Cornflower Witch

Chapter 131 Forging Iron Hammer
Bright sunshine bathed the valley. Hiltiya, wearing a small woven sun hat, walked on the grass in the valley, where a green meadow undulated in the wind as far as the eye could see.

Since that night, the 'distorted' nature in this valley has been dispelled and purified, and for at least three months, there is no need to worry about polluting the surface vegetation and organisms.

A gentle breeze slipped through the gaps in her sleeves, brushing against her body and making her feel refreshed, which lifted her spirits.

This land in the Shadow World is less affected by the 'blazing sun' in the sky, which means that even in summer it is not very hot and is quite comfortable.

Over the past two days, the lush green seedlings in the fields have grown in neat rows, filling Hiltiya with anticipation.

[Wheat] (Pass - 41): After the effects of distortion are removed, the crop can grow smoothly.

Now that the foundation is in place, it's time to test your true skills.

She took out a small vial of 'Emerald Eye' potion and dripped it into her eyes. A vibrant green hue then filled her pupils, allowing her to see the more complex and delicate spectrum emitted by the plants.
She stopped walking, placed her hand lightly on the green seedling in front of her, and took a deep breath. As if invisible ripples spread out, a hint of green appeared in her eyes.

Her senses extended along the trees in front of her, spreading and expanding across the land. Countless colorful spectra appeared in her eyes, and the insects and ants in the grass, the withered grass leaves, and the cracks in the soil all came into view.

[Wheat] (Pass-41): After removing the effects of distortion, it is currently initially stable, but the growing environment still needs to be improved.

Germination status analysis...

Analysis of moisture transport...

Nutritional status analysis...

Ventilation check...

Search for pests and diseases...

Hiltiya knelt on the edge of the field, carrying out each project step by step, while holding a pen in her other hand, she kept recording data and information.

(Gardening skills proficiency +15)

(Gardening skills proficiency +19)

(Gardening skills proficiency +12)

(Gardening skills proficiency +25)

……

As the day passed, in the evening, Hiltiya brought the notes and pages back to her cottage, preparing to continue organizing them and then analyze and solve them one by one.

There is a huge difference between planting crops and cultivating flowers and plants. Because the latter are produced in smaller quantities, they can be individually cultivated and carefully nurtured, making it easier to produce high-quality flowers and plants.

However, with large-scale crops, it is difficult to take care of the condition of each individual plant. We can only make improvements based on the general average condition, and then make detailed adjustments one by one when we have the energy and spare capacity.

After sorting out the solutions, Hiltiya organized and wrote them down.

However, although a solution has been found, she is probably unable to take care of nearly 40 acres of land by herself.

It seems that adding more manpower is necessary. She thought that it would be market day at the beginning of the month in a couple of days, so she could go to White Stone Fortress to take a look. She also needed to replenish some food and daily necessities.

The next morning, Hirutia harnessed the tall lakeside horse, then led two ponies with ropes to keep them by the mother's side to prevent them from getting lost on the way. She then sat in the carriage, gently shook the reins, and started the procession.

Since there was only one road to Whitestone Fortress with no forks, she didn't need to constantly adjust the direction after the horse started moving. She could then lean against the carriage, enjoy the scenery, and occasionally take a nap.

Around noon, the carriage arrived at Whitestone Fortress. Hiltiya led her tall draft horse to a stable in the city, where she temporarily left her three horses. "Fifty copper coins for half a day, one silver coin for a day," the stable worker told her, then handed her a small wooden tag as proof.

"Ok."

After receiving the voucher, Hilti put it in her pocket, then pulled up the hood of her black coat, leaving only a few strands of silver hair visible on her neck.

She first went into the market, because tomorrow was a special market day, and many vendors had already come to set up their stalls today.

"Fresh apples, 50 copper coins a pound."

"Clear water, 20 copper coins a pot." The girl was quite surprised that water could be sold for money.

She walked over, and by then someone in front of her was already asking questions.

"You're selling this water for such a high price. You could buy 20 catties of wheat for 20 copper coins on the surface."

“You said it yourself, that’s the surface of the earth, how can it be the same?” The burly man selling water explained, fanning himself with a reed fan.

"This water is pure water I took from the holy spring in White Stone Fortress. It's very clean and drinkable. I'll sell it to you for 20 copper coins, which is a fair price."

Seeing that the other party still wanted to refute, he continued, "You don't think this water is just for drinking, do you? You know, whether it's making potions, alchemy, or learning and practicing water-related secret arts, you need high-purity water without pollution or impurities. If you consider this as a material, does it seem cheap?"

"That... seems to be true." The audience, who initially thought it was too expensive, has now changed their minds.

"However, can this water really be used as an ingredient in potions? I remember that the distilled pure water sold in the Alchemy Workshop costs one silver coin per pot."

"That's for professionals. You're not even an apprentice yet, so you don't need such high-purity water. Ordinary medicines don't require that much either. This kind of water is enough." The burly man selling water didn't care about the other person's feelings and directly pointed out his identity and situation, telling him not to be so ambitious.

"Even if you want to improve yourself, you should save the money you would have spent on water and buy more materials to practice alchemy and medicine making to raise your rank. That is the right way."

The audience, who were initially hesitant, were now even more convinced, and many started buying water. Judging from their appearance, most of them were first-level students, still in the early stages of their professional careers.

"Ah, you can make money selling bottled water?" Hiltia looked at the stall not far away, lost in thought.

However, if she were to focus her energy on selling water, she would be wasting too much time, which would not only interfere with her job as a gardener, but also make it difficult for her to gain any additional experience from selling water.

Passing by this stall, she saw some other vendors selling simple homemade crafts, most of whom were also students.

"Red Snow Burning Powder, 20 silver coins a pack, fast-burning, extremely powerful." The girl thought to herself, "It's probably not that powerful."

"A hundred-refined steel sword, forged and strengthened using a special process, its sharpness and toughness far surpass other fine steel weapons." This one is somewhat useful, and Hilti walked over.

"One sword costs only one gold coin." Well, that's still a bit expensive. The girl moved away, but it seems that crafting swords can be quite profitable.

Agrien had previously entrusted her to find a skilled blacksmith here to forge a gleaming gold longsword, so now was a good time to go and ask him.

With that in mind, she stopped wandering around the market and went directly to the blacksmith district in the city. That was the headquarters of the 'Golden Hammer', which had blacksmiths ranging from first-tier apprentices to third-tier professional blacksmiths. It was a well-known organization in the Radiant Gold Plains, where you could buy handy weapons and equipment at various price points.

Thinking this, Hilti walked into a side street and walked about 300 meters to a street entrance. There were two tall blacksmith statues standing at the entrance. They held large hammers, had rugged faces, and clearly defined muscles. The towering gate also had hard lines, giving people a sense of solidity and reliability.

[Forged Iron Hammer]

'Hammering iron and forging gold, its might is as solid as a mountain.'

(End of this chapter)