Chapter 512: My Lord, I Am Willing

"So you are not Your Majesty's enemy? Then why did He seal you? Was it to save your life?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked in surprise.

"Yes, He is an enemy. If He were an enemy, why not just kill me? Why seal me? My soul was shattered by a Nirvana Sorcerer from the Sorcerer Alliance. The method was quite bizarre. With no other choice, Your Majesty had to seal me into an owl's body. However, the owl's body is too weak, forcing me to molt and be reborn once every dozen years. I am exhausted every single day, unable even to care for myself."

Xierba chattered on, not even probing deeply into Seeing Ange and the others' identities, because Flash Feiti was the best proof. The Undead Empire in this world had formed too recently, with a history of less than a thousand years, leaving absolutely no time to nurture a Lord of Mourning. Thus, Flash Feiti could only be an old subordinate of the Monarch.

"Then... Tree-Rice, did you graft the Tree-Rice?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si wanted to ask something else, but Seeing Ange could no longer hold back and poked its back. Can't you ask about other things later? Let's figure out the Tree-Rice situation first. You have no sense of urgency at all; you're making a skeleton anxious to death.

"Tree-Rice? What Tree-Rice? Are you talking about that fraudulent prop that grafts a tree and rice together?" Xierba asked, knowing full well it was a fraudulent prop.

"Yes, but we are not interested in the prop, but in the technique of grafting the tree and rice together. How did you manage to make them survive?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

Xierba looked at it, then looked at Seeing Ange, suddenly let out a huge yawn, looking as if it were about to fall asleep immediately.

Seeing Ange hurriedly handed it a handful of Elf Beans.

Xierba instantly perked up, clacking a few times before snatching all the Elf Beans, but instead of swallowing them, it held them in its mouth like a hamster, speaking with a muffled mouth:

"After being sealed into this body, I thought of many ways to solve my sleepiness, but none were effective. Unless I devour a small fat sheep. The Old Undead once said that if I could find Elf Beans, the energy they provide should be enough to sustain my activities. Indeed, his deduction was correct."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked, "So you are sleepy because you are hungry, and if you are not hungry, you won't be sleepy?"

Xierba shook its head: "Not exactly. I would still be sleepy, but at least I wouldn't be unable to care for myself as I am now."

After a pause, Xierba continued, "As for how the grafting survived, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, there is something you don't understand? Tell me first. If I don't understand, I'll crawl like a lizard!" Lord Nai Ge Li Si, backed by the presence of the God of Planting, said with immense confidence.

"Oh, such a high stake? Fine, listen closely." Xierba was shocked. As a Dragon Lich, it naturally knew that the Dragon race most detested being compared to lizards. Crawling like a lizard?

"Herbaceous plants, compared to woody plants, lack lignin. So, just do this and this, then that and that, then this and this again, and they will survive. There are a few difficulties here: first, highly concentrated nutrients; second, an environment that allows lignin to grow within herbaceous plants. Guess how I solved it?"

Lord Nai Ge Li Si put his hands on his hips and laughed: "Such a small problem doesn't even require me to answer. I could send out any contestant at random to answer this question." After saying this, he very pretentiously gestured for Seeing Ange to step forward.

Xierba curled its lip and sneered, "I saw it long ago. He is the true leader of your group. Who are you?"

Xierba's last sentence was directed at Seeing Ange.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si said, "Let me formally introduce you. This is the Master of the Palace of Rest, the successor of the Undead Divine Core, the God of Planting, the Goddess of Beauty, the God of the Scales..."

By the time Lord Nai Ge Li Si finished introducing Seeing Ange's divine titles and names according to convention, Xierba had already fallen asleep.

After waking it up, it rolled its eyes widely: "You prepared a script for your bragging, right? Fine, fine, I know. You guess first how I did it, or else you'll crawl like a lizard."

Seeing Ange pointed to the sky above and said, "The Void."

"Oh? You actually guessed it? Lignin was originally evolved by crops to resist gravity and wind. In ancient times, ferns were the mainstream. So I tried grafting two crops in a micro-gravity environment, and indeed, they survived." Xierba said with great pride.

After a pause, it continued, "However, it is meaningless. Grafting cannot turn it into a true Tree-Rice; it is merely rice growing on a tree. It still lacks the most critical mutation. But achieving a mutation is too difficult. Without sufficient scale and the blessing of the Goddess of Fortune, it is simply impossible."

The blessing of the Goddess of Fortune? Lord Nai Ge Li Si's eyes lit up. This is something we can have.

At this point, Xierba switched to a mode of complaining: "I tried many things to serve as nutrient solutions, but the effects were not good. A micro-gravity environment is also hard to find, and the effect is poor. I could only create such a prop. Finally, Muka suggested coming here to scam some money, but it seems this plan has failed."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si said sympathetically, "Yes, it failed. Because the ones organizing this event are also our people; we saw through it at a glance. But speaking of which, how did you end up so miserably that you have to rely on scamming money to survive?"

