In the mining area, the slimes' pill refinement was in full swing.
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
The gel bodies of the slime alchemists rhythmically rose and fell as they vigorously pounded and ground sun-dried medicinal herbs into fine powder.
Other slime alchemists were responsible for mixing the medicinal powder in specific proportions, then carefully kneading and shaping it with their soft, bouncy bodies, turning the powder into uniformly-sized brown pills.
Immediately after, several cooperating slimes shouted slogans and worked together to lift the heavy iron basin filled with pills, and with a loud "clang," dumped it into the black steel alchemy furnace forged by Anvil.
Whoosh!
Blazing flames surged from the furnace's base, instantly heating the black steel furnace walls to a faint red glow. The scorching heat waves distorted the surrounding air.
Several slime alchemists in charge of controlling the fire felt the heat was still insufficient. They lined up, vigorously waving leaf fans to fan the flames and add fuel.
Others suddenly turned their gel bodies bright red, then spewed flames to heat the alchemy furnace more evenly.
Anvil, who had been clanging away hammering metal blanks not far away, twitched his large nose a few times and stopped his hammer in confusion.
"Strange, what exactly is His Majesty trying to refine? It smells oddly fragrant..."
The fragrance made him feel full of energy, his blood even heating up slightly.
His curiosity was thoroughly piqued. He put down his red-hot hammer and moved over behind the gathered slimes, curiously watching the spectacle.
"Look, the big-bearded one is slacking off!"
"He's been caught by the boss now! Hehe!"
Not far away, a group of small earth elementals excitedly hopped over. Behind them followed Little Ka, moving on its short little legs, and the green slime with a kingly demeanor sitting upright on its back.
"The King! The King is here!"
"The first batch of pills is about to come out!"
Seeing Chen Yu, the slime alchemists immediately became excited, hopping about to welcome his arrival, all talking at once to report this good news.
Surrounded by the slimes, Chen Yu hopped over to the front of the alchemy furnace and asked curiously, "What kind of pill are you refining in this batch?"
A Little One slime alchemist eagerly raised its gel hand, full of confidence, and shouted loudly, "I know! Bone... bone balls!"
"No, it's clearly called something like Bone Pill," another immediately retorted.
"No, no, I remember it was called something like Bone Gold," a third joined the argument.
Still a difficult name to remember.
Based on their chaotic descriptions, Chen Yu deduced this batch was likely refining the Quench-Bone Yellow Pill prepared for the Lizardfolk.
Chen Yu's gaze swept past these rowdy little fellows and landed in front of the alchemy furnace.
There, the two chief slime alchemists—"Kemu" and "Demu"—were completely focused on watching the furnace fire.
The dancing, fiery red light reflected on their translucent gel bodies, illuminating the tension and concentration in their expressions.
"Shh, shh! Kemu and Demu are at a critical moment, don't make noise!" An older slime hopped about maintaining order.
The excited slime alchemists heard this and barely managed to suppress their excitement at seeing the King, gathering around the alchemy furnace again, striving to stay quiet, only their gel bodies trembling slightly from nervousness.
Anvil, standing to the side, raised his head confidently. "Your Majesty can rest assured. This furnace was forged by me from black steel alloy. I collected metal from the far end of the mining area, scraped off powder with great difficulty, and mixed it into ordinary metal. It's even harder than my hammer, absolutely reliable."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kemu and Demu seemed to sense the moment of pill completion arriving. One was responsible for diverting the flames, while the other pressed its gel hand under the alchemy furnace and pulled.
Clatter, clatter...
Plump, round pills, steaming with heat and fragrant vapor, rolled out of the furnace, following grooves into a somewhat crudely made but sturdy enough iron bucket.
Within mere seconds, this strange pill fragrance became even more intense, spreading throughout the entire mining area.
Anvil just took a deep breath and felt his whole body grow hot, filled with strength, wanting to immediately pick up his hammer and strike another hundred times.
The slime alchemists gathered around the furnace excitedly jumped, bumping into each other with soft "squelch, squelch" sounds.
"King, how is it?"
"Did we complete the task?"
Facing many pairs of expectant little eyes, Chen Yu thought for a moment. To verify the pill's effect, he hopped over to the iron bucket, grabbed a brown pill, and tasted it.
