Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Xi Ye took a step closer, holding the crimson "blood mass." Shen Yi grimaced, jumping back as if he'd seen a ghost: "You—stay away from me!"

It was as if Xi Ye held something repulsive and terrifying.

In truth, the sight of that intensely vibrant red flowing between slender, pale fingers wasn't ugly at all; it even possessed an ineffable, stunning beauty.

Unfortunately, all Shen Yi could focus on was the slimy, persistent adhesion it had on his mental energy. His eyes fixed intently on Xi Ye’s fingers, his face a mask of refusal: "Even if this thing is some legendary treasure, there’s no way I’m binding myself to it!"

"Not binding—fusion," Xi Ye corrected.

"Fuse it completely into a part of yourself," he said, as streams of light flowed around him and a green, diamond-shaped gem appeared between his eyebrows, making his cool, pale forehead appear even more exquisitely jade-like. "Just like how I fused with this [Wood Spirit Heart]."

Xi Ye put away the [Wood Spirit Heart]. He couldn't fathom why Shen Yi would reject something so beneficial for his power, but seeing his strong aversion, he withdrew his outstretched hand: "You didn’t immediately discard it from the Royal Hive back then, did you? Wasn’t it because you sensed it could benefit you?"

Shen Yi possessed an instinctive sense for both opportunities and dangers, and he had indeed perceived something unusual about this unsightly object that had triggered his stress response. However, that faint peculiarity was entirely overshadowed by his revulsion.

His gaze, filled with disdain and hesitation, lingered on the "blood mass": "I just found it strange—it has no spiritual energy fluctuations, yet it can cling to my mental energy and is incredibly resilient. I wanted to keep it for observation."

Generally, the more powerful a being, the stronger its spiritual energy fluctuations. But when he had scraped that thing off his mental energy earlier, Shen Yi noticed that this ugly clump had no spiritual energy fluctuations at all, as if it were truly just an ordinary slime mold.

Yet, if it were merely an ordinary, mundane object, why would it have taken him so much effort to remove it?

His mental energy was both tangible and intangible. When the ugly thing clung to him, he had tried to render his mental energy formless.

Unexpectedly, even when his mental energy became an intangible force, the thing could still adhere to it. Clearly, there was something peculiar about it.

He just hadn’t had time to study it closely yet. So far, he only knew: "It has a health bar, but no level."

Xi Ye stretched the crimson "blood mass" in his hand into a long strip. When he brought the two ends together, they merged back into a single mass seamlessly, like liquid.

Xi Ye found it amusing, repeatedly pulling it apart and rejoining it. During one such pull, a small portion hanging below detached with extreme fluidity, like a drop of water naturally dripping from his motion.

That blood-colored drop fell to the ground and swiftly flowed away, scurrying without pause.

"Trying to run?" Shen Yi’s mind stirred, and using his control over the Royal Hive, he quickly recaptured it.

"Can it keep splitting off like sweet dumplings?" He shook it, wrapped in a mental energy tendril, finding it peculiar. "As long as a single drop survives, it won’t die?"

Xi Ye continued to knead the mass in his hand. "I think it’s more like a treasure similar to [Flowing Cloud Adamantine]—it can survive in ice, isn’t afraid of spirit fire, and can even devour fire essence. Your mental energy can transform in countless ways, from intangible to tangible. Similarly, it can disperse and coalesce freely, changing shape. Shen Yi, it suits you well."

(Note: [Flowing Cloud Adamantine] is a special type of active Adamantine. After Little Seven fused with it, he evolved the ability to create "Adamantine Bumblebees.")

"How does it suit me? I’m golden, it’s bright red—way too flashy." Shen Yi thought Xi Ye’s judgment might be a bit off.

"Haven’t you always wanted to be able to conjure robes when switching forms, like I do? If you fuse with it, you can transform it into your robes, switch freely, and have any style you want."

Shen Yi uttered an "Oh?"—he truly hadn’t considered that possibility.

Putting himself in Xi Ye’s shoes and looking at the restless red mass pinched between his fingers, he felt a flicker of temptation.

"But..." He was still hesitant, unable to commit. "It’s so small—it’s not even enough to make a sleeve..."

"Since it can grow by devouring fire essence, why worry about not being able to feed it enough to grow?" Xi Ye took out a Spirit Pearl, and the blood mass, which had been attempting to escape, immediately retracted its extended "tentacles," surging to Xi Ye’s fingertips and enveloping the Spirit Pearl.

"It can devour Spirit Pearls," Xi Ye said delightedly. "And it’s not afraid of ice, so it might be able to consume other types of energy too. Then we can feed it all those spiritual items we can’t use. You won’t have to worry about those materials taking up space in storage anymore."

Xi Ye again offered the blood mass to Shen Yi.

It could be used to make clothes and was easy to nurture—it sounded like a genuinely good deal.

