Chapter 1089: The Art of Dream Editing
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1089: The Art of Dream Editing
World-Casting Courtyard.
"Xiao Han and Xiao Bai are likely busy with something. It’s a pity they weren't anywhere to be found in the academy, so there's a high probability they are in their private dungeon world."
"No wonder Xiao Han hasn't come here to discuss problems with me lately," the First Generation Elder remarked with a sigh.
Mei Lind didn't quite know how to respond. Ever since Xiao Han gained access to that dungeon world, she had noticed that the First Generation Elder—and occasionally the First Casting Elder—whom she usually never saw, would frequently appear among the sea of flowers.
The World-Casting Courtyard was vast, and the sea of flowers was merely the area used for receiving guests. There were other areas, of course—private meditation retreats or laboratories belonging to the various Elders—but these were generally closed to outsiders. Even the Elders themselves did not intrude upon each other's domains; they would simply wander to the sea of flowers as the whim took them, and whoever they happened to meet was considered a pleasant little surprise.
Lately, Mei Lind had been visiting the World-Casting Courtyard more frequently, primarily because the situation in the Main World was changing too rapidly.
She had once thought she grasped the full scope of the Staff of World Destruction Plan and could counter it or find a solution. However, the opposition had already taken a step back; they had shifted from being afraid of death to deciding that they must die.
Their secret plan for the Spark Transfer naturally couldn't be hidden from her. But once the Transcendent left the Main World, a void would open in the world's capacity, and recently, all sorts of riffraff from the outer void had been converging on the Main World.
It was exhausting to deal with. Conversely, Bev Alanna seemed to be enjoying herself; after all, the Main World hadn't been this lively in a long time.
She had heard that a group of Transcendent Witches had recently spent time in the Emerald Forest world, where Xiao Han’s Life clone resided. Fortunately, nothing major had happened; they had reportedly only dealt with some Void Alien Beasts that had inexplicably invaded that world.
Furthermore, to Mei Lind's surprise, when she took that drop of Primitive Bloodline to the Wizard, he didn't try to "redeem" it as she had expected.
This was not good news. When an opponent shows no desire or demand, it usually means they are brewing something massive.
If she didn't act decisively soon, the Main World might very well crumble in her hands.
"May, still worried about the situation in the Main World?"
Seeing Mei Lind’s troubled expression, Yi Shi took the initiative to bring up the topic.
"Yes... the situation is changing too fast. The Ordinary Subject has worn down much of my edge, making it difficult for me to be as decisive as I once was."
"If you can't do it, then why not let a witch who can take over? To be 'Ordinary' is not to be mediocre. The Ordinary Subject is a process for better self-awareness; there's no need to force yourself. Where is the spirit you showed when you declared you would blaze a trail through the Ordinary Subject?" The First Generation Elder didn't offer a specific solution; instead, she addressed Mei Lind’s internal struggle.
"You know your goal, and you've concluded you lack the strength to achieve it. If you can't figure out what to do, it means there is still something you haven't let go of. There is a fundamental conflict between your philosophy and the subject you practice. This is both an opportunity and a source of ruin."
"First Generation Elder, even now, you haven't given up on persuading me to evolve my own path from the Ordinary Subject?" Mei Lind gave a bitter smile. She had heard the reasoning countless times, but without making a choice and putting it into action, it was all vanity.
"Then, what is your choice?"
"I..." Mei Lind’s expression drifted into memory.
There were two choices. One was to persist in carrying the burden alone and carve out her own path.
The other was to learn to let go. Regardless of who completed the task, as long as the final result aligned with her wishes, it would be her victory.
This wasn't a choice between persistence and escapism, but rather a divergence between the ego and altruism.
She recalled why she had become an Academy Dean in the first place. She wanted to go further on the path of the Ordinary, and the act most compatible with the Ordinary Subject was establishing a Witch Academy within the void.
That was why she had chosen the most challenging path.
And the reason she was wavering now was that she realized she might not be a very good Dean.
The most painful thing for a person is to recognize their own incompetence at the height of their ambition. Transcendent Witches were no exception.
