Slime Little Soft's strength enhancement relies on collecting a one percent attribute tax from the entire Slime populace.

So the key to accelerating Xiaoruan's strength enhancement is to increase tax revenue.

There are two ways to increase tax revenue: one is to increase quantity, and the other is to improve quality.

Increase quantity, increase the overall number of Slimes.

Li Cunxu has been working on this, but it has reached a bottleneck.

Slime numbers are already saturated in the Muye Plain of Tongdu, the rubbish dump of Mechanical City, the secret realm of mechanical demolition, and the secret realm of white jade, adding a few more won't make much difference.

As for other areas?

For example, the wild territories are vast and boundless, offering enough space for Slimes to reproduce and grow.

Li Cunxu has considered it, but the wild territories are too dangerous, and his desire for stability has kept him from entering, thus unable to release Slimes into the wild.

Most pet beasts are territory creatures; as long as you don't enter their territory, they won't attack you. But some pet beasts are not territory creatures; they love to wander like tourists. If you encounter a weak one, it's fine, but a formidable one means certain death. Pet beasts that roam freely in the wild are generally quite strong.

If unlucky, one might immediately encounter a roaming King-level pet beast hostile to humans upon entering the wild territories.

Therefore, Li Cunxu has always dared not set foot in the wild territories.

Hiring someone to release Slimes on his behalf?

A good method, but overly conspicuous.

If you spend a fortune hiring people to release Slimes and your Slime Little Soft is so strong, it doesn't make sense and invites suspicion.

Relying on Slimes to charge into the wild on their own?

Slimes cannot get through; they are too weak. Any tribe acting as a roadblock would stop them in their tracks.

Moreover, the wild territories are occupied by various pet beast tribes. Slimes are too weak and can't compete; without territory, they can only live in the scraps left by pet beast tribes, barely surviving in those marginal spaces, making reproduction difficult.

Wild territories are out; what about the sea?

Li Cunxu's eyes lit up as he looked at the ocean, "The sea seems feasible, vast and endless, providing Slimes with plenty of living space."

But the sea has limitations.

Only Water Slimes can survive in the sea, while Slimes of other attributes will suffer from severe acclimatization problems over time, eventually weakening and dying.

Li Cunxu didn't immediately release Water Slimes into the ocean.

First, there's the Mechanical Celestial Eye's camera surveilling him, making it inconvenient to resurrect Water Slimes conspicuously.

Secondly, a large number of Poisonous Sea Urchins inhabit this sea area, and Xiaoruan has offended the sea urchin group. They dare not come ashore to trouble Xiaoruan but wouldn't hesitantly vent on similarly looking Water Slimes, right? The Poisonous Sea Urchins randomly shoot a poisonous spike, and the fragile body of a Water Slime meets instant death.

Even Water Slimes with poison attributes get pegged by spikes from the seabed upon entering the sea.

Besides quantity, there is quality.

'Quality' refers to the strength of Slime citizens.

A Bronze-level Slime certainly pays more attribute tax than an Iron-level Slime.

Improving quality is also a troublesome matter.

Due to their weakness, Slimes level up quickly. Quick as they may be, their potential is limited, making it difficult for Slimes to break through to Bronze-level from Iron Level 9.

"How about getting Xiaoyi to invent a special medicine to help Slimes break through from Iron to Bronze level?"

The little white spider gave Li Cunxu a side-eye.

"You want me to learn, to become stronger, to mutate into a Dragon Slime, to study Mechanical Pupil's weapons, and now to research special medicine for Slime upgrades. I've only got two clones; I can't handle it all."

Li Cunxu said, "The others can wait, but primarily focus on advancement now. Once you break through to Silver, you'll have an additional Silver clone."

The little white spider gave Li Cunxu another side-eye.

The next morning, the red sun rose from the sea horizon.

Li Cunxu suited up and headed to the island.

He'd had enough of the beach; even the Golden Level 9 Thunderous Fierce Horse couldn't stop him.

The only food source on the beach was the Sea Urchin Roe from Poisonous Sea Urchins.

Sea Urchin Roe was delicious, but eating it for every meal for over ten days made Li Cunxu nearly sick of it.

Besides, seafood inherently has a fishy smell. At first, you wouldn't notice with Sea Urchin Roe, but over time, it becomes overwhelming. Li Cunxu felt nauseous as soon as he smelled the slight ocean fishiness of Sea Urchin Roe.

The little white spider shared his sentiment.

Slime Little Soft had a good appetite and was indiscriminate.

Dark Crow had a heavy taste, perhaps due to its avian nature, and loved the ocean fishiness.

Upon entering the dense forest, the sunny sky immediately turned gloomy, and distant thunder rumbled.

Rain began to pour shortly, and it was a storm.

Oddly, the rain only fell where Li Cunxu was, not other parts of the island.

This abnormal rain was definitely someone's work.

"Here we go again, this Thunderous Fierce Horse just won't quit, huh."

Since the attack by Poisonous Sea Urchin King, every morning when Li Cunxu opened the door, heavy rain poured down. Closing the door and retreating into the house stopped the rain shortly, but reopening the door brought the storm back.

The only suspect capable of this was the Golden Level 9 Thunderous Fierce Horse.

Even if it wasn't the horse, Li Cunxu didn't suspect anyone else.

In the forest, many Sprinting Bulls hid behind tree trunks, secretly poking out their heads, curiously gazing at Li Cunxu like he was an alien creature.

The sight left Li Cunxu speechless.

He wanted to knock on each of their exposed heads.

However, knowing they would run before he could get close, he ignored them.

Sprinting Bulls were timid, so their territory was relatively safe, with no danger.

"Human, don't go further, go further, and you'll die."

An elderly voice sounded.

Li Cunxu was startled, and viewers through the live broadcast were also shocked.

On a deserted island, unexpectedly, there was another presence capable of speaking human language.

Could it be an island savage or a pet beast?

The former would be easier to deal with.

The latter could be frightening.

Pet beasts capable of speaking human language are generally Overlord-level.

Of course, there is another possibility—it consumed a gem capable of refining horizontal bones.

Li Cunxu looked around but saw no indication of anyone.

"Who's speaking?"

"It's just this old me."

A Sprinting Bull with a green, round-spotted mushroom atop its head slowly emerged from the shadows.

"Why can't I go forward?" Li Cunxu asked.

The Sprinting Bull replied, "Because there's a terrifying monster ahead."

A monster, a term from the pre-catastrophe old era for pet beasts.

Li Cunxu noticed that although the Sprinting Bull spoke, its mouth didn't move.

"You aren't speaking; you are using mental communication with me?"

"Yes."

Mental communication, a lordly skill, uses the mind to communicate with other creatures, mastering it means mastering linguistic proficiency, enabling dialogue with any being.

"What's the monster called?"

"Wisdom Mushroom King."

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