Chapter 980

“How’s it going? Have you decided on your template yet?”

Seeing Dorothy remain silent, Long Ma couldn’t help pressing further.

In response, the Zhaimonv blinked, then reached out her hand toward her mother.

“Mother, I’ve already finished evolving.”

She revealed the light-scale feathers on her arm.

Euphilya: “???”

Hearing this, Long Ma was utterly stunned.

“How could you? How reckless of you—specialties aren’t something to toy with!”

She gripped her daughter’s hand in urgent concern, probing with her magic while scolding without restraint.

She had sensed the magical fluctuations in her daughter just moments ago, but they weren’t intense—she assumed Dorothy was merely researching and selecting, and besides, evolving a specialty isn’t that easy; even after choosing one, you still need to brew the magic potion first.

Euphilya truly hadn’t expected anyone could evolve a template just by sitting and reading a book—without even needing a specialty potion.

As for her mother’s concern, Dorothy didn’t resist; she let Long Ma’s magic flow through her body to scan her thoroughly, then soothed her.

“Don’t worry, Mother—I didn’t act recklessly. I just remembered I’d already obtained a full evolution template, and it’s from Long Wang himself—no way it’s subpar.”

To reassure her mother, she invoked Long Wang’s name.

Besides, the White Night Dragon template was genuinely Long Wang’s creation—she wasn’t lying, and she remained perfectly calm, not the least bit guilty.

As expected, Long Wang’s name still worked wonders; upon hearing it, Long Ma immediately relaxed, though she still carefully examined Dorothy’s light-scale feathers before finally letting go of her worry.

“Hmm, if it’s from Long Wang, then it’s fine. You scared me half to death, but these scales are unusual—this is a powerful specialty, and it clearly suits you. You evolved directly without even taking a magic potion. Does this template have other specialties? What materials are missing? I’ll go find them for you.”

Euphilya’s alarm turned to delight as she asked.

But Dorothy merely shook her head innocently.

“Mother, I meant I’ve already evolved the entire template—not just the light-scale feathers.”

She spoke as calmly as she could, trying not to shock her mother further.

Long Ma: “.”

Hearing this, Euphilya froze. Instinctively, she wanted to doubt it—specialties weren’t something you could just evolve on a whim. With her daughter’s pitifully small magic reserves, evolving even one specialty should’ve drained her completely, let alone a whole template.

Even the smallest template required at least four or five specialties to assemble.

Honestly, if anyone else had said this, Euphilya would’ve already slapped them across the face—this brat must be mocking her.

But who could she slap? This was her own daughter. And Dorothy had given her too many surprises—or rather, shocks—before; so after a brief moment of shock, she actually nodded, thinking it wasn’t entirely unbelievable.

After all, compared to the fact that her daughter was actually the Forest Witch, everything else was trivial.

But

“Then what about your belly? Is your template really that magic-efficient?”

Euphilya could only point at her daughter’s still-round belly and ask.

At this, the other sisters also turned their gazes toward the Zhaimonv ’s belly.

Dorothy: “.”

Oh right—she’d almost forgotten. Her goal in evolving the template wasn’t to freeload—it was to speed up digestion.

The Zhaimonv scratched her head, then reopened the ancestral template from Ye Meng’s family.

“Alright, I’ll pick a new specialty—this time, something with high magic consumption.”

She said this.

Long Ma and the sisters: “.”

Everyone was speechless at Dorothy’s casual tone—as if evolving specialties were like ordering takeout.

After a brief silence, Euphilya snatched the ancestral template right out of her daughter’s hands.

“Wait—you tell me your needs first. Let me help you decide.”

She dared not let her daughter browse further, afraid the impatient girl would silently evolve another specialty without warning.

Dorothy: “.”

Seeing her mother’s nervousness, she sighed helplessly.

The freebies are already used up—everything after this will cost real magic, like everyone else’s. Mother, you’re acting like I can keep evolving without paying anything.

But this is fine—Mother surely understands this ancestral template better than she does. Letting her recommend something is actually better.

“I want a specialty that enhances artillery magic. I’ve always been close-combat—now that my magic shortage is gradually improving, I should fix my ranged weakness.”

She stated her need.

Yeah, she was tired of brawling up close every day—she wanted to try firing cannons.

Besides, if she weren’t truly short on magic, who’d want to hang out with those embarrassing Assault Witches? Artillery Witches are the real magic grandmas—the elite.

Dorothy felt it was time for a comeback.

“Artillery specialty?”

Hearing her daughter’s request, Long Ma instinctively frowned.

To be honest, she thought her daughter was being unproductive.

Ye Meng’s family has always excelled in Transformation and Combat Schools—since you’re already a Martial God, why not deepen your training properly? Why waste your youth on artillery? Those weak, flashy artillery spells can’t compare to our centuries-honed iron fists.

Besides, even if you just want to switch things up, our family’s Dragon Transformation technique has always been excellent.

But after this thought passed through her mind, Euphilya said nothing more—her daughter was grown, capable, and had her own path. As a mother, she should interfere less.

“You really know how to pick trouble—we’re not known for artillery magic.”

Euphilya complained, yet quickly opened the ancestral template and swiftly flipped to a page, displaying it.

Seeing this, the other sisters instinctively rose to leave—after all, they weren’t from Ye Meng’s family, and shouldn’t be viewing these secret arts.

“Sit down. It’s not a core secret—your own families have similar things.”

Euphilya stopped them.

First, the pages she showed weren’t true secrets; second, these girls would all become Ye Meng’s family soon enough.

Long Ma smiled like an affectionate aunt.

The sisters blushed, understanding her implication perfectly—but none explained, none truly left.

Only Dorothy paid no mind—she was focused on the specialties.

