[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-armed-witch":3,"chapter-armed-witch-armed-witch-chapter-10":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Armed Witch",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2353550,4604,"Chapter 10","armed-witch-chapter-10",10,"\u003Cp>“Sorry for the wait.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shopkeeper, an elderly man, emerged from the back warehouse carrying a tall stack of boxes, smiling as he greeted the two sisters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem—good things are always worth waiting for.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorothy stared eagerly at the old man, her gaze fixed on the boxes he held; her powerful perception could sense the preciousness of the materials inside, even through the specially crafted seals designed to prevent spiritual leakage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Indeed, these are all my prized collections.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Dorothy’s words, the old man couldn’t help but feel a flicker of pride, but he quickly regained his composure and asked the guest seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have two proposals for the material of your staff, Miss Dorothy. Please choose which one suits you better.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The first follows your casting habits—I consulted the spirit of your old staff. You’re the type with extremely high spell precision, so I personally recommend a Dragon-type staff: Dragonblood Wood as the shaft, Subdragon sinew as the core, and a Subdragon’s dragon pearl as the embedded gem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dragon-type staffs are often volatile and hard to control, but their enhancement of magical quality is undeniable. I’m certain your precision can master them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The second option centers on your old staff’s spirit—it’s still newly awakened and too weak. If crafted from materials with higher compatibility, it will adapt faster after the switch and grow more quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here, I recommend Soul-Nourishing Wood for the shaft. For the core, continue the lineage of your old staff: previously it was black cat whiskers; now, use the whiskers of a Shadow Tiger—excellent for nurturing spirit. As for the embedded gem, I believe this Soul-Death Crystal is an excellent choice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though this staff won’t grant you high bonuses initially, it provides the perfect environment for your staff spirit’s growth. The true value of a sentient staff lies in its potential to evolve. A superior sentient staff will eventually self-evolve abilities perfectly suited to its master—but growth always carries uncertainty. You must accept some risk.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man fell silent, watching Dorothy, waiting for her decision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorothy now firmly believed the old man was a true staff master—his two proposals were indeed the most suitable for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Option one, the Dragon-type staff, would most effectively compensate for her weak magical power and low quality, and combined with her innate high spell precision, would instantly boost her strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Option two, by contrast, promised a future full of potential: sacrificing immediate gains for greater long-term growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had heard many legends about sentient staffs—these spiritually vibrant tools, though weak at first, adaptively self-tune during their master’s growth, reaching the perfect state of unity between wielder and staff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A well-nurtured sentient staff can even awaken unique innate abilities to better assist its master, making it akin to a cheat ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she’d also heard such staffs were not cheap to raise—they required constant feeding with rare spirit-nourishing materials to maximize their spiritual growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as the old man mentioned, growth always carries risk. A cute child might grow up deformed; sentient staffs are no different. According to legend, whether a sentient staff grows well depends on its bond with its master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, it’s sentient—a living, intelligent tool with its own will. You can’t treat it like an inanimate object. If the bond is weak, it won’t betray you, but it won’t align with your intent either. Who knows what ability it might evolve into? It might grant no bonuses at all—and drag you down instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, choose option one: immediate, effective, relatively cheap? Or option two: a bottomless money pit, uncertain future, requiring a gamble?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I choose option two.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without prolonged hesitation, Dorothy made her choice, speaking with firm resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, she herself was the type with great future potential—so pairing her with a future-potential staff was perfectly fitting. Double the future potential. Hopefully, when that future arrives, she’ll reap double the joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More importantly, she had no urgent need to boost her power right now. For at least the next twenty years, she’d be attending the Witch Academy. A student doesn’t go to battle—she just needs to study quietly, safely. By the time she graduated, the sentient staff would likely be well-nurtured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Very well. Then option two it is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man nodded with approval, his gaze toward the guest growing even more appreciative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is truly a child who treats staffs with care. I must give my all—cannot let such a good child be disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was what Oldman Alder thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forgive me for asking, Miss Dorothy—what is your future career path? Combat or Research?