Mycelium Development

Chapter 5 Mycelium Development (Part 1)

Notting Academy has a device to test soul power. Every month, the academy arranges for students to collectively test their soul power to prevent anyone from breaking through without realizing it.

Having a talent for innate level five soul power is not low, but it's not high either.

Since learning the meditation cultivation method, Chi Ping has been diligently practicing every day. He does morning exercises, attends classes in the morning, trains his physical fitness and develops his martial soul in the afternoon, and cultivates his soul power in the evening.

At the start of the school year, Chi Ping's soul power test result was level five, and six months later, the result was level six.

At this rate, he should be able to advance to Soul Master by the time he's in third grade.

For most people, this speed would be considered fast, but Ikehira was very dissatisfied.

……

The ten students in Dormitory 7 are inseparable; they spend almost all their time together except during class.

The only person the trainees dared not mess with was Wang Wen; the other work-study students were easy targets. Any work-study student left alone would be "put in a sack," and after being beaten, they wouldn't even know who had assaulted them.

Notting College's courses are only scheduled in the morning; the afternoons are for free time and practice.

The work-study students returned to Dormitory 7 after lunch.

We chatted while taking a walk to digest our food.

—In six months, Wang Wen will graduate. He only has six months left to develop peacefully. If he doesn't find a way to accelerate his cultivation, he'll have to endure two whole years of hardship! I didn't come to this other world to be bullied; I need to have enough strength to protect myself before Wang Wen leaves!

"The food today is really good!"

"Yes, it's really good! I love that big chicken leg the most!"

"Has the principal struck it rich? He suddenly gave us extra chicken legs."

"As long as we have chicken legs, we don't care about anything else. Xiaopingzi, do you think we'll be able to have chicken legs tomorrow?"

—The first experiment with mycelium can begin. If successful, both cultivation speed and immediate combat strength will see a significant improvement.

"Xiaopingzi?"

—But we still need to be careful not to make too much noise. If we collapse the outhouse, that would be terrible.

"Xiaopingzi!"

"Huh? What's wrong, boss?" Chi Ping snapped out of his daze and looked at Wang Wen with a puzzled expression.

Wang Wen repeated what he had just said, then asked, "What are you thinking about so intently?"

"Some questions about cultivation."

"What's the problem?" Wang Wen asked seriously.

"I feel that my soul power is increasing at a slow pace, and I'm thinking about what methods I can use to speed it up," Chi Ping said.

"I see." Wang Wen suddenly realized. "However, the speed of cultivation is related to talent, and it can't be rushed. Besides, Xiaopingzi, you've already worked hard enough. You can't increase the amount of training. Otherwise, you won't be able to keep up with the nutrition, which will only hinder your future."

Chi Ping felt a warmth in his heart. "I know what I'm doing, boss."

With their limited understanding, the work-study students believed that to cultivate faster, they needed to eat better and practice more. They had no concept of elixirs, rare treasures, or divine techniques.

There are two ways for the work-study students to earn money: they can complete the miscellaneous tasks assigned by the academy and receive a monthly Soul Master subsidy of one gold Soul coin from the Spirit Hall.

No one dared to ask Wang Wen for his money back, and the academy's wages were barely enough for daily living expenses, so the students' nutritional intake was extremely limited. Increasing the training volume under such conditions would truly ruin a person!

Wang Wen was still worried. "You'll stay with me these next couple of days, I'll keep an eye on you. I can't let you ruin yourself!"

Chi Ping gave a helpless bitter smile, "Boss, you know me. I'm a genius with innate level five soul power. How could I do something that would ruin my future?"

Wang Wen slammed his right fist into his left palm. "At your rate of leveling up every six months, you'll reach level ten in less than three years. You know, it took me five years to become a Soul Master! What's your rush?"

"But you're leaving, boss. After you graduate, Xiao Chenyu and his gang will definitely cause trouble. Sheng-ge can't beat them, and our Dorm 7 will be bullied again!"

Ikehira's expression was very serious.

"I don't want to be bullied, and I want to protect everyone in Dormitory 7 from being bullied!"

Although they had never fought together, they had shared a room and a window. Chi Ping had already accepted this group of friends!

The work-study students who had been listening to Chi Ping and Wang Wen's conversation laughed, looking at Wang Sheng with mocking expressions.

Xiao Wei, a fourth-grader, laughed and said, "Xiao Sheng, Xiao Pingzi wants to take the boss's position from you. Have you said anything about it?"

Wang Sheng snorted, "Xiao Pingzi is the younger brother. The younger brother only needs to cultivate under his older brother's protection. I will crush all those people! I am a tiger, the king of beasts!"

"Yes, yes, you are the king of all beasts! Then you'd better work hard. Xiaopingzi works very hard. If you are surpassed by Xiaopingzi, you will lose face."

"Absolutely not!" Wang Sheng said firmly.

After a playful and boisterous journey, the work-study students returned to Dormitory 7.

……

Nottingham College has only one public toilet, located in the southwest corner of the playground, very close to the area where the work-study students are active, separated only by a four-meter-wide running track and a small grove of trees.

All the school's hygiene problems are solved here; there is plenty of sewage, and the grove of trees is growing very well.

Standing on the lawn of the playground, Chi Ping felt the faint energy continuously transmitted from the ground and nodded in satisfaction.

—The initial development of mycelium has been completed.

Beneath the unnoticed lawn, milky-white mycelium intertwined and surrounded the septic tank beneath the public toilet, extending all the way to the playground and continuing to expand.

Chi Ping discovered through research that summoning a martial soul does not consume mental energy, or rather, the mental energy consumed is so little that it is less than the amount of mental energy that is replenished every moment.

Theoretically speaking, as long as there is unlimited soul power, a martial soul can be summoned an unlimited number of times and maintained for an unlimited amount of time.

However, a Soul Master's Soul Power is limited, and the Soul Power that a Soul Master's spirit can control is also limited, so this theory does not hold true.

But what if there really was "infinite" soul power?

What is infinity?

Inexhaustible and limitless, or... recovery exceeds consumption, endless and everlasting!

The decomposition ability of the fungal martial soul is passively activated and does not require Chi Ping to control. Therefore, as long as the mycelium created by Chi Ping using his martial soul can absorb enough nutrients to meet its own needs, it can be self-sufficient and exist in almost indefinitely.

However, the decomposition capacity of the *Gymnocladus orientalis* mycelium is limited, and the nutrients absorbed through decomposition are less than the nutrients consumed for survival.

How can this problem be solved?

Chi Ping couldn't improve his martial soul yet, so he thought of the environment and the cluster effect.

The clustering effect refers to the beneficial effects produced when organisms of the same species live together. The decomposition of organic matter by mycelia is a gradual process; multiple mycelia working together to decompose the same substance can cooperate to improve absorption efficiency. The average efficiency of ten thousand mycelia working together to decompose organic matter is far greater than that of a single mycelia.

Suitable conditions and environments may reduce the consumption of mycelium.

The mycelium prefers moist and shady conditions.

There are many suitable locations for mycelial growth, and Chi Ping, after much deliberation, chose the outhouse.

Fecal matter contains trace elements needed for plant growth, and fecal matter that has been digested by the human body is more easily decomposed by fungi. Moreover, the fecal matter in the latrine is replenished every day.

Ikehira couldn't think of a better environment.

The theory is feasible, so let's begin the experiment.

(End of this chapter)