Chapter 66: Moonlight Berries and Hidden Dangers

Ye Xingchen gazed down at Su Liyue, nestled languidly in his arms. The faint, sweet fragrance from her hair, lingering at his nostrils, sent an involuntary flush creeping up his ears.

Were this posture to be witnessed by their fellow students, he imagined the academy’s forum would surely explode with gossip by morning.

“Shocking! The aloof goddess throws herself into her boyfriend’s arms in the wilderness!”

He cleared his throat softly, then activated his Wind-Hearing Art to meticulously survey their surroundings.

His divine sense rapidly expanded, quickly pinpointing swathes of Moonlight Berry bushes downstream and even tracing the movements of several plump crucian carp swimming at the bottom of the creek.

Within a three-mile radius, aside from a few Snowfluff Rabbits nibbling on berries, there was indeed no discernible trace of dangerous magical beasts or human presence.

“This forbidden zone…” Ye Xingchen narrowed his eyes, peering into the depths of the forest, where the trees were noticeably taller than in other areas, and the glowing vines clinging to their trunks were far denser.

The divination from the Qimen Dunjia (TL Note: An ancient Chinese metaphysical system used for divination and strategy) indicating ‘Zhifu臨Dumen’ (TL Note: A specific, often ominous, configuration within the Qimen Dunjia system) could not be mistaken; something extraordinary was undoubtedly hidden here.

Perhaps those towering trees had undergone such mutations due to some potent natural energy…

A short while later.

The trio had arrived at the creek, where the sight before them was breathtaking: vast patches of Moonlight Berries shimmered with a pearlescent glow in the twilight, each fruit resembling a crystal masterpiece meticulously carved by a skilled artisan.

Several fluffy Snowfluff Rabbits busily scurried about, transporting the berries; far from being startled by the approaching humans, they tilted their heads, observing them with an air of curious wonder.

Mu Wanqing had already knelt down and plucked a few, the sweet, fresh scent of the fruit instantly wafting from her fingertips.

As she rinsed them in the creek, droplets of water rolled across the berry surfaces, refracting into a kaleidoscope of colors.

“Daylight truly diminishes their mystique,”

She placed a berry into her mouth, her eyes closing in satisfaction. “I recall seeing them as a child; once night falls, these berries transform, looking like a river of stars descending to the mortal world.”

“A river of stars descending to the mortal world?” Su Liyue echoed, taking up the conversation with a puzzled tone.

Imagine.

Thousands of luminous fruits adorning the night, like heavenly stars fallen to the mortal realm, shimmering in concert with the forest’s magical fireflies…

Ye Xingchen felt the girl in his arms succumb to her reverie, and bending at the waist, began to pluck the wild fruits for her.

When he offered her a few of the plumpest Moonlight Berries, Su Liyue naturally opened her mouth, taking the fruit directly from his hand with a bite.

“Mmm… so sweet indeed!” Su Liyue mumbled indistinctly, her cheeks puffed out.

A wisp of water elemental energy condensed at the tip of her magic staff, rinsing the berries until they gleamed translucently.

She then picked a few more and offered them to Ye Xingchen’s lips, for good things, after all, were meant to be shared, allowing one to experience a double delight that others could not.

Under the afternoon sun, the winding creek resembled a flowing ribbon of crystal; within its clear depths, countless tiny specks of magical light gently swayed with the current, as if a stream of shattered diamonds had been scattered.

The pebbles along the bank were covered in a layer of glowing moss, which flickered brightly and dimly with the undulations of the water.

Expansive thickets of Moonlight Berries grew along the creek bank, each shrub’s branches displaying a translucent emerald hue.

Thumb-sized fruits hung from the branches; beneath their cicada-wing-thin skins, a luminous, moon-like white glow pulsed.

Though it wasn’t yet the hour for them to fully glow, one could already discern a faint halo of light within the fruits, as if each contained a small sphere of liquid moonlight.

