Chapter 92: 91 Tree Demon

Beneath the mottled bark, gnarled branches slowly writhed; countless translucent mycelia formed a net across the gaps in the branches, spreading from the chest to the limbs.

A cluster of glowing mushrooms sprouted from the crack atop the tree demon's head; the tender caps looked utterly incongruous against its withered-wood body.

Tree demons are not flesh-and-blood creatures, so they cannot be parasitized by themselves; this tree demon before him had simply connected to the mycelial network via the mushrooms on its body.

In terms of independence, it surpassed both Dylan and Seeing Xiao Hei.

However, Lin Jun also noticed something.

The spores he had scattered last time had not taken root at all in this tree demon forest; the mushroom on its body was likely the sole result.

Only this tree demon stood at the forest entrance, while deeper within the woods, numerous shadowy figures could be vaguely seen swaying.

Truly... interesting.

With no clear source, the roots covering the ground writhed and parted a path between the tree demon and the Puji.

The single root Seeing Xiao Hei had tugged could not pull back in.

"Mushroom, ruler."

This tree demon, which had only recently regrown its limbs and now appeared somewhat frail, approached the Puji and transmitted another message through the mycelial network.

"The branches of the Ancestral Tree crave tranquility; do not bring destruction."

When mentioning destruction, the tree demon's head clearly turned several degrees toward Seeing Xiao Hei.

Lin Jun sensed a thread of fear within the tree demon's emotions.

So that's how it is; it is pleading for peace.

However,

"What is the Ancestral Tree? What are the branches of the Ancestral Tree? Are you referring to yourself?"

Hearing a special term suddenly from a monster's mouth, Lin Jun found it hard not to be curious.

"The Ancestral Tree is the source of all tree demons; we are all its branches!"

Upon mentioning the Ancestral Tree, this tree person seemed slightly agitated and yearning.

Lin Jun looked toward the depths of the tree demon forest: "Is this Ancestral Tree inside?"

He was not intimidated by such an imposing title.

If this Ancestral Tree were on the sixth floor, at most it would be no more formidable than that old bat.

If it were not on the sixth floor, no matter how powerful, it could not affect Lin Jun.

"The Ancestral Tree is not here; we are merely a lost tender branch."

A tender branch?

Lin Jun glanced at the old bark on its body, which seemed ready to fall off at any moment...

"Alright, I understand.

But there is one question: what does your so-called 'tranquility' represent?"

The tree demon replied: "Branches do not attack mushrooms; mushrooms do not attack branches."

"Then if I need assistance, can you provide it? Of course, I will offer something in return." Exchange begins with small contacts; Lin Jun knew this.

The tree demon paused, turned to glance at the other tree demons in the forest, and finally shook its head, repeating: "Branches do not attack mushrooms; mushrooms do not attack branches."

Now Lin Jun understood; they were practicing isolationism right here.

Lin Jun thought for a few seconds, then replied: "If that is all... I refuse."

A cold will transmitted to the tree demon, making it fully realize that Lin Jun sought far more.

In Lin Jun's eyes, these tree demons, as rare intelligent existences within the dungeon who could easily connect to the mycelial network without communication barriers, were quite valuable.

Lin Jun was very willing to absorb them to raise the organization's average intelligence level.

Setting aside how much help these tree demons, unable to leave their floor, could bring him, simply accumulating experience in managing other races was also necessary.

But this presupposes you join the organization!

The tree demon's meaning was clear; it was not even willing to feign contact with him.

Then there was no way to speak of absorbing them.

But...

On what grounds?

Although saying so might seem arrogant, Lin Jun had already regarded the entire dungeon as his private property—even though his actual controlled area was probably less than one-third.

The tree demons were not beings of equal strength; on what grounds should they be allowed to maintain a state within a state?

In that case, what difference would this group of tree demons make to Lin Jun compared to other monsters outside?

One could even say that a pile of intelligent but uncontrolled tree demons posed a certain uncertain threat to Lin Jun, even if that threat currently appeared very small.

Moreover, only this tree demon before him had emerged to negotiate with Lin Jun; all other tree demons remained hidden within the woods, making it hard to judge how much sincerity this conversation held.

Lin Jun did not wish to appear domineering; if this group of tree demons had merely shown a willingness to engage to some degree, this conversation could have yielded a good result.

Pity.

