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The system notification sounded.

Countless faint green specks of light emerged again from the spiritual plants, red mushrooms, saplings, and spiritual rice that Xu Yunxin had planted.

These green lights, like fireflies on a summer night, gathered towards him and merged into his body.

After these green light spots merged into his body, they began to penetrate into the smallest parts of his body. Xu Yunxin's limbs and bones underwent another profound baptism, and his whole body felt extremely clear and refreshed.

After the green light dissipates.

Xu Yunxin opened the system again to check.

[World Tree Buds: Xu Yunxin]

[Class: Druid LV7 (0/1000)]

【Lifespan: 16/120】

[Cultivation Level: Eighth Level of Qi Refining]

[Destiny: Harmony with nature, drawing from nature, and companionship with animals.]

[World Tree Sprout: Golden Buddha Tree (Red), Growth Rate 1%, (Awakened the Sacred Flame of Burning Karma).]

[Spell: Whispers of the Forest, Manipulation of Wood and Earth. (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Skill: Wild Transformation LV5 (72/100)]

[Skill: Animal Spirit Contract LV2 (available), contracted with a Tier 2 superior-grade green snake (mutant species, mutation direction: Moonflower, Jia-Yi Wood), bloodline evolution level, current stage 900‰, number of spirit contracts (1).]

[Skill: Mist Breathing Clouds LV2 (6/100)]

【技能：世界树赐福（万兽）LV0（52/500）消耗本源使用（10颗/1次）】

[Skill: Voice of All Beasts (Cannot be upgraded).]

[Original Source: 9 (Red); 0.04 (White)]

[Nature's Blessing: 1‰]

His lifespan has increased to 120 years, ten years more than before!

Can a single natural blessing really grant ten years of lifespan?

Xu Yunxin pondered for a moment, then focused his attention on the skill: World Tree Blessing (Beasts) LV0.

You can bestow blessings upon all beasts other than your animal companions. The success rate of a blessing is positively correlated with the level of intimacy. If a blessing is successful, its effect is halved.

"Tsk~"

Xu Yunxin stroked his chin.

The extended skills that were unlocked during this Druid class level upgrade are actually quite useless.

His skill, [World Tree Blessing], requires ten white essences to be used once.

Normally, even Xiao Qing, a second-tier high-grade spirit beast, is only rewarded when it's appropriate.

How could we possibly be willing to use it on non-animal partners for nothing?

Unless he can replenish the white essence consumed by casting the skill, or he happens to have a large amount of white essence that he can't use.

If Xu Yunxin had enough white essence, he really wanted to cast [World Tree Blessing] on dogs number one through six.

Let's see if we can push these dogs' rank to mid-grade or high-grade first rank.

This will also help improve the defenses of Qingxi Town, and also give the [World Tree Blessing] skill some experience. Once the skill is leveled up to level two, it can be used exclusively on Xiaoqing.

We must push Xiaoqing's bloodline evolution to one-thousandth of its original value as soon as possible, so that Xiaoqing can condense a demon core and advance to the third tier!

Xu Yunxin shut down the system, patted Xiao Qing hanging around his neck, and returned to the town lord's bedroom from the spirit field amidst Xiao Qing's affectionate snuggling, preparing to rest for a while.

......

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the "Thousand Lakes Wasteland," more than a thousand miles to the south, barbarian troops were gradually returning.

Most of these barbarian teams returned laden with spoils, and their leaders were all beaming with pride and grinning from ear to ear.

A small number of barbarian teams suffered considerable losses, with almost all of the accompanying archers dying, but the barbarians leading the teams returned safely.

These barbarian troops began gathering here at the end of winter and are now nearing the end.

At noon the next day, as the sun rose high in the sky, the barbarians began to beat drums on the altar surrounded by people.

The barbarians, who had been waiting for a long time, all gathered below the altar. They had offered up the blood sacrifices they had hunted the day before, in exchange for pieces of black and red bloodstone.

These "blood essence stones" are the hard currency among the barbarians. They can be used as high-end currency or directly fed to shikigami and familiars to enhance their inherent strength.

When the drumming stopped, all the barbarians knelt respectfully on the ground, waiting for the chief priest to begin the ceremony.

On the triangular platform, the chief priest completed a set of procedures and then took out a bright yellow scroll.

He solemnly unrolled the scroll, muttered a bunch of things, and then called out sixteen barbarian names.

The barbarians who were chosen were overjoyed. They stepped out from the crowd and went up to the second level of the platform. They knelt down and kowtowed heavily to the south, piously shouting, "Supreme God!" (in the barbarian language).

Then, the high priest spread his hands apart, and the sleeves of his snow-white robe, embroidered with the patterns of the Myojin Torii (myojin torii gate), were flung open to both sides, from which sixteen treasures, shrouded in blood-red light, flew out.

These sixteen treasures were laid out on the top altar, and the barbarians whose names were called went up one by one to choose them in the order they were called.

The last barbarian went up on stage, took the last Bloodstained Treasure, bowed deeply, and then left the stage.

The high priest, who had not uttered a single word, suddenly pointed in the direction of Qingxi Town and said, "Kikugu Motoharu, next year during the winter hunt, you will lead a team here!" (in Mandarin).

Even without looking up, Kikutani Motoharu knew which high priest was referring to.

That area has always been a hunting ground with a low danger level and high-quality prey, and it has always been highly sought after.

I don't know what happened this year, but not a single barbarian has returned.

The leader of the team, "Blue-faced Red-haired Demon" Kameda Sunakaki, has also disappeared without a trace.

It is said that the high priest performed a "divine manipulation" for this purpose, but found nothing unusual.

According to God's will.

The feuds formed during the winter hunts each year need time to brew before they are savored the following year.

Unexpectedly, this supreme glory fell upon him!

Kikutani Motoharu bent down deeply, as if he had been injected with chicken blood, put his legs together, and shouted loudly, "Hey!" (in Mandarin).

......

The "Thousand Lakes Wasteland" is located in Shuanglin Town at the end of Wancheng Road, directly north of it.

Town Lord Lin Qingsheng pushed open the window of the warm pavilion and gazed at the vast forest to the south.

The vast forest on the horizon, like a giant, dark dragon, completely blocked his view, showing no mercy whatsoever.

After watching quietly for a long time, Lin Qingsheng finally sighed.

"I wonder if that Xu kid made it through..."

......

In the "Qingsongju" courtyard of the Xu family mansion in Huagou Mountain, Wancheng.

Dressed in a blue brocade robe, Xu Yunhua had no interest in cultivation. Holding a book, he walked out of the study with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, and walked step by step to the pond in the courtyard.

A fiery red frosty leaf drifted down from a tree by the pond, gently landing on the surface, only to be knocked down by a koi carp in the pond.

As Xu Yunhua watched this scene, she clenched her fists holding the book, feeling an indescribable sense of frustration.

......

On the other side, the door to the meditation room where the eldest son of the Xu family's eldest branch was cultivating was tightly closed.

The two servants stood far away from the quiet room, heads bowed and ears closed, as if they were blind and deaf, completely oblivious to the laughter and chatter coming from inside.