The Cornflower Witch Chapter 121

Most of the crowd that had gathered dispersed, with only a few remaining at the stall, continuing to inquire about cultivating the plant with the girl, who answered each question individually.

“Because growing this plant has issues with yield rate and survival, I suggest you buy 100 seeds at once. That way, the success rate is higher.”

“100 seeds, huh.” Someone stroked their chin, calculating.

“That’s 10 Gold Coins, which is a bit high. Generally, a first-order aspect product costs around 1-3 Gold Coins.”

“Think about it, if you succeed in cultivating them, you can sell the seeds later, and the finished Eye Fruits. You’ll quickly earn back your money,” the other party continued to pitch, making some students’ hearts waver.

Those who remained were all Gardeners with the [Emerald Honey] aspect, and several of them had mastered the first stage of the ‘Bloom-Flowering Method’, so they were quite expectant.

A tall, thin student in a green robe gritted their teeth, made up their mind, pulled out 20 Gold Coins, and handed them over.

“Give me two packets, 200 seeds.”

“Wow, that’s quite a decisive move. I only have ten packets in total,” the girl happily accepted the 20 Gold Coins and handed over two packets of seeds, each seed about the size of a peanut.

Seeing someone buy, another student among the remaining ones also paid, and soon four more packets were sold, leaving only four.

Euphilia Mazetta looked at the remaining seeds and then at Lia beside her. Seeing her look at the stall for so long, she thought Lia must want the Eye Fruit seeds but probably didn’t have enough money.

“I’ll buy them.” She raised her hand, gestured to the girl behind the stall, and prepared to take out the Gold Coins she was carrying.

“Wait a moment.” Hylial shook her head slightly and grabbed Euphilia Mazetta’s wrist.

“Don’t buy them yet; I want to look a little longer.” She felt a bit strange; there was something off about this Eye Fruit.

Although she had never seen this plant before, she had personally cultivated many aspect-condensed plants. Plants condense aspects because they receive the most suitable growth and development, allowing their unique special rhythm to manifest, and finally, like completing a wondrous ritual, they condense an aspect.

Plants successfully cultivated in this way all possess their own unique rhythm, like the inherent numerical frequency nature bestows upon each plant.

However, in her eyes, the Eye Fruit before her had a rather chaotic inner aspect, not consistent or harmonious, as if it hadn’t condensed naturally.

“Lia, don’t you want it?” Seeing the girl stop her, Euphilia Mazetta also paused, curiously examining the strange flower and fruit.

As the two continued to observe, other students came forward, some buying, others hesitating for a while before walking away, deciding to save money for use in the Woodland.

“There’s only one packet of seeds left. Student, do you need it?” The girl opposite was about to close her stall. Seeing Hylial hadn’t left, she beckoned to her.

“Can I touch this Eye Fruit?” the girl, holding Euphilia Mazetta’s hand, walked forward.

“This…” The other party hesitated slightly.

“If you are sure you want to buy it, you can touch it.”

“I want to test this Eye Fruit because I do know the Bloom-Flowering Method,” Hylial said.

“Wait, student, aren’t you forgetting something?” The girl stopped Hylial.

“If it’s not a plant you cultivated yourself, the Bloom-Flowering Method can only stimulate plants one rank lower.”

“I know, but I have already raised it to the second stage, so I can use it even on other first-order plants,” Hylial raised her hand, and a faint halo appeared in her palm.

[Bloom-Flowering Method Lv.2] (Emerald Honey): The magic of flowering, which can stimulate the weak potency of the flower itself, amplifying it nearly ten times. Can be used on plants of the same rank, even if not self-cultivated. (Completion 216/600)

“How is that possible!” The other party’s pupils contracted, and she looked at Hylial warily.

“You’re here to cause trouble, aren’t you?” Her tone suddenly changed.

“Even second-order Emerald Honey Gardeners mostly only cultivate to the first stage. ‘Bloom-Flowering Method’ is a relatively complex ability. The difficulty increases several times with each stage. For the first order, let alone reaching the second stage, even learning it is not easy. Don’t talk nonsense here.”

“If you insist on being reckless, I will complain to the Senior Student in the camel tower. If you openly violate the rules, you will be deprived of your qualification to enter the Woodland.”

Under this threat and warning, most ordinary students would be nervous and afraid to take the risk.

Hearing the stall owner girl’s words, the other students who hadn’t left yet whispered among themselves, then looked back at Hylial.

“She’s a new Gardener, right? Doesn’t even know such basic knowledge.”

“Perhaps her talent is quite high, and she truly mastered the first stage of the Bloom-Flowering Method, which makes her so confident.”

“She’s probably been spoiled before, and now she’s just making up excuses to try the stall owner’s plant before buying it.”

Hearing these words, Hylial said nothing, but Euphilia Mazetta beside her couldn’t hold back. She stepped forward, took out the hidden badge on her belt, and placed it in front of the stall owner.

“I am a first-order Gardener, and I have also mastered the second stage of the ‘Bloom-Flowering Method’. Do you have any questions?” The Woodland Badge glowed faintly under her activation.

