His next target was a One-Horned Rabbit.
The slime gradually moved the mudfield toward the One-Horned Rabbit pack.
Once it was close enough.......
'Come at me, all of you. I'll take you on at once.'
When the slime appeared nearby.
Five or six One-Horned Rabbits lowered their horns and charged.
Combined with their Powerful Leaping......
It made them a considerable threat.
'Bring it on! Bring it on! This is my territory. Ha ha.'
The slime did not simply sit there and take it.
He immediately slipped into the mudfield.
The charging One-Horned Rabbits plunged straight into the mud.
SQUEAK—
SQUEEEAK—?
SQUEAK—!
Only then did the One-Horned Rabbits realize they had fallen into a mudfield.
They tried to get out......
But there was nowhere to plant their feet in the mudfield.
Their Charge and Powerful Leaping were useless here.
The more they struggled, the deeper they sank into the mire.
'Thank you for the meal.'
Now it was the slime's mealtime.
They were no different from flying insects caught in a spiderweb.
There was nothing they could do until they were eaten.
'Five One-Horned Rabbits... That's a decent haul.'
It was an efficient hunt.
One-Horned Rabbits and One-Horned Rats might be the lowest of Demon Beasts, but there were many of them.
They traveled in packs, so gathering them together made for a surprisingly good haul.
'A few more rounds like this and I'll reach 1-Star easily.......'
The demon race did not divide realms as finely as the human race did......
But his next step corresponded to 1-Star of the Qi Refining Realm.
He would leave the entry stage behind and become a proper Demon Beast.
'Let's go!'
However, the world did not turn according to the webnovel loser's wishes.
After seeing their companions fall, the One-Horned Rabbits became wary of the mudfield.
They no longer mindlessly charged him on sight as they had at first.
'In that case... I'll come to you.'
He expanded the mudfield toward the One-Horned Rabbits' habitat.
Then......
'They just moved their habitat.......'
The outskirts of the secret realm covered a vast area.
If they did not like a place, they could simply move elsewhere.
The One-Horned Rabbit pack was large.
Other Demon Beasts of similar realms withdrew instead.
'I guess there's no answer to human-wave tactics.'
The power of numbers could overcome some difference in realm.
Forming a group had many advantages.
Those busy walking the path of immortal cultivation did not create sects for nothing.
'What should I do.......? Right, slimes have their own methods.'
He planted one of the spirit herbs stored inside his body atop the mudfield.
Then he camouflaged the area around it with soil and grass.
After that, he infused the spirit herb with the mudfield's spiritual energy.
The spirit herb grew fresh and vibrant.
A mystical aura spread in every direction.
The One-Horned Rabbits sensed it and reacted.
SQUEAK—?
A One-Horned Rabbit at the outer edge of the pack discovered the spirit herb.
It looked around.
Then it left the pack without letting the others notice.
It intended to monopolize the spirit herb.
They fought together, but...
Good food was meant to be eaten alone.
It approached the spirit herb cautiously, taking care not to alert the others.
SQUEAK—
SQUEEEAK—?
SQUEAK—!
The moment it tried to eat the spirit herb, it was sucked into the mudfield.
The more it floundered, the harder escape became.
'Thank you for the meal.'
It was an insect caught in a spiderweb.
He swallowed the One-Horned Rabbit in one gulp.
'This isn't bad.'
The fishing worked surprisingly well.
Not one of the One-Horned Rabbits wanted to share the spirit herb.
They came alone in secret and fell into the trap.
The pack did not even notice that several members had vanished.
'Fucking sweet.'
He infused more spiritual energy into the spirit herb, spreading its mystical aura farther.
CAW—
PECK—
'That damned crow!'
A crow Demon Beast in the sky snatched the spirit herb and fled.
'I need to guard the spirit herb properly.'
Spirit herbs and Demon Beasts had different auras.
The mudfield concealed him, but......
Sensitive creatures could tell it was a trap.
To fish, the slime had kept a short distance from the spirit herb.
Then an entirely different creature stole the bait.
Even if it hurt his fishing, he decided to guard the spirit herb from right beside it.
