Across the land, the Mycelial Network stretched to the horizon, with towering mushroom trees reaching the clouds. Countless Puffshrooms scurried about, creating a lively mushroom kingdom.
“Norris, trust me, drills are all flash! More mushroom cannons would be way better!” Boss Puffshroom nagged at Norris’s feet.
Norris silently checked Jida’s status, ignoring the chatter.
Suddenly, dark clouds swallowed the sky!
Then, sticky green rain poured down!
No—it wasn’t rain!
It was slimes!
Hordes of slimes crashed to the ground, gobbling the Mycelial Network, melting Puffshrooms, and making the giant mushroom trees groan and collapse under their acidic goo!
The mushroom garden turned into a disaster in moments!
Norris’s eyes narrowed. He leaped into Jida like a bolt.
Mushroom cannons fired precise shots, blasting slimes into sticky puddles!
Roar!
The Slime King, massive as a mountain, noticed the lone fighter and charged at Jida with crushing force!
“It’s over! Everything’s gone! The mushroom garden’s done! We’re dead!” Boss Puffshroom cowered by a wrecked mushroom tree, its cap trembling, letting out a hopeless wail.
“I’m still here!” Norris’s shout echoed through the clouds!
Jida didn’t retreat—it charged forward. The drill, which Boss Puffshroom laughed at, screeched loudly, spinning like a deadly whirlwind!
The drill ripped through the Slime King’s body, tearing it apart, piercing it, and finally blasting it to bits!
Goo splashed down like a storm.
“Phew… it’s done.” Norris climbed out of Jida, exhausted, wiping slime off his face and looking at the clearing sky.
“Norris! My hero!” Boss Puffshroom tackled his leg, hugging tight and apologizing loudly. “I was wrong! The drill’s the best! You saved the mushroom garden!”
Little Black and Luisa popped out from some rubble, cheering and grabbing Norris’s waist. “Norris, you’re the strongest! We’re counting on you now!”
Norris smiled, calming them, not noticing a small teal mushroom sprouting on a nearby patch of Mycelial Network.
Suddenly, Luisa, half-kneeling and hugging Norris’s waist, looked up with shining eyes. “Norris, hero… can you help us with one more thing?”
“Sure!” Norris said without thinking.
“Here we go!” Luisa grinned, showing sharp teeth, and lunged to bite Norris’s neck!
“Me too!” Little Black cheered, eyes gleaming, clawing at Norris’s shiny silver scales!
“Wait! No way, stop, stop!” Norris scrambled free, diving back into Jida and bolting off!
“Don’t run, hero!” Little Black and Luisa shouted excitedly, chasing him. The three raced through the broken mushroom garden, kicking up dust.
As the noise faded, the teal mushroom on the Mycelial Network melted back into it, vanishing without a trace.
New mushroom garden rule: No making Boss Puffshroom look bad, even in dreams!
Lin Jun turned his attention from Norris, who was in the mushroom hut with eyes closed and brows furrowed.
After many tries, Lin Jun was starting to get [Mind Guidance].
First, about the connection: hallucination spores weren’t needed. They were just one way to build a soul bridge.
Like with Norris’s dream, Lin Jun used the Mycelial Network instead.
But not every try hit a dream. If the target wasn’t dreaming, his mind landed in darkness. Hallucination spores guaranteed a “stage” to work on.
Next, about controlling dreams.
Lin Jun couldn’t create things from nothing in dreams—not at LV1, anyway.
He could only change how dream characters acted, like making Little Black and Luisa attack Norris, or like before, making the thug’s guards turn on him.
How hard it was depended on the target’s mental strength.
Take Luisa. In her dream, she led thousands of Puffshrooms, setting the world on fire.
Lin Jun tried taking control of some Puffshrooms but could only sway a few at first.
Luisa quickly wondered why they turned against her, calmly sending other Puffshrooms to stop them.
Her strong, steady mind slowed Lin Jun’s control a lot.
But as [Mind Guidance] kept working, by the time Luisa woke up, Lin Jun had turned about a third of her Puffshroom army against her, dragging her conquest into a mess of fighting her own side.
Little Black’s dream was different. Even in dreams, she guarded her shiny stuff—but way more, and all the best gems.
Lin Jun thought her simple, silly mind would be easy to mess with.
He was right at first. He easily took control of the demonkin in her dream, making them try to steal her treasure.
But the result was wild—both expected and crazy.
When the controlled “thieves” rushed her, Little Black went nuts, wiping them all out!
Her fight against the mind invasion was even stronger than Luisa’s.
When Lin Jun’s mind pulled out, Little Black was back counting her gems, happy as ever, even calmer since the other characters were gone.
But their ways of fighting back were different.
It also showed being smart didn’t matter much for mental defense.
The next day, Norris looked tired when he got up, but way better than the thug.
Luisa kept up her usual training, showing no signs of being affected.
Little Black was obvious, though—she got meaner to demonkin near her mushroom hut, growling at them from twenty meters away instead of ten.
Lin Jun figured she was just mixing dreams with reality, so it wasn’t very useful info.
Overall, this rare soul skill was mostly just fun for Lin Jun so far.
Killing someone over and over in dreams might drive them crazy, but why bother when he could just take them out for real?
Maybe a higher level would bring better tricks?
If only he didn’t show up as a mushroom every time he entered a dream…
(End of Chapter)
