First Downpour

Swish—!

Three Moss Monsters near the swamp hadn't even sensed the danger before Stinger Swords pierced their bodies one by one, turning them into food inside Chen Yu's gel stomach.

Sizzle... sizzle...

Accompanied by a faint yet efficient dissolving sound, the Moss Monsters were almost instantly engulfed and broken down by the potent acid.

Chen Yu could feel them rapidly transform into a warm stream of pure energy, merging into his gel body.

With "Acid Secretion," the digestion speed was far faster than before!

[Proficiency +1]

[Proficiency +1]

A transparent light screen flickered past; the acid inside him seemed to deepen a shade in color, though it was barely noticeable.

In the span of a morning, Chen Yu hunted over a dozen more Moss Monsters.

Before, he had to be careful of the acid the Moss Monsters spat, only able to hunt them one by one in secret, with very low efficiency.

Now, with three Stinger Swords, he wasn't afraid even if the Moss Monsters came in groups.

Times had changed—when a wolf also picked up a hunting rifle, the sheep in the pen were only waiting to be butchered, and even the farmer guarding the pen would tread carefully.

He began sweeping through the breeding grounds under the trees, and this action quickly angered the Stinger Bee swarm above. Four Stinger Bees flew down from the trees.

But Chen Yu was prepared this time. As soon as he saw the Stinger Bees descend, he immediately jumped into the swamp mud, dodging the incoming stingers.

The Stinger Bees buzzed angrily above the swamp, circling but unable to do anything to him.

"Can't hit me, huh."

After toying with these Stinger Bees for a while, he felt it was boring to bicker with these Demonic Beasts. Since he couldn't get to the surface anyway, he crawled back into his nest to rest.

In the thatched cottage of the Green Bamboo Forest, after breakfast, Chen Yu lined up the porcelain bottles on the table. He pressed his finger against the lines of his palm, secreting Slime Acid that dripped down his fingertip.

Before long, the acid filled five full bottles.

His face paled a bit from the effort. He quickly drank a bowl of plain congee, and his complexion gradually recovered.

Secreting acid consumed "Mana," as well as physical strength and nutrients. Five bottles a day was about his limit—any more, and he truly had nothing left.

Replenishing physical strength and nutrients was relatively simple, but recovering "Mana" had no other method; he could only wait slowly.

Five bottles of Slime Acid were worth 125 Spirit Shards, which converted to one Spirit Stone plus 25 Spirit Shards.

After deducting daily meals, he netted 75 Spirit Shards a day—no different from the reward for completing an ordinary sect mission.

The advantage was its efficiency and ease.

In a few more days, once he saved enough Spirit Stones, he could buy a new Dao technique.

Looking forward to it.

At noon, he went to Nanqiao Market and saw Shao Qingsong already leaning against the Qiaopai Gate, waiting.

Seeing Chen Yu approach, he waved his hand, afraid Chen Yu wouldn't recognize him.

"Junior Brother, it's me, Shao Qingsong."

"Why are you here so early?"

Shao Qingsong said politely, "With nothing to do, I thought I'd come to Nanqiao Market and take a look."

How could he not come early? Where else would he find such a sure-win, no-loss deal? He had to be diligent.

It was just a pity he wasn't a woman, so he couldn't sell his looks.

Otherwise, he'd have followed Chen Yu back home in a flash.

Chen Yu gave him a strange look. He felt that this Senior Brother's gloomy eyes seemed to hide ill intentions.

Shao Qingsong lowered his voice and said, "Chen Junior Brother, that Corpse Dissolving Water of yours works really well. How much stock do you have now? I'll take it all."

"Senior Brother misunderstands. This is a medicinal liquid, really not Corpse Dissolving Water."

"Right, right, Senior Brother forgot again." Shao Qingsong chuckled.

When Chen Yu took out five bottles of Slime Acid and handed them over, the man's face lit up with a flicker of joy. He then carefully took out a whole Spirit Stone and a small handful of Spirit Shards, completing the trade with him.

Before parting, the two agreed on the time for their next transaction.

From then on, Chen Yu's life fell into a fixed rhythm: as soon as the sun rose, he hunted in the Swamp Forest; when the sun slanted westward, he headed to Nanqiao Market on time to trade with Shao Qingsong.

Days flowed by like the swamp water through the forest—calm and steady.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

After enjoying a delicious breakfast in the Swamp Forest, Chen Yu's body quietly underwent a subtle change.

