Chapter 1119: A Coming-of-Age Ceremony Held in the Main World?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1119: A Coming-of-Age Ceremony Held in the Main World?
"Why bring this up all of a sudden... So, what exactly did you guys do?" I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at Sheryl.
"Xiao Han, are you familiar with the concept of a Coming-of-Age Ceremony?"
"A Coming-of-Age Ceremony?"
The term felt incredibly foreign to me. I knew the general meaning of the words, of course, but I had never experienced one.
"What do you mean? Are you talking about some weird ritual held when someone turns eighteen?"
"Eighteen? Haha... of course not. Age holds very little meaning for many races; eighteen is an utterly irrelevant concept. In the Void, a Coming-of-Age Ceremony is a milestone representing the younger generation shedding their naivety and gradually taking control of their own fates."
"If we aren't talking about age, how do you define the 'younger generation'?" At that moment, my focus was elsewhere.
Even Sheryl blinked, momentarily stunned by the question.
"As long as you are active in the Void, it is the youth or maturity of your mindset that determines if you belong to the younger generation. After all, in the Void, many Transcendent races have lifespans spanning thousands or tens of thousands of years. Some races are like Witches—they’ve escaped the erosion of aging at a fundamental level, making their theoretical maximum lifespan eternal."
"That’s so arbitrary. With such a loose definition, if some old fogey comes out and claims they're still 'young at heart,' isn't that just being a rascal?"
"The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is a grand event that only the recognized geniuses of the younger generation in the Void can participate in. The word 'recognized' is key. It filters out the mediocre, the lazy, and the rascals. Put it this way: if an unsuitable individual tries to disrupt the ceremony, an invisible hand will crush them instantly."
"Oh~ So it’s a game played between the various Transcendent races of the Void, and its fairness is maintained by an absolute powerhouse backing it?"
"It sounds like you aren't particularly interested, Xiao Han." Sheryl could sense my indifferent attitude as I kept nitpicking minor details and asking skeptical questions.
"It does sound quite boring."
"You don't want to participate? This is a grand event rarely seen even in the Void! By the time the next one starts, you might not even be considered part of the younger generation anymore. This is a rare experience~ Surely you don't want to play the boring role of a mere spectator at such a magnificent feast?"
"Even if you put it that way... what exactly happens at this ceremony? It can't just be a banquet where geniuses from different races gather for a meal and it turns into some social mixer..."
"...Pfft... Hahahaha!"
Sheryl stared at me in a daze for a moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
"I guess I guessed wrong... Is it that funny?"
"Cough... mm..." Sheryl wanted to keep laughing, but she felt a sudden surge of power influence her, making the situation feel significantly less humorous.
"It's rare to hear you tell a joke, Xiao Han. Can't you let me enjoy it?" Sheryl said with a hint of regret.
"I don't think being uninformed is something that should be openly mocked," I said.
I could be quite hypocritical about such things sometimes, but mostly, I was just too lazy to explain myself.
"Alright, alright~ At the very least, you're worth me taking back that laughter." Sheryl composed herself and spoke again. "The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is definitely not the formal affair you're imagining. You might be influenced by the culture of the Main World, but the Myriad Races of the Void aren't going to sit down and offer their congratulations just because the younger generation of Witches is coming of age."
"In the Void, no major event can escape struggle and conflict. The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is no different. You can think of it as the younger generation gathering at a specific location in the Void under a certain pretext to have a massive brawl to see who's the strongest. There is zero chance of anyone sitting down for a chat or a meal."
"The ceremony is a game of constant fighting. Busybody observers will even compile a ranking list. If you're capable enough, you can even treat it like a gauntlet-style video game."
"It's also a prime opportunity to make a name for yourself. In the Void, those without ability have no right to leave behind a name or a title."
"Looking at the Void as a whole, if you're a Witch, people see you as a Witch. If you're an Elf, you're just an Elf. If you're a Holy Angel, you're just a birdman. Your race is the only label and symbol you carry when walking through the Void."
"It sounds like you're trying to goad me into participating. Why... is the ceremony being held in the Main World?" I asked.
"Hehe~ You guessed right! Looking across the entire Main World, you seem to be the only one qualified to participate~ You're the face of the Main World!"
