Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

In any case, dealing with smart people was certainly a relief.

Besides, this icy beauty was so enthusiastic and attentive.

”Then I’ll leave it to you,” Su Chen said sincerely.

Not long after, the two of them parted ways at the forest border.

...

Returning to the forest alone, Su Chen’s load was significantly lighter. He carried only a canvas bag slung over one shoulder. Inside was a shotgun, a Pure White Short Staff, fifteen small empty vials, and nothing else.

He slotted his four remaining Single-Headed Bullets neatly into his tactical belt.

With the range of his Shadow Jumping Skill doubled, he leaped forward rapidly, using the shade of the trees.

In an instant, the Runes for Flying Skill, Gravity Skill, and Shadow Jumping Skill deep in his consciousness overlapped and converged. Woven together, the triple-composite Technique—Void Wanderer—caused his leap distance to skyrocket.

Three consecutive leaps at maximum range, and he soon left the boundary line far, far behind.

Soon, he found his way to a forest of mushrooms.

He was here this time to fight the fungal Parasite Body.

To be clear, not all fungi were hostile to humans; there was no need to be paranoid. Yu Ziyuan had even managed to identify the peculiar and beneficial Airbag Mushrooms, which were excellent for levitation.

The main fungal culprit behind this latest parasitic swarm was, without a doubt, a type of purple-capped Hallucinogenic Mushroom.

They preferred to devour brains, violently seizing control of the host’s body. During their conflict with humanity, the hive mind behind them frantically absorbed experience. It had evolved down a path of flesh-and-blood mutation and even consciously collected Rune Essence to strengthen itself.

Most frightening of all, they seemed to have the ability to read human memories.

And for some reason—perhaps some kind of information contamination—they’d also developed a foul mouth.

Furthermore, according to the autopsy report Yan Ruoruo had provided last night, there was another type of Parasite Body that controlled its host indirectly, primarily through hormonal hijacking.

Its method of infection was far more insidious, catching victims unawares. It most likely specialized in airborne transmission.

The bad news was that if this was a different species of fungus, it too seemed to be intentionally collecting Rune Essence.

To truly tell them apart, they would need scientific instruments. That meant they needed clear intelligence from Dongfu City, which was suffering from the same disaster.

’I’m just afraid there’s a third type, a fourth type...’

’I really wish they’d fight each other.’

Su Chen sighed to himself. Conflict between fungi was common. He’d even watched short videos of it before—different mycelia under a microscope, fighting for territory in a petri dish.

’Will you have some for me?’

Ten minutes later, he silently arrived at a place he had visited the day before.

The light in the forest grew dimmer.

A thick fog of spores seeped continuously from cracks in the fungal carpet. It was like a hazy gauze had been woven over the area, blocking the light and insulating it from the high temperatures outside. Sound itself was gradually being swallowed, and the surroundings were sinking into a dead silence.

Su Chen held his breath and focused his mind. As a draft of wind swept through, he seized the chance to resonate with it.

His Perception stretched out, piercing through the fog and sketching a horrifying scene in his mind’s eye.

Egg-shaped tumors bulged from the fallen, broken log on the ground. Several thick, segmented tentacles were attached to each giant sac. Their ends opened and closed like mouthparts, slowly and continuously spewing clouds of spores.

The rising air currents wove the spores into a thick fog, while gentle breezes spread them further outward.

Just then, all the growths quivered in unison. The tentacles snapped taut, having clearly detected the probing signal of his Perception.

Su Chen didn’t hesitate.

He was already weaving a new Technique.

His Sea of Consciousness trembled as the Runes for Flame Burst, Holy Radiance, and Gravity Skill were forcibly merged within a tide of spiritual power.

’Molten Core Implosion!’

A frenzied energy surged into his right arm, its might magnified further by the Amplification Bracelet on his wrist.

In an instant, a ball of shimmering fire plummeted like a meteor.

It shattered the mist, smashing straight into the spectacular cluster of fleshy sacs on the log. A terrifying, collapsing power descended. All organic matter was seemingly crushed to dust by an ultra-high-density gravity field wreathed in flames. As the compression reached its critical point...

The field erupted outward. The compressed, fiery energy within was violently released, and a terrifying shockwave exploded in a ring. More than a dozen ancient trees in its path were snapped in half.

