Chapter 71

At this time, the trees are withered and yellow, leaves are falling, and the branches are bare.

Without the leaves to distinguish them, he could hardly tell the difference between ordinary trees and the legendary Goddess Wood.

The Companion Beast, however, excitedly jumped off the dragon's back when they were still three or four meters off the ground.

It chirped twice, its four paws darting about rapidly, then it darted into the woods and ran away.

Xie Juanhan sat on the back of the giant dragon, with a little Demon Wolf on his left and a little Griffin on his right.

The two cubs had clear eyes and blank expressions. "Huh?"

The dragon's voice was deep. "Harper and the others have gone to find the Goddess Wood."

Xie Juanhan: "They seem quite familiar with the Goddess Wood?"

"The fruit of the Goddess Wood is edible. Many of the Goddess Wood in this forest grew from the seeds they ate years ago."

Xie Juanhan understood. "They were the ones who sowed the seeds back then?"

"Hmm," the dragon said, "Back then, we gave them fruit, but they got diarrhea not long after eating it, so all the Goddess Wood grow here."

Xie Juanhan sighed, "There's actually a story like that? No wonder Harper and the others are like that."

Harper and the others were already running ahead.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei walked slowly behind, with the little Demon Wolf following closely behind, carrying the basket in its mouth.

The baby Griffin excitedly ran around, its golden-brown feathers occasionally blending into the fallen leaves, leaving only small bulges visible beneath them.

Soon, the Companion Beast began to howl loudly ahead: "Chirp--Chirp--"

Telingewei looked up. "They've found the right Goddess Wood."

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei rushed over.

As expected, the Companion Beast circled around a giant tree.

This giant tree is at least three meters in diameter.

Xie Juanhan blurted out, "How can it be so thick?"

He thought it was just an ordinary tree.

These must be ancient giant trees!

Telingewei: "The trees used to make barrels need to be a certain age; even the most ordinary oak barrels require more than 150 years to reach the harvesting standard."

Xie Juanhan looked up at the tree. "How old is this Goddess Wood?"

Telingewei: "More than eight hundred years."

Xie Juanhan: "... Harper and the others were still young when they ate the fruit."

No wonder I had diarrhea.

Xie Juanhan touched the tree, but hesitated to say that he wanted to cut it down.

The Companion Beast tilted their heads, looking puzzled.

Telingewei saw what he was thinking and said, "It's okay, these were planted by Harper and the others, you can cut them down."

"These ancient trees should be gradually cut down and replaced with new ones. If the old trees never die, there will be no room for new trees to grow in the Magic Forest."

Xie Juanhan looked up at the tree. "I just feel it's a bit of a pity."

Telingewei: "Most humans can't enter the Magic Forest, and it's not a good thing if the trees are left too well-preserved. After cutting them down, we'll only take the trunks from the middle; the rest can be left for other creatures."

Xie Juanhan: "Then shall we cut down all the trees and replant some more? Consider it reforestation."

Telingewei: "Okay, we'll come in and plant trees next spring."

Xie Juanhan touched the tree trunk and asked, "Are there any other Goddess Wood nearby? Such a big tree, one is enough. Let's pick the most suitable one to cut down."

The Companion Beast immediately chirped, "Chirp chirp chirp!"

Impatient Haxi even started jogging, tilting his head to look at them as he ran, indicating that he wanted to lead the way.

Xie Juanhan followed the Companion Beast.

Soon they found several more giant Goddess Wood.

Xie Juanhan had learned Blessing Magic in this world and could sense the state of living beings.

He touched each tree one by one, and finally chose the one with the weakest vitality.

If other creatures were to cut down trees of this size, it would probably take them a very long time.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei took action and cut it down in less than an hour, removing the crown and branches, leaving only the round, smooth section of the giant tree.

It was still early, so they sat on a tree stump, spread out a picnic blanket, and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Xie Juanhan munched on his bread, inhaling the scent of the tree stump. "This tree smells so good."

Telingewei: "Fresh tree stumps have a stronger aroma, but after a while, the flavor becomes milder and more subtle, and you can hardly smell anything."

Xie Juanhan patted the tree stump below. "With such a big tree stump, will other creatures come to make their home here?"

Telingewei thought for a moment, "Could there be Pixie? Any creature that can occupy such a huge tree stump must be powerful; most likely, magical creatures will come."

After they finished lunch, Telingewei transformed into a giant dragon, carrying the giant tree, Xie Juanhan, and a group of little creatures on its back, and flew towards Xie Juanhan's cabin.

Before the sun had even set, the dragon flew outside the hut.

He specially retrieved a huge saw from the cave and sawed trees with Xie Juanhan.

The giant trees used to make barrels must be cut into planks while they are still fresh and then piled up in the open air.

