At the Cloud Depth Bamboo Forest, an exquisite three-section bamboo house stood quietly.
Half of the bamboo house was supported over a crystal-clear lotus pond, where the water mirrored the blue sky, white clouds, and swaying emerald bamboo reflections.
Shao Qingsong cheerfully tossed a handful of fish feed into the pond, immediately creating fine ripples on the water surface that attracted fish competing to surface, shattering the reflections in the water.
"So you've decided this quickly, junior brother?" he turned and asked with some surprise, "You'll live here?"
Chen Yu nodded: "This place is good, no need to look further."
Just as Shao Qingsong had said, a cloud formation enveloped this lotus pond and the surrounding mountains. Outsiders wanting to enter needed permission from the formation's master.
Under the cover of mist and clouds, his secrets would face less risk of exposure.
Surrounded by emerald bamboo and accompanied by the lotus pond, this was indeed an excellent place for secluded cultivation, though the rent was outrageously expensive—actually requiring six spirit stones per month.
After confirming his new residence, Chen Yu returned to the Emerald Bamboo Forest with Shao Qingsong's help to gather his few belongings.
Seeing Chen Yu arrive with gifts, the senior brother couldn't very well refuse and welcomed him inside.
Chen Yu quickly learned the other's name—Yang Hongli, who had entered the sect thirty years ago and had now reached the eighth level of Qi Training cultivation. He lived in seclusion in this tranquil Cloud Depth Bamboo Forest precisely to focus on cultivation and study formation techniques.
Yang Hongli's expertise in formations was indeed remarkable. When Chen Yu took out the star chart depicting the "Jelov Ten-Star Silver Seat" under the pretext of wanting to decipher an ancient formation, Yang Hongli examined it briefly before identifying the key issues.
Sitting upright on a bamboo chair in the courtyard, Yang Hongli lightly tapped the slightly crude star chart with his fingertip, speaking thoughtfully:
"Junior brother, do you know that advanced magic formations can be divided into terrestrial formations and celestial formations."
"Terrestrial formations—their fundamental setup lies in surveying mountain veins, dragon currents, and feng shui patterns. They must borrow the power of heaven, earth, and nature, following the principles of the Eight Doors and Hidden Jia, seeking dragon veins and pinpointing acupoints, drawing upon earth vein spiritual energy as foundation. The selection of formation foundation and formation eye locations, and the brush strokes for drawing talismans, must precisely match the local earth energy flow to achieve stability and longevity, channeling earth spirit power."
"As for celestial formations," he shifted focus, pointing at the star chart, "they place greater emphasis on calculating celestial star patterns and ecliptic trajectories. The placement of their formation foundations and the drawing of talisman formation patterns must accurately correspond to the positions of heavenly constellations. When the formation operates, it channels the vast, majestic power of the stars."
"If it's truly as you say, that ancient formation intends to replace the Big Dipper's seven stars with these unknown ten stars, this means completely reconstructing the entire formation's core logic. Even the positions of formation foundations, the energy flow nodes of formation patterns, and the spiritual energy frequency required to maintain formation operation must undergo complete reconstruction and calculation based on the positions and distances of these ten fictional or unknown stars."
"This is laborious work."
Chen Yu remained unperturbed.
"Senior brother, I have spirit stones."
Yang Hongli was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then chuckled: "Senior brother isn't lacking spirit stones, no need. This puzzle itself greatly interests me."
His gaze returned to the star chart, carrying some appreciation: "The arrangement of these ten stars' positions is profoundly mysterious, definitely not randomly fabricated. Clearly, this comes from predecessors' deep research into hypothetical star patterns. Although hypothetical star patterns leave no traces in the heavens, if they can be logically self-consistent and form their own system, even without connecting to real star patterns, they can still produce extraordinary effects."
After pondering briefly, Yang Hongli actually took out a heavy spirit stone pouch and pushed it toward Chen Yu: "Such a precious star chart, junior brother—I should be paying you spirit stones instead. Take these hundred spirit stones, senior brother feels ashamed to receive this."
Heaven and earth reversed!
