Chapter 144: Chapter 142: Breath

[Skill Upgrade: Puki Creation LV7→LV8]

[Skill Upgrade: Spiritual Integration LV6→LV7]

[Skill Upgrade: Corrosion Resistance LV6→LV7]

!!!

Life is getting better!

As for [Puki Creation], let’s not talk about it. This skill upgrade only increases the speed of Puki production and not the basic Attributes of Puki, so the upgrade is average at best.

After reaching Level 8, if you don’t mind the Magic Power consumption, you can probably produce one standard turret Puki in about a minute.

Corrosion Resistance is the success of day-by-day torturous training in the six-layer Slime Room.

The real key is Spiritual Integration!

This is the core of Lin Jun’s core.

Previously, because [Spiritual Integration] was only Level 6, the Puki Lin Jun could control through the Fungal Network was limited to around 1500.

Not to mention the Scouts under [Subordinate Control] almost occupied the attention of 100 Puki.

Although it was possible to expand the number through arrangements like lower-tier nodes such as Tree Demons, the total number of Puki never exceeded 2000.

As for now…

Lin Jun sensed that the mental capacity had roughly doubled!

This gives more confidence to tackle the Thousand Core Mayfly.

While Lin Jun was immersed in the joy of becoming stronger, happily planning the future.

“Hiccup~”

Suddenly, one-third of the Mushroom Forest on the fifth layer disappeared from the senses.

Ah!?

What’s happening?

Did the fifth layer burst open the Rift?

It only took a second for Lin Jun to find the culprit.

Sitting on the ground, holding an ice pop Puki with a bite taken out, stunned in place, was Xiao Hei!

A cone-shaped affected area spread out from in front of Xiao Hei, and black smoke was still coming out of her open mouth.

She doesn’t have a neck; otherwise, Lin Jun would at least twist it 90° to show confusion.

That one-third of the Mushroom Forest didn’t just vanish; in the gradually dissipating black smoke, many remnants of the collapsed Mushroom Trees eroded could be seen.

As for the Fungal Mat, it indeed disappeared directly…

[Name: Xiao Hei]

[Level: 60]

[Skill: Strong Acid Breath LV1]

Wait… how did this creature idle around and suddenly reach Level 60?

Could it be that just by gnawing on that ice pop Puki in her arms, she gained enough experience?

And isn’t the effect of [Strong Acid Breath] too overpowered?

At Level 1, it wiped out a third of the Mushroom Forest in one go, much stronger than Lin Jun’s [Strong Acid LV5] from battling Slimes!

By Level 6, wouldn’t she be able to spray away the entire fifth layer in one breath?

Is this the difference between Races!

A Slime strives for a lifetime, but cannot compare to the Dragon Race’s casual awakening of a Level 1 Talent Skill!

Lin Jun lamented the injustice of the world but decided to focus energy on rescuing the innocent victims first.

Two Puki dragged Norris, unharmed but badly scared, away from the cone-shaped edge.

And along the way, rescued the Yellow-covered Book, which fell in the cone-shaped area and was corroded, cursing Norris for trembling nervously.

From the sky, a bat Puki rescue team hoisted up a Vampire, who had been resting in the Mushroom Forest with permission, only to be caught in misfortune.

Thankfully, this Vampire had some resistance, not high but enough not to be instantly killed by an area breath attack.

At Level 50 after all, getting instantly killed would be somewhat embarrassing.

An urgently delivered, freshly dead Stone-skinned Wild Boar from the sixth layer had a few gulps of Demon Blood poured in, and Louisa’s complexion improved, with her rotting skin starting to heal bit by bit.

Louisa said nothing, dared not say anything, just picked up her Mining Pick and returned to the cave after healing.

Finally, the Puki dragged the still dazed Xiao Hei to the Mushroom Forest’s basement.

It serves as a cell now; though it’s empty of people, with its expansion over time, it’s already several times larger than when Louisa moved in.

Xiao Hei was brought over to prevent her from spraying again and wiping out Lin Jun’s remaining two-thirds of the Mushroom Forest.

This silly dragon, even now, hasn’t figured out why she suddenly breathed black smoke…

This time, Xiao Hei knew she’d caused trouble, sat obediently in the center, allowing the surrounding circle of Puki to prod her curiously.

Opening her mouth to study where the black smoke emerged; pressing her belly to see if more breath could be expelled.

They even tried inserting Fungal Filaments into her throat to see if they could find the cause, but Xiao Hei found it uncomfortable and bit them off.

