Chapter 353: The Month of Harvest

The sun set in the west, and night fell.

In the Elven Kingdom at night, the sky was incredibly clear.

Enya had changed out of her original black dress and now wore only a light gray slip dress. She wore no stockings on her legs, and not even shoes on those delicate feet.

She stepped through a trickling stream, following the waterway upward.

It took some time, but she strolled to a pool that was not small. It was a hub where the various runoff streams gathered.

Enya walked to the edge of the stone pool and looked down at the faint reflection in the water. The slightly purple vertical pupil in her golden-red eyes contracted. She gazed at the silver-haired, black-horned woman in the water.

“A girl must eventually become a woman.”

“No, not necessarily. Some people remain fixed as little girls their whole lives, hehehe.”

Taking advantage of being alone, Enya teased Antiros, who was far away. The Witch Lady was indeed forever like that, as if frozen at that young age.

Had she decided this herself, or was there some reason?

Witches in this world belonged to the category favored by heaven, similar to the Chosen Ones of each race, but they were also very different, as if they were not the same species as Humans.

Eternal life, ageless beauty, extremely high cultivation talent–each was something others spent their whole lives longing for, yet all gathered in one person, earning the name of Witch.

Antiros…

Enya reached out and grasped her Dragon Horns, then looked back at her Dragon Tail.

After a while, she stood up from the ground and took off the simple dress she wore–after that, there was nothing underneath. She slowly stepped into the water.

This forest began with the world tree, so it was also a place favored by the power of the Nature God.

Whether flowing through the world tree’s roots or dripping down from its sky-covering branches and leaves, all kinds of water sources merged into streams and finally became pools.

They also carried a trace of the Nature God’s power, and were naturally called Holy Water.

The name of Holy Water spread far across the World.

Legend said that just soaking in it could make a dying person lively and jumping, strengthen a normal person’s muscles and bones several times over, and clear away all kinds of difficult illnesses from the body.

In short, it was divine water that could not be better, with not a single side effect, causing countless people to flock to it.

However, Holy Water was located under the shade of the world tree. This place was also forbidden ground for the Forest Elves.

Ordinary elves were not even allowed to approach. Only with the permission of the higher-ups of the Church of Nature could one gain a chance to step into the Holy Water pool.

But ever since Eliv became the Saintess, no outsiders had been permitted to enter again. The elves’ guard over the world tree also became stricter than before.

Enya walked into the deep water, letting the pool water rise to her collarbone. She stood in the water, head raised, staring blankly at the sky.

The next day.

Enya tidied up the tree house in the middle of the lake and moved back in. After Vivienne handed Enya over to Eliv, she went back alone, feeling gloomy.

The main reason Enya stayed was to recover her strength quickly. Her current power was barely enough for high-end battles, but only barely. Bullying small fry, however, was easy as pie.

Although she could cultivate in Red Pine City as well, it was clearly not as fast as cultivating Magic Power under the world tree, so Enya stayed and went into seclusion directly in the forbidden grounds of the Elven Kingdom.

Eliv seemed to have made a Promise with Vivienne. During Enya’s seclusion, she did not come to disturb her, nor did she even appear.

Enya knew she was very likely dealing with the Elf Council of Elders’ counterattack, which was troublesome, and she did not have much spare time.

The matter of removing the Seal and releasing the Abyss was definitely not something the Council of Elders would agree to just because she used force to suppress them.

The last time she stayed in the forbidden grounds, something had already happened. The Council of Elders at that time had already disliked Enya, and this time they must know something as well.

“Sigh… politics, sigh…”

Enya sighed and sat cross-legged on the bed in the Forest Hut.

Eliv and Vivienne had quite a few similarities. Whenever Enya was not around, they would be at each other’s throats, neither liking the other.

Only in front of Enya did they act harmonious with each other. In truth, Enya had long known they did not get along.

Of course, Enya had no intention of mediating. That would only make things worse. Let them fight, let them fight. They could not split her in two anyway, so she would let them be happy.

Enya closed both eyes and called upon the Graphics Card Girl Pandrake within her body, letting her fans spin a little.

She began cultivating the dual core.

Enya’s current magic rank was still at the Sixth Rank. The amount of Magic Power needed to advance further already exceeded the sum of two Sixth Rank Magic Cores.

It had not been long since she stepped into dual Sixth Rank, so the Magic Power of both cores was not yet full.

When she began circulating the Magic Power within her body and drawing in Origin Magic Power from the outside, it was like a drop of water falling onto a once-still lake surface, and now ripples finally spread.

On the mirror-like lake, at first only faint ripples were stirred, but they gradually expanded and finally became the Magic Power of the entire forbidden forest, beginning to swirl around the small island in the lake like a vortex.