Several Snowfluff Rabbits darted through the berry bushes, their fluffy fur dusted with glowing pollen, leaving trails of fragmented light behind them as they scurried.

One particularly bold rabbit even ventured to Mu Wanqing’s feet, its pink nose twitching softly, its obsidian-like eyes reflecting the girl’s silhouette.

Across the creek, several enormous fluorescent mushrooms formed a natural archway, their phosphorescent patterns shifting colors in time with an unseen rhythm.

Further in the distance, on the trunks of ancient, towering trees, luminous vines slowly grew at a visible pace, their tips continuously blooming with rice-grain-sized flowers of light, only to wither into specks of luminous dust three seconds later.

The air was filled with a complex aroma, a blend of the Moonlight Berries’ sweetness, the rich fragrance of fluorescent nectar, and the earthy scent of damp soil.

Occasionally, a gentle breeze would stir, startling the light-winged butterflies perched in the tree canopy; the scales shed from their translucent wings as they fluttered created miniature rainbows in the lingering sunlight.

In the middle of the creek, several wild crucian carp leaped from the water, their scales refracting into a spectrum of colors under the sun.

The droplets they splashed condensed mid-air into suspended crystal spheres, each encapsulating a miniature rainbow, only to fall back into the creek several seconds later.

On the damp soil along the bank, within the footprints left by some unknown creature, accumulated water eerily defied gravity, floating upwards to form a glistening necklace of water droplets.

The entire forest seemed enchanted by some perpetual magic, every detail speaking of a beauty that transcended the ordinary.

Even falling leaves traced luminous paths through the air, and upon gently touching the water’s surface, they would trigger a ripple that shimmered with golden light.

Su Liyue leaned languidly in Ye Xingchen’s embrace, her magic staff giving a gentle flick. Swathes of Moonlight Berries, as if enchanted, floated upwards, tracing graceful arcs in the air before obediently settling into her open storage ring.

Each Moonlight Berry was crystal clear, shimmering with a pearlescent halo in the twilight, like miniature moons.

She contentedly placed a berry into her mouth; the sweet juice immediately burst on her tongue, carrying a hint of minty coolness that invigorated her body and mind, weary from their long journey.

In the distance, the creek shimmered with transparent ripples under the sunlight, and several wild crucian carp occasionally leaped from the water, their scales reflecting a kaleidoscopic brilliance that left fleeting rainbow bridges in the air.

“Qing,” Su Liyue murmured, her eyes narrowed, nuzzling Ye Xingchen’s chest like an adorable cat.

“Look how plump those wild crucian carp are; why don’t we catch a few for dinner? It’s the first day of training, and I bet the other teams are either studying magical beast habits or searching for suitable hiding spots.”

As she spoke, her gaze swept across the distant, shadowy woods on the opposite bank. There, several pairs of glowing eyes flickered into view, clearly indicating some nocturnal magical beasts observing from the shadows.

As a transmigrator, she was all too aware of the inherent dangers of this survival training.

Most students were encountering magical beasts for the first time, and even low-level Bronze-tier magical beasts, if they appeared in a group, could easily throw a four-person team into disarray.

“Mages fear being cornered the most; spellcasting requires time and space, and if one’s reactions aren’t quick enough…” She left the sentence unfinished, but Mu Wanqing already understood her unspoken meaning.

Those rash students who acted impulsively would either be eliminated early or be forced to hide in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to ambush.

Suddenly, a ripple of magical energy stirred the air by the creek. Several Snowfluff Rabbits, drinking from the water, alertly pricked their ears before darting swiftly into the bushes.

Su Liyue, sensing something, looked towards the forbidden area, where the trees appeared taller than elsewhere, and the glowing vines entwined around their trunks were noticeably denser…

Ye Xingchen followed her gaze, falling into contemplation.

“While it’s still early, let’s take care of dinner first. As for the rest… we can discuss it later.”