'Better than letting the crow pick it clean.'
He could tolerate stealing from others, but not having others steal from him.
Catching the ill-behaved crow would be a bonus.
'This time, I'll finish it for good.'
It was a rematch.
He gathered the mudfield's spiritual energy and poured all of it into the spirit herb.
Even a small, fragrant fruit grew from it.
The crow flying overhead could not resist and descended.
'Got you!'
The slime shaped his tentacles into a net.
He tried to snatch the crow.
But it quickly escaped through a gap.
CAW—
CAW—
It seemed to be mocking the slime from the sky.
After that began a battle of nerves between the one trying to pick the fruit and the one trying to stop it.
They subtly checked each other, and the standoff continued.
Then an unexpected sound reached him.
OINK— OINK—OINK—
The fragrant scent of the spirit herb and spirit fruit spread through the forest.
Something reacted to it.
It was a boar with a keen nose.
A One-Horned Boar Demon Beast approached the mudfield, drawn by the scent.
'That thing is too big.......'
The One-Horned Boar was not as large as a house, but it was the size of a horse, and it spotted the spirit herb and spirit fruit.
OINK— OINK—OINK—
It charged toward the mudfield without hesitation.
It wanted to eat them before anything else could.
'That thing won't be easy.......'
If the slime was at the beginning of the Qi Refining Realm, the One-Horned Boar was at 1-Star.
They were one Star apart.
Even if differences in realm mattered less among the demon race......
'It's several times my size. This will be hard.'
Not only its tusks but all the boar's teeth were powerful.
If he fought it head-on, the slime could be torn to pieces.
THUD— THUD— THUD—
It rapidly closed in on the mudfield.
The moment the One-Horned Boar tried to eat the spirit herb and spirit fruit......
SQUEAL—
SQUEAL—?
SQUEAL—!
Its body sank into the mudfield.
Startled, the One-Horned Boar fought with all its strength to escape.
SQUEAL—!
SQUEAL—!
The One-Horned Boar thrashed in the mudfield.
The mudfield was a mire with no solid footing.
The more force it used, the deeper it sank.
WOBBLE— WOBBLE—
Even so, the One-Horned Boar's strength was astonishing.
The entire fifty-meter-wide mudfield shook.
But the more it struggled, the deeper it merely sank.
Its large size still meant it took a long time for its torso to submerge.
CAW—
'You little crow bastard.'
Taking advantage of the commotion caused by the One-Horned Boar, the crow tried to pick the spirit herb and spirit fruit.
SWISH— SWISH—
The slime spread his tentacles like a net.
The crow Demon Beast gave up on the spirit herb and flew back into the sky.
'I can't let my guard down around that thing.'
Because it stayed in the sky, it was difficult to deal with.
The crow was not only intelligent but fast.
Even while the slime tussled with the crow Demon Beast, the One-Horned Boar continued to sink.
Once even its head was submerged in the mudfield, its movements slowed.
Its large body tired quickly.
It looked as though it had resigned itself to death.
'I still can't be sure. Boars are incredibly smart.......'
It was an intelligent and powerful predator.
Its complacency from having no worthy opponent in the outskirts of the secret realm......
And its greed for the spirit herb and spirit fruit brought disaster upon it.
In this place of fierce competition for survival, a moment's carelessness could lead to death.
The slime waited until the One-Horned Boar had completely stopped breathing.
This mudfield was his home ground.
There was no reason to hurry.
'It's too big to digest all at once anyway.'
The slime had grown to the size of a large dog.
Even so, the One-Horned Boar was enormous.
He had to swell his entire body to its limit just to swallow it.
Digesting it also took a long time.
An unknown number of days passed.
When he finished digesting the One-Horned Boar, the slime underwent a change.
He had accumulated enough spiritual power and spiritual energy to advance his realm.
As spiritual power spread throughout his body, he grew larger.
His skin became springier and tougher.
His horn grew a little larger and took on a glossy sheen.
'At last, I'm at 1-Star of the Qi Refining Realm.'
He now had enough strength to carry some weight in the outskirts of this unknown secret realm.