【Intimidating Gaze (SSR): Legend says a serpent’s eyes can petrify prey. Ye Meng’s Dragon-Serpent Eyes absorbed and amplified the power of the Serpent Demon. Your vision is greatly enhanced; your Dragon Aura can now be projected through your eyes, concentrated and intensified. Wherever your gaze falls, Dragon Aura strikes instantly, delivering overwhelming spiritual and physical intimidation to enemies.】

[Intimidation Eye (SSR): Legend says a serpent’s gaze can petrify its prey; Yemengjia’s Dragon-Serpent Eyes have absorbed and amplified the power of the Serpent Demon. Your vision is greatly enhanced, and your Dragon Aura can be projected and concentrated through your eyes—wherever your gaze falls, the Dragon Aura strikes instantly, delivering overwhelming spiritual and physical intimidation to your enemies.]

Didn’t she ask for an artillery specialty? This looks like an eye technique—more of a control-type one, not artillery at all?

“What do you think is most important for an Artillery Witch?”

Seeing her daughter’s puzzled look, Long Ma smiled and asked back.

“Of course—high power, wide range, long range, and preferably rapid-fire.”

Dorothy answered without hesitation.

Long Ma smiled but said nothing, instead turning her gaze to Mia.

Among the sisters, only the Golden Princess was a professional Artillery Witch.

Sensing her former instructor’s stare, Senior Mia sat up straight and gave the standard answer.

“The most important ability for an Artillery Witch is precision. Any missed shot on the battlefield is unforgivable.”

“The most important ability of a Cannon Witch is precision; any missed shot on the battlefield is unforgivable.”

The Zhaimonv fell silent, then pondered, then suddenly understood.

Of course—each artillery shot consumes massive magic and casting time. Every shot is a full commitment; some extreme Artillery Witches have only one shot—exhausting all their magic in a single blast.

Naturally, accuracy becomes critical for such high-cost shots.

Gamers know how painful it is to miss a big ability—and on the real battlefield, an Artillery Witch’s shot is a big ability. One shot can change the entire battle; a missed shot here would be deadly.

Of course, most battlefield artillery uses wide-area spells, making a complete miss hard—but for long-range sniping Artillery Witches carrying out decapitation tactics, precision becomes vital. They rarely get a second shot.

So Long Ma’s recommendation of Intimidating Gaze made perfect sense—she was worried Dorothy’s aim was terrible.

Feeling questioned, the Zhaimonv blushed.

“I’m actually pretty accurate—I have high precision stats.”

She tried to defend herself.

But the more she spoke, the quieter she became—she’d never really attempted long-range sniping before. Her old magic reserves weren’t fit for such high-end maneuvers.

But that didn’t stop her from feeling she could easily master it—that was the confidence of a genius.

Fine, she’d stop being stubborn. Alright, she admitted she was a novice in artillery. Better to listen to advice and eat well.

Besides, eye techniques are so cool—she’d always envied others’ magic eyes. Now she’d have one too.

Yeah, a postnatal magic eye is still a magic eye.

Watching her daughter pout stubbornly, Euphilya laughed.

She’d never seen her daughter act so childishly—it was amusing.

Though she was a converted Assault Witch, as a battle commander, she’d seen countless Artillery Witches—especially young ones fresh to the battlefield, all thinking like Dorothy: shoot farther, hit harder. But in actual combat, they all shot randomly.

Still, she believed her daughter’s talent would let her master accuracy quickly. But real battle can’t rely on uncertainty. True warriors turn uncertainty into certainty.

Why shoot at moving targets when you can hit fixed ones? Just to look cool? That kind of showmanship costs allies’ lives.

“Alright, I know you just got that precious bow and can’t wait to shoot something. Come on—let’s go hunting.”

Long Ma clapped her hands, stood up, and suggested.

“Uh… hunting?”

"Uh, hunting?"

Dorothy was puzzled; she hadn’t expected the topic to suddenly jump to hunting.

Though she admitted she’d been feeling a bit restless lately.

“Well, if you’re not hunting, how are you going to brew your specialized potions? I never thought you’d need artillery-specialized potions, so the materials I prepared ahead of time are useless now—I’ll have to go get them fresh.”

Long Ma said.

The Home Witch: “.”

Kill it right now, right here? That’s how brazen are you?

She mused to herself.

But thinking back, she’d always just bought materials online before—she’d never actually hunted them herself.

Hunting, now that sounded genuinely novel. It might even be fun.

Dorothy couldn’t help but feel eager.

“Mother, where are we going to hunt? What do we need to prepare?”

She asked, like a child excitedly anticipating a spring outing with adults.

In response, Long Ma rolled her eyes.

“Of course we’re hunting at home! You’re impossible—don’t you know our family’s main business these days is ranching and game preserves?”

She sighed and covered her face in exasperation.

This daughter clearly didn’t care at all about the family business she’d one day inherit.

Dorothy: “.”

Wait, isn’t Ye Meng’s main business shipbuilding and warfare?

The Home Witch scratched her head awkwardly, then looked innocently at Sophie Lya beside her.

The Pure White Witch remained speechless.

She could only sigh, wave her hand, and toss a volume of the Ye Meng Family History at the clueless young lady.

Thus, the group changed into hunting attire and headed for the game preserve.

Meanwhile, Dorothy, with her swollen belly, read the entire family history on the way and finally gained a faint understanding of her ancestral home.

Hmm, shipbuilding and warfare were only the later main businesses.

The shipyard had been sold off during its decline, and the warband only got rebuilt after Long Ma rose to power.

So what had Ye Meng relied on to survive before that?

Naturally, the ancestral trade.

Put bluntly—raising mounts.

Or, if you want to sound more refined:

“Wait, Dragon Knights?”

The Home Witch exclaimed in shock.