Genshin Impact: A Mortal's Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 1: Magic Mushrooms and the Fatui (Part 1)

After arriving at Jueyunjian, it was time for the food-hunting team to go out into the wild.

Although Jueyun peppers are not only produced in Jueyunjian, how can Jueyunjian be short of peppers named after Jueyunjian? You only need to be patient and look for a while, and you can smell the pungent spicy smell of Jueyun peppers.

"Found it. As expected, there are not many people near Jueyunjian, so the ingredients are easier to find." Li Tao picked up a chili pepper and put it into the prepared bag.

He didn't even have to get close to smell it, he could smell a spicy aroma rushing straight into his nostrils.

It's really exciting.

"In fact, there is another theory about the origin of the name Jueyun pepper." Li Tao heard Xingqiu beside him say excitedly, "It is said that it is because the taste of Jueyun pepper is very refreshing and appetizing. Eating one can make people feel like they are rushing to the top of Jueyun and craving for cool air, so it got this name."

Xiangling also gave a thumbs up: "If the rice crust can't spit fire, I will feed it this! This is very powerful!"

(Guoba: No, Xiangling, I am not a human?)

Li Tao was a little embarrassed: "Okay, okay, what else do you want to make besides Jueyun pepper? Let me see..."

/////

The next ingredients to look for are bamboo shoots, mushrooms and animal meat. The quality of the bamboo shoots doesn't matter, just pick some tender ones; different types of mushrooms, or fungi, have different flavors, and...

"Some mushrooms are also poisonous." Li Tao couldn't help but recall a classmate from Dianzhou when he was in college at Blue Star. When he was a sophomore, he went to this classmate's hometown and was dragged by this person to eat a wild mushroom hot pot. The mushroom hot pot was fresh and fragrant, but unfortunately it was poisonous. After eating, the two had hallucinations and were sent to the hospital to have their stomachs washed.

In Liyue, Li Tao had never seen poisonous mushrooms in person, but he had always seen them in the "Tiyvat Adventure Guide". Moreover, some poisonous mushrooms were difficult to distinguish, and some mushrooms were like the famous blue star mushroom "Jian Shou Qing", which was not poisonous and delicious when cooked, but if not cooked, it would easily lead to a tragedy.

Therefore, the job of picking mushrooms had to be handed over to the professional chef Xiangling. Moreover, mushrooms mainly emerged in the early morning of the next day, when it was still dark and the weather was relatively humid. During the day, the light was strong and the heat was high, so the mushrooms huddled in the shade of the trees and were difficult to be found. The next day, we had to get up early to pick mushrooms - this was one of the reasons why the few people decided to camp in Jueyunjian after discussing it.

For the rest of the day, Li Tao and Xingqiu went to the nearby bamboo forest to cut bamboo shoots, while Chongyun, Xiangling, and Hutao wandered around the designated campsite, hoping to encounter some game and get some meat. They could pickle it or grill it, anyway, to prepare for tonight's meal.

Although everyone brought some dry food, who would be willing to eat dry food when there is a hot meal available?

//////

Li Tao and Xingqiu strolled leisurely in the bamboo forest.

The sunlight shines through the gaps between the bamboo leaves, and is scattered on the ground, forming patches of golden light. The breeze blows, and the bamboo leaves sway gently in the wind, making a rustling sound, as gentle as a whisper.

The two of them did not look like foragers who came to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo shoots, but rather like young knights passing by casually. Although they were not riding tall horses, they had sharp swords on their waists. However, at this moment, they were wielding swords and cutting bamboo shoots while communicating as they moved forward.

"Brother Li, these bamboo shoots should be tender to be delicious." Xingqiu pointed to a bunch of particularly thick bamboo shoots and said with a smile, "You can't eat bamboo shoots like this. They will soon grow into bamboos several meters high. When the time comes, it will be more suitable to use them as construction materials."

Li Tao knocked the bamboo shoot with the back of his sword, and a hollow muffled sound came from inside. He couldn't help but think of a quote from a great man on Blue Star: "Mountain bamboo shoots have sharp mouths, thick skins, and hollow bellies. This is exactly what he meant by this old bamboo shoot!"

Xingqiu's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Huh? Brother Li, this looks like a couplet."

