Han Sen handed matters of the shelter back to Cheap Sheep and Green Cow once more. They were a strange duo, but they got things done. He didn't expect them to be loyal forever, but as long as they kept the income flowing, they were fine to handle things however they chose to.
Most spirits and creatures were unable to speak the way they did, as well. It did not matter how strong others were; none matched their eloquence for diplomacy.
Han Sen left Moment Queen in the shelter, and even Little Silver. He activated his super king spirit and re-donned his Dollar identity, and then, he took off to the Underworld shelter.
Bao'er did not want to stay in Shadow Shelter, and Han Sen needed to take her to the Holy Vine, anyway. Thus, he brought her with him.
As they left, Bao'er sat on Han Sen's shoulder. She gave Little Silver a smile, as if she had asserted victory.
Little Silver ignored her and continued to rest on the bed. His attitude and lack of caring just made Bao'er angry.
Back in Mask Shelter, nothing ill had befallen the place during Han Sen's absence. Spirit Thirteen hadn't tried anything else.
"Dollar, I located an area with high-tier geno plants. Snake King refuses to take me there, so can you?" Ling Mei'er asked Han Sen.
"What is it?" Han Sen was not interested in any average geno plant.
"It's a cave with an abundance of mushrooms. They look high-class, but I don't know their names," Ling Mei'er said.
Han Sen did not know how to deal with Spirit Thirteen yet, and with nothing else to do, he decided to accompany her and check out those mushrooms.
There were millions of smaller caves and tunnels in that place. If Ling Mei'er was unable to lead the way to them, it was highly unlikely Han Sen would find them himself.
The tunnel was only one-person wide. After a few hundred meters, it opened up enough to allow three people of average build to walk side-by-side.
After a while, Ling Mei'er pointed ahead of them. "Those are the mushrooms."
Han Sen looked at where her fingers pointed, and there were mushrooms skirting a number of rocks. Their caps were white in color and around the same size as a clenched fist.
"Nothing seems to be guarding them. Why don't you just go grab them?" Han Sen's Dongxuan Aura did not detect anything hostile in the immediate environment.
"I tried, but I was unable to," Ling Mei'er said, with an apathetic attitude.
"Why not?" Han Sen couldn't see why.
Ling Mei'er did not know why, either. "I was just unable to. You should go try to pick them up."
Han Sen didn't sense any danger, so he walked right up to one of the mushrooms and tried picking it up.
His hand went right through it. The mushroom was giving off a fragrance, and it was plain to see, but he was simply unable to make physical contact with it.
"Weird. It's a shadow," Han Sen said, as he looked at the mushroom.
It was white, with a slight smidgen of pinkishness. It smelled good, and the Dongxuan Aura was telling him it was a sacred-blood plant. Han Sen used his hand to touch it again, but just like before, it slipped right through.
"See? You can't touch it," Ling Mei'er said.
"So very weird; why can I not pick it up?" Han Sen used his Dongxuan Aura to scan it again. It was alive, and it most certainly did exist.
But no matter what he tried to do, his fingers could not grip the 'shroom.
"There's a lot more ahead," Ling Mei'er said, as she went deeper into the cave.
Han Sen followed. The cavern was filled with the mushrooms, all of varying sizes. Some were as big as footballs, whereas some were only fist-sized.
Han Sen tried touching them, but again, he failed to make contact. He couldn't touch any of them.
Bao'er was curious about this phenomenon, so she jumped down off of Han Sen's shoulder. She successfully grabbed a mushroom and picked it up.
"Bao'er is good," Han Sen thought.
Ling Mei'er saw Bao'er grab one with success, and so she tried doing the same. Just like Han Sen couldn't, she was unable to pick one up.
"Dad; this is for you." Bao'er put the mushroom in Han Sen's hand. Perhaps it was because it had been picked up, or it had been touched by Bao'er, but the mushroom was now a physical item he could hold onto.
Han Sen gently squeezed the cap of the mushroom, keen to see what it did.
But when he squeezed it, the entire mushroom blew up in his hands. A white light hit Han Sen's forehead, prompting an announcement to play.
