Chapter 1036: The Child of Destiny and the World Guardian
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1036: The Child of Destiny and the World Guardian
After leaving the United Club headquarters, I didn't go anywhere else. Instead, I followed Cleveland back to the Baking House.
The implications of this incident were far too vast. Back in the conference hall, I hadn't grasped the full picture; I had only skimmed the meeting minutes before spending most of my time discussing "soul essence restoration" with representatives from other clubs.
Now that I was back, I naturally wanted to understand the whole story, perhaps even using the Tree of Great Knowledge to reconstruct and review the scenes from that day.
However, once we arrived at the Baking House, Shi Ruizhi and Tan Han were clearly more interested in Ning, who was standing beside me.
Back at the United Club, many people hadn't presumed to ask questions. They knew I possessed a unique type of clone and assumed Ning was simply another one. Although her appearance was different, I hadn't always stuck to my original likeness when sculpting my external incarnations.
"Let me introduce you. This is Ning—the same Ancient Remnant Ice King you've met before."
I saw no reason to hide the truth from the members of the Baking House. After all, they shared a significant history with the Ancient Remnant Ice.
Moreover, when Ning met Tan Han, I could clearly sense a peculiar emotion stirring within her. It wasn't just Ning; Tan Han seemed to feel it too.
"Wha... what? She's the Ancient Remnant Ice King?!" Shi Ruizhi exclaimed, her face a mask of shock.
Tan Han was equally stunned.
"Ning, let me introduce them. These are the members of my club, the Baking House: Tan Han and Shi Ruizhi. There’s also Lucianne, but she isn't here right now. As for this one, her name is Cleveland; you can think of her as one of my Will Executors within the Witch Academy."
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Ning said. "Though this is technically our first meeting, the images etched deep within my bloodline tell me that you once provided immense help in the revival of the Ancient Remnant Ice race."
"You're far too kind. We were just doing what the situation demanded," Tan Han replied hurriedly, before instinctively glancing at me.
She remembered that the Ancient Remnant Ice King was supposed to be Xiao Han's clone. She had heard Xiao Han mention something about returning what belonged to the other, but she hadn't expected that by the time they met the Ice King again, Xiao Han would have already fulfilled that promise.
Shi Ruizhi stood frozen for a long moment before finally reacting. Her memory might have been fragmented by her past amnesia, but she wasn't slow. After Tan Han nudged her arm, the memories came flooding back.
"Oh, right! What a coincidence! Um... if you don't mind me asking, looking like this... have you joined the Witch Academy?"
"I have not," Ning explained, shaking her head. "Nor do I have any intention of becoming a Witch. I have simply manifested in this form." As she spoke, her gaze drifted back to Tan Han.
It was as if, among the crowd, Tan Han was the most special existence of all.
After some brief small talk, Cleveland quickly summarized the key points of the recent events for me. My brow furrowed as I listened, while Tan Han and the others treated it as a review of what they already knew.
As for Ning, she stood to the side like a silent observer. I wondered if she had inherited the traits of the Ancient Remnant Ice; she looked like a classic "ice beauty," but to put it bluntly, she was somewhat expressionless, her emotions never reaching the surface.
"Sigh... deliberate retaliation..."
I sighed after hearing the full account. To some extent, these events were linked to my own actions.
However, I didn't feel the need to shoulder all the blame. The mastermind behind this was a Wizard Apprentice, and I was never surprised by the depths a Wizard would sink to. Even if I hadn't caused the Earth-Sun Tragedy, would the Wizards have passed up such a perfect opportunity during the academy war against the Blood Slave Academy?
As for the recent "Death Rescue" mission, it had been equally grueling.
The blood sacrifice ritual had completely destroyed the Omni-Link Main Network Tree they had pre-positioned at the Blood Slave Academy. Without the power network and the root network, it was incredibly difficult for them to locate the Witch Academy students among the mountains of corpses.
After all, their Knowledge Seeds weren't as convenient as a Great Knowledge Seed, nor could they manipulate them as freely as I did with my Tree of Great Knowledge.
After a deeper investigation, I finally understood the true nature of the Blood Slave Academy. On the surface, it seemed to exist merely to provide a massive supply of blood-food for the Vampire Academy.
