Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 793 Summer Tomb
In an instant, Xiao Ran's consciousness spread out like a boulder thrown into water!
Countless mycelia became extensions of his consciousness, becoming his additional senses.

What he "saw" was not light, but the energy flow and life fluctuations sensed by countless mycelia.

Xiao Ran's consciousness surged out of the coffin, her own ideology splitting apart by countless tiny mycelia, as if each mycelia was a part of herself.

However, its own will was not dispersed; on the contrary, as these countless mycelia gathered, it changed its will form at will.

This feeling was peculiar, but for Xiao Ran... it wasn't new.

It's not hard to understand with just a simple shift in perspective.

It's like breaking down one's immense spiritual power into countless thoughts.

I finally managed to go from a state of thought to a state of no-thought, and you've brought me back to square one?
Xiao Ran couldn't help but want to complain in her heart. She wondered if the Plum Blossom Taoist would jump out of his coffin if he knew that this could still be done.

This operation is the complete opposite of the Soul Cultivation Technique.

It's a pity that Plum Blossom Taoist's scroll has been destroyed, otherwise Xiao Ran really wanted to summon him once, not for any other reason than to see what kind of expression Plum Blossom Taoist, a guy who goes against his own beliefs, would have.

At this moment, Wu Man's voice came into Xiao Ran's mind: "Hey, this is really interesting, even more fun than I thought."

Xiao Ran's consciousness locked onto the area and immediately spotted Wu Man beside her.

The creature's will enveloped the mycelium, forming a cluster of mycelium that shimmered with a faint white light.

But this startled Wu Man, who felt as if she had been locked onto as soon as she poked her head out.

Fortunately, he quickly realized that the person who had locked onto him was Xiao Ran, and exclaimed in surprise, "How come you're so big??"

Compared to Wu Man, Xiao Ran's coverage area at this moment is ridiculously large.

I can only make the mycelium covering a range of 500 meters the carrier of my will.

Xiao Ran was more than four times his size, turning the surrounding environment of the well into a dark red hue. His will, trapped within Xiao Ran's encirclement, felt as if it could be swallowed up at any moment.
"How much mental strength do you have? It feels so weak."

Xiao Ran asked in a deep voice.

Logically speaking, Wu Man's mental strength shouldn't be too bad, but compared to myself, it's far inferior.

Wu Man said helplessly, "It was barely enough before, but after the battle in Ghost City, my mental strength was reduced by 25%, so now I can only make do."

"That's it."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran immediately felt a pang of guilt.

If Wu Man hadn't risked her life to save him, he might have died.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran suddenly realized that she could spare a portion of her spiritual power for Wu Man to absorb.

So Xiao Ran manipulated this part of the mycelium, forcibly separated it, and tried to send it to Wu Man.

"Try it and see if you can swallow this."

"Devour?"

Wu Man looked at the mycelium presented to her, thought for a moment, and thought it was a good idea, so she tried to wrap it with her own mycelium.

As a result, no matter how Wu Man controlled the mycelium to rub back and forth, there was absolutely no change.

This inevitably brings to mind the classic line: "What else can you do besides lick my face full of saliva?"

"No, it seems I can't devour it."

After several attempts, Wu Man realized that she was in no condition to devour Xiao Ran's mycelium.

These hyphae appear to have some kind of barrier between them.

Once one's own consciousness occupies a certain area of ​​mycelium, then other mycelium obviously can no longer occupy the area.

This is probably to prevent them from devouring each other and causing uncontrollable consequences.

However, just as Xiao Ran was retracting her wisp of mycelium, she inadvertently snatched a tuft of mycelium from Wu Man.

However, neither Xiao Ran nor Wu Man paid any attention to it. After all, Wu Man had already tried it, and the mycelium could only act as a medium, but could not devour each other.

However, what no one expected was that the moment Xiao Ran pulled the wisp of mycelium back, it was directly devoured by Xiao Ran's mycelium.

At the same time, Wu Man screamed, "Damn it, what are you doing?! My spirit has been reduced by 1 point!"

"What??"

Xiao Ran was surprised. Wu Man had tried for so long without any effect, but Xiao Ran had inadvertently devoured Wu Man's mycelium.

It seems that all of Wu Man's attempts just now were a joke.

"and many more!"

Xiao Ran then began to try to control his mycelium, and he soon discovered that his control over these mycelium far exceeded that of Wu Man.

