Chapter 321: Withering Curse
“Thump, thump, thump—”
In the early morning, as Jia Na was still meditating, the gentle tapping sound outside the window suddenly woke her up.
“It’s Suo Fei Na’s messenger.”
Looking at the jade-white toad outside the window, which was holding a letter in its mouth, Jia Na put on her slippers and quickly walked to the windowsill.
She opened the window.
“Thank you.”
“Croak—
After receiving the envelope, the jade-white toad, having completed its mission, croaked once, then kicked its two legs and jumped directly into the void, disappearing.
“Sending me a letter at this time—I hope it’s good news.”
After somewhat nervously tearing open the envelope, Jia Na couldn't help but sigh after reading the letter's contents.
“It really isn’t good news.”
The content of the letter was simple: it informed Jia Na that due to some urgent reasons, the Witch Faction dream conference had been indefinitely postponed.
This also meant Jia Na's initiation ceremony was indefinitely postponed. However, there was also some good news.
To compensate Jia Na, the Witch Faction planned to send Jia Na a notebook containing knowledge on Elementary Pharmacology,
for her to start learning Pharmacology in advance.
However, the delivery time was not clearly stated in the letter. After putting the envelope into her thorn bracelet, Jia Na stopped thinking about it and returned to bed to continue her deep meditation.
Jia Na returned to White Coral from Mist Forest quite late yesterday, and in between, she specifically went to the Magic Tower to report to Anthony-Black Sparrow about the danger she had sensed in Mist Forest yesterday.
By the time she returned to her dormitory, it was already late at night, and coupled with being disturbed by Suo Fei Na's messenger just now, her meditation time was shortened.
Jia Na’s top priority now was to break through the limitations of her mental power and Wizard level as soon as possible.
Therefore, Jia Na ultimately chose to skip Ancient Magic History class in the morning, and then sat back on the bed to continue her deep meditation.
These past few days, apart from attending classes and completing the daily tasks assigned by the system, Jia Na's entire focus had been on deep meditation, and preparing the ritual materials needed for elemental Life transformation when she was about to advance to Third-level Wizard Apprentice.
At the same time, a rather strange thing happened in Mist Forest: hundreds of trees on the edge of the Magic Tower Barrier withered and died overnight.
The reason for the trees' Withering was not a Heavenly Disaster, but rather someone intentionally releasing a Curse in Mist Forest—a disgusting Curse called “Sick Rot Aphids.”
When this first happened, most Wizard Apprentices didn't pay attention.
After all, a Curse that only caused trees to wither but did not endanger human lives would not affect ordinary Wizard Apprentices.
However, the Formal Wizards of various academies showed unusual concern upon learning this news.
They not only used swift measures to destroy the “Sick Rot Aphids,” but also strengthened monitoring of the Magic Tower Barrier's edge to prevent similar situations from happening again.
And upon learning of this matter immediately, Jia Na's mood also became exceptionally heavy.
First, the trees contaminated by “Sick Rot Aphids” were all on the edge of the Magic Tower Barrier. Second, according to intelligence,
there were approximately five or six hundred contaminated trees, which roughly corresponded to the number of trees Jia Na had healed.
Therefore, all these signs indicated that the other party was targeting Jia Na's Growth Law Fragment. Moreover, their actions were extremely high-profile, as if deliberately reminding Jia Na.
“Hoo—” Jia Na let out a long breath, looking at the somewhat dim surroundings. She commanded her Wizard's Hand to turn on the light in the closed cultivation room.
Now, Jia Na had officially entered a sprint period. Therefore, to avoid inevitable problems such as “magic leakage” during breakthrough, Jia Na had rented a closed cultivation room on the ninth floor of the Magic Tower in advance, which was rich in magic power and not cheap, for her cultivation during this period.
“By my will, I command you—Summon, Flame Guard.”
“By my will, I command you—Summon, Thundercloud.”
As two contract lights, one red and one blue, flashed, Flame Guard and Thundercloud, whose auras were significantly stronger than before, appeared before Jia Na.
“Take this and eat it, don’t waste it.”
With a gentle toss of her hand, Jia Na threw two top-grade elemental essences to Flame Guard and Thundercloud respectively.
Seeing this, the two elemental creatures, already impatient, swallowed the elemental essences in one gulp, then skillfully floated to two corners of the closed cultivation room to digest the energy within the essences.
“They really are two money pits.”
Looking at Flame Guard and Thundercloud huddled in two balls in the corner, Jia Na sighed deeply, feeling somewhat numb.
As Celestial Sparrow, Hundred-Eyed Mirror Demon, and Thorn Flower Fairy successively evolved, Jia Na's cultivation focus also shifted to Flame Guard and Thundercloud.
Her cultivation method was to purchase discounted top-grade elemental essences from Jarvis Roland's Shuize Auction House and then feed them to Flame Guard and Thundercloud.
The enormous expenses incurred had made Jia Na go from initially feeling pained about her wallet to becoming increasingly indifferent now.
After all, she had come to realize that to go far on the path of a Summoning apprentice, one must look lightly upon money.
These few elemental essences were just an appetizer compared to the resources that would be consumed in the future; they were nothing at all.
Therefore, instead of constantly fretting over money, it was better to calm down earlier and invest more energy in other ways of making money to achieve rapid asset growth. “After I become a Formal Wizard in the future, the path of an opera singer will pretty much come to an end—after all, no matter how much money opera makes, it definitely won’t be as much as being a Pharmacist in the Witch Faction—”
Of course, those who truly make money in the Witch Faction must be top Pharmacists like Lilybell Sorceress Kou Ji-Wo Fu, who possess their own Pharmacology patents. Ordinary Pharmacists might not even earn as much as a top opera house actor.
Jia Na’s main income now, apart from her fixed monthly salary and year-end dividends, came from various endorsement incomes.
If she were willing to increase her weekly performance slots, her income would only be higher than it is now. “Ding—”
Just as Jia Na was somewhat distracted while looking at her two contracted creatures, the familiar system task notification sound rang in Jia Na's ears once again.
【Today's task: Read ten or more books;
Task reward: 100 Talent Experience, 500 Skill Experience, one random reward.】
“Is it another reading task this time?”
Looking at the “29.9” displayed for the Mental Power attribute on her character panel, Jia Na’s lips couldn’t help but curve slightly.
“I hope this task’s random reward can be a Mental Power attribute—”