Xierba asked irritably, "What else could I do? An owl that sleeps all day, an owl that falls asleep halfway while catching a small fat sheep and then crashes to the ground. Besides scamming money, how else can I support myself?"

"But you can't even scam successfully. Where is Your Majesty? Doesn't Your Majesty care for you? According to your story, your relationship with Your Majesty should be quite good. Return to the Undead Empire; surely no one supports you?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

Xierba said, "I have been in this form for over eight hundred years. At the beginning, being supported was quite comfortable, but after a long time, it became unpleasant. You know the nature of undead beings; they sleep at the drop of a hat, sleeping for decades at a time. Several times I almost starved to death. Later, I was fostered at a human ranch, forcing me to raise sheep for many years. But after the old rancher and his great-great-grandson died, the ranch was sold. It was boring."

Although Xierba spoke lightly, Lord Nai Ge Li Si and the others could already compose a super-long knight novel in their minds: "The Story of a Dragon Lich Druid Being Fostered in a Household and Bankrupting the Ranch."

Xierba's change in mindset was actually no different from many undead beings. Immortality is not necessarily a good thing for some; on the contrary, it is a curse. Luo Ge is prone to depression; Ao Ben Li loves to scold people, so she became the Dean of Discipline.

Xierba, however, due to its energy levels, likes to rot. As long as it is not harmed, it gets angry at nothing no matter how it is handled. If it can also be supplied with a few small fat sheep, that would be even better, and it would try its best to fulfill a small wish for you.

Of course, your wish cannot be too complex, or it will fall asleep halfway through.

Muka has this kind of relationship with it. Muka worships it as a god, and it fulfills some of Muka's simple requests, such as blessing a stone, making a withered tree bloom, or raising a few precious magical plants.

However, these simple things obviously cannot satisfy their daily needs, so they are as poor as ghosts. With no other choice, they had to bring out their bottom-of-the-box 'Tree-Rice' for Muka to take and scam people with.

"That tree cost me three small fat sheep and a whole day of effort. I created a small-scale micro-gravity space and then grafted it. It is alive now, but it won't live long unless they are transferred to an eternal micro-gravity space." Xierba explained, then flicked its tongue to push one of the Elf Beans from its mouth down its throat. This was the third Elf Bean it had eaten.

Just then, a Silver Coin guard quietly walked in and whispered something into Silver Coin's ear.

Silver Coin turned to report to Seeing Ange, "My lord, we caught a suspicious human in the parking lot who was investigating Xierba's carriage. The guards subdued him. He claims to be a local butcher coming to ask Xierba for money."

Everyone looked at Xierba. Xierba immediately became awkward: "Hehe, if it's a butcher, then indeed... indeed he is here to collect money. I just said I ate three small fat sheep and haven't paid yet."

"... You aren't afraid the butcher will slaughter you, pluck your feathers, and sell you?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si didn't know what to say.

Xierba's eyes lit up: "Slaughtering me is good, slaughtering me is good. I will be reborn after death. For a period after rebirth, I will be more energetic. Only when I get old and sleepy will the sleepiness increase."

"You can do that? Are you an owl or an Undead Phoenix?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked in astonishment.

"I am a Druid, you fool. This is the effect of the Ultimate Transformation Technique. I can transform when I am in a soul state. Of course, the process is very complex; it requires burning life and body." Xierba said.

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Lord Nai Ge Li Si clicked his tongue. Saying "Druid" didn't evoke much feeling, but mentioning the Ultimate Transformation Technique revealed its level. This was the level of a Grand Druid.

"Then why don't you commit suicide every few years to restart while your energy hasn't declined? That way, you wouldn't be as sleepy as a Kobold every day."

Xierba looked it up and down, its face full of the expression of looking at an idiot: "I don't use a unified plane. Isn't that equivalent to stabbing myself to accelerate my trip to the trash dump?"

"Uh... your ability to retort is very high. Then go pay the small fat sheep's money and let the butcher in." Lord Nai Ge Li Si said resentfully.

Xierba rolled its eyes: "I know who you are, Little Fat Dragon God of Knowledge. Knowledge must be paid for. I even taught you the grafting method, and you treat me like this?"

Lord Nai Ge Li Si also rolled his eyes. The butcher had surely been sent away long ago; he just wanted to annoy Xierba. He didn't expect Xierba to use his identity to retort. This dead bird's ability to retort is very strong.

Now that the key to grafting has been asked, all that needs to be done is to replicate it. Seeing Ange was already preparing to start. Seizing this opportunity, Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked, "If we can unlock your seal, and happen to have a petrified dragon body to transfer your consciousness into, would you still be willing to become a dragon?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Lord Nai Ge Li Si felt his thigh tighten. The owl pounced over, hugging his thigh tightly, its eyes wide open, and smiled, "My lord, I am willing."

PS: The physical examination results are good, nothing major is wrong, but I actually have mild fatty liver. What a drag. I pay so much attention to fitness.

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