This has nothing to do with the level of mental strength, but rather it's more like the difference in their levels of authority.

It's like playing a game together, but Wu Man is just an ordinary player, while I have a high-level account with various administrator privileges.

This made Xiao Ran's heart skip a beat, recalling the unusual thing in the coffin: "Could it be... the Five Dragon Bracelet?"

Xiao Ran thought of the bracelet on her wrist.

Li Jingqi essentially left all the inheritance to himself, but there wasn't much information about the bracelet.

It's likely that even Li Jingqi himself couldn't find much useful information.

But since he found this place, it's possible that the bracelet has some special connection to this place.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran felt even more eager to wander around the Tomb Kingdom.

"go!"

As soon as Xiao Ran finished speaking, the mycelium around the two of them swirled, and in just an instant, they had already traveled an unknown distance.

Suddenly, countless energy bodies, large and small, shimmered with light, surged forward like waves before my eyes.

The two consciousnesses seemed to have lost all constraints in the world, roaming freely in the mycelium.

What was presented to the two of them was a bizarre and fantastical world—no, it was a vast world composed of countless microorganisms.

At the same time, Xiao Ran also received a large amount of pheromones.

These information molecules are often unconscious entities, emitted by ordinary mycelia.

For example, there is water here, there is light here, and the soil here contains various unique minerals, etc.

These pheromones seem to be shared by everyone; you can sense them as long as you get close.

Some pheromones are emitted by conscious individuals.

For example: "One part of metallic soil requires only 20 parts of copper-silver synthesizing bacteria."

Or...

"Special medium-toxin synthesizing bacteria, requiring five hundred gold-synthesizing bacteria."

"Looking to buy a parasitic fungus mine! High price offered!"

These pheromones, much like those present during human transactions, bombard the brain. For a normal person, the brain simply couldn't handle such a massive amount of information.

Even with strong enough mental power, one would inevitably be overwhelmed by such a massive amount of information.

Neither Xiao Ran nor Wu Man felt annoyed or confused by the massive amount of pheromones.

Although the amount of these pheromones is enormous, after flowing rapidly through countless hyphae, they all converge in an inconspicuous area of ​​the fungus and do not directly enter its host.

Ok……

Simply put, it's like a chat box in a game world, except that you have a single eye, or even a brain, watching the messages in the chat box to identify the pheromones you want.

"amazing!!"

Even Wu Man couldn't help but marvel at this, never imagining that the world where microorganisms exist could be so vast and bustling, a civilization completely separate from humanity.

"Brilliant!"

This is Xiao Ran's evaluation of Gu Xuan.

Although it was a bit vulgar, Xiao Ran couldn't think of any fancy words to describe it.

After all, the feat of creating a civilization is no less significant than Pangu's creation of the world.

You might say that the world of fungi has existed since ancient times, but only Gu Xuan can allow human consciousness to enter this world, or even control it, which surpasses countless others.

Xiao Ran categorized Gu Xuan and Plum Blossom Taoist in her mind.

It was discovered that the two people's paths were completely opposite. The Plum Blossom Taoist pursued nothingness, formlessness, and the ability to change everything with a single thought, transcending the material world.

Tani Gen, on the other hand, took the evolution of the form of matter to another extreme, down to the concept of bacteria.

No wonder, very few people in the real world know about the two of them.

Because these two people have no intention of developing in the main world at all. In fact, if it weren't for the Plum Blossom Taoist lineage passing down the Four Methods, even the name Plum Blossom Taoist would probably be a mystery.

But clearly they are still far from reaching the core area of ​​the Tomb Kingdom.

Because all the pheromones are emitted outwards, the source seems to be exceptionally far away from them.

how far?
The concept of distance does not exist in mycelium.

Because their thoughts traveled extremely fast, Xiao Ran and Wu Man traversed an unknown distance through the mycelium in the blink of an eye, with just a thought.

In the blink of an eye, the two had already approached a core area of ​​the Tomb Kingdom.

This place is known as the Xia Tomb.

You can think of it as a megacity.

This is a fungal nest constructed from countless shimmering mycelia, so vast that it cannot be measured in any specific unit.

However, when Xiao Ran and Wu Man, these two enormous consciousnesses, entered this area, they still caused quite a disturbance.

A large amount of bluish-green mycelium quickly surged around them, forming a wall that blocked their way. "Halt. This is Xia Tomb. Please state your origins."

