The Cornflower Witch Chapter 145

When she arrived, there was only one carriage. This time, she left with a long convoy, including personnel from the Stonemason Guild specialized in construction tasks, accompanying bakery staff, and several patrolling cavalrymen.

After returning to the valley, Hylial first led the bakery staff to retrieve and deliver 2,400 jin of wheat, allowing them to transport it back.

Following this, the Stonemason Guild members surveyed the valley, selecting a mountain wall to excavate. They carved out a large quantity of stones to be used for constructing a windmill.

Since most of the guild members were Transcendent, their efficiency far surpassed that of ordinary people. Many of them were apprentices of the ‘Castle’ Aspect. When building the windmill, they inscribed special patterns onto it, forming a small, stable barrier to prevent intrusions from other creatures and to resist distortion erosion to some extent.

After the windmill was built, a large flat area was cleared around it, paved with stone slabs, and the gaps were filled with lime plaster. Finally, a special layer of mortar was applied to the surface. After drying, it became exceptionally hard, similar to the cement Hylial remembered.

This area could be used for drying and threshing in the future, or as a plaza.

Next were the toads’ dwellings. Their previous small huts were too rudimentary and crooked, having been built by the toads themselves with wood.

Now, all were uniformly converted into proper houses, and specialized kitchens, canteens, toilets, and bathing pools were also built. If humans were to live there in the future, it would be quite comfortable.

Finally, there were the warehouses. At Hylial’s request, three warehouses were built in the valley: one excavated into a cave, another semi-buried next to the windmill, and a third next to Hylial’s residence, which was a large cellar with an interior space half the size of a football field.

All construction was completed in nearly a month, costing 120 Gold Coin. Although expensive, the quality was excellent, far superior to surface standards.

During this construction period, a new round of wheat in the valley gradually grew, becoming lush and green.

…

After seeing off the Stonemason Guild members, the valley returned to its quiet state.

Today, Hylial wore a black dress, which sharply contrasted with her fair legs. Sitting on her bed in her small house, she counted how much money she had left.

When she arrived, Madame Faran had given her 200 Gold Coin, a substantial amount for her at the time. In a place like Burntstone City, she could live comfortably for decades with that sum.

However, once in the woodland, her expenses unknowingly increased. First, buying a complete set of seeds cost 50 Gold Coin. This price was indeed a bit high, likely due to the local guild knowing that the students in the camel tower were not short of money and deliberately overcharging. Then, employing toads and purchasing food and tools in the previous months cost 8 Gold Coin, which was well worth it, as everything proved useful.

Additionally, selling wheat to the bakery recently yielded 96 Gold Coin, and building the windmill and various structures cost 120 Gold Coin. These two expenses offset each other, meaning she spent another 24 Gold Coin, leaving her with 118 Gold Coin.

Other minor miscellaneous expenses, such as renting a post station and dining costs in the city, were not included, but these combined did not exceed 1 Gold Coin.

Putting the remaining Gold Coin away, she hugged her pillow and rolled around on the bed, alleviating her sadness over the dwindling funds, then took a nap against the pillow.

In the afternoon, Hylial tried on the apprentice robe provided in the supplies. She had to admit that the design of the clothing was excellent; the robe was slightly loose, adaptable to most body types, while the wide belt at the waist not only secured it well but also highlighted her figure. With side slits, it allowed for wide-angle movement without restricting her legs.

The material used special cotton and linen fibers, making it exceptionally tough. It likely wasn’t made from ordinary plants, and would be difficult to cut with common knives or swords, unless specialized sharp weapons or blunt instruments were used.

Its quality was even better than the set Madame Faran had given her initially.

As for the light armor, its tough leather was about one centimeter thick. Even a black steel short sword could only make shallow cuts, indicating excellent defense. Once donned, it could be adjusted with lacing between the plates to fit snugly, allowing unrestricted movement. The overall color was dark brown, giving it a smart and capable appearance.

