The five special spores collected in the mushroom garden have been added to the ingredient atlas.
Alan uses his venom glands to synthesize them at any time.
This means that even in the worst-case scenario, if the mushroom garden is lost and he is forced to flee with Sonia, he will have no shortage of spores for meditation.
Therefore, his mindset is completely different from Ethan and the others.
He will defend the mushroom garden if he can.
If he can't, he doesn't care.
What he truly cares about is settling personal grudges during the chaos.
Hubert must die!
Alan opened the system interface.
He had five potential points in his inventory, all gained from absorbing spores.
With a powerful enemy approaching, if he doesn't use his potential to improve his combat effectiveness now, when will he?!
Alan spent four potential points to activate the martial arts fusion process.
"Martial arts fusion, deduction in progress..."
Ding Ding—
"Deduction completed!"
The formula is as follows:
0-level Blade Protection + 1-level Shield + 2-level Iron Bones + 4 points of Potential = 4-level unnamed physical hardening skill
"Please name it!"
"Iron Bones!" Alan had already thought of it.
…
Iron Bones (Level 4): After activation, it consumes 2 mana points per minute; flesh becomes harder than steel and possesses inherent magic resistance, reducing damage from both physical and magical attacks.
The amount of physical (magical) damage reduced is proportional to the physical (mental) attribute.
Level 2 or higher enchanted weapons ignore this defense.
…
Upgrading from Level 2 "Iron Bones" to Level 4 "Iron Bones" significantly enhances physical defense.
From being completely invulnerable to enchanted weapons, it can now resist tier 1 enchanted weapons.
For example, the clown's blood claws, and Alan's own bone spurs.
This was something Alan had anticipated long ago.
What he never expected was...
"Steel Bones" could actually resist magical damage!
This was incredible!
Alan compared his physical defense, replaced the key parameter "Physique (22)" with "Spirit (28)", and did a simple calculation.
The conclusion was... most 0-ring and 1-ring magic, even at maximum damage, could not penetrate "Steel Bones"!
2-ring magic posed a certain threat to him, but it was not fatal.
3-ring magic was a huge threat!
But after deducting the damage absorbed by "Steel Bones", Alan was not killed instantly.
"No wonder the instructor always says that cannon fodder is meaningless in battles between high-level sorcerers. They're all just asking for death!"
Alan muttered to himself.
After calmly considering the situation, he decided he couldn't be too optimistic.
After all, besides magic that deals direct damage, there's also mind-control magic.
"Iron bones"—literally, it seems he wouldn't be immune to the latter.
Luckily, Alan's mental attributes were high enough.
Unless the enemy's rank was significantly higher, it was unlikely they could penetrate his defenses.
Creaky—
A door opened behind him. Sonia had returned.
"Brother Allen! We're in for some fun!"
"The Warlock Academy has sent people, and they've already broken into the mushroom circle."
"The captain has asked us to join the fight. What do you want to do next?"
"Simple," Allen said, slowly rising, his gaze stern. "We'll take advantage of the situation and take both sides!"
"Excellent!" Sonia clapped her hands and laughed. "That's what I was planning, too!"
...
Outskirts of the secret realm, in the mushroom circle.
A fierce battle ensued between the attackers and defenders surrounding the teleportation array.
Hubert, dressed in a green robe, looked calm and composed, his demeanor elegant.
Behind him followed three direct disciples: Pat, Olivia, and Angela, as well as Charlie and Pike, father and son, from the Griffin family.
In addition to these core combat forces, six first-level warlocks and twenty advanced apprentices were besieging the cultists guarding the teleportation array.
Burning magic, the light illuminated the underworld. The battle was fierce, and the siege was prolonged.
Hubert's brow furrowed slightly, a hint of impatience in his eyes.
"All of you, get out of the way."
Hubert raised his hand, green magic surging from his palm as he reached for the enemy's most heavily defended area.
Countless needle-like green rays burst forth from his palm, forming a green curtain of light in the air.
Third-level magic—Summon Arrow Rain!
The sky was filled with green light, transforming into countless arrows that rained down upon the mushroom circle with a dense, sharp sound of breaking wind.
The demonic cultists guarding the teleportation array were too late to dodge the rain of arrows.
The sharp arrows pierced flesh, making a muffled sound.
The mushroom circle was littered with corpses and blood.
"A bunch of trash, no match for them!"
A disdainful sneer played across Hubert's lips.
