Chapter 1023: The Blood Slave Liberation Movement
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1023: The Blood Slave Liberation Movement
Inside the laboratory.
"It looks like I've taken the right path with this attempt."
This major operation targeting the Tree of Fool's Dream had finally provided the Holy Relic with a true vessel.
The properties of the Land of Fool's Dream originally derived from the Holy Relic, but now, having transformed into Fool's Dream, it served as the vessel for the Holy Relic's power in return.
This aligned perfectly with my vision of turning power into Fool's Dream.
However, a new problem had surfaced: the Land of Fool's Dream existed within my soul's dreamscape. Whether it was the Land of Fool's Dream or the Holy Relic, both were now essentially and inseparably linked to the nature of my soul.
What did this mean?
It meant that the Primal Great Fool's Dream Spell was a system dominated by me.
This relationship was much like the Tree of Great Knowledge—it could not exist independently of me. Others could not steal it, and I could not easily discard it.
Thus, I faced a new question.
Who was the ultimate Primal Fool's Dream?
Me?
The reason I even had such a thought was mainly because I didn't fully understand the definition of a "Primal" lifeform. After all, no one could teach me; I had to grope my way through the dark.
As it stood, my definition of "Primal" was still stuck at the level of power and Authority.
After all, the one who opens the path for a brand-new race is the primal template for that race. The racial concepts and bloodline information etched into the life sequence transform into two portions of Authority, granting the creator immense dominance over the newly established race.
But... as long as it is power, it can be stolen. Primal power is no exception.
So, is a lifeform possessing Primal power considered the non-replicable "Primal" of that race?
Or is the form assumed after hosting Primal power the definition of a Primal lifeform?
This question troubled me for quite some time.
However, after calming down and reflecting repeatedly, I gradually moved past it.
Did I really want to be the Primal Fool's Dream?
No. All I wanted was for Fool's Dream to become a new race, to become a recognized form of life.
So, looking at it from another perspective... was the "Primal" aspect important?
It was still important!
Because the Primal can dictate the fate of a race, it has only two destinations: either I keep it for safekeeping, or... it is returned to Fool's Dream itself.
Generally speaking, a new race emerges alongside a Primal Progenitor through the natural selection of the world. But since I had decided to create the Fool's Dream race myself, who the Primal Fool's Dream actually was didn't matter. What mattered was the Primal power and Authority.
Was this equivalent to strangling the Primal Fool's Dream?
No... how can you strangle a life that has never been born?
Once I had straightened out these thoughts, I redirected all my energy back into the Fool's Dream life experiments.
This drive stemmed primarily from my conviction that I would succeed.
If all went well, I would be able to truly bestow the concept of life upon Fool's Dream by the end of this semester!
With that conviction firm in my mind, I took out a clump of soul quality and continued to refine my soul level using soul sketching and life evolution techniques.
Admittedly, I would pour most of my energy into Fool's Dream, but my own strength also required step-by-step accumulation.
Even the Transcendent level... was within my reach.
* * *
Sun Rock Territory.
Inside the Linri Hotel.
This hotel was built in an oasis within the Sun Rock Territory and was the tallest building in the area.
I heard that this hotel had already come under the ownership of the Payne family.
Speaking of the Payne family, I didn't have much of an impression of them, but I did know one person: Betsy Payne, who was a teaching assistant for the Witch Secret Realm Club.
We had met back in the Expansion Realm, and there had been a slight bit of friction between us.
However, those old debts had long been settled. That teaching assistant had already offered her sincere apologies, so I naturally couldn't be bothered to hold a grudge.
Now, it was my turn to worry that these people might try to use this opportunity to cozy up to me.
If they really wanted to establish a connection, they could go talk to Millian or Cleveland; those two were the professionals when it came to negotiating exchanges of interest.
The main purpose of my new life clone staying here was to prevent anyone from causing trouble.
After all, with me stationed here, the small-scale Transcendent academies in the vicinity didn't dare to make a peep.
Furthermore, I had marked out a spell testing ground on the wasteland. With the intervention of the power network and the root network, I had set up a restricted warning zone.
When I had nothing else to do, I would come here to test my various spell derivations for actual power measurements.
I had accumulated far too many spell derivation sequences but had never had the space or opportunity to test them in the field.
This was an excellent opportunity for testing, and it served the secondary purpose of deterring any wandering thoughts from the people nearby.