But a single academy ruled the entire Blood Slave Peninsula—a territory no smaller than a typical large-scale academy. In some ways, the Lord Vampire Academy and the Vampire Affiliated Academy combined didn't even equal the size of that peninsula.
One had to realize that the Blood Slave Academy didn't just provide blood for the students within the academy; it also fueled the secret dealings of various Great Families. Essentially, the entire peninsula was doing exactly what the Blood Slave Academy did—one in the light, the other in the shadows.
However, the two Vampire academies couldn't possibly consume such a staggering output of blood. The mid-to-high-level Vampires couldn't all be so extravagant as to build blood-filled pools in their homes, could they?
The bulk of the Blood Slave Academy's stable blood-food production was actually harvested by other academies.
The blood of blood slaves and ordinary people was refined through special alchemy into high-energy "Blood Crystals," which were then supplied to the Wizard Academies.
The Wizard Apprentices were the true patrons behind the Vampires.
What did it mean that the Blood Slave Academy and the Blood Slave Peninsula could produce Blood Crystals? It meant a "stable supply chain" and a "steady, smooth Transcendent advancement system"!
Why did the Wizard Academies get so worked up when the Witch Academy moved against the Blood Slave Academy? Why was a place that was ostensibly the "lackey of a lackey" treated with such importance?
Naturally, it was because of the stable production of Transcendent materials.
The resources in the Core World of the Main World were relatively meager and rarely produced eye-popping Transcendent materials. Most materials, if traced back to their source, were tied to ley lines and geography.
Yet a barren region like the Blood Slave Peninsula could leverage its unique position to steadily produce "Blood Crystals," "Blood Essence," and other extraordinary materials—not to mention byproducts like "Heart-Blood," "Blood of Grudges," and "Filth Blood." Its value was immense!
While Transcendents might not necessarily care, the students in the academies desperately needed them. Every stage of the Extraordinary and Transcendent paths had its own unique requirements.
The blood sacrifice ritual within the Blood Slave Academy was a fail-safe—a way to wring out every last drop of value if anything went wrong, ensuring that such a prime location would never fall intact into the hands of others.
At the end of the United Club meeting, Olina had also proposed ideas for the Witch Academy's subsequent revenge.
Revenge was a certainty.
Witches were notoriously vengeful.
It wasn't about right or wrong, or even about schemes; it was purely about stance.
The anti-war sentiment within the Witch Academy had to be suppressed. The struggle and gamesmanship at the Transcendent level of the Main World had reached a critical juncture. The incompetent would inevitably be forced out of this ruthless conflict.
The exit of a race was always accompanied by the collapse of its academy.
Perhaps the Main World didn't have an obsession with "unification," but in my view, it was the inevitable trend of history that the Main World should have only one voice: that of the Witch race.
Unfortunately, the specific plans for revenge hadn't been mentioned in this meeting. They intended to discuss it in detail at the next session, once everyone had been rescued, the fallout had been managed, and the collective rage toward the other Transcendent academies had been stoked to a fever pitch. Only then could they regroup and strike.
Still, I suspected that after this incident, many of the United Club's future operations would be handled with far more caution. As the saying goes: words rarely teach as well as experiences do.
"I have the gist of it now. You can go back to your work," I said to Cleveland. "By the way, how is Millian doing lately?"
"Millian is still in the Expansion Realm," Cleveland replied. "She is currently studying the changes in related industries under the intervention of Extraordinary power, accumulating experience for the eventual rollout of Extraordinary power in the Core World."
"Is that so? Makes sense... the Expansion Realm is called the testing ground for Extraordinary power. Although it was built on an Extraordinary foundation from the start, I hear the situation there isn't exactly optimistic either."
Ninglan Qiuyue still maintained basic contact with me, occasionally chatting about issues in the Expansion Realm. When I had the time, I would offer her some guidance.
After seeing Cleveland off, there weren't many people left in the Baking House.
I looked at Ning. She seemed to be getting along quite well with Tan Han.
One was a pure Child of Destiny of the Main World, and the other was the World Guardian appointed by the Main World's consciousness.
It was a pity Lucianne wasn't here; perhaps that usually silent girl could have made a friend as well.
