The Cornflower Witch Chapter 140

The next day, Hylial woke up feeling well-rested, her spirits light and cheerful.

The sun had already risen, shining into the room. Checking the time, it was a little past nine-thirty in the morning.

After washing her face with clear water, Hylial felt more awake. She tidied herself up, changed into the goose-yellow dress Madame Faran had custom-made for her last year, and then stepped out.

The alfalfa in the fields was still flourishing. The toad’s cottage across the way was already open, with a few sporadic toads emerging to work, while most were still asleep.

Considering there were no particularly important matters in the next two days, Hylial didn’t wake them, but rather gave them all a day off.

“You all should rest well today,” she instructed the awakened toads.

“Croak, we can sleep, croak.”

“Thank you, boss.”

A few toads happily hopped around, some then running off to the pond, planning to spend the whole day there.

Meanwhile, Hylial went down to the cellar beneath the stone house. This was where the large quantity of seeds she had purchased earlier were stored, including the alfalfa she had previously used.

Since her ‘Jade Nectar’ reached Second-Order, she could now easily ripen crops. If she didn’t consider quality, she could make some crops flower and bear fruit within two or three days.

“What should I eat?” Hylial looked at the rows of seeds, then picked out some that had a short cultivation time and were relatively tasty.

“Strawberries and blueberries it is,” she said, selecting two small packets of seeds before leaving the cellar.

Behind the cottage was her private small greenhouse. Most of it was currently empty, with only three white camellia trees planted.

She had been busy with wheat and alfalfa recently and hadn’t focused on this area. Now, she could spare some attention to plant a few things.

After simply tilling the loose soil, she sowed two rows of strawberry seeds and two rows of blueberry seeds, watered them with clear water, and then sprinkled some Emerald Dew Water.

Then she stood in the middle of the garden, focusing on the strawberries. An invisible Jade Nectar force emanated a halo, and she began to observe and intervene. Soon, new shoots emerged, and tender leaves unfolded.

About an hour later, the strawberry bushes were initially formed and began to produce unripe fruits.

To improve the taste, Hylial decided to slow down the ripening process slightly when the fruits were forming, allowing them to gather more nutrients and sweetness.

The blueberries were handled in the same way, and after a morning, both produced unripe fruits.

“They’ll be ready for picking tomorrow,” the girl thought, then took a brisk walk through the valley, enjoying the rare summer scenery.

…

The next day, the freshly picked strawberries were washed, and the girl tasted them.

Slightly tart with a clear sweetness, they brought a refreshing cool to the summer day, making Hylial’s mood cheerful.

The advantage of choosing [Jade Nectar] was that when you wanted to eat a specific fruit, you didn’t need to consider the season; you could cultivate it quickly yourself.

Although rapidly growing fruits didn’t condense aspects and didn’t have additional transcendent effects, their taste and freshness alone provided an excellent experience.

That night, she tried making bread for the first time. After some experimentation and refinement, she finally presented rows of baked ‘Blueberry Bread’.

[Blueberry Bread] (Excellent): Baked from high-quality wheat flour, with blueberry bits added for a sweet and sour taste that isn’t cloying.

After eating alfalfa steamed buns last night, the toads thought it was a special reward after the harvest, a one-time treat. To their surprise, they had new delicious food again tonight.

“Croak, I’m going to cry, croak.”

“It’s so good, croak.”

Compared to alfalfa steamed buns, the blueberry bread indeed tasted better, making the toads reluctant to stop eating. “Can we eat this again, croak?”

“Yes, you will. If we have a good harvest in the future, I’ll make delicious food for you again,” Hylial promised with a smile.

The process of fattening with alfalfa was almost complete. The fertility of the fields was now even better than with chemical fertilizers in her past life. Hylial felt it was time to prepare for the next batch of wheat planting.

However, having gained experience this time, she planned to buy some farm tools in the city and, while there, ask the association to send someone to build a windmill in the valley. With a windmill, both threshing and grinding flour would be much easier.

Before leaving, Hylial had the toads harvest the alfalfa in the fields and store it as animal feed. Although the alfalfa was no longer visible on the surface, Hylial could still sense its root system underground. If she wished, she could stimulate it at any time to make the alfalfa in the field grow lush again.

But for now, it was better to harvest and clear it, because people would be coming to build the windmill later. If there were so many aspect-condensing alfalfa in the fields, she wouldn’t know how to explain it, as such an achievement would be too astonishing.

With everything ready, she set off with ten toads, heading once again to Whitecliff City.

The tall draft horse pulled the cart ahead. Having completed the condensation of ‘First-Order Blood Discipline,’ its strength and speed were noticeably greater than before. Maintaining a trot, it didn’t stop to rest the entire way.

Around nine o’clock, Hylial and her companions arrived at Whitecliff City, cutting their travel time by nearly half.

After taking the sturdy draft horse and the toads to the inn to rest, Hylial pulled up her hood and walked alone to the Woodland Association to inquire about matters after advancement.

The same staff member received her, sitting idly behind the counter, fully expecting a tranquil morning.

“Hello, I’d like to inquire about a student’s advancement,” Hylial sat down, revealing a glimpse of her silver-snow hair beneath her hood.

“You are?” The person was a little surprised, then remembered after Hylial’s prompt.

“I remember you’ve been in the Woodland for less than four months, haven’t you?” She flipped through the roster in her hand, a look of astonishment on her face.

“Yes,” Hylial nodded.

“You advanced so quickly?” The other person scanned her up and down, disbelieving.

“Are you sure you didn’t use any shortcuts? I want to remind you that at the apprentice stage, there’s no need to force an increase in strength with methods that offer high short-term gains but have significant side effects.”

“I don’t think it’s a shortcut,” the girl said, lightly pressing her finger to her chin, her gaze drifting to the side in thought.

“Actually, I didn’t expect to advance so quickly either.”

Under normal circumstances, a First-Order student, after entering the Woodland, would first become familiar with the work tasks, then pay for classes to learn various new abilities, gradually improve their qualities through meditation methods or breathing methods, and then advance their new abilities step by step.

Finally, until a critical point arrived, with the blessing and support of various abilities, their own fate rank would also change, completing the advancement.

This process would take nearly two years, even for a gifted student, while most students might spend five years in the Woodland before reaching Second-Order.

“I can’t make that decision right now. Please wait two days, Lia. A specialized teacher will come to assess your situation,” the person informed her.

“Alright, then I’ll buy some things in the city these two days,” she had other errands to run anyway and wasn’t in a hurry to return today.

After that, Hylial began inquiring about building a windmill. Compared to her advancement, the arrangements for building a windmill were much simpler. The staff quickly completed her application and collected 15 gold coins from the girl.

“All fees were originally 20 gold coins, but considering that building a windmill also serves the Woodland and enhances regional strength, a quarter of the cost will be borne by the Woodland,” she explained.

“I’ll contact the city’s Stonemason’s Guild tomorrow, and they’ll handle this,” she said.

“Thank you.”

It seemed she would have to stay for two more days.