Chapter 121: Exposing The Scam
The crowd that had gathered earlier mostly dispersed, with only a few remaining in front of the stall, continuing to inquire with the girl about cultivation matters, and she explained them one by one.
“Because cultivating this plant involves yield rates and survival factors, I suggest you buy 100 seeds at once; that way, the success rate is higher.”
“100 seeds, huh.” Someone rubbed their chin, estimating.
“That’s 10 gold coins. That’s a bit high; normally, products from First Order Natures go for about 1-3 gold coins.”
“Think about it: if you succeed in cultivating them, you can sell seeds afterward, plus the finished eyeball fruits. You’ll recoup the cost quickly.” The seller continued her pitch, and some students were tempted.
Those who remained were all Emerald Honey Nature gardeners, and a few of them had even mastered the first stage of the Flower Blooming Technique, so they were quite expectant.
A somewhat tall and thin student in a green robe gritted his teeth, steeled his determination, and took out 20 gold coins, handing them over.
“Give me two packs, 200 seeds.”
“Wow, so bold! I only have ten packs total.” The girl happily took the 20 gold coins, then handed over two packs of seeds, each seed about the size of a peanut.
Seeing someone buy, another student among the remaining ones paid up soon after, and four more packs sold, leaving only four packs.
Florera looked at the remaining seeds, then at Tiya beside her. Seeing how long she had been looking at the stall, she thought she probably wanted the eyeball fruit seeds but didn’t have enough money on her.
“I’ll buy them.” She raised her hand, signaling to the girl behind the stall, then prepared to take out her gold coins.
“Wait.” Xilutiya shook her head slightly and grabbed Florera’s wrist.
“Don’t buy yet; let me look a bit more.” She felt something was off about this eyeball fruit.
Though she had never seen this plant before, she had personally cultivated many plants that condensed Natures. Plants condense Natures because they receive the most suitable growth and development, allowing their unique special rhythms to manifest, and finally, as if completing some wondrous ritual, they condense the Nature.
Successfully cultivated plants all have their own special rhythms, like innate numbering frequencies given by nature to each plant species.
But in her eyes, the Nature within this eyeball fruit in front of her was quite chaotic, not so consistent and harmonious, as if it wasn’t naturally condensed.
“Doesn’t Tiya want it?” Seeing the maiden stop her, Florera also paused and curiously examined the strange flower and fruit closely.
While the two continued observing, other students came forward one after another; some bought, some hesitated for a while and then walked away, deciding to save money and use it in the woodland instead.
“Only one pack of seeds left. Classmate, do you need it?” The girl opposite was about to pack up; seeing Tiya hadn’t left, she waved at her.
“Can I touch this eyeball fruit?” The maiden took Florera’s hand and stepped forward.
“Well…” The other hesitated a bit.
“If you’re sure to buy, you can touch it.”
“I want to test this eyeball fruit because I do know the Flower Blooming Technique.” Xilutiya spoke up.
“Hold on, classmate. Have you forgotten something?” The girl stopped Xilutiya.
“If it’s not a plant you cultivated yourself, the Flower Blooming Technique can only activate plants one order lower.”
“I know, but I’ve already elevated it to the second stage, so even other First Order plants can be used.” Xilutiya raised her hand, and a faint glow appeared in her palm.
【Flower Blooming Technique Lv.2】（Emerald Honey）: Magic for blooming flowers, which can stimulate the flowers’ inherent weak effects and amplify them nearly tenfold. Usable on same-order plants, even if not self-cultivated. （Completion 216/600）
“How is that possible!” The other’s eyes contracted, looking at Xilutiya warily.
“You’re here to cause trouble, aren’t you?” Her tone changed abruptly.
“Even most Second Order Emerald Honey gardeners have only cultivated it to the first stage. The Flower Blooming Technique is a relatively complex ability; each stage increase multiplies the difficulty several times. For First Order, not only is elevating to the second stage hard, even learning it is difficult. Don’t spout nonsense here.”
“If you insist on messing around, I’ll complain to the senior male student in the Camel Building. If you openly violate the rules, you’ll be disqualified from entering the woodland.”
Under this threat and warning, most ordinary students would get nervous and not dare to take the risk.
Hearing the stall owner’s words, the other students who hadn’t left whispered among themselves, then looked at Xilutiya again.
“She’s a novice gardener, not even knowing such basic knowledge.”
“Maybe she has high talent and really learned the first stage of the Flower Blooming Technique, so she’s so confident.”
“Probably spoiled before; now she’s just making excuses to try the stall owner’s plant before buying.”
Hearing these words, before Xilutiya could say anything, Florera beside her couldn’t hold back. She stepped forward, took out the badge hidden on her belt, and placed it in front of the stall owner.
“I’m a First Order gardener, and I’ve also mastered the second stage of the Flower Blooming Technique. Any doubts?” The Forest Badge glowed faintly as she activated it.
