Slime Immortal.

Chapter 177 The Journey to Find the Slime

On a clear morning along the Reed River, gray sparrows chirped and hopped among the branches, while golden rays of dawn pierced through the dense canopy, dappling the camp of the Moss Tribe.

Unlike the usual bustling scene in the early morning, today the campfire in the center of the tribe was surrounded by lizardmen, who were witnessing the young lizardmen preparing for the shamanic trials.

The campfire in the hearth had long since died out, leaving only dark red embers. All the tribespeople looked solemn at this moment, and even the usually noisiest cubs stayed quietly by their mothers' sides.

In the center of the crowd, the elderly shaman Shazak was performing a sacred ritual.

He chanted ancient and obscure prayers, crushed several specific leaves in a stone mortar, kneaded them to extract a dark green juice, and then carefully applied the juice with his fingers to the face and bare chest of a young lizardman, drawing simple yet mysterious patterns.

After completing all this, Shazak Shaman slowly took a step back, his cloudy eyes fixed on Turk, his voice low and solemn: "Turk, facing the ancestral spirits and Putu, ask yourself, is your faith as firm as a rock? Are you ready to face nature's test?"

The young lizardman named Turk stood tall, his heart pounding like a drum, but his eyes were unusually resolute: "I am ready, Shazak Shaman, for the Horde."

“Very good.” Shazak Shaman nodded, leaning on his cane, and turned to walk out of the camp.

The onlookers silently parted to make way for the lizards, their eyes filled with encouragement, worry, and anticipation.

Turke took a deep breath and followed the shaman's footsteps, arriving at the edge of the swamp forest under the watchful eyes of all his tribesmen.

Shazak Shaman faced the unknown fog head-on, gripping his cane tightly, and stood still, giving his final instructions without turning back.

"Go, child, once you enter the forest, never look back. Even if you lose your way and your heart is filled with fear, never take a step back."

"Remember, the first living creature you encounter in the forest will be your enemy. Defeat it, and it will grant you the ability to distinguish the plants and animals of the swamp."

"And the second creature you encounter, no matter what form it takes, ignore it; it is an indispensable temptation on the path of trials."

"Cough cough... Once you are bewitched by it, your soul will be forever lost in the thick fog, and you will never be able to find your way home again."

“Ignore it, and you will gain the intuition to navigate through the misty swamp.”

"But the trial doesn't end here. You need to keep going until... you encounter a slime."

The shaman paused for a moment, then said, “Listen to its plea, help it, and in return, it will guide you to understand the true meaning of nature and grant you the power to live in harmony with the swamp.”

"When all this is done, the trial will be over, and then you can return following the guidance of your heart."

Türk was taken aback at first, then nodded solemnly, put his hands together in front of his chest, and whispered, "I understand, Putu will look after His devout believers."

Shazak shaman sighed softly, his voice filled with complex emotions: "Go, like Sergash, and win Ptu's approval."

"The tribe will wait for you here for half a month. If we still do not see you after half a month... in order to survive, the tribe will have to set off to migrate north. Turk, you'd better take care of yourself."

May the spirits of your ancestors and Putu protect you, and may you have a safe journey and return home safely.

The clansmen behind them waved goodbye, their voices rising and falling.

"Turck, go ahead without worry. I'll take care of your sister."

"Kid, come back soon, I'll be waiting to grill you the biggest and fattest fish."

"Be careful, child..." Turke's mother said, her voice choked with emotion.

After embracing his parents, whose eyes were red with tears, Turk, despite feeling reluctant to part and apprehensive about the unknown, resolutely picked up the wooden spear, turned around, and took his first step into the mist.

His figure was quickly swallowed by the thick fog and disappeared from the sight of his people.

He knew that after the demonic tide subsided, the swamp would be at its most resource-rich in autumn.

The tribe's hunting parties must venture deep into the forest at that time to stock up on enough food for the long winter.

However, Shazak Shaman was old and could no longer lead the hunting party on long journeys, and Sergash disappeared without a trace after going to the snow mountain.

Without the shaman's guidance, the hunting party could hardly make a move in the treacherous swamp, and if they were unlucky, they might even be wiped out.

