Slime True Immortal Chapter 157: Hishu Ryu (1)

As for what this talent was... Chen Yu vaguely sensed that it seed to have so profound connection with the "land."

So, his gelatinous body gently undulated as he hopped away from the tree hall. He carefully searched along the fortress's outer periter, using his body surface to perceive the aura of every inch of soil, finally coming to a stop at a desolate edge.

As a sli, his sensitivity to the earth was far more acute than that of a human. He could perceive that the condition of the land before him seed rather poor.

Looking closely, sure enough, this patch of land showed a sickly gray-black color, with almost no traces of life visible. Even the most tenacious swamp weeds could not grow here.

"This is the place." Chen Yu was quite satisfied with the spot he had chosen.

He cald his mind, inhaled and bubbled, focusing his consciousness on the sapling suspended within the gel.

As mana slowly infused into it, the seedling gently swayed, emitting a gentle, spring-rain-like energy ripple that silently seeped into the earth.

Imdiately after, a change occurred.

On roughly one square ter of barren land, a faint, tiny, and exquisite erald-green sapling phantom appeared. It shimred and flickered like a reflection in water, vanishing in the blink of an eye as if it were rely an illusion caused by sunlight. However, after the phantom disappeared, that patch of land had already been completely renewed.

The originally compacted, gray-black soil had beco dark, fertile, and lustrous, shimring with a faint spiritual light. It possessed both the clear vibrancy of Xu Xuan Heaven's spiritual energy and the active radiance of Zeyarila's mana. Two completely different energies perfectly rged, as if infusing the soil with boundless vitality.

Beneath the soil, it seed as if countless minute lives were rejoicing. The ground slightly bulged and cracked. Moss spores, weed seeds, and shrub roots that had been dormant within seed to be awakened, rapidly sprouting, shooting forth branches, and growing.

Tender green shoot tips drilled out of the ground, unfurling into leaves that gently swayed in the breeze.

A na also naturally surfaced in Chen Yu's mind at this mont — 【Hixiulong Part One: Fertile Soil】.

This was a miraculous talent capable of creating a patch of purified land and accelerating plant growth within that soil.

However, purifying land and accelerating growth weren't particularly remarkable;

many spells could achieve that.

Why did this talent give him a feeling of being useful, but not overwhelmingly so?

Wait, it seed like he was overlooking sothing.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Chen Yu. What would happen if he used this talent in conjunction with "Promote Growth"?

He focused his mind.

【Promote Growth】

An eruption of erald-green light!

The plants in the grid field, which were already growing quite rapidly, began to sway and grow upward as if convulsing. The land was soon covered by a layer of vibrant, tender green plants, lush and dense, as if they had grown naturally for over ten days.

Huh?!

They really could stack.

It seed he had stumbled upon so incredible application.

"If we don't count 'Promote Growth', the effect of this talent can roughly make plants grow at five tis the normal speed," Chen Yu concluded.

However, as he continued to explore the talent, he soon discovered an even greater surprise about "Fertile Soil."

It didn't seem to follow the principle of equivalent exchange of matter. It accelerated plant growth by five tis, yet the fertility consumption of the land itself remained at the normal level.

This ant this talent didn't consu extra fertilizer!

Compared to "Promote Growth," "Fertile Soil" felt more like a form of growth that touched upon the essence of life itself.

Even better, these two talents could be used in combination.

Moreover, unlike other magical creature talents that required continuous mana consumption to maintain, "Fertile Soil" was more like a persistent buff "anchored" to a specific area.

As long as he didn't actively retract it, that patch of land could maintain this fertile state almost indefinitely, with almost no drain on his personal mana.

"Five tis the growth speed, and no extra fertilizer consumption... Doesn't that an cultivating spirit herbs actually has real hope?" Thinking of this, a wave of anticipation surged within Chen Yu.

He strained, growing gel wings on both sides of his body, and flew eagerly towards the experintal field inside the northern fortress.

Experintal Field.

Compared to the bustle outside the fortress, it was quieter here. The intense battle with the Formation Company had not affected the sli agronomists diligently farming here.

They were still busy in their respective experintal plots, carefully tending to those precious plants that had undergone multiple rounds of iterative selection and breeding.

Seeing Chen Yu fly over, the agronomists imdiately hopped over joyfully, their soft, bouncy bodies colliding with each other, making cheerful "squelch" sounds.

Their pheromones conveyed delight.

"King!"

"The King is here!"

Chen Yu patted their round heads with his gel hands and inquired, "How is the latest iteration of these herbs going?"

A senior agronomist sli "squelch-squelched" forward, reporting in unskilled Common Tongue.

"Ite... iteration six now. They... they seem a bit different from before, already showing spirit herb characteristics."

The spirit herb characteristics it referred to were an introverted trait possessed by spirit herbs.

Unlike magical herbs that possessed various miraculous effects, once a magical herb began evolving towards a "spirit herb," it would gradually lose those outwardly manifested extraordinary abilities, turning inward to condense and produce a unique "spiritual glow."

