Slime Immortal.

Chapter 148 Evolve, Little Card!

After discussing the modification of the battle formation in the small courtyard with its green tiles, Yang Hongli got up to see Chen Yu off.

"Junior brother, take your time. Turn left after crossing Qinghe Bridge, and you'll soon reach a small market where cultivators gather. Although it's not as bustling as the South Bridge Market in the outer sect, it still has many rare and precious treasures worth visiting."

A light drizzle pattered against the green tiles and stone walls. Chen Yu took the umbrella handed to him by Yang Hongli, opened it, said goodbye, and prepared to leave.

"I've noticed that you've come to me several times to ask about the principles of formations, so I suppose you're quite interested in them. Here, take this beginner's guide to formation diagrams. If you have any questions, come back to me." Yang Hongli, dressed in a blue scholar's robe, stood under the eaves and handed him a blue-covered book.

"Thank you, Senior Brother. I'll come to visit you again in a few days." Chen Yu bowed in gratitude before placing the book inside his robe, along with the newly revised Spirit Gathering Array Diagram.

After passing Yang Hongli's humble courtyard and walking through the alley for dozens of steps, an old locust tree growing by the river comes into view. Then, after crossing the blue stone bridge connecting the opposite bank, a burst of noise reaches your ears through the drizzle.

Chen Yu strolled through the small market with an umbrella in hand, while the little slime figure on his chest cautiously peeked out, curiously observing the bustling market in the rain.

Soon, Chen Yu found his target in a bookstore—the Water Arrow Technique.

Water Arrow Technique does not correspond to his cultivation attribute, nor is water his natural spiritual root. It's just that he has practiced Lesser Arrow Technique for a long time, so if he were to cultivate Water Arrow Technique, he could get started faster.

After spending sixty spirit stones to buy the original, Chen Yu asked the shopkeeper guarding the library.

"Do you have any Taoist techniques related to earth and wood? Of course, the most important thing is to use forceful and vigorous techniques."

He currently possesses two talents: "Flame Affinity" and "Earth Affinity," both of which can enhance his spiritual root. However, his "Flame Affinity" level is relatively low, so it doesn't significantly improve his spiritual root at present, and it doesn't align with the attributes of his main cultivation technique. Therefore, earth-attribute Daoist techniques naturally become the best choice.

If it's a wood-based Taoist technique, it's passable, but it depends on what the shop offers.

"That's a good question, but my shop does have quite a few high-quality items."

The shopkeeper took down a row of wooden plaques from the counter and placed them on the lacquered counter for him to choose from.

Chen Yu's gaze swept across the array of techniques, finding most to be rather mediocre, except for one that caught his attention.

He picked up the wooden sign and asked, "What does 'every bush and tree looks like an enemy soldier' ​​mean?"

"This Taoist method is said to have been left behind by the once-prosperous Daoyan Cangjing Sect a thousand years ago. Its sect is skilled in imitating supernatural powers and Taoist minor methods."

"This ability to turn grass and trees into soldiers originates from the legendary story of scattering beans to create soldiers. Its power is self-evident. However, when one cultivates to the point of mastery, one can only create five wooden soldiers. Moreover, it requires the cultivator to divide their mind to control it, which places extremely high demands on the soul."

“Then I’ll take it,” Chen Yu said without hesitation.

It's just a split personality, that's what he's best at.

The price of "Every Grass and Tree Sees an Enemy" was even higher than that of the Water Arrow Technique, costing him one hundred spirit stones to obtain.

After spending lavishly on this purchase, and with nothing much to do on a rainy day, he held up his umbrella and gradually walked along the lake bridge into the misty bamboo forest.

The figure gradually faded until it was no longer visible.

……

“Your Majesty, oh, Arthur’s attendant has reminded you that today is the day the treant territory is sending an envoy to visit. Should you make preparations?”

Count Bran flew into the tree hall, set down the wet, gray gravel crystal he had just fished out of the swamp, and gave a reminder.

Chen Yu, who was lying on the wooden throne carved from metal slime, opened his eyes and blinked when he heard Count Bran's words.

