Chapter 1018: Xiao Han is Dead! Do You Want to Join Her in the Grave?!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1018: Xiao Han is Dead! Do You Want to Join Her in the Grave?!
At this moment, in the Core World...
In the region where the special Witch Academy was located, everyone witnessed a celestial spectacle unlike anything they had ever seen!
High in the heavens, a sphere of brilliance gradually ascended. It climbed until it reached an altitude beyond the reach of sight, leading many to believe the event had concluded.
The Magic City was the seat of the Witch Academy. When such a sudden phenomenon occurred, many speculated that the academy was conducting some sort of experiment. After all, the Witch Academy had recently declared war on a Transcendent academy called "Sun Rock Elf Academy." Most assumed this was some powerful Transcendent weapon developed by the witches.
Just as they thought it was over, the light—which had shrunk to the size of a distant star—suddenly expanded!
In the middle of the bright day, a second sun seemed to be born in the sky!
As the overflowing mana crossed the boundary between the world and the Life Forbidden Zone, it showered the earth in a gentle cascade. Even so, the energy released by the mana’s level-leap brought an instantaneous surge of light and heat.
Though this second sun did not last forever, what happened over the Magic City that day would be etched into the memory of every witness.
None were more shaken than the elite families residing in the Magic City. They viewed this as a terrifying display of force by the Witch Academy!
An artificial sun!
If such a power were unleashed on the surface, within the Magic City itself... they couldn't even imagine how anyone could survive. Yet, the more terrifying the Transcendent power became, the more it solidified the desire within certain families to obtain it.
If the academy could master such means, why couldn't they? Their families simply lacked the accumulation of Transcendent knowledge.
* * *
High above the Core World, within the Life Forbidden Zone.
"Xiao Han!"
Of all those present, the one whose heart was most gripped by the sight was Mei Lind, the Academy Dean.
At this moment, Bai Yu remained in the experimental zone to accompany the main body. As the Void Rift gradually healed, a familiar figure slowly materialized before everyone’s eyes.
This time, that familiar silhouette and face drew the gaze of every Transcendent present!
"It’s you again! You little witch!"
Faced with that "voice" speaking through gritted teeth, I had no desire to respond.
The Void Rift state I had just maintained was the form I had envisioned for Infinite Mana. In that instant, I had used my life essence as a blueprint to try and create a brand-new derivative talent.
But I had failed... well, a temporary failure.
If I wanted to anchor Infinite Mana—a talent derived from the "Prototype Self-Generated Mana Talent"—onto my life essence, it would be a massive gamble. A gamble of life and death!
If this weren't a life clone, I wouldn't even dare to continue. After all, the price of failure was being torn apart by the Void Rift, a fate from which no Resurrection Spell could trace and restore me.
"I don't understand... what kind of charm does a little witch like you have?! Why are all these Transcendent witches so willing to revolve around you? Is every experiment you people run centered on this girl?!"
Seeing me again in this standoff, one of the Transcendents finally snapped.
"If you don't understand it now, you never will!" Mei Lind stepped forward, addressing the wizard whose expression was clouded with gloom.
In Mei Lind’s eyes, the man had asked a profoundly stupid question. He had it all backward. It wasn't that they were driving Xiao Han; it was that Xiao Han’s actions moved them.
However, he was right about one thing: Xiao Han did possess a unique charm. Her spirit, as she explored the Transcendent realms, acted like a beacon, guiding many witches to follow her regardless of the gap in their levels.
Her status wasn't something the witches had bestowed upon her; it was something Xiao Han had earned herself. Her repeated miracles had made those witches willing to serve her of their own accord.
Sometimes, Mei Lind wondered if Xiao Han had accidentally dumped all her social points into this specific brand of talent and charisma. She had managed to make so many Transcendent witches bow their heads in service.
It began with appreciation, moved to astonishment, and finally ended in looking up to her in awe.
"Xiao Han, how are you?" After snapping at the Transcendents, Mei Lind immediately turned her concern toward Xiao Han.
To her, Xiao Han’s current state looked dire. Her damaged body showed no signs of self-healing, and her weakened life essence was as fragile as a candle flickering in a storm.
"I'm fine... really, I'm okay~" I looked at Dean Mei. I tried to speak, but found that sound wouldn't carry. However, there were many ways to convey meaning in a vacuum.
I summoned the Tree of Great Knowledge to communicate via consciousness.
"Really okay? Your current condition..."
"Of course. I know my situation best," I interrupted Dean Mei. I could tell she knew I was a life clone, but she still didn't want to give up on this living being. "This life of mine... it still needs to verify one final, crucial question."
"Verify it with your life?"
"Yes. A gamble with my life as the stake. If it succeeds, everyone is happy. If it fails... it will still provide me with invaluable experience and data."
"Now?"
"When else? This life won't last much longer anyway. Letting it serve its final purpose is a fitting end," I explained with a smile, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Having said my piece, I didn't wait for Dean Mei to protest. I moved immediately.
What I needed to do now was simple: use this life to test the path of anchoring the Infinite Mana talent onto the soul essence! If one life wasn't enough to find the way, then two... three!
The path was right before my eyes. All I needed was constant trial and error until I found the one that worked. To others, I might look like a madman, but to me, this was merely an "acceptable cost."
At that moment, no one knew what I had said to Dean Mei. They only saw us exchange words before I resolutely stepped back onto the path I had taken before!
As the Void was once again torn asunder by the manifesting totems, the domain order of Body Cultivation Heart State surged from the depths of my soul essence.
In an instant, my physical body was shredded and obliterated.
Unlike the sustained, brilliant abyss of mana from before, this time, everything ended in a flash. Life was extinguished like a moth darting into a flame.
