Chapter 1042: Preparations for Soul Essence Repair
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1042: Preparations for Soul Essence Repair
"The research and data on this subject within the academy are indeed lacking. Do you feel it's necessary to shore up your foundations, Xiao Han?"
"Thank you, First Generation Elder. I truly do need this fundamental knowledge. Everything I've been researching lately has been based on my own trial and error. Even my recent project on consciousness incubation was, in essence, a bit hollow. It only barely succeeded as an experiment because of the push from Luck."
I accepted the rune. The First Generation Elder also possessed my [Transcendent Knowledge] Seed, so I wasn't surprised in the least. Moreover, she had chosen to deliver this knowledge to me in the very manner I was most proficient with.
One had to realize that this kind of knowledge couldn't be bought for any amount of money on the outside.
"Regardless of what power you borrow, success is the metric of your ability." The First Generation Elder didn't care about such trifles.
For a Transcendent, whatever power they utilized was simply a tool at their disposal. Whether it was Luck or fortune, such things were merely playthings in the hands of a powerful Transcendent.
"Take your time and learn here. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me directly. Things on Mei's end might take a while longer."
"Understood."
* * *
Meanwhile, in another part of the World-Casting Courtyard, Mei, Sheryl, and Ning were meeting with the First Casting Elder.
Under normal circumstances, Mei wouldn't have been able to see her, but with the First Generation Elder's recommendation, the First Casting Elder naturally showed her some face.
Of course, the main reason was that the First Casting Elder had lost a game of rock-paper-scissors to the First Generation Elder.
Originally, upon sensing Xiao Han's arrival, the First Casting Elder had intended to go meet her personally.
The result was a loss, so she had to dutifully come out to meet Mei and the others instead.
However, after reviewing the Staff of World Destruction Plan, she laughed. Did such a matter really require her personal intervention?
The plan was presented so clearly and logically; was there even a need to consult them?
Nevertheless, she examined it carefully. The reason this plan was so transparent to everyone was primarily due to that specific trade, as well as the consciousness incubation experiment involving the Ancient Remnant Ice King.
As a representative of combat power and craftsmanship, no one would believe the First Casting Elder wasn't interested in such a unique technique.
But with Xiao Han not here, it all felt a bit dull. As for the Qi Observation project led by Mei?
She only had a passing interest in that.
The technique she truly cared about was the Nightmare purification method—the art of preparing Dream State Soul Essence.
Her thoughts aligned perfectly with Xiao Han's: to break free from the framework of techniques derived from Great Spellbooks and achieve "universality." That was the mark of a thorough understanding of a craft!
Unfortunately, the chance to meet Xiao Han privately had been snatched away by the First Generation Elder.
"In the Staff of World Destruction Plan, the most direct point of contact with the World Navel is the Afuhemi World Tree. We also need a method to capture and dominate the World Navel."
"The Holy Light faith among the birdmen has already accumulated to a massive degree. It's unrealistic to try and tear down the Holy Light Cathedrals within the Main World's territory now. If we're going to make a move, it naturally has to be toward the elves."
One thing had to be made clear: the World Navel was an abstract concept. It wasn't a literal umbilical cord, but rather a hub for exchange between the world and the void ley lines.
Past experiences in dominating the World Navels of small worlds or large world clusters could not be applied to the Main World.
Therefore, it was completely impossible for the witches to usurp the World Navel "stealthily."
Thus, the Staff of World Destruction Plan was both a means for the Transcendent races to deter the witches and a ready-made tool prepared for the witch race itself.
It all depended on how it was used.
According to Mei's conception, the simplest and most convenient solution was naturally the Primal Dreamscape Calamity plan centered on Xiao Han. It was essentially a "mutual destruction" scenario—a suicidal dimensional strike that no one could escape.
Fortunately, their Witch Academy had more than just Xiao Han who mastered the Dream Domain Order.
Even without Xiao Han, Mei still had many plan frameworks, though they hadn't been detailed yet.
The reason she was reluctant to let Xiao Han handle this directly was twofold. First, she feared accidents. Xiao Han wasn't the only one who could gain something from the Primitive Dream Realm. A Dreamscape Calamity was, at its core, an associated disaster that Xiao Han couldn't fully control. Only within the Primitive Dream Realm, under the scope of the Dream Domain Order, was it truly Xiao Han's home field.