'Agh. It ate them again while I was busy.'
While the slime digested the One-Horned Boar.
'No wonder nothing was falling into the trap.'
The crow Demon Beast had eaten the bait in the meantime.
No fish would bite an empty hook.
'What am I supposed to do about that thing.......?'
There was nothing he could do about a creature that flew.
He could only stand guard like a farmer protecting his crops.
Still, he had managed to collect spirit herbs and spirit stones during that time.
As he formed the mudfield, he swallowed everything that entered it.
There were not many, but......
He was able to obtain spirit herbs and spirit stones.
[Bloodsucking Mosquito Proboscis: 14. Lowest-grade spirit herbs: 6. Lowest-grade spirit stones: 7.]
'This work yields a surprisingly decent harvest too.'
Human cultivators had to struggle tremendously at first to gather this many cultivation resources.
There were not many spirit herbs or spirit stones in their territory.
The human race was numerous.
Cultivation resources were inevitably scarce.
Moreover, the human race used spirit herbs and spirit stones to make medicinal pills, talismans, and magical artifacts.
They consumed a great deal of them.
Secret realms were places where such cultivation resources could be obtained.
A secret realm that opened once a year was an opportunity for them.
Without coming here, it was difficult to gather cultivation resources and merit.
Hunting the demon race was merely one of the things that happened in the process.
'What would make good bait?'
To catch something big, he needed good bait.
He planted atop the mudfield the spirit herb that bore the most tempting spirit fruit.
He concentrated the spiritual energy flowing into the mudfield upon the spirit herb.
'Giving it to the spirit herb is better than absorbing it myself.'
The slime had now reached 1-Star of the Qi Refining Realm.
The spiritual energy gathered by the mudfield barely made a difference to him.
But concentrating it in the spirit herb had an excellent effect.
His Mudfield Creation ability had improved in the meantime.
The mudfield had grown to nearly eighty meters across.
He concentrated all the spiritual energy flowing into it upon the spirit herb.
The spirit herb became even fresher.
It grew rapidly.
After some time passed, spirit fruit formed on the herb.
The appetizing spiritual energy emanating from the fruit spread in every direction.
Nearby Demon Beasts were drawn by its scent.
They knew the mudfield was dangerous too.
Fragrant flowers always had thorns.
Even so, they all tried to pluck the flower.
If their hands were injured in the attempt, that could not be helped.
'How could anyone resist this?'
The path of immortality was exceedingly arduous.
The higher one climbed, the more it resembled a pyramid with sharply fewer places near the top.
Countless cultivators fought to claim those places.
They would do anything to raise their realms.
The demon race was no different from the human race.
The temptation of reaching a higher realm was powerful.
If they could obtain the spirit herb and spirit fruit growing atop the mudfield, they might advance their realms.
A Demon Beast at the entry stage of the Qi Refining Realm, not even 1-Star, could never resist.
Many Demon Beasts prowled around the mudfield.
'Ugh. Why is that thing back again?!'
The same was true of the crow Demon Beast.
The slime guarded the spirit herb and spirit fruit.
Meanwhile, Demon Beasts that could no longer resist leaped into the mudfield.
They became excellent nourishment for the slime.
'The quality is a little disappointing, but.......'
Once the slime reached 1-Star.
Demon Beasts at the entry stage of the Qi Refining Realm were no great help.
His experience rose only slightly.
It was a type of level penalty.
'Not bad.'
Quantity could compensate for quality to some degree.
Many Demon Beasts floundered after falling into the mudfield.
The slime was busy digesting them.
'Fishing really is profitable.'
He could invest something small, the bait, to catch something large, the fish.
The returns were several times greater than the spiritual energy and spiritual power invested in the spirit herb.
'It would be perfect if only that thing stopped hanging around.......'
The crow Demon Beast was like a nuisance fish that stole the bait.
It was a bothersome creature.
He watched the sky to prevent the crow from picking the spirit herb and spirit fruit.
Then two streaks of light flew from the sky toward the mudfield.
'Yikes... I'm fucked.'
Trouble that should never have appeared had arrived.