Su Chen had already phased a hundred meters away, reappearing in the canopy of a distant tree.

At almost the same instant, a dozen fungal threads burst from the ground where he had been hiding. They stabbed frantically, only to shred empty air.

Bathed in the intense noon sunlight and enveloped by the superheated air from the explosion, the exposed threads instantly withered and contracted. They turned pale and hastily retreated deep underground.

’So they really are afraid of high temperatures.’ Su Chen gained this Insight by resonating with the surrounding plants.

’The environment itself is a natural predator.’

These fungi grew rampantly in cool, moist environments after a rain. The mycelia themselves couldn’t tolerate high heat.

If not for the floating jellyfish that had unexpectedly caused that torrential downpour, they never would have had the chance to gather their strength and burst from the ground en masse.

’This species of fungus must be unrelated to that rapidly evolving type.’

The most obvious reason was that he hadn’t sensed any signs of flesh-and-blood modification.

There were no gory scenes of stitched-together flesh.

A moment later, before the smoke and steaming mist could completely dissipate, Su Chen moved in to investigate. As his wave of Resonance swept over the soil in the crater, it penetrated a short distance, revealing two Runes buried in the scorched earth.

He roughly estimated they were almost a meter deep.

Before the remaining fungal threads could entangle the Runes and drag them deeper, a wave of Strong Will slammed into the ground. Through Telekinesis Construction, it formed a giant shovel blade that violently scooped out a large chunk of earth.

With a more delicate application of Telekinesis, the two Runes were precisely stripped from the soil and fungal threads, floating slowly up to him.

’Nice.’

Su Chen saw at a glance that the Lv4 Earth Element Rune had an Earth-Gold-Gold frame. It was the Fertility Skill that had been revealed today.

The other was a Lv3 Water Element Rune: Water Creation Skill.

So the fungus created its own beneficial environment underground.

However, thanks to his brutal intervention, the fungal entity was rendered helpless. It could do nothing under the blazing noon sun but allow him to plunder its domain.

’Nothing else.’

Su Chen was a little disappointed. He continued to resonate with the pulse of the earth but found nothing else of value. He was beginning to realize this species of fungus wasn’t as strong as he’d thought.

Without further delay, he pressed on toward the fissure deeper in the forest.

He then recalled the tip Qian Bin had given him yesterday about a cave. At the far end of the fissure zone, someone had supposedly found a large pit containing some strange, fleshy tissue.

At the time, Su Chen hadn’t paid it much mind, knowing full well the man’s intentions weren’t good.

Reviewing it now, he realized it probably wasn’t a cave-dweller’s nest at all. More likely, it was a Flesh Mill left behind by the parasitic fungus, or maybe a remnant of a hatching chamber.

’That’s a clue.’

Su Chen decided to follow the clue. He would head to that location next, but first, he had to revisit the place where he’d heard the Screaming Skill.

Meanwhile, he didn’t forget to periodically resonate with the surrounding Earth Realm.

If he tried to take in all the information surging from the Heaven and Earth Elements around him at once, his brain would be overwhelmed. So, to conserve his mental energy, Su Chen usually chose to communicate with only a single Element at a time.

When the Wind blew, he let his mind drift with the Wind Fluff.

At other times, he would listen to the rustling whispers of the trees.

Or he would focus solely on the pulse of the earth, checking for any abnormalities in the underground mycelial network.

One minute later.

He hadn’t even stepped back onto the crimson fungal carpet when a withered figure flashed past in the far distance.

In less than a breath, it leaped directly in front of Su Chen. Rotting flesh clung to its skeletal frame, and its deep-set eye sockets were empty voids. Before the lightning sword in its hand could slash across his neck, a vast wave of Strong Will locked it in place.

The lightning sword froze mid-swing, unable to move another inch.

The next instant.

His Strong Will clamped down like invisible iron bands, instantly locking every joint in its body—even the spore sac in its throat that was about to erupt.

With his opponent unable to resist, Su Chen used his Telekinesis to brutally pry open its skull. He plucked the Shadow Jumping Skill and Jingzhe Skill Runes from the mass of fungal threads within. Then, with a single thought, he shattered the lightning sword and seized the Lightning-Cut Rune from its fragments.

Then, a gout of flame erupted, consuming the parasitic husk.