Strange Tree

Xiao Jie told himself that he was truly too clever. Yes, exactly like this.

Let them stay hungry and see if they still had the mood to play around and run loose.

He acted on the thought right away. Xiao Jie brandished the Shepherd's Whip, unleashing a Thunderous Whip Strike with a crack, and the flock immediately began to move at a slow pace.

He first drove the flock to a nearby patch of grassland, watched as the sheep scrambled to find grass and started grazing, and after waiting for about two or three minutes, Xiao Jie ran to the other side and used another Thunderous Whip Strike.

Crack!

The flock slowly began to move again. In this manner, the progress of the sheep's satiety indeed grew at a sluggish pace.

Of course, he could not drive them too hastily either, because he had to ensure the flock was full before the time ran out.

Just like this, he drove them a short distance to the side every two or three minutes, making these goats continually interrupt their feeding to ensure their satiety did not fill up too quickly.

Sure enough, if a sheep could not get enough to eat for a long time, it would give up running around and concentrate on searching for green grass to eat.

Even those naughty fellows from earlier could not bother with all that now, busily lowering their heads to munch on grass.

Xiao Jie was not going to leave it at that. Once full, they might just start acting up again.

He ran back and forth continuously, driving the flock around. After several rounds, all the sheep obediently munched on the grass, terrified that they would miss out if they were too slow.

Seeing this sight, Xiao Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief. There would be no problem now.

Driving them while keeping track of the time, another hour quickly passed. Just as the sheep were barely full, the time was up.

System Prompt: Through continuously herding the sheep, you have gradually mastered the techniques and tricks of herding. Your [Herding] skill has improved and is now at Proficient Level.

System Prompt: Through prolonged contact with the flock, you have gradually mastered the habits of this animal. From the process of herding sheep, you have comprehended the related skill [Beast Lore].

Xiao Jie told himself here it came. Although it was a comprehended skill, it should still be somewhat useful.

[Beast Lore (Knowledge Skill)

Skill Introduction: Through long-term association with animals, you have gradually gained a certain understanding of them and have thus mastered knowledge concerning wild beasts.]

Uh... what was the use of this thing?

This skill was not in the skill bar, but in the crafting manual, belonging to the same category as livelihood skills.

Xiao Jie clicked on the skill, and inside was a row of book page-like things.

Each page had a title: Beast Lore: Wild Beast Chapter (Locked), Beast Lore: Demon Beasts (Locked), Beast Lore: Immortal Beast Chapter (Locked)...

All of them were in a locked state, with content only present on the very first initial page, Beast Lore: Domestic Beast Chapter.

[Goat (Domestic Beast / Wild Beast)

Biological Skills: Rambunctious Sheep Ram, Mountain Climbing Art.

Taming Difficulty: Entry Level.

Challenge Level: Levels 1-3.

Beast Introduction: A common herbivorous animal adept at climbing mountain cliffs, fond of gnawing on green grass and plant roots. Very common in hilly regions, frequently domesticated to provide meat, milk, and fur.]

Just this?

Xiao Jie could not help feeling somewhat speechless. This skill was utterly useless; at best, it could be considered a data collection.

He figured that as he encountered more wild beasts in the future, the content inside could slowly increase, and if the later chapters were unlocked, it might increase his understanding of monsters, but it was of no help whatsoever for improving his current strength.

However, this skill was a comprehended skill. In other words, as long as players did chores like herding sheep or raising pigs, they could probably comprehend it.

And the skill he had obtained through sudden enlightenment was definitely much more powerful than this. Thinking of this, Xiao Jie finally felt a little better.

He drove the flock back to the sheep pen and prepared to rest a bit before starting the third round.

Suddenly, a figure came running toward this side in a rush.

"Brother Following Wind, Brother Following Wind, come quick. I've run into something strange."

Xiao Jie looked up and saw that it was I Want to Become Immortal, who had run over in a panic, still dragging a logging axe in his hand.

"Oh, did you go become a lumberjack? What did you encounter to get so worked up?"

"A serendipitous encounter, I've run into a serendipitous encounter."

As he spoke, he hurriedly began to recount his experience.

It turned out I Want to Become Immortal had originally thought about comprehending a Blade Weapon Proficiency as well, following Xiao Jie to learn how to be a swordsman, so he went to look for Wang Da Niu to take on a chore. Who knew that Wang Da Niu would say the firewood was temporarily sufficient and there was no need for firewood chopping for the time being.

Instead, the logging workshop nearby said they lacked timber and asked if I Want to Become Immortal wanted to do it.

Anyway, chopping trees was chopping trees, so I Want to Become Immortal simply accepted a lumberjack chore.

He took a logging axe and went up the mountain to chop wood.

Things went relatively smoothly at first because of Xiao Jie's reminder that work required technique, so he concentrated on chopping wood for an entire morning, earned dozens of copper coins, and successfully comprehended the weapon skill Axe Weapon Proficiency.

However, not getting the combat technique he wanted left I Want to Become Immortal somewhat disappointed.

Still, he possessed a certain tenacity. Even though Xiao Jie had said that sudden enlightenment was not something just anyone could achieve, he still put his all into tree chopping.

Who would have thought that as he chopped away, he discovered a strange tree. Most of the trees on this mountain were withered and yellow, with a small portion being emerald green, but only this tree had golden-yellow leaves, looking completely out of place with the surrounding trees.