The giant mycelial wall not only blocked Xiao Ran and Wu Man's will, but also isolated a large amount of pheromones behind them.

This prevented the two from sensing any pheromones emanating from the Xia Tomb.

This situation can be understood as a state of war, a complete blockade.

Actually, entering the Xia Tomb is entirely free, but the problem is that both are too large.

Wu Man's size is already extremely large, comparable to a giant in the real world.

Xiao Ran was even more terrifying, as terrifying as a mountain.

The appearance of such a being in the Xia Tomb would inevitably cause a huge commotion.

It could even be considered as a large-scale attack by the enemy.

Xiao Ran did not reveal her identity, but simply replied, "We were just passing by and have no ill intentions towards you."

However, even though Xiao Ran had tried her best to show goodwill, the blue mycelium in front of her became even more nervous.

But at this moment, the blue mycelium in front of them quickly changed color, turning from blue to yellowish-brown.

"I'm sorry, but the fungi in the Summer Tomb are limited, so you can't enter as complete individuals. If you wish to enter the Summer Tomb, you might as well divide yourselves into about 50 units. I can guarantee that you will enjoy the most honorable treatment here."

A large fungal nest naturally contains a large amount of blank mycelium, but if someone of Xiao Ran's size were to enter, most of the will within the fungal nest would be forcibly squeezed out, and it might even directly cause the entire fungal nest to collapse.

Therefore, the conditions offered by the other party were not intended to make things difficult.

For Xiao Ran and Wu Man, the idea of ​​fifty units was equivalent to less than, or even less than, 2 points of mental energy.

This level of mental strength is almost no different from that of an ordinary person.

"I'm sorry, that's too few. We're not used to it. How about 2000 units? This number won't have much of an impact on you."

Xiao Ran unleashed her will.

Two thousand units and fifty units make no difference to Xiao Ran and Wu Man, but two thousand units allow for faster and easier processing of gas pheromones.

After hesitating for a few seconds, the other party immediately chose to close the wall and release Xiao Ran and Wu Man to enter: "Welcome to Xia Tomb."

Xiao Ran and Wu Man separated only a thought, and a portion of their spiritual energy quickly entered Xia Tomb.

Two thousand bacterial cells were quickly formed.

This unit was just right for Xiao Ran and Wu Man, but it was quite conspicuous for other bacteria.

"Gentlemen, you may call me Tao. I am the owner of the Xia Dynasty tomb here, and I am not yet sure how to address you."

The earth-yellow will that had just spoken with Xiao Ran appeared beside Xiao Ran and Wu Man, and like Xiao Ran and Wu Man, it consisted of bacteria in units of two thousand.

"My name is Ran, and his name is Xiao. This is our first time here. Would you mind showing us around?"

Xiao Ran split her name into two parts to make it easier to find the whereabouts of her grandfather and Zhao Qingming.

"Of course, please come this way."

Tao led Xiao Ran through the enormous fungal nest.

The structure of this fungal nest is from top to bottom, with a narrow entrance, which is designed for easier defense. Just like before, the entrance can be directly and simply blocked, sealing off all pheromones. This can help avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble when necessary.

Below lies an even more expansive and vast world of microorganisms.

It was only when Xiao Ran got here that she roughly understood why Tao had only divided the two of them into fifty units.

Two thousand units is still too many here.

The three groups of bacteria, each with a capacity of two thousand units, could only move in the airspace above this area, like three enormous dark clouds looming over it. Wherever they passed, the will of the bacteria below felt an immense sense of oppression.

However, this has its advantages. Wherever they walk, all the pheromones below are visible, and the structure of these bacterial communities can be understood at a glance.

Actually, this place is just like the human world.

Just like other shops, the development of the microbial community also revolves around various unique elements.

In particular, an elemental substance known as "molten gold" has become the main theme here.

It can be understood as human food.

Consuming this substance can rapidly expand one's microbial community, allowing for the collection and synthesis of more rare elements through community development.

Then, by synthesizing items from these rare elements, they can upgrade themselves.

For example, Xiao Ran noticed that some mycelia in some bacterial communities already possessed metallic properties, and could even transform themselves into a body like steel in an instant.

Or it could be able to quickly become invisible, or even emit a violent corrosive toxin.

"My goodness, it feels like this microbial community is cultivating immortality all over the place. If it evolves for another million years, who knows what it will evolve into?"

