The Cornflower Witch

Chapter 120: Exposing the Scam

Most of the crowd that had gathered earlier dispersed, leaving only a few who remained at the stall, continuing to inquire about cultivating the plant. She answered them one by one.

"Because cultivating this plant involves factors like success rate and survival rate, I recommend you buy 100 seeds at once. That way, the feasibility is higher."

"100 seeds?" someone stroked their chin, calculating.

"That would be 10 gold coins. That price is a bit high. Generally, products of a First-Tier Aspect are around 1 to 3 gold coins."

"Think about it. If you succeed in cultivating it, you can sell seeds later, as well as the finished Eyeball Fruit. You'll earn it back quickly then," the other party continued her sales pitch, making some students tempted.

Those who could stay now were all gardeners of the Verdant Nectar Aspect. Several of them had even mastered the first stage of the 'Flower Blooming Method,' so they were quite expectant.

A somewhat tall and thin student in a green robe gritted his teeth, made up his mind, took out 20 gold coins, and handed them to the other party.

"Give me two packs, 200 seeds."

"Wow, such determination. I only have ten packs of seeds in total." The girl happily took the 20 gold coins and then handed the other party two packs of seeds. Each seed was about the size of a peanut.

Seeing someone make a purchase, another student among the remaining ones paid up. Soon, four more packs were sold, leaving only the other four packs.Florerella looked at the remaining seeds, then at Tia beside her. Seeing she had been looking at the stall for so long, she thought Tia probably wanted the Eyeball Fruit seeds but might not have brought enough money.

"I'll buy them." She raised her hand, signaling to the girl behind the stall, and then prepared to take out the gold coins she carried.

"Wait a moment." Sylutia shook her head slightly, grabbing Florerella's wrist.

"Don't buy them yet. Let me look a bit more." She felt something was off. This Eyeball Fruit... something about it just didn't seem right.

Although she had never seen this plant before, she had personally cultivated many plants that had condensed Aspects. The reason a plant could condense an Aspect was that it achieved the most suitable growth and development, allowing its unique special rhythm to manifest. Finally, as if completing some kind of wonderful ritual, it condensed the Aspect.

Plants successfully cultivated this way all had their own special rhythm, like a unique frequency or code nature bestowed upon each plant from birth.

However, in her eyes, the Aspect within this Eyeball Fruit before her was rather chaotic and disordered, not so consistent and harmonious. It seemed as if it wasn't naturally condensed.

"Tia doesn't want it?" Seeing the young girl stop her, Florerella also paused, curiously examining the strange flower and fruit more closely.

As the two continued to observe, other students came forward one after another. Some bought, some hesitated for a while but then walked away, deciding to save their money to use in the Hidden Grove.

"Only the last pack of seeds left. Classmate, do you need it?" The girl across was about to pack up her stall. Seeing Tia hadn't left, she waved to her.

"Can I touch this Eyeball Fruit?" The young girl, holding Florerella's hand, stepped forward.

"This..." The other party hesitated slightly.

"If you are sure about buying it, you can touch it."

"I'd like to test this Eyeball Fruit because I do know the Flower Blooming Method." Sylutia spoke up.

"Wait, classmate, have you forgotten something?" This girl stopped Sylutia.

"If it's not a plant you cultivated yourself, the Flower Blooming Method can only stimulate plants one tier lower."

"I know. But I've already advanced it to the second stage. So, even other First-Tier plants can be used." Sylutia raised her hand. A faint halo of light appeared in her palm.

[Flower Blooming Method Lv.2] (Verdant Nectar): A magic of blooming. It can stimulate the weak inherent effect of a flower, amplifying it nearly tenfold. It can be used on plants of the same tier, even if not self-cultivated. (Completion 216/600)

"How is that possible!" The other party's pupils contracted, looking at Sylutia warily.

"You're here to cause trouble, aren't you?" Her tone suddenly changed.

"Even most Second-Tier Verdant Nectar gardeners only cultivate to the first stage. The 'Flower Blooming Method' is a relatively complex ability. Every stage advancement increases the difficulty severalfold. For a First-Tier, not to mention advancing to the second stage, even learning it isn't easy. Don't talk nonsense here."

"If you insist on causing trouble, I'll complain to the seniors in the Camel Tower. If you publicly violate the rules, you'll be stripped of your qualification to enter the Hidden Grove."

Under this threatening warning, most ordinary students would get nervous and not dare to take the risk.

Hearing the stall owner girl's words, the other students who hadn't left yet whispered among themselves, then looked at Sylutia again.

"She's a novice gardener, right? Doesn't even know such common knowledge."

"Maybe her talent is quite high. She really learned the first stage of the Flower Blooming Method, that's why she's so confident."

"Probably spoiled before. Now she's just finding an excuse to test the stall owner's plant before buying."

Before Sylutia could say anything about these words, Florerella beside her couldn't hold back. She stepped forward, took out the badge hidden on her belt, and placed it in front of the stall owner.

"I am a First-Tier gardener, and I have also mastered the second stage of the 'Flower Blooming Method.' Do you have any questions?" That Hidden Grove Badge, under her activation, emitted a faint halo of light.

