Dark Blood Path
Chapter 73: Crossing the Swamp

Since Xiao Yu had no understanding of mental skills, keeping the necklace was pointless. As such, he immediately handed it over to Jiang Xiaowen without hesitation and said, “You are lucky; this necklace can greatly increase your mental attack strength. The increase is no less than having the attack power of the middle first-order level in advance.”

Jiang Xiaowen swiftly donned the necklace around her neck, and a warm sensation swept throughout her entire body. The radiant red ruby sparkled beautifully, reflecting her delicate features. She beamed with joy and shyly expressed her gratitude.

Xiao Yu unlocked the final ball of light, revealing a red ring named the “Ring of leaching”. This was a high-grade white ring— a magic item. Its abilities left Xiao Yu astounded. Unlike Han Kexin’s “blast flame ring” and Jiang Xiaowen’s “ring of spikes,” which could release second-rank magic spells, this magic ring had even more powerful capabilities.

Wearing the ring of leaching gradually drains the opponent’s life force while killing. When that life force reaches a peak, it triggers the release of the rare, unranked spell “Minor Healing.” Despite being an unranked spell, this ability possessed uncommon healing properties.

The most striking feature was that the ring of leaching did not need to absorb energy to be used like the other items. Instead, when the stored life force accumulated was sufficient, the spell “Minor Healing” would be automatically released. Although its effects may not be overwhelming, the “Ring of Leaching” could still prove to be a lifesaver during bloody struggles. Upon releasing over a dozen “Minor Healing” its impact would be undeniably significant.

Xiao Yu immediately wore the ring of leaching.

After packing up the spoils, Jiang Xiaowen offered to transport Xiao Yufei in search of their companions. She was already a first-order expert with improved flying abilities, able to fly alone for longer distances with much ease. When Xiao Yu hugged Jiang Xiaowen’s small waist, she developed a slight blush on her face as he nuzzled his face into her neck. Despite this, she pretended not to be affected and vigorously flapped her wings, taking off from the area.

It didn’t take long for the two to replace the other people’s footprints. They searched in that direction and found that Han Kexin and the others were besieged by dozens of slimes, struggling to repel the swarm.

As soon as Jiang Xiaowen flew down, her powerful spiritual power covered an area of tens of meters in range. The slimes’ fragile spiritual power couldn’t bear such a mighty spiritual invasion, and they were all controlled by Jiang Xiaowen instantly, as they all started retreating.

Han Kexin was wondering why the aggressive slimes suddenly backed away, and when she saw the two flying over, she exclaimed in surprise, “Xiao Yu, Xiaowen, you two are back… Hey, Xiaowen, I feel like you have changed so much. Wait! Have you already…”

Jiang Xiaowen did not hide her power, and she puffed out her chest and nodded proudly: “With Xiao Yu’s help, I have broken through to the first order.”

When they heard her remarks, everyone was delighted since it meant adding another first-order expert to the team, making the journey ahead of them much safer. Han Kexin was astonished and was about to inquire more before Xiao Yu interjected, “You guys talk about the details later, Xiaowen!”

Jiang Xiaowen understood, closed her eyes, and used mind manipulation as dozens of slimes stopped in their tracks, unable to move forward.

Xiao Yu unleashed the mutated slime on his shoulders. As it approached the frontmost slime in its path, it penetrated its body, devoured and absorbed the latter’s power frantically, and assimilated it into its body; the opposite slime withered to death in the blink of an eye. The mutated slime crawled out slowly; its body seemed to have grown a little bigger, and it jumped at the next slime… Five or six minutes later, the mutated slime was surrounded by dozens of slimes. Absorbing all of them would merely double its original size, as full assimilation would have resulted in its growth to the size of a giant slime, making it difficult to carry. Instead, under Xio Yu’s instructions, it delicately consumed only power and little substance from the other monsters, causing them to shrink and die in the process, as it focused on retaining its core form in the process.

After absorbing more than thirty regular slimes, Xiao Yu’s mutated slime’s spiritual power reached the elementary level.

Han Kexin was stunned, her mouth agape in surprise. Jiang Xiaowen cleared her confusion, explaining that the slimes they were facing were controlled using her mental innate ability. She also delved into the backstory and powers of the red muttd slime, leaving Han Kexin with no further doubts.

In one day, two individuals advanced in a row.

Sure enough, your strength will stagnate if you remain under the cave’s protection all the time. Only those who dare to take risks will grow stronger!

Jiang Xiaowen’s mind manipulation was quite powerful, especially when dealing with slimes with feeble spiritual power. She could control a large group at the same time, but the mind manipulation skill consumed a lot of spiritual power. As a result, once the mutated slime digested more than thirty slimes, her spiritual power consumption was relatively high, and she could no longer control this large group of monsters. However, the mutated slime already had the strength of an elementary being, and it was capable of devouring the remaining slimes even without Jiang Xiaowen’s assistance.

Under the cover of darkness, a group of humans emerged from the swamp forest. They had witnessed the extraordinary power of both Jiang Xiaowen and the mutated slime and were relieved to have made it out alive.

The mutated slime consumed a significant number of slimes. As a result, its strength had reached the middle stage of the elementary level, and it had already reached a certain level of fighting power. It developed three skills in total: “toxic acid spray”, “mental shock”, and “mental sting”. The mutated slime’s acid was stronger than ordinary slimes, and its attacking range was slightly longer as well. It could roughly cover fifty to sixty meters in distance.

“Mental Shock” was a range-based mental attack spell that can simultaneously affect multiple targets within a specific range, whereas “mental sting” targets a single individual, focusing all its power into a single, greatly amplified mental strike.

Slimes were nearly impervious to physical attacks, but they were exceedingly vulnerable to magic attacks and couldn’t fight readily. However, if they were hiding in the dark, they might suddenly launch a mental assault on their opponent, which could generate unimaginable results.

…………

Accompanied by a mournful wailing shriek, a fire-breathing wild boar was stabbed by multiple weapons simultaneously and died on the spot.

The surrounding vegetation was scorched black, emitting wisps of smoke. The scene was chaotic; the ground was covered with dirt, blood, and weapons. Five to six corpses of fire-breathing wild boars lay on the ground. A group of Bear warriors held shields looted from the kobolds in their hands, with scorched marks on their skin. They had obviously been attacked by several fire-breathing wild boars, but they defeated them successfully.

Wild boars were powerful creatures at the peak of the elementary level, providing ample energy to boost everyone’s strength. However, their significance lies in the fact that they serve as a hearty dinner. Xiao Yu threw the mutated slime down and let it devour the carcass of one of the fire-breathing wild boars. At the same time, the rest were stripped of their fur, grilled over a fire, and cooked to perfection. The delicious aroma of the roasted boars filled the air.

Xiao Yu used a knife to cut off one of the wild boar’s front legs. Then, holding the ten-pound roasted pork leg in his hand, he tore off a large piece of charred meat and chewed it in his mouth. Looking back, it appeared that as his strength grew, so did his food intake.

The mutated slime had already begun feasting on the remains of the wild boar. Its ruby-like red body flowed like liquid, enveloping the boar’s massive form and wrapping it inside. The slime has swelled significantly, now housing the dissolving remains of the fire-breathing wild boar, and everyone could see the creature’s fur dissolving little by little. As time passed, the slime kept consuming more and more; but it seemed like it’d take an entire night to fully digest its meal.

The talent of devouring was a formidable skill, indicating limitless growth potential for any monster that possessed it. Typically, only high-level beings are able to exhibit this “Devour” ability, with slimes being a unique exception. The awe-inspiring Devour ability allowed slimes to engulf their prey and absorb their life force, gradually dissolving them into nothingness.

Han Kexin sat in front of the fire, her garments a bit tattered, her milky white skin looming, and her devilish form bloody. She looked at the slime that was devouring the wild boar’s corpse and couldn’t help but sigh: “This little guy’s strength has grown too fast, reaching a height at which many people struggle for a month or two to reach in just one day.”

“The rate at which the mutated slime grows is heavily dependent on my strength. After all, as my strength increases, so will the materials I can provide for devouring. But, of course, the main reason it can grow so fast today is that it devoured a large number of its kind, as the power of the same kind is always the easiest to absorb.”

Han Kexin suddenly stated, “Since it’s your battle pet, I believe it has great potential.”

At this moment, while everyone was eating, Wang Chao’s ghostly howls could be heard not far away, “Ah-ah, you’re so fucking annoying! You merely stepped into the first order a few days before me; what’s there to be proud of? If you’re really strong, try controlling the boss or stone… Stop it, ah! Stop it!” He rolled on the ground, writhing in misery with a mournful expression, making all kinds of funny moves. Jiang Xiaowen stood nearby, wearing a smug look on her face. While Yun Yun standing beside her couldn’t contain her laughter, holding her belly as she added fuel to the fire from time to time. Thanks to her newfound mind control abilities and the increased spiritual power from the necklace, Jiang Xiaowen was more than capable of using mind manipulation on Wang Chao, who was still at the elementary level.

Wang Chao had accumulated eight lifetimes of bad luck. He got into trouble with a little girl who liked to hold grudges. And today, he has been teased to death, getting tossed around miserably.

“Apologize!”

“Okay, I apologize, I apologize! Auntie, I was wrong!”

Yunyun intercepted, “Xiaowen, he’s underhandedly cursing you!”

Jiang Xiaowen was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly said: “Auntie? Am I that old?”

“Good, Good… you are ruthless, truly ruthless….”

“…”

Jin Shi couldn’t stand it anymore, “Jiang Xiaowen, Fatty also admitted his mistake; if you continue on like this, it would be too unfair.”

“Huh, you two are on the same team.” Jiang Xiaowen squinted her beautiful eyes, stared at Jinshi, and at some point clasped a scroll in her hand, “Big baldy, if you have any opinions, just talk it out with my half-abomination!”

Jin Shi’s expression changed. On the way over here, Jiang Xiaowen once summoned the half-abomination, and its terrifying fighting power was still fresh in his memory. So he quickly spoke, with a bitter face, “Okay, okay, just go on, just go on; this fat guy deserves it…”

Wang Chao was furious, “Bloody hell, what a traitor you are!”

Xiao Yu walked over and said, “Stop making trouble; everyone should have a good rest since we have to leave tomorrow.” His words were obviously helpful, as Jiang Xiaowen immediately stopped her actions, stuck out her tongue playfully, and obediently sat down to rest.

Han Kexin voiced enviously, “Xiaowen and Jinshi have advanced in succession, and they all have developed exceptional abilities. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to advance or what will happen to my abilities once I do. But I’m really looking forward to it!”

The whole group rested overnight without encountering any unusual situations.

Early the following day, they all set off to continue trekking through the woods, eager to reach their destination.