Reed River bank.
The towering, majestic snow mountains flowed with clear, icy cold water that converged into the river, rushing southward and nurturing countless surrounding creatures.
Today the sunlight was bright and beautiful, with perch fish splashing in the water, occasionally flinging crystal droplets into the air that refracted into dazzling, colorful light spots.
Near the Reed River marshes, some lizardfolk from the Rotten Moss Tribe were hiding from hungry giant bears while holding fish spears and diving into the water, searching for any fish or water lizards.
On the riverbank path, Sekashi hummed a song, carrying a clay pot on her head as she followed behind her sister, her tail swishing back and forth - she seemed to be in quite a good mood.
Her gaze swept across the clean riverbank when suddenly something sparkling lying on the shore caught her attention. Her eyes slightly brightened as she jogged over and picked up the crystal, wiping it on her clothes.
Another Gray Gravel Crystal, and this one was even bigger than the one she found last time.
The Envoy would definitely be very happy if he saw this.
"Sekashi..."
"Do you really like these gray stones so much?"
Facing her tall sister, Sekashi nodded guiltily.
Semiaya's gaze only briefly passed over the Gray Gravel Crystal, not commenting on it.
"Let's go. The Rotten Moss Tribe is willing to hold the shaman ritual for you. You should prepare yourself as soon as possible."
Sekashi hummed in agreement, her expression hesitant.
"Sister, does Rotten Moss truly accept us?"
Semiaya stopped and looked toward the bustling tribal settlement ahead, lost in thought.
"The swamp world follows the law of survival of the fittest. Lizardfolk ultimately respect strength."
"As long as I'm still here, they will always welcome us. Don't think too much about it."
"Okay." Sekashi watched her sister's back, feeling the same sense of security as always.
Just like before, as long as her sister was around, everything would be fine.
Of course, now she had one more person she could rely on.
She wondered what the Envoy was doing right now.
Whether he had eaten breakfast on time.
When she returned next time and he saw such a big Gray Gravel Crystal, he would definitely be shocked, then praise her saying "Sekashi is amazing" or something like that.
Holding onto this wonderful fantasy, Sekashi left along the riverbank path, her figure disappearing behind the lush, drooping tree canopy.
...
"Crunch crunch..."
In the dark swamp, Chen Yu was enjoying today's breakfast - a Fluorescent Mycenen that had set its sights on him.
To be honest, Fluorescent Mycenen magical creatures had pretty mediocre texture, tasting like rubber with a faint mushroom flavor. Even gel couldn't crush them properly, requiring acid digestion.
But if he could use a small knife to slice them into pieces and pan-fry them on a stone slab with butter until crispy outside and tender inside, it would probably have a unique flavor.
Unfortunately, since he had no hands, he could only imagine it.
He began to miss Sekashi, missing her barbecue skills.
[Devour Digestion Lv.3 triggered - Fluorescent Mycenen characteristics recorded, talent incubating (7/10)]
Chen Yu lay motionless in the black swamp muck, waiting for the mushroom in his stomach to fully digest.
During this time, his round eyes continued observing this even darker swamp world.
He saw a fist-sized mosquito passing by with an annoying buzzing sound, its slender limbs dangling and belly swollen round, as if filled with blood.
The mosquito didn't detect the slime hiding in the muck.
Suddenly it just felt a strong gust of wind coming, unable to even perform its instinctive evasion before being blasted by the Little Arrow Technique, blood splattering everywhere and limbs falling all around.
Chen Yu hopped over and swallowed the mosquito's mangled body. The moment the acid penetrated the mosquito flesh, he felt a sour, foul smell rising in his stomach.
It tasted like soaking a girl's long-worn smelly sweat socks in water.
"Ptooey ptooey, what disgusting stuff."
If not for acquiring talents, he really wouldn't want to eat this stuff - both smelly and sour.
As the acid churned in his stomach, waiting for the food inside to mostly digest, Chen Yu continued exploring deeper.
If you asked whether this exploration had a destination.
That shadowy mass covered in thick fog in his vision was precisely this trip's destination.
This shadowy mass was unlike the oak tree shadows he saw along the way - it was square and rectangular, more like some structure standing in the swamp.
What kind of creature could leave buildings in this dangerous swamp, he had no idea.
But since there were ruins, there should probably be treasures or something inside.
Even if there were no precious swords in the treasure chest, there should at least be gemstones.
Holding this inexplicable anticipation, Chen Yu felt like he had become an experienced adventurer, delving deep alone into the dangerous swamp, exploring the treasures and mysteries left on this land.
"Let's go!"
Chen Yu hopped forward, but his intense excitement couldn't maintain for long before being blocked by a leech as thick as a snake.
This Giant Vein Leech looked like it had been proportionally enlarged from a small leech, except it had two glowing eye spots in front.
It climbed on the slippery oak tree, raising its head to examine Chen Yu, as if judging whether he was edible.
"This must be a Bronze-tier magical creature."
Honestly, the Giant Vein Leech's size was much larger than ordinary Black Iron-tier magical creatures.
Chen Yu had no doubt that if such a huge leech climbed on a wild ox, it could probably suck the ox completely dry of blood.
And this thing seemed to have strong regeneration ability.
He wondered if it could withstand one shot of his Little Arrow Technique.
He and the Giant Vein Leech quietly stared at each other. The leech with poor eyesight seemed to finally recognize his identity - an apparently ordinary slime.
A slime?
This thing was all water, without any blood.
The calories gained from eating it wouldn't even cover the energy consumed during hunting.
It didn't like eating this stuff.
The Giant Vein Leech immediately lost interest in hunting, lying back down on the oak tree lazily waiting for the next prey to arrive.
As for this slime, it was just a weak magical creature that wasn't worth its attention.
Chen Yu found this quite novel.
So there were magical creatures in this swamp that didn't eat slimes.
But this place was pitch black anyway - probably no slimes would want to come to such a place.
Seeing the Giant Vein Leech on the tree completely unguarded, Chen Yu decided to try a Little Arrow Technique first to test the waters.
He silently recited the method in his mind as a water arrow quickly condensed and elongated, pointing toward the Giant Vein Leech lying on the tree.
[Little Arrow Technique]
"Whoosh—Smack!"
The powerful water arrow almost instantly penetrated the Giant Vein Leech's soft, thick body, hitting the tree bark beneath.
The Giant Vein Leech fell from the tree in pain, wildly twisting and thrashing its body in the swamp.
But that bowl-sized wound didn't seem to cause serious injury - within just a few seconds, the flesh at the wound site fused back together, not even leaving a scar.
"What astonishing recovery ability."
Chen Yu's eyes slightly brightened in the darkness.
What did this mean? This Giant Vein Leech definitely had a special magical creature talent.
Truly worthy of being a Bronze-tier magical creature.