parrot on her shoulder chirped in agreement.

The cabin now seemed a bit empty, as winter approached, Douding and Bubble had retreated into their dens to hibernate.

Xiao Ji was restless, flying around every day, occasionally showing up. Now, the only ones left to accompany her were Fur Ball and Feifei.

She listlessly rested her chin on the cold window sill, gazing at the gray sky: "When will Xiao Ji be back?"

...

Outside the Magic Potion shop, the familiar sound of flapping wings could be heard.

Originally engrossed in watching her grandfather brew potions by the counter, Riel’s long ears twitched suddenly, and she jumped up!

She rushed to the window in a few quick steps, grasping the window frame tightly, her small body blocking the entire window frame completely.

Previously, she hadn’t expected that a Puki could have such strength, and several attempts at blocking the window had been forcefully pushed open by Puki with its tentacles, but this time it wouldn’t!

Scout Puki landed on the empty herb rack outside the window without diving in as usual.

"Hmph!" Riel displayed a confident, triumphant smile.

Puki hopped to the ground, extended a tentacle to hook the doorknob, and gently pulled!

Squeak——

The shop door opened in response.

Puki naturally walked inside, executing two light hops to land firmly in its old spot on the counter, as if nothing had happened, observing the Old Elf brewing potions.

Riel pursed her lips and approached, trying hard not to let her tears of frustration fall.

The Old Elf had seen it all, a look of helplessness yet doting smile on his wrinkled face, shaking his head slightly.

Suddenly,

"Cough, cough—!"

The Old Elf hunched over, clutching the edge of the counter tightly with his frail, thin hands just to barely stand steadily.

"Grandpa! What’s wrong? Are you sick?" Riel was so scared her little face turned white, she hurried to support her grandfather’s shivering arm.

But Puki next to them saw clearly, it wasn’t illness, just aging.

[Extreme Aging (all basic attributes lowered by 80%)]

Similar to the former negative status of the Old Bat.

The difference being, the Old Bat had the Sunstone to extend life indefinitely, but the Old Elf did not.

Lin Jun remembered, the first time meeting him, this attribute debuff was still 78%, yet in just a few days, it had surged to the highest.

It seems the Old Elf’s remaining life is even less than expected, and he might not survive this winter.

After a painful cough lasting nearly thirty seconds, the Old Elf finally caught his breath with difficulty, his chest heaving violently.

He gasped for air, reaching his shaking hand toward the unfinished potion.

"Grandpa, rest! Let me handle it!" Riel, on the verge of tears, grabbed her grandfather’s hand forcefully.

A glimmer flickered in the depths of the Old Elf’s cloudy eyes as he asked, "Then... Riel still remembers... how the Hair Growth Potion is made?"

Riel glanced at the half-finished concoction and nodded vigorously: "I remember! Now I need to process the Moonlight Grass, remove the roots... then..." As she recalled the steps Grandpa taught, she scrambled to execute them.

"Then... it was... to add..." Riel stared at the light green potion, furrowing her small brows tightly, straining to remember the next crucial step.

What was it again? Was it Morning Dew petal?

No, that was for refining... Or was it Stone Heart powder?

That didn’t seem right either... Grandpa had said it many times!

Her forehead began beading with sweat, and the more anxious she felt, the blanker her mind became.

As she racked her brains, almost moved to tears—

Plunk!

A small bundle of earth-scented brown dried roots, stirred by Scout Puki with their mycelium tentacles, dropped into the bubbling cauldron!

"Ah! What are you messing with!" Riel exclaimed in a mix of anger and haste, instinctively wanting to reach in to retrieve it.

However, her motion froze.

As the mundane-looking bundle of roots dissolved rapidly in the light green potion, its color began to change at a visible pace, deepening from light green as if infused with rich vitality, turning deep green within a few breaths—a sign of success!

This indicated that Puki not only chose the right material but also got the dosage correct!

"You... you... you you you!" Riel pointed at Scout Puki on the counter, her face full of disbelief, "Could it be... you really learned Alchemy?!"

She glanced at the cauldron of deep green Growth Potion, then at Puki, obliviously swinging its little feet: "A Puki... actually... actually knows more about Alchemy than I do... Grandpa taught me for so long, and I didn’t remember..."

It wasn’t really the case, Lin Jun had only learned a few in just over a week, coincidentally including this Growth Potion.

The Old Elf lay in his vine chair, somewhat surprised.

Yet it was just mere surprise.

Puki belonged to someone, it looked like a modified Servant Demon.

Some Servant Demons being brighter was reasonable, in the end, his expertise was in Alchemy, not in understanding these things.

The Old Elf gently ruffled Riel’s hair.

"Riel," the Old Elf’s voice was hoarse yet extraordinarily gentle, "Don’t be upset about this, Grandpa still has many, many potion recipes and concocting methods to teach you."

Leaning forward slightly, wrinkled face showing an encouraging smile: "In the days ahead, Grandpa will teach you everything he knows, bit by bit. Our Riel is so smart, she will surely learn it all."

Riel took a deep breath, nodding firmly: "Mm!"

Next to them, Puki, not understanding the heartwarming exchange between the grandfather and granddaughter, seeing they weren’t planning to continue brewing, flapped off to the next location.

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

Underground City.

The hair of the restrained Minotaur volunteer began to grow wildly, soon turning into a Fur Bullman.

Lin Jun was very satisfied with the result.

"Norris, you should try this good stuff!"