Chapter 1076: Derivation of the Tree of Great Knowledge—Halo Effect
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1076: Derivation of the Tree of Great Knowledge—Halo Effect
What is a Halo Effect?
It is a type of power that augments the self—enhancing one's own body, boosting a specific ability, adding an elemental affinity, or even strengthening the effect of a particular spell...
On the surface, it seems these effects could all be achieved through specific spells. However... they are fundamentally different.
This is because these effects are produced by the Tree of Great Knowledge itself, rather than through disparate spells. It has transformed into a complete system.
A complete system—that is its significance.
This reminded me of a concept born long ago, one that had been gathering dust in my memos until now.
The Myriad Methods Bookshelf!
I’d previously had the idea of combining the "Spellbook Shelf Spellbook" with the Tree of Great Knowledge, but because I lacked a mature framework and vision, I had delayed it until today.
Looking back at my initial sketches for the Myriad Methods Bookshelf with my current perspective, they did seem a bit naive.
But that’s only natural. If you look back at your past and find yourself still perfectly satisfied, it only proves you haven't made any progress along the way.
Right now, as I construct the Infinite Mana talent, the gap between me and my Life Clone lies in the complexity of our domains.
My Life Clone has no holy relic and no Tree of Great Knowledge; her domain is a pure Body Cultivation Heart State Domain. My own domain, however, is a composite domain built on a Trinity architecture.
Body Cultivation power, the effects of the Great Spellbook, and the Land of Fool's Dream.
Compared to before, the order born from this domain is more fragile, yet its potential for growth is far more vast.
The primary reason for this fragility is that the Land of Fool's Dream has not been fully constructed; the Power of Knowledge is still missing the trait of Enlightenment.
However, I believe that sacrificing the Enlightenment trait of a Great Spellbook to create a Land of Fool's Dream with a promising future is a worthy trade.
The other Transcendents weren't privy to my internal monologue, but they did realize one thing.
This Little Witch’s control over her power had grown stronger!
The mana that theoretically should have exploded didn't spread very far. That Vampire Grand Duke had merely been blown back by the sheer pressure of the mana.
What they expected even less was that they were about to witness... the birth of a Saint Realm witch beneath the Transcendent level!
"That’s... a complete domain! How is that possible?! She hasn't even ascended to Transcendent!"
Seeing this, the Transcendents could no longer contain themselves. It was as if an impossibility was manifesting right before their eyes!
Her very existence made those Transcendents feel utterly worthless. Even after ascending to Transcendent, the Saint Realm remained out of reach for many of them; the threshold of a domain was like a heavenly chasm barring them from the Saint Realm.
Yet this Little Witch, who hadn't even reached the Transcendent level, had already birthed a domain prototype—and now, she was using techniques they couldn't begin to comprehend to complete that prototype.
The sheer disparity left the Transcendents beside themselves with envy.
But they were powerless to act. After all, this battle was guaranteed by a Witch Contract!
No witch could help this Little Witch, and no other Transcendent could interfere.
In the beginning, none of the Vampire Transcendents likely imagined that this contract, which seemed so disadvantageous to the Little Witch, would become the very thing ensuring her safety!
* * *
Back on the battlefield.
Having completed the shaping of my domain, I finally had the foundation to conceptualize "Halo Effects."
After all, only the order of spells can construct effects that transcend spells themselves.
Just as a spellbook can be modified, derived, or used to birth a domain, so too can order be utilized and derived to construct even more incredible effects.
"Here—eat a fireball!"
As the Vampire Grand Duke lunged at me again, driven by pure instinct, I finally grasped a thread of inspiration.
A fireball manifested in my hand. It was a standard prototype fireball, without any derivation, modification, or amplification. The only difference was... the fine shimmer of the Power of Knowledge rippling across its surface.
The explosive fireball met the blood-red figure head-on, slamming directly into his face. The thunderous boom that followed served as a testament to the fact that this fireball's power was unlike any ordinary one.
Its power was not only being channeled by me into Real Time, but it was also bolstered by the order of the Tree of Great Knowledge.
