Chapter 406 – The Flying Giant Spider

Chapter 406 – The Flying Giant Spider

“When I graduated, my father specifically had my mother relay a message to me — try to avoid the Yala Empire when traveling, and if I absolutely had to go, to be very careful,” Lilith said.

“Even witches can be mistaken for mages in disguise over there, which can invite danger.”

“So it would be safer for us to improve our Mana and Magic first before going to the Yala Empire.”

“Wait, Lilith — a Vampire duke infiltrated the Temple and became an archbishop controlling an entire diocese? Aren’t Vampires creatures of darkness? Aren’t they afraid of the light-aligned clergy who worship the Angels?” Mo Lan asked, puzzled.

“The God of Light worshipped at the Temple of Light in the Yala Empire now is no longer the one fabricated by the Angels. It’s a Supreme God of Light fabricated by humans themselves.”

“They believe that all things in the world, except darkness, belong under the banner of light.”

“Within the Temple, although light-aligned casters still hold the highest status, they are no longer the only type of casters present.”

“The Angels’ attention has long since turned toward the Well of the Sky and is no longer on the humans of Valen. Only occasionally do a few Angels below Peak level go to the Yala Empire to practice missionary work.”

“The current operational core of the Yala Empire’s Temple of Light is an otherworldly magical artifact called the ‘Halo of Light.’ It can gather the power of faith just like an Angel’s halo.”

“There isn’t much information that’s leaked about the Halo of Light. The rest is probably only known within the Church itself,” Lilith said.

“An otherworldly magical artifact with unknown details?” Mo Lan mused thoughtfully. “Then we really do need to be careful.”

“Let’s just stay within the Black Forest,” Vasida said. “No human would willingly walk into a Black Forest saturated with Death Force. Anyone who enters will only leave behind a corpse.”

“Then I’d better learn some Necromancy Magic ahead of time. The effects of Necromancy Magic should be enhanced inside the Black Forest, right?”

Sylph hadn’t even learned a single Necromancy Magic spell yet.

For a while, everyone found books related to Necromancy Magic and began reading.

Mo Lan also found some books on corpse preservation, dissection, and suturing related to the Death Servant technique, preparing herself for eventually crafting humanoid death servants and practicing the spell.

They read all the way until noon, when Lilith leaned over and looked down at the ground. “Let’s find a spot to land and have lunch!”

“No need! Let’s set up a small table in the middle and cook hotpot!” Mo Lan gestured to indicate the spot.

“The ground isn’t as safe as the air. If we don’t have to land, that’s naturally best — but do we have a table that’s small enough and just the right size?” Vasida asked.

“Of course we do!” Mo Lan produced a card. “Specially prepared for dining on the flying carpet!”

When materialized, it became a low table perfectly sized for the four of them to sit around.

On the table sat a dual-compartment hotpot that matched the table’s dimensions exactly.

“It’s just that this little table and pot haven’t been infused with Mana, so we’ll have to cook and add ingredients ourselves.”

Mo Lan took out two packets of hotpot base seasoning and put them in the pot to boil.

“Hotpot is convenient to cook — doing it ourselves is no trouble at all! You’ve provided the base and utensils, so leave the ingredients to us!” Lilith said.

“Yes, yes!”

Vasida and Sylph both opened the Card Shop and began browsing and selecting hotpot ingredients.

Mo Lan didn’t refuse. She simply went and selected a four-person dipping sauce card and a cold drinks card.

Everything they chose was pre-prepared ingredient cards — once materialized, they could go straight into the pot. It was even more convenient than cooking with Culinary Magic.

“I never imagined that one day we’d be cooking hotpot up in the sky,” Sylph said, swishing a pair of chopsticks’ worth of greens through the bubbling spicy broth.

“Neither did I,” Mo Lan said, watching the scenery drift past.

Everything that had happened since coming to Valen was beyond anything she could have dreamed of in her previous life.

Perhaps it was because the aerial scenery was simply too beautiful, and the gentle breeze filtering through the wind barrier was just right for carrying away the hotpot’s heat and spiciness — they accidentally ate too much.

The flying carpet was only the size of a double bed. Four people sitting to eat hotpot was barely manageable, but lying down was out of the question.

They could only put away the table, sit two abreast along the carpet’s edges with their legs dangling over the side, and lean back — just barely fitting four people lying down.

The flying carpet hadn’t left the Wilds yet, so they hadn’t activated the invisibility rune combination.

On the ground, a young witch playing in the yard of a Witch’s home pointed at the sky and shouted toward the house:

“Mama! Mama, look! There’s a flying giant spider! Eight legs, flying super fast!”

The witch mother came out to look and immediately burst out laughing. “That’s no giant spider — those are witches sitting on a flying carpet with their legs dangling down!”

“Mama, when I grow up, will I have eight legs too?” the young witch asked earnestly.

The witch mother suppressed her laughter and said with a straight face, “Yes! When you can fly through the sky with eight legs, that’s when you’ll truly be grown up!”

The young witch gazed at the “giant spider” disappearing into the distance, her face scrunched with worry. “When will I ever grow that many legs!”

……

That afternoon, Mo Lan took out her flying carpet, and everyone transferred onto it to continue their journey.

A tent couldn’t fit on the flying carpet, so as evening approached, they still needed to find a place to rest for the night.

“Let’s land there!” Sylph pointed to an open grassy area. “The soil layer there looks thick enough — perfect for the Burrowing Mushroom to hide in.”

“I think that spot looks good too,” Lilith said.

Mo Lan steered the flying carpet over. Just before landing, Sylph jumped off the carpet holding the small planting pot that housed the Burrowing Mushroom. After converting some Mana with Hybrid Magic to feed the Burrowing Mushroom, she set it down on the grass.

The Burrowing Mushroom rapidly transformed into an enormous mushroom house.

“Let’s put the tents inside my mushroom tonight!” Sylph said. “Its interior space is already big enough to hold four tents.”

“Sure!” Mo Lan and Vasida agreed.

Their own Burrowing Mushrooms had only been cultivated for a short time and weren’t usable yet.

“I’ll pass — I want to try out my Burrowing Mushroom,” Lilith said, also taking out her planting pot.

A Vampire Vine coiled around her arm. Lilith hastily added, “Let’s have all the Burrowing Mushrooms hide beneath the Vampire Vine. The Vampire Vine can serve as our ground-level guard.”

Only then did the Vampire Vine eagerly leap from its planting pot, instantly swelling to its full form, nearly covering the entire forest clearing.

Looking at the Vampire Vine — even larger than it had been two years ago, its stems now covered in barbs and radiating an aura of danger — Vasida murmured:

“At this point, do we even need the Burrowing Mushrooms? We’d be perfectly safe just staying on the surface.”

The Vampire Vine gave off the feeling of at least a Peak level magical plant.

“We still need them. Once we’re out of the Wilds, if anyone spots tents at little Vine’s feet, they’d probably get more curious and come closer rather than stay away,” Lilith said. “Unless we want people to find us, it’s better to leave no trace.”

In the end, they settled into the Burrowing Mushrooms after all.

Lilith crawled into her own small mushroom to set up her tent, while Mo Lan and Vasida both went into Sylph’s Burrowing Mushroom.