Cornflower Witch

Chapter 300 Bloodlimb Forest

As they descended along the mountain pass, the wind picked up, and Hiltiya pulled her hood tighter to avoid it being blown away.

The windhorse beneath her galloped down the slope, gradually reaching a state of maximum energy efficiency under Hilti's manipulation and control. This was the effect of the White Knight's ability, 'Galloping Strike'.

As Hiltiah became more proficient in using this ability, she and her horse gradually became more in sync. Sometimes, if she slowed down her movements even slightly, the Messenger horse beneath her would understand her meaning and slow down as well.

Occasionally, she would encounter other adventurers heading to the abyss, who would greet the girl and wonder why she was traveling alone.

"Hey, little girl, why don't you come with us? It's dangerous for you to be alone." On the way, a wizard who looked to be in his forties and his companions greeted her.

Hilti expressed her gratitude briefly and then continued on her way.

It took her about three days to reach the edge of the petrified forest outside the Dark Mist Mountains.

Due to years of erosion and staining, the trees in this forest have turned into black stones, and they are the kind of brittle shale that can be broken into pieces with a touch and fall to the ground in several pieces.

Everything in the Shadow World is a projection of the surface continent. The forest here is also a projection of the forest of the surface continent, but that area had already peeled off from the continent and fallen into the Twilight Sea in the Eighth Era.

Without the projection of the surface continent, this part of the shadow world also stagnates and gradually dissipates, being eroded and swallowed by the Twilight Sea.

This is not yet the Sea of ​​Twilight, but it is not far from that filthy, chaotic, and monstrous sea.

Upon arriving here, Hilti did not rush in, but instead found a place to camp on the edge of the forest and rest for a day.

With the campfire lit, Hirutia put her favorite dried meat, potatoes, and a few vegetables into the pot. She sat by the fire and opened the book Dickens had given her.

The two closest hidden realms worth exploring are the 'Howling Cave' and the 'Blood Limb Orchard'. The former requires venturing deep into underground crevices to explore unknown dark caves, while the latter requires stepping into a dangerous orchard and facing possible attacks at any time.

Let's go to the orchard first, it seems closer, and then we'll go to the cave. After thinking for a moment, Hiltiya made a simple decision.

After dinner was cooked, Hilti sat by the fire, savoring the food she had prepared. She thought of Bona, who had once taught her cooking skills, and wondered how Bona was doing now.

Now, Hilti's cooking skills are basically all taught by her. With the help of high-quality ingredients, Hilti can now make 'second-tier perfect' food. To reach the third tier, she needs 'third-tier' ingredients, but she currently only has third-tier cornflowers.

Cultivating Tier 3 potatoes or wheat is something that Hilti can do, but Tier 3 plants require far more growth time and resources than Tier 1 wheat. Currently, the best-growing wheat in Lantern Town is only at 'Tier 2 Rare', and it will probably take another six months to break through to Tier 3.

Only cornflowers, thanks to their own innate abilities, can be cultivated quickly.

While Hilti was enjoying her dinner, the windhorse lay on the ground, eating the beans and hay that Hilti had placed in its wooden bowl. Occasionally, it would drink a sip of water from the water beside it, raise its neck, and snort to express its happiness.

Before going to sleep at night, Hilti summoned three heads of the previously sealed Eye Demon to help keep watch, and then went to bed in her tent.

After a peaceful night, she stepped into the petrified forest the next day, continuing her journey toward her goal.

……

Upon seeing the blood-red trees in the distance, Hilti stopped and touched the Windhorse beside her.

"I'm sorry to trouble you for a while."

After she finished speaking, her eyes sparkled with starlight. She raised her finger, and soon the wind vanished, revealing a white card in her hand.

【Windbringer】(Tier 2, Castle): An excellent warhorse bred by the 'Holy White Knights Hall'. After rigorous military training, it can cooperate with the knight to use many combat skills. It is good at accelerating and charging, and dodging obstacles and attacks. It can resist weak attacks and the erosion of other attributes.

She carefully put the card into the picture book, then took out the 'Tree Jade Spirit Sword' and held it in her hand.

The emerald blade, enhanced by the 'Emerald Honey' attribute, became exceptionally sharp and resilient. It wasn't her strongest weapon, but it was definitely the most handy and durable.

As Hilti's mind shifted, the blade widened and lengthened, and then Hilti easily swept aside the petrified trees along the way, stepping into this blood-red forbidden land.

