After Shou made the decision to submit, doubts did arise within the tribe, but every voice of dissent was quickly persuaded by those Demonborn already linked into the fungal network.
And once full assimilation was complete, such doubts naturally vanished altogether.
Piglet eagerly took part in the Demonborns’ networking ritual, collecting a vast amount of fresh blood. She knew well this would likely be her sole food supply for quite some time.
As for the birth ceremonies, after discussions with Xinghuo and Shou, Lin Jun instructed them to temporarily suspend further rituals.
Better to first test his theory. With the arrival of two newborn Demonborn already rekindling hope among the tribe, there was no need to rush.
Now that they were “family,” Lin Jun did not hold back. He immediately raised the Demonborns’ contribution point wages by 50%.
As a result, poor Qiong, who had just finished his labor, somehow ended up with triple contribution points…
The entire tribe’s integration added several thousand to Puji’s capacity, instantly solving the chronic shortage that had plagued Lin Jun since he gained control of the dungeon.
Now, in the deeper layers, Demonborn could be seen everywhere—planting, breeding, gathering magic crystals, patrolling, even clearing slimes.
This also freed Lin Jun to deploy more Pujis for other tasks, such as maintaining the upper floors’ operations, or even releasing a few relatively harmless-looking Pujis onto the surface, to gradually accustom the humans above……
Meanwhile, Lin Jun had not stopped his rift explorations.
The new site was the dense forest, its rift peculiarly located within the ruins that once belonged to the fishmen of the seventh floor.
When discovered, the rift was surrounded only by the bloated corpses of drowned monsters—creatures that clearly couldn’t swim.
The fifth floor actually held a rift to the forest as well, but that one was far too conspicuous, unlike this hidden one, so Lin Jun had sealed it.
He had investigated this “dense forest” before. Judging from the types of monsters that emerged, it was certain to be inside the Elven Forest—specifically, the dungeon known as Esogar.
“Esogar” was its name in Elvish. Translated, it meant “Divine Wood,” thus humans called it the Divine Wood Dungeon.
Just from the name alone, Amethyst Dungeon already seemed a level beneath it…
Lin Jun carried high expectations for Divine Wood Dungeon.
Unlike the Scarecrow Abyss, here the biodiversity was clearly richer. And besides—there were elves!
Who knew? Perhaps he might even stumble across an elf corpse or two, from which to learn nature magic and the Elvish tongue.
A scout Puji performed a splash-jump, leaping across the rift and appearing beside a quiet little lake.
The water was crystal clear, but no fish could be seen. Clearly, it was a newborn lake formed by leaked rift water.
Looking around, aside from the small lake, all that surrounded it was forest—an immense forest of towering trees!
The Puji vanished silently, fluttering up to perch at the treetop, its perception expanding outward, finding only forest.
Above the forest was no sky, but a massive dome more than a thousand meters overhead.
Here, the trees all had [Photosynthesis]. But the sunlight did not descend from above the dome. Instead, it slanted inward from the point where dome and forest met.
Thus, only the uppermost leaves of the canopy received this precious gift.
No wonder these trees grew so tall—they were all competing for that light…
The slanted sunlight was tied to the unique structure of Divine Wood Dungeon.
Unlike Amethyst Dungeon or Scarecrow Abyss, which lay in special spaces, Divine Wood Dungeon existed within the main world itself.
According to Lin Jun’s gathered intelligence, it was a colossal spiral, extending downward layer by layer. The dome Puji now gazed at was actually the “floor” of the level above.
The angled sunlight came from a massive array at the spiral’s core. Acting like a prism, it collected the light shining through the dungeon’s entrance, refracted it, and scattered it across every level.
This array was built into the dungeon’s very rules.
Moreover, though elves divided it into fifteen floors for convenience, in truth the dungeon had no strict floor boundaries.
Neighboring layers often shared similar monster species.
But the deeper the spiral descended, the denser the mana grew—and the more dangerous the beings it birthed.
Perched at the treetop, Puji let the slanted sun warm it, its magic slowly recovering. This was undeniably real sunlight, not some substitute like firefly grass.
Speaking of which, this forest also held firefly grass.
Unlike in Amethyst Dungeon, where they grew on the dome, here the firefly grass rooted deep in the forest’s shaded undergrowth, glowing faintly where sunlight could not reach.
Naturally, if one was to explore, one must choose a direction.
Lin Jun loved the sun most of all—so naturally he aimed first for where the sunlight streamed in, and to figure out which “floor” he had landed on.
But before the scout Puji could move, a bird landed right on its cap!
Specifically, a large blue parrot.
But Lin Jun was invisible right now!
【Race: Azure Sky Parrot】
【Level: LV30】
【Skills: Acceleration LV8, Evasion LV8, Peck LV5, Mana Sense LV4…】
Mana Sense, hm…
Since it delivered itself, this would be the first harvest.
The parrot seemed fascinated by the “platform” it had perched on, and its hard beak pecked mercilessly at Puji’s cap.
The scout Puji’s mycelium tendrils rose soundlessly, then lashed.
But with a flash of blue, the parrot easily evaded, leaving only an afterimage behind.
So fast!
Its strength and constitution were as weak as a Puji’s, but its agility far surpassed silver rank.
Puji struck again, four tendrils lashing in a chain, but the parrot twisted through them with impossible grace, dodging by hairsbreadth each time.
Worse, after dodging, it didn’t even leave. It landed back atop Puji’s cap, cocked its head, and squawked—pure provocation.
The scout Puji’s cap shrank, spraying hallucinogenic spores at the parrot’s feet.
Sensing danger, the parrot flapped frantically, but still inhaled some. Its smooth flight faltered, wobbling drunkenly.
It tried to flee, but Puji followed close.
Though still faster, its swaying, erratic flight made it impossible to shake Puji off.
And the spores’ power only deepened within its body.
Unhurried, Puji trailed behind, and Lin Jun relished the slow chase—especially after that bird had dared to humiliate him!
The pursuit did not last long. Soon the spores overwhelmed it, and the parrot plummeted, crash-landing into bushes in a clumsy heap, and fell unconscious.
Puji landed lightly, strutted to the parrot’s limp form, and stomped on it a few times to vent its anger before storing it away.
A measly little monster daring to look down on Puji? Its feathers would be plucked alive for parrot stew to feed the lizardmen!
Just as Puji prepared to continue exploring, it froze.
“Huff… huff…”
A faint sound, nearly swallowed by the forest’s rustle, reached its ears.
【Sonic Detection】 rippled outward, but failed to find it. Lin Jun quickly switched to 【Mana Sense】.
At last—there, inside a giant tree.
Circling the massive trunk, he found a hidden hollow among the gnarled roots.
Puji slipped inside, and within a few steps, came upon the source—
An elf, barely clinging to life.