Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

Chapter 137: Chapter 37 Secret Realm Evolution

“World… Mushroom?”

Facing this title, Richard was somewhat puzzled.

Shouldn’t it be the World Tree?

“Yes, it is the World Mushroom, my lord, I can make this demi-plane space larger and the rules richer. If there is enough time, this demi-plane might even become a real world…”

The World Mushroom desperately tried to paint a rosy picture for Richard, hoping to survive.

Ulysses’s terror was somewhat beyond its expectation, and even the pest that had been beaten into a seed and sealed for so long was not one-third as terrifying as Ulysses.

It could feel that Ulysses had suffered severe injuries. If these injuries were to heal, it suspected that even it combined with that insect would merely serve as a lavish feast of meat and vegetables for Ulysses.

How could such a terrifying creature refer to an ant as its master?

“Ulysses, do you think what it says is credible?” Richard asked. “I have only heard of the World Tree and never of a World Mushroom.”

Ulysses ruffled his feathers:

“Caw, my dear master, the term ‘World Tree’ is a general term. Although it calls itself the World Mushroom, it is actually what we refer to as the World Tree. If you, my master, had visited a plane where the Earth Element is unbalanced, the World Trees there are enormous mountains. And in some worlds where the Water Element is predominant, the World Tree is a gigantic seaweed or a giant jet that reaches through the heavens and the earth.”

As a member of the Gods Civilization, Ulysses’s status was almost equivalent to that of the Great Wizard. He had seen many landscapes of various otherworlds. To him, something like the World Mushroom was nothing extraordinary.

“So that’s how it is.” Richard nodded. “That could indeed be useful. Draw up a Destiny Contract for it and make the terms strict.”

“Caw…” Ulysses hesitated, then reluctantly scraped off a bit of debris from his soul.

Although his injuries had somewhat healed during this period, this small amount of debris took him back a step.

“Don’t be so aggrieved,” Richard said indifferently. “You will benefit from this mushroom growing as well. I found in the Insect Nest a type of mushroom that can restore soul injuries. If we could plant it in the Secret Realm, your loss would quickly be recovered.”

“Caw, really!?”

Richard didn’t say more and pulled out a Sacrificial Fungus from his pocket.

After tasting it, Ulysses immediately produced the Destiny Contract.

“Caw, for the sake of your interests, my lord, this loss of mine means nothing.”

…

The Destiny Contract prepared by Ulysses was very strict, but the World Mushroom had even fewer choices than Ulysses had back then.

Back then, Ulysses could still struggle, but in front of Ulysses, the World Mushroom didn’t even have the right to struggle and had to sign the contract obediently.

Having been sealed for so long, the World Mushroom had no intention of just coming back to life only to die again.

Once the contract was signed, the World Mushroom rooted itself in the Secret Realm. As soon as it took root, the magic power in the entire Secret Realm began to flow instantly. The magic power, like rivers flowing into the sea, was absorbed by the World Mushroom and transformed into fungal threads spreading out.

The Holy Tree Elves sensed this change and hid behind Richard.

Before long, the fungal threads of the World Mushroom had spread through half of the space of the Secret Realm, and its height had reached about ten meters.

The Holy Tree Elves were curious about this suddenly enlarged object. A group of little creatures came out from behind Richard and kept circling around the World Mushroom.

“Boss, boss, what is this?”

A Spiritual Message came from the World Tree:

“My lord, I will connect with the rules of this Secret Realm. There will be some changes here soon, and these little ones might not be able to adapt.”

“Not be able to adapt?”

Richard frowned, the Holy Tree Elves were of significant use to him, relating to long-term benefits.

“Can you resolve this?”

…

The World Mushroom was silent for a long time, making Richard feel like some bosses he had encountered in his past life, who always demanded the moon.

“Go take out Tang Seng and his disciples.jpg” After the silence, the World Mushroom sent a Spiritual Message:

“I’m not sure, but I can try.”

The World Mushroom extended several thin fungal threads to connect to the Holy Tree Elves. After a long time, the World Mushroom conveyed some good news.

“My lord, these little ones are quite good, and I can transform them. If you allow, they can become my kinfolk.”

“Kinfolk?” Richard paused for a moment. After consulting Ulysses, he learned the meaning of kinfolk.

Kinfolk are essentially a dependent race of a strong creature, similar to a symbiotic relationship in nature.

The kinfolk depend on the strong for survival, while the strong benefit from the services provided by the kinfolk.

After hearing this explanation, Richard decided, “Alright, but I need to ensure absolute control over them.”

The World Mushroom sent a message:

“Your will.”

Transforming the Holy Tree Elves would take a long time, as would the World Mushroom connecting with the rules of the Secret Realm. During this period, the entire Secret Realm would be inaccessible.

Richard still had tasks to take care of, and if he disappeared for too long or remained inactive, the command center would deem him as slacking off and would inquire.

Without a valid explanation, punishment would be inevitable.

