Slime Immortal.

Chapter 145 The Secret of the Seed

Arthur crouched down, hesitated for a moment, and then gently poked his emperor's bouncy belly with his iron finger cot.

"Your Majesty, something seems to be sprouting inside your body."

"germination?"

After Arthur's reminder, Chen Yu noticed that a tender green sprout had appeared inside his transparent gel body at some point. It was quietly suspended in the center of his body, swaying slightly with his movements.

He tried jumping around a few times, hoping to get the stomach acid to touch the green sprout, but found that the acid passed right through it, as if it were just an illusion.

Could it be that the seed I just swallowed has sprouted?
What a strange magical organ.

It's one thing for monsters to not have names, but even their derived talents are so strange.

After testing it a few more times and confirming that the green sprouts were not harmful to his body, he temporarily put the matter aside, but secretly kept the news that the goblin shaman possessed the strange seed in his heart.

"My lord, my lord, we've found some really good stuff!"

The Grimlins diligently cleaned up the battlefield, then carefully lined up the collected magical organs to feed him.

"Chew, chew, chew..."

As he devoured and digested the food, information about his talent upgrades kept emerging, and one new talent caught his attention.

[Devour and Digest Lv.7 triggered - Demonic Vine characteristics fully recorded, talent gained: Promote Growth Lv.4]

Chen Yu curiously reached out his gel-like hand and touched a wild grass beside him. Under the flow of magic, the grass's roots quickly grew thicker, and its leaves sprouted and grew rapidly, soon towering over him.

Plant growth promoter?

This talent is quite interesting.

Based on his understanding of monster talents, the vast majority of talents cannot create matter out of thin air, nor can they make matter disappear out of thin air.

The generated matter is almost entirely composed of magic and real matter.

It conforms to the principle of equivalent exchange in alchemy.

The essence of "promoting growth" should be to use magic as a catalyst to accelerate the process of plants absorbing soil nutrients.

It also consumes nutrients, but with magical catalysis, it consumes less nutrients than plants consume naturally during growth.

For example, some churches in the White Horse Kingdom possessed the "grain-producing technique," which allowed them to fully utilize the soil's fertility before winter to produce a large amount of grain, helping the kingdom's people get through the difficult winter.

Accompanying this is the "Fertile Soil Spell"—during the fallow winter, the church would capture monsters to use as fertilizer, and priests would cast the Fertile Soil Spell to prepare for planting in the following spring.

It is thanks to this soil fertility cycle that the human kingdom has been able to survive the harsh winters.

However, the length of winter is uncertain and remains a concern, so even within the human kingdom, the purchase price of grain remains high.

His territory did not have any priests who had mastered the "Fertile Soil" spell, but fortunately he had just obtained the "Soil Improvement" spell.

If it can be combined with "growth promotion", it may be possible to establish a fertility cycle within the territory and completely solve the food problem.

However, Chen Yu was more concerned about another possibility than this—the cultivation of spiritual herbs.

Spiritual energy is a good thing; it can help mortals embark on cultivation and give cultivators all sorts of incredible powers.

By the same token, it should also promote the growth of herbs.

However, the reality is quite the opposite. In the Void Profound Heaven, the higher the quality of the spiritual medicine, the slower it grows, with a cycle so long that even cultivators find it difficult to wait.

Ordinary rice that yields two harvests a year transforms into spiritual rice, and even one harvest a year is considered fast. If it is immortal rice, it takes decades to ripen once, making it difficult for ordinary cultivators to even get a taste.

Furthermore, it's not that herbs can naturally transform into spiritual medicines simply by providing enough spiritual energy. This requires a long iterative cycle, with each growth cycle taking longer than the last, before it's possible to cultivate spiritual medicines in Zearella.

Now that he had "growth promoters" and "soil improvers," he seemed to see hope for quickly cultivating elixirs.

"Your Majesty, the battlefield has been cleaned up, and no trace of goblins was found. They must have left beforehand." Arthur returned from the forest, followed by a squad of elves.

Chen Yu snapped out of his daze, jumped out of the crowd of Grimlin, and landed lightly on his shoulder.

"That's it."

That's what he said, but deep down he still cared about the mysterious seed left behind by the goblin shaman.

Since that giant man-eating plant was summoned by goblins, they should have quite a few more of these seeds.

I wonder what kind of strange talent I'll gain after absorbing it all.

At this moment, Iseline slowly stepped forward and gave Chen Yu, who was on Arthur's shoulder, an elven salute.

"Thank you for your assistance, Lord Slime. As a token of our sincerity, Lady Viola has decided to supply your territory with food for this month free of charge."

Chen Yu swayed slightly, his mind seemingly racing, as if he was deep in thought.

food?

While food is important, he cares more about this land.

