I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

After eating a quick bite and exchanging low-level magic crystals for points at the Adventurers' Guild, Ji Tian left the city again.

He did not go back to Ashwood.

Last night, he killed most of the monsters in the Ash Forest that prefer to be active at night.

The rest are either hidden deep inside and too lazy to look for, or they are weak and fast enough to run away, not worth the effort.

He stood at the city gate and glanced back at the direction of the withered forest to the east.

He muttered to himself, "If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll grow back in the spring. If you kill them all off, the next generation won't have anything to practice on."

This is a principle I learned from online novels in my previous life.

The wise and experienced masters in those books never plundered all the rare treasures of a secret realm; they always left some for those who came after. It wasn't out of kindness, but out of principle. If you blaze a trail and those who follow have nowhere else to go, they will come to walk your path.

The cultivation world emphasizes "cause and effect".

If you kill all the monsters, the "balance" of this area will be broken.

If low-level adventurers have nowhere to practice, they can only go to more dangerous areas. If too many people die, the blame will eventually fall on their heads.

It's not that I'm afraid, it's that there's no need to be.

Everything in the universe has its own way. Monsters have their way, and low-level adventurers have theirs. If you disrupt someone else's way, your own way will also be affected.

"The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and one is hidden away."

This "one" represents a glimmer of hope left for all things.

"Of course, goblins, who are inherently evil, are an exception and should be exterminated."

Ji Tian withdrew his gaze and turned to walk south.

He needs a lot of monsters, preferably in groups, as that would be more efficient.

He recalled a quest notice on the Adventurers' Guild bulletin board: "Clear Slimes - South Suburbs of Kold City, Rewards based on quantity."

slime.

Ji Tian had seen this thing in a game in his previous life. It had low attack power and low defense power. Its only feature was that it could reproduce through natural division.

Kill one, and ten more will appear.

Adventurers are unwilling to take on this kind of mission—the pay is low and it's troublesome.

But for him, it's a good option.

Slimes may be weak, but they are still monsters. And monsters have souls.

When the difference in cultivation level is not significant, souls are not distinguished by strength, but only by presence or absence. The souls of ten thousand slimes and the souls of ten thousand goblins are indistinguishable within the Emperor's Banner.

Just like the saying in the online novels of my past life, "Even the life of an ant is still a life."

He walked along the path south of the city for about half an hour and saw a patch of low bushes in the distance.

Behind the bushes was a wide meadow, with several large, brightly colored, bouncy, gelatinous clumps scattered across it.

slime.

Just as Ji Tian was about to take a step, he heard an old voice coming from the bushes, with a deliberately crafted, steady tone that belonged to a "master craftsman"—like a street vendor selling fake medicine introducing his ancestral secret recipe to a customer.

He peered through the gaps in the bushes.

An old man was squatting on the grass, holding a short cane in his hand, with a blob of blue slime in front of him.

He was wearing a faded gray robe with a bronze badge of a novice mage pinned to his collar.

Standing opposite the old man was a fair-skinned little girl with two braids resembling the braids from her past life. She wore a patched coarse cloth dress, and her shoes were worn so worn that her toes were almost visible.

Her eyes were large and bright, and she was staring intently at the blue gelatinous substance, her face full of curiosity and excitement, as if she had seen some amazing treasure.

The old man asked in a "let me test you" tone, "What are the characteristics of a slime?"

The little girl thought for a moment, then innocently shook her head.

The old man smiled and gently poked the blob of blue slime with his short cane.

The thing wobbled when poked, making a "gurgling" sound, and then slowly moved half an inch to the side.

The old man said with certainty, "Its attack power is very low. It's basically the weakest of all monsters; even an ordinary person could crush it with one stomp."

"Wow!" the little girl exclaimed.

"But—" the old man's tone suddenly shifted, becoming mysterious, "its resilience is extremely high. Ordinary people can't harm it even if they try to cut it with swords. Only magic can effectively counter it."

The little girl's eyes widened, her mouth slightly open, her face filled with admiration.

Ji Tian leaned against the bushes, listening expressionlessly.

"Luckily he spoke quickly, otherwise we would have seen it in the Adventurer's Guide."

But this is none of his business. What does it have to do with an old man playing with a child? He's here to collect souls, not to be a righteous messenger. If he had to meddle in every single one of the countless trivial matters in the world, what kind of Tao would he be cultivating?

He bypassed the bushes and walked deeper into the meadow.

Behind him, the old man's voice continued, tinged with smug satisfaction: "So, magicians are the most powerful. Look, this staff in my hand is made from ten-year-old bamboo..."

The sounds behind faded into the distance, drowned out by the wind and the squeaking of the slimes.

