The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 81: Corrosion of the Twin Serpent Cups

Vol 2 Chapter 81 Corrosion of the Twin Serpent Cups

Standing before the severely weakened 'White-Furred Spider,' Sylutia's eyes shimmered with starlight. In a vision imperceptible to others, she saw the stagnant core ability within the spider's Fate Plate and felt a stirring in her heart.

If 'Fate Cards' represent one's true self, then 'Core Cards' represent the experiences or achievements unique to that individual—the shining points that transcend mediocrity.

The Petrification Lizard from before and this spider before her now, as monsters, had engaged in certain prolonged behaviors that allowed them to achieve balance in the 'Threefold Law.' That is, they relied on their own power and skill to complete a certain practical trial, condensing their past experiences and achievements to forge a new core and step into the Third Tier.

This method of advancing to the Third Tier was relatively crude, and the core abilities obtained were largely a matter of luck—some good, some bad—used by most wild beasts and monsters.

Intelligent beings like humans, through centuries of exploration and accumulation, had now mastered extremely complex and mature advancement methods. The core abilities they obtained were more diverse, and they could mix and match them themselves, allowing the core to synergize with other abilities to achieve a 1+1>

3 effect.

Just like her, as a gardener cultivating plants, it was actually the combined effects of multiple abilities—'Dew Prayer Method' + 'Branch Grooming Method' + 'Nature Perception' + 'Verdant Eye Potion'—that created the final capability, allowing her to cultivate multiple other First Tier plants while she herself was still First Tier.

This scenario might seem reasonable, but in fact, in a pristine natural environment, it was almost impossible to achieve. For this world, life at Tier One, whether animal or plant, was essentially equal before the laws of the world. There was no inherent suppression of status or chasmic power gaps.

If a Tier One individual could cultivate several Tier One plants in a short time, from the perspective of the world's origin, this was equivalent to creating multiple 'selves' in a brief period. It was like a person weighing 100 Jin lifting an object over 300 Jin—an act that defied common sense.

But in reality, there were people who could do it. And in the current Transcendent system, it was commonplace for a Second Tier genius to defeat multiple enemies of the same tier.So, how could such a massive disparity in strength arise when status couldn't suppress and each individual's abilities were limited to three?

The answer lay in accumulating specialization and using knowledge, skills, and external aids to continuously strengthen oneself.

On the surface, it was Second Tier Sylutia versus Third Tier White-Furred Spider. But if we continued to dissect it, it was:

'Sylutia' with the combined enhancements of 'Lunar Radiance Breathing Technique' + 'Discernment Eyes' + 'Alien Star Perception' + 'Spatial Shift' + 'Glittergold Blade' + 'White Flower Battle Armor' + 'Unnamed Blade Art' + 'Demonic Blood Vine + Vine Overgrowth' versus 'White-Furred Giant Spider' with the combined abilities of 'Silent Steps' + 'Blood Eyes' + 'Nesting Insect.'

Even though the 'White-Furred Giant Spider' had the advantage of tier, that advantage was offset by Sylutia's multifaceted abilities, knowledge, skills, weaponry, and vine seeds, ultimately leading to its defeat.

Understanding what core abilities truly were, Sylutia quickly thought about the various abilities she currently possessed.

Overall, her abilities, knowledge, and skills on the gardener path were quite comprehensive and complete. If she could obtain a core ability that enhanced cultivation capabilities, she could leverage her advantages further to cultivate Second Tier, or even Third Tier, plants.

But if she chose a combat-related core ability, the advantage wouldn't be as obvious, since she hadn't yet learned a systematic set of combat techniques. If she pursued a progression path related to warriors, the typical ability combination was 'Breathing Technique' + 'Special Combat Skill' + 'Footwork.' For example, the abilities Iona had paired were 'Solar Radiance Breathing Technique' + 'Golden Needle Piercing Blade' + 'Bee Dance Steps.'

Other combat professions were largely similar, all expanding on a similar foundation.

Looking at it this way, for her first core ability, she should continue to play to her strengths and choose 'Manor,' which enhances cultivation abilities. Then, she could use that to expand her foundation, obtain various resources, and later circle back to accelerate the growth of her combat path abilities.

Farming and warfare as one—the girl inexplicably thought of this phrase. Farming was for better fighting, and fighting was for better farming;

the two were inseparable.

With a good economic foundation, one could have the resources to enhance combat power. And with sufficient combat power, one could protect the fruits of one's harvest.

With that, the path forward became instantly clear. Sylutia felt a wave of relief and snapped out of her contemplation.

This giant spider before her, nearly drained of vitality... She thought for a moment, then used her innate ability again, unsealing the extracted core ability and returning it to the creature.

Soon, the sealed core ability regained its luster, and the drained giant spider recovered some strength, immediately beginning to struggle.

Seeing the creature's gaze and movements still filled with ferocity and bloodlust, Sylutia had to abandon her initial thought of sparing it.

After all, it had helped her test her ideas. She hadn't wanted to kill it, but unfortunately, this spider's intelligence was too low to understand complex emotions, only able to follow its instincts to feed or kill.

She tried communicating again, but to no avail. Sylutia shook her head, then drew her longsword and delivered a swift strike, ending its suffering in an instant.

After dealing with the giant spider, Sylutia looked around. By now, the other lower-tier spiders had all fled, likely frightened by the pheromones released by the dead giant spider.

In their not-so-bright minds, this girl who could kill the mighty 'White-Furred Giant Spider' was also a monster they couldn't hope to match, so they had to flee quickly.

That was just as well. The forest looked much cleaner now.

Sylutia dismembered the dead spider, taking the useful 'White Spider Fangs' (Third Tier · Superior) and eight 'Spider Blood Eyes' (Third Tier · Excellent). After cleaning these materials, she packed them into a leather pouch.

Thinking that this giant spider had occupied this part of the forest for a long time and might have accumulated some treasures or hidden resources, Sylutia took up her Lantern and began patrolling the area again.

She burned the spider webs along the way one by one. After clearing the dead branches and webs that had obscured the forest sky, the depths of the woods gradually brightened.

Wind poured in from the sky, dispersing the odors from the webs and skeletal remains, and the air became a bit fresher.

Walking among the dead leaves and bones on the ground, Sylutia carefully searched.

There were no leftover weapons or equipment here;

even if there had been, the spider might have digested them entirely, leaving no trace.

After walking for about half an hour, Sylutia found nothing, which left the girl somewhat disappointed.

She had thought there would be the customary treasure discovery segment, she mused silently, feeling that perhaps she had played too many games in her past life, developing some unnecessary expectations.

However, just as she was about to give up, she still found a heavily rusted ancient artifact in the decaying soil.

This object roughly resembled a metal cup, with strange snakes coiled on both sides. One snake head was now broken off, and the side of the cup was corroded through, leaving a hole.

'Eroded Twin-Snake Cup' (Damaged): You sense that this artifact bears the residual aura of both the 'Dead Embers' and 'Nightmare' Aspects simultaneously. But unlike what you've seen before, on this cup, the auras of these two Aspects harmonize with each other, as if they were one, carrying a cold, profound, and chilling artistic conception that draws one into immersion.