Chapter 132: Auxiliary Method and Withering

"Additionally, once the Nagas arrive, there will be a banquet held at the town hall of Shi Ying Town; we hope Mr. Luo De will grace us with your presence, mainly to lend weight to the occasion."

Demia begged Luo De.

She had also invited Kali earlier.

But elves—those who understand, understand—they have no interest in such social gatherings.

And frankly, most land-dwelling Nagas aren't particularly bright; their defining trait is bullying the weak and intimidating the strong.

She feared that if the power she displayed now wasn't sufficient, even if they settled in the Death Desert, they'd cause more trouble.

It would be best if Luo De summoned all his sixth-rank experts—the ghouls, orcs, treants, and succubi—to attend.

Just for show.

Luo De could understand her predicament.

After all, in this matter, neither she nor Luo De had any say.

"Hmm, I'll go."

"Thank you for your trouble."

The two walked along the Willow Sand District.

As they chatted, Luo De mentioned his difficulty entering the meditative state.

"Generally, it's best to find a quiet place when practicing meditation—I don't mean anything by it, but Miss Tally could be an obstacle for you."

Demia spoke frankly.

Succubi are indeed a major obstacle to meditation.

After all, they're born to lure others into releasing desire.

But meditation is a state of mental wandering or gathering; too many distractions make it hard to proceed.

"I'll try. Besides that, do you have any small tricks to enter the state quickly?"

"Everyone's method is different."

The two walked side by side.

Demia still wore that sleeveless gown; with every step, half her northern hemisphere swayed.

Her pink-gradient braided hair swung left and right against her buttocks, occasionally brushing Luo De's palm.

"For me personally, before formally entering meditation, I write something to help focus."

Luo De remembered her serialized novel and smiled:

"Carnivorous Warrior Ophir?"

At the mention of it, Demia's baby-faced cheeks flushed.

"Mr. Luo De, we agreed not to tell anyone."

"There's no one else here—by the way, I heard that magic academy teachers can help students enter meditation. Is that true?"

"The 【Awakened Focus】 spell? Yes, it can work, but it's not really recommended. The first time you enter meditation, you usually gain personal insights that greatly help shape your future path; if you rely on others, you might…"

She kicked away a small stone ahead, looking slightly melancholy:

"Once, a pair of parents celebrated when their daughter became a witch, believing it would revive their family's fortunes. To get her to learn magic faster, they forcibly used 【Awakened Focus】 to open her meditation…"

Demia lifted her face, revealing a bitter smile.

"Thus, the only witch in the continent stuck at the early stage of sixth rank appeared."

"I'm sorry…"

Luo De didn't know what to say.

"No need to apologize. I spoke too much. Auxiliary meditation isn't limited to 【Awakened Focus】; there's also magical transplantation."

Saying this, she pulled a book and a small object from her spell satchel.

The book bore the title 【Auxiliary Method—Development and Practice of Meditation Objects】; the object was a wolf's fang pendant.

"See, my meditation method is 【Moon Wolf Meditation】; this is my meditation object—the tooth of a Moon Wolf. Wearing or transplanting an object tied to your meditation's reference allows you to enter meditation faster and accelerate accumulation."

She handed the auxiliary method book to Luo De.

Luo De fell into thought.

He currently cultivated the 【Great Dragon Meditation Method】; where on earth did he have a meditation object?

Wait—no!

【Dragon Scale Technique】 and 【Basic Dragon Breath】!

He remembered that when he obtained 【Basic Dragon Breath】, the shared skill subtly altered his stomach, throat, and other organs—changes clearly meant to make him more dragon-like!

【Dragon Scale Technique】 was even clearer—it was literally evolved from dragon scales!

That meant he already carried several dragon organs within him.

This was going to take off.

Luo De immediately felt confident.

At that moment,

A hollow appeared in the nearby tree trunk—the 【Tree Walker】.

The treant Vivian stepped out.

Her glowing white eyes fixed on Luo De, filled with sorrow.

"Trees, wither, many."

"Are the trees sick?"

Luo De still had plenty of healing fluids; based on symptoms, he could even make simple adjustments.

Though not as skilled as a druid.

"Could it be a plague?" Demia guessed.

Luo De's expression changed slightly.

No use talking more—seeing is believing.

Ten minutes later,

The three arrived at the location of the withered trees.

Luo De gently pressed his hand against a withered, yellowing pine.

It wasn't just one tree—withering spread outward from this center.

Nearly thirty trees had been affected.

The residual magic on them told him this was deliberate.

This was a small mercy—if it had been a plague, it would've been troublesome.

Luo De currently had no direct mastery over plague magic; after all, the botanical garden pass granted insight, not direct control.

"It's a specialized withering spell."

After analyzing it, Demia concluded.

Luo De clicked his tongue in annoyance—someone deliberately poisoning the forest, huh?

I'll make you regret it.

"Can you tell which race or what spell it is?"

"Sorry, identifying spells isn't my specialty—Kalist is better at this. But I know some races or classes that destroy trees: Shadow Druids love to wreck forests, necromancers' dark energy erodes the land's vitality, and some dark witches damage forests for experiments or rituals." 【79】 The elf Kalist was away; they could only wait.

Hard to determine.

The elf Kali Site was away; they could only wait.

Vivian cast 【Life Spring】 on the spot, trying to mitigate the withering's effects.

Luo De then remembered that treants had many innate nature spells for nurturing trees, so he invited Vivian to visit his cabin that night at midnight.

Night.

Forest Ranger's Cottage.

Dinner went smoothly enough.

The half-deer seemed completely unfazed by last night's events, acting as if nothing had happened while learning to cook.

Though she broke two bowls and added salt twice.

Xiao Ke's disguise clearly wasn't working—anyone could see she was unnatural.

After Bond left, she dropped the pretense entirely.

She came over and started pulling off Luo De's clothes.

There was no help for it—the half-deer's mating season lasts a week, and once triggered, she must be handled daily.

"I—I didn't do this willingly…"

"Remember… don't kiss me."

"This filthy… thing—only because of the mating season, hmpf…"

That's what Xiao Ke said before losing consciousness.

And after losing consciousness,

Heh.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say she sucked the earth dry—her seductiveness and demands were nearly on par with a succubus.

If a succubus was appetite, she was pure lust.

Honestly,

The deer body had its limits—many positions couldn't be performed.

But the tightness? Unmatched.

(End of chapter)