The wood will mature through daily exposure to sun and rain, and its flavor will become milder.

The Goddess Wood that had been cut down was so large that Xie Juanhan and Telingewei each pulled one end of the saw and sawed the planks with a "crunching" sound.

The little ones, seeing them working so hard, ran up behind them and tugged at their pants to show they wanted to help.

"Sigh." Xie Juanhan had to pull up his trousers and turn around to say, "I don't need help with this."

Habu, with his pants in his mouth, stared at him with his big eyes and mumbled, "Chirp?"

Xie Juanhan: "Really, there's no need. It's not like it's a tug-of-war."

Telingewei was much more direct and forceful; he shoved Haxi's backside with his long leg, sending him flying. "Go play somewhere else."

Haxi glared angrily. "Chirp!"

Telingewei: "If you don't make things worse, I'll thank you."

Despite the two dragons' persistence, the little ones ran away.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei continued sawing the tree.

They placed the planks by the river, waiting for the raw, green smell of the wood to dissipate and for the aromatic substances to mature.

Just as the two dragons had almost finished cutting the Goddess Wood apart, the little creatures emerged from the forest again.

This time, the little Demon Wolf was leading the way.

It ran wildly until it reached Xie Juanhan's feet, then it gripped the ground with all four paws and stopped.

"Awoo!" The little Demon Wolf stuck out its tongue excitedly and grinned at Xie Juanhan.

Xie Juanhan knew something was wrong as soon as he saw it like this, and was about to ask it.

"Chirp chirp." A faint sound came from the little Demon Wolf's back.

Then, one by one, little heads wearing pointed hats popped out.

--They are Pixie.

"Chirp chirp." The Pixie chirped twice, still a little dazed.

Where can I find a wine barrel that needs blessing?

==========Author's Note:=========

See you tonight!

Thanks to Nanzhi for the two grenades! Thanks to the Ancient Spirit little girl (*2), Identifying Popular Creatures of Terra, Flying Gull, and Fuli's Landmine!

Chapter 71 [VIP]

The Pixie emerged from the back of the Demon Wolf and looked around.

After searching for a long time, they still couldn't find the wine barrel.

"Chirp chirp?"

The Pixie's expressions and voices were filled with confusion.

Xie Juanhan pointed to the pile of timber next to him.

The freshly sawn Goddess Wood still carried the green scent of plants, with a slightly spicy aroma.

"Achoo!" The Pixie peeked closer and then sneezed.

They stretched out their little hands, rubbed their noses, and took out their magic wands, intending to bless the wood.

Xie Juanhan tilted his head and leaned closer to Telingewei: "Can wood be blessed?"

"Yes," Telingewei said softly. "Wood blessed by the Pixie will gradually develop a special fragrance, which, when used to make wine barrels, will make the wine's aroma more complex and intense."

Could it be that during storage, natural microorganisms degrade certain substances within the wood?

Xie Juanhan stared at the wooden board, watching the Pixie's Blessing Magic land on it.

He twitched his fingers, which were resting on his side, as he drew magical runes following the Pixie's wands.

He was just performing the movements; he wasn't channeling any Dragon Power into them.

The Pixie was quite sensitive and turned to look at him.

"Chirp chirp?" the Pixie asked.

Xie Juanhan rubbed his nose. "I've been learning Blessing Magic recently, and I've seen the magic runes you use in the magic encyclopedia. But the runes you use seem to be slightly different from those in the magic encyclopedia?"

Seeing his interest in Blessing Magic, the Pixie immediately flapped their tiny wings and flew up, chirping, "Chirp chirp!"

Xie Juanhan: "You'll teach me? Is that really possible?"

The Pixie: "Chirp!"

The Pixie personally demonstrated for Xie Juanhan.

Xie Juanhan looked at the magic encyclopedia and felt that some parts were awkward. Even if he could barely use his own blessing, it was still very crude.

The Pixie slowed their movements and bestowed blessings upon him.

He imitated the Pixie, slowly drawing magical runes.

After several attempts, he finally managed to draw a smooth magic rune.

Xie Juanhan directly used his Dragon Power to draw a blessing rune on the wooden board. "Like this?"

A flash of silvery light appeared, as if a warm glow had enveloped the wooden board, before disappearing again.

The Pixie, seeing the sight before them, cheered, "Wow!"

-The Silver Dragon's Blessing!

"I finally learned it!" Xie Juanhan couldn't help but move his fingers. "Thank you!"

The Pixie chirped excitedly!

The Companion Beast were also excited and ran over to nudge Xie Juanhan's finger.

Xie Juanhan touched each of the wooden boards one by one, looking at them. "Why do I feel that even though everyone used their blessings, some of these wooden boards are of better quality than others?"

Telingewei: "It's definitely unbalanced; we'll need to sift through it again when making the barrels."

Is that so?