"It's alright, they can't understand the secrets of the territory anyway, and Iselin is not our enemy."

“Who knows,” Earl Bran muttered, glancing furtively around before leaning against the throne, concealing his beak with his glossy wings, and whispering:

“Your Majesty, as you know, I don’t get along with that old fogey. If her men see me, they’ll surely go back and report me.”

"What do you mean?" Chen Yu blinked.

"Hehe... Please allow this Earl to take a few days off to avoid the limelight. Of course, this is definitely not for slacking off." It added a final emphasis.

"Alright, go ahead."

"Hahaha, thank you, Your Majesty!" Count Bran was overjoyed.

"Your Majesty, I have a premonition that I will find something extraordinary this time I go out."

"Of course, you must not let these old fogies get even a step closer to the national treasury, much less get near my lair. I have already entrusted the loyal little guards to watch over it."

“These are ferocious crocodiles that can bite. You should remind them that if they get injured, don’t blame me.”

"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

Chen Yu asked curiously, "Wait, how do you know you'll find something good when you go out?"

Count Bran chuckled and puffed out his chest confidently. "This is a revelation from the Lady of Rebellion. I've been having a run of bad luck for the past two weeks, but my luck is about to change. There's no doubt about it."

"Oh, by the way, Your Majesty, there have been unknown flying monsters roaming the territory recently. One of them even bumped into me just now. You should be careful, as it might be a druid that released it to gather intelligence."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu remembered the charcoal-like ball he had crashed into during his test flight—it turned out to be Count Bran…

"Okay, you can go now. If you keep nagging, they'll be here soon."

"Yes, yes, I'm leaving."

Count Bran flapped his wings, leaped out of the treehouse, and flew westward, his figure gradually disappearing into the horizon of the forest.

Chen Yu landed on the ground with a "plop," and used a pen to write down the "Introduction to Formation" and "Spirit Gathering Formation Diagram" that his senior brother had given him. He then handed them to Xiao Hua, leaving the slime scholar to study them.

He had originally intended to go out and check on the construction progress of the tree garden when a stinging bee hurriedly flew back from outside.

Bee Guard rubbed her little hands together and then pressed them onto Chen Yu's bouncy gel.

"King, guards, pain, danger."

"Is there danger? Is it Kay or Peggy?"

"Crocodile."

What happened to his bodyguard?

Chen Yu quickly exerted his strength, and gel wings grew from both sides. He flapped them and floated up, following the bee guards to the small forest outside the fortress.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Peggy whimpering anxiously not far away, refusing to even nibble on her beloved oak tree, and pacing around in a panic.

Before it, Little Ka lay sickly in the swamp water, its body radiating red heat, which actually boiled the swamp, causing it to bubble and steam.

Chen Yu was startled and quickly landed on the ground with a "thud," hopping over to Xiao Ka. He touched its burning hot body with the gel and immediately infused it with spiritual feed and life energy.

“…Crackling…” Upon seeing the king arrive, despite being sustained by life energy, Xiao Ka was still sickly and responded in a low voice, his voice weak.

"Peggy, what's wrong with it?"

"Peiqi was playing when it suddenly got very hot."

Peiqi lowered her head in grievance and licked Xiaoka with her tongue, trying to cool it down.

"...Wang...cough cough..."

Xiao Ka felt very uncomfortable, as if a ball of fire was burning inside his body. After coughing a few times, he actually exhaled a burst of scorching heat.

"Hmm? Fire elemental energy?"

Chen Yu's worry turned into surprise.

He got it.

This is clearly because Xiao Ka has mastered fire-attribute supernatural powers, which is why this strange thing happened. It will be fine once it calms down.

Although it's unclear why a swamp creature would possess fire-attribute magical abilities, this is clearly good news.

"Little Kaka, it's time for you to evolve."

"evolution……?"

Little Ka looked up in confusion, and after coughing out the pent-up anger, it felt much better.

After staying in the water for a while, it raised its head and instinctively sneezed.

"Ah!"

