Oak Overlord

Sunlight filtered through the treetops, casting dappled spots across the Swamp Forest. The Moss Monsters, whether intentionally or not, squirmed along with the shifting patches of light, basking in the hard-won sunshine.

Chen Yu half-submerged himself in the swamp, his mung-bean-sized eyes fixed on the Moss Monsters' movements, his expression thoroughly sneaky.

He had to admit, this swamp was truly worthy of being a place that bred Slimes—it was a perfect match for them.

From this position, he could advance or retreat, and if things went south, he could dive into the muck. His green body lurking in the swamp made it hard for Demonic Beasts to spot him.

The two Moss Monsters, having long lost sight of Chen Yu, let their guard down again and began munching on the mud melted by Acid.

Little did they know that this treacherous, cunning Slime hadn't left at all—he was still watching them.

He carefully skirted the patches of sunlight falling on the swamp, and when he was less than half a meter from his target, he struck again.

Whoosh!

One Moss Monster was pierced through the body and died on the spot. The other, terrified, left behind a puddle of Acid and fled in panic, saving him the trouble of finishing it off.

Chen Yu hopped onto a tree root, bouncing along as he planned to collect the corpse.

Suddenly, he noticed that the Moss Monsters and Mud Swamp Worms that had been crawling everywhere just moments ago had all stopped moving, as if the entire world had fallen silent.

"Damn, a predator's here."

Chen Yu's heart skipped a beat, a bad feeling washing over him. Then he heard a sharp, buzzing sound.

Stinger Bees!

As he hurriedly swallowed the Moss Monster and the flying sword, he looked up to see three pitch-black Stinger Bees descending through the layers of leaves.

He had encountered this kind of Demonic Beast before. Unlike harmless bees, Stinger Bees were carnivorous! Even their hives were made of rotting flesh.

Hidden inside their tails, ringed with a fleshy, waxy layer, were several venomous stingers they could shoot. He had once seen a Mud Swamp Worm hit by a stinger from several meters away, its body turning black and yellow in an instant.

There should be a Stinger Bee Hive up in the tree, but the leaves blocked his view.

No matter what, as the overlords of this area and a pack-dwelling Demonic Beast, he couldn't afford to mess with them now.

Run!

The Slime's Fear Instinct drove Chen Yu's body to flee, but he knew that a Slime's movements were loud and would easily attract the Stinger Bees. So he forcefully suppressed the instinct, mimicking the other Demonic Beasts by staying perfectly still, pretending to be a lifeless object.

He muttered inwardly, Moss is green, Slimes are green too. Can't see me, can't see me...

But unfortunately, the Stinger Bees had already spotted him and flew straight over.

"Seriously!"

With all those plump, protein-rich Moss Monsters around, why were they chasing him, a single Slime?

Chen Yu cursed his bad luck and quickly bounced toward the swamp.

Clearly, the Stinger Bees had no intention of letting him go. From several meters away, they raised their tails and shot stingers at him.

Chen Yu dodged in panic, and three stingers all lodged into a tree root.

But the next volley wasn't so lucky. Stinger Bees could fire continuously, and just as he dodged the first set, three more stingers came flying at him.

At this distance, he couldn't dodge!

In desperation, Chen Yu summoned his Toothpick Flying Sword to intercept the stingers midair.

Two stingers collided with the Toothpick Flying Sword, snapping the wooden blade on the spot.

Before he could mourn his flying sword, one stinger pierced straight through his rear and pinned into the tree root.

[Physical Damage] HP -10!

[Poison Effect] HP -2/sec (Duration: 5 seconds)

Pain!

It hurt so much!

That was Chen Yu's last thought as he plunged into the swamp.

As he slowly sank into the muck, another volley of stingers from the Stinger Bees missed their mark. They flapped their wings, circled a few times, then returned to the hive in the tree.