I Want to Become Immortal did not think much of it, figuring it might be top-grade and that chopping it would yield high-level materials. As a result, with a single swing of his axe, the tree actually spewed blood.

It gave him a huge scare, and unsure of what was actually going on, I Want to Become Immortal hurried over to seek Xiao Jie's help.

Spewed blood? Hearing I Want to Become Immortal's encounter, Xiao Jie was also somewhat surprised. This truly was a rarity.

In a game with this kind of Xianxia mythology art style, a tree that could spew blood definitely had something fishy about it; if it wasn't immortal, it was demonic.

"Let's go, take me to see it."

He stopped herding the sheep, and Xiao Jie followed I Want to Become Immortal all the way to the back mountain.

This range of mountains was the southernmost tail end of Ginkgo Valley, surrounding Ginkgo Village. Aside from a patch of grassland in the mountain hollow, it was covered in trees across the mountains and plains.

Among these withered, yellow, and emerald green trees, a golden-yellow strange tree strikingly appeared before their eyes.

Taking one look at it, Xiao Jie immediately recognized it.

"This is a Ginkgo Tree!" Looking at the leaves, Xiao Jie could not help exclaiming in surprise, "Where is the blood you mentioned?"

"Right on the trunk—huh, why is the wound gone?" Looking at the tree, I Want to Become Immortal said in astonishment, "Should I try another axe blow?"

"Don't, let me do it. Your axe is too heavy; what if it's an NPC and you kill it?"

With that, Xiao Jie struck the tree with a blade. Sure enough, with a squelch, the tree bark broken by the blade immediately oozed a stream of fresh blood. The dark red blood slowly flowed down the trunk, looking exceptionally shocking to the heart.

It really bled... Xiao Jie felt somewhat astonished, and watching the bleeding ginkgo tree, he could not help sinking into deep thought.

I Want to Become Immortal said nervously from the side, "Brother Following Wind, what do you think is going on here? Can this tree still be chopped?"

Xiao Jie, however, suddenly smiled, recalling a story he had read before.

"Have you ever heard the story of Cao Cao and the Pear Tree God?"

"Huh? Cao Cao and the Pear Tree God? Romance of the Three Kingdoms doesn't have this part, does it?"

"Of course it does. The book Romance of the Three Kingdoms has this part, and the old version of the TV series has it, but the new version of Three Kingdoms didn't film it."

Xiao Jie had been deeply impressed when he read this story back then. Now, facing a similar scenario with such a strong sense of immersion, he immediately began to recount it to I Want to Become Immortal.

"Legend has it that after Cao Cao became the King of Wei, he still wanted to be emperor, so he prepared to build palaces under the guise of constructing an imperial lodge. Some worried that Luoyang did not have the timber beams to build large palaces, and Cao Cao said to his subordinates: 'I heard there is a large pear tree below Longmen Mountain, over ten zhang tall and thicker than a millstone. Isn't that just right?' So he sent people to chop it down.

This large pear tree was rumored to have a history of over two thousand years, exceptionally tall and magnificent with luxuriant foliage. In spring, its flowers were as white as silver, and in autumn, its pears were like gold. The locals felt this pear tree was divine and miraculous, calling it the 'White Pear Immortal Elder'.

Cao Cao sent men to chop down the tree, and the locals tried to dissuade them one after another. Those subordinates naturally did not take it to heart, but as a result, when their axes struck the tree, they could not hack into it at all. This bunch of subordinates panicked, and seeing the locals talk about it with such ghostly awe, they no longer dared to act rashly and had no choice but to go back and report to Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao heard this, how could he believe it? So he personally led men to chop down the tree. The village elders, seeing this, hurried over to persuade Cao Cao: 'Prime Minister, this tree has already become a divinity and cannot be chopped! For many years, whoever dared to harm a single leaf of it either developed sores, fell ill, or even lost their life!'

Having galloped across battlefields for many years, Cao Cao naturally did not believe in such superstitions, and said: 'In all my travels across the realm for over forty years, from the Son of Heaven down to commoners, none fail to fear me. What kind of demonic spirit are you, daring to defy my will!' Having spoken, he drew the Heaven Reliant Sword and chopped it himself.

The result—a resounding clang, blood splattered all over his body.

Astonished and terrified, Cao Cao threw down his sword, mounted his horse, and returned to the palace.

When night came, Cao Cao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep in peace. Half-asleep and half-awake, he dreamed of a white-haired old man 'with disheveled hair and holding a sword' coming before the bed.

Cao Cao asked in alarm: 'Who are you?' The old man replied: 'I am the god of the pear tree, whom the people call the White Pear Immortal Elder.' Cao Cao asked what he had come for. The old man replied: 'You are here to make amends! I transformed into a pear tree to suppress an evil dragon, yet for the sake of building your palace, you disregarded the safety of the people and stubbornly insisted on chopping me down. Do you know your crime?' As he spoke, he drew his precious sword and slashed at Cao Cao. Cao Cao let out a loud cry and woke up, realizing it was a dream. From then on, his headaches relapsed."

PS: Thanks to book friend "Accidental Encounter at the Cape" for the alliance leader tip. I will add extra chapters in the future. Still owe two chapters for now.