After paying the spirit stones, Chen Yu received the printed copy of the "Qian Yuan Spirit Nurturing Art".

Just before Shao Qingsong left, Chen Yu inquired about purchasing a secluded meditation cottage.

"You need a sufficiently safe and undisturbed quiet cottage, right? Leave it to your senior brother."

"Senior brother, you also sell cottages?" Chen Yu asked curiously.

Shao Qingsong chuckled softly, "All thanks to you, junior brother. That healing medicine helped me make many connections and even smoothly break through to the fourth level of Qi Training."

"Originally, I planned to become a traveling merchant at Blackwind Gully after reaching the fourth level, specifically to earn spirit stones from those civil engineering senior brothers."

"It's a bit dangerous, but there are few cultivators in this line of work, so competition isn't fierce, and the earnings are decent."

"But after meeting you, junior brother, I don't need to work so hard traveling to Blackwind Gully anymore. If you need anything in the future, just ask without standing on ceremony with your senior brother."

"Congratulations, senior brother."

After seeing Shao Qingsong off, Chen Yu took out the "Qian Yuan Spirit Nurturing Art" and began reading through it.

Compared to theory, this beast taming technique placed more emphasis on practice.

To practice it, it was best to find a magical creature to practice "Spirit-Qi Interaction". After feeding it essence, qi, and spirit multiple times, even the most vicious ancient demon would have eyes as clear as a calf's after being tamed.

"Who should I find?"

Chen Yu thought for a moment, and Little Ka's figure immediately came to mind.

Such a fierce crocodile—let's try hitting it with his beast dementia technique first.

...

Swamp Castle.

The warm summer sun generously poured over the oak swamp, steaming up a thin mist shimmering with moisture and vitality.

At the fortress construction site, work was in full swing.

The Poison-stinger Wasps buzzed like the most diligent gardeners, hurriedly gathering moss and rotten wood back to the cultivation area to feed the Moss Monsters.

Some of the wasp soldiers draped in leaves were guards selected to patrol the territory. When necessary, they would chew through the Stone Pile Talismans beneath them, triggering powerful stone-throwing attacks to deal with intruders.

Meanwhile, the beetles serving as the main transport force marched in somewhat disorderly lines, their six legs tap-tapping on the compacted muddy ground as they carried damp mud blocks and shredded plant fibers to various corners of the fortress expansion.

Then the Civil Engineering Slimes would transform mud into stone, building one tall, solemn wall after another.

However, amidst this busy background noise, one figure stood out as out of place.

A little crocodile lying in the swamp, spacing out.

Little Ka lay flattened in a shallow muddy puddle warmed by the sun, amusing itself with small bubbles.

The King... hadn't gone out to patrol the territory for several days now.

Without the King's summons, it lay around from sunrise to sunset every day. Except for occasionally moving spots when awakened by Poison-stinger Wasp patrols, most of its time was spent eating, then sleeping, then eating again...

So degenerate.

Little Ka was deeply concerned inside.

A lazy guard, a useless mount.

If this continued, it would definitely be fired by the King.

Little Ka buried itself deeper into the mud in frustration.

So boring.

It really wanted to go out with the King...

As it thought this, as if its heartfelt wish had been answered, a squelching sound approached—a slime was coming closer.

Little Ka lifted its head above the water to observe.

The King had come!

Instantly, its gloomy mood leaped with joy. Happily wagging its little tail, it moved closer.

"Hmm..."

Chen Yu extended his gel to press down on Little Ka.

He briefly fell into thought.

Come to think of it, was there even a need to tame Little Ka?

You could doubt the Poison-stinger Wasps might rebel, but suspecting this little guy would betray him...

He truly couldn't imagine it.

However, nurturing could ultimately help beasts grow.

Even wild beasts without awakened intelligence could have their intelligence nourished and transform into spirit demons as long as they received spiritual feeding from cultivators.

In Zeyarila's terms, this meant mutating beasts into intelligent magical creatures. Later, when these magical creatures cultivated to higher levels, they could even master some supernatural powers and spells.

Little Ka didn't bite people, making it perfect for practice.

"Little Ka, lie still. No matter what happens later, don't move."

"...Kaka!"

The little crocodile lay on the ground, not daring to move its eyes, waiting for Chen Yu to perform the technique.

It thought the King was conducting some mysterious ritual.

Just like how it could run incredibly fast for no reason—that must have been a gift from the King too.

"Here it comes."

Chen Yu gestured according to the "Qian Yuan Spirit Nurturing Art" content, attempting to condense his own essence, qi, and spirit into spiritual feeding, then nourish Little Ka with it.

He failed several times at first, but after becoming more proficient, he finally managed to transfer the meager spiritual feeding into Little Ka's body.

Under the gel, Little Ka felt the King's touch was warm, and then this warmth gradually penetrated inward, making its entire body feel warm and comfortable.

So comfortable.

So sleepy...

Seeing Little Ka's expression of enjoyment, Chen Yu felt a faint joy well up inside him.

The first feeding was successful.

At the very least, he had become a druid in another way.

However, beast taming was meticulous work that required persistence to see obvious changes.

When spirit demons consumed enough spiritual feeding, their muscles, bones, flesh, blood, and scales would naturally undergo transformation, or... awaken some innate supernatural powers like water control or earth digging.

The magic organs of Zeyarila's magical creatures, the innate supernatural powers of Xu Xuan Heaven's demons... these two power systems collided and merged here.

He felt like some forbidden mage conducting evil experiments, dancing recklessly at the edge of two worlds and courting death.

However, the results of this "dancing" were substantial—the idea of a magical creature army could be put on the agenda.

Chen Yu's gaze swept over the busy fortress, quickly locking onto his targets: four queen wasps with decent potential, five elite Poison-stinger Wasp Guards, plus five beetles with thick shells.

He would first concentrate resources to nurture these dozen or so elites, raising them for two or three days to see the effects of spiritual feeding.

If the "Qian Yuan Spirit Nurturing Art" level was high enough, Spirit-Qi Interaction could even feed dozens of magical creatures at once, consuming less essence, qi, and spirit.

He estimated that Lv.5 "Qian Yuan Spirit Nurturing Art" spiritual feeding effects could rival some spiritual medicines.

Envious.

Currently, the technique level was too low. Just feeding these dozen or so "seed contestants" and the slimes in the nest for one day would nearly exhaust his accumulated essence, qi, and spirit.

They were still far from having an overwhelming magical creature army.

But!

As long as these carefully selected magical creatures could complete their initial transformation, paired with his trump card "Stone Pile Talismans"...

One-on-one combat might still be lacking, but with a dozen or so coordinating, ganging up to take down one or two isolated elite units might not be just a dream.

A dozen or so pseudo-elite units... tsk tsk tsk, just imagining this scene made the slime excited.

And his old slime family's Slime Mother and the little slimes could also gradually increase their potential through spiritual feeding.

He didn't expect the slimes to transform into something incredibly powerful—just being able to live safely and steadily in the perilous swamp, capable of self-protection, would be enough.

On Chen Yu's side, both the swamp fortress construction and magical creature army cultivation were proceeding in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile, Yano had also made preparations to head to the gray zone.