Beneath the mud, Chen Yu had no mind to check if the Stinger Bees had left. All he felt was an excruciating pain all over his body.

He looked at the wound—the spot where the stinger had pierced through had already turned black.

Thankfully, a Slime's body was soft, so the stinger hadn't stayed inside. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Chen Yu endured the searing pain and expelled the blackened gel from his body, and only then did the pain gradually fade.

That was the one good thing about being a Slime—there was no concept of injury or illness. It just shed gel with every hit, shrinking until it eventually turned into a puddle of water.

Thinking back to that harrowing moment, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

If the flying sword hadn't blocked two of the stingers, and all three had hit him, all the nutrients he'd absorbed over the past half-month would have been expelled along with the gel.

"My flying sword..." Chen Yu's heart ached.

Zeyarila's conditions couldn't compare to Xuxuantian's. That wooden toothpick had taken him days to pick out, and he'd spent ages polishing it with his stomach acid.

Now that his divine weapon was gone, his strength was probably going to take a serious hit.

"Damn Stinger Bees, making me suffer such a heavy loss."

"I'll be back."

Once he trained some new techniques, he'd make them pay.

Chen Yu originally planned to return directly to the Slime Nest to digest the Moss Monster in his stomach, but suddenly remembered that the Stinger Bee had left quite a few stingers embedded in it.

"These stingers can even pierce through wood—they must be much tougher than my flying sword."

Thinking of this, he felt a stir of interest.

But for now, he had no way to handle the bee venom on the stingers. He couldn't touch them, and without that, he couldn't use the Object Manipulation Technique, so he had to let it go for the moment.

Anyway, no monsters dared approach those stingers. He'd leave them there for now, and when he found a way to deal with them, he could retrieve them and forge new flying swords.

Chen Yu dragged his weary slime body back to the nest. The Slime Mother still hadn't returned, so he squeezed past Little One in the grass nest, feeling the faint warmth spreading from his stomach, and drifted off to sleep, drowsy and tired.

When he woke again, he found that the Moss Monster in his stomach had been digested completely, and his slime body seemed to have undergone a subtle change.

He felt himself swelling—not in a mental sense, but physically expanding, his gel body growing larger, with some mysterious patterns emerging within it.

With just a thought, deeper-colored gastric fluid could seep out from the gel patterns.

[Devour and Digest Lv.1 triggered—Moss Monster traits fully recorded. Acquired Talent: Acid Secretion Lv.1]

--

Race: Acid Slime

Level: Black Iron Lv.2 [EXP: 0/20]

Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Lv.2 [Spiritual Power: 16/20]

Health Status: Healthy [HP: 75/75]

Racial Talent: Devour and Digest Lv.1

Other Talents: Acid Secretion Lv.1

Skill List: Kaiyuan Scroll Lv.4, Object Manipulation Technique Lv.2

Prestige Title: None (Unknown Slime)

--

So his stomach acid was actually the same type as the Moss Monster's?

Oh...

No wonder the color had deepened.

He bounced out of the grass nest and tried spitting acid like the Moss Monster.

Sizzle!

The Dark Green Acid shot onto the ground not far away, immediately hissing with a sharp, piercing sound, sending up choking green smoke.

Uh...

The power was terrifying, but it seemed like it didn't have as much range as his flying sword.

Chen Yu silently hopped back into the grass nest.

"Forget it, I'll just learn more techniques. This talent might come in handy in Xuxuantian."

He nestled among the pile of slimes, staring at the upgrade interface, and noticed his level had risen to Black Iron Lv.2.

Chen Yu guessed that ordinary slimes were Black Iron Lv.1, while something like the Moss Monster, which could secrete lethal acid, counted as Black Iron Lv.2. As for monsters like the Stinger Bee, they were at least Black Iron Lv.2, possibly even Black Iron Lv.3.

Regardless, progress was good.

It was just that, so far, he hadn't seen any monster use true magic.

Could monster talents also be a form of magic?