For example, the Giant Frog Fungi, which could increase jumping distance when eaten, had completely lost its jumping-boosting effect after iterations, now emitting a faint spiritual glow instead.

This glow was most obvious at night, a manifestation of the spirit herb accumulating pure energy. The brighter the glow, the higher the herb's age, serving as an important standard for judging spirit herb quality.

If in Xu Xuan Heaven, spirit herbs old enough could even exhibit the phenonon of their spiritual glow condensing into rings, encircling the herb like a halo.

Chen Yu looked at the experintal field and saw that many carefully cultivated magical herbs like Giant Frog Fungi and Moonlight Moss already possessed so spirit herb characteristics.

On their leaves or mushroom caps, a faint, extrely weak, gentle halo seed to flow. Although very faint, it proved that spirit herbs could indeed be grown in Zeyarila.

Since spirit herbs could be grown, he wouldn't hold back.

【Hixiulong Part One】

Chen Yu concentrated, carefully attempting to anchor "Fertile Soil" to the experintal field. Imdiately, a wave of vitality-filled energy enveloped the field, and the soil surface once again shimred with that peculiar blend of spiritual light and mana radiance.

【Promote Growth】

The double buff effects instantly stacked.

Amidst the astonished "wow wow wow" sounds of the surrounding sli agronomists, the Giant Frog Fungi and Moonlight Moss in the experintal field grew at a jaw-dropping, frenzied pace.

They rapidly matured, released spores, then withered. New fungal bodies and moss sprouted from the fertile soil, absorbing the spiritual energy from the "Fertile Soil" and the pre-buried spirit stones, and began growing wildly again.

This cycle repeated, and in the blink of an eye, three generational turnovers were completed.

Just then, Chen Yu sensed that the spiritual energy from the spirit stones pre-buried in the soil was finally depleted. The soil's own fertility had also been squeezed dry under this extre forced growth. He had no choice but to stop "Promote Growth."

However, by now, within the area of the experintal field anchored by "Fertile Soil," two genuine spirit herbs had already been born.

One Giant Frog Fungi's cap had beco thick, plump, and smooth, its entire body taking on a warm, jade-white hue, enveloped in a veil-like pure white spiritual glow that gently swayed.

The other, a Moonlight Moss, originally just moss creeping on the ground, had now condensed into a small cluster. Its leaves had beco crystal clear, like miniature moonlight crystals, emitting a clear, cold, and faintly glowing halo.

Spiritual glow forming a veil!

This was the standard for the lowest quality spirit herb formation.

The first and second truly aningful spirit herbs in the history of the Zeyarila world were born right here, in this naless swamp's sli experintal field.

"Squelch! Squelch squelch!"

"Success! Success!"

The sli agronomists let out cries of imnse joy. They excitedly bumped into each other, their soft, bouncy bodies trembling slightly with excitent.

Chen Yu's heart was also filled with joy and a sense of accomplishnt.

But he was also clear that cultivating spirit herbs was rely the first step.

To fully utilize their value and unleash the effects of spirit herbs that far surpassed ordinary magical herbs, corresponding cultivation techniques were needed — specifically, alchemy.

He rembered that the Three Origins Sect seed to have so basic elixirs used by mortal martial artists to temper their bodies and bones, and to cultivate internal and external martial arts.

These elixirs were priceless treasures in the mortal world, but within cultivation sects, they were rely practice materials for novice alchemy apprentices.

"Perhaps I can start by finding a few of the most basic elixir recipes to try my hand," Chen Yu planned silently.

...

Dark Realm, Gray Mountain Stone Fortress.

This mountain fortress was located in the northwest direction of the Dark Realm. Originally built by dwarves as their ho, it was abandoned many years ago after being engulfed and shrouded by the expanding "Dark Realm."

Places like Gray Mountain Stone Fortress, which were swallowed by the "Darkness" and beca part of it, were not uncommon in Zeyarila.

"Darkness" was not a geographical term. It was more like a phenonon, a shadowy canopy that hung over this vast region, a never-dispersing shroud.

It fluctuated with the changing seasons and mana tides, even slowly expanding.

No one truly knew what the essence of the "Darkness" was. They only knew it connected, via a perilous path called the "Gloomy Corridor," to the deeper, more ancient, and dangerous Shadow Mountains within the Corrupted Miasma Mountains.

So scholars speculated that this darkness might be the manifestation of a fallen deity's remaining authority. There were also rumors that it was the manifestation of the Abyss's continuous erosion of the material plane.

Like ink blots dropped on a map, not only here but even in so southern kingdoms, small patches of Dark Realm existed.

Due to their concealnt, these places usually beca the best hiding spots for desperadoes.

And now, this Gray Mountain Stone Fortress had also beco one of the venues for the Blacktooth rcenary company and the Goblin Army to conduct gray-area transactions and arrange etings. A large number of desperadoes, lured by the high bounties offered by the Goblin Army, frequented the place.

At this mont, the most boisterous hall within Gray Mountain Stone Fortress was filled with the shrill shrieks of goblins and the rough clamor of rcenaries.

