Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

No sooner had Bie Chenye been summoned away by the Academic Affairs Office than Mi Ye couldn't sit still any longer.

Silence returned to the cabin, the copper pot in the corner, still warm from being burned dry, and the edges of the parchment rolls spread out on the workbench fluttering gently in the wind.

Mi Ye folded the homework slip that Bie Chenye had left her, put it in her pocket, and walked around the small house.

There are many books on the bookshelf.

The Fundamentals of Flesh and Blood Magic

Introduction to the Perception and Manipulation of Vitality

"Illustrated Compendium of Low-Level Magical Plants and Animals"

She pulled out the thickest encyclopedia of flora and fauna, flipped through a few pages, and found it filled with densely packed colorful illustrations and text descriptions, ranging from the lowest-level fluorescent moss to the A-level dangerous abyssal vines.

This is exactly what she wanted.

Then she sent a message to Bie Chenye, saying that she wanted to borrow a book and go for a walk in the back mountain.

Bie Chenye replied almost instantly that it was fine, the low-level area outside the back mountain was no problem, but don't cross the boundary marker, the other side of the boundary marker is the mid-level area, there are some troublesome magical creatures there, and finally asked Miye to bring her a cute leaf.

After reading the message, Miya smiled and replied with a cat emoji, then put her phone on vibrate, put it in her pocket, slung her backpack over her shoulder, pushed open the back door of the cabin, and walked into the forest behind the Moon Forest.

It's a cloudy day today.

Miya loves cloudy days.

Gray clouds evenly covered the entire sky, turning the midday sun into a soft, uniform diffused light, as if someone had drawn a semi-transparent veil over the world.

The wind was cool and refreshing, carrying the earthy sweetness and the fresh scent of pine needles soaked in dew. It felt like a damp towel soaked in cool water on my face, gently washing away the weariness that had lingered for days.

A few insects chirped occasionally from the bushes, but it was much more languid than at midday on a sunny day.

The treetops overhead swayed gently in the breeze, and the leaves rustled against each other, like someone turning the pages of a thick book in the distance.

Miya walked for about ten minutes along the inconspicuous dirt path behind the Biechenye hut into the mountains.

The canopy overhead grew denser, but the light did not become dimmer. The evenly diffused light of the overcast day seemed to shine in from all directions at the same time, turning the entire forest into a soft silver-green.

The encyclopedia in her arms was turned to the chapter on "Low-level Magical Plants".

The book says that the most basic introductory herb in the flesh and blood magic system is called Bloodline Grass. It likes to grow in semi-shaded and semi-damp humus soil near tree roots. Its characteristic is that there are deep red veins on the leaves. The redder the veins, the stronger the medicinal effect and the higher the concentration of life force it contains.

Miya crouched down, parted the leaves of a clump of ferns, and looked at the roots of a large tree.

Sure enough, a few short grasses with deep red veins on their leaves grew in the crevices of the tree roots. The veins were shaped like capillaries and shone with a faint dark red hue in the soft light of the overcast day.

She plucked one and felt it in her palm.

The perception method taught to her by Bie Chenye is now an instinctive reaction for her. As long as she mobilizes her flesh and blood magic and pushes it towards her palm, she can sense the flow of life force inside the plant.

This bloodline plant has very weak vitality, probably only about one-third the size of the leaf in the potted plant by Biechenye.

Mi Ye put the blood-thread grass in her mouth and chewed it.

The taste is more bitter and astringent than the previous leaves, and the tip of the tongue feels numb after chewing.

After swallowing, the warm sensation in my stomach was more pronounced than last time.

She closed her eyes and glanced into her mind's eye. The brightness of the sun had not changed, but the edge of the light seemed to have expanded slightly.

[Vitality Recovery: +3]

Maximum HP increased by +1

[Poison Resistance Increase: +1]

So it can also increase poison resistance.

She made a satisfied note in her notebook.

Bloodweed (Hemiberlesia lataniae): bitter, astringent, unpalatable, and resistant to poison.

Then she found three more Bloodline Grasses within a few meters, pulled them all up and ate them, restoring a total of 12 points of health, increasing her maximum health by 4 points, and also increasing her poison resistance.

When she ate the fourth herb, she suddenly realized something: if she continued to eat at this rate, her lifespan would probably increase, but her stomach might protest first, since herbs are not snacks.

She patted the dirt off her knees and continued walking deeper into the forest.

The outer low-level area was very large. She walked for more than an hour without seeing any dangerous magical creatures, only a few glowing snails hiding in tree holes and a gray-eared tree rat dozing on a branch.

The air grew increasingly humid, and the faint sound of a distant stream mingled with the wind and rustling leaves, like a deity playing the piano of the sky.

Then she smelled a strange odor, mingling with the damp air, drifting over faintly, very similar to the sweet, bloody smell she had previously detected in the Biechenye wooden house.

After passing through a patch of low bushes, pushing aside ferns blocking the way, and going around a moss-covered boulder, I stopped in a small clearing in the woods.

In the center of the open space lay the skeleton of a deer.

It looked like it had been dead for a long time; there was no flesh or blood left on its bones, only a few wisps of dry, gray fur stuck to its spine.

