Chapter Forty-Seven: You Shall Be One with the Earth

Sleepy Bug immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of the two beads and hurriedly asked, “Big brother, do you know what these two beads are?”
Qin Chuan used his Cold Iron Sword to prod the beads, feeling a surge of excitement in his heart.
“Haha! What luck we have!”
“I don’t know how Lord Langma got his hands on these beads, but he couldn’t open the box. Now, they’re ours!”
“Little brother, the purple bead is called the Amethyst Orb. It can permanently increase sharpness by five percent.”
“The green one is the Venom Mother. It adds a potent poison effect.”
Sleepy Bug nearly drooled in delight and blurted out, “Wow, these are real treasures!”
Qin Chuan laughed happily. “Yes, with these two beads, our haul this time is perfect.”
“Little brother, refine the Venom Mother. With your spraying skill, you’ll be able to add poison—it suits you perfectly.”
“As for the Amethyst Orb, it’s mine.”
“Sure, big brother, I’ll do as you say.”
Sleepy Bug had no attack power, so the Amethyst Orb was useless to him, but the Venom Mother was entirely different.
With the division settled, sword and bug quickly began their respective refinements.
“Devour the essence!”
“Ding! Successfully devoured the Amethyst Orb. Sharpness increased by five percent.”
The delightful system prompt made Qin Chuan’s heart blossom with joy.
“What unbelievable luck! Just by devouring the Amethyst Orb, I gained another five percent sharpness.”
At that moment, Qin Chuan’s attribute panel underwent fresh changes.

[Host]: Qin Chuan
[Type]: Black Cold Iron Sword
[Rank]: Second-tier Supreme (Sharpness +10%)
[Quality]: Rare (All attributes +5%)
[Level]: 15
[Attributes]
Sharpness: 223 + 100.35 (45%) + 22.3 (10%)
Tenacity: 176 + 35.2 (20%)
Speed: 180 + 36 (20%)
Evolution Points: 186075/409600
Experience: 238,600/3,276,800
Rage: 50/100
Innate Talents: Devour Essence, Basic Mimicry
[Skills]
Flow Strike: Stage 1 Level 3, Stage 2 Glide Level 1 (5 meters)
Flash: Stage 1 Level 3, Stage 2 Immunity Level 2 (0.6 seconds)
Enhance: Stage 1 Level 3, Stage 2 Freeze Level 1 (5% slow, 10% freeze chance)
Falling Sky Strike: Level 2
[Chakra Talents]
First Layer Root Chakra: All attributes +10
First Layer Sacral Chakra: Permanently increases quality success rate by 5%
[Additional Attributes]
Critical Hit 10%
Burst 3%
Slow 10%
Freeze 5%

“Haha, almost three hundred and fifty sharpness! That’s explosive output for a second-tier weapon!”
Now Qin Chuan brimmed with confidence. He could face even average third-tier spirits head-on.
Meanwhile, Sleepy Bug was still refining, his whole body glowing green, resembling a snake.
“Whoa, are you about to turn into a snake?”
After a moment, the green glow faded, and Sleepy Bug returned to his usual color.
Qin Chuan’s worries were unfounded; traveling with a snake, especially a poisonous one, would have felt odd.
Sleepy Bug opened his cute blue eyes, full of excitement.
“Big brother, I’ve finished refining.”
“Good, spray once and let’s see the effect.”
“Alright!”
Sleepy Bug was eager to test the poison, so in his adorable voice, he declared, “Hardening!”
In a flash, Sleepy Bug transformed into a big club and sprayed a jet of green slime at the mountainside.
“Ssssss!”
The solid rock sizzled, corroding to reveal a large hole.
“Wow, little brother, your poison is fierce!”
“Hehe, big brother, you flatter me. Cold Iron Liquid freezes for three seconds; the poison lasts ten seconds.”
Qin Chuan was very pleased with the result. “Impressive. I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
“Haha, don’t tease me, big brother. You’re much stronger than I am!”
“Haha, alright. Let’s stop complimenting each other and remember to keep a low profile.”
“Yes, yes, low profile.”
These two were blatantly high-profile, yet insisted on modesty.
Sword and bug left Langma Post and continued northward.
The Deer Plains were neither huge nor tiny, and it would still take days to reach the Enchanted Forest.
Qin Chuan scrutinized the map ahead and decided to do a bit of looting along the way.
“Little brother, let’s head this way and see if there’s anyone worth robbing.”
“Big brother, are you planning a big job again?”
“If luck is on our side, it’ll be a major haul.”
“Alright, big brother, hang on tight—my cute whirlwind is about to start!”
Whoosh!
Sleepy Bug’s “electric motor” revved to full power, zipping forward at speed.
Soon, sword and bug arrived at a swamp, surrounded by decaying branches and muddy ground.
Bubbles occasionally rose from the stagnant water.

“Big brother, do wealthy targets live in swamps too?”
“Not necessarily, it depends on luck.”
The swamp wasn’t large, so there was no poisonous miasma, but mist still hung thickly.
Qin Chuan had come because he was interested in the spirits dwelling here.
“Ding! Discovered second-tier mid-grade Mudman, excellent quality, level sixteen.”
...
In the spirit world, humanoid creatures were rare—that’s what intrigued Qin Chuan.
The spirit world was a peculiar place; achieving a human form was extremely difficult, nearly impossible under normal circumstances.
This was a key reason the spirit world was deemed a lower realm.
Spirit cores granted wisdom and skills, but also limited ultimate evolution.
Ever since Qin Chuan discovered his own spirit core was unique, he’d paid special attention to this issue.
He listened to the dense system prompts and thought, “There are a lot of Mudmen here—almost two hundred, I’d wager.”
Sleepy Bug, seeing the swirling mist, swallowed nervously. “Big brother, this place feels spooky. I’d better hide.”
Qin Chuan’s consciousness wore a sly smile but nodded, “Go ahead.”
“Okay.”
Sleepy Bug answered and burrowed into the soft mud.
But soon, he sensed something odd in the earth—soft, slippery, sticky, and nearby, a pair of eerie eyes appeared.
“Ah?! Help!”
Sleepy Bug screamed in terror, scrambled out, and hid behind Qin Chuan.
“Big... brother, there’s a monster down there!”
Qin Chuan’s consciousness laughed; he had already detected Mudmen below.
“Surprised?”
“Big brother, don’t joke. This isn’t a surprise, it’s a fright!”
“Plop, plop!”
A lump of black mud emerged where Sleepy Bug had burrowed.
“Big brother, look! The monster’s coming out!”
The black mud wriggled and slowly stood upright, taking on a humanoid form with black eyes.
The Mudman’s face twisted into a strange smile, his voice deep and muffled. “Welcome to the Mudman Swamp. You will become one with the earth.”
“Big brother, why is there a black man here?!”
Sleepy Bug was utterly dumbfounded.
Qin Chuan stepped forward, “Little brother, that’s not a black man—it’s a Mudman.”
The Mudman’s eyes flashed with surprise, then he sneered contemptuously. “Heh, I didn’t expect such a shabby black sword to know so much.”
Sleepy Bug, ever polite and soft, replied, “Uh, Mudman brother, we’re just passing through, didn’t mean to disturb you. We’ll leave now.”
“Leave? Haha! Impossible. As I said, you will become one with the earth.”
“Plop, plop!”
From the surrounding mud and water, more Mudmen began to emerge.