Chapter 701: The Importance of the Waist and Its Extraction

Shuangzhi Mountain remained as gloomy as ever.

The dense giant locust trees blocked out the sun and sky; Luo De, who had just spent the morning basking in the sunlight outside the forest, immediately felt drowsy.

“What?”

The elf lady scowled at the object Luo De held out to her.

A harp carved from pale cloudwood, its timber light yet resilient, its surface naturally marked with swirling, cloud-like patterns.

The frame’s edges were inlaid with lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl; the strings were silver filaments faintly glowing with blue-white electrical light.

One of the domain artifacts gifted by Craft Starwhisper: [Cloud Singer Harp].

The elf lady’s beautiful eyes flickered with surprise as she examined the harp from top to bottom.

Though she did not take it, her gaze already betrayed deep affection.

“It’s for you.”

Artistic domains clearly had nothing to do with a brute like Luo De.

In fact, not just him.

Aside from Kalist, the only one in the forest who could barely be linked to music was the arachnid elf Yuna.

The spider lady had a pleasant voice; before taking up her post as manager of Coral Bay, she would hum cheerful little tunes while cleaning Luo De’s room and his desires. Rumor had it she played instruments too.

After all, she was an elf—musical talent went without saying.

What?

The banshee Krist?

If you counted her, the number of people in the forest connected to music would drop to negative one.

“Domain? Hmph. I don’t need it.”

“If you don’t want it, I’ll give it to Krist. She loves art.”

Kalist’s expression stiffened; she clenched her teeth as if imagining something unbearable.

She let out a cold snort, her silver teeth grinding together as words slipped through them: “Then give it to her.”

Luo De couldn’t help but laugh, shoving the harp into her hands.

“You’re happy to listen? I’m not. You can give music lessons to the Misforged girls—it counts as my educational investment.”

“I’ll add the exact cost to my debt. Hmph.”

Luo De had previously given Kalist over two million Jin Along; the elf stubbornly insisted it was a loan she’d repay someday.

The elf lady seemed unwilling to let the man see her expression, stepping quickly forward a short distance.

With the rising heat of the weather,

Kalist had changed her attire style. The ever-present, perfectly body-hugging one-piece suit—once designed to accentuate her proportions—was no longer worn, thanks to that forest warden’s leering eyes constantly scanning everywhere.

Her lower body now wore black combat pants accented with faint orange stripes, featuring subtle knee guards and high-heeled boots extending to the calf.

Her upper body was draped in a short shoulder cape over brown leather; the leather fully enclosed her naturally proportioned, full yet unexaggerated chest. The cool cape, perhaps a cooling magical item, featured a high collar that covered her shoulders and chest.

Forbidden from being stared at by that man’s lecherous gaze.

Yet.

This seemingly solid outfit had one fatal flaw.

Beneath the brown leather lay a black skin-tight undersuit for skin protection.

The undersuit was one-piece, extending from the top of the combat pants up to her elegant swan-like neck; where the brown leather couldn’t cover, the perfectly fitted undersuit was fully exposed to his view.

Openwork designs on both sides aided ventilation, hugging her figure perfectly—neither too tight nor leaving a single gap.

Her waist was slender yet powerful; the fabric tightened slightly here, gently stretching with movement, revealing the smooth, naturally graceful muscle line along her sides.

“Master, you’re drooling.”

Tally cupped her palm beneath Luo De’s chin, trying to catch it.

She huffed again, dissatisfied: “It’s just a waist. Is it really that beautiful?”

“You wouldn’t understand, Tally. You think boosting chest and hips alone is enough? No no no—the most important part is always the waist connecting them. If the waist is ugly or thick, no matter how perfect every other detail is, it’ll all fall apart.”

“Really?”

“Look at Sharon. Her chest isn’t big, but her hourglass figure—her waist is impossibly thin—it makes her lower half look lush and naturally wild. I love it.”

Tally pondered, feeling something click in her mind.

“Look at Vanessa, the vampire. She’s not tall, her curves aren’t bad, she’s even a bit plump—but her waist is slim and legs long, so her proportions are perfect. Top-tier little cannon. I love her so much… even if she won’t let me do anything now.”

“Indeed… Tally also finds Vanessa’s figure very alluring. But during transformation, she always can’t find the right pivot.”

That’s why someone like Kalist—no excess fat, no forced thinness, just naturally proportioned—the perfect golden ratio—is endlessly captivating.

Luo De crossed his arms, looking down condescendingly at the humble succubus.

Tally beamed and clapped: “Master is so strong!”

Vivian didn’t understand this complex topic but blinked and clapped along.

“I heard all of that.”

Kalist stood with her left foot on a raised rock, turning back with icy coldness.

The junction of her hips and thighs beneath the tight combat pants flowed like water—round where it should be round, straight where it should be straight—another feast for the eyes.

“I was praising you. Happy, icy-face elf?”

“I’ll throw you off, stupid succubus.”

Amid the bickering,

The labyrinth entrance had been reached.

The [Flawless Crystal Ground] was hidden within a ruin labyrinth; both Luo De and Kalist had once been invited guests, and their labyrinth access tokens still worked.

A flash of spiritual light.

After half a year, Luo De entered the [Flawless Crystal Ground] again.

Plop—

Luo De’s first sensation was his foot sinking into mud.

As the light faded, a scene resembling a desert wasteland came into view.

“Huh?”

The greatest feature of the [Flawless Crystal Ground] was its crystal-like environment.

The soil, trees, rocks—all should have been crystal.

But now, nothing remained except the thin layer of crystal ground beneath his feet, coated in powder and moisture.

After all, the [Flawless Crystal Ground] was a newborn labyrinth, lacking the erratic, unstable rules of mature ones.

Could such a massive change be a normal sign of the labyrinth maturing?

Luo De turned to look at Kalist.

Without a word, the elf lady had already begun scanning; the magical array beneath her feet retracted.

Her expression was grim.

“Forget a mature labyrinth—this place isn’t even really a labyrinth anymore. Most of its spiritual power has been drained. In less than two months, it will collapse completely.”

“Drained?”

“Yes. Even now, a strange force is frantically siphoning the labyrinth’s core energy.”

Luo De was stunned.

Suddenly, he remembered once adding a few growth spirits to a crystal tree in the [Flawless Crystal Ground]—one of them had spawned the [Forceful Seizure] skill.

He opened his mouth: “Could it be…”

(End of Chapter)