Under the sunlight, the water sparkled and was no longer as empty as before. The fish seemed to sense something and hurriedly hid in the stone crevices deeper down.

The vast Origin Magic Power formed an aurora-like colorful light that shrouded the lake and the surrounding forest.

Some high-ranking beings in the Elven Kingdom sensed this Magic Power change, but with Eliv sitting there, they could not act rashly and could only exchange information with their eyes.

In the council chamber of the Church of Nature, Eliv slowly opened her eyes and looked at the women around her, each either proud or coldly beautiful.

Do not be fooled by their appearances as Human women in their thirties; their true ages were older than many people’s ancestors. They were just a group of old hags who had lived over a thousand years.

Eliv kept a faint smile on her face and said to the assembled elves, “Elders, is there something you wish to say?”

No one answered.

***

On the other side–

The two Sixth Rank cores within Enya’s body, like greedy monsters, frantically devoured the Origin Magic Power lingering around them. They were like black holes that could never be filled.

The two cores gradually advanced toward a higher rank, and at the same time they began to grow unstable.

A Magic Core has a powerful attraction to Origin Magic Power, just like a planet’s gravity, able to pull surrounding matter so that it constantly falls toward it. A Magic Core is the same toward Origin Magic Power, so the two cores would also interfere with each other.

Originally, when they were at a low rank, the interference between the two cores was not very strong; with a little care, it could be controlled.

But as the rank grew higher and the Magic Core’s tier increased, the gravitational pull between them would become stronger and stronger. Sooner or later, the stronger one would tear the weaker one into pieces and turn it into nourishment.

Now the gravitational pull between the two cores in Enya’s body made them want to merge, but under the control of Enya’s and Pandrake’s Nine Steps Spirit Power, a collision would not yet happen.

Enya calmed her mind and formally began her seclusion.

A boy lay prone in a stream, the water deep enough to almost drown him.

“Caught one!”

He straightened up and raised both hands high.

In the boy’s calloused hands, he held a fish slightly larger than his palm. At his shout, many children around gathered over, all exclaiming at the good fish.

The boy was overjoyed. He nimbly climbed ashore and ran barefoot along the dirt path straight toward his home.

As soon as he got home, just as he was about to show his mother the fish he had caught and thinking he could have fish soup tonight, his mother glared at him first and shouted at the boy:

“Where the hell did you go? Don’t you know the wheat has ripened and needs to be harvested quickly?”

The woman scolded the boy up and down, not noticing the fish in his hands at all.

The harvest moon was the last remnant of the sun’s brilliance for the year. After the ring sun appeared, they would enter the frost moon.

By then snow would fall and freeze people to death, and there were also the Demons that popped up from time to time…

The sunlight was no longer as scorching as during the Fire Moon, and had become much softer. The wind was no longer burning hot either, but carried a hint of coolness.

The first batch of wheat had already turned golden. Many laboring figures were in the fields, holding sickles and cutting the wheat row after row. Rosily watched these people seriously.

“Aren’t you going to cut wheat?”

A timid voice sounded nearby, and Rosily turned to look.

She slightly raised the straw hat on her head and looked at the girl three meters away behind a tree, half her head peeking out to watch her.

The girl’s face was somewhat darkened by the sun, her dry-grass-colored hair as messy as withered grass, but her eyes were clear and bright.

Seeing that Rosily did not answer, the girl said again, “Sister, you’re so pretty. Are you a Noble Missy from the city?”

“No.” Rosily shook her head and smiled faintly.

The girl was very puzzled. “Then, Sister, if you don’t cut wheat, can you still afford to eat?”

“My mother will make food for me.” Rosily still smiled faintly.

She stood up from the ground, patted her bottom, and walked toward the road.

The Academy had gone on break at the start of the harvest moon and would reopen at the end of the harvest moon. Rosily, having nothing to do, had left the city for a walk.

Walking on a road lined on both sides with golden wheat ears, with a soft cool breeze blowing, the girl’s brilliant golden long hair was very eye-catching here.

Rosily attracted quite a few glances.

All these people took her for a Missy who had sneaked out of the city to play, so none dared to approach her, afraid of displeasing the precious Missy and causing their already fragile homes to be shattered in an instant.

Rosily could see the trace of wariness and distance in them. She had not understood it before, but after seeing it many times, she came to understand.

The girl cast aside these tangled feelings and focused on walking her own path.

Since that trip to the Northern Mountains, Rosily had felt a new power within herself. She discovered that she could control the wind.

She raised her delicate hand, and a faint pale cyan airflow formed at her fingertips. With a light flick, it brushed the wheat ears five or six meters away.