The Witch's Anatomical Notes

Chapter 78

Anatomy and Discovery (Requesting First Subscription)

Dissecting the strange tree that even The Pale Scalpel had never seen this alone had been enough to fill Lucy with supreme delight.

Amidst the sky full of thrashing vines, she steadily and skillfully guided the scalpel in her hand.

The blade precisely cut open layer upon layer of fascia until the core of the crying-faced tree was exposed to the damp air.

"A mixture of resin and blood?" As the tip of the blade lifted the viscous amber liquid, her eyes suddenly widened. "So this is how the magical energy pathways in the vines conduct!"

The flow of energy within a living state had been a hundred times more vivid than the stiff illustrations in the anatomical manuals.

It had been as though a door to a new world had opened before Lucy, with countless details she had never noticed on ordinary days now unfolding before her eyes in astonishing clarity.

What shocked her most was the materialization of the magical veins the magical energy no longer needed to be inferred from diagrams and experience, but could be seen clearly flowing through the enchanted organs like a stream.

"If I could keep a living enchanted beast as an observation specimen..." The thought had just emerged and then refused to leave her mind.

[Contamination Value: 36%, 37%, 38%...]

The light screen suddenly flickered across her retina.

Lucy’s blade hovered in midair as she stared at another set of figures at the end of the data stream, nearly negligible.

[Divine Contamination of the Lord of Nightmares: 0.01%, 0.02%, 0.03%...]

Lucy froze.

Inside the crying-faced tree, there had actually been hidden divine contamination!

Although the contamination value had been so faint that ordinary apprentices could hardly detect it, with the attribute panel, even the slightest source of contamination could not escape Lucy’s eyes.

Yet when she had been outside the crying-faced tree, the attribute interface had indeed remained still, which meant that this bark possessed the ability to block divine contamination.

This discovery filled Lucy’s heart with overwhelming joy and also confirmed that beneath Godfall Gorge, there truly had been a buried evil god.

Moreover, judging by the contamination source she had detected, the evil god suppressed by the Star Ring Wizard had been none other than the Lord of Nightmares.

"This flesh was able to give rise to divine contamination, which means that this Ghostface Tree must have evolved from a Ghostface Tree by absorbing the remains of the evil god."

If her deduction had been correct, then by following the roots of the crying-faced tree, she ought to be able to find the corpse of the evil god buried underground.

Lucy’s pupils contracted sharply, and even her breathing unconsciously quickened.

Because of the magical energy turbulence in this area, any apprentice above Tier 4 had been unable to descend here.

This meant that this fragment of remains most likely had not yet been discovered by any other witch.

If she crafted protective gear using the bark of the crying-faced tree, could she then approach the remains to perform a dissection?

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, wishing she could skin and dismantle the crying-faced tree at once.

But then, a sudden thought surged into her mind.

The Lord of Nightmares?!

She recalled Orlando, whom she had encountered when she had first crossed over. After he had turned into an aberration, he had unexpectedly possessed the ability to enter dreams.

At that time, she had found no dream-related organs in that corpse, but thinking back now, perhaps organs had never been necessary at all… When divine contamination reached a critical level, the aberration itself would become the medium of dream infiltration.

An aberration able to enter dreams… An evil god who held dominion over the laws of dream…

Could there be some connection between the two?

Perhaps Eternal Silence Blackthorn had long known about the remains of the Lord of Nightmares and, to avoid attracting the attention of other witch factions, had deliberately chosen this place as the venue for the tournament.

"But why must they wait until the Tri-Tower Tournament to study the remains of the Lord of Nightmares?"

Lucy gripped the scalpel in one hand as her thoughts raced.

Suddenly, a possibility flashed rapidly through her mind.

The scalpel continued cutting along the trunk of the crying-faced tree, and when she had pushed her entire body into the hollow of the trunk, the keen blade struck something hard.

"Found it!"

Lucy brushed aside the sticky sap and dug out half of a decayed, blackened leg bone from the base of the crying-faced tree.

Feeling the nearly vanished magical fluctuations upon it, Lucy’s expression grew increasingly solemn.

As the dissection deepened, more and more bones were excavated.

When a blue wizard’s robe was also retrieved, Lucy had already confirmed her suspicions.

The Ghostface Tree had been transformed when the tree absorbed the divine contamination released by the remains of the Lord of Nightmares, and the crying-faced tree had evolved further by absorbing the corpses of deceased wizard apprentices.

The reason they had chosen this place for the Tri-Tower Tournament was obvious: Eternal Silence Blackthorn was taking the opportunity to hunt apprentices from the other two factions, using their bodies to nourish this land.

But what purpose did they have in doing this?

To resurrect the quasi-divine Lord of Nightmares?

Lucy immediately dismissed that notion. Let alone the junior apprentices of the Tri-Tower Tournament even the official witches of Eternal Silence Blackthorn likely would not dare entertain such an idea.

"Lu… Lady Lucy."

The call interrupted Lucy, who had been immersed in her own thoughts.

When she turned her head, she saw Barry calling out in her direction.

At this moment, the Ghostface Tree she had dissected was already on the verge of death, its whipping vines becoming weak and feeble.

She casually severed the nerve bundles within the trunk.

At once, all the vines drooped to the ground and fell completely still.

Barry swallowed hard as he took in the scene.

Perhaps he could have handled a single crying-faced tree, but to let it attack unhindered and still kill it so effortlessly he knew he could never do that.

"Inside the cave, there was a vein of Shadow Iron." Barry took out several thumb-sized chunks of ore, his face full of excitement. "But it was mixed with faintly glowing Time Sand Silver and Mithril. Lann and I have already extracted all of it."

Shadow Iron was a very common enchanted ore, usually forged into armor for the High Tower Knights, and it did not hold much value.

But Time Sand Silver was an extremely rare forging material, worth even more than adamantine.

As for Mithril, it was the most commonly used precious metal among the Alchemical School and was likewise quite expensive.

Barry divided the two valuable ores into three piles.

Lucy received seventy percent, Barry took twenty percent, and the apprentice named Lann received ten percent.

This division also conformed to the principle of fair exchange.

After all, both the enemies and the crying-faced tree had been dealt with by Lucy alone.

The "spoils division" was complete.

Lucy, still distracted, asked, "Have you seen any other wizards from the Tower of the Four Sages?"

Barry shook his head. "As soon as we teleported in, we encountered the crying-faced tree and the mine. We haven’t seen any other wizards."

"Is that so." Lucy bit her lip.

Her mind was turning over Eternal Silence Blackthorn’s plans and the remains of the Lord of Nightmares buried underground.

Barry asked cautiously, "Lady Lucy, may we leave now?"

"Of course." Lucy was about to wave them off when, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly said, "Wait."

The two of them froze.

"May we… ask if you have any other instructions?"

"Are you two from the same squad?"

Barry and Lann exchanged a glance.

"No," Barry explained. "We just happened to be teleported together, and we only had a little contact back at the Tower."

"So that means there are at least three squads from the Tower of the Four Sages in this area."

"That… should be the case."

Barry had no idea what this silver-haired witch intended, but after witnessing her strength in combat, he found it hard to muster any thoughts of resisting.

After a moment of thought,

Lucy suddenly said, "I have a plan. I wish to form an alliance with your squads."

"An alliance!"

Barry and Lann exchanged another look.

"Forgive us, Lady, but what benefit would we gain from allying with you?"

"The benefit would be that I won’t actively attack members of your squads. How about that?"

"This…"

"Just a joke." Lucy put away the smile on her face and continued, "I intend to end this Tri-Tower Tournament early."