Actually, there was a Child of Destiny in the Expansion Realm too. If I had known Ning got along so well with them, I should have sent her to meet Ninglan Qiuyue earlier. She was a Child of Destiny as well—specifically, the one for the Expansion Realm.
"Done talking? You two seemed to be having a good time."
After Cleveland left, Ning looked at me, appearing ready to depart as well.
"I only followed you here for some casual conversation," Ning said, shaking her head. "Do you have other matters to attend to?"
"There are a few things, but nothing urgent for me."
My primary concern was the Fool's Dream life experiment, but the authority of the Life Sequence was stuck on the concept of race. I needed to understand what "consciousness" truly was.
The Ancient Remnant Ice's consciousness had been born, but my "consciousness incubation" technique was still one step away from completion. Therefore, at this stage, nothing was more important than accompanying this personification of the Ancient Remnant Ice.
In my eyes, the Ancient Remnant Ice King was also a vital piece of leverage for our future dealings.
"Truly?"
"Of course," I nodded. "Or would you like to go somewhere else? The Main World is quite vast."
"Then... I want to go to that Blood Slave Peninsula you mentioned. Can you take me there?"
To my surprise, Ning spoke up suddenly, following my lead with a request of her own.
"I can. But would you mind telling me why?" I asked.
"It is the first time I have heard of so many people dying at once. From your description, under the blood sacrifice, the blood flowed like rivers and the streets were filled with bones. I wish to see it."
"It's very dangerous there," I reminded her.
"Will you take me?"
"I will," I nodded.
Though it was risky, I supported Ning's decision. I could guess her reasons for wanting to go. Regardless of anything else... those were the people of the Main World.
As for whether our appearance would provoke a Transcendent to attack us...
Unless there were two or more Transcendents, I was confident I could get Ning out safely. If they weren't a Saint Realm expert, I was fairly certain I could make sure they never left that peninsula alive.
No time like the present.
Ning was a woman of action. After saying goodbye to Tan Han and the others, we left the Witch Academy.
The Blood Slave Peninsula was quite a distance from the academy. However, with my spatial magic, we soon reached the surrounding regions.
The blood sacrifice ritual had ended, but its lingering power refused to dissipate. From a distance, blood-colored clouds even blanketed the neighboring lands.
The closer we got, the more we felt the drizzling blood rain beneath the clouds—a rain that never seemed to stop. The crimson rain couldn't wash away the tragedy of the peninsula; the blood would only soak into the earth, making the flowers bloom more vibrantly in the coming year.
When we arrived, we were met with a crushing silence.
There was no sound at all—not even the faint trace of life. Whether in the outskirts or the once-prosperous streets, everything looked absurd under the blood rain. The air was thick with a metallic, sweet scent.
The blood-water automatically diverted as it neared me. I walked through the rain, yet not a single drop touched me—a simple derivative use of the Cleaning Spell.
Ning, however... she allowed the blood rain to fall upon her. She refused my Cleaning Spell, carrying no umbrella and wearing no cloak.
I simply accompanied her in silence.
Eventually, she stopped.
"Any thoughts?" I was the first to speak.
"The fear, despair, and helplessness permeating the air... for some reason, they stir a sadness within me."
"Are you grieving for the deaths of those ordinary people?" I hadn't used my Emotion Body Cultivation to force Ning into empathy, but as she said, the very air here was saturated with those extreme negative emotions.
"Do you not feel grief?"
"I do... but I rarely express it so directly anymore," I replied. After a moment, I continued, "Ning, based on what you know now, do you think these Transcendent academies should exist?"
"I do not know... but I feel the Blood Slave Academy should not."
"Behind it stands the Wizard Academy, and the Wizard Academy has two top-tier allies."
"...What are you trying to say? Do you want me to say that none of them should exist?"
"Heh, you're sharp. Let me rephrase: do you want to drive all these messy Transcendent races out of the Main World entirely?"
"Is that even possible?"
"Why not? Where there's a will, there's a way."
"Hah... then what should I do? Become this so-called World Guardian?"
"Why put it that way? You don't do it because you're the World Guardian. Rather, if you do it, it doesn't really matter whether you're the World Guardian or not."