The intense heat condensed into a tangible form, emitting a fiery glow, as if a mass of magma had spewed out from its throat.

"Boom!! Sizzle..."

The temperature of the flames was terrifying; in just a few seconds, the damp soil dried rapidly, and the black mud clumps melted into red crystals, flowing like lava.

"Click?!"

Even the little card was so frightened that it stepped back, its bewildered eyes seeming to say, "How did it suddenly become so powerful?"

"King, evolve!"

It cried out excitedly, for no matter what, becoming stronger would allow it to better protect the king.

Peggy hummed softly, looking less anxious than before. Seemingly to celebrate Little Card's new power, she even licked it with her wet tongue.

Chen Yu patted Xiao Ka's head with satisfaction, never expecting that his pet crocodile could evolve into a small earth dragon.

He now feels the same satisfaction an old farmer feels when he sees his hard-earned wheat fields turn golden.

"Although it doesn't have dragon blood, it can breathe lava and looks quite impressive. It would be great if it could be trained into a dragon."

Thinking this, a sudden idea struck him.

Doesn't he happen to have a "bat wing" talent? What would happen if Kawhi Leonard had it?

Will it turn into a little fire dragon?
He tried to extract the Lv.1 "Bat Wings" talent and the Lv.3 "Flame Affinity" talent, condensing them into a talent orb and squeezing it out.

"Little Ka, eat it."

"Kaka."

Peggy was so hungry she was practically drooling, but she didn't dare move. Under her watchful eye, Kawhi swallowed the talent ball whole.

“Ka-ka?”

It tilted its head in confusion, curled its tail, and spun around in place, trying to see what changes had occurred in its body.

Before it could even open its mouth, protrusions suddenly grew on both sides of its back, and scales and shells grew and spread, eventually forming the shape of wings from its bones and flesh.

These plump little wings flapped a few times, and then seemed to be magnified, each extending half a meter long, creating a gust of wind that allowed Xiao Ka to slowly fly off the ground.

"Kaka!!"

At first, the little dog frantically flailed its limbs and struggled clumsily in mid-air, but soon it mastered the secret of balance and let out a series of clear cries.

The cry was filled with an unprecedented joy.

Flying—for a people who have lived in swamps and mud pits for generations, this was once an unattainable dream.

For generations, they have looked up at the sky, watching birds fly through the clouds, but they never imagined that one day they could break free from the shackles of gravity and become a part of the sky.

When his limbs left the earth he once relied on, and when the once unreachable treetops were now within reach, Little Ka's little brain suddenly understood what the King meant by "evolution".

It turns out that creatures that used to look up at the sky can one day also have the right to look down at the earth. After it gradually got used to flying, it landed on the ground and stared longingly at Chen Yu.

"Do you want me to come up?"

Chen Yu never imagined that one day he would be able to become a dragon knight, even though his mount was just a pieced-together dragon.

Chen Yu jumped up directly, and the gel stuck firmly to Xiao Ka's back.

"Kaka!"

Kawhi Leonard tried to let out a fierce roar and then took to the air.

Soaring higher and higher under Peggy's envious gaze, it even surpassed the eight-meter limit, leaving the newly grown oak tree behind, as if even the distant clouds were within reach at this moment.

Of course, for a swamp creature that has just learned to fly, there is still a long way to go before it can soar through the clouds like a real dragon.

The little car soared freely in the air, sometimes spinning and diving, sometimes soaring into the sky, its maneuverability was much better than when Chen Yu flew.

This also confirms that its flying talent is much better than Chen Yu's.

"Little Ka, Dragon's Breath!" Chen Yu pointed to a swampy rock not far from the forest path.

"Ow!"

Little Ka flailed its limbs as it swooped down, spewing forth a raging fire from deep within its throat, engulfing the mossy rocks and instantly burning all the moss to charcoal.

Even after it hastily took off and scrambled through countless tree branches to return to the sky, the boulder was still burning, and even showed signs of melting.

Both the temperature and duration of the breath were astonishing, as if it were not fire-attribute spiritual energy, but viscous oil.