As for whether I was afraid of people recording my spell methods and then targeting me?
I actually hoped they would do exactly that~
Spells and their various derivations were merely my conventional means. Who fights with conventional means these days?
If I actually used them, it would be for clearing trash on a battlefield.
Since I had already categorized them as "trash-clearing," what was the point of these people mastering countermeasures?
There was none. In fact, letting them waste their time on useless endeavors was a win-win situation.
By testing my spells, I gained a deeper understanding of the relationship between spell frameworks, ritual construction, rune composition, and practical application. Meanwhile, the other side met their observation and recording quotas and fulfilled their missions. Was that not a win-win?
At the moment, I was in the hotel, lounging lazily on a sofa. Before me was the content of the Transcendent Dark Web, accessed via a Seed of Wisdom.
Unlike the gossip-filled news on the public internet, the content on the Transcendent Dark Web was much more "exciting."
One could say that everything happening on the Transcendent level converged here. However... brainless keyboard warriors still existed. It was just that the atmosphere of the Dark Web made them slightly more restrained in their vitriol; most of it was actually quite plain communication.
There were many public discussion boards where people spoke their minds freely. Most were help-wanted or buy-and-sell posts.
From these, one could see that underground trading channels were quite brazen.
For instance, I saw a post looking to buy a complete pair of Holy Angel wings.
The comments below were all spectators.
There were also some comments with rather nasty tones, and even some threats. One look and you knew they were students from the Holy Angel Academy.
I clicked on the account info of the person who posted the threatening comment and found that the system had already deleted the account.
This was because it violated the consensus rules of the Transcendent Dark Web. The Dark Web was meant for discussing things that couldn't be brought to light; excessive displays of justice were considered a waste of time here.
I could understand that. Everyone has their own moral baseline. For example, I saw someone asking whether centaurs or beef tasted better.
I found that extremely repulsive.
As for the reason... best not to say.
But these bizarre topics were a tiny minority. Currently, the hottest topic on the Transcendent Dark Web was the Witch Academy's academy war.
Many were speculating on the Witch Academy's next move, while others were asking about the attitudes of the Three Top Academies.
There were also family members using this period to buy up Transcendent materials carried by fleeing Sun Rock Elf Academy students.
Eventually, I saw a topic titled "The Witch Academy's Peacekeeping Conspiracy."
I recalled that I had only proposed this idea to Cleveland a few days ago.
They probably hadn't even held more than one or two meetings, yet someone had already brought it up?
And they even called the proposal a "conspiracy."
Could it be that someone from within the Witch Academy had leaked it themselves?
But even if it was leaked, it didn't matter. Peacekeeping was essentially an open scheme; so what if they knew?
All we needed was a reason to intervene.
Aside from that topic, I scrolled for a long time but didn't find much recent buzz regarding Abyssal demons. Even when there was, it was just trivial matters.
It seemed that dragging the Abyssal demons into the fray couldn't be rushed.
"Time for spell testing."
Closing the Transcendent Dark Web, I checked the time and saw I had already exceeded my self-allotted window.
It seemed that "surfing the web"—this act of easily acquiring outside information—was indeed addictive.
After a brief sigh, I flew directly from the hotel roof toward the spell testing zone to put on the daily scheduled performance for the surrounding area.
The spell firework show.
After all, when spells exploded on the surface or in the sky without harming anyone, they did look quite beautiful.
There was a category of spells specifically for firework shows—cantrips with flexible frameworks that served as excellent references for many explosive spells.
But what I was performing wasn't that kind of decorative fluff. These were derivation spells that could cause tremors when they hit the ground and create atmospheric shockwaves when they detonated in the air.
* * *
In the blink of an eye, half a semester had passed.
In reality, it had only been about a month or two.
However, during these one or two months—these dozens of days—the Core World had been anything but peaceful.
The joint clubs of the Witch Academy, flying the banner of "Peacekeeping," had intervened in many small-scale Transcendent academies.
Their "peacekeeping" techniques were so thuggish they left onlookers stunned.
The Combat Sequences of the joint clubs had charged into many corners of the Core World. Such a massive movement suddenly made many people realize that there was a Transcendent academy as powerful as the Witch Academy in this world.
In the outside world, most people had only ever heard of the Three Top Academies.
That title was like a symbol etched into the hearts of many ordinary people.
Now, the Witch Academy's actions had undoubtedly thrust the school into the public eye. Although the image was mostly negative, at least people remembered them.
