Chapter Fifty-One: Little Brother, Are You Planning to Eat Dirt?

At this moment, the data on the attribute panel had changed significantly once again.

[Host]: Qin Chuan
[Type]: Mutated Cold Iron Sword (1)
[Rank]: Second-tier Supreme (Sharpness bonus 10%)
[Quality]: Rare (All attributes bonus 5%)
[Level]: 16
[Attributes]
Sharpness: 246 + 110.7 (45%) + 24.6 (10%)
Tenacity: 182 + 36.4 (20%)
Speed: 186 + 37.2 (20%)
Evolution Points: 69,595 / 819,200
Experience: 62,300 / 3,276,800
Rage: 30 / 100
[Innate Talent]
Devour Origin
Primary Form Simulation
Origin of Metal: 0 / 200
Origin of Wood: 0 / 200
Origin of Water: 0 / 200
Origin of Fire: 0 / 200
Origin of Earth: 77 / 200
[Skills]
Flow Strike: Stage One Level 3, Stage Two Glide Level 1 (5 meters)
Blink: Stage One Level 3, Stage Two Immunity Level 2 (0.6 seconds)
Enhance: Stage One Level 3, Stage Two Freeze Level 1 (Slow 5%, Freeze chance 10%)
Falling Sky Flow Strike: Stage One Level 3, Stage Two Pending Activation
[Chakra Talent]
First Layer Root Chakra: All attributes +10
First Layer Sacral Chakra: Permanent quality upgrade chance +5%
[Additional Attributes]
Lethal Strike 10%
Critical Hit 3%
Slow 10%
Freeze 5%

"Ah, a total sharpness of 381 points, these numbers are truly pleasing to the eye," Qin Chuan mused as he browsed the attribute list, feeling immensely satisfied.

"The Origin of Earth is still lacking, though! Well then, let's be a thorough bandit to the end," he thought, recalling the hundred or so clay men above and grinning maliciously.

Right now, those clay men were scattered all over, comfortably lying in the swamp, inhaling and exhaling the black sludge. As clay men, ingesting sludge was their main cultivation method, refining useful substances through repeated absorption. That substance, in fact, was the Origin of Earth.

Just as the clay men were enjoying their "feast," a black longsword shattered the tranquility.

"Aaah!"
Screams resounded throughout the swamp, once again stirring the sensitive "nerves" of the clay men.

"What’s going on today?"
"Could it be another reckless spirit creature trespassing on our territory?"
"Never mind, let’s go out and kill them!"
...

Yet this time, the opponent was particularly mysterious. The clay men couldn't detect their whereabouts at all, but whenever one wandered alone, they'd be slain in the blink of an eye. Originally, there were over a hundred clay men; in no time, only forty or fifty remained, and fear began to spread unnoticed.

"Why can't we see the enemy's shadow?"
"Heavens, this is terrifying!"
"What about our lord? Has no one reported to him yet?"
"Brothers, everyone gather together, don’t wander off. Wait patiently for the lord’s support."
"Right, don’t let them pick us off one by one!"

These clay men were quite clever, realizing the importance of banding together at such a moment. However, all this played perfectly into Qin Chuan’s plan.

As the remaining clay men huddled in groups, disaster descended silently.

Suddenly, purple light flashed in midair, and a hundred sword shadows rained down from above.

"Swish, swish, swish!"
"Aaah!"
"Impossible, how could it be that worthless black sword?!"

Before the clay men could make sense of the situation, Qin Chuan’s three-second ultimate skill wiped them out completely.

"Ding! Killed a level 16 mid-grade clay man, gained 750 experience points."
...

Had those hundred clay men joined forces and unleashed their coordinated skills, any spirit creature would have felt overwhelmed. Now, with a simple trick, Qin Chuan had effortlessly massacred them—it was a total annihilation.

"Ah, as the old saying goes, with a good scheme in hand, the world is mine!"
Listening to the barrage of system notifications, Qin Chuan’s heart brimmed with joy once more.

"Devour Origin!"

"Ding! Devour successful, gained 160 evolution points."
"Ding! Gained 1 point of Origin of Earth."
...

Qin Chuan squinted in satisfaction—truly, the taste of the Origin of Earth was delightful.

In the end, he gathered a total of 205 points of Origin of Earth, though it still wasn’t enough to upgrade his innate talent.

"I still need to collect the origins of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire. Looks like I'll need to cultivate more underlings in the future."

"Without his help, finding these things will be much harder."

"This time, gaining the Origin of Earth was pure luck and chance."

"Which means, I must be quite handsome after all!"

"Haha!"

With these thoughts, Qin Chuan began to swagger once again.

"Hey, where did my little brother go? It’s been so long—what’s he up to?"

Qin Chuan looked around and couldn’t help but raise his “voice” and shout, "Little brother, where are you? Come out!"

Strangely, after a few calls, Sleepy Bug still didn’t respond.

In the end, Qin Chuan’s lips curled into a peculiar smile, "Well then, time for my ultimate move."

"The King has summoned me to patrol the mountain, so I’ll roam the spirit realm..."

Sure enough, before long, Sleepy Bug burrowed up from the ground not far away. It seemed Qin Chuan’s wailing song could truly shake heaven and earth.

"Big... brother, you’re finally done. I was getting worried sick waiting for you."

"Mm, where did you go? Why didn’t you come when I called?"

Sleepy Bug was clearly a little embarrassed, and he “smiled” sheepishly, "Big brother, I was just scared, so I ran a bit farther away. But as soon as I heard your wonderful singing, I rushed right over."

At this moment, one had to admit Sleepy Bug’s formidable immunity. What should have been a wailing disaster, he managed to treat as melodic music.

Qin Chuan knew the words were a bit flattering, but he still thoroughly enjoyed them.

"Haha! You’re getting better at talking, little brother."

"I’ve cleared out all the clay men, but there’s not much loot. I had to devour five golden lotus seeds earlier."

"I originally wanted to save some for you, but there was only a ten-second limit."

Qin Chuan hid nothing, telling Sleepy Bug the truth.

Although Sleepy Bug was a little disappointed, he appreciated Qin Chuan’s honesty.

"Big brother, it’s all right. There’ll be plenty more chances in the future."

"Mm, as long as you don’t blame me. I promised I’d never shortchange you."

"Mm-hmm, I know you’ve always treated me well."

Just then, Qin Chuan remembered the black mud in the clay lord’s lair, feeling it was somewhat peculiar.

"By the way, little brother. The clay lord’s nest is down below—let’s go take a look. Maybe there’ll be a surprise."

"Sure, we’ve got nothing else to do anyway."

The prospect of looting excited Sleepy Bug, his cute eyes flashing with anticipation.

So, sword and bug ventured below. After searching, they discovered the clay lord had no collection whatsoever.

A creature satisfied just by eating dirt—expecting him to have treasures was indeed unreasonable.

"Little brother, this guy really has nothing good. Why don’t you check out that black mud and see if it’s valuable?"

"After all, that golden lotus was nurtured from this black soil."

As for the black mud, Qin Chuan hadn’t received any system prompts, so he wasn’t sure if it was valuable. But judging by his instincts, this patch of black mud was extraordinary.

Sleepy Bug finally noticed the patch of black mud and sniffed it with his lively nose.

"How strange, this black mud doesn’t have any scent at all."

"Really? That is odd," Qin Chuan was surprised. Usually, soil carries a faint earthy smell.

The absence of any scent meant that there was something unusual about this black mud.

While pondering, Sleepy Bug suddenly took a bite of the black mud, munching away.

"Whoa, little brother, are you seriously eating mud?"