Sunlight filtered through the canopy, creating patches of light on the Swamp Forest floor. The Moss Monsters, whether intentionally or not, all wriggled along with the light spots, basking in the hard-won sunshine.
Chen Yu was half-submerged in the swamp, his tiny, bean-like eyes observing the Moss Monsters' movements. He looked quite sneaky.
He had to admit, this swamp truly was a place that could nurture Slimes. It was a perfect match for them.
From his position, he could advance or retreat. If he couldn't win a fight, he could dive into the muck. His green body was also difficult for other monsters to spot while lurking in the swamp.
The two Moss Monsters, having not seen any sign of Chen Yu for a long time, lowered their guard again and began munching on the mud dissolved by the acid.
Little did they know that this wily Slime, Chen Yu, hadn't left at all and was staring right at them.
He carefully maneuvered around the patches of light on the swamp. When he was less than half a meter from his target, he struck again.
SWISH!
One Moss Monster was pierced through the body and died on the spot. The other was so scared it left behind a puddle of acid and fled in a panic, saving him the trouble of dealing with it.
Chen Yu hopped onto a tree root, bouncing along, ready to run over and collect the corpse.
Suddenly, he noticed that the Moss Monsters and bog worms that had been crawling all over the ground just a moment ago had all stopped moving. It was as if the entire world had fallen silent.
'This is bad. There's a predator.'
Chen Yu's heart sank. He had a bad feeling, and then he heard a piercing buzzing sound.
It was the Poisonous Sting Bees!
While swallowing the Moss Monster and his Flying Sword, he quickly looked up. Three pitch-black poisonous bees were descending through the layers of leaves.
He had encountered this type of monster before. Unlike harmless honeybees, Poisonous Sting Bees were carnivorous! Even their hives were made of rotting flesh.
Their tails, which had a ring of flesh-colored wax, concealed several injectable Poisonous Stings. He had seen a bog worm get hit by a Poisonous Sting from several meters away, its body turning black and yellow in the blink of an eye.
There must be a Poisonous Sting Bee hive in this tree, but it was hidden by the leaves, so he couldn't see it.
In any case, the Poisonous Sting Bees were the overlords here and were social monsters. He couldn't afford to provoke them right now.
'Run!'
The Slime's instinct for fear was driving Chen Yu's body to flee, but he knew that a running Slime made a lot of noise and would easily attract the Poisonous Sting Bees. He suppressed the instinct and, like the other monsters, stayed perfectly still, pretending to be an inanimate object.
He chanted inwardly, 'Moss is green, and Slimes are green. They can't see me, they can't see me...'
Unfortunately, the Poisonous Sting Bees had already spotted him and flew straight over.
'Damn it!'
'There are so many plump, protein-rich Moss Monsters you could be catching. Why are you chasing a single Slime?'
Chen Yu cursed his bad luck and hurriedly bounced away in the direction of the swamp.
Clearly, the Poisonous Sting Bees had no intention of letting him go. From several meters away, they raised their tails and shot Poisonous Stings at him.
Heart pounding in terror, Chen Yu leaped aside. All three Poisonous Stings embedded themselves in a tree root.
He wasn't so lucky with the next volley. The Poisonous Sting Bees could fire their stings in succession. He had just dodged one set when another three shot toward him.
'At this distance, I can't dodge it!'
In his desperation, Chen Yu summoned his toothpick Flying Sword to intercept the Poisonous Stings in mid-air.
Two of the Poisonous Stings collided with the toothpick Flying Sword, and the wooden sword snapped on the spot.
He had no time to mourn his Flying Sword. One Poisonous Sting shot straight through his butt and pinned him to the tree root.
[Physical Damage] HP -10!
[Poisoned Effect] HP -2/sec (Duration: 5 seconds)
Pain!
So much pain!
That was Chen Yu's last thought as he jumped into the swamp.
As he gradually sank into the muck, another volley of Poisonous Stings from the bees missed its mark. They beat their wings, circled a few times, and then returned to their hive in the tree.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu, deep in the muck, had no mind to spare on whether the Poisonous Sting Bees had left. Right now, all he felt was excruciating pain all over his body.