Ji Tian walked on the grass for a quarter of an hour and had already collected the souls of more than twenty slimes.

These things were ridiculously weak. His magical blades didn't even need to touch them; just getting close was enough for the sharp aura to shatter them.

The Emperor's Banner trembled slightly at his waist, each tremor signifying the absorption of a soul into it.

Just as he was about to put a red slime into the banner, he suddenly heard a scream behind him.

It was a little girl's voice.

Ji Tian turned his head.

In the distance, where the old man and the little girl were, something seemed amiss.

That blue slime was indeed weak, but it wasn't a single slime fighting.

Suddenly, a huge swarm of slimes appeared out of nowhere: blue, red, yellow, purple... They formed a dense circle, blocking the old man and the little girl in the middle, there were at least fifty or sixty of them.

The most troublesome thing is not the quantity.

It was the one lying on the outermost edge, a full fifteen or sixteen times the size of a normal slime. Its body was an abnormal deep purple, covered with raised, tumor-like growths that made a "gurgling" sound with every wriggling movement.

Different colored slime.

Ji Tian had seen descriptions of this thing before: ordinary slimes are indeed weak, but occasionally mutated individuals will appear. After mutation, its gelatinous body fluid becomes highly acidic, capable of corroding metals and leather.

He glanced at the little girl.

She was huddled behind the old man, her hands gripping his clothes tightly, her lips pale, and tears welling up in her eyes.

The old man, holding a short cane, said in a trembling voice, "Child, don't be afraid. I will perform the spell now—"

He waved his short staff and mumbled a string of incoherent incantations.

Nothing happened.

There were no fireballs, no ice arrows, not even a small water bullet. Only the gem at the tip of the staff flashed, like a burp, and then fell silent.

"I messed up."

The old man read it again.

There's still nothing there.

His face went from pale to ashen, then to deathly pale. His hand holding the short cane began to tremble violently, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

The slime swarm is slowly approaching.

The purple mutant emitted a low, gurgling sound, as if sending some kind of signal. The surrounding slimes increased their wriggling speed, and acid seeped from their bodies, leaving charred streaks on the grass.

"Fireball!" the old man shouted, pointing his short staff sharply forward.

A fireball the size of a fist flew from the tip of the staff, veering erratically towards the swarm of slimes.

It drew an arc in the air, and then with a "poof," it exploded three feet in front of a blue slime—or rather, it went out.

Not even a spark hit the target.

The old man was stunned for a moment.

Without hesitation, he pushed the little girl away and ran away.

He didn't even look back.

The little girl stood still, her hands still clutching the hem of her clothes.

Her fingers slowly loosened, then slowly clenched again, forming a fist.

Her lips were trembling, but she didn't cry or shout. She just stood there, watching the figure running further and further away.

The slime swarm is approaching.

The purple mutant made an excited "gurgling" sound, and acid dripped from its body, burning the grass with one charred pit after another.

The little girl took a step back.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the next moment to arrive.

"These slimes must be unwanted, right? I'll take them."

The girl heard this sound.

Before the other party could answer, Ji Tian reached out his hand.

The movement was very light, but such a seemingly insignificant action caused the air within a radius of ten feet to freeze for a moment.

Then, he gently squeezed his hand.

All the slimes stopped at the same time, as if time had frozen over them.

The purple mutant remained with its mouth open, acid dripping from its body and hanging in mid-air like glistening purple dewdrops.

The surrounding slimes remained motionless, like insects encased in amber.

Ji Tiansong let go.

The slime mass shattered silently, like jelly being crushed by an invisible hand, disintegrating piece by piece and disappearing one by one.

There was no flying blood and flesh, no screams or wails, not even a "gurgle" sound.

They simply disappeared.

Not even a trace was left.

Only the charred marks on the grass proved that they had indeed been there.

The Emperor's Banner unfurled at his waist, silently collecting all the souls—including the mutated one, whose soul was much brighter than that of a regular slime, shining like a tiny star within the banner.

Ji Tian turned around, preparing to leave.

"Wait a moment."

A little girl's voice came from behind me.

He stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

"Thank you," the little girl said, her voice a little hoarse, as if she was holding back something, but she still didn't cry.

"You're welcome. Saving you was just something I did."

The little girl's voice trailed off, "That old man...why did he run away?"

"Because he was afraid."

"But he said magicians are the most powerful."

"He's not a magician; he's just a fraud in a magician's robe."

If you can't even cast a fireball properly, I really don't know how you passed the beginner mage certificate exam.

The little girl remained silent for a long time, then cried again, sobbing, "Can I still trust others in the future?"

Ji Tian strode forward.

He had no interest in answering that question.

After taking a few steps, his divine sense inadvertently swept behind him—

Then he stopped.