For the sake of the tribe's survival, and to ensure that his parents and people would no longer go hungry, he must undergo trials to gain the power to guide his people.

Far from the hustle and bustle of the camp, the swamp in the early morning was even quieter than he had imagined. Even the chirping of insects and birds had disappeared, as if all life had deliberately hidden itself away.

At first, he could still see the tracks left by the hunting party in the swamp, but as he went deeper, these tracks disappeared completely.

He knew that he had stepped into an unknown territory that even the tribe's bravest hunters rarely ventured into.

The dense fog became the biggest obstacle, with extremely low visibility. He couldn't see anything beyond three meters. Only the silent swamp oaks stood like blurry ghosts in the fog, bringing him heavy psychological pressure.

Turk firmly remembered the shaman Shazak's instruction to "not turn back," resisted the urge to look back, and focused his attention on the road ahead.

To be honest, the Silent Swamp was very oppressive. He would occasionally feel confused and afraid, but he would quickly suppress them with a stronger determination.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint rustling sound came from behind the fog curtain ahead.

Turk instantly became alert, his muscles tensing. He gripped the wooden spear tightly, lowered his body, and moved forward silently like a hunter.

As he parted the layers of fog, the scene ahead gradually became clear. Before him stood an ordinary tree with a large, dark gray mushroom growing beneath it. Apart from that, there was nothing unusual.

"A fluorescent mushroom man?" Turk immediately recognized this monster, which was adept at disguise.

These nocturnal monsters emit an alluring glow at night, swaying their bodies to scatter spores, luring curious prey into their trap before devouring them.

During the day, however, they lose their luster and become like ordinary fungi, falling into a state of dormancy to absorb sunlight.

But this doesn't mean they're not aggressive. If touched, they'll instantly release a large number of hallucinogenic spores, stunning their prey, and then take root in the living prey to absorb nutrients.

It is a very deceptive monster.

"The first monster I encountered was an enemy..." Turck recalled the shaman's teachings.

He held his breath and stopped a few meters away from the mushroom man, steadily raising his wooden spear and aiming it at the seemingly harmless gray mushroom cap.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his tension, and with a burst of strength from his waist, hurled the wooden spear out.

At the same time, he quickly moved to the side, looking for cover.

"call out!"

The wooden spear sliced ​​through the air, piercing precisely into the center of the mushroom man's umbrella.

"Ahhh!"

A scream shattered the silence of the swamp. The "mushroom" convulsed violently, bursting with blinding fluorescence. It twisted and ran wildly, stirring up the surrounding mist. Several minutes passed before it gradually calmed down, finally plunging headfirst into the murky mud. The fluorescence went out completely, and it remained motionless.

Turck waited patiently for a while longer, and only after confirming that it was safe did he cautiously step forward.

He held his breath to avoid inhaling any remaining spores that might be floating in the air, then forcefully pulled the wooden spear from the gradually stiffening mushroom man's corpse.

Just as the wooden spear detached, he felt a blur before his eyes, as if a ray of light had escaped from the mushroom-man's body and entered his brow.

A cool and refreshing sensation flowed through his brain, and his eyes regained their clarity. He seemed not to feel any obvious changes in his body.

But when he subconsciously turned his gaze to a low-lying plant he didn't recognize at his feet, a name naturally came to mind.

"The sap of the snake tooth orchid is slightly poisonous and can repel mosquitoes. The roots can be ground and applied externally to treat minor ulcers."

"so amazing……"

Turck couldn't help but gasp in amazement, marveling at the wonder of nature's power.

He rested briefly, wiped the grime off his wooden spear from the moss, and with awe for the power of nature and a renewed sense of confidence in his newly acquired strength, he stepped forward again, venturing deeper into the mist.

As time went by, the midday sun gradually rose overhead, its blazing rays struggling to penetrate the canopy, dispelling some of the thick fog and making the dark forest slightly brighter and warmer.

This scene was like a divine revelation, as if Putu was quietly watching over and blessing him.

The warm sunlight pierced through the thin mist and fell on Turck's scaly skin, bringing a touch of warmth and easing his tense mood.