However, at this moment, Mei Lind had her answer: "From Xiao Han's perspective, she thinks I've been guiding her all along. But only I know that through one impossibility after another, I’ve been the one led by her. I simply didn't want to admit that my thousand years of accumulation and dormancy could be surpassed by a little witch's few years of growth... but I am also fortunate to have witnessed her rise."
The First Generation Elder listened quietly to Mei Lind’s self-reflection. When a witch identifies the problem, she is only one step away from solving it.
"I should be happy. The Witch Academy in the Main World is like a seed I planted; now, it has grown into a great tree. Xiao Han’s existence is filled with miracles and coincidences, but the one thing I cannot do is deny her existence."
"So, I choose to yield the stage to Xiao Han."
"In that case... does your thinking now coincide with that of the Rebel Witch?" Yi Shi asked with a smile.
"I admit I’ve lost to her in this regard. But I am not like her."
"Not like her? True. Not every witch approves of the Rebel Witch's methods. So, what do you plan to do next?"
"I'll wait for Xiao Han to finish her business, then ask her if she's willing to personally end this mess in the Main World that has dragged on for over a thousand years."
"Just like that?"
"Yes. Xiao Han hates trouble."
Mei Lind was confident. The little witch who hated trouble was one of a kind, and as the witch Yin Pingfan, who excelled at resolving trouble, Mei Lind knew exactly what she needed to do.
After all, a stage is not just the glamorous front-of-house; it includes the unknown backstage, the cheering audience, and the clowns raging impotently in the dark corners.
* * *
Within the Primitive Dream Realm.
Into the void of the dream, a beam of light shone. Unlike reality, where the birth and diffusion of light follow rigorous physical deduction, in a dream, one only needs an anchor—an understanding of a "lamp."
With a lamp, there was light.
A group of Fool's Dreams arrived in the Primitive Dream Realm, and thus, the void welcomed the birth of its first batch of life concepts.
A dream is not a place to be "understood." From the shallow dreams where one sleeps to the Primitive Dream Realm where one roams, and even deeper into the void of the deep-layer dreams, everything within the dream itself is disordered.
Its disorder is like the currents deep beneath the ocean—unpredictable. Once you perceive them, you are already at their mercy.
Everything has a process of going from the shallow to the deep. I hadn't forgotten what I wanted to do. I completed the basic construction in the shallow dream, only to find it unusable upon bringing it to the deep-layer Primitive Dream Realm, necessitating improvements upon that foundation.
The clumsiest method turned out to be the most effective.
Sister Bai and I experimented constantly, learning through trial and error. Even the four little Fool's Dreams became carriers for my research into dreamification power.
While it seemed like I was experimenting with dreamification, in essence, I was constantly testing the limits of what the power of [Transcendent Knowledge] could achieve.
Because the power of [Transcendent Knowledge] had already transformed into the Land of Fool's Dream, its influence reached into every aspect of the Fool's Dreams—from dream-state consciousness to memory, from Dream State Soul Essence to physical forms, from life sequences to bloodlines... it was all a manifestation of power.
This was the ultimate realization of my original concept: "Let power become the Fool's Dream."
The bloodline concept was the most representative way for the Fool's Dream to manifest its essential power. Dreamification was the practical application of this method into a specific ability.
It was more of a revelation. Much like the original Fireball Spell, it was both a usable, derivable spell and a revelation that allowed more types of spells to be created using that same framework.
Therefore, dreamification was not the limit of the Fool's Dream bloodline.
Just as the Fireball Spell was not the entirety of the spell system.
On this foundation, I added a brand-new ability to the Fool's Dream bloodline power.
The Sweet Dream Spell.
It had no offensive effect. It could only guide a person to sleep and then, based on their own instincts and subconscious, construct a beautiful dream that the target could experience.
To create such a "useless" Fool's Dream bloodline ability, Sister Bai and I had to reconstruct the "Dream Domain Order" from the soul essence to dreamification.
We then continued to refine the techniques for manipulating and dominating the dream order using dreamification power. Finally, combined with the "Dream Editing Technology (Framework Version)," we created the Sweet Dream Spell and integrated it into the Fool's Dream's innate talent using the Primal Great Fool's Dream Transformation.