"Chew, chew, chew..."
Under the effect of Devour Digestion, the pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, quickly decomposed and absorbed, transforming into a warm current that rapidly permeated his entire gel body.
Wherever the warm current passed, it seemed to bring a faint sense of strengthening, and then... it was gone.
However, a glance at his status panel showed his Health had increased a bit, indicating the pill had an effect.
As for pill poisoning? What was that? Before Lv.7 "Devour Digestion," it was just a little brother.
Under the expectant gazes of all the slimes, Chen Yu announced, "The first batch of pills is a success."
"Hooray, hooray!"
"It's refined! The pills are refined!"
The slimes were even happier now, celebrating excitedly.
"Your Majesty, what is this thing called again?"
Having been a blacksmith for decades, Anvil knew if something was hot just by touching it. He directly picked up a steaming hot pill and examined it.
He knew this thing, with effects similar to magic potions, was supplied by His Majesty for those newly joined Lizardfolk of the Kingdom, apparently to create some kind of Knight Team.
To be honest, he didn't hold much hope for those demi-humans who had lived on the swamp's edge for years, known for their savage behavior and lack of discipline.
A Knight Team required strict training, adherence to order, and strong-willed professionals with firm beliefs. Could these Lizardfolk really overcome their scattered, combative nature, submit to boring, arduous training arrangements, and eventually become qualified knights?
However, he had great confidence in His Majesty, always feeling these pills could play a unique role.
"The name..."
Chen Yu thought for a moment. "Let's call it Knight Magic Potion from now on."
That made it clear it was for knights, simple and straightforward.
The slime alchemists lifted the iron bucket and went "squelch, squelch" running to an open area to test the effects. If this batch of pills had no issues, it would be sent back by the transport team to the training ground in the Eastern Swamp to assist the Lizardfolk selected for intensive training.
Chen Yu instinctively wanted to ask, "Did you solve the pill poisoning problem?"
Several slimes hurriedly nodded up and down with their gel bodies. "Purification potion can neutralize pill poisoning, but it's very expensive."
Purification potion could neutralize many negative effects. One vial cost over thirty gold coins. Using it to train knights was indeed extravagant, but who said the territory lacked anything except gold coins?
Because there was no trade caravan connected to the Kingdom, and the Slime Kingdom's demand for foreign trade was very low, this huge sum could only gather dust in the national treasury. Now it could finally be put to use.
So he puffed out his chest grandly. "Immediately tell Eserin to contact human merchant caravans. We need a large quantity of purification potions, as many as they have."
Anvil, standing nearby, heard this, his large eyes lighting up. He rubbed his hands together and moved closer. "Um, Your Majesty, could I also apply for some funding?"
Chen Yu hopped around to face him, puzzled. "You want funding too?"
Anvil scratched his head sheepishly. "Your Majesty, you know, Little Flower Princess and I have been researching the Goblin Shredder-Type II recently."
"But to be honest, wanting to cast such a large thing and install it on an Earth Elemental Giant presents many problems."
"I've tried many solutions, but I still can't get around the biggest problem—insufficient metal strength."
Chen Yu grew even more puzzled. "The black steel alloy used to forge the alchemy furnace isn't strong enough?"
Anvil shook his head repeatedly, his tone somewhat helpless. "Not enough. It's just mixed with a bit of powder, far from reaching the structural strength the Goblin Shredder-Type II requires."
"So... I was wondering if we could go to the human kingdoms to custom-order a set of enchanted mining equipment, to cast the entire black steel block into the structural components needed for the Goblin Shredder-Type II."
"This thing... is it expensive?" Chen Yu asked instinctively.
If even an honest dwarf like Anvil was hesitating to mention the equipment, the price was probably quite touching.
Anvil awkwardly coughed twice, his voice unconsciously lowering. "Ahem, enchanted equipment, and custom-made at that... should be quite expensive. Might need, might need a few hundred gold coins."
Hearing this, Chen Yu felt his gel body stiffen for a moment.
A few hundred gold coins?!
No wonder this guy was embarrassed to ask. This enchanted equipment was ridiculously expensive.