The Roots Forest has fertile land and elves who are skilled in agriculture, so their grain production is probably secretly incredibly high, which allows them to not only survive the winter but also sell surplus grain to buy the items they need.

This place is practically a natural granary hidden in the mountains.

If the food produced here could be used to fully train the monster army, the size of the monsters could probably increase several times over.

He was very envious.

However, since they are allies, there is a possibility of further cooperation.

He told Arthur his thoughts.

Arthur opened and closed his jaw, translating his emperor's intentions into calm words.

"Your Majesty means that the Slime Kingdom and your territory share a common enemy, and this cooperation has enhanced our understanding of each other. Perhaps we can explore the possibility of further cooperation."

Isabel did not answer immediately; such a decision was beyond her authority.

After a long silence, she finally spoke after receiving an answer: "Lady Viola invites you both to the Heart of the Ancient Tree for a detailed discussion. Please follow me."

Led by Iserlyn, they ventured once again into the heart of the Rootswood Forest, arriving before the magnificent ancient tree.

Upon entering the treehouse, Viola's figure materialized and appeared, sitting on the vine swing opposite them, her small feet swinging back and forth.

"Welcome back, my reliable ally. I've heard that our young lord has bigger ambitions?"

Arthur nodded in response: "Your Majesty believes that since we have a common enemy and have already established initial trust with each other, perhaps we can seek deeper cooperation."

Viola swung her legs with interest. "For example?"

"Form an alliance for offense and defense."

"From now on, the Kingdom will provide military support to your territory to jointly deal with goblins, undead and other threats."

"In return, we hope that your territory can provide the kingdom with more stable food support."

"A defensive alliance?" A hint of surprise flashed in Iselin's eyes as she looked at the green slime.

This proposal goes beyond a simple trade relationship; it signifies a closer ties and demonstrates the other party's considerable ambition and vision.

Is this really something a lump of slime could come up with?

"Hmm... What do you think, Iserline?" Viola pretended to think for a moment, then threw the question at Iserline.

Iserlin suddenly felt a headache coming on: "Lady Viola, such an important decision should be made by your wisdom; my knowledge is far from sufficient..."

Viola nonchalantly swung her toes. "My wisdom tells me that this should be decided by you, Iserline, and I should trust your judgment."

Iselin took a deep breath, knowing that the lord was trying to slack off again.

She gathered her thoughts, looked at Arthur and Chen Yu, and her tone returned to its usual calm and pragmatic tone.

"The alliance concept proposed by Lord Slime is indeed beneficial to both sides in the long run."

"But please forgive my frankness, we do not know much about the Slime Kingdom. Before making a formal decision to form an alliance, we hope to send an envoy to the Eastern Swamp for a few days of investigation."

"Only by witnessing it firsthand can we make a judgment. What does Lord Slime think?"

Inspection?

Sure, let them see the potential of the Slime Kingdom.

Anyway, they wouldn't understand the core secrets of cultivation anyway, so there's no need to worry about leaks.

He readily agreed through Arthur.

Half an hour later, the negotiations ended and a preliminary agreement was reached.

Some of the stinging bees and slime gunners will remain in the Treant territory to assist in its defense, with food and lodging provided. The spoils and magical organs they collect will also belong to the slime territory.

The Treant Territory will send an envoy led by Iserin to formally visit the Slime Kingdom during the off-season three days later.

The outcome of this visit will determine whether the two territories can achieve further cooperation.

However, before leaving the tree spirit territory, Viola stopped Chen Yu, as if she still had something to say.

Iseline understood and asked Arthur to leave, leaving only the lords of the two territories inside to talk.

A vine spread out and connected with Chen Yu.

"Miss Viola, do you have any other questions?"

"It's not a question, but I have a few words to remind you about the little green sprout in your belly." Viola was still leisurely swinging on the swing, but her little face became more serious.

"Do you know what it is?" Chen Yu asked.

"Hmm, I can vaguely guess what it is, but I can't go into details. I can only tell you that this seed is related to the goblin god 'Plague' Grush, and not just to Him."

"Involving gods?" If slimes had hearts, Chen Yu felt they would be beating incredibly fast right now.

Viola giggled, covering her mouth and chuckling, "You got scared, didn't you? You little slime, always trying to act all mature."

Chen Yu was speechless. He was about to turn around and leave without any mercy when Viola manipulated the vines to stop him.

"Alright, alright, I'm not kidding anymore. Although this seed is indeed related to the gods, it won't attract His attention. In other words, it's quite difficult to get the goblin god to pay attention to a slime. I don't think this one is that bored."

"This seed actually comes from a tree."

"A tree? What kind of tree?"

Viola tilted her head in thought, "Hmm, it was probably a great alchemical creation, made by a genius alchemist, and then coveted by many gods, who competed to devour it, stripping it of its power into pieces. Grush also picked up quite a bit of it."

