Slime Immortal.

Chapter 135 Subduing the Earth Elemental

After walking for a while, Iron Anvil still felt unsafe, so he picked up a goblin armor from the ground and reluctantly put it on the burly man's body.

Although it doesn't fit properly, it at least provides some meager protection, preventing me from being hurt by suddenly appearing elemental creatures.

Chen Yu felt there was no need for such trouble, so he spat out two magic leaves and handed them to him.

"Tear this apart if you're in danger; it will protect you."

"Oh, thank you, Your Majesty."

With a sigh of relief, Iron Anvil threw away his tattered and awkward iron armor, carefully clutched two magic leaves in his palm, and with his other hand holding the battle axe, he took a deep breath and cautiously stepped into the fortress entrance leading deep into the mining area.

Dust filled the mine tunnels, making the light much dimmer.

The scenery along the way made Iron Anvil's heart sink.

The rock face that once bore the emblem of the Bronzefire Clan is now covered with ugly goblin-style graffiti and rough carving marks.

The cozy dwarf huts and the copper fire hall have become dens of filthy goblins.

This place is no longer the home he remembers.

Iron Anvil became somewhat depressed, but this did not affect his duties.

He forced himself to stay alert, cautiously observing his surroundings while whispering to Chen Yu on his shoulder, "Your Majesty, look over there, that huge crater used to be our clan's largest obsidian smelting blast furnace, but now... it's just a pile of scrap iron."

"And that place, it used to be a brewing ground..."

"If that fissure is located in the main mining area, it's not far from here; it's just two more adjacent mining areas away."

Soon, he led Chen Yu through the connecting passage inside the fortress and into another, more spacious mining area.

On the rock walls here, traces of unmined gemstone veins can be faintly seen, shimmering with a faint light.

“This used to be a secondary gem mine, and also one of the main mining areas,” the anvil explained.

Now, the place is deserted, leaving only a mess.

The corpses of goblins and slaves lay piled on top of each other, their congealed blood staining the ground a deep brown. Broken weapons and tools were scattered everywhere, silently telling the story of the brutal conflict that had occurred not long ago.

Seeing those slaves who had once suffered alongside him fall here as well, Iron Anvil's heart grew even heavier.

Chen Yu's attention was more focused on the earth elemental monsters wandering around the ruins of the mining area.

He saw that there seemed to be monsters confronting each other not far away, so he guided the anvil to quietly move over.

Soon, with the help of a pile of abandoned minecarts as cover, they were able to see the situation ahead.

The little earth elementals that had run away secretly slipped back, clutching shiny ore fragments, only to be blocked by a huge stone ball monster.

Two groups of monsters were locked in a tense standoff, but judging from the constant trembling of the small earth elementals, they were clearly no match for this giant creature.

Suddenly, one of the little earth elementals seemed to have spotted the hiding anvil and Chen Yu. It immediately started to cry excitedly, its short hands pointing frantically in their direction.

It was as if they were bluffing and shouting, "Look, our people are here!"

The stone ball monster seemed to be a bit dim-witted, and as expected, it fell for the trick. It clumsily turned around, its two stone eyes blankly scanning the direction where the anvil and the others were hiding.

"Eee-wah! (Run!)"

The moment it turned around, the little earth elementals gave a signal, instantly discarding the ore and burrowing into the ground with a "whoosh" sound, disappearing without a trace.

The stone ball monster realized it had been tricked, let out an angry, muffled roar, pounded its solid chest, and then focused all its anger on the exposed anvil and Chen Yu.

"Uh, Your Majesty, the situation seems a bit bad..."

The oppressive feeling of the massive object made cold sweat break out on the anvil's forehead, and he slowly retreated, gripping the battle axe.

"It's alright, this guy's not very bright." Chen Yu's voice remained calm.

He squeezed hard, and a thick cloud of steam billowed out from above his head.

[Evaporation Illusion]

The steam rapidly condensed and deformed, transforming into a phantom of a stone giant even taller and more imposing than the stone ball monster, which blocked their path and let out a deep roar.

The stone ball monster was startled by the sudden appearance of this creature. It let out a fearful whimper and instantly shrank its body into a huge rock ball. It rolled away quickly along the mine tunnel it had come from, as if afraid that if it was a step too slow, it would be smashed by this "big guy".

"This works?" The anvil stared in disbelief.

Without the stone ball monster's obstruction, the anvil cautiously continued forward, entering a deeper part of the mining area.

As he walked, perhaps to dispel his previous low spirits, or perhaps because he remembered something, he said with a regretful tone, "Back then, among our ancestors of the Copperfire Clan, there was a great craftsman who forged a magical black copper ring."