Seeing the badge, the students who had been mocking sarcastically changed their expressions.
“That’s… she must be one of the most promising students this term.”
“I remember now; isn’t that the elf student who uniquely obtained a badge, Florera?”
“She has quite a background; I hear she’s royalty from some elven forest…” Someone whispered.
“Let’s go, let’s go; better not stay here. If we get caught in the crossfire, it’ll be bad.” Those who had wanted to watch the drama immediately pretended nothing was wrong and walked away, no longer crowding the stall.
The girl behind the stall, who had been sharp-tongued in mocking Xilutiya moments ago, now looked uneasy, retreated a few steps, and glanced around, seemingly preparing to flee.
“It’s better if you don’t run. Answer properly now, and there’s still room for leniency.” Florera’s voice was still soft, but now carried a hint of authority, surprising the silver-haired maiden beside her.
She had originally thought this elf girl was the shy and timid type, but it seemed she was wrong.
“I… I understand. Please go easy on me, Senior Female Student Florera.” Realizing that running now would only make things worse, the other had no choice but to walk back slowly.
“Now can you tell me why you wouldn’t let me touch this eyeball fruit earlier?” Xilutiya looked into her eyes and asked.
The other’s gaze dodged, and after hesitating, she slowly spoke.
“Because this eyeball fruit actually hasn’t been fully cultivated.”
“Then where does the First Order Nature inside come from?” Xilutiya’s gaze shifted down, observing the flowers and grass up close, then lightly pressed her finger near the translucent fruit.
An extremely faint buzzing came from her fingertip, and she immediately realized something.
“There’s a bug inside the fruit core? A First Order Emerald Honey insect.”
“Exactly, Senior Female Student.” The stall owner girl shrank back and continued explaining.
“Actually, I was scammed too. I spent a lot of money on this batch of eyeball fruit seeds, but could never cultivate ones with Natures. In the end, I borrowed a First Order Emerald Honey Fire Thread Cicada from a friend and put it inside the fruit.”
“So the ray earlier was emitted by the Fire Thread Cicada?”
“Exactly.”
“What’s the power of a real eyeball fruit at First Order?”
“I don’t know that, but I checked local book records, and someone did cultivate one before—a Second Order Emerald Honey eyeball fruit.”
After hearing this, Xilutiya and Florera shook their heads, feeling that book record wasn’t very reliable either.
“How about this: later, post a notice for the scammed students to return the seeds, then give them their money back, and I won’t report this to Senior Male Student Aideqin.” Xilutiya suggested.
“Okay, but I don’t know if they’ll see it; there are too many students in the Camel Building, and the activity space is vast.” Hearing this, the other breathed a sigh of relief; luckily, the punishment wasn’t heavy.
“Hang it up for at least a month. If you still can’t find them, then forget it.” After a month, it would be time for the woodland, and students would be assigned to different places, making it even harder to find them.
After saying this, Xilutiya prepared to leave, but the other called out to the maiden again.
“Senior Female Student, wait.” She seemed to have thought of something and picked up the last remaining pack of seeds.
“This pack is a gift for you. I’m truly sorry; please accept it and don’t hold it against me.” She realized that if what Florera said was true, this unknown silver-haired maiden was likely a genius on par with the elf girl beside her.
If so, she couldn’t afford to offend her even more, because after going to the woodland, students with badges often became leaders of various student groups.
“This…” Xilutiya looked at the pack of seeds and thought for a moment.
Actually, she didn’t want to take it, but she worried the other would misunderstand and think she still held a grudge over her earlier behavior, making her uneasy, so after hesitating a few seconds, she accepted it.
“I have 10 gold coins here; take them.” She handed over the gold coins.
“No need, no need. Actually, I didn’t spend that much when I bought them—about three gold coins for all ten packs.” The other waved her hands embarrassedly.
“So the cost for one pack like this isn’t high. Please just take it.”
At this point, Xilutiya couldn’t refuse anymore, so she put away the seeds.
“Right, this is the cultivation guide; I copied it from a book I read before.” Finally, she handed Xilutiya a thin booklet of just a few pages.
“Take care.”
Finally watching the silver-haired maiden and Florera walk far away, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and slowly set down the stone in her heart.
This time, she had gotten through it smoothly. If Florera Senior Female Student had dragged her to Aideqin earlier, her recent actions would have been a major demerit, and facing punishment in the woodland would have been serious.
She definitely had to return the money. Even if these two senior female students didn’t follow up later, if they ever thought to ask one day and her actions were exposed, it would be slapping their faces, with even graver consequences.
Sigh, seeking knowledge in the woodland isn’t so easy either, she thought while packing up her stall.
Still, business here is good. In the few months staying in the Camel Building, she had already earned dozens of gold coins, though occasionally her insight fell short and she flipped the boat.
