Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

The sound of clashing blades rang out endlessly in the training field.

Sword Saint Puki stood in the center of the arena, several tentacles coiled around swords whipping out afterimages, countless slashes roaring toward Shi Wu in a storm.

Shi Wu kept circling around Sword Saint Puki, his dual swords blocking every slash, yet he always maintained a distance of twenty steps.

This was the range of Sword Saint Puki’s tentacles.

At this extreme distance, he could still barely block the four swords coming from the front.

Once he went in deeper, Sword Saint Puki’s attacks would no longer be limited to the front, but come from all directions; in their previous spars he had fallen for this several times.

However, after so many bouts, Shi Wu had finally found the weakness of Puki’s body!

Tentacles far longer than arms indeed had a huge advantage, but Puki’s tentacles had no bones, and their own Power wasn’t that strong. In a head‑on clash, they couldn’t just tank the force like a limb supported by skeleton; they could only rely on rotation to dissipate impact.

The four tentacles worked together to a certain extent to make up for this flaw, but a flaw was still a flaw—if he could knock all four tentacles aside at once...

Shi Wu’s body suddenly leaned forward, his dual swords drawing back as if he were about to go all‑out in a rush.

Sure enough, the four tentacles that had been taking turns attacking all changed trajectory at the same time. They no longer struck alternately, but neatly sealed off every possible route for him to dash forward from the front.

Yet Shi Wu had never intended to sprint. Although he struck the pose, he hadn’t actually exerted force at all; his center of gravity was firmly planted, and that forward lean was just for his master to see.

Right now he used that momentum to pull back, actively meeting those sword edges that no longer had time to change direction.

Clang clang clang clang—!

Four blades collided in quick succession, the metallic crashes almost merging into a single sound. Shi Wu’s arms were numbed by the shock, his tiger’s mouths faintly aching, yet his eyes shone astonishingly bright—he had done it!

All four tentacles were knocked aside; there was no longer any obstacle before him, a straight path leading directly to the Sword Saint.

[Shrinking Ground Level 9]

His afterimage still lingered where he had been as Shi Wu had already flashed to the Sword Saint’s side, dual swords lifting!

"Master, this time I..."

Bang—!

[Mushroom Cannon Level 10]

Shi Wu spun as he was blown away, crashing down hard into the sand at the edge of the training field, a cloud of dust rising up.

No. 9 ran over from the sidelines and, with practiced ease, began sprinkling healing spores that accelerated recovery all over him.

Sword Saint Puki closed his mushroom cap and walked over to Shi Wu’s side, pressing the Telepathy Stone against the back of Shi Wu’s head.

"Your intent was far too obvious. From halfway through you kept staring at my tentacles; only an idiot wouldn’t see what you were trying to do! And you’re way too naive. What makes you think I have to use swords to deal with you? Even without the Mushroom Cannon, what if I used Self-Destruction? Or what if the surroundings were poisoned? Did you ever consider that?"

Shi Wu’s face was still buried in the dirt, his chest full of indignation: "Aren’t we practicing swordplay?"

The Sword Saint tilted his mushroom cap up, lecturing from on high: "At any time, you must be prepared for the unexpected, because you never know when, or with what methods, your enemy will deal with you..."

Before he finished speaking, Magic Power gathered under Sword Saint Puki’s feet on the Fungal Mat, flaring with light.

"What? Teleportation?!"

Taking advantage of the Teleportation Array not yet fully formed, the Sword Saint tried to leap away, only to find that his feet had somehow fused with the Fungal Mat!

Puki and the Fungal Mat were both composed of Mycelium, sharing the same root and origin—he hadn’t noticed a thing when they fused!

The Sword Saint decisively swung his sword and cut off both feet, but it was already too late.

The flash of the makeshift Teleportation Array vanished in an instant. Shi Wu stared, dumbfounded, as the master who had been lecturing him just a moment ago disappeared right before his eyes, leaving only two tentacle stumps on the ground that had not been within the array’s range...

...

