Chapter 9 | Demonic Beings? Obviously Auspicious Omens!

Chen Zhou’s gaze fell, and the system panel materialized before him.

【Emerald Tree Pith】

【5th-stage heavenly treasure】

【Commonly found in lush areas with abundant wood-attribute energy】

【When consumed, it can nourish wood-attribute spirit roots below rank 5. It can also be used to unlock buildings such as spirit fields and medicine gardens.】

!!!

With a thought from Chen Zhou, the segment of emerald-green wood fell into the skeleton’s hand.

'Whoa!'

A 5th-stage heavenly treasure??

What kind of level was that??

Chen Zhou was just a newbie evil spirit who had only recently unlocked the Stage 1 Shop, and the enslaved ghosts in his hands were all at the first-stage level.

To suddenly stumble upon a 5th-stage heavenly treasure—was this overwhelming stroke of luck for real?

Chen Zhou felt like he was dreaming.

He subconsciously scanned his surroundings.

An area with abundant wood-attribute energy?

Did it mean the Dead Man’s Forest?

Chen Zhou’s face showed his doubt.

His current position was on the edge of the Dead Man’s Forest.

Beneath his feet was black-red soil, the wild grass was pitifully sparse, and an eerie wind swirled withered leaves around. Even during the day, hardly any sunlight could be seen.

And you’re telling me this is a place where plants flourish and wood energy is abundant?

Chen Zhou felt like his intelligence was being insulted.

But since there was nothing wrong with the environment, the source of the anomaly had to be these villagers.

Chen Zhou synchronized his consciousness with the Bone Ghost Servant. His cold phalanges caressed the Emerald Tree Pith as he scrutinized the dozen or so villagers kneeling all over the ground one by one.

He wanted to see which of these honest-looking folks had given him such a massive surprise.

The villagers remained prostrated, all having witnessed the scene of the emerald pith flying into the skeleton’s hand.

After staring at it for a moment, the skeleton looked around and finally shifted its hollow gaze back toward them. No one dared to even breathe.

Li Dazhu’s heart skipped a beat.

He was the one who had cut down that piece of green wood.

He didn’t know what had happened; he had been cutting the tree normally until the moment it fell.

This segment of glowing green wood had simply rolled out as if it had grown out of thin air, lying there next to the fallen tree.

Li Dazhu didn’t know what the Lord Evil God wanted with all this timber.

At the time, Li Dazhu had figured that since the Lord Evil God wanted so much wood, he must be planning a grand construction project.

He was in complete agreement with this, which was why he had worked extra hard at felling the trees.

A deity as great as the Lord Evil God, even in a desolate wilderness like the Dead Man’s Forest, deserved to have a majestic ancestral hall and a temple!

Wouldn’t this emerald wood be perfect for carving a Sacred Jade Image for the Lord Evil God?

That was what Li Dazhu had been thinking.

But could it be...

That he had picked up something he shouldn't have and accidentally messed things up?

Meeting the skeleton’s gaze, Li Dazhu was extremely nervous. He stammered as he took the initiative to confess, "Lord... that piece of wood... I was the one who cut it."

"Is there... some kind of problem?"

A muscular man standing eight feet tall was currently kneeling on the ground like a child who had done something wrong, clutching a fierce deboning knife while looking pitiful.

He tried his best to shrink into a ball.

Weak, pathetic, and helpless.

'Good, good, good. Woodcutter Bro, you’ve successfully caught my attention!'

Chen Zhou nodded in appreciation.

He had an impression of Li Dazhu; the man was an activist when it came to tree-felling, one of the first to take the lead.

Seeing that the skeleton gave no other instructions, Li Dazhu worked up the courage to look it in the eye.

A dense aura of silence and death made him feel as though he were suffocating.

This was the majesty of a god!

However, seeing that the Lord Evil God did not scold or punish him, but instead nodded repeatedly, Li Dazhu was ecstatic.

So he hadn't done anything wrong?

The Lord Evil God approved of him?

Li Dazhu gripped his ferocious deboning knife and immediately blurted out the whole story of how the treasure had dropped while he was felling the tree.

He abandoned his previous timidness, his tone now full of pride and boasting.

Seeing the Evil God continue to nod at him, Li Dazhu’s inner joy intensified.

To be noticed by a god—what a massive honor!

Nothing could make a person more proud than receiving a deity’s recognition!

As Chen Zhou listened, he became increasingly stunned.

He had originally thought that treasures capable of being classified as heavenly treasures must be obtained through extreme coincidences or accidents.

According to Woodcutter Bro’s description, he just cut a tree normally, and it dropped naturally afterward?

Are you playing Diablo here?

You can just farm mobs to get loot now, is that it?

They say that wherever there is a genius, there’s bound to be another following close behind.

It wasn't enough to have a kid with a natural phenomenon; now even Woodcutter Bro refused to be left behind, turning on the cheats, weren't they?

If it’s not skill, it must be hacks!

Cutting a tree actually yielded a 5th-stage heavenly treasure!

What a talent!

Chen Zhou took the Emerald Tree Pith. After a moment of thought, he exchanged points for two Blood-Inducing Pills and two Flesh-Reconstitution Pills, placing them into the hands of Shitou and Li Dazhu respectively.

"A reward!"

For talents and those who made outstanding contributions, Chen Zhou had to provide heavy rewards!

These were the high-quality Pals who would grind materials and handle production for him in the future; they had to be nurtured!

The foul-smelling pills landed in the hands of the two men.

Immediately, the other villagers looked on with envy.

No one cared about the nauseating stench anymore; they all stared with wide eyes.

The dark-skinned man next to Li Dazhu even leaned in close. While staring at the pills in Li Dazhu's hand, he took a deep breath of the medicinal fragrance, his face wearing an intoxicated expression.

Li Dazhu’s face darkened. He quickly stuffed the pills into his mouth and glared at the man as if he were a thief, feeling quite annoyed.

Shitou’s eyes were even brighter, his pure faith and adoration for the youth completely unconcealed.

After the two of them swallowed the pills...

Shitou’s flesh energy rose to a bit over 8 portions, while Li Dazhu’s barely approached 2 portions.

The increase was only half as effective as the first time they had taken the pills.

Chen Zhou estimated that they could use them at most one more time. After that, eating them would likely have no effect at all.

The dark-skinned man watched as Li Dazhu turned his back to swallow the pills, his face filled with regret.

These were miraculous medicines bestowed by a god. Everyone had seen their divine effects; they were probably no different from the legendary medicines that could bring the dead back to life and grow flesh on bones.

Everyone could understand why Shitou was rewarded; he was the child favored by the god, the first one to offer his soul to the Lord Evil God.

One could see how much he was loved from the phenomenon he displayed after swallowing the pill for the first time.

That had to be the divine power bestowed by the Evil God!

Everyone felt nothing but envy for him.

But Li Dazhu? Why did that annoying fellow get one?

Just because he’s a woodcutter and is better at felling trees?

The villagers thought indignantly: 'I can do that too!'

It was just cutting trees. Now that everyone’s health had improved and they felt as if they had endless strength, wasn't it just cutting trees? We'll do it right now!

Each person will cut down 100 trees!

No, 10,000 trees!

I don't believe we can't strip the Dead Man’s Forest bare!

There were also clever ones who had witnessed the scene of the skeleton’s bone fist smashing the boulder earlier.

They secretly guessed that the Lord Evil God must also need stone materials.

Too many people were competing in tree-felling, and that annoying Li Dazhu had already seized the initiative. It would be better to go smash some stones and open up a new path.