Douluo Dalu: My Martial Spirit is the Worm of Time

Chapter 14: Flame Slime

patreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chp

After the wolf pack, Amon and the others were attacked by another soul beast, forcing them to extend their rest time. By the time they reached their destination, it was already dusk.

The sun was setting in the west, and the last rays of the day shone on the clouds, revealing a mix of gold and red. Away from the sun, the color of the sky gradually changed from light blue to deep blue, becoming profound and ethereal.

The lake on the mountaintop was very calm. Viewed from above, the water appeared deep and still. Beneath the wide surface, it seemed as if huge shadows were lurking, able to evoke the fear of the unknown in people's hearts.

"Wow... how beautiful," Yan Jin said, standing on a rock and looking at the scene before her, a genuine smile on her face.

The pressure of supporting her family weighed heavily on her, keeping her nerves constantly on edge. It was rare for her to relax, and at this moment, she felt as if her body and mind were being purified.

Glen gazed at the boundary between the lake and the land, where he saw a few small black dots moving slowly in the distance.

"Found it, over there."

Following the direction he pointed, Amon saw the Slime tribe.

Not far behind the Slime group, an orange light followed closely. That was their target for this trip—the Flame Slime.

Because its attribute was different from other Slimes, the Flame Slime was ostracized and isolated, forced to live on the periphery of the tribe, appearing lonely.

"It looks so pitiful," Yan Jin said with a gentle tone.

After a moment of pause, she continued, "So let's help it be free."

Glen, who was about to advise her that excessive sympathy wasn't a good thing, swallowed his words back.

You don't have any sympathy at all!

"Tsk... this makes it easier for us to hunt."

The arrival of the three aroused the vigilance of the Slime group, and they hopped backward.

After realizing that their target was the outcast of the tribe, they chose not to help but instead sped up their escape, leaving the Flame Slime uneasily surrounded in the middle.

It suddenly swelled up, growing from the size of a basketball to the size of a water tank, making a "huffing" sound like a boiling kettle.

Its color also changed from its original orange-yellow to fiery red, and clusters of flames appeared on the top of its body.

It opened its mouth and spewed out a huge pillar of fire.

Yan Jin dodged somewhat embarrassedly.

Amon watched the attack range of the fire pillar, his eyes slightly focused.

The age of a Slime cannot be judged by its physical appearance, but it can be judged by the killing distance of the water pillar it spews. A distance of five to ten meters indicates ten to one hundred years, ten to fifteen meters indicates one hundred to five hundred years, and fifteen to thirty meters indicates five hundred to one thousand years.

This is the standard for judging the age of ordinary Slimes, but this is just a Flame mutant, and Amon couldn't be sure if it followed the same rules.

He thought it was likely the same; Slime mutations are often just in their attributes.

The fire pillar just now shot out for more than twenty meters. According to the rules above, it was close to a thousand-year soul beast!

This clearly far exceeded Yan Jin's first soul ring's absorption limit.

Amon came to Yan Jin's side, placed his hand on her shoulder, and a Worm of Time silently merged into Yan Jin's body.

"Ah, this..." Yan Jin noticed that a foreign object had suddenly merged into her martial soul. Just as she was about to expel it, Amon's voice sounded in her mind.

"Don't resist, this is my martial soul."

"Amon?" She was about to turn her head.

"Don't turn around, don't show any abnormality," Amon stopped her. "I am now communicating with you through my martial soul. You just need to silently think what you want to say in your heart."

"Listen carefully to me. This Slime's age has exceeded your limit, probably at the level of eight or nine hundred years."

"Under normal circumstances, even a soul master's second soul ring cannot absorb such a high age, but I have a way to let you absorb it."

"But I haven't tried it before, so there is a certain failure rate."

"Consider it yourself, do you want to gamble."

Yan Jin was very surprised. Helping others absorb soul rings of a higher age was something she had never heard of anyone being able to do. Even the people in the tavern wouldn't boast like that!

Well... they would only boast even more outrageously, such as innate soul power level twenty, or a god personally bestowing a soul ring...

"What method?" she asked curiously.

Amon's voice sounded in her heart, "My martial soul can merge into someone else's body or martial soul without their resistance."

"The reason why a soul master cannot absorb a soul ring that is too old is because their body cannot withstand such a huge amount of energy."

"My martial soul can help you share some of the energy. There is a certain limit to this, and it cannot exceed too much. I don't know where this limit is."

"Merging into the body or martial soul" is actually the use of the Worm of Time's "parasitism" ability, but because it is still too weak, the "parasitism" must be agreed upon by the other party, otherwise it will easily be expelled.

When Amon made the suggestion, he did not choose to hide anything, telling Yan Jin the unfavorable conditions in their entirety. This could subtly make her trust him more.

He wasn't worried at all that Yan Jin would choose not to gamble; the reality left her no room for retreat.

After a little thought, Yan Jin agreed, "Okay, let's do it."

"Hmm? This is a matter of life and death. Won't you consider it a little more?" Amon's lips curled up slightly, as this was what he expected.

"Since you would say that, you must have a certain degree of confidence. I can only choose to gamble... Ms. Ma Wen obviously won't continue to spend manpower and resources to help me find a second Flame Slime. It's too difficult to find one that is perfectly suitable! I don't have a second chance!" Yan Jin said firmly.

"A very wise decision," Amon revealed a hint of a smile.

Glen dodged another attack from the Slime, and casually commented, "Although the attack range is quite large and the flame damage is not bad, the speed is too slow, and the characteristics of releasing the attack are too obvious. Even a trained ordinary person can easily dodge it."

He revealed his martial soul, "Shadow Leopard, possess!"

The dark martial soul, shrouded in shadows and only showing a rough outline, transformed into a phantom and merged with Glen. A pair of cat ears popped out from the top of his head, and long, sharp claws grew from the tips of his fingers.

The second soul ring lit up, and Glen's speed doubled as he quickly rushed in front of the Slime.

The Flame Slime was startled and panicked, wanting to retreat, but its movement speed was truly pathetic. Before it even landed after jumping, it already had dozens of wounds on its body.

Like a leaking balloon, flames kept emerging from its wounds. It suddenly became very weak, and its body slowly shrunk.

"Hey, stop spacing out. Do you want this soul ring? If you don't act quickly, it will die," Glen reminded.

"I want it..." Yan Jin hurriedly rushed over and summoned her martial soul to smash into its body.

With a puff, the Flame Slime shriveled up, leaving behind a pile of orange-yellow, warm liquid.

Faint yellow light spots began to condense above the Slime's corpse, forming a bright yellow soul ring. Even without touching it, Yan Jin could feel the vast energy it contained, making her doubt whether she could absorb it.

She hesitated for a moment, gritted her teeth, and slowly raised her right hand, gathering soul power into her palm. Accompanied by a red light, a slowly flowing mass of lava emerged from her palm, exuding a scorching aura.