Chapter 82: Heartless Transaction

This was a heartless bodily transaction.

Worse still, the one who offered their body as capital was Luo De himself.

To be honest, Eva’s experience was not good.

A body that was not soft enough, which produced sticky resin when not regularly exercised; an overly violent and powerful suction that made inspection difficult; and a weakness caused by feet fused to the trunk, making posture changes impossible.

Even worse, the moment she accumulated enough, she immediately shoved Luo De out and forcibly teleported him back to reality.

Blocked.

Never again will I do trees.

Vivian doesn’t count—she’s a tree spirit, not a tree.

Anyway, I won’t enter the Jade Domain again.

Luo De decided to seal this away and let the memory fade with the wind.

Fortunately.

The gifts Eva gave him were enough to soothe his soul.

【Blessing of the Sky Ancient Tree: Grow, and grow larger—this is the Sky Ancient Tree’s sole purpose of existence. She has projected this onto those who receive her blessing. This effect can act upon the body, spirit, or objects.】

【Partial Authority of the ‘Permanence’ Domain: Having dwelled long in the domain, Eva has mastered this authority. She shares it with you. Note: Strength increases with rank.】

【Will of the Sky: Bestows upon the bearer an unshakable spiritual will, granting immunity to most negative spiritual spells.】

Added 【Growth Spirit】 121 points.

Plus a copy of 【Elibert’s Secret Guide to Pleasure】.

This thing is actually a breathing technique.

And it appears to be of quite a high rank.

Unlike 【Night Hunter Breathing Technique】, this new breathing technique focuses more on enhancing physical attributes.

Forget it.

Given these gifts, I’ll forgive her.

The next two days

All ascenders who entered the domain were temporarily isolated.

As a guest, Luo De naturally received special treatment and was escorted to a luxurious room for temporary lodging.

No spell checks or drug controls were imposed.

Two days later.

As soon as Luo De left the isolation zone, he saw Tally and Gema waiting for him.

Perhaps because his experience with Eva had been so terrible.

Luo De stepped forward and embraced Tally.

He breathed in her sweet fragrance, feeling the soft, boneless body in his arms.

“Miss me?” Tally smirked.

“Yes, so much.”

Luo De immediately felt her body stiffen, then her temperature surged.

【Tally’s obedience toward you +5, current obedience: 69】

Huh?

That much?

Have I never said sweet words to her before? Seems I haven’t.

Tally’s obedience was hard to increase, and he had never found a pattern.

Unlike Vivian, whose obedience rose whenever she thought Luo De was treating trees well.

Luo De released his arms and looked at her face.

He noticed her skin had turned flushed, her throat gasping for air.

Her eyes could no longer maintain human form, revealing black-red demonic pupils.

This was clearly Tally nearing her peak.

One sentence made a succubus happy?

No time to waste—Luo De feared she might lose control, so he scooped her up and rushed toward a nearby inn.

During the journey, Tally couldn’t hold back, biting and gnawing at her master’s head.

To an outsider, it looked like a zombie attack.

Another fierce battle.

One can only say: no comparison, no pain.

Her plump, fleshy thighs, paired with her slender, toned waist, allowed his palms to fully encircle them.

This created a strong contrast and gap—when Luo De gripped them, it felt like they were made to be held.

Many hours later.

The satisfied succubus, full and drowsy, fell asleep while cleaning up her snack.

She seemed to dream, biting several times.

But Luo De’s body was strong—he wasn’t injured.

Luo De told her to return to the shadows and rest.

He himself went downstairs to eat something.

“Mr. Luo De, over here.”

Gema waved at him.

It seemed she hadn’t left—she had been waiting all along.

Beside her stood a security officer dressed in Jade City’s exclusive green-edged armor.

After a brief introduction, he learned this was Harris, captain of the South District Security Force.

He had come specifically to check on Luo De’s condition.

The security captain had bandages wrapped around his forehead and arms, clearly having faced the conflict directly after the Jade Tree turned monstrous.

Luo De ordered a Giant’s Ale and some food.

After some small talk, the three ate and chatted.

“Thank goodness nothing happened to you.”

Harris chuckled bitterly.

Clearly, Jade City’s iconic attraction—the Jade Tree being corrupted—drew far more attention.

Major newspapers competed to report on it.

Meanwhile, the factory explosion that released toxic smoke but caused no actual harm had been buried under layers of silence.

This saved him a fortune in Jin Along.

“We didn’t even know what happened.”

Luo De had previously asked Lily.

She said that after successfully ascending, she found she couldn’t leave, so she kept training until suddenly being teleported out.

“You have no idea how pervasive bards are—they flooded Jade City almost the moment the event occurred.”

“I heard bards have a spiritual technique to sense events, learnable only by members of the Bardic Guild.”

The traveling gnome, well-traveled and knowledgeable, quickly revealed the bards’ secret.

“There’s such a spiritual technique?”

Harris blinked. “No wonder they started announcing things before we even finished counting the injured—they even knew about the prison break and escaped convicts.”

A battle had occurred at the Central Plaza; Luo De had heard rumors.

But he had been inside the domain then, so it felt distant.

He was about to ask for details.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind—an incoming message.

The one who received this message was his High-Level Open-Air Labyrinth Pass.

【Pass Quest Triggered: The Labyrinth Dragon Soul’s Plea】

【Repel the outsiders who covet the Dragon Soul】

【Accept?】

Dragon soul?

Who else could it be—the Labyrinth’s Dragon Soul? Red Dragon Sapan.

Luo De was due to return anyway; after a brief discussion with Gema, they had planned to bypass Scorching City.

Not only because they had angered the Sacred Flame Corps and the Garrison Commander.

More importantly, Harris had just revealed something.

The current atmosphere in Scorching City is unfavorable.

News of Athelon’s steady retreat reached the ears of the Fire Lizard tribe Kao; intelligence suggests they are preparing an attack.

If war breaks out, the Open-Air Labyrinth beside Scorching City is likely to be drawn in.

The Fire Lizards have a seventh-rank shaman—getting hit by a calamity spell isn’t something to joke about.

Luo De had no desire to be dragged into war.

“Not just the Kao tribe—spies report large numbers of land naga crossing the labyrinth toward Mirror Desert; clearly, a power shift is happening there too.”

Harris shook his head, looking deeply concerned for the nation and its people.

He added, “You may not know that the Igoy Sect once preached in Scorching City for a time, but then, for reasons unknown, all their missionaries vanished overnight—I always suspect the Igoy Sect had a hand in it.”

The Lord of Stormwind City, the Argyle family, and Lord Gideon of Jade City have always stood united, sharing the same stance toward the Igoy Sect.

Thus, there is no trace of the Igoy Sect in Jade City.

But the lord of Scorching City is different; the city’s natural environment is harsh, and many races cannot reside there long-term, so it Yuanzeshang does not reject anyone.

(End of Chapter)