The first rays of morning sunlight, like a golden comb, gently combed every corner of Glowing Crystal Coral Island.
Dewdrops rolled on the crystals, refracting dazzling light.
The air was filled with the faint scent of sea salt and the freshness of ocean waves.
Tunzuo, who had slept like the dead, was awakened by the chirping of birds outside her window.
Tunzuo yawned, rubbing her bleary eyes as she sat up in bed.
As she stretched, she instinctively moved her limbs, surprised to find that the muscle soreness and internal injuries from the high-intensity battle had miraculously vanished.
“Hmm…”
Tunzuo pressed her fingers against her ribs, which had been broken by Olivia’s heavy punch yesterday.
A faint, dull ache lingered there, as if being constantly tapped by a small hammer.
But compared to the tearing agony of yesterday, this barely counted as an injury.
She had to admit, while An Lin’s culinary tastes as a witch were uniquely appalling, her achievements in alchemy research were truly first-rate.
Tunzuo rubbed her stomach, recalling the bowl of black, strangely fishy-smelling “Ten Perfect Major Supplement Medicinal Soup” An Lin had poured down her throat last night.
She couldn’t help but shiver, her stomach cramping.
‘Even though it tasted as awful as something brewed from rotten seaweed dug up from the seabed, its healing effects are undeniable.’
Tunzuo muttered to herself, rolling out of bed.
As she got dressed, she swore inwardly that no matter how severely injured she got in the future, even if she was about to die and take a one-day tour of the Underworld, she would absolutely never drink An Lin’s medicinal soup again!
The mental damage caused by that stuff was ten thousand times worse than the physical injuries it healed.
The intense assault on her taste buds and psyche was enough to leave a permanent shadow in Tunzuo’s mind, making her feel physically revolted by any black liquid from now on.
After washing up, Tunzuo yawned and descended the stairs one heavy step at a time.
“Sister An Lin?”
Tunzuo called out, her voice echoing in the empty living room.
The house was quiet, with no response.
Tunzuo wandered around the house but didn’t see An Lin.
She only found a steaming breakfast on the dining table—two slices of golden-brown toast slathered with thick butter, a cup of warm milk, and a perfectly fried sunny-side-up egg.
Beside the breakfast plate, a note with a cute smiley face caught Tunzuo’s attention.
She picked it up.
On it was An Lin’s flamboyant handwriting.
[My dear little sister Tunzuo, I have important matters to attend to today. I made you breakfast, remember to eat it while it’s hot! There’s leftover fruit pie from yesterday in the fridge. Help yourself if you’re still hungry. Love you~ (^_^)]
‘So busy even on the weekend? She left first thing in the morning.’
Puzzled, Tunzuo smoothed her hair and sat down at the table, leisurely enjoying her breakfast.
While An Lin’s medicinal soup was lethally awful, her everyday cooking skills were still acceptable—at least they didn’t make a witch want to vomit her stomach out.
After breakfast, Tunzuo lay on the sofa and browsed the Magic Net for a while.
As the social platform and information hub of the Dona Yala World, the Magic Net’s content was all-encompassing.
Tunzuo casually clicked on a few trending topics and found most were still discussing her and Olivia’s earth-shattering duel from yesterday.
Although the hype had cooled slightly, the comment sections were still bustling.
However, looking at the bizarre comments, Tunzuo couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
Especially the analyses about her and Olivia’s… preferences and body ratings were downright eye-searing, giving Tunzuo an inexplicable chill.
‘I hate being famous. It’s all that perverted dragon witch’s fault.’
Tunzuo decisively closed her grimoire, thinking it was better to go out for some fresh air than to read boring gossip and weird remarks on the Magic Net.
Tunzuo stepped outside.
The morning on Glowing Crystal Coral Island was exceptionally peaceful.
The sea breeze carried a faint saltiness and the fragrance of flowers and plants, dispersing the gloom in Tunzuo’s heart.
Tunzuo strolled along the floating island’s paths, enjoying the rare, leisurely time.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the coral trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
Occasional bird calls came from the distance.
Everything seemed so peaceful and serene, as if yesterday’s life-or-death duel was just a distant nightmare.
Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last.
