By a river nearly a hundred meters wide, a massive, opaque slime sprawled along the bank.
Unlike ordinary slimes, its body was a deep, dark purple.
The creature's height exceeded twenty meters, and lying there, it resembled a small hill.
"That's huge… it must have devoured countless of its own kind to grow this big," Baili An muttered as he arrived, staring at the monstrous slime.
The Gluttonous Slime was an abnormal variant among slimes, capable of evolving continuously by consuming its peers.
More than four months ago, Baili An had encountered a Gluttonous Slime as well, but at that time, he had lacked confidence and retreated.
Now, this one was even larger than the one he had faced before.
"Keep watch around us," Baili An instructed the Phantom Crow.
"Caw." The summoned crow responded, soaring into the air and circling overhead as a vigilant lookout.
Baili An activated his Sharingan and slowly drew the Tang Dao strapped to his waist.
Unlike the standard blade he had used before, this Tang Dao glowed a deep crimson. Intricate carvings ran along the straight blade.
He had commissioned a master blacksmith to forge this specially, incorporating a rare fire-element mineral.
The blade could resist flames and enhance the transmission of fire-based spirit energy.
"It would be rude to disturb it without a greeting," Baili An murmured.
Focusing on the enormous creature, he raised his blade and activated his awakened fire-based ability. Flames roared along the edge of the sword.
As he swung forward, a fiery "sword wave" shot toward the slime.
Just before contact, the Gluttonous Slime erupted a mass of viscous, corrosive liquid, blocking the flames.
Where fire met slime, droplets vaporized instantly, some falling to the ground and corroding stones with a hiss.
Even through the mist, Baili An's Sharingan caught every detail clearly.
"This level of corrosiveness… if it hits, I'd be done for," he whispered.
Pressure rose in his chest, but he felt no fear.
The massive, rolling body of the Gluttonous Slime shifted and began secreting more corrosive mucus, forming floating blobs in the air, each large enough to bathe a person in.
A sudden burst of wind erupted from one blob as if struck by an invisible force, shooting straight toward Baili An.
"Fast attack," he muttered, leaping aside.
The slime launched wave after wave of corrosive blobs like cannon fire.
But after a few rounds, Baili An had already read its attack pattern.
He stopped dodging and charged straight at the Gluttonous Slime's core.
By this stage of evolution, its body could nearly regenerate indefinitely, but the core inside the crystalline nucleus remained its weak point.
Cracking through its massive body to destroy the crystal was no simple task.
As Baili An surged forward, the slime altered its attack method. The corrosive blobs dispersed into individual droplets.
"Relying on numbers now, huh?" Baili An smiled, undisturbed.
"This is what they call the instinct to fight, even though it's just a mindless slime."
The corrosive droplets rained down, and the riverbank offered no place to hide.
Baili An formed a hand seal with his left hand, channeling spirit energy to his mouth.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
This was one of the modified fire techniques he had gained after awakening his Sharingan.
Though he could naturally shape fire without hand seals, forming the seal accelerated the spell's creation. A normal large fireball might take three seconds to gather, but with the seal, it took less than one second.
Flames burst from his mouth, instantly vaporizing the oncoming droplets. Baili An spread the fire to maximize coverage rather than forming a perfect sphere.
The slime's enormous body suddenly extended a massive tentacle, swinging toward him.
Baili An reacted calmly, leaping onto the giant tentacle and running along its body toward the core.
Smaller tentacles erupted from the massive one, attempting to block his path. Corrosive droplets fell from above.
Time seemed to slow through Baili An's Sharingan.
All attacks were evaded or severed by his sharp Tang Dao. Flames vaporized the corrosive liquid.
His eyes swept the battlefield continuously, blade moving without pause.
Step by step, he advanced, completely absorbed in the fight.
The slime could not stop him.
"Come on, slime mutant," he muttered.
Leaping onto the slime's body, his crimson eyes locked on the crystalline core below, expression unreadable.
"Otherwise, you're done for."
More tentacles shot upward, aiming for Baili An midair.
His left hand formed a seal. The Sharingan's insight pierced through the slime's body, locking onto the concealed crystal.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Compressed flames took the shape of a dragon, prioritizing power and precision over area.
The dragon of fire smashed through the tentacles and barreled toward the core.
At close range, the slime could not dodge, shrinking its body as best it could.
Sizzling, the dragon collided with the target. Heat vaporized the slime's flesh.
A massive breach opened in the slime's body, but the crystalline nucleus remained intact, shielded by its outer mass.
Baili An had anticipated this moment.
Gripping the Tang Dao with his right hand, he infused the blade with fire-based spirit energy. The entire blade glowed red-hot.
His Sharingan focused on the crystal.
He hurled the blade with all his strength.
The tip pierced through the slime's body like a meteor.
Moments later:
The Gluttonous Slime erupted violently, unable to maintain its shape, collapsing into harmless, sticky purple goo.
[Gluttonous Slime defeated. Source Essence +300]
Baili An landed lightly. The riverbank was a mess, littered with purple slime and a Tang Dao planted in the ground.
Embedded at the blade's tip was a palm-sized purple crystal.
The core, pierced and nailed to the earth, glimmered ominously.