"Ugh..." I dodged Sheryl's hand as she tried to pat my shoulder, looking at her with slight disgust. "By the way... even if I'm the only one from the Main World, there must be plenty of young Witches, right?"
"Even if there are many, what does that have to do with you? At the ceremony, they can be your enemies just the same."
"Huh? We have to compete against our own race too?"
"Why wouldn't you? Even among the same race, geniuses have their own pride and a sense of rivalry. However, the premise is... the Witch race only divides itself like that when it holds an absolute advantage and occupies the top spot. If the Witches can't beat the other races and still indulge in internal bickering, they'd just be a laughingstock."
"That makes sense." I nodded in total agreement.
"So~ are you curious now? Meet the Heavenly Chosen from beyond the Void and see the world outside the Main World! Doesn't it sound blood-pumping just hearing about it?"
"You said the same thing to me the last time I entered the game world," I said, curling my lip as I brought up the past.
"This is different!" Sheryl gave an embarrassed laugh before continuing, "In the Void, a true Heavenly Chosen—the kind of youth qualified to participate in the ceremony—starts at the Transcendent Saint Realm."
"Are there really that many geniuses in the Void?"
"Of course~ Don't forget, those who can be called Heavenly Chosen are mostly genius seeds nurtured by Transcendent races and powers since childhood. They only lack an opportunity to soar, and this Coming-of-Age Ceremony is exactly that opportunity!"
After all, in the Void, not just anyone has the right to host a Coming-of-Age Ceremony. If a genius from a tiny race tried to host one using the power of their entire world, it would be nothing more than a self-indulgent joke that no one would pay attention to.
Therefore, whenever a powerful faction like the Witches takes the lead in organizing such a grand ritual, everyone else exerts their utmost effort to show off their skills there.
In the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, even just having the qualifications to show your face is a massive honor!
"The Transcendent Saint Realm, huh..."
Hearing that term, I suddenly realized that this realm seemed to be both the end of the road for many in the Void and the starting point for "adulthood."
But that seemed normal. If everyone was in the Saint Realm, there wouldn't be any absolute suppression based on cultivation level.
The stages of the Saint Realm were essentially defined by the number of Domains one possessed. The number of Domains represented the breadth of one's methods and abilities. A contest of power was, in essence, a clash of techniques.
There was no "brute force over finesse" here; there was only the collision of pure combat skills... Suddenly, it did start to sound interesting!
"Are you feeling overwhelmed by the Saint Realm? I think you'll be perfectly fine, Xiao Han. With your abilities, reaching the Saint Realm is the most basic of maneuvers. There's no need to put yourself down. You have to understand that most of your opponents are the genius seeds of Transcendent races, which means they were born as Transcendents. Your starting point was lower than theirs, but I believe your growth rate is definitely not inferior," Sheryl said comfortingly.
"No... that's not what I was thinking." I shook my head. "I was just reflecting on the height of the threshold."
"Then let's change the subject. Xiao Han, do you want to learn about the geniuses who have already made a name for themselves outside the Main World? Barring any accidents, there's a high probability you'll run into them. You'll be at a huge disadvantage if you don't know them; after all, intelligence gathering is a skill in itself."
"Fine... whatever works. Coming-of-Age Ceremonies, battles of Heavenly Chosen, seeing the world—all that is still a bit far off for me. Right now, I just want to finish the matters at hand before discussing this further."
"Do you feel like I'm dumping these concepts on you too quickly?"
"That's not it... Fine, let me ask you: when does this ceremony start?" I inquired.
"Hmm... at the very least, it'll be a few years from now," Sheryl said after some deliberation.
The Rebel Witch faction placed immense importance on this ceremony. Many matters were no longer under her direct control, as the event involved far too many variables.
It even involved the rise and fame of the Main World within the Void!
In the Void, it wasn't just individuals who needed to make a name for themselves; Void Domains and various unique locations needed to do the same.
The Divine Kingdom Grand Market was the most classic example. It had successfully converted its fame into tangible profit!
Who wouldn't want to replicate the miracle of the Divine Kingdom? But was there a second Grand Market in the Void?
No...
