The Cornflower Witch Chapter 251

A treehouse in a hidden settlement.

This was Sylphidya’s temporary abode. The great tree, nurtured by her, had grown into a massive canopy spanning tens of meters. Beneath this tree, she had built a treehouse from the same material as the bark, using the tree’s trunk as support.

Inside the treehouse’s main hall, the orange-yellow glow of the lamp illuminated Sylphidya and an old man sitting opposite each other, with a small tea table between them.

“Are you feeling better, Mr. Vanders?” Sylphidya stood up and poured the old man a cup of brewed flower tea. She had added a hint of ‘Sunflower Seed Oil’ and ‘White Camellia’, which are excellent for restoring vitality.

“Much better, thank you, Miss Sylphidya,” he replied, holding the teacup with a slightly weak voice.

Afterward, Sylphidya sat back down and asked Vanders about his experiences over the past few years.

“…That year, after bringing you to Scorched Stone City, I went afar to the merchant capital to restock goods.”

“When I returned, Talir told me that you had already gone to the hidden Forest Land. It’s a pity I couldn’t see Miss Sylphidya one last time.”

“For the next two years, I continued to travel and conduct business as usual, until the war broke out and the Anti people invaded.”

“After the Anti people took control of this land, many rules changed, and I found it particularly difficult to adapt. Although I tried to bribe the local officers with money to make them less harsh.”

“However, their personnel were frequently rotated that year. After the Anti officers I knew left, the new commanders would start demanding money again.”

“I wasn’t a big merchant with vast capital to begin with, so I quickly couldn’t sustain it, and then the business suffered terribly.”

“After that, a junior officer arrested me on fabricated charges. They first demanded my family pay a ransom, but even after paying, they would ask for more.”

“Finally, my family truly couldn’t afford it anymore, so they threw me into the mine.” Vanders recounted his past.

“Now my wife and children have long since run away for fear of being implicated. From now on, I suppose I’ll have to live alone.” He sighed, the youthful vigor and shrewdness once in his eyes long gone.

Hearing this, Sylphidya comforted him for a few moments, then spoke of her year living in Scorched Stone City.

“That year, I met many friends, and had two teachers who cared for me very much.”

“If you don’t mind, I can find you a place to live in the future.” Sylphidya thought of the Golden Glades/Gleaming Gold Plain in the Forest Land, where the environment was peaceful and the city exceptionally safe.

“This… then thank you, Miss Sylphidya.” He truly didn’t have the courage to decline and could only nod in agreement.

After resolving the issue of his future whereabouts, Vanders’ spirits lifted slightly. Over the next two days, he was able to converse actively with those around him.

During these days, Sylphidya wrote a letter and entrusted it to a messenger bird summoned by a special arcane method, instructing it to deliver the letter to the Forest Land’s outpost on the surface.

Waiting for a response from the ‘Golden Glades/Gleaming Gold Plain’ would likely take another 1-2 months. Sylphidya thought that if the mine wasn’t destroyed, the lord of Scorched Stone City would surely resort to his old tricks, continuously capturing people to fill the void.

Since that was the case, she decided to completely destroy the mine.

Furthermore, she also wanted to see if any remnants of the Corpse Dragon’s bones or legacy still remained deep within the mine.

Among the many attributes in this world, ‘Dragon Eye’ was the only one she had never encountered or understood.

…

Returning to Scorched Stone City, this time Sylphidya didn’t enter the city. Instead, she bypassed the mountains outside Scorched Stone City and headed directly towards the mine she had left days ago.

The mountains here were scarred with marks of slashing and burning, indicating that the weeds and vines she had scattered before leaving had taken a great deal of effort to clear away.

Several hidden sentries had also been added to the mountains, observing the mountain path and the mine camp. Though they were well-hidden, Sylphidya spotted them at a glance.

Easily avoiding their gaze, Sylphidya moved through the shaded woodland.

When she returned to the outside of the mine camp, she was surprised to find that a battle was already underway.

The other party was also wearing a gray robe with a concealed face. He held a pale skull in his hand, and beside him were several bone-spliced monsters battling the Anti soldiers in the camp.

‘Mist of Dead Embers’

From the hollow eye sockets of the pale skull in his hand, wisps of mist spewed forth, spreading towards the enemy with the mountain wind. Any soldiers caught and engulfed by it quickly fell. Unfortunately, this time there was no gentle touch from Sylphidya; these men soon clutched their throats and died, lying motionless.

At this point, only two Second-Order Anti officers remained fighting in the field. Covering their mouths and noses, they desperately fled from the ash-white mist, preparing to leap down the mountain path to escape the pursuing grey-robed ‘Bonesplicer’.