"Ordinary Class Beast Soul Grenade Mushroom obtained."
"This is a beast soul?" Han Sen was rather surprised.
Han Sen had a look inside his Sea of Soul, and there he saw a white Grenade Mushroom. He checked out its information.
Mushroom: Ordinary Class Plant Beast Soul
"What is a plant beast soul?" Han Sen did not understand.
Clearly, plant beast souls did not come from plants. Han Sen used to have many beast souls, but he'd never seen this type before.
As Han Sen mulled this over, Bao'er picked up another mushroom. She had seen Han Sen break the mushroom, and she decided to squeeze one herself.
"Dad, I got a sacred-blood beast soul," Bao'er said to Han Sen.
"Why is there such a big difference? Why did I get an ordinary beast soul?" Han Sen's eyes were opened wide.
Chapter 1449: Grenade Mushroom
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Bao'er, help Dad get another one." Han Sen thought if there was a sacred-blood beast soul up for grabs from the mushrooms, he couldn't leave satisfied with an ordinary one.
Bao'er went to pick one up, but Han Sen suddenly blurted out, "That one? That's only like the size of a fist. Surely it can't have anything good inside it. Instead, grab that big one there."
Bao'er grabbed it and passed the football-sized mushroom over to Han Sen. It was much heavier than the one he last received.
"It's obvious this is the sort to hold something good. The bigger it is, the more lifeforce it has absorbed. It must be a few tiers above the rest," Han Sen said and then squeezed it.
Pop!
The football-sized mushroom was broken. A white light quickly penetrated Han Sen's Sea of Soul.
"Ordinary Beast Soul Grenade Mushroom obtained."
"Sh*t! Why is it just an ordinary beast soul again? Are the smaller ones better?" Han Sen wondered.
"Dad! I got another sacred-blood beast soul," Bao'er happily exclaimed, having squeezed another mushroom.
"I must have done it in an incorrect position. Surely, I cannot be that unlucky." Han Sen bit down on his own teeth and spoke to Bao'er, then. He told her, "Bao'er, help me collect another one. This time, I would like the smallest one you can find. It seems the big ones aren't compatible with my horoscope."
"What is a horoscope?" Bao'er looked at Han Sen with much confusion.
"You don't need to know. Go get me a small one," Han Sen said hurriedly.
Bao'er complied and picked up a small mushroom. Then, she tossed it to Han Sen.
Han Sen caught the mushroom. Before he squeezed it, he knelt to pray. He closed his eyes and said, "Buddha, God, Mary, please let me have a sacred-blood beast soul. I will pray to you every day if you give me one."
After Han Sen said his prayer, he was going to break the mushroom. But before he did, he suddenly turned around and chose what he deemed to be a lucky spot to pop it in.
"Ordinary Beast Soul Grenade Mushroom obtained."
"F*ck! The RNG of these 'shrooms must be broken. It's not that my luck is bad, this cave is just wonky, with skewed probabilities. I just need to break a few more and I'm sure to get what I need." Han Sen put aside his superstitions and faith, and this time took stock in science.
"Dad, I got a sacred-blood beast soul. What did you get?" Bao'er gleefully said.
"Something similar. Collect me a few more, would you?" Han Sen coughed.
Bao'er did as she was told and picked up a few more for him. He accepted the mushrooms and took a deep breath. "Those gods are useless. Science is where it's at."
"Ordinary Beast Soul Grenade Mushroom obtained."
"Dad, I got another sacred-blood beast soul!"
"Ordinary Beast Soul Grenade Mushroom obtained."
"Boring. Is sacred-blood the only thing I can get?"
"Ordinary Beast Soul Grenade Mushroom obtained."
"Dad! I got a super beast soul."
"Blergh!"
Han Sen almost coughed up blood, and his hands trembled hearing this. Although he had many more mushrooms, he was afraid of wasting them all.
But Han Sen thought to himself, "Bao'er sure is different. She always manages to get high-class beast souls. Maybe my luck is average and these are the common results."