"A few years..." Hearing the timeframe, I almost laughed at myself. "In that span of time, I could re-enroll in school and go from having nothing to where I am now. So what's the rush?"
"..."
Sheryl was speechless. She wanted to argue, but found she had no ground to stand on.
So, what was she rushing for?
Was she worried that the development of the Main World had already exceeded her expectations?
Who would have thought that back at the very beginning, she had come to the Main World just because of a rumor, hoping to see the genius Little Witch she had high expectations for, only for everything to turn out like this?
At this moment, Sheryl began to feel a bit of the helplessness that Mei Lind felt.
Just when you think you've discovered someone's rise early, the moment you look away, they've already grown into an existence you can barely see through, while you're still clinging to your old-fashioned ideas.
Oh no... she had become part of the "old guard"!
* * *
After shaking off the Rebel Witch, I arrived in the dungeon world.
Though my instinct told me that nothing good ever came from that Rebel Witch seeking me out, the things she mentioned this time did give me a sliver of anticipation.
Three years... it seemed like enough time for me to develop from nothing to my current level all over again. However, this time, three months had flashed by during the final stage of the Fool's Dream life experiment, and the semester was already nearing its end.
This made me realize one thing.
As I continued down the path of the Transcendent, time would likely become increasingly meaningless to me.
In the past, I could never slow down. The mindset of a short-lived human made me feel urgent about everything, fearing that any one task would drag on for too long.
After all, for an ordinary person with a maximum lifespan of about a hundred years, life is a consumable. If anything you do lacks meaning, you are wasting your life! Wasting your time!
Once I truly fulfilled my promise to the Fool's Dream race, I felt a weight lift from my heart. Suddenly, I felt a sense of accomplishment—as if my life's main quest was complete—coupled with a strange sense of emptiness.
I clearly still had many things to do, things I could do, but there was no longer a need to do them with such frantic urgency.
My mindset had transformed through my various experiences, as if the invisible pressure driving me forward had been eliminated.
Even though I knew such a thing didn't actually exist, this state of mind wasn't something I could just snap out of.
Successfully creating the Fool's Dream race seemed to be the turning point.
It made me realize that the promise I had given was even heavier than I had anticipated.
Of course, I didn't mean to blame the Fool's Dream. They had accompanied me for a long time and witnessed my growth. Their existence was profoundly meaningful to me; they had even become a source of spiritual comfort on this journey, comparable to Sister Bai.
Back in the dungeon world.
Sister Bai and my Body Cultivation Life Clone were here discussing "Perfect Human Body Cultivation."
Three months had passed, and the foundation of Perfect Human Body Cultivation—a method to allow a person to obtain "Self-Awakened Body Cultivation" through training—was still not fully complete.
This wasn't surprising. Back when I was researching Self-Generated Mana, it had taken a long time even when bypassing Self-Awakened Body Cultivation.
Self-Awakened Body Cultivation was not an easy talent to acquire.
However, that didn't mean I hadn't gained a single spark of inspiration over the last three months.
At the very least, I had confirmed one thing: Self-Awakened Body Cultivation could not be achieved through pure external interference.
It was like the sublimation of soul essence into a soul. I could use Soul Depiction techniques to intervene externally and change a person's life essence, but that wouldn't work for Self-Awakened Body Cultivation.
After all, the prefix "Self-Awakened" implied that this talent was inherently linked to one's own consciousness and cognition.
Based on my understanding of consciousness incubation and racial concepts, I could easily deduce where the problem lay. It was precisely because of this that progress was so difficult.
Unless... one could forcibly change a person's cognition... but was that even possible?
Regardless, I would never use such means to forcibly change Sister Bai's cognition. The autonomy of consciousness was the red line for a lifeform to maintain its sense of self. Therefore, the methods I could use were very limited: suggestion, hypnosis, mental guidance, cognitive guidance...
But none of these were useful. External interference could not reach the threshold of "Self-Awakened."
Unless... it was through self-study or self-enlightenment. Changing the life essence and consciousness was actually not the most important part.
My own series of gradual changes after I first achieved Self-Awakened Body Cultivation served as the clearest reference.
But... study and enlightenment... those were certainly easier said than done!