Chen Yu walked out of Yang Hongli's bamboo house holding the heavy spirit stone pouch, taking quite a while to fully regain his senses.
Not only hadn't he spent a single spirit stone, he had instead gained a hundred out of thin air.
The value of this "Zeyarila Star Chart" far exceeded his imagination.
However, modifying the formation wasn't easy either. Yang Hongli told him to return in three days for the modification plan, so he could only return to his own bamboo house first.
Back inside, with a thought, four newly born little slimes were secreted out by him.
"Plop... plop..."
The soft little creatures fell to the ground, swaying dizzily as they stood up, staggering unsteadily, almost bumping into each other.
But soon, they adapted to the new environment and began curiously exploring everywhere.
"You, responsible for drawing talismans;
you, specializing in sword techniques..."
Chen Yu assigned tasks one by one, planning "career paths" for them.
With arrangements properly made, he comfortably washed his hands of the matter and lay back on the bed to rest.
...
Fortress tree hall.
Chen Yu opened his eyes before the fire pit, his soft body rebounding to three-dimensional form.
When he looked outside the tree hall, he didn't know when heavy rain had started falling.
Suddenly a clap of thunder struck, frightening the little slimes in the tree hall into trembling as they hid beside Slime Mother, while Little Flower was still seriously reading the talisman book he had given her.
"Achoo! Damnable rain!"
Count Bran's shriek came from outside as he hurriedly hopped back like a drowned rat to take shelter from the rain.
"Y-Your Majesty... you... you're awake?"
Count Bran shivered all over from the cold, his feathers completely drenched, hopping slightly before the fire pit.
Seeing how cold he was, Chen Yu secreted a small red slime with "fire affinity" that jumped before him, slightly raising temperature and emitting light and heat.
"Heating pad, stick close."
"Oh oh, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty, woohoo... this thing really hits the spot." Count Bran hugged the warm little slime tightly, feeling less cold now.
"Where's Yano, why has he disappeared?" Chen Yu asked curiously.
"That Sir Yano knight said about five days from now magical tides would come, so he returned to town first to purchase supplies first."
"With this endless heavy rain, this Count estimates he won't be back until tomorrow at the earliest."
"Magical tides?" Chen Yu questioned, bubbling with confusion.
Count Bran hugged the heating pad tightly, so comfortable his small eyes were almost closing.
"N-not the major magical tides Your Majesty might be thinking of, but minor magical tides. Still quite fearsome though. If no preparations are made, the kingdom fortress might get washed away in one go."
"However..." he shook his drenched feathers, his tone becoming worried, "compared to magical tides, cough cough... this Count believes Your Majesty should pay more attention to the kingdom's food reserves."
"Just now this Count made a round through the breeding farm in the rain and discovered those moss monsters have astonishing appetites. Relying only on gathering moss and wood chips nearby simply can't feed them enough anymore."
"If we don't find a way to obtain more food, we can only reduce the breeding scale. This way, in the future there won't be enough moss monsters to feed those poison-stinger wasps."
Chen Yu thought carefully—this was indeed a problem.
"My esteemed Minister Bran, what suggestions do you have?"
"Ooh ooh! You flatter me, Your Majesty."
Count Bran's tone instantly filled with delight, clearly extremely pleased with this "minister" title, flapping his wings while trying to appear humble.
"Your Majesty need not worry, solving this problem isn't difficult. The Glimmerlings—those forest sprites are simply masters at growing mushrooms."
"We can have that clumsy oaf Arthur represent the Slime Kingdom to negotiate with the old fossils of Rootwhisper Forest, exchanging for the food our kingdom needs."
Chen Yu thought seriously and felt this was indeed a good method, unable to resist uttering a sound of admiration.
"Count Bran truly lives up to being the kingdom's wisest minister."
Coincidentally, the underground city tunnel construction project connecting to Rootwhisper Forest was progressing smoothly and would soon break through. Then they could establish a stable food transport channel underground connecting the kingdom territory with Rootwhisper Forest.
But whether they could reach a deal still depended on Arthur's side.