"It is said that we can communicate with earth elementals and form contracts with them. Back then, we could even live in harmony with some gentle stone monsters and help each other..."

He sighed, "What a pity. Ever since those damned goblins arrived, the tribe has been in chaos. It seems that some of the deserters took that legendary treasure ring with them..."

"A black copper ring?"

Chen Yu muttered to himself, then suddenly remembered that after defeating the demon bat boss in the lava well, he seemed to have picked up a dark, unremarkable ring.

He is still surrounded by magical leaves inside his body.

Could this be it?

"Take a look, is this it?"

Chen Yu spat out the black copper ring and handed it to the anvil.

The anvil froze, its eyes widening like copper bells.

He carefully took the ring and examined it closely in the dim light of the rock wall, where he saw the dwarven runes on the inner circle that had been almost worn away.

"That's right, it's the Earth's Word, one of the treasures passed down through the Bronzefire Clan."

His voice trembled slightly with excitement, but was quickly replaced by doubt.

"But how did it end up in your hands?"

“Oh, this,” Chen Yu thought for a moment, “I killed the giant bat at the lava well before, and found it inside its stomach.”

After listening, the anvil fell silent.

He knew exactly what this meant—those clansmen who fled with the rings back then didn't necessarily not want to return or betray the clan; rather, they likely met with misfortune on the way...

His last shred of resentment and discontent towards the "fugitives" vanished with this news, replaced by an overwhelming sense of loneliness.

The Copperfire Clan... he might really be the only one left.

Chen Yu noticed his low spirits and offered him a tempting promise.

"That's all in the past. I'll find you a beautiful dwarf girl to be your wife in the future. If you work hard and have a few more dwarves, then you'll be the new Bronzefire Chieftain yourself."

Iron Anvil's dark face seemed to flush slightly as he stammered, "Uh... Your Majesty... this isn't quite right..."

But upon closer reflection, it seems to make a lot of sense.

It seems that only he can rebuild the clan.

"How exactly do you use this thing?"

Chen Yu waved the ring he had retrieved back in his gel-like hand, interrupting the anvil's reverie.

Iron Anvil quickly composed himself and explained, "I heard from the elders of the tribe that you need to point the ring at the earth elemental creature you want to communicate with and concentrate before you can use it."

"As long as communication is smooth and the other group is recognized, a contract can be formed with the entire group, and a connection can be established."

“It seems interesting.”

Chen Yu glanced around and soon spotted the sneaky little earth elementals behind a pile of ore.

"Let's go give it a try."

Iron Anvil did as instructed and walked over; the sound of his footsteps immediately startled the little creatures.

They shuddered in fright and immediately tried to burrow underground to escape, but when they saw the black copper ring in Chen Yu's gel-like hand, they scratched their bald stone heads in confusion and stopped what they were doing.

Just then, an angry voice entered Chen Yu's mind through the ring.

"Damn slimes, what do you want? Why did you follow us here?"

Chen Yu chuckled; this little thing really did have a big temper.

He tried to respond through the ring: "Who's following you? You're the ones who've been walking in my way; you're the ones who blocked my path." "Is...is that so?"

The little earth elements looked at each other, their tiny stone heads showing great confusion; their simple-minded brains seemed a little bewildered.

"wrong!"

Suddenly, one of the slightly smarter kids realized what was happening and jumped up, pointing at Chen Yu.

"It keeps catching us, it must be a bad guy, don't believe its excuses."

Chen Yu swayed his body slightly. "You guys are the bad guys. You stole all my ore."

Upon hearing this, they clearly became guilty, and the messages they conveyed weakened.

"We just saw that no one was there, and something shiny fell on the ground, so...so we took it. It wasn't stealing, I'm so sorry..."

"Who says nobody wants them? I'm going to use these ores to create many amazing treasures."

Seeing how much they liked the minerals, Chen Yu deliberately took out a gray gravel crystal full of spiritual energy and waved it in front of them.

"A ore that... glows!!"

The little earth elements were instantly captivated, and they collectively exclaimed in surprise, their stone eyes seemingly shining.

"So beautiful! If you grind it into powder and sprinkle it on your body, it would look amazing as a stone skirt."

"Nonsense, it looks best and shines the most when it's embedded on the top of your head."

They immediately began arguing about the best use for this "beautiful stone," but without exception, their eyes were all fixed on the ore in Chen Yu's hand.

One of the seemingly timid little boys stepped forward and whispered:
"Slime, we apologize to you. How about we exchange a lot of ore with you?"

Chen Yu remained silent, but silently spat out a second "spirit stone," which immediately caused the little earth elements to let out an even bigger exclamation.

"What should we do? What should we do? It seems to have so many of these treasures."

