Lord Dispute

He had originally thought it was a ferocious Slime Hunter, but it turned out to be an Underground Mitten Crab delivered right to his doorstep.

Even better, this feast happened to resolve the instinctual restlessness of his Slime body that had been troubling him for so long.

The acid in his stomach was still churning with pleasure, and only after slurping up the last bit of sweet, juicy meat from the shell did Chen Yu's round eyes reluctantly stare at the empty carapace inside his body.

[Devour and Digest Lv.2 triggered—Digger Beetle traits recorded, talent gestating (1/10)]

--

Prestige Title: Slime Warrior (A fledgling Slime)

--

He had been curious before about how Prestige Titles were obtained. From the acquisition conditions of "Slime Warrior," it seemed one had to accomplish some kind of challenge, defeat a powerful enemy, or complete a trial to possibly earn one.

So was it possible that other Demonic Beasts could also earn Prestige Titles through trials?

He thought it was highly likely.

After all, this status panel displayed data strictly based on his physical condition, and since Slimes were native Demonic Beasts of Zeyarila, perhaps other Demonic Beasts and foreign races could also intentionally or unintentionally meet the conditions for earning a Prestige Title.

That being said, it seemed he had inadvertently uncovered yet another mysterious rule of Zeyarila?

After fully digesting the beetle, Chen Yu spat out the carapace.

The pitch-black shell rolled out of the grass nest, an eerie light flowing across its glossy surface. Its jagged outline looked fierce no matter how you looked at it, and the more he examined it, the more he liked it.

This beetle was truly a treasure from head to toe—not only did the delicious meat taste like crab roe and matsutake mushrooms, but it also came with this naturally imposing carapace.

As he savored the unique fragrance, the acid in Chen Yu's stomach couldn't help but gurgle up a few bubbles.

He leaped out of the grass nest, carefully crawled into the carapace, and let his Slime gel fill the gaps inside until his body fit snugly against the shell.

And so, the first Heavy Armor Slime was born.

Or perhaps the first Heavy Armor Slime in Zeyarila's history.

From the perspective of the Little Ones, it looked like a green Slime had put on a thick, ferocious helmet, the pitch-black color lending the cute, bouncy Slime an extra touch of solemnity.

The little ones bounced around excitedly, their pheromones practically shouting, "Awesome! Badass!"

It was just like when a hero obtains a legendary sword, and the adventure squad beside him cheers, "Great hero!"

Chen Yu was also quite satisfied with his new equipment. Although his vision was a full three hundred and sixty degrees with no blind spots, he still habitually bounced around in circles to admire the gear on his body.

After moving around a bit, he found that wearing the Beetle Helmet slowed his movement speed slightly compared to usual, but it was still acceptable.

At least with heavy armor protection, not even the Moss Monster's acid or the Stinger Bee's stingers could easily harm him now.

What did it matter if he was a bit slower? He could just eat all his enemies into his stomach, and then he wouldn't have to worry about being slow.

Chen Yu left the Slime Nest, swam upstream with the Beetle Helmet on his head, and the surrounding Slimes, upon seeing him, instantly awakened their instinctive fear, freezing stiff and not daring to move.

He had no interest in bullying these Slimes. After surfacing, he looked up at the sky, only to see that the bright morning sky was now covered in dark clouds, with a light rain falling.

After the Beetle Knight invasion, he realized that the Swamp Forest had indeed become more dangerous than before after the heavy rain.

Based on his month of experience in the Swamp Forest, Chen Yu guessed that this place might be in a season similar to spring.

If so, as time went on, the Swamp Forest would only grow more lively, until the cold, silent winter arrived, and then the cycle would begin again...

The Beetle Knight invasion was no accident; in midsummer, even more predators might invade this land.

If he didn't want to sit around and wait for death, he'd better deal with the Stinger Bees as soon as possible, occupy the territory under the Twisted Oak, and become the Slime Lord.

Once he had territory, building defensive structures would naturally follow, and many of the ideas in his mind could be gradually realized.

Don't forget, he was still a Slime that practiced cultivation.

Wasn't territory essentially a cave dwelling? With a cave dwelling, a cultivator could pull off all sorts of tricks.

