Chapter 1025: The Main World is Still Too Small
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1025: The Main World is Still Too Small
"Oh my~ Sister Mei, you've come knocking again? And you even sent a clone this time?"
Seeing Dean Mei take the initiative to come to me, I greeted her enthusiastically. After all, I had to be—I knew exactly how much trouble I had caused.
Experimenting with Infinite Mana on the surface of the Main World had resulted in a destructive force more terrifying than an atomic bomb. Of course, this world didn't have nuclear technology, and whether it was fission or fusion, the energy released was nowhere near as horrific as Infinite Mana.
If the Main World didn't have the Great Weakening Spell suppressing everything, that so-called Earth-Sun Tragedy wouldn't have just carved a basin into the mountains.
"Then why don't you guess what my main body is doing right now?" Dean Mei followed my lead, her tone teasing as she threw the question back at me.
"Uh..." I looked at Dean Mei. She hadn't arrived with a reproachful tone or a resentful expression, which actually made me feel a bit out of sorts for a moment.
"I'm really not sure..." I hesitated, not answering directly, though I had my suspicions. It was most likely...
"She is currently communicating with the representatives of the Three Great Transcendent Races regarding the matter of a certain little witch."
"Is that so? Such a grand occasion?"
"Have you already forgotten the 'wonderful' things you've done?" Dean Mei walked inside, drawing curious gazes from quite a few other witches.
"Let's go inside and talk privately."
"Mhm."
I nodded and walked into a vacant laboratory under the gossiping, curious eyes of the older witch sisters.
"I know I was wrong!"
As soon as we were inside and the door was shut, I took the initiative to admit my mistake.
"You aren't wrong." To my surprise, Dean Mei didn't scold me for my antics this time. "I didn't come here to talk about what you did. In fact, we might know more details about what you did than you do yourself."
"Xiao Han, you must remember: any criticism or questioning from the outside only proves one thing—that you did nothing wrong. Even if you did, it only means we lack the ability to make what you did 'right.'"
"Huh?"
"In the past, if those Three Great Transcendent Races had the gall to come here and calmly demand that our Witch Academy take responsibility, we wouldn't have even entertained the thought." Dean Mei casually pulled out a chair and sat down, gesturing for me to do the same.
"Can you imagine how hilarious it is? A group of Transcendents giving up on force and turning to negotiations to accuse a little witch who isn't even a Transcendent yet?"
"To use a certain someone's words: 'What exactly are those Transcendents afraid of? Are they afraid a little witch who isn't even a Transcendent might actually tear a hole in the sky?'"
"...I guess that makes sense?"
"It seems you don't quite get it, Xiao Han. I didn't come here to demand an apology." Seeing that I wasn't laughing along, Dean Mei explained, "By the way, where is your Life Clone?"
"In the testing room, summarizing the successful experience," I said.
"Can you show me? I'm truly curious about what that talent actually looks like!" Dean Mei had barely sat down before she stood up again.
Although she didn't fully understand Infinite Mana, she had discussed it with Xiao Han before. Once the Infinite Mana talent was complete, it represented something else entirely.
It meant complete Domain power and the hallmark of the Saint Realm below the Transcendent level!
This was a truly monumental achievement!
"Sure, I'll take you to see it, Sister Mei." I stood up as well. "By the way, Sister Mei, you didn't come all this way just to witness the success of my Infinite Mana experiment, did you?"
"Is such a heaven-defying talent not worth a special trip?" Dean Mei made her purpose sound incredibly significant. "And it's not just me—Xiao Han, do you have no self-awareness at all? It seems that not knowing you've done something earth-shattering is a common ailment among geniuses."
"Since you put it that way, Sister Mei, I can't really argue with that..."
Talking as we went, I led Dean Mei to the testing room.
After completing the Infinite Mana talent experiment, the Life Clone theoretically possessed destructive power and a level that surpassed my main body.
However, power is not the primary component of the self; the ego is.
At this moment, the surface of the Life Clone's body was no longer occupied by void rifts as it had been before; it looked exactly like her normal form.
