Early the next morning, Ye Fei woke up feeling refreshed and invigorated. He made his way through Tunnel 1, heading up the 35-degree inclined shaft toward Tunnel Section 0.
’Everyone must be up by now,’ Ye Fei thought.
’They’re probably all discussing yesterday’s hunt. Superpower Users have plenty to talk about, and they all have something to strive for. Our Cultivation has only just begun, so even those with less Talent can still improve. That’s why the hunting squad’s morale should be pretty high.’
However, when Ye Fei reached the entrance to Tunnel Section 0, his heart dropped.
It was too quiet!
Tunnel Section 0, which should have been bustling with noise, was now completely silent.
’Did they go out on an emergency mission to drive away Mutant Beasts? Or... did a Mutant Beast get in?’
At the thought, Ye Fei’s expression grew grim.
Ye Fei grew anxious. If the entire hunting squad was wiped out overnight without a sound, then he wouldn’t be far from death himself. Mutant Beasts are extremely cunning. Once one learns there’s food here, it’ll keep coming back again and again. Not to mention, he had finally managed to get the others to farm mushrooms with him for free, which was a huge deal for him.
Even losing just one person would be a loss to him, so he quickly grabbed a weapon from a nearby rack, desperate to figure out what was going on.
He continued to creep quietly toward the door of Tunnel Section 0.
There was still absolutely no sound! But he did smell a strong, peculiar fragrance...
’What the hell? Could it be a Mutant Beast that releases poisonous gas? If so, inside this narrow, enclosed Shelter, I’m afraid no one would be a match for it...’
Heart pounding, Ye Fei walked to the door. He didn’t knock. Instead, he turned sideways and slowly pushed it open.
The moment he pushed the door open, an even more intense fragrance washed over him.
Ye Fei quickly held his breath and backed away.
Then, he froze, stunned by the sight.
Inside Tunnel Section 0, it was chaos. People were lying everywhere, strewn about haphazardly.
One team member was foaming at the mouth, the whites of their eyes showing as they struggled to sit up.
These were obvious signs of poisoning. The bizarre fragrance was overpowering, and its source was a large pot set up on the floor.
Inside the pot was a thick, red liquid.
Under the beam of his flashlight, the liquid was thick and Crimson, like blood. But a closer look revealed that the bubbles occasionally surfacing in the pot brought a few mushrooms with them.
’Son of a... it’s mushroom soup!’
But this soup had clearly been boiled down many times, causing its hallucinogenic components to become highly concentrated. It had eventually turned red, and its smell had changed completely into that strange, intense fragrance.
’Concentrated... mushroom soup?’
He reached out and dipped a finger in. He didn’t even have to taste it; just bringing it close to his nose was enough for the smell to send a jolt through his body.
’You couldn’t call this mushroom soup anymore. This is a Hallucinogen!’
Ye Fei looked back at the people sprawled on the floor and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Not only were they not dead, but he was also surprised to find that many of their bodies were hot to the touch—a sign that they were actively in the process of Cultivation.
「An hour later...」
Ye Fei gradually managed to wake people up. One by one, they came to, feeling incredibly energetic. Many had even experienced a noticeable increase in their Power!
The ones who hadn’t improved were those who had been so focused on getting high from the mushroom soup that they’d forgotten to cultivate!
"Haha, we’re about to take off!"
"Gyehehehe~ My Fist Power shot up by 200 jin in a single night. This mushroom soup is terrifyingly good!"
"Sigh... The mushroom soup is great, but what’s the price? I doubt it comes without side effects. For starters, my bladder feels like it’s about to explode. Thanks for waking me up, Ye Fei. Otherwise, I would’ve definitely pissed my pants."
All the members of the hunting squad were buzzing with excitement. The usual gloomy atmosphere was gone, and as if they were all drunk, they started boasting and shooting the shit.
The scene was incredibly lively.
For a moment, Ye Fei felt like he was back in modern society, having a drinking contest at a barbecue joint.
Some felt their Superpowers had grown much stronger and that they were about to break through to the Elite Level.
Others woke up to find that the wounds from yesterday had healed significantly, which must have been due to their Cultivation last night.
Still others complained that the mushroom soup’s effects were too strong, making them pass out from the euphoric high before they could even start cultivating.
And then there were a few just sitting there in a daze, foolish grins spreading across their faces from time to time. They clearly hadn’t come down from their trip yet.
Fighting during the day, cultivating at night, and constantly facing mortal danger put the Superpower Users under immense pressure.
Last night’s binge had allowed everyone to blow off some serious steam. Now, they all felt fantastic, both in body and mind.
However... Ye Fei scanned the crowd but didn’t see the instigator of all this—Luo Zai.
Huh?
’Where’d that guy go?’
At Ye Fei’s prompting, the group entered Luo Zai’s room, only to find him passed out on his bed, snoring soundly.
A moment later, Liu Ru rushed over. "Mushroom poisoning, but thankfully it’s not highly toxic. A few IV bags of saline and he’ll be fine."
Liu Ru gave her diagnosis.
"Don’t waste the saline."
Qin Jiezhou promptly poured a basin of cold water over his own head.
The others quickly followed his example.
SPLASH~
SPLASH~
Everyone instantly sobered up.
"Agh!"
Luo Zai, who had also been doused, opened his eyes in a daze. He looked around, and then a confident smile spread across his face as he announced, "My Power has broken through to 20,000 jin!"
"So you’re the Dragon King. My humblest apologies."
Everyone came to the same conclusion.
Luo Zai had drunk the most mushroom soup out of everyone, but his tolerance for the Hallucinogen was surprisingly good. Even though his piss reeked of mushrooms, he could still speak coherently.
Ten minutes or so later, Luo Zai finally snapped out of his hallucinations.
The first thing he did was find Ye Fei and thank him. "Brother, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I never would have discovered such useful mushrooms, and my Power wouldn’t have increased so quickly."
"How much did your Power increase?"
Ye Fei asked curiously.
"Heh~ Wait, let me test it."
With that, he walked straight to the Fist Power testing machine.
"Alright everyone, listen up! I have an announcement to make!"
As soon as he said that, all eyes turned to him.
Seeing he had their attention, Luo Zai grinned smugly and threw a heavy punch.
BOOM—! jin!
Luo Zai looked at the number, sighed, and shook his head. "Sigh... I was hoping to cultivate my Fist Power all the way to 2000 jin last night, but the effect got weaker and weaker toward the end. I really wanted to amaze everyone."
He might have said that, but he was grinning from ear to ear.
"..."
Ye Fei suddenly had no desire to speak to this guy anymore.
’His Fist Power increased by over 400 jin in a single night. At 20 jin per cycle, that means he completed the Breathing Technique at least twenty times. I get exhausted after just a dozen reps. Even with the mushroom soup’s help, this guy not only did more reps than me, but he was also faster and got better results.’
"Are you fishing for us to call you Handsome Guy? Because I’m just gonna call you a prick."
"Congrats to this prick for joining the ranks of the Neo-Humans today."
The others around them also started laughing and cursing good-naturedly.
The hunting squad operated together every day. When a teammate’s Power increased, everyone’s safety increased, so they were all genuinely happy for him.
"Luo Zai’s Fist Power has indeed grown quickly, and his strength is stable."
Even the captain, who rarely gave out praise, offered a comment.
At that, Luo Zai puffed out his chest even more, looking for all the world like a preening rooster.
"Alright, everyone, time to test!"
Just then, the captain, Qin Jiezhou, clapped his hands and shouted.
The hunting squad conducted a routine Fist Power test every morning to encourage friendly competition and mutual improvement.