Chapter 132: Auxiliary Method and Withering

"Also, after the Naga arrive, a banquet will be held once at the town hall of Shi Ying Town. I hope Mr. Rod, you can do us the favor of attending—mainly to hold the scene together."

Dimia pleaded with Rod.

In fact, she had also invited Lady Kali earlier.

But elves—those who know, know—they simply couldn't be bothered to attend this kind of social gathering.

And honestly, most land-dwelling Naga aren't exactly bright; they excel at bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

She was afraid that if the strength she displayed now wasn't enough, even after the other party settled in the Death Desert, they'd still cause trouble.

Best to have Rod summon all the sixth-tier experts—the ghouls, orcs, tree spirits, succubi—the whole lot.

It's all about the show.

Rod could understand her predicament.

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

"Mm, I'll go."

"Sorry for the trouble."

The two walked along the Sand Willow District.

As they chatted, Rod brought up his difficulty entering the Ming Xiang Fa state.

"Generally speaking, when practicing the Ming Xiang Fa, it's best to find a quiet place. Not that I mean anything else, but Young Lady Tally—she would be one point that hinders you."

Dimia spoke honestly.

Succubi really are an important obstructing factor when practicing the Ming Xiang Fa.

After all, they're naturally inclined to seduce others into releasing their desires.

Yet meditation is a state of the mind wandering or gathering; if there are too many distracting thoughts, it's very hard to carry on.

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

"Everyone's method is different."

The two walked side by side.

Dimia was still wearing that collarless gown; with every step, most of the northern hemisphere swayed along.

Her pink-gradient thick braid swung left and right against her bottom, occasionally brushing Rod's palm.

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

Rod recalled she was serializing a novel and laughed:

"The carnivorous hero Ophiel?"

Mentioning this, Dimia's baby-fat cheeks flushed a little.

"Mr. Rod, we agreed not to tell anyone."

"There's no one else here. Speaking of which, I heard the teachers at the Magic Academy can help students enter meditation—is that true?"

"【Awakening Focus】, yes, it can, but actually I don't really recommend it. The first time entering meditation usually brings a lot of personal insights, which are a great help for one's future path. If you leave it to someone else, I'm afraid…"

She kicked a small stone ahead of her, looking somewhat forlorn:

"There once was a pair of parents who cheered because their daughter became a witch. They thought she would be the hope of reviving the family. To have her learn magic as soon as possible, they forcibly used 【Awakening Focus】 to open her meditation…"

Dimia raised her face, revealing a bitter smile.

"And so, the only witch on the continent stuck at the early stage of sixth-tier appeared."

"Sorry…"

Rod didn't know what to say.

"No need for that. I was the one who said too much. Auxiliary meditation isn't only 【Awakening Focus】—there's also magic transplantation."

Saying so, she pulled out a book and a small object from her spell pouch.

The book was titled 【Auxiliary Method—Development and Practice of Meditation Objects】, and the small object was a wolf-fang pendant.

"Look, my Ming Xiang Fa is 【Moon Wolf Meditation】, and this is my meditation object—a moon wolf's fang. By wearing or transplanting the reference object of the Ming Xiang Fa, not only can one quickly enter meditation, but the accumulation speed also increases."

Saying so, she handed the auxiliary method into Rod's hands.

Rod fell into thought.

What he currently practiced was 【Giant Dragon Meditation Method】—where on his body was there any meditation object?

No, wait!

【Dragon Scale Art】 and 【Junior Dragon Breath】!

He remembered that when he obtained 【Junior Dragon Breath】, this shared skill appropriately altered his organs, such as his stomach and throat—this change must have been to bring him closer to a giant dragon!

Dragon Scale Art went without saying; it was originally evolved using dragon scales!

In other words, he already came with several giant dragon organs built in.

Then we're taking off.

Rod immediately felt full of confidence.

At this moment.

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

The tree spirit Vivian walked out from within.

Those large eyes shining with Bai Guang looked at Rod, revealing sorrow.

"Trees, withered, many."

"Are the trees sick?"

Rod still had quite a bit of healing liquid; based on the symptoms, he could even do simple compounding.

Though not as skilled as a druid, admittedly.

"Could it be a plague?" Dimia guessed.

Rod's expression shifted slightly.

Enough talk — seeing is believing.

Ten minutes later.

The three of them arrived at the location of the withered trees.

Rod pressed his hand gently against a withered, yellowing pine.

It wasn't just one — the damage radiated outward from this spot as its center.

Nearly thirty trees had been afflicted.

The lingering magic on them told him this had been done deliberately.

That was a blessing in disguise — if it had been a plague, things would have been far more troublesome.

Rod didn't currently have direct mastery over the Plague domain; after all, the Botanist's Pass had granted him Comprehension.

"It's a spell specifically for withering trees."

After her appraisal, Dimia gave her conclusion.

Rod clicked his tongue in annoyance — someone had come all the way into the woods just to spread poison, had they?

Just you wait, I'll make you pay for this.

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

"Sorry, identifying spells isn't my forte — Lady Kaliste is better at that. But I do know some races or classes that damage trees. Shadow druids are fond of destroying woodlands, and necromancers' dark energy also corrodes the land's vitality. Some dark witches will also damage forests for experiments or rituals."

It was hard to judge on the spot.

The elf Kaliste was out and hadn't returned — they'd just have to wait a while longer.

Vivian cast the 【Spring of Life】 spell on the spot, doing her best to mitigate the damage from the withering spell.

This reminded Rod that the tree spirits had plenty of innate spiritual arts for nurturing trees, so he invited Vivian to visit the cabin late that night.

Night.

The Forester's Cabin.

The meal had gone reasonably smoothly.

The half-deer folk showed no sign of taking last night's matter to heart at all, coming to learn cooking as if nothing had happened.

Though in the process, she broke two bowls and added salt twice.

Miss Xiao Ke's disguise, on the other hand, clearly hadn't gone smoothly — anyone could tell she was acting unnatural.

Once Little Little Bangde left, she dropped all pretense entirely.

She came over on her own initiative and started stripping Rod's clothes off.

There was nothing for it — after all, a half-deer folk's heat lasts a full week, and once it kicks in, it has to be dealt with every day.

"I-I'm not doing this willingly, you know."

"Remember — you're not allowed to kiss me."

"This filthy... thing, if it weren't for the heat, hmph."

Before she lost herself, Miss Xiao Ke said as much.

And after she lost herself—

Heh.

To put it bluntly, she was practically vacuuming the ground — her wantonness and demands were nearly on par with a succubus.

If a succubus is appetite, then she was pure lust.

To be honest—

A deer's body has its limits; a lot of positions simply couldn't be done.

But the tightness was beyond compare.

(End of Chapter)