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He confirmed again, cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Obviously, my sister will go with me into combat—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Dorothy could speak, Alice blurted out eagerly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before she finished, Dorothy unhesitatingly clapped a hand over her mouth, then spoke even more firmly to the old man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Research. I walk the Path of Omniscience—Research suits me better.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When discussing witch career divisions, one must first understand the structure of the witch world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was never a peace-loving race. On the contrary, witches were a quintessential warlike race; their entire society was intensely martial—this wasn’t just universal conscription, it was a society obsessed with war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I see. I conquer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the witch’s life motto. Whenever witches discovered a new world, a dimensional conquest war became inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no choice—mage growth was notoriously expensive, let alone an entire race of mages. The resource demands for so many witches to grow and grow stronger were unimaginable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relying solely on native resources would eventually exhaust them, leading to civil war over dwindling supplies. Thus, external expansion was unavoidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the multiverse was infinite, with endless starry skies awaiting witches to explore, discover, and conquer. Over time, this warlike race took shape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, witches had become the fourth great calamity race, standing alongside Angels, Demons, and Dragons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike Demons and Dragons—chaotic fools who only destroyed and plundered—and unlike Angels, who treated conquered worlds as mere resource warehouses, witches integrated conquered worlds directly into their own, with conquerors responsible for guiding and building them, emphasizing sustainable development.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t because witches were kind—it wasn’t kind at all. They did it only to expand the pie and gain greater profits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, one must admit: the conquered alien races under witch rule at least got to sip the broth behind the witches, and sometimes even nibble scraps—far luckier than those who fell under the other three calamity races.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, encountering Demons or Dragons meant survival depended entirely on luck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Encounter Angels, and the entire world sank into slow, hopeless death until every last trace of arcane power was drained, turning it into a dead world—a magicless world. Even then, the Angels’ churches continued to “convert” the populace, harvesting faith energy from scattered soul residues, squeezing out every last drop of value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, according to some converted alien races under witch rule, being a witch’s dog was their honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Precisely because of this calamity-race nature, witch society’s career divisions were only two paths: one, frontline combat specialists for conquest—Combat Witches; the other, rear-line specialists for new territory development and technological innovation—Research Witches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of social status, Combat Witches were unquestionably higher. After all, the witch world’s rule was: whoever conquers, rules. Only Combat Witches could become Witch Lords; Research Witches typically served under them as employees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, the island of Haiyuedao and the vast lands beneath the floating island were the domain of the Witch Lord known as the Sea Moon Witch—a Combat Grand Witch. Dorothy’s stepmother was a Research Witch, currently serving under the Sea Moon Witch, overseeing territorial development.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This structure was the most common in the witch world: the entire realm consisted of countless small and large witch domains, ruled by the Thirteen Great Lords, who formed the Council of Sages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Dorothy had joked at the entrance of Haiyuedao, “A true Grand Witch is like this—I could replace her,” it was merely a momentary childish outburst.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She would never go to battle—not in this life. Her magical talent was poor, she didn’t know how to fight. Her entire life would rely on studying and research to barely survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorothy, who had come from a peaceful world, declared herself a pacifist. She’d never fought much in her life. Let others become Combat Witches—she wouldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And warfare was dangerous. Witches were strong, but not invincible. What if she encountered another calamity race on the battlefield? One misstep, and she’d be dead. She was only sixteen—she had nearly a thousand years of good life ahead. There was no need to risk her life on the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short: she would never become a Combat Witch. Even if she starved, froze, or jumped off this floating island, she would never become a Combat Witch.\u003C\u002Fp>",1456,"2026-06-21T03:49:44.850Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","91e8ede7f84adbd5be81446d2085cf804640b67b8d5012aa9486d8e36a70edfb","armed-witch-chapter-11","armed-witch-chapter-9",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Farmed-witch-cover.jpg"]