Chapter 35

The morning sun spilled onto the winding path through the gaps in the Black Mist Jungle. After tidying up his attire, Luo En headed to the herb shop.

Last night, the memory of Lady Ailan's stunning appearance still lingered in his mind.

Although his reason told him it was only a temporary phenomenon, deep in his heart, he still unconsciously looked forward to seeing that beautiful pink-haired witch again.

Pushing open the door of the herb shop, the familiar mixed fragrance of herbs rushed toward him.

Luo En's gaze quickly locked onto the hunched figure behind the counter.

As expected, Lady Ailan had returned to her usual aged appearance—

Her face was covered with wrinkles like a dried-up riverbed, under her huge hooked nose was a tightly pursed, mean mouth, her pale hair was coiled messily behind her head, and a pair of hands full of age spots were carefully checking the quality of a bottle of potion.

Although he had expected it, witnessing this huge contrast with his own eyes still caused a flash of obvious disappointment on Luo En's face.

He was just about to readjust his expression, but judging from Lady Ailan's reaction, it seemed he was a step too late.

"What, seeing me like this, you seem very disappointed?" The old witch didn't even raise her head, her hands didn't stop, and her tone carried a bit of amusement.

"Of course not, my lady." Luo En replied quickly, secretly giving a bitter smile, unconsciously revealing a lack of confidence.

Lady Ailan finally put down the potion bottle and raised her head to stare at the young apprentice in front of her: "You stinky brat, your thoughts are all written on your face; who are you trying to fool?"

Luo En shifted his gaze awkwardly: "Sorry, my lady, I meant no disrespect."

"Don't be nervous, I won't get angry over such a small thing."

The old witch waved her hand, but her voice carried a trace of rare gentleness:

"Yesterday's appearance was indeed more pleasing, and I myself prefer it that way. It's a pity, though, the knife of time never favors anyone."

She stood up, leaning on a wooden staff coiled with strange patterns, and slowly paced to Luo En.

Those deep green eyes examined him at close range: "But having said that, appearance and true strength are often not proportional; you will slowly realize this in the future."

Luo En could only nod in agreement.

"Alright, since young people are so energetic, I happen to have a batch of work waiting for you to do."

Lady Ailan chuckled twice and pointed to a dim corner at the back of the shop:

"That batch of newly arrived Hidden Thorn Vines needs to be processed; remove all the thorns and nodules, not a single one left."

Luo En looked in the direction she pointed and saw a large bundle of thick, silver-gray vines piled up in the corner, covered with dense sharp thorns and irregular lumps.

Under the light, one could even see the cold light flashing on the tips of those thorns.

"This..." He swallowed subconsciously; it was easy to judge that this was by no means ordinary work.

Even with his current technique, processing such a large pile of Hidden Thorn Vines would take at least the better part of a day.

The old witch keenly captured his hesitation, and a trace of cunning flashed in her eyes:

"What, tired? Then let me tell you another piece of good news—the thorns of the Hidden Thorn Vines contain a trace of toxin. Prolonged contact will make your fingers numb, and if it continues to accumulate, it may even lead to temporary dullness of perception."

The corners of her mouth raised in an imperceptible arc:

"Of course, if you feel this work is too hard, why not sit here and admire my 'beautiful' face for a whole day? I wouldn't mind."

Hearing this, Luo En scratched his head awkwardly and immediately understood the nature of today's task—this was probably a small punishment.

Although he was somewhat unwilling, he also understood that as an employer, Lady Ailan indeed had this right.

What's more, he had always been grateful for the work at the herb shop.

Being able to come into contact with so many rare materials and knowledge, and Lady Ailan's hands-on teaching all along, made him unwilling to easily refuse the requests made by the other party.

"I'll go process the Hidden Thorn Vines right away, my lady." Luo En nodded seriously and turned to walk toward the pile of plants that looked hostile just by looking at them.

A faint, almost inaudible chuckle from Lady Ailan came from behind.