"Yes. 'The reeds on the wall are top-heavy and shallow-rooted; the bamboo shoots in the mountains are sharp-mouthed, thick-skinned and hollow-bellied.' This is a very famous couplet." Li Tao nodded and said, "The person who said this wanted to remind us not to be superficial, but to be down-to-earth. But I don't know if I can live up to the elders and folks in my hometown now."

"Brother Li, there's no need to underestimate yourself." Xingqiu looked at Li Tao with concern. "You've already won the recognition of the Water God, become a self-reliant adventurer, and made a great name for yourself in several missions... I'm sure your parents will be proud of you, too."

That's not necessary... Li Tao thought of his parents and laughed. He had lived like a loser Lu Mingfei for more than 20 years. Wasn't it all thanks to them?

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go find some fresh bamboo shoots... In fact, fresh bamboo shoots are best found in the morning, as early morning is also the time when bamboo shoots begin to grow and break through the soil."

Xingqiu folded his hands and closed his eyes slightly: "Well, but what if I'm still asleep at that time?"

Li Tao rolled his eyes at him and said, "A day's plan begins in the morning. You can't be so lazy. You once told me this."

"Hehehehe..."

As the two were happily communicating and cutting many relatively fresh bamboo shoots, the sharp-eyed Li Tao saw colorful lights flashing somewhere under the bamboo forest in the glow of the setting sun.

What the hell? Did I see it wrong?

He rubbed his eyes, then opened them wide again and took a closer look - that's right, it was not a small reflecting pond, but an unidentified object that was emitting colorful light on its own.

“Xingqiu, look over there!”

With a little attention, Xingqiu also saw the thing that was flashing with colorful light like a ten-pulled shipment. With his knowledge reserve, he couldn't recognize what it was at first: "What is that, and why did it appear in the bamboo forest?"

The two of them approached it cautiously with great curiosity. At about ten meters away, Li Tao finally saw what it was - it turned out to be a mushroom. A huge mushroom, about half a meter in diameter, bulging like a glowing stone. It was pure white, and it was emitting a colorful halo all the time.

"Xingqiu, that looks like a mushroom. It looks very strange. Should we pick it and bring it back to show everyone?" Li Tao asked Xingqiu first, but did not hear his answer.

When he turned around to look again, he was shocked to find that Xingqiu had suddenly turned into a pool of water in front of him and fell to the ground.

Xingqiu?

Li Tao was so frightened that he almost couldn't breathe, and his heart skipped a beat as if it was being held. He rushed forward, stared at the puddle of water and shouted, "Xingqiu, Brother Xingqiu! What are you doing? Don't scare me!"

Suddenly, he saw someone else's figure in the water besides his frightened face - it was Xingqiu! In the water, he was walking away with his back to Li Tao...

Xingqiu dissolved in water? This joke is not funny at all. To Li Tao, Xingqiu is his precious friend, a friend who is willing to accept his invitation even though he knows that he intends to get close to her.

He pounded the ground angrily and tried to reach out to catch his shadow in the water, but found himself diving into the water.

The surroundings suddenly became dark. There was no air around, which made him feel like he couldn't breathe. But when Li Tao opened his eyes again, he saw Xingqiu's thin and determined back again. That back seemed to be saying something to Li Tao:

"Goodbye, Brother Li, I won't be back."

"Damn it! Xingqiu!"

Li Tao wanted to shout out, but there was no way. He could only struggle in the water, gradually losing strength, and everything in front of him was dark...

At this moment, the scenery in front of Li Tao suddenly shattered. Familiar, mirror-like fragments rushed towards him from the darkness.

Those were memory fragments. Li Tao was very familiar with them. When he concentrated on perceiving them, he found that they were actually various illusions produced when he was poisoned by eating mushrooms. And these memory fragments soon flowed away from him.

Li Tao thought about it for a moment and understood his current situation: Was everything that just happened an illusion brought to me by the mushroom? Could it be that it was like some kind of magic that could make people see the things they feared in their hearts?

He felt a little heavy in his heart: As expected, he was still afraid of his friends leaving him. He was afraid that all the things he cherished would slip away from him, so he had such an illusion.

"This is indeed my biggest weakness. If it weren't for these memory fragments that helped me break through the illusion, I don't know how long I would have been trapped in it!"

Li Tao hid his anxiety and fear deep inside, regained his spirit, and sent his consciousness back to his body.

"Anyway... let's wake up first and figure out the current situation."