Divine Level Witch Doctor

”This is incredible stuff, truly incredible. Worthy of its place in the *Spirit Medicine Atlas*!” Feeling the changes in his body, Zhao Yuan clicked his tongue in amazement, absolutely delighted.

A single Diospyros lotus Fruit already had such an effect. ’If I eat a few more, just imagine what will happen!’

Eager for more, Zhao Yuan couldn’t help but ask the Little Red Fox, ”Where did you pick this fruit?”

The Little Red Fox tilted its head with a bewildered expression, not understanding what Zhao Yuan was saying at all.

Unwilling to give up, Zhao Yuan pantomimed the action of picking fruit. This time, through a mix of guesswork and intuition, the Little Red Fox understood him. It immediately turned and bolted into the depths of the forest. As it ran, it kept looking back and yipping at Zhao Yuan, as if to say, ’Hurry up and follow me! I’ll take you there.’

”This is why I love interacting with sentient creatures like you,” Zhao Yuan joked with a laugh, then took off in pursuit.

He had barely taken a step when he realized something was off.

His body felt much lighter than before. His running speed, jumping height, and distance had all improved dramatically! This was clearly another miraculous effect of consuming the Diospyros lotus Fruit!

Not yet accustomed to his suddenly lighter body, Zhao Yuan ran headfirst into a tree with a THUD. This sort of thing happened several more times. However, Zhao Yuan’s ability to adapt to his new body improved rapidly throughout the process. Eventually, he fully adjusted to his nimble frame. Not only did he stop crashing into trees and tripping, but he also began to appreciate the many advantages his lighter body afforded him.

The Little Red Fox was incredibly fast. If it weren’t for Zhao Yuan’s sharp vision and enhanced speed, he would have surely lost it.

After more than half an hour, he followed it to a small stream deep in the forest.

Here stood a massive tree. And for a radius of a hundred meters around it, no other trees grew! It was as if this tree were the king of this place, and the surrounding forest was giving way, paying it homage.

Judging by its appearance alone, the tree didn’t seem much different from the others nearby. But when Zhao Yuan activated his Qi Observation Technique, he discovered that it contained an incredibly pure Qi!

Without a doubt, this was the mystical Diospyros lotus.

But unfortunately, the tree had completely withered away, without a single trace of Vitality.

”What a shame,” Zhao Yuan sighed. He had planned on transplanting the Diospyros lotus to his medicinal herb cultivation base once he found it. He never imagined that the tree would already be dead!

’The Diospyros lotus Fruit I just ate,’ Zhao Yuan realized, ’must have been the very last one it ever produced!’

After a moment of disappointment, Zhao Yuan’s spirits lifted. He reassured himself, ’A fruit nurtured by a Diospyros lotus on the brink of death isn’t just many times more potent than a normal one! The seed hidden inside it must have an equally powerful Life Force! Maybe I really can cultivate it successfully!’

Even though the Diospyros lotus was dead, Zhao Yuan didn’t want it to go to waste. Its withered branches still contained Qi and could perhaps be used to craft Magical Artifacts or be refined into Elixir Pills someday. So, he decided to take the entire Diospyros lotus with him.

”Xiaoyang,” Zhao Yuan called out, pointing at the Diospyros lotus and ordering, ”Take this tree apart for me.”

He hadn’t brought an axe, but that didn’t matter. This kind of demolition work was perfect for Xiaoyang.

”Yes!” Xiaoyang acknowledged the order loudly, striding forward and swinging its enormous fists at the Diospyros lotus. In no time at all, it had broken the tree into sections and even ripped its roots clean out of the ground.

Zhao Yuan opened his Storage Ring Space and placed the Diospyros lotus inside.

Once that was done, Zhao Yuan waved to the Little Red Fox, which was standing off to the side. ”Thank you, little guy. When I manage to grow a new Diospyros lotus and it bears fruit, I’ll be sure to save a few for you.”

It was unclear whether the Little Red Fox understood, but it yipped and danced about excitedly, seeming very happy.

Zhao Yuan then instructed Xiaoyang, ”From now on, don’t give it a hard time. You should try to be friends with it.”

Xiaoyang scratched its head, not understanding what ”friend” meant, but it answered anyway, ”I just won’t eat it then.”

Zhao Yuan chuckled and shook his head, deciding not to say more. Although Xiaoyang could understand and speak human language, its vocabulary was limited, like a child just learning to talk. Saying too much would only confuse it and could easily lead to misunderstandings.

”I’m heading off. Maybe we’ll meet again someday.”

It was getting late, so Zhao Yuan waved goodbye to the Little Red Fox and turned to leave.

The Little Red Fox didn’t leave, however. It maintained a distance of about ten meters and followed behind Zhao Yuan. This, of course, did not escape Zhao Yuan’s notice, but he didn’t try to stop it. ’This Little Fox means me no harm, and it even did me a great service. If it wants to follow, then let it follow,’ he thought.

The return trip was much faster. Before long, Zhao Yuan had emerged from the forest and arrived at the medicinal herb cultivation base.

At the moment, the medicinal herb cultivation base was completely quiet; there wasn’t a soul in sight. Cai De and the others who had been building the housing structures had been called into the village for a group meal.

Seeing that no one was around, Xiaoyang wasn’t in a hurry to return to the forest. It followed Zhao Yuan into the cultivation base, looking all around. Every time it spotted an herb that contained Qi, it would smack its lips, a greedy, slobbering look on its face.

The Little Red Fox followed as well. Although it couldn’t see which herbs contained Qi, its keen sixth sense told it this place was wonderful. The things here weren’t meat, but they seemed delicious and would be beneficial to eat.

It licked its lips, wanting to eat but also feeling a little fearful. After a furtive glance at Zhao Yuan and Xiaoyang, it quickly dug up a piece of Astragalus Root from a nearby plot, held it between its little paws, and began to CRUNCH CRUNCH on it as if it were the sweetest delicacy.

Hearing the noise, Xiaoyang glanced back. Seeing the fox stealing medicinal herbs, it flew into a rage and roared, about to go and teach the presumptuous Little Fox a lesson. Zhao Yuan quickly stopped it, saying, ”Let it eat. How much can a tiny thing like that possibly eat?” Then he turned to the Little Red Fox. ”You can eat, but don’t be wasteful, understand?”

The Little Red Fox actually understood him. It nodded its head repeatedly and bobbed in a little bow, not only showing it understood but also expressing its gratitude for Zhao Yuan’s generosity.

Zhao Yuan smiled and paid it no more mind. He found a suitable spot in the cultivation base, took out the pit from the Diospyros lotus Fruit, and carefully cracked it open before burying the seed inside in the earth.

”The Array I’ve laid here can gather the surrounding Spiritual Qi. I hope this will help you take root, sprout, and grow strong!” After muttering these words to himself, Zhao Yuan turned and headed back to the village. This time, the Little Red Fox didn’t follow. It was hard to say whether it was afraid of encountering other villagers, or of running into that fearsome White Cat.