With this light armor, her survival rate against ordinary First-Order beasts would greatly increase, and she would have good defensive capabilities even against Second-Order enemies.

It seemed that exploring the secret realms of the Shadow World fully armed wouldn’t be a major issue, Hylial thought.

Her original plan was to head to the border settlements after reaching Second-Order, but she didn’t want to advance too quickly. Her operations in the valley hadn’t even been six months old, so it was far from time to leave.

At the very least, she would wait until this batch of wheat ripened before embarking on her adventure and attempting to complete the Second-Order apprentice tasks.

After trying on the armor, Hylial changed out of it and put on the more comfortable apprentice robe before leaving her room.

In the valley, the serene scenery remained. The wheat in the nearly 100 acres of fields grew healthily. At this moment, a group of toads were watering the wheat as Hylial had instructed.

The process of course, didn’t involve direct sprinkling. Instead, the water was poured into ditches beside the fields, allowing it to flow naturally along channels, then seep into the soil on both sides through tiny cracks.

After they finished watering, Hylial would inspect again, using her Gardener abilities to tend to the wheat along the way, ensuring it absorbed just the right amount of water.

This guaranteed consistent growing conditions for all the wheat, keeping them in optimal state.

After several such rounds, Hylial completed her daily task of tending to the fields and returned to her room to rest.

She first read some leisure books, then considered what she should study during this period.

Incidentally, she had never attended a class at the association before. There were many teachers who offered courses there, and one only needed to spend a certain amount of points to attend, without requiring extra money.

Currently, she lacked an offensive method. Although the Bloom-Flowering Method was good, it primarily involved large-scale attacks. Against a single powerful opponent, its effectiveness was limited.

Furthermore, the First-Order Fire Cloud Orchid was slowly becoming insufficient for her Second-Order status. She needed stronger plants, or to cultivate the Fire Cloud Orchid to Second-Order.

Advancing the Fire Cloud Orchid was no easy feat, likely requiring special techniques. With Madame Faran不在 (not around), Hylial could only make a mental note and inquire when she returned to Whitecliff City.

Another matter was meditation. At First-Order, most abilities didn’t demand much spiritual power. However, as one advanced in rank, more powerful spells or abilities required stronger spiritual control and guidance.

Meditation increased spiritual power, so it seemed she needed to learn a meditation method, Hylial again made a mental note. At this moment, she recalled the purple gemstone given to her by the witch after her assessment, which had a meditation method inscribed within it.

Should she use that one? She couldn’t help but be tempted.

Taking out the dark purple gemstone hidden in the box, she gently rested it against her forehead, feeling its rhythm, and then immersed herself.

It felt as if she had entered a half-dream, half-awake state. A strange coolness spread across her forehead, followed by a world of blackness.

According to the rhythm within the gemstone, she needed to prepare suitable incense, enter a complete meditative state, and then simulate and overcome the illusions of nightmares repeatedly. This would help her conquer past fears and increase her spiritual power to some extent.

To practice this meditation method, if one didn’t possess the Nightmare Aspect, they would need ‘Nightmare Incense’ for training, and ‘Nightmare Incense’ was not cheap, costing about 1 Gold Coin per stick.

Forget it. Although this type of mid-level meditation method was effective in cultivation, it had many requirements. She decided to try a more basic meditation method first.

Afterward, Hylial dug out her previous notes and recalled the knowledge from ‘Merelankah Praying in the Lake’, which also contained information on meditation methods.

[Meditation Method]: A general meditation method applicable to all three Moon Aspects. While practitioners of other Aspects can cultivate it, it cannot advance the primary Aspect rank.

‘Glorious Moon’, ‘Mist Shadow’, and ‘Nightmare’ are powerful Aspects in the spiritual domain. Other types of Transcendent, in the early stages, often had to cultivate these concurrently. Only after establishing a solid foundation could they learn specialized meditation methods for their respective Aspects.

