Chapter 81: Returning a gift to Mr. Orochi: Invaders who fight amongst themselves.

With the Faerie Forest entering its rainy season, it rained for half of every month, causing considerable trouble for the animals and magical beasts that lived there.

Fortunately, Lake Bojiaman and the forest’s many rivers, large and small, helped relieve the pressure. The adult Fairies often ventured out in the rain to drain excess water and prevent flooding.

The weather was clear today. The heavy storm clouds had dispersed, revealing the long-absent sun.

Seated on the enormous magical bird’s back, Shu Li sailed through the sky without a care in the world.

Dore flew both high and fast, and the rushing air struck with considerable force. With practiced ease, Shu Li erected a transparent defensive barrier around himself for protection.

An hour later, Dore carried Shu Li to the eastern reaches of the forest. After circling in the air for several minutes, it gradually descended toward a towering tree, extended its powerful talons, and landed securely on a branch high in the crown.

“Chirp!”

Dore reminded the Little Fairy on its back that they had arrived.

Shu Li yawned and crawled out from among the thick feathers.

They were so warm that he had nearly fallen asleep.

Fluttering his thin, gauze-like translucent wings, he flew down from Dore’s back. “Thank you, Dore.”

“Chirp!” Dore replied before beating its wings, soaring into the sky, and leaving the enormous tree behind.

This was the magical serpent’s territory. Any foreign high-rank magical beast that entered without permission would be issuing a challenge.

Dore was only a fourth-rank magical bird and had no desire to clash with a magical serpent at the peak of the seventh rank. After dropping off Shu Li, it decisively headed toward a nearby public hunting ground to find itself a meal.

Shu Li watched Dore leave, then began flying down along the enormous tree’s main trunk.

When that stupid bird had first brought him here, he had flown up from below in search of the divine tree’s direction. The ordeal had nearly exhausted him, and he had almost fallen midway. Fortunately, Mr. Serpent had helped him, allowing him to reach the crown safely.

Ten years had passed. He was no longer that helpless little cub.

As an Intermediate Mage, he could manipulate magic with ease and possessed considerable fighting ability. Even his flying speed was ten times faster than it had been before.

Shu Li folded his wings and leaped from the branch, plunging into free fall.

He plummeted without the slightest fear.

He even found himself falling too slowly, so he took an ornate and elegant magic staff from his storage ring and cast a wind spell on himself.

His descent accelerated instantly, sending him plunging more than two hundred meters. An ordinary person would probably have been scared out of their wits by now.

Shu Li, however, had grown accustomed to being a Fairy and overcome his fear of heights. This was perfectly normal to him.

Not only was he unafraid, but he could even perform difficult maneuvers in midair, dodging the leaves and branches in his path.

After falling more than three hundred meters, with another hundred meters still separating him from the ground, an enormous shadow abruptly surged up from below.

Shu Li felt a vast pressure bear down on him. With a wave of his magic staff, he dispelled the acceleration spell on his body, then snapped open his gauze-like wings. Several gentle beats effectively slowed his descent.

The shadow was rising just as swiftly. Within a few breaths, it had drawn close to Shu Li.

The moment Shu Li saw the enormous black figure, delight spread across his delicate face, and his light green eyes sparkled like stars.

“Mr. Serpent!”

He called out loudly, fluttered his wings, and landed lightly on the “shadow’s” head.

“Hiss—”

The enormous magical serpent caught the adolescent Fairy who had jumped down from above, wound once around the tree trunk, and rested its head on a nearby sturdy branch.

Shu Li nimbly stepped onto the branch, coming face-to-face with the magical serpent.

“Good morning, Bazien.”

The adolescent Fairy with the golden ponytail greeted the magical serpent with radiant energy.

Although Shu Li usually called him Mr. Serpent, he politely used Bazien’s name whenever they met properly.

“Good morning, Sperien.” The magical serpent’s voice was slightly hoarse and languid, as though he had just awakened.

“Sorry for disturbing you so early.” Shu Li sounded apologetic. Mr. Serpent loved sleeping in and did not normally become active—or begin hunting—until the afternoon.

“It doesn’t matter.” The magical serpent was always generous toward his friends and would never become angry over something so trivial.

Besides, the Little Fairy was a dear friend with whom he had exchanged gifts for ten years. Their bond was far from shallow.