If the talent of Self-Generated Mana was a passive ability, then Infinite Mana itself was an active skill.
After all, the foundation for constructing the Infinite Mana talent was vast. It wasn't a single talent built upon the soul essence like Self-Generated Mana.
The more core frameworks involved in the construction, the easier it was to manipulate certain nodes, thereby controlling the activation and deactivation of the Infinite Mana talent.
Dean Mei watched with great anticipation as I demonstrated the talent.
Once the Infinite Mana talent became a truly "controllable talent," it was no longer an uncontrolled outlet for pouring out massive amounts of mana like before.
However, activating this talent still caused a massive disturbance.
The disturbance of tearing void rifts!
Dean Mei watched as the Life Clone's entire body turned pitch black, like ink. She knew very well that this was the manifestation of void rifts!
This was a talent built upon the soul essence, a process of liberation that affected the biological body.
Furthermore, only in this state could the deployed domain be considered a complete domain.
Without ascending to Transcendent, the transcendent mana one could carry always had an upper limit, and that limit was the lower bound of a complete Saint Realm domain.
Therefore, before ascending, Infinite Mana replaced the self-circulation mechanism of domain consumption, allowing the domain to become complete. However, once the Infinite Mana state was deactivated, the self-circulation of the complete domain would collapse, causing one to fall from that state.
Dean Mei was here to witness these things.
Infinite Mana, and the Saint Realm domain!
"Xiao Han... speaking of which, do you have a plan for ascending to Transcendent?" After finishing those topics, Dean Mei asked this question.
After all, she had seen Saint Realm domains before, but this was her first time seeing one achieved below the Transcendent level.
If she had to evaluate it, she would say the domain was complete, but the level was insufficient.
Only by ascending to Transcendent could the domain order and power mastered by an individual be qualified to reach the level of Real Time.
In Mei Lind's view, ascending to Transcendent had become Xiao Han's most urgent matter.
The priority of this matter even surpassed the Fool's Dream life experiment and the trade for the World Navel.
But... she could only offer suggestions.
She had no right, nor the standing, to demand Xiao Han do anything.
"I do. I've been working on a plan to ascend. I've even derived a Soul Evolution technique to accelerate the elevation of my soul's level," I replied.
Soul Evolution was a technique I derived based on Soul Depiction and Life Evolution. It wasn't nearly as difficult as those two.
In fact, this technique could be dismantled and used for various situations at any time.
"Sister Mei, I think I mentioned this to you before? This technique was originally used as a way to adapt to Floating World level Spirit Vision. After all, as the soul level increases, the pressure that the gift of Spirit Vision puts on my life essence decreases, and my own adaptability strengthens."
"Then, Xiao Han, how much longer do you think you'll need before you can ascend?" Dean Mei continued to ask.
She was shocked by such absurd methods. Most of the techniques Xiao Han didn't actively promote were simply those that others couldn't possibly learn.
"Hmm... it's hard to say, since I've never ascended before. But I feel like it's soon. At least a year or two," I said, not entirely certain.
"A year or two..." Hearing this answer, Mei Lind still felt it was incredibly fast.
A year was but a blink of an eye for a Transcendent Witch, but the current changes in the Main World were happening a bit too rapidly.
Many of the more laid-back witches in the academy were complaining that the atmosphere of the Main World was becoming too tense, making it unsuitable for a quiet retirement.
"Mhm, a year or two at most. I feel like I'm already about to touch that level." As I spoke, I reached out into the air in front of me.
Even though there was nothing there, I could indeed feel a barrier that transcended space.
Perhaps that was Real Time.
My Floating World level Spirit Vision gave me the sight to see it, but because of that same Spirit Vision, I also knew the frustration of being able to see something but not touch it.
"Are you about to reach the level of Real Touch?" As a veteran Transcendent, Dean Mei naturally saw what I had just reached for.
That was the boundary line where the material world touched Real Time!
It did not shift based on will; the life level would faithfully reveal the level that a being could reach.
"Did you forget I'm a Body Cultivator, Sister Mei? It's not just touch. Aside from the additions from Spirit Vision, I've already felt the barrier of Real Time through my Five Senses, all the way to my Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Senses..."
