Slime Immortal.

Chapter 194 Foundation Establishment, Transcendent, and Golden Rank
Dark Lands, Eternal Night.

In this silent world where there is no distinction between day and night, many people who seem to be dead are buried deep within, yet are still alive.

Although they initially had different identities—nobles, commoners, warriors, scholars—after undergoing "transformation," they all shared one common name: vampire.

"Vampire" is the name they use to refer to themselves, carrying connotations of nobility and loneliness.

Among those who fear and loathe them, the more derogatory terms used are "vampire" or "corpse demon."

Ever since the mysterious mage named Salazar secretly took over this ancient castle and gradually became the de facto ruler of the Underdark, those old-fashioned vampire nobles who adhered to tradition, along with their pride, were "buried" in the desolate cemetery outside the castle.

They chose to escape this new era, which they neither understood nor could control, through long sleep.

The castle is no longer as bustling as it used to be.

But in recent days, this once-quiet castle has quietly undergone some changes.

Someone ventured to visit these nobles, who were either asleep or still walking around the castle, and within just two or three days, the castle visibly "came back to life."

In the dark corridors, the empty halls, and even on those semi-circular balconies that never see sunlight, one could hear the vampires talking in hushed tones.

"Sir George, is there still that green blood from yesterday? I think the viscount would be very interested."

On the semicircular balcony of the castle, a blond nobleman asked in a low voice, his tone tinged with urgency.

It's really amazing.

As a vampire who has lived for nearly a hundred years, Nils believes he has tasted countless delicacies and even had the honor of drinking the hot blood of giants.

But he never imagined that in this almost eternally numb life, there could still be some kind of "blood" that could bring him such a strong shock.

The cool, smooth texture, the life energy that seemed to nourish his long-dried-up soul, the unique and intoxicating flavor... all of this made his heart, which had been dormant for too long, start to beat again.

For a fleeting moment, he even rediscovered the vibrant feeling that only living people possess.

The vampire named George looked rather troubled. He glanced around warily and lowered his voice even further: "Mr. Nils, you should know how popular this life blood is in the castle. Some old fellows are even willing to wait rather than return to their coffins..."

Niels' breathing became rapid, and he immediately said, "I have gold coins, quite a lot of gold coins. Are fifty gold coins enough? If not, I'll go find more. My grandmother has some more."

George patted him on the shoulder helplessly, his tone tinged with sympathy: "I'm sorry, my dear Nils, just yesterday, your grandmother, the esteemed Lady Margaret, almost spent all her savings to reserve several more batches of 'Blood of Life'."

Seeing Niels's face fall instantly, he changed the subject and said in a low voice, "If you really need it urgently, perhaps you can try to queue up and pre-order the next batch, although it might take a little longer..."

"Okay! Okay! I'll reserve it! I'll reserve it right now!" Niels nodded hurriedly as if he had grasped a lifeline, afraid that he would lose this precious opportunity if he was even a second slower.

Such private transactions are quietly taking place in the dark corners of the castle, both large and small.

A mysterious green gel called "Blood of Life" seems to possess magic, quickly becoming a craze among the vampire nobility and a highly sought-after commodity even more so than virgin blood.

"Da da da……"

The crisp, rhythmic sound of shoe soles striking the stone floor echoed in the main corridor of the castle.

A young man dressed in a dark mage apprentice robe and with an amethyst pendant around his neck symbolizing darkness and secrecy stepped out.

It was Salazar's apprentice, Deng Lun.

Deng Lun keenly noticed the subtle changes in the atmosphere of the castle.

He deliberately slowed his pace, his eyes scanning every corner, his gaze lingering on the vampire nobles who were huddled together talking in hushed tones, but immediately fell silent when they saw him pass by, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Ahem, greetings, Mr. Deng Lun." The vampire nobleman hurriedly bowed.

Deng Lun simply gave a soft "hmm" and left.

Only after his figure was completely swallowed by the darkness at the end of the corridor did he cross a narrow stone bridge connecting the main castle and enter the high castle that stood alone on the cliff.

"Om..."

As he stepped in, the eerie blue magic lamps embedded in the walls lit up one by one, their cold light guiding him up the spiral stone steps.

Finally, he arrived at a seemingly ordinary, heavy wooden door.

Deng Lun took a deep breath, raised his hand, and gently knocked on the wooden door with his knuckles. He said respectfully, "Teacher, it's Deng Lun. Have you returned yet?"

