Chapter 288 – Vampire Vine

“That’s great! Looking at this entire Inner Region, I don’t think any beast would dare provoke this Vampire Vine!” Mo Lan said. “A Hundred-Year Vampire Vine can strangle even certain low-level magical beasts with ease! It couldn’t be safer for you to live here, senior sister.”

The greatest threat here was the Vampire Vine itself, but bound by the Ally Summoning contract, it couldn’t possibly harm Senior Sister Lilith.

Lilith nodded. “This time I can finally build a house and farm in peace. But enough about me—did you just arrive in the Inner Region?”

“Yes! I came from Yellow Sands,” Mo Lan said. “Senior Sister Renée told me you were living here, and since I wanted to explore the mountain forests around Yellow Sands and Green Marsh anyway, I came to find you.”

“Renée? Doesn’t Renée live in the mountain forests around Lone Peak Forest and Greengrass Plains? It hasn’t been that long—you’ve already explored that far out?”

Lilith assumed Mo Lan had entered the mountains from the Yellow Sands side and then explored southward to the Greengrass Plains area, where she ran into Renée.

“No! I ran into Senior Sister Renée when I entered the mountains from the Greengrass Plains side.”

Mo Lan then explained in detail how she, Vasida, and Sylph had managed to avoid the dangers of the Night of Thunder.

Lilith was filled with regret after hearing this. “If I’d known, I would have waited a bit longer and gone to find a place near Greengrass Plains instead!”

At this point, she didn’t feel embarrassed anymore either:

“As you can see, my current dwelling is still at the brick-making stage.

My previous dwelling was destroyed by wild beasts while I was out. That one was also in the mountain forests around here.

The reason I chose to live nearby is because it’s the most convenient route to the Academy Core Area.

Other witches think the same way, so basically everyone chose to settle in the forests outside Yellow Sands, or in the forests of Green Marsh and Lone Peak Forest on the side closer to Yellow Sands.

Our year, including me, has twenty-five witches all living in these mountain forests.

The remaining witches only settled elsewhere because they had no other choice.

In these forests, over ninety percent of the habitable locations have already been claimed.

If you also want to find a place to live around here, you’d have to prepare building materials first and then establish a dwelling after the terrain resets…”

“Huh? We can also live in places where senior sisters already live? And what is a terrain reset?” Mo Lan immediately thought of the lake island where Senior Sister Renée lived.

If she could live there, why bother looking for Wild Boar Valley!

“Before new students move in, the Academy Dormitory gets reset.

After being rescued by the Headmistress, wilderness dwellings also get reset.

When fourth-year witches move out, the dwellings they built in the Inner Region and the fields they cultivated also get reset, returning to their original state.

So if you plan to take over a habitable location where a fourth-year witch lives, you can only wait until the senior sisters move out before slowly building your dwelling.

If you don’t choose one of those habitable locations and just find some random spot nearby to build a dwelling, you’ll very likely end up like I did before.”

Lilith felt regret just thinking about it.

At the time, she hadn’t wanted to live somewhere remote and inconvenient, but she also hadn’t wanted to wait for a terrain reset before starting to build. She’d slept in the plaza on the night of the entrance ceremony.

After all, she had already shared the secret of the astrology ceremony with Mo Lan and the other junior sisters.

So she had just casually found a stretch of forest near Yellow Sands and built her dwelling there.

The result was that, with no terrain advantages whatsoever, her dwelling was destroyed.

Not only had she failed to claim one of the senior sisters’ habitable locations, she’d also lost her dwelling entirely.

In the end, she had no choice but to come negotiate with this greedy Vampire Vine, and only then did she find a safe place to live again.

“Whatever you do, don’t follow my example. And there’s no need to look for habitable locations near here that other witches have already claimed, just to wait for them to leave before building.

Since you’ve found a way through via Greengrass Plains, go look in the mountain forests closer to that side. There are plenty of habitable locations that no witch has settled in.

Unless you’ve found a magic ore deposit and crafted a defensive magic formation, the safety of your dwelling is the most important consideration when choosing where to live.

Locations that are difficult for beasts to reach are best. Locations that are easy to defend and hard to attack, where it’s convenient to build walls, are best.

Only after those conditions are met should you consider things like suitable farmland and water sources.”

Lilith’s words were earnest and sincere as she urged Mo Lan not to repeat her mistakes.

Mo Lan certainly wasn’t going to ignore such advice. “Coming to find you was absolutely the right call, senior sister! During my first Wilderness Survival Class, I came across a valley with a narrow entrance, a waterfall, and a stream running through it—a perfect place to live.

There was a herd of black-haired wild boars inside. It’d be easy to deal with them from a broomstick.

Unfortunately, I don’t know the exact location.

Now I’m guessing it must be in the forests near Greengrass Plains, or in the forests on the Greengrass Plains side of Lone Peak Forest or Green Marsh.

Only over there would it have gone unclaimed by you senior sisters!”

“Almost certainly,” Lilith said. “I’ve explored all the forests on the Yellow Sands side, and there’s no valley matching your description.”

Mo Lan further narrowed her search range. “Then I’ll head toward the forests near Green Marsh after this.”

“Leaving so soon?” Lilith said. “My conditions here may be modest, but I’ve got food and clothing covered!”

“I’d better not stay,” Mo Lan said. “I only have seven days for this trip, and I plan to explore through the forests near Green Marsh and then return to the Academy Core Area via Greengrass Plains. Time is a bit tight.”

“Alright then! If you run into any problems, remember to come find me! Once you all start entering the Inner Region, we’ll be able to share information with you too,” Lilith said.

“Great! One more thing…” Mo Lan glanced at the enormous vines all around her and asked Senior Sister Lilith, “When does the Vampire Vine reach its flowering period? Could I come pick some when it does?”

The flowers of the Vampire Vine were an important ingredient for brewing blood-replenishing potions. Blood-replenishing potions had many uses—healing wounds, replenishing vitality, and improving the body’s recovery speed.

The flowers of a Hundred-Year Vampire Vine would only be more potent.

“Um…”

Under the insistent poke-poke-poking of the Vampire Vine’s small tendrils, Lilith said with a complicated expression, “It generally doesn’t bloom for people to pick unless you bring flesh and blood. A hundred jin of flesh and blood for one flower.”

The Vampire Vine’s small tendril continued poking.

Lilith added, “It has to be fresh flesh—dead no more than a day. If it’s not fresh enough, you have to bring more. It’s asking when you’d like to make the exchange.”

“…” Mo Lan responded, “I suddenly don’t want them that badly after all.”

A hundred jin of flesh for one flower! Far too expensive.

The Vampire Vine grew thick and massive, but its flowers were tiny little things—a single bloom wasn’t even enough to brew one bottle of potion.

Mo Lan certainly didn’t have that much time to go collecting fresh flesh for trade.

She’d only been thinking that if she happened to come across ingredients, she’d gather a bit here and there, brew some potions, and improve her potion-brewing magic skill in the process.

These potions were less useful to her than Healing Magic anyway!