The 'Blood Limb Forest,' as its name suggests, is a forest where trees resemble twisted, blood-red limbs, as if created by a creator in a state of madness. The branches are outstretched arms, the leaves are outstretched fingers, and the blood-red buds are sharp fingernails. Seeing this plant will cause physical discomfort.

Hilti's gaze slowly swept over the trees here, most of which were withered branches, as if dead. Occasionally, she would see the corpses of dead monsters, gripped by the fingers of the branches, the blood-red fingertips deeply embedded in the monsters' corpses, constantly absorbing their nutrients.

Shaking her head, Hiltiya covered her nose, ignoring the strange smell.

These limb-like trees are half-dead and half-alive, only awakening when they come into contact with blood. According to the records within the fortress, rare "blood fruits" occasionally appear among these "blood limb trees." These are precious fruits of the "Third-Tier Blood Law" level, emitting an alluring fragrance that attracts many monsters and humans.

Many monsters die in the struggle, and their corpses become nutrients for these trees, which then condense into the next 'Blood Fruit'.

After walking for a while, Hilti hadn't seen the 'Blood Fruit' yet, but she had already discovered the corpses of seven or eight monsters, indicating that the competition here was fierce.

As she traversed the eerie forest, Hilti carefully avoided the limbs and trees along the way, trying to prevent her clothes from being scratched by those dark red fingernails.

Just then, a strange rustling sound came from the right, and soon after, five huge rats passed through the low gaps in the trees and came to stand in front of Hilti.

Fruit rat?
Seeing that these rats all had huge incisors, Hiltiya guessed that it was said that their incisors could bite so hard that they could even break steel.

The five rats were around the second tier of Blood Law. They sensed the emerald aura emanating from Hilti and stirred, seemingly hesitant. But when Hilti picked up her sword to attack, these rats, each the size of a goat, quickly fled and disappeared back into the gaps in the forest.

Forget it, she wasn't going to chase after them. After all, these rats were too dirty, and they didn't have anything she needed on them.

Continuing forward, Hilti felt that she had arrived at the central area of ​​the 'Bloodlimb Forest'. She sensed more and more monsters, most of which were first and second-tier twilight monsters, and a few were 'third-tier' beings, but they were far away.

The pressure brought by the sexual phase level is keenly sensed by these monsters. When Hiltiah displays the 'Third Tier: Emerald Honey' sexual phase, many creatures will avoid her in advance.

However, some special creatures rushed over after smelling her scent.

Eight brown-winged bark moths descended from the sky, their fuzzy upper bodies housing a pair of eerie eyes, and their wings also bearing unsettling patterns.

【Owl-Eyed Silver Moth】(Tier 2 - Insect Moth): A monster born in the Twisted Lands, it likes to feed on the sap of fruit trees and its attack method is effective against plants with the 'Emerald Honey' attribute.

The eight strange silver-toothed moths flapped their wings, and the patterns on their wings seemed to come alive as they flapped, giving people a sense of oppression and unease. Hilti stood below, sensing a subtle danger quietly approaching.

No, even though these silver-boring moths were of low rank, Hiltiya still cautiously retreated.

Seeing this, they rubbed their mouthparts and limbs together, making a playful rustling sound, and flapped their wings again to approach, trying to surround the girl.

At this moment, a subtle glint appeared in Hilti's eyes. After careful observation, she finally sensed the source of the danger.

When these bark beetles fly, their wings scatter fine powder. This seemingly ordinary powder is actually countless tiny insect eggs. Once they come into contact with living plants or animals, they hatch and then feed on them, with the bark beetles boring into them.

Even high-level creatures could be affected if they accidentally inhaled the powder.

"How insidious!" Hilti thought for a moment. Close combat with the 'Emerald' nature was still too dangerous. In an instant, her aura changed, and then she flashed away, leaving the scene and arriving in the air hundreds of meters away. Then she raised her arm.

【Evil Eye Shot】

One after another, eye-like patterns appeared beside her, followed by brilliant purple rays that shot out from the eye patterns, piercing through the distant silverfish moths and burning and dismembering them.

Afterwards, Hilti's figure slowly descended from the sky, then took out a lantern that had not been used for a long time, and a burst of flame spread, burning the corpse of the silverfish and the area where it had been.

These moths weren't very strong, but if she had been careless just now, she could very well have been bitten. No wonder everyone says the world in the shadows is dangerous; she's only now truly experiencing a fraction of it.

Unlike the stable surface world, the monsters here are constantly mutating, and you can encounter entirely new creatures that are not recorded at any time. Their habits and methods are also bizarre and difficult to defend against.

Even if you are of a higher rank than your opponent, you can still stumble if you're not careful.

(End of this chapter)