Just as Tunzuo reached the deep coral forest of the floating island, a burst of enthusiastic, heated commands shattered the tranquility.
“A little to the left! Hey, gently! Are you trying to squeeze my precious fruits until they burst?”
“You over there! How did you break another branch?! Pay cut! I’m deducting your magic supply for today!”
The noisy sounds made Tunzuo curiously follow them.
She passed through the dense coral forest and saw an open clearing where An Lin was bustling about, extremely busy.
Dozens of azure water blobs floated around An Lin.
They were familiars she had summoned from the Spirit World.
Although their movements seemed somewhat clumsy, under An Lin’s direction, the water blobs carefully extended semi-transparent water tentacles from their bodies, plucking the red fruits growing on the coral trees one by one, then gently placing them into several crystal boxes nearby that emitted a faint chill.
An Lin stood beside the crystal boxes, transformed into a strict quality inspector.
She picked up the fruits from the boxes one after another, holding them up to the sunlight for careful examination.
“This one has insect damage, rejected! This one’s color isn’t red enough, rejected! This shape isn’t round enough, rejected!”
Any fruit with the slightest flaw was mercilessly picked out by An Lin and placed separately to the side.
Looking at the rejected fruits, An Lin’s face showed an expression of deep distress, as if she had lost some rare treasure.
“Sister An Lin, what are you doing?”
Tunzuo walked up to An Lin and asked curiously.
“Oh, my good little sister, you’re awake!”
Seeing Tunzuo, An Lin immediately beamed with a warm smile.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and pointed to the crystal boxes beside her.
“I’m harvesting Red Coral Fruits. They’re a specialty of Glowing Crystal Coral Island and our family’s main source of income.”
Tunzuo looked at the bright red fruits in the crystal boxes.
Under the sunlight, they looked like rubies, indeed very beautiful.
But other than that, Tunzuo didn’t see anything special about them.
“Red Coral Fruits? What are they for? They look like ordinary fruit.”
“Ordinary fruit?”
An Lin waved her hands exaggeratedly, as if she had heard the biggest joke.
“My dear little sister, these Red Coral Fruits are one of the essential materials for refining many spell elixirs! Little sister Tunzuo, you might not have heard of them during your wanderings on the Wasteland, but in the Dona Yala World, these are absolutely hard currency!”
“Spell elixirs? Aren’t elixirs only divided into healing and enhancement types?”
Tunzuo tilted her head in confusion, catching another unfamiliar term.
“Hehe, little sister Tunzuo, you don’t understand this, do you?”
An Lin smiled mysteriously, casually tossing a Red Coral Fruit in her hand.
“Do you know how difficult it is for witches to learn spells? Especially high-level ones. You not only have to memorize complex incantations but also construct intricate spell models. The slightest mistake can lead to spellcasting failure, and in severe cases, you might even injure yourself. And even if you learn it, achieving instant casting requires day after day of practice, consuming a huge amount of a witch’s time and energy.”
Tunzuo nodded in deep agreement with An Lin’s words.
She had only been at the Witch Academy for a week and was already getting a headache from the dry theories and complex spell models.
If her bad mommy Antuxi hadn’t given her a foundation before, she probably would have given up and turned into a lazy bum long ago.
“So, can spell elixirs solve this problem?”
Tunzuo keenly inferred what An Lin wanted to express from her words.
“Exactly!”
An Lin snapped her fingers with an expression that said ‘teachable indeed.’
“Spell elixirs are like a red-hot branding iron for witches! When you drink one, it directly imprints the spell model you want to master onto your magic circuits! That way, whenever you want to cast that spell, your magic circuits will release it subconsciously, like a spinal reflex. You don’t need to think about how to construct the spell model or recite those tongue-twisting incantations!”
“Hisss—”
An Lin’s explanation made Tunzuo suck in a sharp breath.
This was practically a cheat tool! It was like directly eating a skill book and instantly learning the skill! And without any casting delay?!
“So, if you drink enough spell elixirs, you can become infinitely stronger?”
Tunzuo looked somewhat incredulously at the Red Coral Fruits in the crystal boxes.
“It’s not that simple.”
But An Lin shook her head, pouring cold water on Tunzuo’s idea.
