Chapter 252: Attempt

Buying a treasure for the price of 600 Jin Along is an absolute bargain, okay?

As for buying everything, it wasn't out of fear of exposure, so he mixed them all together in one purchase.

It was entirely because Rod wanted to encourage the shopkeeper, hoping he'd keep collecting another batch of items like this — maybe he could even pick up a hidden bargain!

But to be fair.

The other magical accessories in this shop were still quite good-looking.

Rod noticed several pieces that would suit the girls back in the forest, so with a grand sweep of his hand, he bought quite a few as spares.

To be given out when the timing was right.

Shopping complete.

Paphnee waved the two of them out of the shop.

"I've bought pretty much everything I need. Thank you so much for taking me to the supervisor-level passage, Lady Auna."

"I told you, just call me Auna!"

The dark-skinned rabbit girl laughed and scolded lightly, "I should be the one thanking you for these colored rings — they must've cost quite a bit, right?"

"No matter the cost, it was worth it — after all, I've gotten to see Auna's smile for this entire afternoon."

"Oh my, you really do know how to make a girl happy~"

Auna smiled at him quite generously.

Rod, however, was a little surprised.

These old-fashioned cheesy lines from his past life were basically a guaranteed win in this world, and combined with his handsome face, no naive, innocent girl could resist them.

But Auna clearly had high resistance, even though outwardly she seemed a sweet, adorable, pure-looking girl.

Could she be an expert?

Probably not.

Rod was confident that his eye for women was fairly sharp.

Perhaps she was a chaste-type rabbit-person?

That would be even more exciting!

Farewells before a relationship was established were best kept free of lingering entanglement, so Rod waved goodbye to her and left cleanly.

Winter arrived, and the daylight hours gradually grew shorter.

By the time he returned to the forest, the sun had already sunk to the horizon.

Rod saw there was still some time before dinner.

So he went to deliver heating stones and heating talismans to the girls.

Of course, this "girls" did not include the female beastman Amy, the ghoul Pan Ni, and the banshee Chris.

He sent these three a brief message via the Far-Speech Chain — interested parties could take it themselves.

Originally he hadn't planned to deliver things personally to the zombie Selina either.

But dear Selina was a future money tree, so giving her a little special treatment was fine.

The zombie lady was a bit surprised that he delivered things personally, and her obedience increased by a small 2 points.

Better than nothing, at least.

Vivian, Miss Xiao Ke, and Little Little Bangde lived together, and neither Miss Xiao Ke nor Little Little Bangde had much spiritual accumulation.

The moment they saw the heating stones and heating talismans, they cheered.

Gave plenty of emotional value.

The elf Lady Kali, however, was quite ungracious — she declared herself a traditional elf of restraint and refused to use external objects.

But the cat fairy Little Orange, who was currently living with her, was a cold-sensitive one and unceremoniously took a whole pile of them.

Rod didn't mind.

He had originally wanted to find the half-wolf-woman Olga and the scorpion woman Hera as well.

But these two were far too elusive, and he had no means of contact through the Far-Speech Chain, so he had to give up.

Returning to the ranger's cabin.

Rod curled up again on that beast-hide sofa.

His hand gently rubbed the molar earring.

"It didn't trigger the effect of granting new treasure properties from 【Treasure Fancy】. A bit of a shame — but then again, who would like something this ugly?"

Tally in the bedroom heard the movement and lazily threw off the covers.

Her eyes were hazy, and she wasn't wearing a single stitch.

She was currently in her true succubus form — deep purple skin more alluring than any ordinary human's, and her explosively hot figure was completely exposed to the air.

A slender tail with a heart-shaped tip swayed back and forth with her steps.

Tally plopped down into Rod's lap, then curled up like a baby.

Her nose nuzzled against his neck.

"Master... I'm hungry..."

She said sleepily.

Rod placed his palm on her slim, taut waist, his fingers gently stroking the faint outline of her abdominal muscles and mermaid line.

"Later. You sleep a bit more — I'll try this thing out first."

"Okay, hold me tight."

"Alright, alright."

He tightened his embrace around the succubus in his arms.

"Still a bit cold~"

"There are heating stones."

"No need."

She lifted Rod's single-layer robe, crawled inside entirely, pressed against his chest, and curled up, completely hidden within the garment.

The collar was stretched open.

A single downward glance revealed the girl and the two soft mounds lazily pressing against her chest.

Rod found it somewhat amusing.

"Have you been sleeping more than usual lately?"

It wasn't just the succubi; as the weather turned cold, the half-deer Miss Xiao Ke and the tree spirit Vivian had become more lethargic than usual.

In contrast were the ghoul Pan Ni and the banshee Chris.

After all, negative energy is more active in winter; since both are undead races, they naturally become more energized because of it.

"It's a bodily instinct, you know."

Tally remained weak and listless. "Winter means more clothing and less outdoor activity, plus the risk of freezing to death if you take your clothes off. That alone is enough to reduce most succubi's food sources. Master~ can you pat my bottom to coax me to sleep? Tally likes the warmth of Master's palm."

"Don't push your luck, Tally."

"Mm-hmm~~ Please, Master, please~~"

In the end, Rod granted her wish.

The price was that Tally would spend the entire meal tonight using only her bottom for the challenge.

In other words, the sky-piercing cannon was about to become a shit-stirring stick.

Smelling the fragrance emanating from the succubus in his arms.

Rod turned his gaze back to the Molar Earring.

【Details: The spiritual energy inside the Molar Earring can be infused into a certain body, greatly accelerating spiritual accumulation. Once the spiritual energy is depleted, the Molar Earring will slowly absorb and refill it.】

"Come on, let me see just how great this 'greatly' actually is."

Activate.

The bloodline at the root of the molar emitted a faint glow.

Rod immediately felt spiritual energy flowing slowly from his fingers into his body.

"So-so. It's not even faster than what I absorb when breathing on my own."

While feeling the warmth of Tally's breath on his chest, he absorbed the spiritual energy.

Spiritual accumulation isn't something completed merely by inhaling spiritual energy.

You can compare the spiritual energy in the environment to ownerless property, and when a Spiritual Warrior uses Yong Hu Xi Fa, they inhale this environmental spiritual energy into their body, making it their own.

It's equivalent to swearing allegiance.

This process varies in speed, depending mainly on the quality of the Yong Hu Xi Fa, the individual's aptitude, and whether the location is rich in spiritual energy.

Rod's Yong Hu Xi Fa was mediocre, but with the boost from the Spirit Seed, his aptitude was practically maxed out.

One could say it was about five to ten times faster than an ordinary person's.

However, his foundation was so solid that the amount of spiritual energy he needed to accumulate was far higher than average.

And the spiritual energy within this Molar Earring, if it were merely ownerless spiritual energy, would hardly be considered a treasure.

This spiritual energy, converted from spiritual power and ether, was like an insatiable little bitch.

It chased and knelt, begging to lick Rod's feet, almost automatically swearing allegiance the moment it made contact.

Moreover, as time passed.

The spiritual energy within the Molar Earring ran around spreading the news, telling other spiritual energy that there was a good home here; the infusion speed grew faster and faster, more and more urgent.

Rod's expression became relaxed and pleased.

Not long after.

With a snap.

Spiritual accumulation surpassed the mid-stage of the Sixth Rank and smoothly reached the high stage of the Sixth Rank.

(End of this chapter)