Shu Li beamed. “Thank you for the gift. I really liked it.”

Half a month ago, Mr. Serpent had sent him a bow.

An appraiser had identified it as a seventh-rank weapon forged by dwarves. It was extremely lethal and well suited to Elves and Fairies. Its only flaw was that it could not be reduced in size.

Shu Li could not use it yet. He would have to wait until he became a Senior Mage and could enlarge himself by releasing his intrinsic power.

“As long as you like it.” The magical serpent lived at the edge of the forest and encountered reckless adventuring parties every month. Over the years, he had “collected” many valuable treasures. The bow was a high-rank weapon that a certain adventuring party had “dropped” last month. It was useless to him, so he might as well give it to his young Fairy friend as a toy.

Shu Li had a vague idea of where these gifts came from, but he never asked.

After all, he understood Mr. Serpent’s nature. Bazien was generous, helpful, powerful, and unassuming. As long as no one invaded his territory or deliberately provoked him, he would never attack first.

“I brought you something in return.” Shu Li put his magic staff back into his storage ring and took out a green fruit the size of a soccer ball. “This is a Kaka fruit I picked from an orchard in the Elven Kingdom. It’s juicy, nutritious, and delicious. Try it.”

The magical serpent rolled one enormous eye toward the green fruit, which looked no larger than a tiny bead to him.

He was a carnivore and had little interest in fruit, eating only a few pieces in an entire year. However, the Little Fairy was exceedingly fond of feeding him, so he had begun eating it more often.

Fruit from the Elven Kingdom was no ordinary fare. Common magical beasts never had an opportunity to taste it.

Under Shu Li’s expectant gaze, the magical serpent opened his mouth. His red tongue flicked out, curled around the fruit, and pulled it inside. He did not even bother chewing, swallowing it whole as though it were a piece of candy.

“I have plenty more.” Seeing the magical serpent gulp down the Kaka fruit without tasting it, Shu Li worried that he had not noticed the flavor and hauled out an entire pile of fruit from his storage ring.

The magical serpent flicked out his red tongue again, swept all the fruit into his mouth, and swallowed it with ease.

Shu Li wanted to keep feeding him, but the magical serpent refused and indicated that he had eaten enough.

Regretfully, Shu Li put away the remaining fruit. Then he took out the gift he had truly intended for Mr. Serpent—a golden crystal.

Only the size of an adult human’s fist, the crystal was hexagonal, with a solid outer shell and liquid flowing within. It was not entirely solid.

The instant Shu Li produced it, the magical serpent’s pupils abruptly contracted into vertical slits.

“Dragon King Harmon gave this to me. He said it was the magic core of some kind of sea beast, and I thought you might need it.”

Five years ago, when Harmon had come to take away the young dragon, he promised to send Shu Li gifts in gratitude. He had been sending them for five straight years.

Rare and precious treasures arrived one after another until Shu Li could barely keep up with them. He had tried to refuse several times, but Harmon had deftly changed the subject every time.

In any case, the treasures in his storage ring kept multiplying. He had enough to open a treasure shop.

Harmon had casually tossed him this sea beast’s magic core while visiting the Elven Kingdom last month.

Shu Li had no use for it himself, so he had thought of Mr. Serpent.

To magical beasts, a high-rank magic core was a powerful tonic. Consuming one could not only increase their strength but also give them a chance to advance in rank.

Harmon had not told him the core’s rank, but anything given by the Dragon King was bound to be exceptional.

The sudden change in Mr. Serpent’s presence when Shu Li took it out told him that he had chosen the right gift.

“Are you... certain you want to give this to me?” the magical serpent asked solemnly.

“I’m certain!” Shu Li nodded and pushed the magic core closer to the magical serpent’s mouth.

The magical serpent remained silent for a moment before swallowing the core and temporarily storing it in the spatial pouch inside his mouth.

“This is the magic core of an eighth-rank sea beast. It will allow me to advance to the eighth rank. Thank you, my friend.”

Shu Li’s eyes curved with joy. “Really? That’s wonderful!”

The magical serpent regarded the tiny Fairy with a complicated expression, the tail coiled around the trunk idly striking the wood every so often.

“What do you want? I can obtain anything for you.”