Deng Lun stood quietly outside the door for a moment, but the only response he received was the silence of the wooden door itself and the magical humming coming from the stone wall.

Just as he thought the teacher was not there and was about to turn around and leave.

"Squeak..."

The heavy wooden door opened a crack inwards automatically, and surging black mist stretched out like living tentacles, gradually engulfing him.

Deng Lun felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, followed by a dizzying, weightless sensation.

When he came to his senses and steadied himself, he found himself no longer inside the High Castle, but in an old and dilapidated academy lecture hall.

At the front of the classroom, on a simple stone platform, a figure stood with his back to him.

The figure was blurry and indistinct, as if composed of swaying shadows and fragmented light, making it impossible to discern its specific shape. One could only sense a calm gaze fixed upon him.

Deng Lun dared not delay and quickly bent down deeply.

Knowing his teacher's temperament, he detested meaningless small talk and rambling, so he said directly, "Reporting to the teacher, Sir Kazimierz returned to the Eternal Night Territory the day before yesterday and brought back a reply from the undead forces of the Eastern Swamp."

"They didn't directly reject your offer, but... they made a condition."

“They demanded that we first provide them with ‘aid’ of three thousand gold coins.”

The blurry figure on the podium remained silent, as if deep in thought, or perhaps completely indifferent.

After a while, just as cold sweat began to bead on Deng Lun's forehead, a voice without any emotional fluctuation rang in his mind.

"can."

Just one word.

The moment the words left his mouth, Deng Lun felt his vision blur again, and the scene of the old classroom around him receded like the tide.

He returned to the heavy wooden door as if he had never left, and that everything just now was an illusion.

He looked down and found that a scroll bearing strange runes had appeared in his hand without him noticing.

Upon unfolding it, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a new recipe for a bloody scroll.

He quickly tucked the scroll away close to his body and then hurried down the spiral staircase of the High Castle.

In fact, he had always had a question in his heart.

This enigmatic teacher of theirs seemed never to truly care about anything, whether it was the goblin army at the pass, the undead forces in the Eastern Swamp, or the vampire nobles with their own agendas in the castle… He was like a detached observer. Like a phantom shadow, he didn't seem to exist entirely in this world, yet he stubbornly wanted to spread his "influence" like seeds, permeating every corner around him.

He even had a vague suspicion that his teacher might not care at all whether these vampires would betray him, nor about the ultimate fate of the undead or goblins.

Like the corrupting Morgul, they are obsessed with creating chaos.

Deng Lun dared not think too deeply about it, much less reveal these thoughts.

He quickly left the fortress, and only breathed a sigh of relief when the feeling of being spied on gradually disappeared from his mind.

He straightened his slightly crooked mage robe and shawl, his face quickly regaining its usual composure, transforming once again into the "noble apprentice" in the eyes of the vampire nobles who represented the will of the mage Salazar.

A smile appeared on his face as he beckoned to a blood slave standing in the shadows and instructed, "Go and inform Sir Casimir that the master has agreed to his request. Tell him to raise the gold coins as soon as possible and complete the negotiations with the Eastern Swamp."

……

When Kazimir and Zoran returned to the Eastern Swamp with wagons laden with gold coins and supplies, three days had passed.

The carriage broke through the perennial mist along the lake and appeared on the tranquil lakeside forest path.

With the arrival of summer, the swamp enters its most prosperous season of the year.

The ferocious piranhas in the lake seem to have hidden in the deeper waters, gradually being replaced by some more peculiar aquatic creatures.

It's a fluorescent jellyfish that emits a dreamlike, ethereal blue light.

Like starlight lanterns reflected on the dark lake, they slowly drift, adding a touch of mystery and magnificence to this originally gloomy body of water.

As the Slime Kingdom's territory continues to expand, this lake and the surrounding forest trails have long been designated as part of the territory, and human adventurers and mercenary groups are no longer allowed to enter at will.

Kazimir and Zoran were only allowed to enter the area after going through layers of checks and verifications by the Stinger patrol and the Slime outpost.

To their surprise, seemingly to make their passage easier, in just three days, a sturdy and smooth hardened stone road was laid across the most difficult section of the swamp forest leading to the castle deep in the swamp.

The carriage traveled smoothly on this new road, without the bumps it had experienced before.