But the opponent didn’t let them go. He raised a finger, and a bone monster beside him shot out a volley of bone spikes, hitting the two escaping men directly. The bone spikes embedded in their bodies, and the power of the ‘Dead Embers’ attribute spread, rapidly devouring their vitality. Finally, the two collapsed to the ground, their faces withered, no longer breathing.

After dealing with all the soldiers in the entire camp, the misterious figure in the grey robe slowly turned his gaze towards Sylphidya’s location in the treetops.

“You should not be an Anti, and you have similar goals to me. Please come out.” His voice didn’t sound old, probably around thirty years old.

At this moment, Sylphidya leaped down from between the trees, her toes lightly touching the grass before she stood firm.

Two strands of black hair peeked out from her hood. A faint Third-Order Emerald Eye Potion aura emanated from Sylphidya, and the surrounding flowers, plants, and trees swayed slightly in response, dispelling the lingering ‘Mist of Dead Embers’ in the air.

At this moment, the mysterious person opposite also exuded the aura of the ‘Third-Order Dead Embers’ aspect, and the two seemed to be in a delicate balance.

Seeing this, the other party nodded slightly, then put away the skull in his hand and introduced himself.

“My name is Lucas. I was originally from Scorched Stone City. If you lived here, you’ve probably heard my name before.” He introduced himself.

*Sigh*, is the other person very famous locally? Sylphidya blinked, unable to recall who it was.

Seeing that Sylphidya didn’t respond, the other party furrowed his brow slightly, seemingly unable to understand whether the young girl was friend or foe, and his fingers, hidden beneath his sleeve, once again grasped the skull.

“My name is Sylphidya. I also lived in Scorched Stone City for a while before, studying under Scholar Hyde. I apologize, I hadn’t heard your name before.”

The girl finally spoke, and the other party relaxed slightly.

“Which graduating class are you from? Could it be before me?” The appearances and ages of Transcendent are not necessarily the same, especially many women, who prefer to maintain their appearance.

Perhaps this seemingly 17-year-old girl is actually older than his grandmother, Lucas had to be cautious.

“I… I think I enrolled four years ago and graduated three years ago,” Sylphidya counted.

“You’re lying. How could you have enrolled four years ago?” Lucas felt the other party was playing tricks on him.

“Why do you say that?”

“If you enrolled four years ago, you would at most be First-Order. Even with extraordinary talent, reaching Second-Order at that time, how could you possibly reach Third-Order in just three or four years? Isn’t that a lie?” Lucas pointed out the loophole in the girl’s words.

“This…” Sylphidya felt it would be difficult to convince him with words, so she took out two badges: the ‘Woodland Badge’ for special recommendation and the ‘Cornflower Badge’ for excellent evaluation.

Upon seeing these two badges granted by the Woodland Association, the other party’s pupils constricted, somewhat incredulous.

“It turns out…” He was somewhat speechless, and also felt a sense of defeat.

“I thought I was a rare genius, but I never expected this.” After saying that, he shook his head and also took out an identical ‘Cornflower’ badge, showing it to the girl.

After some exchange between the two, Sylphidya finally remembered hearing Lucas’s story from Winnie.

‘…The one who got the spot that time was a commoner from Scorched Stone City. His father was a merchant guild clerk, so his family was quite well-off and supported his studies. He himself was quite talented, displaying a special talent in the ‘Dead Embers’ Aspect.

At only seventeen, he mastered two abilities of the ‘Dead Embers’ Aspect and successfully killed the target of the second assessment using the ‘Corpse Poison’ he created, thus earning his qualification.

’

“So it was Senior Lucas.” Sylphidya bowed gracefully, her gaze particularly curious.

According to Sister Winnie’s description, it had only been ten years since he entered the Forest Land. In just ten years, from First-Order to Third-Order, this was indeed a rare genius in the Forest Land.

“Since we both come from Scorched Stone City and have returned from the Forest Land, and you’re probably also interested in what’s inside the mine, how about we explore it together?” More people meant more help if the Anti garrison came, Lucas thought.

Besides, even if they teamed up, the other party was a gardener, not a combat-specialized profession, so they wouldn’t pose much danger to him, and could even solve some minor problems.

Hearing the other party’s suggestion, Sylphidya hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“Then thank you for your companionship, Senior.”

Since the other party trusted her, she didn’t seem to have anything to worry about. If she really encountered an extremely dangerous situation, she could use her ‘Alien World’ Aspect’s traversal ability to escape.

Moreover, besides ‘Alien World’, she had many other unrevealed abilities. Both the ‘Knightly Bravery’ badge and the power boost from ‘Cornflower’ could instantly increase her strength.