Chapter 357 – A Grandfather-Granddaughter Reunion

After finishing her meal, Mo Lan took out the Woodgrain Python skin.

The energy within magic crystals was disordered and chaotic, and the energy of magical beasts was the same—so magical beasts basically had no way to use their own energy to charge or power Alchemy Magic items.

Therefore, each function on the multi-purpose magic belt not only needed a trigger “switch” that could be activated without energy, but also required numerous elemental magic crystal slots prepared for power supply.

Once the elemental energy inside these magic crystals was depleted, they needed to be removable and replaceable.

So on the belt’s base fabric, quite a few alchemy runes had to be drawn, connecting the belt’s various functions to the trigger switches and power-supply magic crystals.

Such a large piece of snake skin base fabric could only be further processed during a time like this.

With Zhizhi’s extremely keen danger sense, plus the defensive magic formation and invisibility magic circle, Mo Lan hardly needed to worry about safety.

After the belt’s base fabric was processed, Mo Lan spent a long stretch of time practicing Energy Conversion until she reached the Beginner level, converting all the Ferocious Rat magic crystals into elemental magic crystals.

The final steps—drawing alchemy runes on the magic crystals and setting them into the belt—didn’t take nearly as long.

After all the magic crystals for the other functions were in place, Mo Lan installed the fitting rune combination’s magic crystals last.

The moment the fitting rune combination’s function zone and power zone were complete, the belt—which had been large enough to cover the entire living room floor—immediately contracted into a small strip that Mo Lan could easily lift with one hand.

After the ferocious beast power within the Ferocious Rat magic crystals was converted into elemental power, their color changed from blood-red to the colors of their respective elements.

Together, they looked like a sparkling rainbow.

“Let’s call it the Rainbow Belt!” Mo Lan said. “Zhizhi, the belt is done—quick, try it on and see if it fits!”

The little silver monkey lying belly-up on the sofa next to Mo Lan sprang up as if there were a spring under her bottom, looking at Mo Lan with eyes full of anticipation. “Zhee!”

Mo Lan unfastened the belt buckle and wrapped it around Zhizhi’s waist.

The moment the loose, baggy belt was on, it immediately shrank proportionally, finally settling snugly around Zhizhi’s waist.

“The magic crystals on this belt are as colorful as a rainbow, so it’s called the Rainbow Belt. The belt has ten elemental zones and sixteen functions.

The elemental zones can be distinguished by color, and within each zone, there’s a function area and a power-supply area.

Zhizhi, you need to remember where the power-supply areas are. When the magic crystals in the power-supply area grow dim, you need to replace them… And lastly, there are the activation switches here on the clasp—press one, and the corresponding function activates…”

Mo Lan carefully and thoroughly explained to Zhizhi how to use the belt, and even had her test out every function.

After two or three demonstrations, she had it all memorized.

Knowing that the magic crystals needed to be replaced once their energy was depleted, Zhizhi didn’t carelessly play around with the belt. Instead, she just stood with her hands on her hips, chest puffed out, belly sticking forward, marching in a splayed-foot swagger around the sofa for several laps.

Her mouth never stopped: “Zhee zhee zhee zhee…”

One moment she was saying how much she loved it, the next she was calling out to her Mistress, and then she was giggling away.

Seeing how much Zhizhi loved it, Mo Lan felt all the time and effort she’d spent was well worth it.

Noticing Zhizhi glancing repeatedly toward the tent entrance, looking like she wanted to go outside to show off and let loose, Mo Lan said with amusement, “Zhizhi, how about we call your grandfather over so he can see your new belt?”

Zhizhi whipped her head around excitedly, nodding with frantic enthusiasm. “Zhee zhee zhee!”

Mo Lan used the Ally Summoning spell to summon her only animal ally besides the golden bird—the white-haired giant ape.

Far away in the Inner Region, the white-haired giant ape sleeping soundly in the trees of the Tall Peach Tree Grove felt the summoning power and seemed to hear the witch’s voice. It sat up at once and answered the call.

The next moment, it vanished from where it had been.

It arrived in a living room that felt rather cramped for its size—it had to squat down to fit. “Zhee zhee!” Grandpa!

Zhizhi thrust out her belted waist, bouncing up and down excitedly.

The white-haired giant ape was delighted too. It scooped its little granddaughter into its palm and bounced her a few times to gauge her weight. “Heavier! Looks like Lady Witch has been feeding you well!”

When Zhizhi saw that her grandfather still hadn’t noticed the important thing after all that time, she pried his fingers apart to reveal the belt at her waist, puffing her chest out so high it could practically touch the ceiling. Only then did the white-haired giant ape notice the thing around her waist.

“Zhizhi, what’s that gaudy strip you’ve got wrapped around your waist? It’s hideous!”

Mo Lan, who had been staying quiet to let Zhizhi and the white-haired giant ape catch up, couldn’t hold back any longer. “How is it hideous? What kind of taste do you have?”

“Zhee zhee!” Pretty! Rainbow!

Zhizhi leaped up in anger, slapped her hand down on a small purple magic crystal on the belt, and a tiny Electric Net shot onto the white-haired giant ape’s head, singeing the white fur on top into curly black tufts.

“Zhee zhee zhee!” Grandpa’s the ugly one!

The white-haired giant ape touched its head, looking completely bewildered. “Zhizhi, what was that?”

Without answering, Zhizhi pressed her little hand on the cyan magic crystal, and the whole monkey floated lightly off the white-haired giant ape’s palm.

Then she pressed the red magic crystal, cleaning the white-haired giant ape’s grimy black feet and the carpet it had dirtied.

The white-haired giant ape finally realized that all of Zhizhi’s strange and wondrous abilities were coming from that belt—which, to its eyes, was far too gaudy.

“Zhizhi… how does it work? Teach your grandpa, let me have a go…”

Zhizhi let out a little hmph. “Zhee?” Ugly?

“Not ugly! Not ugly at all! How does this thing work?” The white-haired giant ape’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued by the belt.

There wasn’t enough room inside the tent, so Zhizhi led the white-haired giant ape outside.

One old, one young—they were perfectly matched playmates!

Mo Lan shook her head with a smile and sighed inwardly, “They really are grandfather and granddaughter, through and through!”

Both equally mischievous.

When the Ally Summoning spell’s duration ended, the white-haired giant ape reluctantly departed.

After returning to the Tall Peach Tree Grove, the summoning power fed back into its body, and it suddenly noticed that its bloodline power—which had shown no changes for years, its potential long since exhausted—surged once more.

This small change was enough to make the white-haired giant ape leap up with joy.

In the Inner Region, though it served as the boss of the long-armed apes, it had actually been lying low in retirement for many years.

Its talent had only been enough to carry it this far.

But now, it suddenly felt like it could push a little further—and just like that, its fighting spirit was reignited.

No more sleeping. It ate several big peaches and went off to practice its fists and footwork.

“Zhizhi! Come back to bed!” Mo Lan called Zhizhi back into the tent.

Zhizhi, who usually slept sprawled out on her back with all four limbs splayed, had a slightly different posture tonight.

Her legs were still casually spread out, but both hands were tucked into the belt.

Mo Lan floated the little blanket over to cover her. But after Mo Lan fell asleep, Zhizhi pushed the blanket down a bit, exposing her shiny belt, and only then continued sleeping with her hands tucked into the belt’s gaps.

She even began to softly snore: “Hoo~ hah~ hoo~ hah…”