As a girl blessed by ‘Glorious Moon’, she naturally chose ‘Glorious Moon’ as the foundation for her meditation method. Before learning, she first unequipped [Bloom-Flowering Method Lv.3], freeing up a slot on her ability card.

At night, Hylial opened the window, allowing moonlight to stream onto the room’s floor.

She spread a soft blanket on the ground, then knelt in the moonlight, closing her eyes and concentrating, sensing the subtle moonlit glow.

Following the instructions of the meditation method, she focused her mind and began to envision the moon in the sky.

The outline of the moon…

The color of the moon…

The details of the moon…

The scars of the moon…

As the moon constructed in her mind became increasingly clear and real, her consciousness resonated with the moon in the night sky, and a faint halo appeared around her body.

Finally, a bright moon formed in her sea of consciousness. The spiritual energy used to construct the bright moon, after pouring out its moonlit glow, slowly returned to her sea of consciousness.

Through this cycle, her spiritual power was refined slightly.

(‘Meditation Method’ cycle completed, progress +24)

The entire process encountered no obstacles, as if she had some kind of muscle memory, completing a cycle naturally.

After a while, when her sea of consciousness returned to calm, she reopened her eyes.

Exactly half an hour had passed, and her spiritual power had increased by about 1% during this meditation. Hylial wasn’t sure if this speed was fast or not; perhaps improving spiritual power was inherently a slow, steady process.

[Meditation Method Lv.1] (Glorious Moon): Bathed in moonlight, you outline the appearance of the bright moon, and your spiritual essence is refined in the process.

However, just as Hylial thought her cultivation was over, another cool sensation circulated within her body.

(‘Moonlight Breath Method’ cycle completed, progress +24)

(‘Hylial’s Spring’ familiarity increased, progress +12)

Could these three be cultivated and improved simultaneously? Hylial felt it was somewhat unbelievable, because she had previously been taught by Scholar Hyde that cultivating multiple abilities at the same time could easily lead to chaotic power, greatly increasing the failure rate and causing backlash.

On the fate board belonging to her soul consciousness, three ‘Glorious Moon’ Aspect ability cards glowed in harmony, their faint moonlit glow spreading towards the center of the fate board, attempting to transform the [Girl Surrounded by Alfalfa] card from [Emerald Honey] to [Glorious Moon].

The isolated fate card [Girl Surrounded by Alfalfa] could only resist this erosion and transformation alone. Fortunately, it was already Second-Order, exceptionally stable, and not easily changed. The emerald vines wrapped around the card intertwined between silver and green, but the silver moonlit glow could never penetrate the inner surface of the card.

Perceiving this scene, Hylial couldn’t help but cover her forehead, like a mother witnessing her children fighting, unsure of whom to help.

Suddenly, something struck her. With a thought, she directly flipped the central fate card, transforming it into the equivalent [Alien Star] fate.

[Girl Surrounded by Alfalfa] (Second-Order Emerald Honey) → [Girl Surrounded by Starlight] (Second-Order Alien Star)

The alfalfa previously encircling her dissipated, and the maiden in the card was bathed in celestial starlight. The ‘Glorious Moon’ Aspect extending from around was absorbed entirely and then transformed into brilliant stars, blossoming one by one in the night sky.

The [Alien Star] was not afraid of this erosion; or rather, the [Alien Star] was the most erosive Aspect. Even [Distortion] was a special Aspect brought by [Alien Star].

If ‘Phantom Moon’ split into three Aspects, with ‘Glorious Moon’ as the primary inheritor, then [Alien Star] might also have split from some primordial Aspect. [Alien Star], [Distortion], and an unknown Aspect—these three were all stellar Aspects.

The Sun, Moon, and Stars, three major attributes, nine Aspects in total—these accounted for half of all Aspects. They were the origin of many spells, formless entities that influenced the invisible rules governing the world.