Power was useless against that barrier. I finally understood why "Transcendent" was the only grade classification in the void.
And why it was a concept of level that no living being could shake.
Even though I had already shaken the Saint Realm level, I was still helpless before a Transcendent.
Because "Transcendent" was a grand framework; it established the only true hierarchy.
"You've already reached the Eighth Sense?" Hearing my words, Mei Lind couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
As expected, the Body Cultivation system—where "Transcendent" and "Life Essence" were directly linked—was truly the darling of the heavens.
"Yes, the Eighth Sense is Space Sense. I feel that with the support of Infinite Mana, not only can the 'prototype' suffix be removed from my Sixth Sense Heart State Domain, but the Seventh and Eighth Senses can also be fully realized. However, I lack practical experience."
Hearing my words, Mei Lind fell into deep thought. Unconsciously, the words of that Rebel Witch seemed to echo in her ears.
Perhaps... Xiao Han really did need a larger stage to display her brilliance!
The Main World was currently still too small.
"Once you ascend to Transcendent, Xiao Han, I will take you to see the wider world. There, you will have a much larger space to practice."
"Is that so? Then I'll look forward to it." I didn't pay too much mind to what Dean Mei said.
I acknowledged that the void outside the Main World was a larger world, but before my current affairs were settled, I had no desire to see things I couldn't yet reach.
A short while later.
I led Dean Mei out of the testing room.
Taking advantage of this meeting, I voiced my next plan.
"Sister Mei, I intend to begin the experiment on the racial consciousness of the Ancient Remnant Ice," I said.
"Hmm? Why?" Hearing me say this so suddenly, Dean Mei was surprised. "Xiao Han, weren't you putting all your energy into the Fool's Dream life experiment?"
Mei Lind knew very well that by saying this, I was signaling that I was ready to begin the trade with the Main World.
Admittedly, from the moment she learned of this trade, Mei Lind had hoped Xiao Han would finish her experiments quickly and proceed with it.
Once the location of the World Navel was in the hands of the witches, the Witch Academy would completely control the game board of the Main World!
They could even flip the current status quo immediately!
But hearing Xiao Han say it so suddenly still felt a bit surreal to Mei Lind.
"That's right..." I nodded in response.
I hadn't been without progress over this past half-semester.
After spending so much time, how could I have let it go to waste?
I had already completed the engraving of the Fool's Dream racial bloodline information. Using the Holy Relic as the source, I had completed the shaping of the Primal Great Fool's Dream Transformation Spell.
I had written the Authority of Transformation into the Land of Fool's Dream.
And the racial concept for the Authority of Summoning... after my continuous exploration, it pointed toward the domain of "Consciousness."
If bloodline was information written into the life essence—the external manifestation of concepts like soul quality and soul—then the racial concept pointed toward the most core domain of consciousness within the concept of life.
A racial concept was the identification of consciousness, like a brand engraved within it.
The reason a human considers themselves human is because of a concept shaping their self-consciousness.
The same was true for witches; the most obvious point was the identification of the individual's cognition during Witchification.
A darker way to put it would be that a racial concept is a branded shackle imposed upon consciousness by life.
But to put it more objectively: a racial concept is the belonging of consciousness, and the racial brand is a guiding light for consciousness when it is lost.
If a consciousness lacked the anchoring of a racial concept, I didn't know what it would become, but it made me think of those countless chaotic and disordered dream creatures in the Primitive Dream Realm.
Therefore, the study of consciousness would be the most critical step in opening the life sequence for the Fool's Dream, and the final path to be clarified.
And this trade with the Main World would be my only opportunity.
As the saying goes, when luck arrives, heaven and earth work together.
I had witnessed the driving force of Luck more than once.
A trade with the Main World Consciousness was a result that both parties were doing their utmost to facilitate.
Otherwise, why would I have insisted on choosing the Ancient Remnant Ice as my life clone?
If I wanted to, I could have many life clones; I could have far too many experimental subjects to try.
But I didn't do that. Choosing the Ancient Remnant Ice was the choice that best served the common interests of both parties.