Shen Yi tentatively took the "blood mass," now larger from wrapping around the Spirit Pearl. It felt slightly cool to the touch, not the sticky sensation he had imagined. Instead, it was refreshing and non-sticky, soft and pliable, able to be shaped freely into various forms at his fingertips. Kneading it was oddly addictive.

"It doesn’t seem harmful at all." After kneading it for a while, it showed no sign of resistance, focused solely on devouring the Spirit Pearl. Its only merit was probably its strong vitality—as long as a drop remained, it would live.

Though he spoke disdainfully, the mere fact that it could transform into clothing at will made it impossible for Shen Yi to refuse.

Following Xi Ye’s method, he used his spiritual energy to draw the unsightly mass into his body, fusing it into a part of himself.

To put it in more relatable terms, it was like how cultivators in novels forge a life-bound spiritual tool, nurturing it within their bodies until it’s fully refined and becomes a part of them.

Shen Yi’s experience was more direct—he felt as if he had gained another "hand," or perhaps not just one, but countless hands.

A red mass the size of a tangyuan hovered in his Mental Sea, sometimes dispersing into fine threads that merged with a small portion of his mental energy, as if armoring it; other times withdrawing from the mental energy to gather into a mass, wandering around the Mental Sea.

Shen Yi’s consciousness lingered in the Mental Sea, carefully sensing the blood mass’s coalescing and dispersing. Just as Xi Ye had said, its properties were perfectly compatible with his mental energy—like a flowing liquid, endlessly variable, highly malleable. He could control it to take any form he desired.

Shen Yi opened his eyes. A mass of blood-red liquid flowed from his fingertips, rolled nimbly once, then smoothly seeped back into his skin and vanished.

The next moment, a red collar appeared around his neck.

The ugly thing’s current size was only enough to form a collar.

Xi Ye was captivated by the sudden appearance of the collar around Shen Yi’s neck. His gaze was almost mesmerized, completely unable to look away.

In truth, he didn’t know this was called a "collar." He just thought it looked exquisitely beautiful on Shen Yi’s neck, making his heartbeat quicken.

An itch grew from the depths of his heart, impossible to ignore. Eventually, he couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and touch it.

Just as Xi Ye’s fingers made contact, the blood-red collar suddenly vanished, slipping to Shen Yi’s fingertips and hovering there as a round, rolling mass.

Slender, pale fingers suddenly flicked, and the red mass zipped to the ground, turning into a "stream" that flowed and quickly seeped into the earth.

The soil in the Royal Hive was all Evergrowing soil, inherently rich in spiritual energy—and on the ugly thing’s menu.

"It really does eat everything." After fusing with the thing, Shen Yi couldn’t help but marvel. "I suspect it must have been born not long ago."

Otherwise, with its indiscriminate appetite, it wouldn’t still be so small.

"What do you think I should name it? If I just call it ‘ugly thing,’ will it be unhappy? Even though it has no consciousness... Hey, Xi Ye, are you listening?"

"Hm?" Xi Ye’s gaze remained fixed on Shen Yi’s fair, slender neck. "It looks very good."

"What?"

Xi Ye’s hand moved forward, covering Shen Yi’s neck entirely. His fingertips felt the clear pulse, as if holding all of Shen Yi within his grasp.

Before he even realized it, a secret thrill and pleasure sprouted densely in his heart.

With a thought, emerald green blood flowed from under his palm, almost eagerly encircling that fair neck, declaring a possessiveness its owner had yet to clearly distinguish.

Like delicate vines sprouting, stretching, weaving into mysterious and beautiful patterns.

Finally, a beautiful green collar condensed around Shen Yi’s neck, with two light green buds emerging on one side. Their slender, elegant calyxes hung like two ribbons at his side, gently swaying.

Shen Yi felt something extra around his neck and reached up to touch it: "It feels a bit strange... I’m not used to wearing necklaces..."

"It looks very good," Xi Ye grasped his hand, "It matches your crown perfectly."

He repeated, "It looks very nice."

"Eh? Really? Then I'll wear it for now." Shen Yi touched his neck and hesitantly accepted the collar.

Then, Xi Ye instinctively figured out how to make an anklet as well.

After some bargaining with Shen Yi, only one was worn in the end.

It was worn on the right ankle, similar in style to the collar on his neck, loosely fitting the slender ankle, with the calyxes dangling as he moved.

Xi Ye’s gaze was glued to Shen Yi, completely unable to look away.

Shen Yi was adorned with his vines and flowers, as if marked as entirely his.

Xi Ye glowed with happiness from the inside out.

When Shen Yi asked him to cultivate a batch of Crystal Stone Plums, Xi Ye eagerly went without a second thought.

At the outskirts of Flowing Firefly Valley.