Torches on the stone walls crackled, casting flickering light and shadows that illuminated the diverse characters gathered around the large wooden table.

The crisp clatter of dice hitting wooden bowls, the slap of cards on the table, the wild laughter of winners, and the curses of losers intertwined continuously.

In the center of the crowd of rcenaries, surrounded, were several goblins wearing tattered leather armor and gold rings through their noses. They were screaming.

"Place your bets, success or failure of the subjugation!"

"Bet! I'm going for the high odds, I choose subjugation failure, curse that sour-faced knight to fail!" a rcenary with a brutish face roared, slapping a handful of silver coins on the table.

"Hey, Tock, save your pathetic silver coins to buy yourself so new armor, hahaha!" his opponent mocked, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"I hate that Galvin guy, but I have to admit, he's a knight from a proper legion, born for this stuff. Subjugating so unknown A-rank target is a sure thing."

"Idiot, high odds are high, but you gotta be able to collect them," another rcenary laughed and cursed.

"This Tock guy always dreams of hitting it big with a small bet. Nothing good cos that easy."

"Exactly, just betting for fun. These cunning goblins wouldn't run at a loss," the rcenaries chid in.

Hearing their mockery, Tock waved his hand irritably. "You don't know shit! High risk, high reward!"

"What's the point of earning those asly coins all day? Can't even buy a mug of ale."

Just as the other rcenaries were about to continue, amidst the noise, a rcenary with a flushed face from drinking suddenly slamd the table and shouted at a mage across the table who was fiddling with spell components:

"Hey, Black Crow, stop ssing with those bird feathers. Check if any news has co back. The Formation Company went to clear out that A-rank target, it's been ages."

The mage called "Black Crow" impatiently took a swig of ale and cursed, "What's the rush? Eager to lose your pants? Sending a ssage back here from that godforsaken place by pigeon, even non-stop, takes a good while."

But even as he said that, he instinctively cast a sensing spell.

Suddenly, his movents halted, and a look of surprise flashed across his face. "Huh? Wait... seems one really is back?"

He hurriedly put down the bottle, pulled out a small pinch of faintly glowing feather dust from his waist pouch, muttered a few obscure incantations, and cast a communication spell.

A white pigeon phantom made of mana then fluttered its wings and landed on the tip of his staff.

The pigeon's eyes glowed with a strange blue light, its beak opening and closing slightly but making no sound.

The surrounding noisy rcenaries and goblins instinctively quieted down a bit, looking over curiously.

Black Crow focused intently, listening to the information transmitted by the white pigeon. The expression on his face rapidly changed from curiosity to shock.

*Clatter!* His staff slipped from his hand and hit the floor with a crisp sound.

"What's wrong?" the rcenary beside him, sensing sothing amiss, urgently pressed.

Black Crow's face turned ashen, his lips trembling. He jerked his head up, his voice cracking:

"My deposit... Defeated... defeated. Blacktooth's Formation Company was completely wiped out. Even the leader, Galvin, was captured."

"Wh... what?!"

The entire table instantly fell dead silent. All the rcenaries widened their eyes, unable to believe what they had just heard.

Black Crow's voice carried a sob as he continued shouting, "Damn it! The ssage says that godforsaken place has subdrakes, and an insanely powerful Death Knight! We... we've all been tricked by these damn goblins!"

After a brief mont of dead silence, the entire hall exploded into chaos as if a pot had been boiled over.

"Oh! Damn it!" A rcenary stood up abruptly, knocking over his mug.

"An Elite Professional captured? How is that possible!" another muttered in disbelief.

"Bullshit! I knew no A-rank bounty was ever simple," a more seasoned rcenary pounded the table and cursed.

While everyone was cursing, only one person was plunged into imnse ecstasy.

Tock cheered and shouted, slapping the table with both hands. "Pay up, pay up! I knew that A-rank target wasn't a pushover!"

"Don't think about welching. I finally won once!"

No one paid him any mind. A rcenary suddenly snapped to his senses and pointed at the equally dumbfounded goblins.

"Cheaters! You damn green-skinned cheaters!"

"That wasn't so damn A-rank target at all, that was an S-rank! My bet! Hand over the money!"

The crowd instantly turned their furious gazes toward the goblins. A dangerous atmosphere filled the air. Several hot-tempered rcenaries had already gripped their weapon hilts.

The goblins shrieked in terror. They realized things had gone completely south. The intelligence was severely flawed. This was no longer just about bets;

they were likely to be torn to shreds by these angry humans.

"Not our fault! The ssage ca from Riftrock Pass!"

"Let's go, report back quickly!"

They could no longer care about anything else. They squeezed out of the crowd in a panic, shrieking as they fled the hall, jumped onto the giant lizard mounts waiting nearby, and galloped frantically towards the direction of Riftrock Pass.

"Stop! Don't think you can run! I finally won once, give my money!" Tock was utterly furious. The first ti he won a bet, and these goblins wanted to welch?

How could he allow that?

So he mounted his horse and chased after them, cursing these untrustworthy goblins eight hundred tis over in his heart.