And in that split second when the Void Rift annihilated everything and prepared to close, every witch present felt a sudden palpitation originating from their bloodline. Their internal mana surged, nearly spiraling out of control.
It ended so quickly. A life had been completely terminated beneath the Void Rift.
Even the vastly experienced Mei Lind wasn't certain what had happened in that final moment.
Did Xiao Han succeed?
In that instant, she too had felt the mana riot. Logically, a mana source that had been thoroughly refined and mastered by a witch shouldn't be affected by external forces—unless it was something from a deeper level.
Like... the Self-Generated Mana Body Talent.
That was the core foundation and source of the witch race's Transcendent advancement system, the root of mana's birth, and the bedrock of the mana source hierarchy. If a talent called Infinite Mana truly existed... its very presence was a challenge to the concept of the mana source hierarchy from the moment of its birth.
But a challenge was merely a challenge to the witches' perceptions; no witch could deny the power Infinite Mana would grant through sheer strength.
As Mei Lind’s mind raced, a new message suddenly popped up on the private chat of the Great Knowledge Seed she hadn't yet closed.
"Success."
Seeing those seven letters, Mei Lind instinctively smiled. No one knew better than her how terrifyingly valuable that word was.
Success!
What success?
Infinite Mana was a success!
"What are you all looking at?! Xiao Han is dead! Do you all want to stay behind and be buried in the grave with her?!"
With her worries gone, Mei Lind immediately turned her spearhead toward the gathered Transcendents! Her voice was so arrogant, her words so wild, and her gestures so provocative that the opposition was momentarily stunned.
Even the witches standing behind Mei Lind, who were still in the dark, were startled by her sudden shift in temperament.
Seeing Mei Lind suddenly overflowing with murderous intent, the faces of the Transcendent wizards and elves changed drastically! They felt like they were being played, but they had no proof. After all, that little witch really had died right in front of everyone. And she had died under a Void Rift!
Regardless of whether that little witch was the Yang Yuehan they knew, they only knew that a vibrant life had been utterly extinguished... perhaps that was the only good news they had?
But the price...
"You witches are being unreasonable! What does that girl's death have to do with us? Did we force her to seek her own death?!"
"If you keep this up, you'll trigger a Transcendent War!"
Though these Transcendents talked big, their legs didn't hesitate. If they were killed by this mad witch, they would truly be dead for nothing. Their respective Transcendent academies would never be able to seek justice for them.
In the end, the farce concluded with Dean Mei Lind symbolically chasing the Transcendents back to their territories.
This left many of the Transcendent witches confused, unsure of what Dean Mei Lind was playing at.
"Good sister~ Sister Mei~ calm down, don't let those guys get to you!"
"Yeah, yeah! Quick, tell us what happened. Why were we kept in the dark the whole time?"
"That was Xiao Han just now, right? What happened to her?"
A crowd of witches swarmed around her. Driven by curiosity about the unknown and a thirst for gossip, they abandoned their usual poise.
"A general reply for everyone: Xiao Han isn't dead," Mei Lind explained to the crowd, one by one. "As for what happened... just consider it Xiao Han developing a new ability."
"Wait, what kind of ability was that? In that last moment, I felt the mana inside me go wild."
"Me too! We're all Transcendents, how could we be shaken by Xiao Han’s methods? And it shook our very foundation—our mana!"
The witches were incredibly curious. It wasn't just curiosity, though; there was also a hint of... fear.
Yes, fear!
Whether it was that terrifyingly vast amount of mana, the Void Rift she carried with her body, or the influence she exerted on them in that final moment, it was all deeply unsettling. One had to remember that not every Transcendent witch was a combat specialist, nor was every witch a scholar. Any living being would instinctively fear the unknown—it was an anxiety born of facing something beyond one's ability to handle.
"I will give you all a formal answer later. This is a feat Xiao Han achieved alone, and I need to earn her consent before I can reveal the details to you." Ultimately, Mei Lind did not take it upon herself to disclose the concept of Infinite Mana.
In her eyes, this talent was far too terrifying; calling it a trump card was an understatement. More importantly... Xiao Han had succeeded!
If Xiao Han hadn't succeeded, the idea would have just been a fun theory to listen to, as the concept was far too idealized. But Xiao Han had made the impossible talent a reality. Although May hadn't witnessed the final result with her own eyes, she didn't believe Xiao Han would joke about something like this.
After soothing the witches whose curiosity was about to explode, she quickly returned to the experimental zone of the Witch Academy. If the experimental zone didn't have restricted access, a swarm of witches would likely have surrounded Xiao Han by now.
Just as Mei Lind was about to enter the experimental zone to see Xiao Han, a figure blocked her path.
It was Sheryl.
"Why are you stopping me?"
"Because I don't have access to the experimental zone~ If I don't stop you to ask for the situation now, I'll be completely in the dark." Sheryl spoke with a smile, as if her actions were perfectly natural.
She had watched everything that happened to Xiao Han from start to finish. But she didn't know exactly what Xiao Han had done.
"I can't tell you right now. This involves Xiao Han’s core secrets. Unless I get her permission, I won't say a word."
"You mean... you actually know? Don't you think you know a bit too much?"
"It means Xiao Han trusts me."
"I want to laugh at that... but I respect Xiao Han’s privacy. Still, knowing that a person like you is in the loop makes me have the delusion that I might be qualified to know as well..."
"You're overestimating yourself, aren't you?" Mei Lind looked at Sheryl with a trace of disdain.
"So, will you ask for me?" Sheryl didn't care about Mei Lind’s attitude; she simply asked the question.
"...I will." Mei Lind was silent for a second before finally speaking. "Based on my understanding of Xiao Han, she likely won't mind making it public. And that public scope will likely include you."
"Then, thank you~"