Chapter 349: Spirit of Nature

"None of your business! Worry about the woman beside you! You were at it all night, drove me crazy!"

Miss Xiao Ke huffed, brimming with jealousy.

Then she asked worriedly, "You didn't wear Vivian out, did you? She's never been good at expressing herself — even when she's been wronged, she won't say it straight out."

Rod took a bite of the crisp, sweet fruit.

He said with a smile:

"Wear her out? I'd be lucky if she didn't wear me out."

"Hmph! You shameless dog actually dare to say that — count me in from before."

The girl suddenly faltered, glanced at the spider-kin beside him, and her face instantly flushed crimson.

She cupped her hand like a fan, hoping the faint cool breeze could cool the burning on her cheeks.

"Vivian's far more forward than you. After getting that 【Ke Yin of Lust】, her appetite rivals Tally's. After those few of them took turns at me, you really think I don't get tired?"

Having said that.

Rod sized up the half-deer's figure.

She seemed a little fuller than before, and even her chest had changed a bit.

It wasn't that she'd gotten fat — just plumper compared to that frail girl she used to be.

Before, there was only a slight swell, easily cupped in one palm.

Now, though, there'd been some growth — probably a tight fit at best.

The weather's been cold lately, and Miss Xiao Ke clearly prefers it out in the wild, so he hadn't been intimate with her much — he had no idea how full she'd gotten.

Was it winter fattening up?

Or had it come from sharing dinners together lately?

Heaven knew.

Rod said with a smile: "You've gotten fatter."

"What!"

To his surprise, Miss Xiao Ke's face changed drastically, utterly shocked.

"I mean you look even better, especially there — fat, I like it."

"Ugh, get away! Shameless dog!"

Miss Xiao Ke fumed, no longer bothering with him, and sped up her picking of the wild fruit.

Suddenly.

With a boom, the ground trembled faintly, and the fruit tree beside her tilted and crashed down.

Miss Xiao Ke was, after all, a kind of beast-kin, born with beast-like instincts, and was about to leap away in a flash.

But Rod was faster.

He swiftly pulled the half-deer into his arms and retreated at full speed.

Oh—

Feeling the softness in his arms, Rod couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation.

"Did you stuff something in there?"

"What? What nonsense are you spouting?"

Miss Xiao Ke's face still showed the shock of the moment, her round apricot eyes startled like a fawn — and against the vast softness now in his arms, the contrast was oddly striking.

Quite the improvement!

You couldn't even tell through her clothes! She'd actually reached that level!

Probably not far off Vivian's now!

Wait — could this also be one of the beast-kin's bodily traits?

But Sharon of the dog-kin was also a beast-kin, yet her chest hadn't changed noticeably.

Maybe because her beast-like features weren't as pronounced as Miss Xiao Ke's?

"It's a treant!"

The alert Watching Yuna cried out.

Rod turned his head to look and saw the fruit tree that had been about to topple now leaning in another direction.

The soil bulged and loosened.

Roots like hands and feet broke through the earth from below.

Rod had actually sensed it earlier — a wisp of wondrous spirit had come into being the moment the fruit tree moved.

It was a Spirit of Nature.

The Emerald Tree's 【Verdant Domain】 was taking effect.

Spirits of Nature came in many forms.

Treants were just one of the more common kinds; plenty awakened in animal form.

"Oooa—"

In less than a moment.

That fruit tree had fully broken free of the soil and turned around, a face full of wood grain revealed on the trunk — the rough bark patterns made it look exceedingly aged.

The treant's face turned toward Rod, showing a human-like expression of attachment and eagerness to please.

"Lord Rod, this one greets you."

Rod was a little surprised: "You can talk?"

"Thanks to Lord Rod's favor, when this one became a Spirit of Nature, it awakened a spirit-intellect and gained the ability to speak human words."

"And it even remembers my name."

It's perfectly normal for her to feel attached to him.

The skill 【Tree's Blessing】 is no joke—to be perfectly honest, even if Rod crowned himself the succubus of trees, no one could argue.

A look of nostalgia and tenderness crossed the treant's face.

"Reporting to you, my lord, the spirituality stored within trees can feed old memories back, so this one remembers everything about Lord Rod—including but not limited to the first time you passed by, the first time you touched me, the first time you applied medicinal sap to me, and the first time you poured wondrous spirituality into me to help me grow faster."

Wondrous spirituality?

That must be 【Growth Spirituality】.

Could it be that trees infused with Growth Spirituality are more likely to grow into Nature Spirits?

". I also remember Lord Rod and that succubus young lady making love on my crown—every drop of Lord Rod's fluid that fell soaked into my heart and left me unable to calm down for a long time. And the image of you lifting that tree-spirit young lady and bracing against me for leverage is also vivid in my mind, giving me a kind of."

"."

Speaking of which, because this place is near the Jade Remnant Branch, he's passed through quite a few times these past months, and sometimes when the mood struck, he really did settle things on the spot.

He just hadn't expected this tree to be around so often, that's all.

Hmm?

Could it be that it awakened as a Nature Spirit precisely because he'd conducted so many "cultivation lessons" in front of it?

Hard to say.

The half-deer girl Miss Xiao Ke in his arms watched him coldly.

"Why did you bring Vivian out there? What if someone saw? Vivian is a girl!"

". Don't you like being outside too? There's a risk of being seen there as well."

"It's not the same! Mine was at night!"

"Setting that aside—hasn't your chest gotten a bit fuller?"

"What's it to you? Ever since I started developing, every winter it's been like this, forcing me to alter the chest measurement of my winter clothes every year.. What have you made me say! You bastard!"

Miss Xiao Ke shoved him away in fury.

Rod laughed heartily and didn't press the matter with her.

At that moment, a palm-sized pixie named Tammy flew over in a rush from afar.

Her face was terrified, both hands clutching a small tree branch for self-defense.

Only upon seeing Rod did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Lord Rod, you scared me half to death—I thought enemies had come into the forest."

Then she also noticed the fruit-tree treant with roots for feet beside him.

Astonished: "A Nature Spirit!"

"Beautiful pixie, hello."

"Hello! I'm Tammy, and you?"

The treant paused and looked toward Rod.

It bowed respectfully, the drooping branches nearly slapping Watching Yuna's face in front.

"Please, Lord Rod, grant me a name."

Rod smiled, dipped his finger in saliva, and pressed it onto the treant's trunk.

He infused 5 points of 【Growth Spirituality】 to allocate.

"Since your species is the wild plum tree, I'll call you Li Zi."

【Growth Spirituality used successfully】

【Nature Spirit (Wild Plum Tree) Li Zi has acquired skill: Dawn Dew Fruit】

【Details: Growth Spirituality has activated a spiritual art Li Zi had not yet mastered. This skill can condense accumulated spirituality into solid fruit; those who consume it will greatly enhance their spirituality or mana accumulation. The older the treant, the more potent the Dawn Dew Fruit's effect.】

A glow of spirituality radiated from the treant Li Zi.

A look of blissful enjoyment crossed his face.

After a moment, the glow faded.

Li Zi quietly savored the feeling, and at the same time three teardrop-shaped fruits dripping with crystalline dew drooped down from the top of his canopy.

He respectfully offered them before Rod.

(End of chapter)