No one could have imagined that a Transcendent could be disfigured by a single fireball.
But experiments rarely yield results after just one or two tries.
Once... twice... ten times...
Even the witches who loved being amusement seekers began to feel that this repeated battering of a Vampire was bordering on abuse; they felt she should just kill him already.
Yet, not one of them stepped forward to stop it.
This Vampire deserved no pity! However quickly they had signed that contract earlier was how miserable he deserved to be now!
After hundreds of experiments, I finally obtained the two results I wanted.
The first was how a non-Transcendent life level could controllably intervene in Real Time to deal "True Damage" to a Transcendent expert.
The second was... the "Fireball Spell Amplification Halo Prototype"!
At this moment, my Fireball Spell no longer showed the visible shimmer of the Power of Knowledge, yet the effects of the power of order were everywhere.
The fruits of the halo had begun to sink from the surface into the very architecture of order.
And I had given it a name.
"Fireball Spell Amplification Halo Prototype."
This amplification addressed areas the original spell framework couldn't reach, perfecting effects that were theoretically possible but practically difficult to achieve.
The halo filled the gap between "theory" and "practice."
By attaching the power of the halo, the amplification effect was achieved.
Precisely because no spell is absolutely perfect, a halo will always have value.
And this was merely the preliminary concept.
I planned to call these power-compensating halos "Basic Halos." Those that could provide additional power amplification after achieving perfection would be "Intermediate Halos," and those that added extra effects on top of power amplification would be "Advanced Halos."
This was the simple grading system I had defined for Halo Effects for the time being.
I couldn't be certain it was correct, but it was at least a temporary goal to work toward.
Once this attempt "succeeded," this one-sided battle drew to a close.
Looking at the fallen Vampire Grand Duke, I felt a visceral realization: so Transcendents could die such "ordinary" deaths as well.
The last Transcendent wizard who died by my hand had even his Life Soul Essence shredded by a void rift.
This one, however, was a pure death.
And such a death also meant... he could be resurrected.
As the binding force of the contract dissipated, everyone understood the duel was over.
They had witnessed history!
Whether it was a non-Transcendent slaying a Transcendent, or a non-Transcendent skipping a rank to reach the Saint Realm, these were tidings enough to shock every major power in the void!
Yet, for now, this news was merely brewing slowly within the Main World; the void remained unaware.
Faced with this outcome, many Transcendents felt a profound sense of indignation.
It wasn't that they didn't acknowledge the Little Witch's strength—she had proven it with the life of a Transcendent, a fact no one could dispute.
They simply couldn't accept her youth.
Youth represented infinite possibilities!
Even though Transcendents lived for a very long time, life itself still aged. Appearance and experience might no longer define one's age, but mindset and ability did.
And what was even more terrifying... two years!
In just two years, she had reached a height they couldn't touch in centuries, or even millennia.
They felt the cold, mocking laughter of talent.
"Please wait. Since the duel is over, may we keep the remains of our academy's mentor?"
At that moment, a Vampire stepped out from somewhere, his first word being the respectful "please."
No matter how unwilling they were, they had to recognize one thing: the Little Witch before them could be treated as a Transcendent Witch—even a Saint Realm Witch!
"He is my trophy," I replied simply, rejecting the other party's brazen request.
This was a Transcendent's physical body, after all!
The dissipation of the life essence didn't mean the body would vanish. Vampires were of great research value.
In my Tree of Great Knowledge, there were records of various racial body parts being used in alchemy, potions, or as spellcasting materials—and they were worth a fortune.
I wasn't about to hand it over for nothing.
"Very well. You may name your conditions. As long as they are acceptable, we are willing to pay for him." The Vampire looked up at me, his gaze drifting toward the witches behind me, his expression full of helplessness.
"Any condition? Are you sure?" I tilted my head, looking at the Vampire with a half-smile.
My Ley Line Identification Art identified him as the Dean of the Vampire Affiliated Academy—essentially a puppet dean who followed the orders of the orthodox Vampire Academy.