The joint clubs' first few peacekeeping operations went very smoothly. Afterward, the Three Top Academies began to interfere. Although the "peacekeeping" remained successful, the Witches didn't manage to reap as many benefits.
However, in the middle of these two months, a large-scale riot in the territory of the Blood Slave Academy completely changed the stalemate between the Witch Academy and the Three Top Academies!
The Blood Slave Academy was located on a densely populated continental peninsula in the Main World and was an affiliated academy of the Lord Vampire Academy.
Of course, calling it an "affiliated academy" wasn't quite right. It would be more accurate to say that this academy was essentially a food supply base for the Lord Vampire Academy.
"Blood Slave"—as the name implied, they were "reserve rations" that were excluded even from the Lord Vampire hierarchy.
The academy not only had to provide a massive amount of fresh blood for the Lord Vampire Academy—the orthodox Vampire Transcendent academy—but also had to provide food for the Vampire affiliated academies.
Thus, it wasn't surprising that the academy was built in a heavily populated region.
As for how the riot started... the process wasn't complicated; it was actually quite simple.
It was triggered solely by the leak of the truth!
Enroll in the Blood Slave Academy, and you're immediately signed up for "voluntary" blood donation; the Blood Slave transformation automatically makes you a lower class of being.
The academy drew blood on a regular schedule, as if raising livestock.
The academy regularly held Transcendent power competitions, using physical fitness that surpassed ordinary people to create a false sense of superiority for the Blood Slaves.
But this fake strength was like a bubble, bursting at the slightest prick.
However, the infrastructure in the Blood Slave Peninsula was abysmal, and internet penetration was very low, making it difficult to use the truth to build momentum.
But that didn't mean they had no way of obtaining the truth.
This riot had been brewing for over a month, finally ignited by the leak of Blood Slave transformation essence, which sparked the Blood Slave Liberation Movement.
A massive number of rioters, after injecting the transformation essence and turning into Transcendent Blood Slaves, charged toward the Blood Slave Academy.
This riot "just happened" to occur along the domain route of the No. 7 Combat Sequence as they were returning from a peacekeeping mission.
The "kind-hearted" members of the No. 7 Peacekeeping Combat Sequence, riding their brooms above, witnessed such a large-scale conflict. Adhering to the philosophy of peacekeeping, they forcibly intervened to aid the weak against the strong.
However, the last batch of withdrawing personnel from the No. 7 Combat Sequence was relatively weak in combat power. Facing the resistance of an entire academy of die-hard fanatics, they unfortunately suffered casualties.
The Witch Academy's joint clubs learned of this immediately and dispatched the main members of the No. 1 and No. 2 Combat Sequences to the battlefield to rescue their fallen comrades.
The other Combat Sequences were also placed on immediate standby. Should they encounter any "irresistible force," they would depart instantly to carry their "assistance" to the very end.
Faced with such a sudden situation, the Lord Vampire Academy and the Vampire affiliated academies immediately dispatched reinforcements.
After all, the Blood Slave Academy was their granary!
They could not afford even the slightest loss!
The Lord Vampire Academy was not some obscure school like the Sun Rock Elf Academy.
Although they relied on the Wizard Academy to some extent, in the public consciousness, the Vampire Academy held a similar level of fame to "large-scale Transcendent academies" like the Witch Academy.
Furthermore, rumors in the outside world claimed that the Vampire affiliated academies and the Blood Slave Academy were feeders for the Lord Vampire Academy; if a student's talent was exceptional, there was a chance they could transfer to the main campus!
As for how high that probability actually was, not many people cared. Families with limited perspective only saw the words "there is a chance."
What if their underachieving child turned out to be a genius in the Blood Slave Academy?
The lower a family's level of awareness, the more they tended to gamble. Combined with the population density of the Blood Slave Peninsula, the number of students in the Blood Slave Academy actually surpassed that of large-scale, and even top-tier, academies to some extent!
Now, with the No. 1 and No. 2 Combat Sequences pinned down by these two large Transcendent academies, the situation had fallen into a deadlock.
But things were far from over.
Because... students of the Witch Academy had died here!
The last school to let Witch Academy students die on their watch—the Sun Rock Elf Academy—had already been wiped off the map. It was clear that the Witch Academy was absolutely serious about this conflict!
Consequently, the Wizard Academy also entered the fray.