Seeing this badge, the students who had just been sneering changed their expressions.

“That’s… she should be one of the most promising students of this batch.”

“I remember now, isn’t that Euphilia Mazetta, the only Elf student who received a badge?” “She comes from a distinguished background, reportedly royalty from some Elf forest…” someone whispered softly.

“Come on, let’s not stay here. It would be bad if she took it out on us,” several people who had been watching the commotion immediately pretended nothing was amiss and walked away, no longer crowding the stall.

The girl behind the stall, who had just been sharp-tongued and mocking Hylial, now looked uneasy. She took a few steps back, looking around, seemingly ready to flee.

“It would be better if you didn’t run. Answer properly now, and there’s still room for reconciliation.” Euphilia Mazetta’s voice was still soft, but now it carried a hint of authority, surprising the silver-haired girl beside her.

She had originally thought this Elf girl was the shy and timid type, but it seemed she was wrong.

“I… I understand. Please, Senior Student Euphilia Mazetta, be lenient.” Realizing that fleeing now would only make things worse, the other party had to slowly walk back.

“Now, can you tell me why you didn’t let me touch this Eye Fruit just now?” Hylial asked, looking into her eyes.

The other party’s gaze flickered, and after hesitating for a moment, she slowly spoke.

“Because this Eye Fruit is actually not fully cultivated.”

“Then where did the first-order aspect come from?” Hylial’s gaze shifted downwards, observing the flower and grass up close, then her finger moved slightly closer, gently pressing on the translucent berry.

A faint buzzing sound came from her fingertip, and she immediately realized something.

“There are insects inside the fruit? And first-order Emerald Honey insects?”

“That’s right, Senior Student,” the stall owner girl slumped. She had no choice but to continue explaining.

“Actually, I was also tricked. I spent a lot of money to buy these Eye Fruit seeds, but I couldn’t cultivate Eye Fruits with aspects. Finally, I had to find a friend and borrowed a first-order Emerald Honey Fireline Cicada to put inside the fruit.”

“So the ray just now was emitted by the ‘Fireline Cicada’?”

“That’s right, that’s how it is.”

“What kind of power does a real Eye Fruit have at the first order?”

“I don’t know about that, but after checking local records, it seems someone did cultivate a second-order Emerald Honey Eye Fruit in the past.”

After listening, Hylial and Euphilia Mazetta shook their heads, feeling that the recorded book was not entirely reliable.

“How about this: you put up a notice later, asking those deceived students to return the seeds, and then you give them their money back. I won’t report this to Senior Student Adjin,” Hylial suggested.

“Okay, but I don’t know if they will see it, because there are too many students in the camel tower, and the activity area is very large.” Hearing this, the other party breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the punishment was not too severe.

“At least hang it for a month. If you still can’t find them, then forget it.” After a month, they would be in the Woodland, and students would be assigned to different places, making them even harder to find.

After saying this, Hylial was also ready to leave, but the other party called out to the girl again.

“Senior Student, please wait a moment.” She seemed to have figured something out, picking up the last remaining packet of seeds.

“I’ll give you this packet of seeds. I’m very sorry, I hope you’ll accept it and not hold it against me.” She realized that if Euphilia Mazetta was telling the truth, this unknown silver-haired girl was likely a genius on par with the Elf girl beside her.

If that were the case, she certainly couldn’t afford to offend her, because after going to the Woodland, these badge-wearing students often became leaders of various student groups.

“This…” Hylial looked at the packet of seeds, thinking.

Actually, she didn’t want to accept it, but she was afraid of being misunderstood by the other party, thinking she still resented her previous actions, which would make her uneasy. So, after a few seconds of hesitation, she took it.

“I have ten Gold Coins here, take them.” She offered the Gold Coins to the other party.

“No, no, actually, I didn’t spend that much money when I bought them. About ten packets were only three Gold Coins in total.” The other party waved her hand awkwardly.

“So, the cost of one packet of seeds isn’t high. Please, just take it.”

At this point, Hylial couldn’t refuse any longer, so she put away the seeds.

“Oh, and this is the cultivation guide. I transcribed it from a book I read before.” Finally, she handed Hylial a small booklet with only a few pages.

“Please take care.”

Finally, watching the silver-haired girl and Euphilia Mazetta walk away, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and slowly let go of the burden in her heart.

It was a smooth sailing this time. If she had been caught by Senior Student Euphilia Mazetta and taken to Adjin, her recent actions would probably have been severely penalized, and being punished in the Woodland would have been even more serious.

The money certainly had to be returned. Although these two Senior Students might not necessarily pay attention afterwards, if one day they happened to remember and inquire, and her actions were exposed, it would be a slap in their faces, with even more severe consequences.

Sigh, studying in the Woodland is not that easy, she thought as she packed up her stall.

However, doing business here was good. In the past few months in the camel tower, she had already earned dozens of Gold Coins, only occasionally making mistakes due to poor judgment.