Furthermore, wizards were famous for a progression system that emphasized the essence of life and mental strength; otherwise, they wouldn't need Wizard Towers to compensate for their frail physical bodies.
Of course, this excluded certain bloodline wizards and body-forging wizards.
In short, no one could underestimate a wizard's methods. They were only struggling in the Primitive Dream Realm because they lacked the innate advantage of being soulless, but that didn't mean they lacked means to counter dreams.
Particularly Tuskage, the Dean of the Wizard Academy who led the Staff of World Destruction Plan; his methods were equally cryptic and unpredictable.
The wizard progression system was a knowledge-based advancement system with immense adaptability. No one knew if they would acquire knowledge within the dream sufficient to leverage the Primitive Dream Realm itself.
Ultimately, a Dreamscape Calamity could only trap those who knew absolutely nothing about the Primitive Dream Realm.
Although Mei still didn't fully understand or master that power, she had experienced it. And once you've experienced something, you can always develop targeted countermeasures.
Among the Transcendents, not everyone was an ignorant fool.
However, for now, the Witch Academy couldn't make too many major moves. Thus, the layout for many things could only be carried out slowly through the student level.
The trip to the World-Casting Courtyard lasted quite a while.
By the time Mei finally left, several days had passed.
Even so, Dean Mei was shocked to learn that Xiao Han hadn't left yet. Still, staying there was a good thing for the girl.
After leaving, Dean Mei arranged a temporary academy identity for Ning.
Ning didn't want to become a witch, so Mei respected her choice.
Subsequently, the experiments in the Expansion Realm were suspended, and the Qi Observation project was moved back to the Core World academy and temporarily sealed.
Even though this matter wasn't officially publicized, word had already spread.
No witch knew whether the endeavor had succeeded or failed. Even though Dean Mei said nothing, some witches had already formed their own conjectures.
Unlike the "laying low" posture of the Witch Academy, the students were being bombarded with news that kept them from sleeping!
Public opinion in the outside world pinned all the atrocities that occurred on the Blood Slave Peninsula on the Witch Academy, condemning their cruel methods and calling the final outcome their "just deserts."
Inside the academy, rumors were rampant that the Combat Sequences had been completely wiped out.
After all, the number of casualties this time was simply too high.
The remains of over a thousand students—bodies so mangled their faces were nearly unrecognizable—created a staggering sight even just being brought back for storage.
The United Club immediately took charge of the narrative on the academy network, announcing they would cover the resurrection costs for everyone and stating that any Soul Essence defects or complications resulting from the resurrection would be cured.
One couldn't blame the United Club for being so detailed. This incident was so severe that while the outside network only had rumors, the discussions on the Transcendent Dark Web were incredibly specific.
Faced with this failure and the subsequent handling by the United Club, everything had to be executed flawlessly!
But even so, many still questioned the United Club's claims, calling them empty promises and accusing them of playing with students' lives.
At this moment, the United Club could only pray that the final results would shut everyone up.
However, amidst all the trouble, there was some good news.
At the very least, after such a tragic event, the calls for revenge within the Witch Academy grew even more fervent.
After days and nights of tireless work, the United Club had successfully resurrected the victims of the incident.
But the situation was not optimistic.
Of the thousand-plus people resurrected, fewer than one in ten could return to a normal life!
The sequelae caused by damage at the Soul Essence level were far more severe than the injuries from the Earth-Sun Tragedy.
Some were even trapped in a deep slumber after resurrection, where even regaining consciousness was a luxury.
Many, upon opening their eyes, saw hallucinations of that blood-red storm sweeping over them—the most vivid memory from the moment of their death. Memories carved into the Soul Essence had too great an impact on them.
Even after processing and sealing parts of their memories, it was merely treating the symptoms, not the cause.
And now they faced an awkward situation.
The Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, who had promised to help them repair their Soul Essence... had gone missing.
The only silver lining was that Cleveland still maintained a stable connection with her.
The news Cleveland received was that Xiao Han was currently busy with something very important. Once finished, she would bring a mentor to perform the Soul Essence repairs.