These slimes are more capable of building than they ever imagined.

I wonder where that undead lord found the slime; they all want to kidnap one.

Before long, the carriage arrived smoothly at the end of the forest road, which was the outer perimeter of the fortress.

Boxes of incredibly heavy gold coins and sealed magic scrolls were carefully carried down by the vampire servants.

The slime transport team and large beetle porters who had been waiting there immediately stepped forward and methodically transported these "spoils of war" back to the castle.

And Casimir and Zoran also obtained the "blood of life" they had longed for.

After completing the transaction, the two couldn't wait to take their leave, driving the empty carriage and quickly disappearing into the misty forest path they had come from.

Chen Yu stood on the city wall and calmly waved his bone hand in the direction the two had left.

Once their figures had completely disappeared from sight, he suddenly "shrank," instantly transforming from his small skeleton form back into his round, green slime form, and then eagerly hopped to the front of the national treasury.

Xiao Hua had just finished writing the national treasury deposit record when she saw Chen Yu coming over. She jumped up and down happily and reported in her soft, sweet voice:
"There are so many shiny gold coins, more than three thousand, and also many scrolls that look really impressive."

"Wow, these vampires are actually being incredibly generous this time." Chen Yu looked at the gold coins that were almost piled up into a small mountain of gold, as well as the tightly sealed supplies next to them, and his small eyes flashed with surprise.

He had a feeling that these two guys were making a lot of money by reselling his gel.

But never mind.

Anyway, getting the gold coins and supplies is a good thing.

He swayed, putting his doubts to the back of his mind.

He finally managed to scrape together a large sum of money, enough for him to squander... no, enough for the kingdom to develop for quite some time.

"Little Flower, inform Turck to organize a group of people to follow the Anvil and prepare to go to Iron Boot Town for trade."

Turck was the lizardman who had recently passed the shamanic trial.

There was no other way; apart from the dwarf Iron Anvil, the lizardmen were the few humanoid intelligent beings remaining in their territory.

Imagine letting a bunch of slimes drive their own carriage, carrying gold coins, and swagger into the human towns of the White Horse Kingdom...

Chen Yu couldn't even imagine what that scene would look like; he figured it would immediately cause an uproar in the kingdom.

"Okay, I'll go find Turke now." Little Flower nodded vigorously, then smacked her face and left the treasury.

Watching Xiao Hua disappear into the distance, Chen Yu withdrew his gaze, his small eyes landing on the control panel.

[Qi Training Level 7 → Qi Training Level 8]

[Fission and proliferation level 5 → fission and proliferation level 6]

[Gel mimicry Lv.3 → Gel mimicry Lv.4]

Not long ago, his cultivation level broke through.

The maximum mana has been increased significantly, and not only can there be one more clone, but three talents can also be equipped at once.

The changes to "gel mimicry" are not significant, except that the upper limit of the volume of other objects that can be mimicked has been increased to three times the size of its own body.

It should come in handy in certain specific situations.

But most importantly, he is already very close to Foundation Establishment.

In the Void Profound Heaven, a Foundation Establishment cultivator is already a patriarchal figure capable of founding a sect and passing on the Daoist tradition.

Even within a prestigious sect like the Sanyuan Sect, which holds sway over the righteous path, Foundation Establishment cultivators are qualified to serve as peak masters or transmission elders, and are eligible to participate in sect council meetings to determine the number of outer disciples eligible for the Ascension Conference.

Wherever the decree was issued, both the cultivation families affiliated with the sects and the mortal dynasties obeyed it.

Correspondingly, this is Zearella's extraordinary rank.

The legendary heroes recorded in the annals of various countries often began their journeys by entering a realm of the extraordinary.

An extraordinary reputation can attract numerous knights, rangers, and war priests to follow, enough to grant them titles in the Empire or the Alliance of Cities, and their will can even influence the rise and fall of a kingdom.

At the same time, after breaking through the shackles of life, monsters will undergo a fundamental transformation and advance to the Gold rank.

These monsters have transcended the category of ordinary monsters; in common parlance, they are more often referred to as "lords."

They typically occupy areas rich in magic or elements, ruling over vast territories and numerous monster servants. Their very existence is enough to define the danger level of an area, making them a nightmare that is perpetually at the top of the bounty lists of adventurers' guilds in various countries.

(End of this chapter)