“First, each spell has its corresponding spell elixir. The formula for each spell elixir is extremely complex. The higher the level of the spell, the rarer and more expensive the required materials, and the higher the probability of refining failure. This entire box of Red Coral Fruits probably only yields enough for a few bottles of low-level spell elixirs, and that’s not even counting the other materials.”
As she said this, An Lin gently nudged a nearby crystal box with her toe, looking pained.
“Second, and most importantly, there are thresholds for witches using spell elixirs.”
An Lin held up two fingers, waving them in front of Tunzuo.
“First, a witch’s magic circuits must be wide enough. The spell models imprinted by spell elixirs are like patches stuck onto your magic circuits. If your circuits are too narrow, they’ll fill up after just a few patches. Then, even with more spell elixirs, it’s useless.”
“Second, a witch’s magic reserves must be sufficient to support the spell’s consumption. If a witch only has enough magic to cast first-circle spells but forcibly imprints a third-circle spell model, the moment she drinks the elixir, she’ll be drained of magic and faint on the spot. It could even endanger her life due to magic depletion.”
“So, to use spell elixirs to become stronger, besides having sufficient elixirs, you also need wide enough magic circuits and magic reserves corresponding to the spell’s consumption.”
After An Lin’s detailed explanation, Tunzuo finally understood what spell elixirs were.
This thing was an exclusive acceleration hack for geniuses and paying players!
As long as you had enough money and good enough talent, you could directly master a large number of high-level spells by using spell elixirs, instantly leaving those without money or talent miles behind.
“I see…”
Tunzuo nodded thoughtfully.
She now truly understood the power money held in witch society.
In the Dona Yala World, money wasn’t just a symbol of purchasing power; it was directly linked to tangible combat strength.
“But these thresholds aren’t an issue for you, little sister Tunzuo. The width of your magic circuits and your magic reserves are both first-rate. After you graduate, I’ll refine a few bottles of high-level spell elixirs for you. Let you experience the thrill of being a spell machine gun!”
An Lin patted Tunzuo’s shoulder, clearly holding her talent and strength in extremely high regard.
“Let’s not do that.”
Tunzuo forced a dry laugh.
She felt An Lin’s financial situation was already bad enough.
If she failed refining a few more bottles of high-level spell elixirs, she’d probably really end up mining to pay off debts.
Just as Tunzuo was about to ask more questions, An Lin suddenly shoved the Red Coral Fruit in her hand into Tunzuo’s grasp, her face wearing a ‘what a coincidence’ expression.
“Ah, right. Since you’re awake, little sister Tunzuo, how about helping your sister with a favor?”
“Huh? A favor?”
Tunzuo suddenly had a bad premonition.
“Exactly!”
An Lin raised her hand and pointed towards Han Hai Cheng below the floating island, looking earnest.
“Recently, the coral trees on the island are a bit nutrient-deficient. So, I ordered a lot of fertilizer from a gardening shop in the city. The pickup day is today, but I’m too busy to get away right now…”
“So, little sister Tunzuo, the glorious and arduous task of picking up the goods is entrusted to you!”
An Lin shoved a note with the gardening shop’s address and a heavy cloth pouch into Tunzuo’s hands.
“This is the payment for the fertilizer. Don’t worry, it’s more than enough. Consider the leftover money your delivery fee.”
Tunzuo weighed the heavy pouch of gold coins in her hand, then looked at An Lin’s pitiful ‘please, please help your sister’ expression.
The refusal on the tip of her tongue was forcefully swallowed back.
“…Alright, I’ll go.”
Tunzuo sighed, resignedly stuffing the pouch into her pocket.
“Hehe, I knew you were the most sensible, little sister Tunzuo! The address is on the note. That gardening shop is near the Witch Academy, easy to find!”
An Lin clapped her hands as if relieved of a great burden, then turned back to direct her water blob army in harvesting Red Coral Fruits.
Holding the note, Tunzuo looked at An Lin’s busy back and shook her head helplessly.
‘Sigh, capitalist.’
Tunzuo muttered, then turned and headed towards Han Hai Cheng using the island’s teleportation array.
However, thinking she could earn a bit of pocket money, Tunzuo’s mood wasn’t too bad.
Humming a light tune, Tunzuo made her way towards the gardening shop noted on the paper.