In Cleveland's words to the others, it was roughly: Xiao Han is currently working hard to pull strings and gain her mentor's consent to assist in such a large-scale Soul Essence repair.
This was a favor they would have to owe—one so heavy they wouldn't even dare to speak up.
The United Club had already put the word out. If the condition of the resurrected students remained this pathetic, who would ever dare to risk their lives for the club again?
Fortunately, I emerged from the World-Casting Courtyard soon after.
In truth, I didn't strictly need to stay there to learn that knowledge. With the dharma-mark that allowed me to enter and exit the World-Casting Courtyard at will, I could go back whenever I didn't understand something.
I had stayed for several days mainly because, after meeting the First Generation Elder, I also met the First Casting Elder!
Just chatting casually and seeking guidance on a few things made the days fly by.
I had never felt time pass so quickly; even with my Time Sense, it was hard to believe.
After leaving the World-Casting Courtyard, I immediately contacted Cleveland and asked her to give me the resources she had collected earlier—the most important being the Soul Crystals.
Then, I had Cleveland notify the people from the United Club that I would soon be arriving with a mentor to perform the soul repairs.
The repair process required an isolated space where we wouldn't be disturbed. Performing over a thousand Soul Essence repairs was a massive undertaking!
Even without sleep or rest, if each repair took half an hour, it would still take dozens of days!
Luckily, repairing one person's Soul Essence wouldn't actually take me that long. Furthermore, I had to account for the fact that I would become more proficient as I went, and I could even perform multi-threaded group repairs.
I figured finishing within five days shouldn't be difficult.
Five days was the limit of the energy I was willing to spend on this. After all, this whole mess was partly influenced by my actions during the Earth-Sun Tragedy.
But ultimately, I just wanted peace of mind. Resolving this matter in a few days so I could move on was good for me too.
What's more, I could use this opportunity to better understand the relationship between Soul Essence and consciousness.
The loss of Soul Essence in these students had directly led to issues with their consciousness. It was the perfect chance to review and practice what I had just learned regarding the relationship between life consciousness and the essence of life.
As for the question of who would "act" with me...
I initially thought of Mentor Elena, but after learning she was one of the mentors involved in the thousand-person resurrection ritual, I gave up on that idea.
Repairing the essence of life was a technical skill that couldn't be achieved by spells alone.
This meant that even a Transcendent mentor might not necessarily possess the craft of Soul Essence repair.
They might have methods to fix it, but not necessarily the refined technique.
Since Mentor Elena had participated in the resurrection, she would likely be asked if she could help repair the Soul Essence.
Knowing her, Elena would never pay the price for the United Club's reckless actions.
If I then turned around and brought Mentor Elena along, it would look too fake.
So, I went straight to Sister Bai. I wasn't asking Sister Bai to come herself, but rather to introduce someone who could help. Sister Bai recommended Belica.
Who was this Mentor Belica?
She was the one Sister Bai had studied Real Editing Technology under, the one who had asked me for my insights on the Resurrection spell, and she was also Mentor Yi Rui's "witch sister"!
Currently, she was nominally leading Yi Rui's student team to finish and guide the self-generated mana project.
She was also researching the Transcendent materials science of Hexagonal Crystal Amber.
In any case, she was basically idle.
So, when I found her and explained the situation, she agreed instantly.
Her only small request was that she wanted to observe from a close distance while I repaired the Soul Essence!
This was the craft of Soul Essence repair, after all.
Although witches had long since evolved into beings of soul essence, a new technique would always pique a witch's curiosity. For witches with eternal lifespans, "more skills are never a burden" was the standard mindset.
With Mentor Belica's cooperation, I soon arrived at the post-war infirmary built temporarily next to the United Club headquarters.
This place was dedicated to treating any injuries sustained during the Academy War, including but not limited to limb regrowth, limb reattachment, flesh healing, and large-scale trauma reconstruction and plastic surgery.
Resurrections could also be performed here. These past few days, the resurrection mentors had been worked to the bone.
Now, when the people from the United Club saw me approaching followed by the figure of a mentor, they immediately rushed forward in excitement.
The little witch they had been waiting for had finally arrived!