"I don't know why it would choose a slime as its host. Even the swamp lord 'Putu,' who is closest to slimes, has no relation to this tree at all."

Chen Yu thought that it was probably because the seed did not choose him, but rather he devoured and digested the seed that he acquired the seed's talent.

No wonder this monster had no name; it turned out to be an alchemical artifact. But for even the gods to fight over it, could this tree taste exceptionally delicious?

Viola tried to keep a straight face and appear serious. "In short, it's best not to reveal it to anyone, not even the elves of the Ancient Tree Council."

"Be careful not to get caught and forced to refine alchemical items. I'm not kidding, it's that serious."

Chen Yu asked curiously, "Then why did you tell me?"

Viola chuckled, "The Ancient Tree Council is the oldest elven organization, located further south on the continent. There are many old fogies there, almost as old as me. They are all conservatives, lifeless, and have driven away many young elves."

“I’m not like those stubborn old folks. Viola is a forest sage who keeps up with the times.”

Chen Yu sized her up.

Well, I have to say this old relic does have a certain mystical air about it.

"I've got it, thank you."

After bidding farewell to Viola, Chen Yu and Arthur led a portion of the monster army out of the Root Language Forest and embarked on their journey back to the Swamp Fortress.

……

The rock-cutting pass, the outer quarry camp.

This location faces the fortress gate, and a large quarry sits next to the camp.

At this moment, the clanging sound of quarrying echoed through the canyon. The ragged slaves, like walking corpses, numbly carried heavy stones out of the quarry to repair the pass that had been destroyed by the demonic tide.

"Get your work done faster!"

If any slave was even slightly slow, the goblin overseer would lash out with his poisoned whip without mercy, leaving bloodstains and muffled groans.

A group of weary mercenaries weaved through the bustling crowd of slaves, oblivious to their surroundings, clearly accustomed to the scene.

The leader, Rex, looked up at the fortress above him, which was even more dilapidated than in the last attack, and shook his head with a tsk-tsk.

"It seems the demonic tide is really not far off; even spatial rifts are starting to form."

He said with a hint of regret, "My poor goblin allies, their homeland has suffered so many misfortunes."

Rex, along with the men behind him, were mercenaries from the Black Fang Mercenary Group.

He was once the captain of the private bodyguard team for a wealthy businessman in Wuwan Port. During a mission to escort a huge sum of money, he became greedy and planned an "accident" to prevent the businessman from embezzling the money.

After fleeing Fog Bay Harbor, he joined the infamous Black Fang Mercenary Group, and eventually rose to the position of squad leader thanks to his ruthlessness and cunning.

"Humans, put away your ridiculous and false pity."

A deep, muffled voice rang out, and Hammerbone walked over carrying a nail-headed hammer.

He was still in a bad mood. Whenever he recalled how he had been tricked and made a fool of himself by a tiny slime in the mining area, he felt a tightness in his chest, as if there was air stuck inside him that he couldn't exhale.

This was an indelible disgrace for the bear goblins who worshipped absolute power.

Rex turned around, faced Hammerbone with a professional smile, and shrugged.

"Alright, alright, big guy, relax. I know there might still be a little misunderstanding between us, but that won't affect the fruitful cooperation between the Legion and our Black Fang Mercenary Group, will it?"

Hammerbone frowned, irritably waving his large, fan-like hands to shoo away the buzzing mosquitoes surrounding him.

"Stop talking nonsense! What are you loitering around here for? There hasn't been a sound for so long. Do you Black Fangs intend to take the deposit and not do anything, pocketing the bounty given by Lord Rifttooth?"

Seeing that this incredibly powerful creature was about to get angry, Rex cursed inwardly as a "brainless idiot," but quickly put on a reassuring smile.

"Hey, brother, you can't say that. Our Black Fang Mercenary Group is known for its integrity. Once we get paid, we'll definitely get things done. Besides, our client is a powerful and esteemed goblin warrior like yourself. How could we possibly neglect you?"

Hammerbone's expression softened slightly at this blatant flattery, and he snorted, "Then why haven't you made a move yet? The Eastern Swamp is right there."

Rex looked helpless: "The target is a 'Rank A' bounty target, not some low-level monster you can just step on in the ground. We can't deal with it so easily. We need a well-thought-out plan."

He paused, his tone turning somewhat somber, "And just yesterday, one of our temporary warehouses was raided, resulting in the loss of a significant amount of supplies."

"I'm afraid the operation will have to be postponed until at least a new batch of supplies arrives at the outpost ruins."

"However, compared to this, I think Lord Hammerbone, you should pay more attention to the accuracy of the intelligence."

"Intelligence? What intelligence problem?" Hammerbone narrowed his small eyes, staring at Rex.

