Martial Soul Bifulong

Douluo Continent, Farunos Province, Mushroom Village under Notting City's jurisdiction.

Everyone here had a mushroom Martial Soul. It had been a long time since a child with Innate Soul Power had appeared.

Lan Yu was a transmigrator, an orphan, and six years old. He was standing in line for his Martial Soul Awakening, and before him was Su Yuntao, known as the blind-eyed God King.

Lan Yu held little hope of awakening some spectacular Martial Soul. After all, both his parents, who had died young, had mushroom Martial Souls and no Innate Soul Power.

His Martial Soul would most likely be a mushroom too. He only hoped to awaken Innate Soul Power. As long as he had that, he still had a chance.

Soon it was Lan Yu's turn. He stepped into the awakening formation. Su Yuntao activated it, and Lan Yu felt Soul Power flowing.

He opened his hand, and a strangely shaped mushroom appeared in his palm.

"A mushroom I've never seen before? A Mutated Martial Soul? You might have Innate Soul Power. Come, let's test it."

Lan Yu froze for a moment before reacting.

"Yes!"

He placed his hand on the crystal ball, and a glimmer of light appeared.

"Rank two Innate Soul Power. Not bad. Wait over there, and I'll write you a certificate afterward."

"Yes!"

Standing to one side, Lan Yu studied his Martial Soul closely. As a veteran player of the original game, he couldn't mistake it.

His Martial Soul was the Sage Lord of Fungi, Demon God Bifulong, mocked as the weakest Demon God—or the most "fungal" one.

And the creature was actually asleep. Lan Yu could even see a snot bubble. Su Yuntao didn't seem to have noticed it.

Since Bifulong was the most "fungal" Demon God, rank two Innate Soul Power made sense.

"I'll see if I can wake him up later. Being able to talk would be best. I remember Bifulong had plenty of room to grow. His brains just weren't much good."

Not long after, Su Yuntao finished the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony. In the end, Lan Yu was the only one who awakened Innate Soul Power.

Looking somewhat disappointed, Su Yuntao issued Lan Yu a certificate from Spirit Hall and casually asked whether he wanted to join.

Lan Yu thought it over and declined. With rank two Innate Soul Power, he wouldn't receive much attention or training, and Bifulong's peculiar nature might draw unwanted eyes.

So he had to lie low at first. Bifulong was a hero for the late game.

Su Yuntao said nothing more when Lan Yu refused. After a word with the village chief, he left Mushroom Village.

Village Chief Jerry then spoke warmly to Lan Yu. It all boiled down to one thing: once Lan Yu became a Soul Master, he shouldn't forget the village.

But Lan Yu had never received any help from them. He had survived entirely on the little his parents left behind.

He supposed he should thank the villagers for not swallowing up an orphan's inheritance. Beyond that, his sense of belonging to the village was practically zero.

After exchanging a few words with the village chief, Lan Yu returned home to his somewhat rundown wooden cabin.

Back home, Lan Yu summoned his Martial Soul again. "Hey, wake up, Bifulong. Wake up. Can you hear me?"

"Mm... Don't make noise. The great Sage Lord of Fungi is planning a grand revenge... Wait..."

Bifulong's snot bubble popped instantly. He stared wide-eyed at Lan Yu, then burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Finally, someone can hear my voice at last! My believer, I can grant you food. Worship me with devotion!"

The corner of Lan Yu's mouth twitched. He really wanted to take a bite out of Bifulong like a Little Horned Dragon.

"Bifulong, stop and figure out what's going on first."

"Huh? How does a child like you know my Demon God name? Wait... Where is this? How did I get here?"

"This isn't Teyvat anymore. It's a place called Douluo Continent, and you've become my Martial Soul..."

It took Lan Yu quite a while to make Bifulong roughly understand his situation.

"Good, good. The people here don't know my offshoots are delicious. Once I spread them far and wide, my power will recover quickly. Then you, my believer, can become one of those... Titled what was it..."

"A Titled Douluo!"

"Right, a Titled Douluo! Now take me to the hottest place you know. I'll do it all in one—"

"Save it. I do know somewhere very hot, but we can't go there now. And when did I become your believer?

"You're my Martial Soul now. You should be listening to me. Besides, with that brain of yours, you'd better leave anything requiring thought alone."

"What! How dare you say I have no brains!"

"I'm not the one who said it. Remember Zamalan?"

"Zamalan? I think that was one of my offshoots. It's been so long I can barely remember."

"Right. Zamalan said it. Said you had power but no wisdom, and couldn't even outthink a four-legged creature."

"Ah... Damn it! How could Zamalan say that? I'm Zamalan's father!"

"Yeah, a foolish father. A pretty apt description. Anyway, I'll handle anything that needs thinking from now on. You just carry out the plan."

"Fine, fine. I have to admit, you humans are better at using your brains. So what do you want to do next?"

"First, I need to know what you can do right now."

"I don't have much power left, but I can still grow some mushrooms."

"How exactly do your mushrooms reproduce? Don't mushrooms spread through fungal threads? Fruiting bodies are just the visible part used for reproduction.

"Don't tell me you spent all that time making fruiting-body offshoots without ever establishing a basic Mycelium Network?"

"Well... Um..."

Lan Yu pressed a hand to his forehead, at a loss for words.

"No wonder humans ate you nearly to extinction even in a place like Sumeru. Have you not even figured out that you're a mushroom?

"And why did you make your mushrooms so delicious? Don't tell me you couldn't have made them bland."

"That was to get more people to worship me! Delicious mushrooms would naturally draw more people in. How was I supposed to know humans could eat so much..."

Bifulong's voice dwindled until it was barely audible.

"All right, all right. From now on, focus on building a Mycelium Network. Once it spreads across the land, you won't have to worry about producing mushroom offshoots."

"Got it, got it. I'll start right now..."

Bifulong burrowed straight into the ground. Lan Yu felt his awareness spread outward from his wooden cabin, stopping at twenty meters.

"I can't go any farther. I'm tired. I need to rest."

Lan Yu recalled Bifulong, and a wave of exhaustion swept over him. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, the spreading Mycelium Network had already begun feeding power back to Lan Yu, slowly increasing his Soul Power even without meditation.

Once the Mycelium Network spread far and wide, Lan Yu's cultivation speed would grow faster and faster.