Chen Yu felt that the time was almost right, and slowly transmitted his thoughts.

"Hey, I have so many of these beautiful, glowing ores that I can barely store them all. I'm just worried about who can help me use them up."

"If anyone is willing to follow me, I'll send them one for free, so they can hug it and sleep every day."

"Are you telling the truth?!"

Several small earth elementals immediately jumped out, instantly forgetting their previous wariness and arguments.

“Idiot…idiot, this guy is definitely trying to trick us into being his laborers.” A few others tried to stay calm.

Chen Yu remained silent, but as if by magic, he silently spat out the third "spirit stone".

Gulu.

In an instant, the anvil seemed to hear the little stone figures swallowing their saliva.

The little earth elementals suddenly fell into an eerie silence, looking at each other with their simple stone heads.

next second.

"Boss! Boss! I'll follow you!"

"Me too, give me a shining stone!"

"And me, I'm the best at digging holes!"

Their expressions changed instantly. They cheered and ran over, jumping excitedly around the anvil's feet, their previous hostility vanishing.

The moment they finished speaking, the black copper ring in the anvil's hand flashed with a glossy light, which then quickly subsided.

Finally, with a "poof," it turned into a small pinch of fine black metallic powder, which slipped from between the fingers of the anvil.

Looking at his empty palm, Iron Anvil explained, "The Spirit of the Contract has responded, connecting these little ones with your will."

"Unless one party completely perishes, or you voluntarily terminate the contract, this connection will continue. The ring itself is merely the physical embodiment of the spirit of the contract; once the contract is established, its mission is complete."

The moment the contract was reached, the little earth elementals seemed to vaguely sense some kind of invisible connection. They looked at each other in confusion, but the feeling wasn't bad, and the glowing stone was even more important!

So they immediately jumped up happily again.

"This thing is amazing."

Chen Yu was somewhat surprised to feel the joyful emotions transmitted through the contract.

Then he silently prayed, "You guys hide first, or play around nearby. After I've explored the area ahead, I'll take you and the glowing stone home."

"Good boss!"

"There is a large rock blocking our way."

"A very strange big rock, hard and impossible to drill through, and the green-skinned bad guys can't get in either."

Feeling the ease of communication, Chen Yu asked curiously, "So how did you get here before?"

"It was a rift, a rift demon. It opened its huge mouth, and the suction was so strong that it ate many of our companions. Then we emerged from the ground here in a daze..." A small earth elemental conveyed with a hint of lingering fear.

"When we came here, there wasn't that big rock yet."

Rift Demon?

That probably refers to a dimensional rift.

As for the big rock...

Chen Yu was curious about the "big rock" they were talking about, so he continued walking forward with the anvil.

Halfway there, Iron Anvil finally couldn't contain his curiosity and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, just now... what method did you use to persuade these earth elementals?"

According to the legends left by his ancestors, communicating with the earth element requires a great deal of patience, sincerity, and time.

“It’s very simple,” Chen Yu replied matter-of-factly. “They like these pretty stones that glow. I promise to give each of them one if they work with me.”

"Cough...cough cough!"

The anvil choked on its own saliva, its eyes widening in disbelief, "It...it's that simple?!"

"It's that simple," Chen Yu confirmed.

The anvil fell completely silent.

He recalled the legend carved on the clan's stone slab—the great ancestor Stoneheart, who spent thirty years taming a powerful stone monster to become the clan's guardian, singing ancient dwarven war songs outside its lair every day, offering the purest rock salt and gems, and finally winning it over with his sincerity and forging an alliance.

This story has been written extensively and passed down through generations, with it being said that only the most skilled bards are qualified to recite this epic.

He just witnessed His Majesty using glowing ore to bribe an entire small earth elemental race... What does that mean?
So, does that mean I'm also experiencing an epic journey?

Iron Anvil felt that his dwarven worldview had been greatly impacted, and he kept having random thoughts the whole way.

Soon, they reached the end of the mine tunnel.

Sure enough, the road ahead was blocked by an enormous, dark brown boulder, completely cutting off the path to the main mining area.

Iron Anvil stepped forward and struck the stone forcefully with the back of the battle axe.

"clang!"

A crisp echo reverberated through the mine tunnel. The sound didn't seem to be striking rocks, but rather like striking some extremely hard metal.

The anvil gasped in shock.

so hard!

But soon an expression of excitement appeared on his face, and his dwarf instincts instantly overwhelmed all other thoughts.

If this thing could be used to craft equipment...

He didn't even dare to imagine what kind of treasure he could forge.

However, a problem arises: this metal ore is hard and enormous, making it seem unlikely that ordinary mining methods will be effective.

In other words, this ore can't be mined; it's just something people crave.

(End of this chapter)