The takeout order still needed some time to arrive due to the distance.

And before that, Lin Jun had another experiment.

“So cold! So hot! Aaaahhh! Kill me! If you’ve got the guts then just kill me outright!”

A wretched scream echoed in the icy winds of the Far North. Of the duo that once attempted to assassinate Inanna, the bald human assassin had long since been used up. The other, the vampire viscount Giles, was only now being put to use by Lin Jun.

Now, his entire body glowing green, he was firmly bound to a tall upright pole, “enjoying” the pale noon sunlight in the frozen wasteland.

Clearly, the tiny benefit from [Photosynthesis] was nowhere near enough to cover up the vampire’s innate fear of sunlight.

Fortunately, in this world, sunlight did not kill vampires instantly like in the stories of Lin Jun’s past life, otherwise Giles would already have been reduced to a heap of ash.

But it was not without gain. With alternating cold and heat, plus healing to keep him alive, after being baked under the sun for an entire day, Giles actually managed to force out a new skill on his panel: [Sunlight Resistance LV1].

This didn’t surprise Lin Jun. He had seen [Sunlight Resistance LV2] on Sigismund’s panel.

For now, this skill only seemed to slightly reduce the direct burning damage from sunlight. The weakness caused by sunlight, however, showed no obvious improvement.

Of course, that was likely because the level was still too low.

Still, looking at Sigismund was enough proof. Under normal circumstances, no vampire would roast themselves in the sun day after day for decades, just to develop such a resistance skill.

But Lin Jun could certainly try—after all, it wasn’t his body being burned.

Thus, this “daily training mission” was happily scheduled. A few of the demonborn cheerfully took over the duty of guarding and “tending” Giles.

Unlike Lin Jun, though, their joy wasn’t from hearing Giles scream. Rather, it was because they would soon welcome a new clansman.

Lin Jun had once told them to wait—he wanted to run some experiments on skill stacking. And now the time had come!

…

Over in the Sacredwood Dungeon, once the elves had realized the severity of the [Madness] corruption, a royal city guard captain of LV83 personally led elite rangers and druids into the dungeon for a large-scale purge and cleansing operation.

“Madness” was not completely irreversible. Through exhausting and continuous purification by druids, its effects could be cleansed.

The problem was that its spread far outpaced the speed of purification.

Helpless, the elves were forced to act on two fronts: saving a few valuable individuals while mercilessly eradicating the majority of deeply infected monsters.

The grand purge blazed from top to bottom, magical arrows and holy light flashing everywhere. Even many innocent Pujis were mistakenly slain.

But no one paid the slightest attention to the silent Mycelium Carpet covering the corners.

The heaps of monster corpses discarded in the forest became perfect nourishment for Lin Jun’s Carpet.

As the monsters were decomposed and absorbed, the levels of many skills rose. Most importantly, Lin Jun’s long-awaited [Physical Resistance] finally reached maximum level!

That meant the Imperial demonborn Galen, raised for half a year, was finally ready to be put to use.

The Galen of today was nothing like the burly, savage figure captured months ago.

Locked in a pitch-black dungeon for so long, with his blood regularly drawn by the little pig and his dreams occasionally toyed with by Lin Jun, he was now gaunt, pale, and feeble.

Yet, the arrogance in his gaze toward the other demonborn remained unchanged.

When he was brought before the “Cradle,” he knew exactly what fate awaited him.

He did not resist. Instead, he silently accepted the steaming bowl of delicious mushroom soup and drained it in one gulp.

When the final trace of savory sweetness faded, he slowly opened his eyes, scanning the kin around him whose bodies bore black runes entwined with mycelium threads.

“Among demonborn, the loser’s demon core is given to the victor’s ‘Cradle.’ It can be called tradition,” he rasped with a sneer. “But… in your current state, do you really still deserve to call yourselves ‘demonborn’?”

“Anything else to say?” Shou, with the Marshal Pujis above his head, spoke flatly.

Galen spat, grinned a twisted grin, and barked: “Make it quick, brat!”

“Alright!”

The instant Shou answered, cold steel flashed! His strike was so fast it left only a fading afterimage. Galen’s head flew from his shoulders, rolling across the icy ground.

At once, Xīnghuǒ["Spark"] stepped forward solemnly to conduct the ancient rebirth rite of the demonborn. With Lin Jun’s cooperation, two hours later, a brand-new demonborn was born!

His body was etched with intertwining black and white runes—the deep black the foundation of [Physical Resistance], and the crystal-white strands the symbiotic mycelium.

The surrounding demonborn erupted in cheers and celebration for their new kin. But in Lin Jun’s consciousness, the surge of emotion was far more overwhelming!

The fusion of two [Physical Resistance LV10] skills had indeed transformed!

“Ha… hahaha!” Lin Jun’s uncontrollable laughter echoed through every demonborn’s mind, cutting off their celebrations.

One by one, they stopped cheering, staring at the Marshal Pujis quivering above Shou’s head.

“I think he was right!” Lin Jun said excitedly.

“What?” Shou couldn’t follow this sudden statement.

“You truly no longer deserve to be called ‘demonborn’!” Lin Jun’s voice rose. “Your future will far surpass the limits of ‘demonborn’! Under my command, you will become the most powerful race on this continent!” Get full chapters from novęlfire.net

The demonborn could not yet see the newborn’s status panel and didn’t fully understand why their leader was so suddenly elated.

Lin Jun showed them directly.

Seizing control of a nearby elite Pujis, he suddenly lashed out with its blade-whip. With overwhelming force, he struck from a blind angle at the newborn LV1 demonborn held in Xīnghuǒ’s arms!

The ambush was so sudden that Shou instinctively wanted to intervene, but after a moment of hesitation, he restrained himself.

Clang!!!

The elite Pujis’s full-force blow landed squarely.

The newborn was hurled away, crashing into a distant snowdrift.

All the demonborn froze in shock, the scene falling utterly silent.

Only Xīnghuǒ cried out in alarm, rushing to the snow, frantically lifting the newborn into his arms.

“No… no injuries? Not even a scratch?!” His voice shook in disbelief.

[Physical Immunity]!

Lin Jun’s voice rang out once more, proclaiming the dawn of a new era:

“From this day forth, you shall call yourselves ‘Mushroomborn’ ["蘑裔" ]! And one day, this name will replace ‘demonborn’ and resound across the entire continent!”