Chapter 175: Battle Soul

"Mm!"

Eve let out a startled sound.

"Damn it. Are you even human or not?"

Rod spread his hands.

"There's more."

Eve pleaded, "Can we do something else?"

Saying so, she climbed into Rod's embrace.

True enough.

Rod said, oddly, "Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen a Naga come on her own to honor a wager."

"You said you'd give me a Spirit-Growing Art enhancement, so this is a pretty good deal, isn't it?"

The Naga's serpent tail coiled around Rod's waist, and her two lotus-root arms held his head against her chest with feeling.

Rod: "Uh, didn't I tell you? In yesterday's fight against a seventh-tier, my 【Spirit Growth】 got used up."

But it wasn't really used up.

There were still 10 backup points left.

"What?!"

Eve's charmed state immediately snapped awake by more than half.

She pulled Rod's head away and glared at him angrily.

"You mean you're going to take me for free? Do you know what a huge disgrace that is for a land Naga?!"

The number of times I've taken you for free isn't small either.

Rod: "You can stay another week; this thing recharges fast."

"No, I snuck out. My mother is isolated and without aid in Mirror Desert, her power unsteady. I have to hurry back to help her."

Saying so.

Her eyes suddenly lit up: "How about you go help me kill those rebel Naga for me."

Rod shook his head.

The situation in Dusk Hills was unstable, Stormwind City's military strength had weakened too much, and the negotiation with Coral Bay was coming up soon. This batch of Naga was decent fighting force, and they were still useful.

Besides, Eve's attitude of "if I let you do it, you must give me something in exchange" annoyed him a little.

I'll just take you for free, so what?

Eve instantly deflated: "What good are you?"

Rod's mouth twitched.

His hand moved to her bottom.

The Naga's entire body gave a slight tremble.

"! Wh-what are you suddenly—"

"If you're asking for a favor, you need to have the attitude of one, Eve. Know about that batch of Naga getting scammed out of their gear?"

"I know—a bunch of idiots, utterly shaming land Naga, can't even see through such a simple scam."

Rod picked her up and walked to the sofa.

He lifted a spell satchel embroidered with a Naga figure from the sofa:

"Look, inside is the gear they got swindled out of."

Eve couldn't help being stunned: "Y-you did it?"

Rod neither confirmed nor denied: "I can let you pick out a few representative items from inside to take back. That way, even if you didn't kill the rebels, you can still report a success, right?"

"Deal!"

She was overjoyed at once and reached for it.

But the spell satchel was moved away by Rod.

Eve: "?"

"You need to show your sincerity, Eve."

"What more sincerity do you want?"

"Not enough."

"Then I'll pay! I'll pay to buy them back, that should be fine, right?!"

"Still not enough."

Eve flew into a rage at once: "Then what do you want?"

"One challenge, Eve."

The Naga was stunned: "A-are you some top-tier pervert or what?!"

Rod pinched her delicate, gorgeous face, then gently rubbed her soft red lips.

"The thought of you leaving, of not seeing you for a long time, makes me so miserable I want to die. I want to take this chance to make you remember me."

"You don't like me, do you?"

"Of course. What did you think we were doing?"

"A heartless flesh transaction!"

Rod's mouth twitched once, which reminded him of that time with the Skyreach Ancient Tree, Eva.

But he still put on a smile: "Then you're only allowed to carry out this transaction with me for the rest of your life."

Eve was slightly moved. For a long time now, she had never heard such sweet words.

She squirmed and refused to look at Rod: "Nonsense, I'm not a whore. Naga are a faithful race."

【Eve's obedience to you +2, current obedience: 51】

【Obedience has broken through to 51, unlocking a shared skill with Eve】

【Beginning random draw.】

【Chou Qu Cheng Gong!】

【Shared Skill: Battle Soul Charge】

【Details: A spiritual technique that can only be used after one's flesh and soul are highly aligned. It was comprehended by certain land-dwelling Naga who spent years grave-robbing at the boundary between life and death. Knowledge of Battle Soul-type spiritual techniques is greatly enriched, and the comprehension and application of Battle Souls is greatly enhanced.】

Battle Soul, huh?

Not a bad skill, quite good indeed.

Rod himself was very optimistic about this skill.

As knowledge about Battle Souls drilled into his head, he gained a deeper understanding.

Using one's own image as a Battle Soul, like Eve did, was not the optimal choice. The truly superior approach was to model and reference powerful creatures to construct Battle Souls in their likeness.

Battle Souls align with the will of heaven, and even the spirituality of the continent will mistake them for genuine powerful creatures, madly granting them spiritual enhancement.

Yet Battle Souls are actually composed of the warrior's fleshly will and soul—in other words, they indirectly strengthen the warrior!

This was a path no one had ever walked.

Rod felt something stir within him.

He could sense the grand prospects of this path.

So the question arose: what creature to use?

On the continent, nothing beat the mighty true dragons; the might of giant dragons needed no question.

Rod actually had a better choice—Naolin, this Curse-Wraith Dragon—but unfortunately her dragon body had not yet been fully constructed.

"Naolin's dragon body restoration needs to be sped up too."

After all, one wasn't limited to only a single Battle Soul.

Rod still decided to first construct a giant dragon Battle Soul.

After all, it was the most common powerful creature on the continent.

Eve: "What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and lie down!"

There wasn't much time.

Finishing before dawn—this was a rather challenging task!

"And! No hiding things away, you hear me!"

Rod laughed: "Then you'll have to work hard, putting everything from that human and Najiade Sect training manual to use."

"You sure dream nice. Quick, lean against the snake tail, I'm about to use my ultimate move!"

(End of chapter)