Looking at the wound, the place where the Poisonous Sting had pierced him had already turned black.
Luckily, a Slime's body was relatively soft, so the Poisonous Sting hadn't remained lodged inside him. Otherwise, the consequences would have been dire.
Chen Yu endured the intense pain and expelled the blackened Gel from his body. Only then did the pain gradually subside.
This was one good thing about being a Slime. There was no concept of injury or sickness. They just shed Gel with each hit, shrinking in size until they dissolved into a puddle of water.
Recalling the dangerous scene from just moments ago, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.
If his Flying Sword hadn't blocked two of the Poisonous Stings, and all three had hit him, all the nutrients he had consumed over the past half-month would have been expelled along with his Gel.
'My Flying Sword...' Chen Yu felt a pang in his heart.
The conditions in Zeyarira couldn't compare to Void Profound Heaven. He had spent several days selecting this wooden toothpick and had sharpened it with his stomach acid for a long time to get it just right.
Now that his Divine Soldier was gone, his strength would probably be greatly diminished.
'Those damn Poisonous Sting Bees, they caused me such a huge loss.'
'I'll be back.'
'Once I've learned some new Daoist Skills, I'll definitely teach them a lesson.'
Chen Yu had originally planned to return directly to the Slime Nest to digest the Moss Monster in his stomach, but he suddenly remembered that the Poisonous Sting Bees seemed to have left several Poisonous Stings behind.
'These Poisonous Stings can even pierce wood. They must be much harder than my Flying Sword.'
Thinking of this, he was tempted.
However, he had no way to deal with the bee venom on the Poisonous Stings right now. If he couldn't touch them, he couldn't use his Artifact Manipulation Skill, so he had to give up on the idea for now.
'Besides, no other monster would dare approach those Poisonous Stings. I'll just leave them there for now. It won't be too late to collect them and make a new Flying Sword once I have a way to handle them.'
Chen Yu dragged his exhausted Slime body back to the nest. Slime Mama wasn't back yet, so he squeezed past the little ones in the grass nest, felt a faint warmth spreading from his stomach, and drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up again, he found that the Moss Monster in his stomach had been completely digested. His Slime body seemed to have undergone a wondrous change.
He felt himself expanding—not in a psychological sense, but a physical one. His body was literally growing larger, and some profound patterns had grown within his Gel.
With just a thought, a darker-colored stomach acid would seep out from within the patterns in his Gel.
[Devouring and Digesting Level 1 triggered—Moss Monster characteristics fully recorded. Acquired talent: Acid Secretion Level 1.]
——
Race: Acidic Slime
Level: Black Iron Lv. 2 [EXP: 0/20]
Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Lv. 2 [Spiritual Power: 16/20]
Status: Healthy [HP: 75/75]
Racial Talent: Devouring and Digesting Lv. 1
Other Talents: Acid Secretion Lv. 1
Skill List: Primal Origin Scroll Lv. 4, Artifact Manipulation Skill Lv. 2
Reputation Title: None (An unknown Slime)
——
'So my stomach acid is actually the same kind of acid as the Moss Monster's?'
'Oh...'
'No wonder the color got darker.'
He bounced out of the grass nest and mimicked the Moss Monster, spitting acid.
TSSSSS!
The dark green acid landed on the ground not far away, immediately making a harsh sizzling sound and releasing puffs of acrid, green smoke.
'Er...'
'The power is terrifying, but the range doesn't seem to be as far as my Flying Sword's.'
Chen Yu silently hopped back into the grass nest.
'Forget it. I should just learn more Daoist Skills. This talent might be useful in Void Profound Heaven.'
He nestled among a pile of Slimes, his gaze fixed on the level-up interface, noticing his level had risen to Black Iron Lv. 2.
Chen Yu guessed that ordinary Slimes were Black Iron Lv. 1. A monster like the Moss Monster, which could secrete deadly acid, could be considered Black Iron Lv. 2. As for monsters like the Poisonous Sting Bee, they were at least Black Iron Lv. 2, possibly even Lv. 3.
In any case, progress was a good thing.
It's just that, so far, he hadn't seen any monster that could use Magic in the true sense of the word.
'Could it be that monster talents are also a form of Magic?'