This successful flight triggered the panel.

-

Reputation Title: Dragonkin
Acquisition Requirements: As a swamp reptile (usually a crocodile), one must ignite the dragon's breath fire with the mysterious energy born within their body and allow the bat wings nurtured in their flesh to fully grow, ultimately successfully completing a continuous flight trial to conquer the sky with their wings.

Title effect:

1. Imprint of Reputation: The name "Dragonoid" will spread throughout the swamp ecosystem, instilling a sense of awe and fear in many creatures that inhabit it, originating from the depths of their blood.

2. Aerial Pressure: The dragon-like aura emitted during flight creates a sense of pressure on aerial units (not dragon's might), reducing their attack accuracy and willingness to pursue, and has a chance to inflict confusion.

Note: This is an act of usurpation by using a mortal body to steal the form of a dragon. A successful flight is the most arrogant betrayal and innovation of one's own bloodline.

-

The second reputation title.

Good guy.

According to Chen Yu, a monster with three or more reputation titles is roughly an elite among silver-tier monsters, much stronger than an ordinary silver-tier monster.

Similarly, when a human possesses more than three reputation titles, they can be considered an elite among formal professionals. He suspected that the vampire he encountered in the Underdark was of this level, which was why it was so difficult to deal with.

And Little Ka will be here soon too, not to mention that its reputation title is extremely valuable. Anything related to dragons, even just a pseudo-dragon, is unlikely to be ordinary.

"Little Ka, go ahead and take a look. We're going to personally welcome the delegation from the Treant Territory."

"Kaka!"

With a serious look in his eyes, Xiao Ka flapped his wings and carried Chen Yu, speeding towards the underground city passage.

Its soaring posture bears a resemblance to that of a giant dragon, though its size appears somewhat small, as if a young dragon had been temporarily captured and used as a mount, suggesting possible child labor abuse.

……

Since the entrance to the underground passage of the abandoned village was discovered, the gloomy trees and ruins around the village have been cleared away thanks to the hard work of the slimes.

The ground had been rolled over by slime engineers with "soil hardening" properties, making it as hard as stone bricks pressed into the ground.

The once gloomy, abandoned village shrouded in cold mist has been transformed into a bright and sunny square, where several slime treehouses have been built, serving as the first home and the first slime village for the Dungeon slimes after they leave the underground.

If you could look down from above, you would see that the plaza sits in the middle of the entire swamp forest like a ring.

Two forest trails begin in the middle of the plaza and extend east and west respectively. On one side is the Gray Mist Lake outpost located on the edge of the territory, and on the other side is the lord's fortress.

Meanwhile, in the underground passageway, which had been cleaned and tidyed up with stone bricks, the radiance of the spirit stones illuminated the originally dark passageway.

Then, from the other end of the passage, the sounds of clashing armor and hurried, chaotic footsteps could be heard.

Arthur silently passed by a spirit stone lamp.

As the guide for the Treant Territory delegation on their trip to the Slime Territory, he felt guilty, believing himself to be unqualified.

After walking for a while, he couldn't come up with a single topic of conversation; most of the time, it was Iselin asking questions and him answering.

Behind him, the envoys from the Tree Spirit Territory were curiously looking around the passage, their gazes particularly drawn to the magical spirit stone lamps on either side of the passage.

Although the light from these spirit stone lamps is not as soft as that of the elves' glowing stones, it is still brighter and clearer, like tiny suns.

This difference alone was enough for everyone to realize that they were about to enter a territory with a style completely different from the tree spirit's territory.

What might be there—more slimes, monsters, or more skeleton knights like those before them—they had no idea.

However, it was precisely this mystery that aroused considerable anticipation among the members of the delegation.

"This passageway is so neatly constructed."

"I never imagined that slimes had human aesthetics. I thought they preferred to live in damp nests and tunnels."

The treant delegation was not large, consisting of five elves as examiners, one undead watching the spectacle, and fifteen Grimlins carrying gifts, their eyes full of anticipation.