"What are you guys doing? What are those mushrooms for?" Ling Mei'er had been watching for a while, but she didn't understand.
Han Sen's eyes darted her way. He provided her one of his mushrooms and said, "Break this for me."
In the first three sanctuaries, if spirits did not obey a human, they could not use beast souls. He wasn't sure if that's how things worked here or not.
If spirits could not obtain a beast soul, he wondered what she'd get when she broke it.
Han Sen was excited to see the result. Surely she wouldn't receive absolutely nothing, even if she couldn't make use of beast souls.
When Ling Mei'er watched Han Sen and Bao'er compete in breaking the mushrooms, she wanted to join in on the fun. Now that she had been given one, she broke it quickly.
Pop!
A white light exited the mushroom and flew into Ling Mei'er's forehead.
Ling Mei'er looked surprised and said, "I got a primitive beast soul!"
Han Sen felt frightened. Although it was only a primitive beast soul, it was better than what he had managed to get.
Han Sen gave the two he had left to Ling Mei'er, and she managed to obtain another primitive beast soul and a mutant beast soul.
"What a piece of crap! Back in the day, I used to get loads of high-class beast souls, the number of which could circle the Alliance three times. Who cares about these stupid beast souls that you don't even have to fight to obtain. I don't need them." Han Sen's eyes twitched as he wrought a painful smirk.
Bao'er walked into the mushrooms and picked up more, merry as ever.
"Dad, they are for you," Bao'er said, trying to hand over a few more mushrooms to him.
"I don't want them. Squeeze them yourself, if you want." Han Sen thought it was a waste for him to break them.
There were around a hundred beast souls in that cave, and at least if Bao'er broke them all, they'd each earn a bunch of sacred-blood beast souls.
Still, Han Sen was interested in learning what the Grenade Mushroom beast souls were capable of. They were all the same, just of different levels.
Han Sen had never seen a plant beast soul before, so he summoned one of his ordinary Grenade Mushrooms. A white mushroom appeared in Han Sen's hand, and he was quite surprised to see that it looked no different than the mushrooms he had broken to obtain it.
"Can I use this like a grenade?" Han Sen threw the grenade out.
Pang!
The Grenade Mushroom hit the floor, and a couple of seconds later, detonated. The explosion was in the shape of a mushroom cloud, and it devastated the rocks around where it blew up.
"Sh*t! I really can use it like a grenade. If the ordinary class grenades are this strong, I wonder how powerful the sacred-blood and super ones are." Han Sen was rather excited.
"It's a shame it is a one-time-use-only beast soul, though," Han Sen thought, eyeing the rest greedily.
Suddenly, a scream echoed through the cave. Something was approaching them.
Chapter 1450: Redhead Cricket
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi!
Han Sen looked towards the deeper recesses of the cave. A red light was quickly approaching them.
When Han Sen saw it more clearly, he was quickly relieved. It was not a red light, it was, in fact, a redheaded cricket.
The felon was one meter in length, its body was like steel, and its wings had gold markings emblazoned on them. It was skittering towards them on its six legs. The four up front were small, whereas the two in the back were large. The head and the back of the creature possessed two beardlike whips, and the head itself glowed brightly like a shining ruby.
When the gold wings flapped, it made a strange sound that was painful to hear.
The power of its back legs was shocking to behold. It immediately leaped up towards Han Sen, and it looked at him with anger.
"Crap! It's a super creature. Run!" Han Sen grabbed Bao'er and took off running, with a surprising lack of concern for Ling Mei'er.
Ling Mei'er wasn't keen to hang around, either, and she followed after them. But she was slow, and she quickly found herself falling behind Han Sen. The monster would be sure to catch her.
Han Sen heard the sound of something banging around up ahead, and it was then that he realized the cave narrowed to allow only one person to pass through at a time. Snake King was outside, slamming into the stone to widen the way.
But by the time its work was done and it could get to Ling Mei'er, she'd be dead.
Seeing the red cricket behind Ling Mei'er, looking like a hellborn devil with its serrated teeth grimacing in pursuit, Han Sen imagined it'd be capable of tearing through steel with ease.