[Proficiency +1]

[Acid Secretion Lv.1 → Acid Secretion Lv.2]

--

Other Talents: Acid Secretion Lv.2

Skill List: Kaiyuan Scroll Lv.4, Object Manipulation Technique Lv.3

--

After this period of hunting, the slime's body had swelled to the size of two palms pressed together. Inside its transparent form, the deeper-colored acid sloshed with every bounce.

Lv.2 Slime Acid was no different in corrosiveness from Moss Monster acid, and could fetch a higher price.

Moreover, thanks to the frequent hunting, Object Manipulation Technique had also risen to Lv.3.

The range of Object Manipulation Technique was still half a meter, but the interval for controlling the Stinger Sword had shortened. Firing off four Stinger Swords in one go was no problem at all.

He had practically become a walking land-bound sword immortal, killing one bug per step. When the Moss Monsters under the Twisted Oaks saw something green and slick emerge from the swamp, they would shrink back in terror into the gaps between the roots.

Their simple neural centers couldn't fathom how their former prey had become so fearsome, but instinct had already recorded the fear of the slime.

From now on, the slime's status in the Swamp Forest would rise another notch.

Well... at least from weak prey to prey with some ability to resist.

In the afternoon, Chen Yu went to Nanqiao Market as usual to trade and stock up...

Feeling the twelve Spirit Stones he had saved in his pocket over these days, he got a taste of what it felt like to be well-off.

Though the earnings weren't much, the steady trickle was far better than the bitter grind of training and completing tasks.

But today, he felt an unusual blockage in his body's energy flow. At first, he thought it was because he'd been eating too well lately, but he belatedly realized his cultivation was about to break through.

So he didn't linger long at Nanqiao Market. He returned to his thatched hut, ate an early dinner, and lay down on the hard wooden bed to meditate and regulate his breathing, seeking the opportunity to break through.

The breakthrough itself didn't require much effort, but over in the Swamp Forest, it seemed the first thunderstorm of spring was about to arrive.

Zeyarila.

The sky sagged under layers of lead-gray clouds, stacked one upon another, as if about to press down.

Below, the forest had been swallowed into a thick darkness. The air among the trees was stagnant, muggy and sticky, without a single breath of wind.

Squelch, squelch...

Chen Yu swallowed the last Moss Monster and, before nightfall arrived, bounced back to the swamp to take shelter from the rain.

The Swamp Forest at night was far more terrifying than by day. Even Chen Yu dared not stay on the surface.

The predators here weren't limited to Stinger Bees. Demonic Beasts with Dark Vision usually came out at night, lying in wait to ambush prey.

After jumping into the swamp, he left only his head and a pair of mung-bean-sized eyes poking above the swamp pool, watching for movement in the darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, he saw the ordinary dark green moss of daytime begin to emit a faint fluorescence at night, slightly dispelling the gloom before the storm's arrival.

Some dormant Demonic Beasts also began their nocturnal activities.

A giant leech, like a python, slithered through the murky swamp as if fleeing from something. A blue frog, glowing all over, ignored the mosquitoes above its head and hurriedly searched for shelter...

And a Glow Mushroom, shining with an eerie blue light, pulled itself from the ground and hopped through the forest on a pair of little legs.

This kind of Glow Mushroom Person looked delicious, but the fluorescent powder it scattered behind it had a powerful hallucinogenic effect.

If a Demonic Beast accidentally got contaminated, it would fall into a hallucination, then be forcibly buried in the soil by the mushroom person and drained as fertilizer.

Chen Yu had once seen a beetle fly by, get contaminated by the fluorescent powder, wobble and fall to the ground, and then be pinned down by a Glow Mushroom Person, never to rise again.

Though he was tempted by the thought of eating one, he didn't dare provoke these mushroom people casually.

But not many Demonic Beasts came out tonight. Usually, he could hear chilling howls from deep in the swamp, but now they had vanished. It seemed the deeper beasts had sensed the coming storm in advance and gone into hiding.

A nameless restlessness and oppression rose from within Chen Yu. He felt as if he were yearning for something.

He looked up at the sky. A gray mist had unknowingly spread throughout the entire forest.

Though the forest was already very dark, his pair of mung-bean eyes could clearly see this gray mist.

A word inexplicably popped into his mind.

Mana.

This didn't seem like an ordinary storm. It felt more like an impending carnival of mana.

Regardless, tonight would not be peaceful.