Rex said slowly and deliberately, "According to our brothers who went to the Eastern Swamp to scout, the information you provided about the 'Magic Crystal Cannon' seems to be... seriously distorted."

"That thing can probably fire more than four times."

"fart!"

Hammerbone immediately interrupted him rudely, the sound so loud that a slave next to him almost fell over.

"Impossible, I saw it with my own eyes. After four launches, the glowing stone must be replaced. There's no way I'm wrong."

Rex maintained his smile, "I'm not questioning Lord Hammerbone's intelligence, it's just..."

Just as the two were arguing, a high-pitched cheer came from afar.

"Lord Hammerbone, Lord Hammerbone, great news! Incredibly great news!"

The goblin shaman who had been sent to spread plague and poisonous winds in the treant territory returned triumphantly, riding a panting burrow lizard, his face beaming with pride.

"I have gathered intelligence on the Eastern Swamp."

Hammerbone lifted him off the lizard's back and asked suspiciously, "Shouldn't you be in the treant territory? Where did you get this news about slimes?"

The goblin shaman gesticulated wildly as he hurriedly explained.

"Lord Hammerbone, I didn't lie to you. I went to the tree spirit's territory. Everything was going smoothly until I almost destroyed those forests and fields."

"But those damned monsters from the Eastern Swamp suddenly appeared and joined forces with the tree spirits."

Seeing that Hammerbone's expression was about to change, he quickly cut to the chase: "But I risked my life to gather their core secret intelligence!"

"What secret information? Speak quickly," Hammerbone urged impatiently.

The goblin shaman raised his head as if to claim credit.

"Those cannons, those cannons controlled by slimes, they can fire far more than four times."

"I saw them fire continuously, shattering the big guy I summoned, at least six or seven times, maybe more!"

He spoke with great enthusiasm, completely unaware that Hammerbone's face was turning ashen at a visible speed.

Especially under Rex's ambiguous, half-smiling gaze.

"See, Lord Hammerbone,"

Rex chuckled and said, "I told you, our intelligence is usually not too wrong."

"Humph!"

Hammerbone felt a burning sensation on his face, as if he had been slapped in the face without his knowledge. Enraged, he turned his anger on the shaman who was still babbling on.

"And that's all, tell me everything at once!"

The goblin shaman shrank back, feeling deeply wronged and confused as to why reporting good news would anger the adults. Nevertheless, he continued timidly:

"And...and...those slimes, they're just a decoy, something the Eastern Swamp put out to attract attention."

"The true swamp lord is a powerful undead knight, extremely powerful, I'm sure of it."

He rubbed his hands together, forcing a fawning smile onto his face.

"Lord Hammerbone, when you report to Lord Cracktooth later, could you... share a little bit of the credit with me?"

But his words only made things worse, and Hammerbone completely erupted.

"Bullshit!"

Hammerbone roared and slammed the goblin shaman to the ground like trash.

"You dare to spread false information to mislead me? I'm being lenient by not punching you. You still want credit? Get lost."

He clearly remembered that what had made him lose face was a green slime.

If what this foolish shaman says is true, the slime is just a cover, and the lord is some kind of undead knight.

Doesn't that mean that Lord Hammerbone, the powerful bear goblin warrior, was completely outmaneuvered by a mere stand-in before even seeing the enemy lord?
This is absolutely impossible.

It's even harder to accept than him being defeated by a slime.

If this gets back to his clan, he'll become the laughingstock of all the bear goblins.

He turned around and waved his hand roughly at Rex, as if shooing away flies.

"Hmph, you can go back now. Our legion's intelligence is absolutely correct. Your scouts must have made a mistake, or this idiot is talking nonsense."

After saying that, he picked up his mace, turned around, and left, leaving the goblin shaman completely bewildered.

The shaman struggled to his feet, rubbing his sore bottom, his face full of grievance and confusion.

"I... I'm telling the truth..."

Rex watched Hammerbone's departing figure, shook his head, and said nothing more. He simply gestured to his men behind him, signaling them to leave.

After they had gone quite a distance from the camp, one of his men quietly approached and whispered, "Boss, who do you think is telling the truth?"

Rex scoffed and retorted, "Do you believe the lord of that swamp is a lump of slime?"

The men looked at each other and shook their heads.

That's impossible, it's absurd.

"That's it."

Rex chuckled. "I think this big guy suffered a huge loss last time and his head's a bit fuzzy from the beating, which is why he's spreading misinformation."

His smile faded, and his eyes sharpened.

"In any case, once our new batch of magic scrolls arrives, we'll proceed as planned."

"Pay close attention to the 'Undead Knight' the shaman mentioned. Regardless of whether he's a lord or not, someone who can command so many monsters must be a tough opponent."

"Cheer up, everyone."

"Yes, boss!"

(End of this chapter)