Han Sen jumped backwards, up and over the struggling Ling Mei'er's head. He gave her a pat on the back which pushed her out of the way of the cricket's incoming attack.
Han Sen saw the redhead cricket's teeth nip and gnash at each other in its sordid mouth, making squelching sounds as it did.
Quickly, Han Sen then jumped over the cricket's head and patted its back, too.
He had given it a slap with Super Spank engaged. But he was only able to make its sequence structure tremble a little, and it felt as if Han Sen was bringing his hand against thick, unbreakable steel.
Han Sen landed ten meters behind the cricket. After the hit, the completely-uninjured cricket turned around to look at the bold human.
"Come this way. Chase me, you stupid bug!" Han Sen flipped the bird at the cricket and took off running, back deeper into the cave.
Tzi Tzi!
The redheaded cricket squealed, leaping after Han Sen.
When Ling Mei'er saw what Han Sen had done and that the cricket was going after him, a mesh of emotions crossed her face. She was touched by his courage.
Unfortunately, despite how fast Han Sen could run, the cricket would eventually catch up to him, too. And so it did, shortly after.
Han Sen was able to summon a Grenade Mushroom to throw at the cricket, but it would have been a pointless move. He only had ordinary variants of the explosive 'shrooms, and they'd likely do nothing to the super creature in hot pursuit.
"Bao'er, give me the Grenade Mushrooms you possess!" Han Sen shouted as he ran.
Bao'er complied and quickly gave all her beast souls to Han Sen. Han Sen was shocked at what he received. There were eleven. Ten of them were sacred-blood grenades, and one of them was a super grenade.
Han Sen hadn't expected this to be how he received his first super beast soul as a demi-god. It almost made him angry. He'd spent half the day receiving only ordinary beast souls, but Bao'er had amassed sacred-blood and super beast souls with ease.
But there was no time to mourn those sour results right now. The redheaded cricket was right behind him, ready to strike Han Sen's backside.
Han Sen lobbed one of the sacred-blood grenades directly into the cricket's hungry maw. It rattled down its windpipe until Han Sen heard a low boom. After that, the cricket was gone from sight, vanished in a heavy white mist.
The shockwave blew Han Sen away, and he was sent hurling into a wall.
"One-time use beast souls are stronger than the average variety, that's for sure. That power was almost equivalent to that exhibited by super creatures." Han Sen stood up, merrily narrating to himself.
But the smile on his face was quickly lost, as the cricket emerged alive, staggering out of the dust. The mushroom had not damaged it. There was no blood, and its lifeforce showed no sign of being any weaker than it was before.
Han Sen got back to the chase by quickly running away. The cave was a labyrinth of complicated pathways, and Han Sen had to use this to his advantage. If he didn't evade the cricket with care, it'd surely catch up and bring him to a grisly end.
The cricket was determined to hunt Han Sen down, though. Nothing swayed its resolve, despite Han Sen lobbing a sacred-blood Grenade Mushroom every time he found himself in a dangerous spot. It helped to slow the creature down.
After an hour of this running, Han Sen had almost run out of grenades. He was down to his last: the super Grenade Mushroom.
The cave ahead suddenly widened, and Han Sen took off for this expansive cavern.
Han Sen ran through it as quickly as he could, and then took off flying towards the Holy Vines he could see creeping across the stone high above.
The cricket was able to fly, and it came after him just as it had been.
Han Sen reached the ceiling of the cave with the cricket at his heels.
Han Sen was going to be swallowed by the rampaging creature if he didn't move fast, so he swirled through the air in an arc like a swooping bird to avoid it.
Boom!
The redheaded cricket hit the cavern's ceiling, and the vines reached out like snakes, lecherously tangling the insect up.
Han Sen didn't want to stick around, as he was unsure whether or not he was immune to the Holy Vine's aggression like Bao'er was.
Han Sen saw the cricket squeal and struggle the best it could, unable to get itself free.
"That Holy Vine is powerful. Not even super creatures can escape its grip." Han Sen was shocked.