Flicking his sleeves, he calmly stepped over the corpses and entered the teleportation array first.
Olivia and the others followed closely behind.
Only a few apprentices remained to clean up the battlefield and care for the wounded.
They all teleported together, disappearing into the beam of light.
…
"The teleportation array has been lost!"
"Intruders have entered the secret realm!"
In the mushroom garden, bad news continued to arrive.
Captain Ethan ordered all his men to join the battle as soon as possible!
"Defend the secret realm at all costs!"
Alan and Sonia were also among those called up.
Alan had already eliminated the "phantom insect eggs" in Sonia's body, so she could completely ignore the captain's orders.
However, Sonia still pretended to be controlled by the phantom insect eggs.
She didn't want to stand out until the time was right.
Alan was no different.
Carrying a large club, he, along with Marlowe and Hugo, followed Sonia.
Under the guise of obeying the leader's orders, they were taking advantage of the situation.
...
A sudden burst of intense light erupted from the mushroom forest.
The clang of weapons clashing followed.
Four enchanters were engaged in a fierce battle with three men in green robes.
Alan and Sonia, accompanied by their hellhounds and winter wolves, quietly approached the battle zone.
In the darkness, Sonia's beautiful eyes shone with a mixture of excitement and cruelty.
She was in no rush to attack, waiting until both sides were equally wounded before striking down and reaping the rewards.
Alan shared the same sentiment.
And his opportunity came even earlier than Sonia's.
"Virus Detection" detected a high concentration of hallucinogenic spores nearby.
Hallucinogenic spores are usually concentrated in only two types of creatures.
One is the mushroom garden's native inhabitants—the myconids.
The other is the mage, who needs the hallucinogenic spores to aid their meditation.
Mage, naturally timid and averse to violence, will not participate in conflicts between outsiders.
When the war broke out, the myconids fled to the Fungus Master for refuge.
So, the only possible person here could be the mage!
Alan, carrying his club, quietly approached.
Not far away, beneath a giant mushroom, two men were dueling.
One was a naturalist in a green robe. He looked familiar, presumably Hubert's disciple.
His cultivation level was probably late first stage.
The mage fighting the natural sorcerer had already entered his ancestral form, resembling a red-haired gorilla.
He had the muscular build of a gorilla, but a face resembling a bat.
His eyes were large and lifeless, and his vision was extremely poor.
He could only detect his opponent's position by occasionally emitting ultrasonic waves from his mouth.
Even stranger were his ears, shaped like a folding fan and covered in vertical wrinkles.
They looked like a pair of bat wings, fluttering from time to time.
Alan had long known that the mushroom garden was full of strange creatures, but he rarely saw one this strange!
The evenly matched battle ended in a tragic outcome, with both sides suffering losses.
Bang!
The bat demon threw a punch, blasting the natural sorcerer's head off!
The Nature Warlock's final magic spell transformed into a hideous thorn spear.
With a whoosh, it pierced the Batman-Demon's heart!
They both collapsed simultaneously.
The silent forest was filled with the stench of blood.
Alan shrugged and walked forward to collect the body.
He first felt the Nature Warlock's body.
In addition to the ten attributeless magic stones, there were four pale green magic stones, their surfaces vaguely recognizable by the grain of wood.
These were wood-attributed magic stones, more valuable than those without!
Alan wasn't a Nature type, so he couldn't absorb wood-attributed magic stones.
He couldn't use them himself, so he could sell them.
Alan turned and walked over to the Batman-Demon, searching the body.
He encountered a small surprise.
The Batman-Demon wasn't completely dead yet.
In his final moments, he felt someone groping him, and instinctively opened his mouth to bite!
A near-death counterattack, naturally with all his might!
The bite landed firmly on Allen's arm.
Clang!
The Bat-Demon's front teeth shattered...
Alan's arm gleamed with a metallic sheen.
Not even a tooth mark remained!
Unintentionally, Allen had completed a combat test.
"Iron Bones"—perfect defense against a Level 1 enchanted weapon.
"Stop it! Just die!"
Crack!
Alan casually twisted the Bat-Demon's neck and injected digestive fluid.
In a moment, the corpse dissolved into pus and blood, seeping into the soil.
Alan also destroyed the body of the Nature Warlock.
After collecting the spoils, they continued searching for poisonous spores.
Soon, they locked onto a new target.
A closer look...
Wow, what a large-scale battle!
Two gangs were engaged in a fierce battle, and the leaders were familiar faces.