Until a Puki used [Trample Level 4] to stomp on Xiao Hai’s throat and chest.

“Hiccup~”

A small puff of black smoke was expelled, causing two Pukis to fall, while the others quickly scattered, regrouping only after the smoke had dissipated.

After researching for most of the day, Lin Jun finally understood Xiao Hai’s breath attack.

It’s a charging skill!

There seems to be an organ for storing the breath between the throat and chest, and its capacity is quite large.

When fully charged, it can unleash a breath attack that wipes out a third of the Mushroom Forest in one go. When not fully charged, it comes out like a puff of secondhand smoke.

The key is, once it’s full, Xiao Hai seems unable to hold it in…

Just now, a single hiccup caused all the breath to be released.

Xiao Hai probably didn’t just level up; it’s likely been a day or two.

It’s just that Lin Jun usually doesn’t bother checking Xiao Hai’s status panel, and Xiao Hai is too clueless to realize it leveled up.

After some thought, Lin Jun first forced Xiao Hai to learn how to release the breath intentionally.

Then she taught her to head over to Venom Lake every day to let out a breath, as Mirage isn’t really afraid of corrosion damage.

It’s foreseeable that developing this habit in Xiao Hai is a long-term task…

Sigh—

It’s a good thing that Xiao Hai got stronger, so why is it causing so much headache for the mushrooms?

Speaking of which, what’s the level cap for the Dragon Race?

Werewolves and Vampires both have 90, so the Dragon Race should also be around 90, right?

At worst, it should be 80, which means Xiao Hai is far from full level.

The loss this time can’t be considered insignificant, many Pukis that were still gestating turned to ashes before birth.

Replanting the Mushroom Forest will take about half a month.

Luckily, Xiao Hai didn’t let out her breath in the Level 6 Mushroom Forest, otherwise Xiao Lv would probably go crazy seeing her tender branches turned into black sticks.

The Cow and Horse Pukis carefully cleared the debris in the affected area, and when cleaning the ruins, traces of remaining breath in the closed space might emerge, easily causing the Pukis to lose 10 blood volume.

Hmm?

What’s this?

At the center of the disaster area, in a small pit, the Cow and Horse Pukis discovered a small pool of black liquid.

This black liquid was continuously emitting a corrosive aura, quickly eroding the fungal filaments it touched.

Judging by the size of the pit, it’s estimated that this pool of black liquid was once larger, but has evaporated to what little is left now.

This is clearly something Xiao Hai spat out as well.

They found a glass bottle and collected the black liquid.

Is this also a kind of natural poison?

The principle behind the formation of this liquid wasn’t difficult for Lin Jun to understand. Obviously, the storage organ in Xiao Hai’s throat isn’t some four-dimensional pocket; its space is limited.

The breath should exist in liquid form inside, transforming into gas over a wide area when released.

And this time, with too much released over a short period, it seemed it didn’t fully convert into gas, resulting in this “essence.”

Speaking of which… the Thousand Core Mayflies don’t seem to have high corrosion resistance?

…

…

…

Rift.

A specially crafted scout Puki flew down.

[Nightmare Incarnation Level 3]+[Corrosion Resistance Level 7]+[Saliva Arrow Level 5]+[Fungal Filament Reassembly Level 4]+[Magic Storage Level 7]+[Precision Level 6]

The black liquid, kept in a bottle, was carried down by the Puki.

As it neared the destination, the bat Puki inhaled the black liquid through a nozzle grown using the skill.

Even with Level 7 [Corrosion Resistance], it couldn’t fully counteract the black liquid’s damage.

Luckily, relying on the support from [Magic Storage] strengthened [Fungal Filament Reassembly], barely extending the time before being poisoned, allowing the bat Puki to fly to the destination—the Thousand Core Mayfly habitat.

Upon meeting, the Thousand Core Mayflies swam over, while the Puki fired off a saliva arrow, shooting the venom.

Unlike the Mushroom Cannon, the saliva arrow barely had any recoil. With the boost from [Precision], it successfully hit a Level 31 Thousand Core Mayfly.

Accompanied by a sharp wail, the Thousand Core Mayfly writhed, painfully falling.

Instant kill! Stellar effect!

There was no need to bother with the special Puki being impaled and carried off by the other charging Thousand Core Mayflies.

Lin Jun now feels Xiao Hai is much cuter. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. Would eating more strong acid Pukis speed up replenishing the breath?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep