Chapter 132

Chapter 132

A soft, sticky unknown substance clung to his psychic tendril. Shen Yi shuddered and retracted his antennae, the tendril wrapped around the Wood Spirit Heart flailing wildly like it had been electrocuted.

He looked just as frantic as Number Six when she caught a snail, clearly in a state of shock.

Shen Yi felt as if his psychic energy had been smeared with an inescapable slug, his very soul trembling.

"Aaaaah, Ah Tong, help me...!"

"Host, calm down. This is just an ordinary slime mold-like creature."

"S-slime mold?"

Shen Yi trembled even more violently.

Psychic energy was his most sensitive sensory channel. The slimy sensation transmitted through it to his mind gave him the illusion that this thing was crawling into his brain.

Stimulated, Shen Yi reflexively shook his psychic energy wildly, but the thing clung tightly to it, sticking even more firmly the more he shook.

The tighter it stuck, the more intense his reaction became, creating a vicious standoff.

No matter how Shen Yi, in his shocked state, pulled, tore, or slashed at it with his psychic energy, the thing proved incredibly elastic—neither tearable nor severable.

"Host, calm down. If you don't peel it off soon, the Wood Spirit Heart will lose vitality, and your spirit's chance of successful evolution will decrease."

"My... my spirit?"

Repeating the system's words in a daze in his shocked state, the word "spirit" likely triggered a keyword. He finally remembered Xi Ye, who was still waiting for him. Shaking his antennae, he forced himself to calm down, his shocked psychic tentacles trembling along before gradually settling.

Shen Yi's golden eyes glistened with fearful tears, looking utterly pitiful.

But in the next moment, a sharp glint emerged in those wet eyes.

His transparent psychic tentacles slowly took on a golden glow, turning entirely gold. The crimson unidentified mass was stuck to the few psychic tentacles wrapped around the Wood Spirit Heart.

Slimy, soft, mushy, and squirming.

Just looking at it made one's skin crawl.

Shen Yi took a deep breath and cautiously poked the thing with another psychic tendril. No reaction. He poked a few more times.

After confirming it had no attack capabilities, he controlled his psychic tentacles to slowly rub the blob off, rolling it into a rice ball-sized clump. The crimson mass, suppressed by his psychic energy, still wriggled, trying to stretch and escape.

With lightning speed, Shen Yi pulled an ice-forged container from his storage, telekinetically tossed the blob inside, and snapped the lid shut tightly.

A spirit insect from the Spirit Mist Forest probably couldn't adapt to icy aura. Even if it didn't freeze to death, it would likely become immobilized, right?

Shen Yi shook his psychic tentacles a few more times with disgust before flying to the small valley, intending to wash the Wood Spirit Heart thoroughly before giving it to Xi Ye.

But the plant seemed to sense the Wood Spirit Heart's aura. Its leaves rapidly grew, spreading towards Shen Yi, eager to merge with this treasure coveted by Flower Fairies.

Shen Yi, tightly bound by the flexible leaves, grumbled and flicked the leaf already wrapped around his waist in annoyance. "Wait before absorbing it."

As he spoke, he immersed both the Wood Spirit Heart and his psychic tendril into the pond, carefully washing it.

If the Wood Spirit Heart weren't so rare, he really wouldn't want Xi Ye to eat it.

The restless leaves continued to climb and spread along his waist, reaching up to Shen Yi's arm, where he grabbed them firmly. "I'm warning you, if you eat it without washing it properly, don't expect to get near me afterward."

The leaves writhed anxiously in Shen Yi's palm, repeatedly tempted to stretch toward the pond bottom, but each time Shen Yi grabbed them. After washing the Wood Spirit Heart, instead of handing it directly to the impatient leaves, he flew to the front of Xi Ye's Destiny Flower and brought the Wood Spirit Heart close to the bud's opening.

The Wood Spirit Heart was easily pushed inside, while his finger was blocked outside.

Shen Yi tapped the beautiful bud gently and snorted. "Well, you never hesitate to eat delicious things at all, you just know how to block me, right?"

Xi Ye, of course, didn't respond. His Destiny Flower had extended leaves purely out of instinct to absorb the energy needed for evolution; Xi Ye's consciousness couldn't perceive the outside world clearly during evolution.

Shen Yi stroked the beautiful bud a couple of times, tugged at the two slender, elegant sepals, and murmured, "You'd never guess where we are now. Remember the mother tree that nurtured A Fu? It actually came back to life and even produced another Wood Spirit Heart..."

After murmuring for a while, the revulsion from contact with the "slime mold ball" finally faded. His antennae stood erect again, and the excitement of unlocking a new map began to itch in his heart, urging him to go explore.

But just as he unfurled his wings, before he could take off, he was wrapped in two slender, pliable leaves.

Wrapped like a rice dumpling, tightly bound around his waist wasn't enough; they pulled him to the main stem's leaves, pressing him against the bud, with even the two sepals winding around him.

Afraid of disturbing his evolution, Shen Yi didn't struggle too hard. Unable to free himself, he rolled a nearby leaf into a small pillow, tucked it under himself, found a comfortable position to lie down, and waited for the restless leaves to release him.

Enveloped by the dense spiritual energy attracted by Xi Ye's Destiny Flower, part of it flowed into Shen Yi's body. He heard the experience point notifications.

Since Xi Ye's Destiny Flower had trapped him here, it meant his presence wouldn't interfere with Xi Ye's evolution. After a moment's hesitation, he made himself comfortable.

"+10,000 EXP"

"+10,000 EXP"

"+10,000 EXP"

...

The constant experience notifications became annoying, so Shen Yi simply disabled the system alerts.

With nothing else to do, he opened the map and reviewed the construction progress of the two main cities via the system. The nursery area he emphasized was already built. He planned to summon 100,000 new players at once, but the bee colony's food reserves were insufficient.

Providing enough food for 100,000 larvae was no small amount. Shen Yi assigned Wood Element bee-folk the task of accelerating Crystal Stone Plum cultivation to help them adapt to the intensity. The bulk would be quickly cultivated once Xi Ye finished evolving.

For nurturing larvae, low-grade Crystal Stone Plums were sufficient—little more than a wave of his hand for Xi Ye. With Xi Ye around, food was never a worry.

The larvae metamorphose in 16 days. By then, he could summon 100,000 players every 16 days. Combined with the efforts of various alliances, the main quest could be completed in under two months, by conservative estimates.

He was curious to see what the main quest reward actually was.

The players he'd left idle these past few days were probably anxious. Introducing new player slots would also help reassure the old players.

Shen Yi checked the status bars of Xiao Qi and the others one by one. Their levels were steadily increasing, mostly between Lv. 74 and Lv. 77, with little difference.

However, the higher the level, even a one-level gap meant a world of difference.

When checking Tang Yuan's status, he noticed an Evolution buff in her attribute panel. Shen Yi paused, "Is evolving this easy now?"

Tang Yuan had only recently reached 5 stars and was about to break through to 6 stars already.

Evolution didn't seem as difficult as Xi Ye had made it out to be.

But upon second thought, after the Enchanted Mushroom Forest reopened, many new types of Mushroom Spirits appeared. Tang Yuan had absorbed many new poison bubbles recently, possibly triggered by some remarkable toxin for evolution.

Shen Yi was tied up by Xi Ye's Destiny Flower for three days. During this time, when Xiao Qi and the others saw him bound, they immediately bristled.

>>

"I knew that damn elf was no good thing!"

Number Four shot over like a little cannonball, immediately alerting Xi Ye's Destiny Flower. The leaves stood up as if they had eyes, glowing sharply like keen blades. Shen Yi quickly stopped her: "Wait, wait, don't be impulsive."

"Xi Ye didn't mean it. He's evolving right now and isn't fully aware. This is just him being instinctively close to me."

Number Four hovered just outside the leaves' attack range, fluttering her wings and crossing her arms indignantly. "He's way too clingy! He hogs you every day, and even when he's asleep, he has to wrap around you."

Shen Yi didn't know why, but facing Number Four's innocent and pure gaze, he felt a bit embarrassed.

He chuckled and laughed it off, changing the subject: "Where's Number Six? I haven't seen her in the Queen Bee's nest these past few days."

Number Four didn't overthink it and immediately followed her leader's train of thought: "Since the players aren't around, Tang Yuan's Illusion Pavilion in [Frostpeak City] has no customers. She went to show support."

When Tang Yuan reached 4 stars, she awakened her third poison gas bomb—Illusion Dream.

After her clone self-destructed, it would produce a dreamlike blue smoke. Any living being touching this smoke would fall into a deep sleep and dream of their heart's deepest desires.

Unlike the [Drunk Fart] buff, this [Illusion Dream] buff made people reluctant to wake up from their beautiful dreams, so its duration was uncertain. Those with weak willpower might sleep for ten days or half a month.

This buff had no side effects and even let people have a wonderful dream. After [Frostpeak City] was built, there were empty shops, and their bee people didn't have enough stores. Number Seven had Tang Yuan open an [Illusion Pavilion] to fill the slots. Unexpectedly, it became surprisingly popular with players, even more so than the [Toxicity Training Hall].

Just as they were talking, Number Seven also returned.

"Brother, when will you let the players log in? The larvae they're nurturing need to be fed."

Generally, a larvae nest could sustain itself for a few days if filled with food, but if left too long, the larvae would starve.

"Players won't be logging in for now. Organize the bee people to feed them first."

They promised a server shutdown for updates. If they reopened before the main city was fully built, players would log in to see a half-finished city, making the game seem like child's play.

"Congratulations, host, on leveling up. Current level: 84."

Shen Yi paused, surprised that he had leveled up just by intermittently absorbing the spiritual energy from Xi Ye's evolution over the past few days.

Suddenly, the leaves around his waist tightened, and Shen Yi was pulled into the flower bud.

Number Four instinctively rushed forward but was stopped by Number Seven: "Brother has entered Xi Ye's flower bud. He won't let us in. Save your energy."

Number Four waved her fist discontentedly, her meaning clear.

Number Seven raised an eyebrow at her: "If you hit him, it's our brother who'll be upset."

>>

Shen Yi was abruptly pulled into the flower bud space, and a patch of bare skin met his eyes. He sneaked a peek and said, trying to sound stern, "You... where are your clothes?"

Did evolution make clothes disappear? He knew Xi Ye's evolution this time was anything but proper.

Xi Ye pulled him into a tight embrace, burying his face in Shen Yi's neck and inhaling deeply: "Thank you, Shen Yi."

Without Shen Yi, his evolution might have failed this time.

"Ahem, consider yourself lucky this time," Shen Yi said, looking at Xi Ye's bare back, his hands didn't know where to put them. He struggled to maintain composure, putting on a stern face. "You were too impulsive this time. How could you risk evolving at only level 77?"

"I wanted to evolve." Xi Ye released Shen Yi, almost eagerly showing off the results of his evolution. "Look, I'm like you now."

Shen Yi instinctively followed his gaze. Xi Ye's evolution was perfect.

Perhaps influenced by Shen Yi's subtle remarks, Xi Ye subconsciously felt that Shen Yi liked things big, and he had generously endowed himself in that area. It was impressively sizable and looked very capable.

Maybe it was because Xi Ye had just finished evolving and was still excited.

That robust member lifted its head spiritedly within their line of sight, holding itself high and proud.

Shen Yi's mind went blank for a moment, only hearing Xi Ye call his name before that exquisite face unexpectedly moved in closer.

Pressed against his lips, warm and soft.

Xi Ye, following what he learned from the tutorial, opened his mouth to suck at Shen Yi's lips, seizing the moment of Shen Yi's dazed state to push forward boldly and deeply.

"Xi... Xi Ye..."

Shen Yi felt all the blood in his body rush to his head, heating him up until he felt dizzy. It wasn't until Xi Ye touched his fuzzy belly that his fingers stiffened, his brows furrowed, and he released Shen Yi's lips, whispering in his ear to urge: "Shen Yi, quickly transform to match me."

Xi Ye instinctively rubbed against him. Shen Yi, as if waking from a dream, regained his rationality and took a swift step back, biting his tongue in the process.

Tears welled up from the pain, but he still managed to hold up his hands to push back, making his stance clear to Xi Ye: "This... this can't be done recklessly."

Xi Ye, puzzled, demonstrated a proud member nodding its head, rarely showing weakness. His eyes reddened with urgency, looking pitiful: "Shen Yi, I feel really uncomfortable."

"Who taught you all this?" Shen Yi withdrew his gaze as if electrocuted, not daring to look further.

He licked his lips, savoring the kiss, frowned, and felt that something was off. His gaze toward Xi Ye turned sharp: "Where did you learn to kiss like that just now?"

How was he so good at kissing? He kissed until Shen Yi was bewildered. How could that be reasonable?

"The system taught me."

Xi Ye tried to lean in again, but Shen Yi bristled at his words.

The system, full of survival instinct, immediately pulled up the instructional video used: "The videos are all here. They're just theoretical teachings. It's still your elf who's talented."

"Why are you still here? Don't you know to give us privacy? Other systems know to steer clear and log off automatically during private moments, understand?" Shen Yi was frantic, flushed red with embarrassment from head to neck. "You... what did you see?"

The system strictly adhered to its duties: "Everything that just happened was above the neck, no over-the-top actions included. I saw everything I was supposed to see."

Shen Yi had no energy to argue with the system because Xi Ye was leaning in again. He realized that Xi Ye, after studying the instructional videos, was really skilled.

Just as things were about to spiral out of control, Shen Yi grabbed Xi Ye and fought fire with fire: "Let me teach you some other little tricks. I guarantee they’re self-reliant and timeless."

"What?"

Xi Ye was a bit stunned, but Shen Yi was already taking action.

Shen Yi taught Xi Ye how to do self-help.

He taught awkwardly, but it was enough to deal with Xi Ye.

The system was dead silent, having been shut in a small dark room.

>>

After a chaotic ruckus, Xi Ye, having successfully learned, finally deemed it appropriate to materialize robes.

Shen Yi noticed that the robes he conjured this time had speckled patterns that only appeared from certain angles, shimmering brilliantly under the sunlight, adding an extra layer of mystery.

Shen Yi took a closer look at Xi Ye's face and realized that after this evolution, Xi Ye's features had become more defined and masculine than before. The flowers adorning his hair had thin, delicate sepals, like two ribbons trailing from his hair, enhancing his exquisite, cool-toned appearance with an ethereal quality, much like an unattainable flower on a high peak.

Shen Yi twirled one of the ribbons around his finger, feeling as though this high peak flower was within his reach, ready to be picked.

He felt inexplicably proud.

"You're already Level 80; you'll probably surpass me soon."

Xi Ye had broken through 8 stars again this time. Before reaching Level 89, Shen Yi had no hope of catching up to him.

Xi Ye, like someone touch-starved, pressed tightly against him from behind, his hot breath brushing Shen Yi’s neck: "I’ll go with you to hunt monsters and level up."

Since the number of players had increased, Shen Yi rarely went out to kill wild monsters for experience anymore.

Shen Yi had a sudden idea and told him about the [Spirit Mist Forest], then dragged him to see that ugly thing trapped in an ice box.

"The system says this is an ordinary slime mold." Shen Yi pushed the ice box toward Xi Ye, not really wanting to look at it.

The system grumbled in his Mental Sea: "What I said was clearly a slime mold-like creature. I described it that way just to make it easier for you to imagine and accept. Doesn’t it look like the red slime mold from the Earth dimension?"

Ignoring the furious system, Shen Yi asked Xi Ye: "Do you know what this is?"

Xi Ye opened the lid—the box was empty.

Shen Yi caught a glimpse of the empty box, his body stiffening, all his fur stood on end, puffing up like a ball.

His Queen Bee hive had been contaminated.

Fortunately, the Queen Bee hive was his domain. Shen Yi quickly tracked the ugly thing and, with Xi Ye, teleported directly to the small volcano. From the [Fire Crystal], he pulled out the ugly creature, which was locked in combat with the [Fire Spirit Spider].

"It’s not afraid of fire?"

Shen Yi frowned, disgustedly using his mental power to roll the thing into a small ball and held it up in mid-air. He hadn’t expected it to grow a bit larger in just a few days.

When he saw the furious [Spirit Fire Spider], he understood—this thing could devour the fire essence inside the [Fire Crystals].

The growth it had achieved had consumed his entire stockpile. What difference was there between this and letting a little mouse into the warehouse? He should have thrown this thing out the moment he found it.

Xi Ye pinched the crimson mass in his hand, and Shen Yi immediately backed away in disgust.

The crimson "blood-like mass" shifted forms between Xi Ye’s slender, pale fingers, trying to slip through the gaps, but Xi Ye held it firmly. After studying it carefully, he said to Shen Yi: "You should merge with it."

"You... *what* did you say?"

Shen Yi widened his eyes in disbelief, unable to believe what Xi Ye had just said.