The processing of the Hidden Thorn Vines was indeed as the other party said, extremely painstaking and laborious.

Luo En quickly understood why this kind of work was a "punishment"; processing it required not only great patience and focus, but also extremely high technical requirements.

Each vine needed to be carefully scraped of its surface thorns and nodules with a special silver knife.

A slight carelessness would either scratch the vine and affect its efficacy, or get the skin pricked by the sharp thorns.

In the first half hour, he already had seven or eight small wounds on his hands, while the number of processed vines was negligible.

"The technique is wrong, too rough." Lady Ailan suddenly appeared beside him, her voice containing both reprimand and teaching:

"The knife should be kept at a 30-degree angle, following the texture of the vine, don't go against it."

She took the tool from Luo En's hand and, with an almost unbelievable dexterity, quickly drew a perfect trajectory on the vine.

The thorn tips and nodules were neatly removed, while the vine itself remained intact.

Luo En carefully observed this process and quickly adjusted his own operation method.

He had always been a person good at observing and learning, and Lady Ailan's demonstration gave him great inspiration.

【Herb Identification Experience +1】

As time passed, Luo En's technique gradually became proficient.

He began to be able to find the most efficient processing sequence by observing the distribution pattern of the thorns, and even predict the position of the next nodule that needed special attention.

Just then, he made a peculiar discovery—these Hidden Thorn Vines did not seem to grow thorns in a disorderly manner, but followed some kind of inexplicable law.

Even more wonderfully, when he was fully focused on his work, he seemed to be able to feel a faint but clear energy fluctuation inside the vine.

It was a life pulse that was completely different from breathing methods and meditation, but also carried a rhythm.

"Interesting..." Luo En whispered to himself, completely immersed in this new discovery.

He tried to process the thorn tips in coordination with this natural rhythm and was surprised to find that the efficiency had improved significantly.

It was as if the vine "understood" and "cooperated" with his movements to some extent.

Just as Luo En was fully focused, Lady Ailan appeared beside him again at some point, handing him a cup of dark green, steaming liquid.

"Drink it, it can relieve toxin accumulation." Her tone was very flat, but her eyes revealed a trace of imperceptible approval: "It seems you are more suitable for this work than I imagined."

Luo En took the cup gratefully, and after simply identifying that there was nothing unusual, he took a sip.

Afterward, he was somewhat surprised to find that although the liquid in the cup had a strange color, the taste was surprisingly sweet, like peppermint tea with honey, and the numbness in his fingers dissipated in an instant.

"Thank you, my lady." He thanked her sincerely and then threw himself back into work.

At a speed far faster than expected, Luo En finished processing all the Hidden Thorn Vines before evening.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the pile of perfectly processed silver-gray vines with satisfaction, his heart filled with a sense of achievement.

"Not bad." Lady Ailan checked the results, her voice unable to hide her surprise:

"Much better than I expected. It seems you found the trick to processing Hidden Thorn Vines?"

Luo En did not hide his discovery: "I noticed that there seems to be a specific growth pattern on the surface of the vine. When my movements align with it, the efficiency is greatly improved."

"Growth pattern?" A trace of interest flashed in Lady Ailan's eyes:

"Interesting... Very few people can perceive the life rhythm of extraordinary plants. Your perception ability is indeed very special."

As she spoke, she took out a small bag she had prepared from under the counter, from which came the crisp sound of hard objects colliding:

"Then, let's settle today's magic stone fragments for you first. It's a bit more than usual; the labor you put in is worth this extra reward."

Luo En took the bag and weighed it lightly, feeling that there were about five magic stone fragments inside, indeed much more than the usual two.

"Thank you for your generosity, my lady." He put away the magic stone fragments and prepared to say goodbye: "See you tomorrow."

"Wait, don't be in such a hurry to leave." The old witch suddenly called him back, her tone carrying a trace of imperceptible concern:

"Are you going to handle the qualification certification for an entry-level apprentice later?"

(End of chapter)