Zhang Shuihuo stared blankly at the Ice and Fire Sword Rider lying on the ground, unable to regain his senses.

He couldn't understand how his Ice and Fire Sword Rider, at the bronze level and using the Ice and Fire Destruction Sword, lost to a single water ball from the Water Slime.

"Don't just stand there! Heal him."

Li Cunxu shouted loudly.

"Yes, yes, heal him, where's my healing pill?"

Zhang Shuihuo hurriedly rummaged through his pockets, and Li Cunxu placed the healing pill in his hand.

"I've got it here."

Zhang Shuihuo quickly ran to the Ice and Fire Sword Rider, squatted down, and fed the healing pill to him.

The healing effect of the pill was excellent. In just a few minutes, the Ice and Fire Sword Rider woke up from his coma, and his injuries were almost healed.

"How is your Slime so strong?"

It's considered taboo to ask about someone else's strength, but Zhang Shuihuo couldn't help but ask.

You can't blame him, after all, losing to a Slime, and losing to a single water ball at that, was incredibly unbelievable.

Why was Xiaoruan so strong?

Of course, it was because Xiaoruan's Soul Kingdom had levied a third tax on all Slime citizens, with each Slime contributing one percent of their attributes, and there were over a million Slime citizens in total.

Even though Xiaoruan's realm was stuck at level nine of black iron, its real strength was around level six of bronze.

Above the bronze level, the difference in strength becomes gradually larger,

It's common for a level-six bronze to easily defeat a level-one bronze.

Although Li Cunxu didn't have to answer Zhang Shuihuo's question, he thought about it and decided to give an answer, as it wouldn't take much effort to make up a lie.

"Of course, it's because my Xiaoruan had a communion."

"I don't believe it; my Ice and Fire Sword Rider's food is also communion. Even if it's no match for yours, how come it couldn't even block a single water ball? The difference is too great."

Li Cunxu pointed to the cloth covering his face, "Because you had ordinary communion, whereas Xiaoruan had the communion that comes at a cost."

Zhang Shuihuo understood and asked no more questions.

Zhang Shuihuo left behind the Crown of Fire, the greeting gift for a duel, from the Fire Slime King.

The crown was golden, with flame-like patterns all over it, as if just taken out of the fire, and it carried a faint warmth.

Li Cunxu had always wanted the crown dropped by the Slime King, but his lack of strength made him wary of venturing into the wild.

The crown's use was for evolution, allowing a Fire Slime to evolve into a Fire Slime King.

Within the same level, a Fire Slime King could easily defeat other Fire Slimes.

Li Cunxu wasn't interested in the strength of the Fire Slime King but valued the intelligence of the Fire Slime.

The Slime King had the intelligence of a seven or eight-year-old child, capable of commanding all Slimes of the same type within its jurisdiction.

Under Xiaoruan, there was one Slime King, which made it easier for Xiaoruan to manage the Slimes.

For example, Xiaoruan could order the Fire Slimes not to fight. The commanded Fire Slimes would adhere strictly, but the newly born ones, not having heard the order, wouldn't comply.

If there was a Fire Slime King, reminding new Fire Slimes not to fight wouldn't require Xiaoruan. The Fire Slime King could do the reminding.

Xiaoruan could also spare some energy to do other things.

"Xiaoruan, pick the smartest Fire Slime you can find."

Xiaoruan thought for a long time but couldn't choose the smartest Fire Slime.

It felt that none of the Fire Slimes were particularly intelligent, so Li Cunxu randomly selected a lucky one.

"Once you wear the crown, you are no longer an ordinary Fire Slime. You will be the King of the Fire Slime tribe, carrying the hope of the race's rise."

After the Fire Slime donned the Crown of Fire, there wasn't much change; its eyes remained as clear and as foolish as ever.

No change?

Li Cunxu thought it might be due to the former Fire Slime King's weakness.

Once the Fire Slime wore the Crown of Fire for a time, it should evolve into a Fire Slime King.

Li Cunxu looked up and saw other Fire Slimes in the cave intently staring at the crown atop the Fire Slime's head.

Li Cunxu retreated a bit as a swarm of Fire Slimes rushed to claim the Crown of Fire.

He didn't stop them, watching the show with interest.

Whoever evolved into a Fire Slime King meant nothing to Li Cunxu.

All Fire Slimes looked alike, so Li Cunxu couldn't tell one from another, and naturally, he had no biases.

After watching for a while, Li Cunxu put on the cloth again and silently recited the Clear Heart Technique.

Malice spurred again, and looking at the Fire Slimes, he wanted to stomp them to death.

The battle for the Crown of Fire among the Fire Slimes lasted three days, eventually won by a clever Fire Slime. After seizing it, the clever one quickly escaped to a corner, eluded the others, hid for two days, and reappeared as the Fire Slime King.

The Miner Slimes had some mining results, and the supervising white spider clone promptly notified Li Cunxu.

"The Miner Slime found a surprise."

Li Cunxu exclaimed joyfully: "Did the Miner Slime find a gold mine?"

"No."

"Did they find a jade mine?"

"No."

"Did they discover some other valuable vein?"

"No."

"Not this, not that, then what is it?"

"You'll know once you see it."

In the mine beneath the pasture.

Li Cunxu tied a string to the end of a stick, with a Light Slime attached at the bottom, creating a simple lantern that consumed neither electricity nor oil.

Holding the Light Slime lantern, he entered the dimly lit mine, occasionally spotting Wall Slimes at work, turning earth into walls to fortify the mine.

Every hundred meters in the mine, one would see a group of one Fire Slime and three Grass Slimes.

A Slime-brand oxygen generator.

"When there are more Light Slimes, the mine will have free lanterns."

Walking downward for who knows how long, Li Cunxu saw the surprise the white spider spoke of.

An ancient stone door, its surface marked with the imprint of time, flanked by moss, dripping water bore holes through, creating weak echoes in the vast underground chamber.

This stone door was a tomb entrance.

The Miner Slimes had dug into an underground ancient tomb.

Why was there an ancient tomb so deep underground? It had to do with ancient descent techniques.

The tomb wasn't initially built underground but on the surface. Once completed, a Sinking Pearl would descend the tomb several thousand meters or even tens of thousands of meters below ground.

The white spider didn't touch the tomb door, sensing ominousness. A Miner Slime tapped it with a pickaxe, quickly meeting death.

Li Cunxu stepped forward to examine it, finding ancient script on the tomb door.

"This is a divine script. Before the great cataclysm, divine script was the universally acknowledged and used language across the continent," Li Cunxu explained to the white spider.

"Master, do you understand the divine script?"

"Just a little bit."

In a previous life, Li Cunxu learned a few common divine script characters. As for the entire thing? He was there to play the game, not study, especially since it was game-only text, meaningless in reality.

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