Easily defeating the fluorescent mushroom man greatly reduced his fear of the trial, and his confidence swelled rapidly like a vine soaked in water.

"The trial doesn't seem as terrible as the Shazak shaman said," the thought flashed through Turk's mind.

Leaning on his wooden spear, he carefully navigated around a bubbling swamp, his gaze aimlessly sweeping across an ancient ruin that was half-collapsed ahead.

The ruins made his thoughts wander, wondering what had happened there.

Just then, something swayed in front of him.

Türk subconsciously squinted and looked toward the reflection.

In the corner of the broken stone wall of the ruins, a ray of midday sunlight shone precisely there, and a magnificent gem the size of an egg lay quietly on the moss, refracting a mesmerizing rainbow of colors.

Its luster was so pure and so alluring, as if it contained all the splendor of the world; one glance was enough to tell that it was a priceless treasure.

wealth!

It's enough wealth to allow the entire tribe to live a prosperous life!

Turck instinctively took a step, but the moment his toes lifted, the old and solemn warning of the Shazak shaman echoed in his mind.

"The second creature you encounter... is an indispensable temptation on the path of trials... Once seduced, you will be forever lost..."

"It's a temptation! I can't go!"

Türk jolted awake, abruptly stopping in his tracks, his heart pounding.

He forced himself to look away from the dazzling light, then carefully and quickly walked around it, continuing forward into the unknown.

Shortly after he left, almost transparent silver threads began to glow faintly around the resting gem.

A ghost-faced spider, as big as a human head and covered in dark hair, crawled out from the shadowy cracks in the stone wall, skillfully picked up the gem, and retreated back into its dark lair.

At the same time, a green halo flashed from the spider's body and disappeared in an instant, quietly catching up with Turck who had already gone far away, and silently merging into the back of his head.

The familiar coolness swept over me again, even more clearly than before.

Turck was surprised to find that the surrounding fog seemed to have become... much more welcoming to him at this moment.

The panic of being disoriented vanished, and his brain seemed to be infused with a strange intuition, instantly making the directions of east, west, south, and north crystal clear.

He even had a feeling that, if he wanted, he could now clearly find the path back to the tribe.

"I passed... I passed the second test too." Turk breathed a long sigh of relief, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

Just now, the temptation was so real and intense that if it weren't for the shaman's warning, he might have already fallen for it.

He now even thinks with lingering fear that if he had accidentally inhaled hallucinogenic spores while dealing with the fluorescent fungus people, causing his consciousness to become blurred, the consequences would have been unimaginable. He might have walked towards that gem in a daze.

"so close."

Having learned his lesson, he never dared to be careless again.

After resting for a while and calming his mind, Turck began to focus on finding the slime for the final trial.

Strangely enough, he trekked for an entire afternoon through this swampy area teeming with slimes, yet he didn't see a single ordinary slime.

By the pond, in the mud, under the tree roots... those little creatures that used to be everywhere, swaying like jelly, seemed to have all evaporated.

Türk felt a pang of disappointment, but quickly rallied.

Night fell, like a giant black velvet blanket, slowly covering the entire swamp.

Turck found a swamp oak with thick branches, struggled to climb it, and tried to spend the dangerous night in the tree.

However, the nights in the swamp are not peaceful.

Various creatures that had been dormant during the day began to stir. The buzzing of stinging wasps grew louder as they approached, and the howls of unknown beasts rose and fell. It seemed as if countless eyes were watching him from the darkness.

He clung tightly to the tree trunk, holding the wooden spear, and barely slept all night. As dawn approached, he finally succumbed to sleepiness, leaned against the trunk, and drifted off to sleep.

But what Türk didn't know was that his appearance had already alarmed the native inhabitants of the swamp.

Several patrolling stinging wasps discovered his footprints in the mud and his sleeping figure in the tree. After a brief exchange, one of them immediately flapped its wings and flew back towards the deeper part of the swamp.

Not long after, a little slime riding a beetle appeared under the oak tree where Turk was sleeping.

The recruitment opportunity that Chen Yu had been waiting for finally arrived.

(End of this chapter)