"Naturally. If your appetite is truly too large... we will simply have to abandon the remains of our kinsman."
"Fine. I only have one question. I'm sure you know the answer." As I spoke, I withdrew the Book in the Box.
Under the protection of a heavy Sealing Art, I revealed the item I had obtained back on the Slave Blood Peninsula—a drop of Primitive Bloodline!
"Tell me, what are you using the extracted and condensed Primitive Bloodline of the Main World's human race for?"
The moment I asked, everyone around us froze again!
The Vampire Dean's pupils constricted as if he were looking at something terrifying.
"You! You... how do you have that?" The Vampire Dean asked, forcing himself to calm down after a moment of extreme agitation.
"Found it on the Slave Blood Peninsula. I don't care about the filthy things you were doing there; I only want to know what this is for."
As I questioned him, I could clearly feel his emotions surging violently.
Far away at the Wizard Academy, the group of Transcendent Wizards stood up in shock the moment they saw this!
I couldn't see that, of course, but I knew one thing... I seemed to have dug up a massive secret.
"Heh... hehe... Primitive Bloodline. Since you already know the name, then I'll... I'll tell you. We are Vampires. Our power system involves constantly purifying our own bloodlines through blood. Concentrating the Primitive Bloodline of an entire Main World human race..."
"You're lying, aren't you?" I frowned, cutting him off without hesitation.
I admitted that what he said wasn't technically wrong, but he was avoiding the core issue. While consuming Primitive Bloodline certainly benefited Vampires, that was definitely not their primary purpose for it!
"Are you brain-dead? Lying in front of a Heart-Sensing Body Cultivator? Who gave you the confidence?"
"My apologies. We no longer want the remains of this Vampire Grand Duke."
The other party stopped his explanation abruptly and decisively abandoned the corpse.
Even I was a bit surprised, but then I found it laughable. It was a classic case of "protesting too much"—his refusal to speak only proved the problem was even bigger!
"It seems the secret runs deep... But that's fine. I respect the difficulties you face as a puppet dean. I am still willing to exchange the Vampire Grand Duke's body for equivalent resources written into the war reparations. If you're unwilling, I'll just dismantle the materials right here. If it gets too bloody... you'll just have to look away."
I didn't let the Vampires off the hook, directly calling him a puppet dean to his face.
But he didn't dare lose his temper. This was the power of "the fox borrowing the tiger's prestige"—though, of course, I had the strength to back it up myself.
"Fine..." The word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "Since this incident is over, let us sign the contract quickly."
They wanted to end this "farce" as soon as possible.
"Indeed, I don't want to linger here too long either. However, you are a Dean. The Academy War is a matter between us students. For you to interfere... wouldn't be quite right, would it?"
Hearing my words, the Vampire Dean's expression, which had just begun to relax, instantly stiffened.
Ignoring him, I continued my proposal:
"How about this? The Witch Academy is the victor, and your academy is the loser. Let the student body choose a representative to come to the Witch Academy to sign the surrender contract. At least that way it's more formal, and the students can dress decently for the occasion."
"And you, as the Dean and witness to the outcome of this Academy War, will sign a contract as a guarantee. I assume your academy won't go back on its word, right?"
"That is... of course."
Looking at his expression—the look of someone who desperately wanted to kill me but couldn't—I felt a wave of delight.
The weak have no say; this was the most direct manifestation of that truth.
Perhaps the Main World was once vast, but now it had no room for these races.
The current Main World was a chessboard. The Witch Academy was one player, and the other three Transcendent races combined barely counted as the other.
The rest were all pawns. And if you are a pawn, you must be prepared to be taken.
If they didn't want to leave with dignity like the Sun Rock Elves, I didn't mind helping them "find" their dignity.
After the contract was signed, I was all smiles.
I turned back to look at the group of Witch Sisters, and at Sister Bai standing silently in the crowd. I felt a profound sense of security.
Finally, I walked up to Mentor Dinah. After all, she had been the first to appear not long ago.
"Sister Dinah~ I told you it would be fine. No need to worry. See? We won~"