"If you are unwilling to contact me, I will not force you, but since there is no relationship between us, why should I stop Seeing Xiao Hei for your sake? Oh, Seeing Xiao Hei refers to that large black mushroom.

Here, monsters hunting each other is the norm; your forest contains only tree demons, so I assume other monsters did not voluntarily yield this place, did they?

Don't you agree?"

Facing Lin Jun's argument, the tree demon did not know how to respond.

Lin Jun was not in a hurry; he wanted these tree demons to think it over again.

"This time, I will take Seeing Xiao Hei back first; I hope that next time I come, I will meet more tree demons capable of communication."

After speaking, the Puji pulled Seeing Xiao Hei away.

In fact, with his current strength, Lin Jun could have been even more forceful, bringing a whole squad of Puji to threaten them, but such a method would have been too unsightly.

Adding a bunch of resentful tree demons would hardly be certain to be a good thing.

The current behavior, while not exactly friendly, at least leaves some room.

What Lin Jun wants to do now is open a crack among the tree spirits, even if it's just a small one.

As long as there is contact, Lin Jun believes that with the resources he currently commands, he should be able to win over a group of tree spirits.

—

The Mushroom Sovereign left, leaving the tree spirit standing dazed in place.

That time, though its limbs were severed, the tree spirit did not die.

It had no name; it was merely an ordinary tree spirit in this woodland, no different from the hundreds of others of its kind.

If there was truly any difference, it was that it was unfortunate enough to be on guard duty when it encountered the Black Mushroom, the harbinger of destruction.

Yet it was also fortunate, for it did not die at the hands of the Black Mushroom.

Although its limbs were lost, they could regrow.

When the few of them fought the Great Black Fungus, the other tree spirits remained inside the woodland and did not come out.

Actually, it was not like this at the very beginning.

When the Great Black Fungus first arrived, half the woodland's tree spirits gathered; killing all outsiders entering the woods was the consensus of every tree spirit.

That time, it was far away; by the time it arrived, the Great Black Fungus had already left, leaving countless shattered wood chips on the ground.

The second time, the third time, the fourth time...

Amid the Great Black Fungus's endless harassment, they understood—that was an existence that could not be defeated.

Every fierce resistance only brought greater casualties; conversely, if they ignored it, the damage caused by the Great Black Fungus was far less.

Thus, the form of taking turns guarding the gate, or rather, taking turns as sacrifices, appeared.

Anyway, every time the Great Black Fungus came, it would tear apart a few tree spirits and then leave satisfied.

Sacrificing a few unlucky ones on rotation to ensure the survival of more tree spirits seemed quite worthwhile.

It just felt that this way was not right, yet it could think of no other solution.

Tree spirits were not a rapidly reproducing race; the number of tree spirits in the woodland was steadily declining at a slow pace.

Sooner or later, they would all be killed—that was what it believed.

Therefore, it felt no relief at surviving the disaster; this was merely postponing the end by a little bit.

Until a mushroom bloomed atop its head...

Though it was very vague, it sensed that massive existence above!

That existence's will was as vast as the boundless forest; compared to that existence, all the tree spirits in the entire woodland combined seemed insignificant.

That was an unconquerable existence; even the Black Mushroom was merely a small part of it.

It had glimpsed the leviathan from afar, yet the leviathan, due to its insignificance, had not noticed it for the moment, which made it feel fear.

It had thought about pulling the mushroom off its body, so that existence would not discover it.

But if it did that, the fate of the tree spirits' extinction seemed destined.

The Great Black Fungus was part of that existence; for the tree spirits to survive, they had to try to communicate with it.

It tried to convey this idea to its kin, but the emotions responding through the roots were all doubt and anger.

Even though it tried its hardest to advocate, it only earned this single opportunity for separate communication.

And now, the communication had ended.

Thanks to the communication, the Great Black Fungus did not tear it apart this time.

But it was hard to say whether the result of the communication was good.

This result felt more like receiving an ultimatum.

It did not know how many of its kin would be willing to let a mushroom grow on them.

It only knew it had to try its hardest to persuade more of its kin.

Hope it isn't too few...

Thanks to the alliance leader "Kong Cheng... Zou"

Thanks to the alliance leader "Yu He Xing De Dao Ying"

Next chapter update at 6 o'clock.

(End of this chapter)