But judging from the size of the skeleton and the pair of twisted, coiled antlers on its head, this deer was very large when it was alive, much larger than any deer she had ever seen in her previous life.

The antlers had several forks, each as thick as a wrist, and their surfaces were covered with dried, dark brown lines—traces of residual magic—indicating that this deer was a magical creature in its lifetime, and of a high level.

And at the base of the antlers, in a crack near the top of the skull, something was glowing.

Miya held her breath and approached quietly.

A blood-red flower.

The delicate roots burrowed deep into the cracks in the bone, as if drawing the last nourishment from the lingering will of the deceased.

The scarlet petals are slender and curled, with irregular serrations along the edges, and gleam faintly in the soft light of the overcast day.

The flower's stamens are black, as thin as hair, and tremble gently in the breeze.

Miya squatted in front of the deer skeleton, stretched out her hand, and hovered her fingers a few centimeters above the flower without touching it directly.

She could feel the remaining life force inside the petals, a life force filled with fear, resentment, and an obsession with life, like a cup of espresso that had been boiled down to just a few drops, bitter to the point of being astringent.

This is the Blood Fairy.

She flipped through the book and found a detailed description of the deer.

Antlered deer, a C-rank magical creature.

Following the instructions in the skill description, Mi Ye extended her index finger and gently touched the petals of the Blood Fairy.

The petals melted at her fingertips, silently transforming into a wisp of scarlet mist.

The mist traveled upwards along her magical pathways, eventually merging into the black star symbol on the back of her hand.

The iridescent halo flowing deep within the symbol flickered briefly before returning to calm.

In Mi Ye's sea of ​​consciousness, beside the wishing pool, a Blood Fairy simultaneously sprouted.

She squatted on the ground, looking down at the slightly warm star symbol on the back of her hand.

The feeling was strange, and she couldn't find the words to describe it.

Miya took a deep breath, stood up, gently touched the antlers, and continued walking forward.

Over the next two hours, she found a total of five more Bloodline Grasses and two Blood Fairy Flowers.

A flower grew on a dead tree stump. The tree had probably been struck by lightning. A smaller blood fairy than the one on the deer bone bloomed in the center of the charred trunk, with scorched and curled edges on the petals.

Another one grew in a crack in a moss-covered rock, with several bird bones scattered around it, weathered to the point of crumbling at the slightest touch. It was probably a remnant of a low-level magical bird that had died naturally.

After all three flowers were collected, three more blood-red flowers of different sizes appeared on the open ground next to the wishing well.

Mi Ye consumed all the Bloodline Grass, recovering a total of 18 points of health and increasing her maximum health by 5 points.

She sat down on a moss-covered rock and took out a lunchbox from her backpack.

The chicken leg rice that Zimi Lu and Flores had prepared together was still warm in the insulated container. When Miya opened the lid, the smiley face drawn with ketchup was a little blurry, but you could still see the corners of her mouth curving up.

While eating, she flipped through an encyclopedia, comparing the characteristics of the herbs she had collected that day with those of the Blood Fairy, and wrote three pages of field notes on sticky notes.

Key points for identifying Bloodline Grass, speculation on the growth environment of Blood Fairy, and preliminary record of the ecological characteristics of the low-level area on the outskirts of the back mountain.

The wind is getting stronger.

The soft rustling of the treetops overhead turned into a series of howling sounds.

It looks like it's going to rain.

Miya packed up her lunchbox, put her notes and encyclopedia into the waterproof backpack compartment, and walked back the way she came.

There was indeed a stone tablet about half a person's height standing on the boundary of the outer lower zone. Its surface was covered with moss, but the inscription on it was still legible.

[Intermediate Zone Boundary, Unauthorized Entry Prohibited – Moon Forest Magic Academy Logistics Management Office]

Miye stood in front of the monument for a moment, glanced at the denser and deeper forest beyond the boundary marker, and then turned and walked back.

When we got back to the cabin, it was already as dark as dusk.

Bie Chenye hadn't returned yet, and the room was still the same as when she left, except for a letter that the Academic Affairs Office had magically burned on the table, which read, "The exam question meeting has been extended to tomorrow. Please make your schedule accordingly."

Miya put down her backpack, placed the three pages of her wilderness notes next to the communication talisman, and then stuck a blue-purple wildflower she had picked along the way into her hair, its petals still glistening with dewdrops.

I placed it on the notebook and wrote a line on a sticky note.

"How about the pretty leaves I promised, and the flowers instead?"

She waited in the cabin for a while longer, but Bie Chenye still didn't return.

The wind outside the window was so strong that it made the treetops sway violently, and a few large raindrops hit the glass window, making a crisp pattering sound.

Miya decided not to wait any longer; she suddenly had a new idea.

He greeted Teacher Bie Chenye again, borrowed a book about alchemy materials, slung his backpack over his shoulder, locked the door of the wooden house, and walked along the path behind the mountain towards the campus.

As we passed the 800-year-old oak tree, it had already started raining.

She picked a lotus leaf from the pond and quickened her pace toward the subway station.