Chapter 1287: Chapter 723: The Peaceful Witch’s Home
"These spirit trees are growing quite well; I wonder if there’s hope for tree fairies to be born later. If possible, the island would be much more lively."
After inspecting the Magic Furnace, Dorothy turned her gaze back to the trees within the island’s protective forest.
These trees are not ordinary, mortal trees; they are special Spirit Woods carefully selected by the homebody witch.
Witches often have the habit of planting some Spirit Woods on their Sky Island territories; these are prized possessions.
Firstly, the planted Spirit Wood itself can be used as materials for setting up a Magic Array. Just a few Spirit Woods can form a simple yet stable Magic Array.
Secondly, the various materials produced by Spirit Woods are also a considerable output. The fruit of Spirit Wood can be used as High-Level ingredients or Magic Potion materials, and the wood can serve as building materials or Alchemy materials for making Magic Wands.
Although planting trees usually requires a long wait for harvest, mortals might plant a tree in childhood and not see it mature before they die, but witches, as Eternal Life Species, have the luxury to indulge in such long-term investments.
Moreover, even without seeking those benefits, Spirit Woods generally have quite a pleasing appearance; planting them in a garden as scenery is rather nice.
Speaking of which, it seems there’s a tradition among witches in some places. When a little witch is born, mothers often plant a Life-bound Spirit Tree for the child. When the child needs it in the future, she can use the branches from this Spirit Wood that grew with her combined with her witch’s hair to make her exclusive Magic Wand.
Anyway, her stepmother Annie planted a blood-sucking demon tree for Alice in the courtyard and fed it with various magical beast blood daily.
As for Dorothy herself...
She didn’t know if she had a Life-bound Spirit Wood, as her childhood was spent running around with Adam. After settling down with her stepmother, her father did mention whether to supplement a Life-bound Spirit Wood, but by then the homebody witch was halfway grown, and there’s no such thing as supplementing a Life-bound Tree later on, so she was too lazy to bother.
After all, the so-called Life-bound Tree for crafting a Magic Wand is merely a witch’s custom, akin to how mortal families prepare daughter’s red wine for a daughter’s wedding; it’s considered a parental blessing without any real significance.
However, the Life-bound Tree Magic Wand is said to be easier for necromancy, with higher compatibility and better feel in usage. Of course, such statements have always been hearsay without any actual evidence to prove them.
However, after resolving misunderstandings with her Mother Dragon, during casual mother-daughter chats, Euphilia did mention offhandedly that she did plant a Life-bound Tree for Dorothy, which was a Dragon Blood Wood.
The seed absorbed Dorothy’s fetal blood before sprouting, and it was meant to be nurtured with her blood, but since she wasn’t present, Mother Dragon has been watering it with her own blood over these years.
Though the nourishment wasn’t quite matching, its growth seemed pretty good.
Back then, Mother Dragon excitedly showed Dorothy a photo; the Dragon Blood Wood in the photo gleamed brilliantly, visibly a top-tier natural treasure, likely to stir a battle in the cultivation world.
The Dragon Queen even asked Dorothy whether she wanted to fold a branch for wand making, but the homebody witch refused.
After all, she already had Buster, the little kitten still in its growth phase, and her current Soul-Nourishing Wood wand body was most suitable for her growth. She decided to defer changing wand bodies until the little guy matured.
Because of this, the homebody witch now has to send a tube of blood to Mother Dragon every month for tree watering, and from the latest photos sent back by Mother Dragon, after switching to Dorothy’s blood, the Dragon Blood Wood’s growth was almost explosive, transforming almost daily.
Initially just a natural treasure level, now the thing seems to be developing toward the spirit root level, with such dazzling brilliance that Mother Dragon had to add several layers of barrier for sealing.
This is considered a good thing, except Dorothy feels a little uncomfortable when drawing blood every month, as she always fears pain.
Sigh, clearly as an ultimate creature, witches don’t suffer through mortal women’s monthly woes, yet she seems unable to escape the fate of losing a little blood every month.
It’s maddening; clearly, Alice’s blood-sucking demon tree only requires magical beast blood for feeding, why does her Dragon Blood Wood need her own blood for nurturing?
Meanwhile, the spirit woods surrounding the Witch’s Home are not particularly precious and high-end spirit woods.
Although the Dragon Witch’s territory would ideally be planted with Dragon Spirit Woods, like Dragon Blood Wood, Dragon Scale Wood, Dragon Claw Vine, and such, since just as the powerful dragons’ nests might permanently alter geographical environments under their influence, so too can powerful witches possess such capability.
Alright, it’s actually not restricted to Races; any creature powerful enough would have similar abilities.
Essentially, the Dragon Witch’s territory would facilitate the growth of Dragon Spirit Woods.
However, as everyone knows, anything associated with dragons generally involves complicated magical beasts or materials, and the homebody witch admitted she could not afford those spirit woods.
One or two might be purchased through gritting one’s teeth, but expecting to plant enough to surround the entire Sky Island forming a protective forest—no, she really can’t afford it.