Wu Man carefully separated a strand of pheromones and gave it to Xiao Ran.

"Do you think that if these things keep evolving and merging, could they eventually become a new civilization that replaces humanity?"

This is undeniable. It's hard to imagine what these mycelia would eventually evolve into if they continued to evolve; it's beyond human comprehension.

But as Wu Man said, that's too far off.

Without hundreds of thousands or millions of years for them to slowly evolve, it would be extremely difficult for them to reach the level Wu Man described, where they could freely change and even influence the entire world.

It's not just because the speed is too slow.

Regardless of how fast human progress is, this microbial community has a fatal flaw: their consciousness is very weak.

Although there are many of them, the degree of improvement they can achieve is always low.

It seems that there is some kind of special barrier deliberately limiting the development of these microbial communities.

Or...

Xiao Ran thought of Gu Xuan, which was likely one of Gu Xuan's methods, in case Gu Xuan decided to leave one day.

It's hard to imagine how he would leave Gu Xuan's tomb in such a bizarre manner.

Even with the worst possible assumption, could Gu Xuan simply devour all the consciousnesses of these fungal species, then gather these special mycelia to create an invincible body for himself?
Thinking of this, Xiao Ran felt a chill run down her spine.

If it really comes to that point, I'm afraid I won't be a match for him, and in the end I might have to run away and ask the Plum Blossom Taoist for help.

Tao was very enthusiastic throughout the trip, introducing the infrastructure of their Xia Dynasty tomb to Xiao Ran and Wu Man.

For example, artificial ponds with artificially created bacteria and algae.

“We have eight such artificial pools. If needed, we can produce about 500,000 high-quality bacteria and algae in a single breath.”

What Tao Kou calls a "breath" is the blink of an eye for humans, but for fungi it is almost an hour.

Half a million bacteria and algae may sound like a lot, but it can only be considered a medium-sized scale.

Moreover, Xiao Ran quickly discerned the flaws in Tao's words.

The number it mentioned can probably only be fully realized under extreme conditions; otherwise, the scale of this Xia Tomb should be even larger.

Besides the creation pool, there are various special areas, such as the fusion zone. This fusion zone is a general term, and the specifics depend on what is being fused within it.

For example, metals are called metal fusion zones.

The toxin is called the toxin fusion zone, and so on.

The gold-dissolving solution mentioned earlier was fused from here.

After they had finished their tour, Tao led Xiao Ran and Wu Man to Tao's residence.

Or rather, it is the main body of pottery.

He was the tomb owner of the Xia Dynasty tomb.

Tao's main body is very large, almost the same size as Wu Man's, but it is completely incomparable to Xiao Ran's main body.
This is probably why Tao was so nervous at the beginning.

After inviting the two into his main body, Tao immediately presented them with many special mycelia.

These mycelia all have different properties. You can sense the special substances inside them by integrating them into your will.

After tasting a piece of mycelium, Wu Man felt a surge of pleasure throughout her body, which invigorated her.

"what is this?"

Wu Man pressed for an answer.

"This is a specialty of our Xia Tomb, called Bai Ling Jun, a kind of fungus and algae with an excellent taste. It is also one of our main local specialties. If you like it, I can give you some later."

Tao said this with a smile.

Then he introduced the two to other flavors of mushrooms and algae.

Although Xiao Ran and Wu Man have no sense of taste, they can directly sense unique flavors from these special fungi and algae, a process that is quite magical.

At this moment, Wu Man suddenly remembered their side quest and asked, "I've heard of some special delicacies: Blood Fungus, Spirit Eye Spores, Albino Bone Fungus, and Dragon Tooth Vegetable. Where can I find these?"

Tao was stunned when he heard Wu Man's question.

He smiled wryly and said to Wu Man, "These are very unique synthetic bacteria. We don't have them in the Xia Tomb. But I've heard that there are blood fungi and shiitake mushrooms in the Upper Tomb. But that's just hearsay. After all, as the Lower Tomb, it's impossible for such advanced species to appear here."

The entire cemetery was originally divided into three layers: upper, middle, and lower. The lower layer mainly consisted of four fungus tombs: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The middle layer consists of east, south, west, and north.

As for the tomb, it consists of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.

However, the area is too high-level for even a tomb owner like Tao to enter; it is said to be an area that only those with the highest level of willpower can enter.

If they approach rashly, they might even be directly devoured by other wills.

(End of this chapter)