He was sure these savage Demonic Beasts had never seen anything like it.

The next day.

Chen Yu practiced Lesser Arrow Technique outside the thatched hut while multitasking, wearing the Beetle Helmet as he crawled ashore to test its defensive capabilities.

Whether it was due to the Beetle Helmet's intimidation or the effect of the "Slime Warrior" Prestige Title, his actions caused the Moss Monsters in the farm under the tree to start stirring from a distance.

When the Moss Monsters saw him, they either trembled on the spot or fled in panic, completely abandoning their previous aggressive urge to attack Slimes.

Chen Yu boldly ventured deep into the tree roots, sending flying swords out with every step, skewering every Moss Monster in sight.

This large-scale invasion of the farm quickly caught the attention of the Stinger Bees in the tree. Four pitch-black Stinger Bees fluttered their wings, emitting an irritating buzz as they flew down.

As the saying goes, when enemies meet, their eyes burn with hatred. Recognizing the Slime under the Beetle Helmet, the Stinger Bees didn't hesitate to fire their stingers.

The stingers struck the helmet with a dull clatter, but only left white marks on it, failing to even break through its defense.

"Truly a good item."

Chen Yu was delighted inside, his mind growing more active, and his boldness increased. Right in front of the Stinger Bees, he picked up the surrounding Moss Monster corpses.

After retrieving most of the Stinger Swords, he urged the Stinger Swords to shoot out again, trying to attack the Stinger Bees flying overhead.

Unfortunately, these Stinger Bees had been tangling with him for so long that they had long seen his strange Slime's flying sword tricks. They were highly wary of him, mostly flying three or four meters above the ground, completely out of reach of his flying swords.

Since Lesser Arrow Technique wasn't mastered yet, he could only watch these Stinger Bees flying in the sky, itching to act, but utterly helpless.

But even if he snuck a bite from the moss monster farm, the Stinger Bees couldn't stop him—they could only watch helplessly as he swallowed over a dozen moss monster corpses, collected the stingers, and swaggered off.

The moment he plunged into the swamp, Chen Yu felt a faint shift in his senses—it seemed he heard even more chaotic noise coming from the trees.

Looking up, a Bee Guard suddenly flew down through the gaps in the leaves, its body twice the size of an ordinary Stinger Bee. Its tail was waxy yellow, and a thick stinger was half-hidden, half-exposed, gleaming with a chilling light.

Though he wasn't sure whether that stinger could pierce the Beetle Helmet he wore, he had no intention of risking a direct hit.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when his gel-like body silently sank beneath the water and slipped back to his lair.

Once he mastered the Lesser Arrow Technique, that would be the moment he emerged again to sweep through the Stinger Bees.

With that mindset, Chen Yu kept a low profile over the next three days, focusing entirely on practicing the Lesser Arrow Technique and the Sound Transmission Technique gifted by the Rat Whisker Cultivator.

The Sound Transmission Technique wasn't much use in Xuxuantian, but in Zeyarila it might prove unexpectedly effective, so he figured he might as well train it while he had the time.

He went quiet, but the Swamp Forest only grew livelier.

The Digger Beetles that had previously invaded the Slimes weren't a social Demonic Beast species, but when migrating, they often moved in large groups.

Soon, the rich moss monster farm beneath the Twisted Oak caught the beetle swarm's attention. Sensing the many Slimes inhabiting the surrounding swamp, they took a liking to the spot and decided to build their nest under the Twisted Oak.

This decision clearly hadn't been approved by the oak's overlords, the Stinger Bees. To Chen Yu's surprise, the two bullies actually started a territorial conflict.

The Digger Beetles couldn't reach the flying Stinger Bees either, but they knew how to climb. They swarmed steadily up toward the Stinger Bee nest, causing no small amount of trouble for the bees in the trees.

As a third party snacking on the drama, Chen Yu naturally found this delightful.

Fight, fight.

Best if both sides cripple each other.

He wasn't picky—he'd be fine eating either Beetle Paste or Stinger Bee Dessert.

But trouble was always on the way. Compared to the turf war between the Stinger Bees and Digger Beetles, the traces of Demihumans that began appearing frequently in the forest soon drew his attention away.

He had a nagging feeling that something unexpected was about to happen.