Old Bloom, still carrying his signature pitchfork, followed behind Arthur with Iserline. Judging from his listless spirit fire, he didn't seem very interested in this tour.

If Lady Viola hadn't thought he and Arthur would get along and sent him over, he might still be in the backyard tending to his precious tuber.

As for getting along with this big guy?

Haha... all Old Bloom can say is that no one can beat Arthur when it comes to silence.

He even doubted that he could have remained silent until the world ended if communication were not absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, Miss Icelyn, who was next to him, seemed to have become very interested in her surroundings after arriving here, and became much more talkative, unexpectedly revealing a different side of herself.

Iseryn asked, "Mr. Arthur, it seems that the architecture of your territory has changed in style after passing through the fog zone, all the way from the Goblin Pass."

"If this is what the architects of the Slime Kingdom built, such a large-scale construction... I'm very curious, does your territory have a group of architects trained?"

Arthur heeded His Majesty's instructions, carefully crafting his words, trying his best not to reveal any more secrets.

A few seconds later, he spoke woodenly: "There are indeed a group of slime architects in the territory, but in the very beginning, this place was built by His Majesty himself."

"Slime Architect?"

The elves exchanged glances; although the words sounded absurd, they didn't find them exaggerated.

In fact, the three metal slimes stationed in the tree spirit territory had told them that slimes could be gunners.

So it's not surprising that there are slime architects.

Well, it's still somewhat novel.

Especially for the Grimlins following behind, this was like something out of a fairy tale, full of fantasy, making these little guys even more imaginative and excited about the slime kingdom they were about to arrive in.

"The kingdom of socks is just like that, with sock engineers, sock farmers, sock knights, and sock kings."

"Oh, won't so many socks smell too bad?"

"Of course not, little socks are residents of the water, well... at most they'll be a little wet."

"That's definitely not as fun as slimes."

Grimlin was chatting happily when a ray of sunlight fell across the passageway, quickly drawing their attention away again.

"We're here, we've arrived."

Amidst the cheers of the little ones, Iserly followed Arthur, basking in the sunlight, and was the first to step out of the stairs, then looked around with curious eyes.

The small square, the treehouse, the slime residents, and the metal slime guards patrolling... this place was exactly what she had imagined.

"Let me see."

"I want to go out too."

Behind them, Old Bloom and the other elves came out, followed by the somewhat impatient Grimlin.

Upon seeing this clean, tidy, and orderly slime village, they couldn't help but marvel.

"Wow, there really are slime residents."

"What are those silver guys? Guards? They're so cool."

Iselin carefully observed everything around her, feeling somewhat surprised, but at the same time she did not forget the purpose of her visit, and her gaze quickly took on a scrutinizing quality.

When she saw with her own eyes the metal slimes cutting down trees and the slime engineers laying paving stones, she had no doubts about Arthur's answer.

It turns out that slimes can indeed form societies like human kingdoms.

No wonder they call themselves the Slime Kingdom.

It seems that what that minor lord said was true.

Despite being a kingdom, its territory only occupies a swamp and part of the underground city, making it seem small.

In fact, compared to the slime's small size, this territory is already quite large.

Currently, the Slime Kingdom seems to have good potential.

Iselin noted this comment down and followed Arthur, who was silently leading the way, towards the forest path on the east side.

As she walked along the road, Iselin soon discovered something even more interesting.

The slimes even held a welcoming ceremony, standing on both sides of the road, cheering and jumping with their tiny gel hands holding two sticks, celebrating their arrival.

"Wow, this is interesting."

"That chubby little guy is so cute, I really want to take it home."

"Don't even think about it. This is human trafficking. Be careful, or the Slime Kingdom will punish you."

As everyone watched this amusing scene, their eyes weren't on what was ahead, and they almost bumped into each other. Only then did they realize that, for some reason, Arthur had suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky not far away.

"What happened?" old Bloom asked.

A sharp-eyed elven ranger squinted and stared at the small black dot in the sky. Her exceptional eyesight quickly revealed the clue.

"Something is approaching us...it looks like a giant dragon?!"

(End of this chapter)