Seeing this badge, the students who were just sneering moments ago had a drastic change in their eyes.

"That's... she should be one of the most promising students of this batch."

"I remember now. Isn't that the only elf student who received a badge, Florerella?"

"Her background is no small matter. It's said she's even royalty from some Elven Forest..." someone whispered softly.

"Let's go, let's go. Better not stay here. If we get caught in the crossfire, it won't be good." The few who wanted to watch the fun just moments ago immediately pretended nothing was wrong and walked away, no longer crowding around the stall.

The girl behind the stall, who was just sarcastically mocking Sylutia with sharp words moments ago, now looked uneasy, took a few steps back, looked around, as if preparing to flee.

"You'd better not run. Answer properly now, and there's still room for leniency." Florerella's voice was still soft and gentle, but now it carried a hint of authority, surprising the silver-haired young girl beside her.

She originally thought this elf girl was the shy and timid type, but it seems she was mistaken.

"I... I understand. Please go easy on me, Senior Florerella." Realizing that running now would only make things worse, the other party had to slowly walk back.

"Now, can you tell me why you didn't let me touch this Eyeball Fruit earlier?" Sylutia looked into her eyes and asked.

The other party's gaze dodged. After hesitating for a while, she slowly spoke.

"Because this Eyeball Fruit... actually wasn't fully cultivated."

"Then where does the First-Tier Aspect within it come from?" Sylutia's gaze moved down, observing the plant up close. Then her finger approached slightly, gently pressing on the semi-transparent fruit.

An extremely faint buzzing vibration came from her fingertip. She immediately realized something.

"There's an insect inside the fruit core? A First-Tier Verdant Nectar insect?"

"Yes, that's right, Senior." The stall owner girl's body slumped. Now she had no choice but to continue explaining.

"Actually, I was also tricked. I spent a lot of money to buy this batch of Eyeball Fruit seeds, but I could never cultivate an Eyeball Fruit possessing an Aspect. In the end, I had to borrow a 'First-Tier Verdant Nectar' Fire Thread Cicada from a friend and put it inside the fruit."

"So the ray earlier was fired by the 'Fire Thread Cicada'?"

"Yes, that's right."

"What's the real power of an Eyeball Fruit at First Tier?"

"I don't know that. But I looked up local book records. Someone really did cultivate one before, and it was even a Second-Tier Verdant Nectar Eyeball Fruit."

After listening, Sylutia and Florerella shook their heads, feeling that record book wasn't very reliable either.

"How about this. Later, you put up a notice, asking those deceived students to return the seeds. Then you give the money back to them. I won't report this matter to Senior Edgin." Sylutia suggested.

"Okay. But I don't know if they'll see it because there are too many students in the Camel Tower, and the activity space is also vast." Hearing this, the other party breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the punishment wasn't severe.

"Hang it for at least a month. If you still can't find them by then, forget it." A month later, they would be at the Hidden Grove. Students would be assigned to different places, making it even harder to find them.

After saying this, Sylutia also prepared to leave, but the other party called out to the young girl again.

"Senior, please wait a moment." She seemed to have figured something out and picked up the only remaining pack of seeds.

"This bag of seeds is for you. I'm very sorry. I hope you can accept it and not hold a grudge against me." She realized that if what Florerella said was true, this unknown silver-haired young girl was likely a genius on par with the elf girl beside her.

If that was the case, she absolutely could not afford to offend her. Because after going to the Hidden Grove, students with badges often become the leaders of various student groups.

"This..." Sylutia looked at the bag of seeds and thought for a moment.

Actually, she didn't want to accept it, but she was afraid the other party would misunderstand, thinking she still resented her earlier behavior, making her uneasy. So after hesitating for a few seconds, she still took it.

"I have ten gold coins here. You take them." She handed the gold coins to the other party.

"No, no need. Actually, I didn't spend that much money when I bought them. Roughly ten packs for only three gold coins in total." The other party waved her hand, embarrassed.

"So the cost of one pack of seeds like this isn't high. Please just accept it."

At this point, Sylutia couldn't refuse anymore, so she put away the seeds.

"Oh, right. This is the cultivation instructions. I copied them down from the book I read before." Finally, she handed Sylutia a small booklet with only a few pages.

"Take care."

Finally, watching this silver-haired young girl and Florerella walk away, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and slowly put down the stone in her heart.

This time, she managed to get through it smoothly. If Senior Florerella had dragged her to find Edgin earlier, her recent actions would probably have been recorded as a major offense, and she would face punishment in the Hidden Grove. That would have been a serious matter.

The money definitely had to be returned. Although these two seniors might not pay attention afterward, if they ever remembered to ask one day and her deeds were exposed, it would be slapping both their faces. The consequences would be even more severe.

Sigh, studying in the Hidden Grove isn't so easy either, she thought while packing up her stall.

But doing business here is pretty good. During these few months staying in the Camel Tower, she had already earned dozens of gold coins, just occasionally messing up due to lack of discernment.