The feeling was like painstakingly hand-crafting an oven, along with a series of knives, plates, pots, and rolling pins... all just to make a single stargazy pie.
Was it meaningful?
Looking only at the finished product, perhaps not.
But on another level, organizing these "tools" created the prototype of a kitchen. Although it still lacked many other utensils, that didn't matter; I would add them slowly.
With a kitchen, it meant I could make anything! Including stargazy pie.
By the same logic, as I mastered more techniques, I could create more abilities!
The "Dream Editing Technology (Framework Version)" was like this kitchen. Though not yet fully perfected, it could already achieve what we expected.
Similarly, its most basic capability could also create... spellbooks. While ordinary spellbooks were meaningless in the Primitive Dream Realm, a Great Spellbook centered on [Transcendent Knowledge] was significant.
After perfecting the "Sweet Dream Spell Bloodline Ability," I immediately performed a dreamification reconstruction of my Tree of Great Knowledge.
It was like creating another Great Spellbook.
In my soul dream, my Tree of Great Knowledge still appeared as a single tree, but it now possessed a dual nature: a reality projection and a dream projection!
The metric for a "technique" is always whether it can or cannot be done, not whether it is "meaningful" or "meaningless."
This was the realization born from my practical experience during this period.
The only pity was... this technique still relied on the power of the Fool's Dream.
That is, the power of the [Transcendent Knowledge] holy relic and its derived techniques. It couldn't be spread or used by anyone except me and... the Fool's Dreams who had learned it.
Other [Transcendent Knowledge] could achieve similar things in different fields within the Primitive Dream Realm, but they couldn't replicate what I had done.
Because... the Fool's Dream was a concept born for the dream.
* * *
Back to reality.
After sensing the real-world environment for a moment, I immediately adjusted.
The four little Fool's Dreams also emerged from the Primitive Dream Realm. They showed no discomfort; they looked like they had just returned from a theme park, still wearing expressions of lingering excitement.
Reverting from my Fool's Dream Stance to my original form, I walked over to the chair where Sister Bai was lying.
"Sister Bai, how are you? You don't feel unwell anywhere, do you?" I knelt beside her, reaching out to tuck a few stray hairs behind her ear.
Sister Bai slowly opened her eyes as her soul essence gradually realigned with her body.
"Mm... I'm fine."
She rubbed her forehead and sat up, moving with the stiffness of someone whose limbs had fallen asleep and needed a moment to recover.
I reached out to help soothe her soul. When it came to this particular skill, I was an absolute expert!
"I'm glad you're okay~ Thank you again, Sister Bai! You spent so much time with me on this."
"Spending time with you isn't a waste of time." Sister Bai stood up and walked to the balcony of the wooden house, then turned back to look at me. "Xiao Han, you probably won't need me for your next experiments, right?"
"Eh? Why do you say that... do you have something else you need to do, Sister Bai?"
"Nothing, I was just curious. Spending this time together, I feel more and more like I can't keep up with your pace." Sister Bai took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "If I keep following you, I won't be able to help with anything except cheering from the sidelines."
Hearing her words, I instinctively wanted to say: I don't care, I feel like you've helped me plenty.
But the words caught in my throat. "Feeling" is a mutual thing. I have my perspective, and Sister Bai has hers. It wasn't a matter of who should listen to whom, but... a matter of mutual understanding.
"In that case... let's try some things that you can help with!"
"Xiao Han, you don't need to force yourself to change your pace for my sake."
"Sister Bai... I've moved past the stage where rules and frameworks restrict my actions. For me, many experiments are just one final step away; even ascending to the Transcendent level is within arm's reach. Aside from the Fool's Dream life experiment, nothing is forcing me to keep moving forward. I have the power of freedom, and the freedom this power grants me is... the right to refuse anything I don't want to do for the time being. It's like a process of elimination; what's left is what I truly wish to do."
"Let go of worrying for the other person and embrace your instincts and desires of the moment. Sister Bai... are you sure you want to refuse to experiment with me?"