If he hadn't just received that huge bounty of over seventeen hundred gold coins a few days ago from that "generous" Viscount Casimir of the vampire clan, relying solely on the Kingdom's previous savings really wouldn't be enough for his spending.
Chen Yu, who had felt quite grand just a second ago because of the mountain of gold coins, instantly felt the sense of embarrassment as his wallet visibly deflated.
Otherwise, with just the current family fortune, this lifestyle really can't be sustained.
He could already picture the tragic scene: Count Bran returning from his journey, opening the national treasury doors, finding them empty except for a few spiderwebs, letting out a mournful cry on the spot, then bashing his head against an oak tree to death.
Hearing this, Anvil was instantly so happy his eyebrows seemed about to fly off.
"Hahaha, thank you, Your Majesty! As expected, Your Majesty understands technology. No wonder Count Bran always praises you to me."
"What does it praise me for?" Chen Yu asked curiously.
"It says you shine like a green gemstone, possess a heart as flawless as a gem, and know how to appreciate it, such a wise and intelligent minister."
Uh... that sounds a bit strange.
But since it's praise, he'll accept it.
Anvil originally hurriedly led the small earth elementals away from the mining area. Later, he remembered something and said through the gel communicator:
"Your Majesty, didn't you want to plant some magic treants before? Little Flower Princess says there are results. You'd better personally go to the Dryad domain to take a look."
Magic treants?
Rune Oak Guards?
Chen Yu was stunned for a moment before digging out this almost forgotten plan from the corner of his memory.
Back then, he just thought the idea was cool, but the implementation difficulty was too high. Coupled with a series of events later, he had long since put it out of his mind.
He never expected Little Flower and Eserin and the others had actually been quietly researching and had produced something.
It seems there's no hope of resting tonight at all.
Coincidentally, Nilly will formally visit the Slime Kingdom in a few days. Making some preparations in advance to showcase the Kingdom's "characteristics" and "strength" can't be a bad thing.
Thinking this, Chen Yu remounted Little Ka, who was yawning nearby, and patted its head.
"Let's go, Little Ka. We're going to the Dryad domain."
"Caw!"
Little Ka perked up, carrying Chen Yu, and flew away from the bustling mining area again. Following the extensive dungeon passages, it flew at low altitude towards the direction of the Dryad domain.
Flying low all the way, they could see that under the diligent construction of the slimes, the main transport routes along the dungeon were now dotted with heavily guarded slime outposts.
These outposts were usually built from sturdy rocks, housing magical creature citizens responsible for vigilance, maintaining passages, and providing basic supplies.
Even late at night, one could see Poison-stinger Wasps patrolling the passages on a regular schedule, and some slime guards equipped with fine weapons, solemnly holding their posts, guarding the Kingdom's peace.
Only when they saw Chen Yu riding Little Ka passing by would these loyal guards show a stir of pleasant surprise and reverence. They all bowed slightly or hopped in Chen Yu's direction, not resuming their serious vigilant stance until his figure disappeared at the passage's end.
Dryad domain.
Nighttime. Clear moonlight filtered through the treetops, softly falling on the forest, coating every leaf and vine with a layer of cool silver edges.
On a large rock covered with moss and flowering vines in the forest, a graceful figure sat quietly, bathing in the bright moonlight together with the forest.
Just as nature spirits could resonate deeply with the forest's trees, breathing in lunar essence and guiding moonlight was also an innate talent of moon elves.
Whenever night fell and the moon rose, it was the moment when Eserin's heart was most peaceful and her thinking clearest.
Many alchemical puzzles or magical constructs that left her pondering and perplexed during the day often became clear and flowing under the moonlight at night, with inspiration gushing forth like a spring.
It all felt so natural, bringing her immense comfort and relaxation.
She sat quietly like this on the rock, her long silver eyelashes trembling slightly under the moonlight, as if conducting a silent exchange with the moonlight.
After quite a while, she slowly opened her eyes and took out a piece of parchment from her bosom.
The parchment was covered in elegant elven script and fine lines, seemingly depicting some special alchemical formulas and energy circuit structure diagrams.
And the final direction they conducted towards was a hand-drawn style oak tree.