Green light shimmered, spreading across the rocky walls like flowing starlight, brushing past the Crystal Stone Plums. Moments later, Xi Ye pulled back his spiritual energy and heard Shen Yi exclaim in surprise, "Didn’t you say basic ones would be enough? Why waste so much spiritual energy? We’ll need to cultivate more later…"

Providing food for 100,000 larvae was no small task, likely requiring several rounds of cultivation. Shen Yi considered whether to allocate more areas specifically for cultivating Crystal Stone Plums.

The crimson blob slipped out from under his feet, oozing smoothly like water toward the Crystal Stone Plums on the rocky walls, enveloping the crystal-like fruits and devouring them eagerly.

Shen Yi gave the ugly thing a fitting name: Phantom.

He had initially thought of calling it Ghost Shadow but found it too eerie, so he settled on the slightly more subtle Phantom.

Though not much better, it was still an improvement over names like "Fairy" or "Little Stone."

Phantom roamed among the stone plum bushes, eating with great delight. Perhaps because the sunlight was just right, the Crystal Stone Plums seemed brighter in color than before. Shen Yi casually plucked one and tasted it.

The sweet, fragrant jelly-like fruit entered his mouth, and he heard a system prompt.

"Experience +5000."

Shen Yi froze, looking incredulously at the densely packed Crystal Stone Plums on the rocky walls and then at Xi Ye. "Did you cultivate a higher-grade stone plum?"

The previous enhanced version of Crystal Stone Plums only gave 400 experience points per fruit, but now it was 5000?

"Did you use too much spiritual energy?"

Crystal Stone Plums were only low-grade spiritual plants with limited upgrade potential, making the effort and reward disproportionate. Thus, after Xi Ye had cultivated the enhanced version sufficient for low-level players, he had stopped further cultivation.

Xi Ye also seemed surprised by this unexpected outcome. He looked at his hand and said uncertainly, "It might be because I just fused with the Wood Spirit Heart, and there’s still residual energy from the Wood Spirit Heart in my body."

Shen Yi belatedly remembered that Xi Ye had fused with the Wood Spirit Heart, which must have qualitatively enhanced the Flower Fairy’s Talent. Otherwise, why would the Wood Spirit Heart be considered a coveted treasure sought after by all Flower Fairies? "Xi Ye, has your Wood Spirit Talent become stronger?"

Xi Ye nodded, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his gaze and said, "Flower Fairies are blessed with the source of vitality. All Flower Fairies have an innate Talent for growing plants, but... my Talent for growing plants wasn’t high. To be precise..."

He looked at Shen Yi. "I was born incomplete."

"Eh? I’ve never seen other Flower Fairies grow plants, but if you’re this powerful despite being born incomplete, what must other Flower Fairies be like..." Shen Yi raised a tentacle, sighing in admiration as he looked at Xi Ye. "World Consciousness really favors you Flower Fairies."

Xi Ye was still in a daze. Had he just told Shen Yi that he was an incomplete fairy?

This was something he would never have admitted, even if it meant death.

But for some reason, he had blurted it out just now.

Before he could even feel regret, Shen Yi’s words chased away all his doubts and dejection. Shen Yi didn’t care whether he was a pure Flower Fairy or not.

He suddenly smiled, flew over, and tweaked Shen Yi’s tentacle. "No other Flower Fairy is as powerful as I am."

"Yeah, right, stop bragging." Shen Yi grimaced, pulling back his tentacle and covering it tightly to prevent Xi Ye from touching it. "Did fusing with the Wood Spirit Heart fix what you were missing?"

"Yes," Xi Ye nodded cheerfully. "I didn’t feel it before, but during cultivation just now, I realized the effort of barely squeezing out vitality is gone. It’s as if the missing part of my body has been filled, making it easy to grow plants in areas I couldn’t before."

"This is all thanks to you," Xi Ye cupped Shen Yi’s face and kissed him. "Shen Yi, you are my lucky star."

"Don’t... don’t kiss so casually." Shen Yi pushed Xi Ye’s face away, his gaze drifting elsewhere as he acted casual. "I won’t ask you to devote yourself to me, but from now on, the task of cultivating [Crystal Stone Plums] for the bee colony is yours."

Xi Ye would have been more than willing to devote himself, but there was still work to be done. The players had been offline for a long time, and Shen Yi needed to summon new players as soon as possible.

Shen Yi designated several more areas near Flowing Firefly Valley as gathering grounds for the bee colony. In addition to [Crystal Stone Plums], he also created several flower fields. Under Xi Ye’s cultivation, the flowers bloomed in unison, a dazzling array of colors.

Shen Yi mobilized the bee colony to gather stone plums and nectar. In less than half a day, they had stored enough food.

He immediately summoned new players and had the system post an announcement on the official website about increasing the player quota.

Players who had been unable to log into the game for three days, too worried to eat or drink, finally came alive upon seeing the announcement, going wild in the group chat.

Wandering Bee: "Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! They’re opening up slots again! This time, it’s 100,000 slots at once! Does this mean we don’t have to worry about the game shutting down?"

Wandering Bee: "This means the game is still going to be playable, right?"