Nothing in his spatial pouch was as valuable as an eighth-rank magic core, leaving him with no gift worthy of offering in return. All he could do was ask what the Little Fairy needed.

“There’s no need.” Shu Li waved his hands. “There’s nothing I want right now.”

When the magical serpent saw him refuse, he did not ask again. He merely committed the debt to memory, intending to give Shu Li the next extraordinary treasure he encountered.

With the gift delivered, Shu Li prepared to leave.

Just as he was about to summon Dore, a commotion suddenly arose beneath the tree.

The magical serpent hissed several times, warning Shu Li to conceal his presence.

With a beat of his wings, Shu Li darted among the branches and leaves like lightning.

Intruders!

Mr. Serpent’s territory lay at the edge of the Faerie Forest, and foreign adventuring parties often trespassed upon it. After inhaling the forest mist, the members of these parties would lose their senses and turn on one another. By the time they fled beneath the enormous tree, they were generally already at death’s door, allowing Mr. Serpent to reap the spoils.

Shu Li had visited Mr. Serpent more often over the past two years and had witnessed this three or four times.

Upon discovering intruders beneath the tree, he skillfully concealed his presence and hid, watching quietly as Mr. Serpent slithered soundlessly down the enormous trunk.

There were three human intruders.

One warrior and two black mages in gray robes.

They were clearly no good!

Shu Li frowned. After he began studying dark-element magic under the Elven King last month, he learned that virtually no black mage was a decent person. They specialized in poisoning, curses, stealing souls, summoning the God of Death, and every other kind of evil imaginable.

These people could not possibly have entered the Faerie Forest with good intentions.

Affected by the mist, they moved sluggishly and stumbled toward the enormous tree. One after another, they collapsed to the ground, strange, rasping noises issuing from their throats.

The magical serpent reached the foot of the tree and observed them coldly, making no move for the time being.

The blood-soaked warrior possessed the greatest stamina. He approached one of the black mages and swung his sword without warning.

“Ahhh!” Blood sprayed from the black mage’s neck as he released an agonized scream.

After killing him, the warrior threw back his head and laughed. “Die! Die! All of you, die! I’m the strongest warrior! None of you are worthy! Hahaha!”

The mist the Elven King had placed around the outskirts of the Faerie Forest magnified the malice within an intruder’s heart.

In his pursuit of power, the warrior had once employed vicious methods to kill every one of his rivals.

Now he was lost in memories of the past, mistaking his companions for those dead rivals. Having completely lost his reason, he attacked them in a frenzy.

Eight members of their ten-person adventuring party were already dead.

After killing one black mage, he gripped his sword and advanced on the last with a hideous expression.

This black mage was relatively young and had committed fewer evil deeds, so the mist had affected him less severely. He still retained a measure of awareness. When he saw the warrior cut down his companion with a single stroke and begin creeping toward him with a sinister expression, he cried out in terror, “Hook! Hook, come to your senses! I’m Karn! I’m your companion!”

The warrior called Hook acted as though he had heard nothing. The more the black mage pleaded, the more it inflamed his desire to kill. He seized the black mage by the head and, amid the man’s horrified screams, swung down his blood-soaked longsword.

Clang!

The longsword fell to the ground and struck a small stone with an ear-piercing sound.

Blood burst from the warrior’s mouth, and he toppled stiffly to the ground.

The black mage scrambled out from beneath him in a panic, trembling as he clutched a dagger and gasped for breath.

“Dead... They’re dead... dead...” His eyes were unfocused. Whatever came to mind made him burst into shrill laughter. “Heehee, haha... heehee, ha... They’re all dead! All dead!”

The next instant, his laughter stopped abruptly.

He fell onto his back, the dagger he had used to kill his companion buried in his chest.

Total party wipe.

Although this was not Shu Li’s first time witnessing such a bloody scene, he still could not suppress the urge to vomit.

This was the fate of intruders.

Any outsider who harbored evil in their heart and forced their way into the Faerie Forest would inevitably meet a single end: death.

The magical serpent leisurely approached the three corpses and began looting them with practiced ease.

A sword, magic staffs, jewelry, and storage pouches—he stripped them away one after another and balanced them atop his head. Then he unhurriedly climbed back up the tree to where Shu Li was waiting.

“Hiss, hiss.”

He set everything down before Shu Li.

“See if there’s anything you need.”

Shu Li blinked.