Chapter 691 – Dreamweaver World 29

For a time, every Beast Speaker trainee in Greenwood Village was plunged into the crucible of intense special training.

The once leisurely morning exercises turned into grueling drills that began before dawn. Homework assignments were upgraded from “complete a basic transformation” to “master one refined transformation.”

Even on rest days, trainees were required to form teams and venture into the Beast Forest to observe their transformation subjects in the field.

The dream citizen trainees complained bitterly, yet unknowingly broke through their own limits. Even so, all they could do was watch as Mo Lan finished her courses ahead of schedule, leaving every last one of them far behind.

If they had harbored any ambition of surpassing her at the start, once they discovered that Mo Lan had simultaneously enrolled in every animal transformation course and mastered refined transformations for multiple animals, their only remaining goal was to not lose too badly.

No one looked down on her for being an adventurer anymore. They all regarded her as a monster among adventurers.

When the final session of the animal transformation course series concluded, every young dream citizen in Greenwood Village who was currently undergoing or about to begin vocational training breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“She’s taken every single animal transformation course there is. The Instructors have nothing more to teach her. She shouldn’t be coming back next year, right?”

“Thank goodness! Next year we can finally get back to our old pace of learning.”

“That study maniac is finally leaving the classroom!”

……

There were also dream citizens still in the midst of career planning who weren’t so sure:

“What if she comes back? I think I’ll just pick Forest Warden. She only learned orchid transformation in the plant transformation courses—no overachievers there. I heard everyone’s really laid-back about it.”

However, when the first fungi transformation class of the new year began, the Forest Warden trainees walked into the classroom only to see a familiar figure placing three planting pots, each containing a different species of fungus, on the desk.

“It’s over! She’s switched to Forest Warden now!”

The dream citizen trainee who had deliberately chosen the Forest Warden track to avoid Mo Lan wailed and slid down to the floor.

Mo Lan heard the commotion and turned around. She flashed a brilliant smile at everyone. “Good morning! Class is about to start—hurry in and get your pre-class preparations done!”

As she spoke, she leaped lightly into one of the flower pots and transformed into a plump-capped red mushroom, its mycelium wriggling happily across the surface of the soil.

The classroom immediately erupted:

“I knew it… I just knew it…” One trainee crouched down with his head in his hands, burying his face in his knees. “Last year I was laughing at the Beast Speakers for getting driven to the brink of collapse by an adventurer. Now karma’s come for me…”

“Is it too late for me to switch to animal transformation?” Another trainee grabbed a nearby friend and muttered.

Suppressing her laughter, Mo Lan used Human Speech to say, “I heard that the plant transformation Instructors strongly encourage cultivating the plants you intend to transform into as observation subjects. I prepared three different fungi for this class—Tinder Fungus, Moonlight Mushroom, and Singing Bell Mushroom. What about you all?”

As early as last year, when she had set off the wave of competitive studying in the animal transformation courses, she had received a long-term quest from Old Groot.

【Reform Academic Culture】

【Difficulty: Normal】

【Description: The young dream citizens of Greenwood Village lack motivation in their studies. Please inspire the dream citizens to study harder.】

【Reward: 《Letter of Introduction to Shadow Village》, Experience ×100, Groot’s Favor】

The 《Letter of Introduction to Shadow Village》 was the only item Mo Lan had found among the dream citizen villages on good terms with Greenwood Village that involved Magic she was interested in. With it, she could seek out Shadow Village’s chief and directly complete the tribe transfer ceremony.

Ever since accepting this quest, Mo Lan had shifted from studying quietly on her own to openly “motivating” everyone.

It was just that her method of “motivation” was somewhat hard to bear.

When they didn’t answer, Mo Lan hopped into the other two pots in turn, transforming into a Moonlight Mushroom and then a Singing Bell Mushroom.

Each one looked identical to the real fungus growing beside it.

At least none of the dream citizen trainees present could spot any flaws in her transformations.

“What fungi have you all been cultivating? How about we share experiences with each other?”

The dream citizen trainees exchanged glances. Who would cultivate their transformation subjects and master complete transformations before the course had even started?

And three species cultivated at once! Three transformations mastered too.

Among them, even the most well-prepared had only dug up a pot of the fungus they planned to transform into, observed it for a few days beforehand, and achieved partial transformation at best.

Moreover, they were all newly minted Forest Wardens. Magical plants like Moonlight Mushrooms, Singing Bell Mushrooms, and Tinder Fungus involved the use of magical abilities after transformation, making them far harder to master than ordinary plants. These were never on their list of choices—typically, students wouldn’t attempt them until the very end of the course.

Of the three fungi Mo Lan had chosen, even the simplest—the Moonlight Mushroom—possessed the ability to glow using light elemental force.

Before the lesson had even begun, they already felt the pressure emanating from Mo Lan. They wished they could go back a month in time and start preparing for this course all over again, so they wouldn’t be sitting here now without a single person daring to speak up.

When the Instructor pushed open the door and entered, the scene before him was this: a group of ashen-faced trainees and a Tinder Fungus cheerfully wriggling in its flower pot.

Having already been consulted multiple times during the break, he immediately understood the situation. Stifling a laugh, he cleared his throat:

“It seems we have a rather special student this year. Mo Lan, would you please explain the morphological characteristics and transformation essentials of the Moonlight Mushroom, Singing Bell Mushroom, and Tinder Fungus?”

“Of course!” Mo Lan said, switching between transformation forms as she lectured. “The key to the Moonlight Mushroom lies in controlling the photosynthesis rhythm of the cap. For the Singing Bell Mushroom, you need to pay attention to how the hollow structure of the stipe conducts sound waves. And the Tinder Fungus…”

Listening to her eloquent and thorough explanations, the expressions on the trainees’ faces gradually shifted from shock to numb resignation.

It wasn’t until formal instruction began that harsh reality shattered their last shred of hope.

Due to their lack of preparation, most trainees couldn’t even achieve a complete transformation of an ordinary fungus. Meanwhile, Mo Lan could effortlessly transform into any of their chosen subjects. She had already become the Instructor’s assistant, and it wasn’t until she began coaching them on the problems in their transformations that they finally started to blush with embarrassment.

After class, the fungi transformation trainees rushed out to buy mushroom spores.

No matter what, they didn’t want to show up to the next class sporting half a mushroom cap on their heads while Mo Lan asked them, “Why can’t you even master a complete transformation that you can learn just by imitation?” Nor did they want the Instructor telling them they were seriously dragging down the learning progress of a certain outstanding student.

As for Mo Lan, she was already hurrying off to another plant transformation class.

The same scene played out all over again in a different classroom.

The news spread quickly among the young dream citizens. Those who didn’t have transformation classes that day immediately threw themselves into pre-class preparations, terrified of embarrassing themselves in their upcoming lessons.