After much thought, Tang Mo decided that, to be safe, she would sneak up the mountain tonight to check whether the spirit mushroom had actually appeared.
By 9:30 p.m., she had finished all her training for the day. After running a few laps and stretching, she sat on the nearby steps and took out a basket of small steamed buns from her space to eat.
These were ones she had bought from the store before, and they were still steaming hot when taken out of her space, smelling incredibly fragrant.
Tang Mo devoured them almost one by one, finishing the basket in just three minutes. The buns were truly delicious.
Her happiness was overwhelming; even her eyes turned slightly red with tears of joy. The white, soft dough and savory, juicy filling brought pure bliss with every bite.
She wanted to eat another basket… but no. She shook her head. Because of space limitations, she had only stored a little over 20 baskets. Once these were gone, they would be gone for good.
As a frugal girl in a time of famine, she couldn’t bear to waste them.
For the past month, to save her supplies, she mostly ate the food she had stored in the dorm, bought from the school’s supermarket. She only ate a little of the prepared food from her space when cravings got too strong, savoring the feeling of happiness.
After tidying up, Tang Mo took a flashlight and headed up the mountain.
The mushroom was hidden behind a large rock at the mountainside—a place that would be impossible to notice unless the rock was moved. All rare treasures grew in such concealed locations to prevent easy discovery.
In her previous life, it was hunger that made her wonder if there might be moss under the rock, prompting her to move it.
Thanks to her improved agility, Tang Mo easily climbed up and moved the rock. As expected, she found nothing beneath it. The official claim of a two-month wait seemed true. Disappointed, she moved the rock back. She didn’t know the exact spawn date of the mushroom, so she resolved to check once a day from now on.
Just as she was about to descend, something made her pause and look again at the rock.
Because the rock had been moved twice, there were noticeable scratches on the surrounding ground.
For a rare treasure to spawn, she knew two conditions had to be met: first, a place rich in spiritual energy—the mist-shrouded mountainside was perfect for that. Second, it had to be concealed and hard to find. Both conditions were essential.
Seeing the scratches, Tang Mo broke into a cold sweat. She had moved this rock when she first arrived. Since it was no longer “hidden,” would a rare treasure that demanded such strict conditions still appear here?
The thought chilled her heart. She had not considered carefully enough and might lose this treasure that rightfully belonged to her. Five spirit points were at stake!
Her mouth went bitter, and the lingering taste of the buns vanished, replaced by only regret.
After a moment of hesitation, she refused to give up. If she went back, she wouldn’t sleep anyway. Better to search around—maybe there was still a surprise.
With this in mind, Tang Mo began searching the mountainside.
By 10 p.m., darkness had fully fallen. The treeless mountainside looked especially desolate. The cool wind sent shivers across her body. Holding her jacket with one hand and the flashlight with the other, she continued her search.
Suddenly, she spotted a rock and paused.
There were countless rocks in the mountains, but this one was special—it looked exactly like the rock she had previously discovered the treasure under! How could such a coincidence happen? Her heart raced as she approached it.
Should she move it? But what if she made the same mistake again?
Lost in thought, she accidentally stepped on a small stone, lost her balance, and fell forward against the rock, moving it slightly.
“Painful…” she muttered, rubbing her bruised elbow. Seeing the rock shifted, she decided to act. She held the flashlight in her mouth, hugged the rock with both hands, and moved it fully aside.
Finally, she saw what was behind it: a fist-sized mushroom with a tiny umbrella-like cap, glowing faintly purple in the night.
“This is it!”
Overjoyed, she spat out the flashlight, crouched down, and carefully dug the spirit mushroom out with a small shovel. Holding it in her hands, she trembled slightly with the joy of recovering something lost.
She pointed her watch at the mushroom and activated the identification function. A blue light shone on the mushroom:
**Spirit Mushroom:**
* Attribute: Grants 5 spirit points
* Usage: Oral consumption
Tang Mo had only intended to test the function casually but realized that the watch’s identification feature was already usable. She knew how to operate all its functions, which made her advantage clear; anyone else would not know what it was for before official instructions.
The official’s two-month claim had been a delay. In reality, the existence of rare treasures was known from one month into the apocalypse, even before the watch was issued. Why wasn’t this publicly announced? Naturally, so they could act first.
Realizing this, Tang Mo felt fortunate. Had she not come tonight and circled the mountainside several times, she might have missed this treasure entirely.
Satisfied with herself, she carefully stored the mushroom in her space and cleaned the flashlight before descending the mountain. She rewarded herself with another basket of buns.
Back in her dorm, Tang Mo quickly changed, washed up, cleaned the mushroom, and got into bed. Sitting cross-legged, she began eating the mushroom piece by piece.
The mushroom was tender, soft on her tongue, and quickly consumed. She then focused on feeling her body.
Sure enough, her spirit points had increased.
Spirit resided in Tang Mo’s “consciousness sea,” a silver-hued cluster she could control at will for enhancement and recovery. She had even heard that the fourth-ranked master Lin Yu specialized in spirit, capable of materializing it for attacks. Unfortunately, Tang Mo had only reached 52 spirit points at death, far below the rumored 100+ of top experts.
After consuming the mushroom, she felt her silver cluster grow larger and more vivid. The change was subtle but noticeable during her daily rotations of the spirit cluster. Fatigue seemed to recover faster.
Checking her watch again:
ID: Tang Mo
Health: 13
Strength: 12
Agility: 16
Spirit: 37
Space: 0
Overall, Strength: 78
Tang Mo was thrilled—her efforts had paid off. All the meals, instant noodles, and biscuits she had eaten had returned rewards. That night’s buns were a well-deserved reward.
Exhausted, she finally lay down to sleep, her most important task at school now halfway complete, easing her mind.
The next day, all remaining students gathered on the playground. Teachers and lecturers were few and did not participate in the mountain expedition.
“Why do the remaining people seem fewer?” Song Qing adjusted her glasses.
“Many couldn’t bear the hunger and secretly left. For example, Xiuxiao from the next dorm dragged her luggage away the night before last and has been missing since,” Li Lanlan replied, speaking casually but with insider knowledge.
The mist-encircled area had been temporarily abandoned by the government. People knew that outside, relief food was being distributed. Even if scarce, it was much better than a single bun per meal in school.
Harsh conditions always made people cling to hope.
Tang Mo looked around. Besides about 50 school staff, roughly 700 students were present, although the numbers seemed closer to 500.
No work meant no food, and now everyone’s lifeline depended on the school. No one had the heart to rebel and cut off their own supplies.