Therefore, Richard and Ulysses could only temporarily leave the Secret Realm and wait for the World Mushroom’s transformation to be completed.

…

“Is everything settled?”

Looking at Richard who had just emerged, and Ulysses who had returned to his original form, Ali whispered, asking.

“Yes.” Richard nodded, then turned to look at Lawrence beside him.

“Lawrence, I…”

“I understand!”

Before Richard could finish, Lawrence interrupted him, pulling out a contract from his pocket.

“I swear to keep this matter secret, not revealing a single word to anyone outside. This is a Soul Contract.”

This old wizard had a keen intuition for survival. Whether it was Ulysses or the blue fungal species, he had no intention of delving any further, especially after understanding Richard and Ali’s backgrounds.

Plane War was not child’s play—it certainly entailed some extremely dangerous, even fatal missions.

Such mission intelligence was often disguised and then assigned to wizards deemed suitable by the headquarters.

Lawrence felt that if he wasn’t tactful, given the relationship of the other two, those fatal missions would undoubtedly fall on him.

“This… it’s settled.”

Richard awkwardly accepted the contract, having initially thought about enticing him, but didn’t expect Lawrence to be so accommodating.

After the signing of the contract, all three of them relaxed significantly, and their relationship became closer.

After leaving Mushroom Land, Lawrence returned to the Floating City, whereas Richard and company continued their extermination of the Insect Nest.

That was their real task.

In the middle and lower layers of the Insect Nest, there were countless pockets of the Resistance Army.

These insects, leveraging the complex environment of the Earth Cave, fought against the wizards. Although they lost more than they won, they still consumed a lot of the wizards’ vital forces.

This was indeed damaging for the limited number of wizards.

Now, the war had gradually turned into a quagmire of attrition, a fight to see who had more stamina.

…

Bang!

A Magic Wand enveloped in black flames struck from the air, smashing a Warrior Worm’s head together with its Blade Arm.

The wand sizzled as it evaporated the green viscous fluid of the Warrior Worm.

Richard expressionlessly surveyed the area, a small settlement, wherein a dozen Warrior Worms, along with several dozen other types of insects, had entrenched themselves. Until Richard found their lair, this group of Warrior Worms had repeatedly ambushed them using the tunnels.

“It’s all settled.”

Suddenly next to Richard, a shadow rose and transformed into a wizard dressed in a black robe.

After leaving Mushroom Land, Lawrence returned to the Floating City and switched bodies.

For a wizard like him, who underwent spiritual evolution, any body with a Physique over fifty was usable; hence, he didn’t take long to return to the Underground Insect Nest to meet Richard and company.

“What about Ali?”

A hoarse voice came from the opposite tunnel in front of Richard.

“That’s settled too.”

Ali presently stood wearing somewhat tattered clothes, her face expressionless, exuding an aura that kept others at bay.

It had already been two years since they had left Mushroom Land. Over these two years, the three of them had fought from the middle to the lower layers of the Insect Nest, with at least a thousand insects dying by their hands.

Such prolonged periods in the dark, oppressive underground hunting insects hardly allowed for a healthy mental state for anyone.

Richard had heard that many Black Wizards, after the war, would seek a Soul Wizard to erase parts of their memories to give themselves some relief.

Back then, he had scoffed at the idea. Black Wizards started killing as apprentices, and killing aliens in Plane Wars was mentally no burden for them.

What was there to erase?

Certainly, these wizards were just weak-minded.

Now, Richard finally understood the cruelty behind these rumors.

War was never only about glory.

The group cleaned up the battlefield, harvesting useful parts from the insect bodies.

In recent years, the headquarters’ research on the Black Crystal Worm Clan had deepened, and the usage of insect corpses had been enhanced.

A pair of Blade Arms from the Warrior Worm, rich in metal elements, could be collected and refined into various metals.

The Black Crystal in the brow of the Sacrificial Insect was most precious; these crystals, tempered by the Sacrificial Insects, naturally attracted and stored starlight, which could be released for one-time use in an attack if necessary.

The Spider Knight was a treasure all over—its four Blade Arms, the shell covering its body, and the poisonous fangs and glands in its lower spider half all had high utility value. A disassembled Spider Knight could even sell for more than if sold whole.

After cleaning the battlefield, Richard activated the Imaging Crystal Ball and continued to use sonar to detect the surrounding terrain, preparing to move to another Earth Cave potentially harboring resistance forces.

But before he could take out the Crystal Ball, their Communication Crystal Balls simultaneously received a message from headquarters.

“All… wizards note, the clean-up of Underground Insects… is significant, all… return.

Repeat, all wizards… return!”

Due to their deep position, the signal from the Communication Crystal Balls was somewhat intermittent, but even so, the three of them discerned the command from headquarters.

Holding the Communication Crystal Ball, Richard paused for a moment, his face unable to suppress a smile.

“Damn, finally we can leave this godforsaken place!”

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