The surfaces of the caps were dotted with faint green spots, which shimmered with a weak, fluorescent green glow in the dim, white, misty environment.

Periodically, as if breathing, the giant purple mushrooms would expel visible purple powder from beneath their caps, which then diffused into the surroundings.

The white mist and purple powder mixed, shrouding the Mushroom Forest ahead in a light purple haze and obscuring the path deeper within.

"Spores. That stuff being puffed out by the giant mushrooms must be spores. I don’t know if they’re poisonous. Let’s send the drone in first to check things out."

Lü Xiuning took a thermal imaging lens from his backpack, attached it to the drone, and piloted it over.

Yin Yi could fly, so it could have carried the camera high into the sky to film. It was also more intelligent. However, everyone was worried that an accident might happen back here while Yin Yi was away exploring, like an encounter with a powerful Soul Beast they couldn’t handle.

The probability was low, but not zero. To be on the safe side, they had the drone carry out the filming mission.

"It’s about time we found a Flying Soul Beast," Lü Xiuning lamented as he piloted the drone over the Mushroom Forest. "A Flying Soul Beast could not only handle filming missions but also act as a lookout. It would be a great help to us."

Piloting a drone was very much a matter of luck. If they encountered a Soul Beast with long-range attacks, the chance of it being destroyed was nearly one hundred percent. Every time they filmed with the drone, they were mentally prepared to lose it.

Fortunately, the drone wasn’t destroyed by any of the forest’s Soul Beasts this time.

After flying about 300 meters out, Lü Xiuning brought the drone back, inserted its memory card into his phone, and reviewed the footage.

Since it was flying high above the forest and far from the ground, the footage was quite blurry.

"35°C... How is it so hot in the forest?!" Han Ning said in amazement, looking at the pale red blotches and the temperature readout on the thermal display.

The places they usually stayed weren’t hot at all; in fact, they were quite pleasant, typically hovering around 23°C. On rainy days, the temperature would drop even lower, falling below 15°C.

"It’s probably because of the high humidity. It makes the forest feel muggy."

Lü Xiuning scrubbed through the video for a while before letting out a sigh of relief. "It’s hot, but besides the purple mushrooms, there are very few other organisms. I can hardly see any sign of activity."

"There are two possibilities. The first is that the giant mushrooms are a type of Soul Beast that hunts other Soul Beasts in the forest, which would explain the sharp decline in biodiversity."

"The second is that something makes it uninhabitable for most creatures, for example... a deadly poison!"

"But... this entire mountain range is covered in these giant purple mushrooms. We can’t go around."

Hearing this, Luo Chen, who was standing nearby, instinctively glanced at the mountain ranges on either side of them.

They were on a gently rising mountain range. The entrance to the mountain forest was filled with an endless sea of giant purple mushrooms, and the view further in was completely obscured by the mist and spores.

"So, what’s the verdict? Are we going in?" Lin Tianhe had already taken out a medical mask.

"This is an exploration mission. We should at least go in and try. We can’t just be scared off by a little difficulty."

Han Ning gazed at the gradually rising mountain ahead. Even with his eyesight, all he could see was a dark, indistinct mass.

"The Silver Lotus Wood has a Purification ability, so maybe the spores’ toxins won’t affect us. Besides... the spores might not even be poisonous. Let’s test it at the edge of the forest first."

Lü Xiuning packed up the drone and made the final call.

Without further hesitation, they walked straight to the boundary between the forest and the swamp. Lü Xiuning sent his own Silver Lotus Wood into the Mushroom Forest first and commanded it to use its Purification ability.

HUMMM~

The Silver Lotus Wood’s plant-like body began to emit a faint green light. The white mist and purple spores in the air were drawn toward its roots as if pulled by a vacuum cleaner.

Soon, a two-meter-radius zone, completely clear of mist and spores, formed around the Silver Lotus Wood.

The tiny spore particles weren’t absorbed; they simply collected beneath its roots, forming a pile of powder.

"It works. After all, our Silver Lotus Woods have reached the Fourth Mutation, so their Purification ability is on a completely different level now." Lü Xiuning nodded in satisfaction and waved for the others to follow.

That was the effect of just one Silver Lotus Wood. With Yin Yi and the other two Silver Lotus Woods contributing, the purified area expanded to a radius of over twenty meters—and that was with Yin Yi conserving its Energy.

The forest floor was covered in dense patches of small purple mushrooms and blades of grass that shimmered with a purple sheen.

At first, they were worried that the large purple mushrooms were Soul Beasts that might suddenly attack at any moment.

But as they ventured deeper into the Mushroom Forest, Han Ning realized the large mushrooms seemed more like special, non-sentient plants. Other than puffing out spores, they showed no signs of being dangerous. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’Of course, it’s also possible they’re just intimidated by Yin Yi’s aura, but the chances of that are low. This entire mountain range is covered in these giant mushrooms; if they were all Soul Beasts, the amount of Energy required to sustain them would be immense.’

The group of four picked a direction, first sending the drone out to scout for dangers before proceeding.

In this unfamiliar environment, Han Ning made Egg Pancake stay obediently by his feet and not run off.

After slogging through the forest like this for about twenty kilometers...

Before them still lay an endless forest of purple mushrooms.

The mountain range wasn’t steep, but there was no path. They had to rely on the Silver Lotus Woods to forcibly clear a trail, so their progress was slow.

It had taken them four hours to cover twenty kilometers.

And what’s more... along the entire way, they hadn’t seen a single living creature besides the purple mushrooms.

"Eerie. This is too eerie... An entire forest this vast, and not a single living creature? We haven’t even seen a corpse."

Han Ning suddenly stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Have you guys noticed? The deeper we go, the hotter it gets. I estimate it’s over 38°C now. It’s so damn hot."

Lin Tianhe pulled the mask from his face and began fanning himself vigorously with his hand.

Unlike the humans, the Silver Lotus Woods seemed to love this environment. Their leaves had been rustling nonstop ever since they entered the forest.

Han Ning even saw on his status panel that Yin Yi’s Wood Type Affinity had increased by 0.01 in just four hours.

Back at the academy, Yin Yi’s Wood Type Affinity almost never increased on its own.

This was one of the reasons he insisted on not turning back.

’The forest is filled with a dense concentration of the Wood Element!’

"We set out a little after seven this morning, and we’ve been walking for seven or eight hours now. Let’s rest for a while and recover our Physical Strength."

Lü Xiuning found a relatively clean spot, cleared it off a little, and gestured for the others to sit down.

"Phew... It’s too hot. I need a drink of water, a drink of water."

The Silver Lotus Woods stood guard while the four humans flopped onto the ground.

Han Ning twisted the cap off a bottle of mineral water and was just about to take a drink.

Suddenly, his ears twitched.

From somewhere up ahead and to their left, a faint noise seemed to drift out of the forest.