Vol 2 Chapter 96 Exploration and Discovery of ‘Mushroom Silk’

A golden-haired beauty, a genius alchemist no less, had arrived in the small town.

Dorothy’s arrival quickly became a hot topic in Lantern Town. After all, most members were still at the Second Tier, so the arrival of a Third Tier professional, who was reportedly a genius among her peers, naturally piqued the curiosity and attention of many.

“Ah, you mean the ‘Outstanding’ evaluation Mithril Badge? I’ve received one before too,” Dorothy said, sitting by the window on the second floor of the restaurant. She held a prepared iced drink in one hand, while the other produced a badge with a silvery sheen from somewhere, tossing it lightly into the air before catching it.

Seeing that badge, many of the apprentices nearby looked on with envy and admiration. Although the Hidden Grove association had many members, only one in several thousand typically received such a badge. Previously, they only knew that Sylutia had been awarded one.

Beautiful, exceptionally skilled, dressed boldly, and with a lazy disposition—when Dorothy sat in the restaurant, she attracted many people who gathered around to strike up a conversation. She didn’t mind and directly answered their various questions.

Not far away, in the office of the public hall, Sylutia sat behind a desk. An apprentice beside her handed over a stack of lists detailing various resource materials.

“These are what Miss Dorothy needs. She hopes Senior Apprentice Sister Tia can gather them as soon as possible.”

“This many?” The young girl took the list, her blue eyes scanning the listed items and data.

Most of the materials were common and familiar to her, but there were several she had never seen before. She wondered why those were needed.

“Dried corpses of Black Weasel Bats, withered leaves of Glimmerwind White Grass, shells of Tidesong Conches, Water-ring Blue Pearls…” These things clearly looked very hard to find.

“Are there any apprentices who know the origins of these materials?” Sylutia thought for a moment.

“I asked a few apprentices with scholar professions. They also only had a partial understanding, having only occasionally seen the names of a few in books.”

“So, these things do exist. She didn’t just make them up. They’re just rarely used and quite scarce, right?” Sylutia lightly curled her finger, resting it under her chin.

“Take this list and give it to the various scholars in the town. Have them research the origins and acquisition methods of these materials. If there are still unclear points afterward, then we can ask Dorothy.” She had to let those guys get some practice. Otherwise, if they asked Dorothy for everything, they’d just become decorations.

“Understood.”

After the apprentice left with the list, Sylutia continued to recall the resources on the list she had just seen. There were several items needed in large quantities that she could produce, but her current reserves might not be enough.

“Third Tier·Rare quality or above Clear Spring Holy Water, and it needs the ‘Luminous Moon’ Aspect. I’m quite skilled at making that. But the other one, ‘Third Tier·Rare’ quality or above Solar Essence, I definitely can’t produce.”

“Wait, can I really not produce it?” Sylutia checked the current construction status of the ‘Autumn Garden’.

She had already entered the third phase, continuously adjusting the state of the 12 plants so that they all grew perfectly within the garden and achieved a natural cycle of matter.

If the ‘Autumn Garden’ was completed, she would step into the Third Tier. At that time, cultivating fruits bearing the ‘Blazing Sun’ Aspect would also become easier.

Her own strength was still insufficient. Sylutia let out a small sigh and looked out the window.

The wind was getting stronger. According to apprentices skilled in the ‘Vaulted Sky’ Aspect, the storm would arrive in another week. At that time, transport teams within the Darkmist Mountains would also suspend operations.

There wasn’t enough time to prepare sufficient glass replacements before this storm hit. They could only close the greenhouses when the storm arrived and seal them with sturdy materials.

This meant the greenhouses couldn’t receive sunlight and could only cultivate crops that preferred darkness. The benefit was that the outer glass layers of the greenhouses could be protected during the sealing process.

Plants in darkness… Sylutia couldn’t help but think of mushrooms.

This time, let’s grow mushrooms.

Five days later, the wind in the Darkmist Mountains grew even stronger. The gardeners in the small town had to prematurely force-ripen a batch of vegetables and fruits, harvest them, then seal all the large greenhouses. Protective layers were applied outside and secured with nails.

At this point, the interiors of the greenhouses were pitch black. Ordinary plants simply couldn’t grow.

Sylutia walked into one of the greenhouses, her eyes blinking lightly. Even in the darkness, she could see the situation here clearly.

She took out the cultivated mushrooms from a glass jar she brought, gave it a gentle shake, and fine spores scattered onto the soil.

Afterward, Sylutia sat before the soil, carefully using her own ‘Verdant Nectar’ Aspect to guide the growth of the spore mycelium in front of her.

Cultivating plants like mushrooms was also an exceptionally fresh first-time experience for her.

Their growth method was completely different from ordinary plants. The mycelium grew hidden within the soil, extremely fine and fragile. If it found nutritious substances, it would gradually absorb them and then transport the nutrients through the mycelial network.

Those clusters of mushrooms that seemed to grow separately under different large trees in the forest were likely all connected to the same mycelial network deep underground.

This was the wonder of ‘Fungal Threads’—the connection of threads and strings, the accumulation of countless minute parts, the mother of life that changed the world.

“Huh…”

While attempting to cultivate the mushrooms, Sylutia let out a soft, strange sound.

She suddenly felt a strange familiarity. Part of the Fungal Threads felt exactly like when she was cultivating the Alfalfa before.

“This is…” She stood up, walked to that patch of soil, dug it open with a small shovel, and carefully unearthed a small remnant of an Alfalfa root system.

This root fragment seemed to have been connected to the fungal thread network just now. Sylutia examined it closely while pondering, her delicate eyebrows shifting constantly before finally relaxing gently.

“It seems I can use the power of the ‘Alfalfa’ to enhance the cultivation of the mushrooms,” she whispered to herself in a low voice.

Afterward, she brought out a large quantity of uprooted Alfalfa from another small greenhouse that was her exclusive space and mixed it into this soil.

The underground mycelium came into contact with this Alfalfa, connecting with it, and then the two underwent a marvelous change.

Sylutia felt she could drive the Alfalfa to provide nutrients, allowing these fungal threads to grow and strengthen. She could also have the Alfalfa, with the help of the fungal threads, absorb more nutrients and moisture from the soil and air.

This feeling of ‘connection’ was quite marvelous.

Well then, let’s give it a try. Sylutia calmed her mind and began making the two grow synergistically. First, she used the Alfalfa’s nutrients to rapidly force the mycelium to grow densely. Then, she had the fungal threads assist the Alfalfa in absorbing special nutrients from the air. After that, she repeated the process above.

Once, twice… after six cycles, the Alfalfa gradually consumed itself and withered, but they had also cultivated a large patch of glowing purple mushrooms, which emitted a faint fluorescent light in the dark greenhouse.

This feeling of ‘connection’ was quite wondrous.

Indeed, cultivating ‘Fungal Threads’ is difficult. Using so much ‘Second Tier’ Alfalfa, she only ended up with this small amount of ‘Purple Jellyfish Mushroom’. Moreover, she had a vague feeling that the upper limit of the ‘Fungal Threads’ Aspect was already locked. In this world, it was impossible for any Fungal Threads product or lifeform above the ‘Third Tier’ to be born again.

History is irreversible. Although ‘Fungal Threads’ can connect past and future, their era has long since passed.

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