In the secret chamber, three fragments of the Sword Saint lay scattered on the cold floor, motionless.

Galadriel peered in through the iron window, her gaze lingering on those few pieces of gray-white mushroom flesh for a moment as her brows slightly furrowed: "What’s going on? Is he...dead?"

No. 1 propped up the mushroom body, resting a tentacle on the window ledge as he looked in: "He’s just dead once, that’s all. We’ll put him back together later and it’ll be fine."

Galadriel’s expression became somewhat odd: "Revival...is that such a simple thing?"

No. 1 tilted his mushroom cap: "What do you mean? Is revival supposed to be hard?"

Galadriel sighed, knowing that discussing this with the Mushroom Race was probably meaningless.

No. 1 had already scooted closer, tentacles clasped behind his back, mushroom body gently swaying, his thoughts carrying a barely concealed excitement: "Galadriel, we’ve already brought Shi Si to you, so about what we discussed before..."

A Magic necklace bearing the crest of the Elf royal family dropped onto No. 1’s mushroom cap, green patterns faintly flowing across its surface: "Show this to the Forest Patrol. They’ll mark out a piece of territory around the Underground City for those giant Tree Men to take root in. But you must also guarantee that those Tree Men won’t leave the designated area, and absolutely must not approach the city!"

No. 1 patted his own proudly straight mushroom body with a tentacle: "Of course, I guarantee it on my mushroom honor!"

The "giant Tree Men" that No. 1 and the Elf Princess were referring to were that group brought by Xiao Lv, who had migrated from Pujie Dungeon to the Divine Wood Dungeon.

Lin Jun had wrung the cultivation method out of the Divine Wood, carved special Magic runes onto the Tree Men, and force‑raised them into colossal beings like Migratory Trees.

This time, No. 1 requesting an area around the Underground City from Galadriel was also so they could receive more abundant sunlight, instead of having to compete with those Migratory Trees in the Divine Wood Dungeon for that little bit of bent sunlight.

As the representative of the Mushroom Race in the Elf Forest, No. 1 had his plans very clear: since the Tree Men had taken root right under his nose, rounding up, they were essentially his forces—his future key allies in opposing No. 2—so he naturally had to find a way to maintain good relations.

But he hadn’t forgotten what the Mushroom Lord had instructed either: "And about that alliance..."

Galadriel answered honestly: "Forming an alliance with a new power isn’t a small matter like carving out a bit of ground for Tree Men to sunbathe. It has to be discussed with the other Elves before anything can be decided. You’ll have to wait a few more days."

"Alright..."

The room fell quiet. Galadriel remained motionless, waiting, while No. 1 stood in place rubbing his mushroom cap, lost in thought.

After a good while.

"No. 1," Galadriel’s voice was gentle, "aren’t you going to inform those Tree Men about this news?"

"Oh, right!" Only now did suddenly-enlightened No. 1 turn around and run out on his short legs.

Only after No. 1’s puki‑puki footsteps faded down the corridor did Galadriel walk into the secret chamber alone, closing the door behind her and activating the rune on it.

...

"That guy...what is he trying to pull this time?" Familiar death by Teleportation, familiar post‑revival grogginess—Saint Puki slowly came to.

Before his senses had fully recovered, he extended a tentacle, feeling along the scabbard, intending to curl his sword up.

At the end of the scabbard, the tentacle touched something soft and warm.

Hm?

"We meet again."

Galadriel was kneeling on those Longswords, eyes narrowed, the corners of her lips slightly raised. Her smile was kind, and even that familiar voice was so gentle.

"Should I call you the Mushroom Race’s Shi Si—" Galadriel’s gentle voice suddenly turned cold, "or the human Sword Saint, Elvyn Slyne?"

Instead of touching those Longswords being pressed down, Sword Saint Puki stood up and gave his elastic mushroom cap a stylish flick.

"Hmph!"

The Tentacle Blades snapped out in an instant. A flash of cold light later, he sliced himself into a hundred or so evenly sized blocks of Mycelium, which clattered all over the floor...