Chapter 548: Crystal Disease and the Friendly Delegation

Rod noticed that the small half of Kali's ear that had been sheared off had already been fully restored.

It was now wrapped and sealed with a small white plaster.

The elf young lady wore the same standard high-collared tight-fitting suit today, only it had changed from green and white to silver-gray.

Her golden ponytail hung down to her waist, aligning perfectly perpendicular to her brown belt.

Besides highlighting her absurdly long legs, the belt was adorned with a sharply faceted sapphire pendant, a gift Rod had given her before.

The close-fitting cut outlined her perfectly proportioned long legs, slender waist, and chest that was not overly bulky.

Her long, symmetrical, yet powerful lines interpreted nature's most perfect creation.

Judging by body proportions, temperament, and the delicacy of her features.

Truly, no one in the entire forest could match Lady Kali.

Rod looked her up and down.

He discovered that the spot on the elf young lady's abdomen where she had previously been pierced was still glowing with the light of a healing spell.

"My skin is thick and my flesh tough; such a small wound is no matter. But some elf young lady got beaten quite badly, yet her mouth remains stubbornly hard."

He smiled and leaned in, reaching to take her hand.

But she ruthlessly stepped back one pace to dodge him.

Unlike Lady Kali's cold words.

The tree spirit Vivian saw Rod, then walked over slowly and firmly.

She did not embrace him, but simply pressed her entire body against Rod's chest.

When Rod patted her head.

She would lift her head, resting her chin on his solid chest, blinking those pure eyes that shimmered with Bai Guang to stare at him.

Rod couldn't help himself and gently kissed that clean, smooth forehead.

If it were before the cold war with Tally, at this moment she would always come to fight for the space in his arms.

But now.

The succubus could only stand behind with a look of bitter fate, watching, too afraid to compete for favor.

Lady Kali kept a cold face.

She must be angry; ever since Rod arrived at the forest medical station, she had come over to help every day.

But she simply would not speak; every time Rod teased her, she would just let out a cold snort.

Today could be counted as the first conversation between the two since the Coral Bay battle.

"A small wound? You were only a hair's breadth away from having your heart pierced, you know! Hmph! And you say I'm being stubborn? You're just as bad."

"Wasn't it to protect you all? We couldn't possibly let the girls hold the rear guard."

"Human, are you looking down on me? Do you think only you are capable of it?"

The elf young lady's delicate, pretty face darkened, and her desire to win flared up.

If it were the desire to win of the halfling Lily.

At this moment, Rod would tease her again, proposing a wager or something, playing around and making a fuss would be fine.

But as for Lady Kali.

Better not.

She would view it as you challenging her pride and dignity as an elf, with the risk of her challenging you seriously.

With a domineering girl, the worst thing is to meet force with force.

Rod then took out the magic scroll he had stolen from Aurelio's bedroom at the time from his spell satchel and handed it to her.

"Look, a magic scroll collected by the dark elves. I saw it seemed to be of some age, and immediately thought you might be interested, so I specifically kept it."

Lady Kali's face was still cold.

But upon seeing that magic scroll, she immediately took an interest.

Ignoring Rod entirely, she took the scroll and began to examine it.

On the other side.

The pixie Tami fluttered her glowing wings cheerfully, then stood on top of Vivian's head.

She shouted with boundless energy:

"My lord Rod! Good morning!!"

"Good morning, Tami."

"We are choosing tree species, my lord Rod, do you have any sug—eh? Crystal Disease?"

Tami looked surprised and doubtful, sizing Rod up and down.

"Oh."

Before the duel with the Duke of Purgatory, Rod had absorbed a large quantity of elemental fragments; at that time, the half-goat Miss Miss Ainala had warned him about this.

"It's a small matter, no need to worry."

"It is not a small matter! My lord Rod, although Crystal Disease is not contagious, one slip, and it will kill you!"

Lady Kali was also alerted; she frowned and said:

"With proper treatment, it won't be; the probability of death is not high, but there have been cases of death at the ninth tier. I remember that the capital of Aethelorn, City of Radiant Light, was recently ravaged by Crystal Disease, but fortunately it was suppressed."

Rod was slightly startled; could even the ninth tier be killed by this?

He had originally thought he could force an exemption from this minor illness through his constitution.

Immediately, Rod also remembered he possessed a treasure that might be able to cure this disease.

【The Great Cultivator's Pruning Shears】

【Effects: Impurity Exclusion, Toxin Removal, Edge Breaking, Bonding, Defense Penetration, Bleeding, Paralysis, Qi Blade】

He took out the large scissors and gave them a brief activation.

As the light flickered, some crystalline fragments quickly seeped out from the surface of his body.

Once Rod burned them again with his grievance fire, they vanished in an instant.

Tammy froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up with an adoring gleam.

"Lord Rod is amazing! The crystal disease was cured in an instant!!"

Lady Kali was also very surprised, her beautiful eyes widening slightly.

But she was always unwilling to admit how impressive Rod was, and she gave a cold snort: "Quite the bag of tricks."

Vivian hadn't understood a thing.

She blinked, looked at Rod, as if asking whether he was done.

Rod smiled and gave her a nod.

The young tree spirit immediately snuggled into his embrace just like before.

"Come to think of it, is this crystal disease famous?"

Lady Kali rolled up the scroll, her face sour, arms crossed:

"Crystal disease can also be called solidified spirituality. Given that the vast majority of creatures on the continent possess spirituality, this illness may exist within all living beings.

At the same time, unlike other clearly defined illnesses, the manifestations of crystal disease are far more abstract.

It may cause the crystallization of nerves within someone's brain, thereby blocking the transmission of pain,

or it may simply gather in massive amounts in one spot, forming a visible solid crystal core. But this kind of crystal core not only won't affect the patient, it can even provide them with a large amount of spirituality."

Crystal core.

Rod frowned slightly.

Why does this sound just like the demon cores of magical beasts in fantasy novels?

"A whiff of conspiracy theory just hit me in the face."

"Hmph, I know what you're thinking, and indeed such a phenomenon does exist. One hundred and twenty years ago, the Barengo branch of the Bahadur Academy of Magic was exposed for conducting human experiments on crystal disease, with the main goal being the artificial creation of crystal cores."

"."

"Beforehand, the Bahadur Academy of Magic proactively cut ties with the branch, and even actively helped with containment and led the way, thus weathering this wave of public opinion and crisis."

"If you say they had nothing to do with it, I wouldn't believe it even if you beat me to death."

Lady Kali didn't have a very good impression of the Bahadur Academy of Magic either.

She warned:

"These people's pursuit of magical singularities is utterly twisted. If you run into something off, even if it's a pretty woman, never hold back."

"Don't make it sound like I'm a man controlled by my lower half."

"Aren't you?"

They chatted for a while.

The group's topic then shifted to new tree species for expanding the forest.

From tropical species like mangroves and white mangroves, to coastal oaks that could adapt to seaside environments.

Lady Kali had a rich reserve of knowledge.

Vivian and Tammy, though bewildered, were a tree spirit and a nature spirit respectively, and both were far more sensitive to trees than ordinary people.

A quick feel of the soil and the saplings would tell them how well the two matched.

Rod was idle anyway, so he simply sat to one side watching the girls talk.

Don't laugh.

It was quite a feast for the eyes.

Lady Kali's flawless perfection, Vivian's pure innocence, little fairy Tammy's petite vitality.

Rod was stunned in an instant.

He couldn't help feeling a sense of contented ease, like a retiree tending his fields.

However.

This feeling didn't last long.

Dimia sent a message through the 【Far Whisper Chain】.

The friendly envoy from Stormwind City had arrived.

Shi Ying Town.

Argyle Estate, in the reception hall.

Baroness Ram, her long dark-red hair coiled up.

Or rather, Lady Ram, was anxiously fidgeting with the exquisite nails she had paid two Jin Along to have done before setting out.

This widow, who had taken in the tooth fairy Rosalia, had once been assessed by the witch Dimia as 'lacking backbone,' 'compromising her whole life,' and 'heeding sycophants.'

Although the old gentleman hosting them, Humbert, was chatting away politely, courteously introducing the estate's famous paintings and jewelry,

she only responded with a stiff, forced smile, her main attention still on the reception hall's door, hoping for the forest warden who, according to the news, had repelled the Infernal Archduke.

She tugged at the sleeve of a handsome man beside her.

In a worried, lowered voice, she said:

"Cliff, this is terrible. Perhaps we shouldn't have come. I keep feeling uneasy, like a weight pressing on my heart."

Cliff was clearly a little tense too; he dabbed at the oil on his forehead with a handkerchief.

While forcing a smile in response to Humbert's introductions, he replied in a low voice:

"No, Lady Ram, we can't! When we learned of the Coral Bay attack and forcibly recalled Rosalia, we had already taken the first wrong step. We can't stay silent any longer, we must take a stance!"

"But that man is simply too terrifying. First he saved Daphne, then drove off the demon, right after that he repelled the dragon, and now he's sent an archduke back to the Infernal Plane—oh heavens, a ninth-rank archduke! We've offended him so badly, he must already bear a grudge against us!"

Cliff tightened his grip on her hand.

To help her calm down.

"Watch your expression! It's never too late to mend the fold after the sheep is lost. That Mr. is willing to use the name of Shi Ying Town to reclaim Coral Bay, so he must not have the ambition for hegemony you imagine! It's clear he should be a polite and decent gentleman."

Ram tried his best to suppress it, but panic still showed unmistakably.

"Polite and decent? How could that be! I've seen those Spiritual Warriors; every single one looks like a hulking brute. Not to mention a warrior capable of repelling the Duke of Purgatory! He might even have two heads and four arms! Perhaps the door to this drawing room isn't even as wide as him!"

No sooner had he finished speaking.

In the vast drawing room, a slow, unhurried sound of footsteps suddenly rang out.

The old gentleman Humbert stopped smilingly, introduced himself, and looked toward the doorway.

Instantly, silence fell over the hall.

The faces of two senior executives from Windstorm City changed, their hearts immediately rising to their throats.

They inexplicably felt a terrifying, inhuman pressure.

And as the footsteps drew closer, they even heard the giggling of girls chatting and laughing.

Very soon.

A tall man, leaning on a cane and as handsome as an elf, appeared outside the door.

For some reason, Cliff breathed a sigh of relief: "See, Ram? This is a handsome, decent gentleman, without two heads or four arms."

The Baroness did not respond.

Cliff turned his head in confusion.

There he saw the Baroness, a veteran of a hundred battles who had kept over a hundred male consorts, gazing at the man outside the door with a dazed look, as if veiled by a layer of mist.

Her slender hand crumpled her collar, as if consumed by a desperate, scratching desire.

"..."

(End of this chapter)