Chapter 1120: Special Derivation—Augmentation Halo
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1120: Special Derivation—Augmentation Halo
"Failed again... That feeling lacks any kind of describable conceptual anchor. It’s truly difficult for me to pull off this kind of operation," Sister Bai said eventually, shaking her head with a hint of regret.
If Self-Awakened Body Cultivation were easy enough to stumble upon within a few months of trying, then such a talent would be found everywhere across the Void.
The reality, however, was that it remained exceedingly rare.
Even though both Sister Bai and I shared a Heart Sense resonance for Body Cultivation, it was still difficult to reach a state of shared cognitive understanding.
Ultimately, the reason all our current methods were failing was that a certain cognitive realm of the self could not be subjectively transformed into a permanent state.
It was like a person who understood the concept of "the unity of knowledge and action" but lacked the ability to actually practice it.
"It’s alright, we’re in no rush. It’s only been three months; what if it takes longer?" I said comfortingly. "My main fear was that you might give up after one of these failures, Sister Bai. That would be a true waste of all our effort."
"As long as you don't give up, Xiao Han, I will naturally stay by your side. I was just worried you’d become impatient since this experiment has gone on so long without even breaking past the basic threshold. Without a clear direction or new ideas, blind trial and error doesn't mean much. I can feel that our recent attempts have been straying closer and closer to baseless guesswork."
"Well~ trying every method is just to ensure nothing was missed. Besides... hehe, the timing is perfect. A new method has arrived."
As I finished speaking, Sister Bai followed my gaze toward a ripple in space. It was my main body entering the dungeon world.
"Xiao Han, why did you come over so suddenly?" Sister Bai immediately stepped forward. Although there was no perceptible difference between the Life Clone and the main body, her internal recognition of me still leaned toward the original.
"Because the business with the Fool's Dream is over, of course~"
I met Sister Bai’s joyful embrace and pulled her close.
"It’s over?"
Sister Bai pulled her face back from my shoulder to look at me, her eyes wide with surprise.
"I’ve fulfilled the promise with the Fool's Dream~ From now on, the Fool's Dream will be born into this Void and this world as dream life!"
As I spoke, Yulan and the others who had been staying in the Land of Fool's Dream appeared. They frequently kept an eye on the movements in reality.
"Hello, Sister Bai~"
"Hello, Sister Bai! Hehe!"
"Hello there, little cuties," Sister Bai responded warmly to the four little Fool's Dream creatures. She reached out and scooped one up—it happened to be Yu Guo, who had poked her head forward.
After the greetings, my Life Clone and I accompanied Sister Bai back to the lakeside cottage.
"Since you’ve completed the shaping of the Fool's Dream race ahead of schedule, Xiao Han, what are your plans next?"
"Next? Next, I’ll just keep going with the current rhythm," I said casually.
Having completed the creation of the Fool's Dream race, the burden on my shoulders had lightened significantly. It felt as if nothing that happened now could truly rattle me.
Before, shaping the Fool's Dream race felt like a heavy mission, a goal I had to strive toward.
One could say that the many life-related skills I currently possessed were all "byproducts" born from my attempts to grant life to the Fool's Dream.
I remembered Teacher Ji Niang once saying that researching the Great Spellbook would ensure I never lacked spells to learn.
She wasn't wrong.
Although I didn't have the real editing technology to create spellbooks, the "[Transcendent Knowledge] of the Fool's Dream" had evolved from the initial Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art into a "Holy Relic," and then into the Land of Fool's Dream. During that time, the number of transcendent skills I created was beyond count!
"I feel lighter than ever before. I have this illusion that even if the main world exploded right now, it wouldn't really matter," I joked. "In truth, I’ve mastered too many good things. I’ve always been dedicated to innovation and discovery, but I’ve never had enough time to organize it all."
"So, you’re going to properly sort out your power system next?"
"Exactly!" I nodded in confirmation.
For knowledge, I had the Tree of Great Knowledge.
For power, I had the Perfect Human Body Cultivation framework.
For skills, I had the Fool's Dream life arts.
Any more would be biting off more than I could chew. I needed to organize my power; only through such refinement could I transition into a Transcendent more smoothly.
In other words, from this moment on, I had begun preparing to enter the Saint Realm.
"Yes, I’ve divided the powers I wield into three major categories. I’m going to be quite busy for a while."
The first category was the spell system centered on the Tree of Great Knowledge.
I would use the Tree of Great Knowledge to construct the "Myriad Methods Bookshelf," which was still in the theoretical stage. The root of spells, after all, lay in the study and interpretation of knowledge.
This included the "Halo" concept I derived from the Tree of Great Knowledge, which was also meant to pave the way for the Myriad Methods Bookshelf.
The second category was the Body Cultivation system.
I would use the Perfect Human Body Cultivation to carry all my current Body Cultivation abilities—from Five Senses Body Cultivation to body-tempering arts, to Emotion Body Cultivation, Heart Sense Affinity, and the future development and utilization of time and space senses.
The Perfect Human Body Cultivation framework was a concept intended to encompass all these systems. As for whether it was a pipe dream, I would only know after putting it into practice.
The third category was the Fool's Dream life arts. What I researched wasn't pure life arts, though that didn't stop me from modifying ordinary life. Its essence was a path leading to the nature of "dream life." Its significance lay in unifying the concepts of "life" and "dream life."
A grand unification of life across reality and dreams.
This was also a "delusion" of mine, but until I personally explored it, no one had the right to mock me.
"Sister Bai~ remember what I said just now? The new method for Perfect Human Body Cultivation is here."
At this point, my Life Clone steered the conversation back to our earlier topic.
"A new method?" Sister Bai looked at my Life Clone, then at my main body. "Xiao Han, do you mean... your main body has a new method? Don't you two share the same consciousness?"
"But specific powers aren't shared~" the Life Clone said, shrugging helplessly.
"Exactly."
"Power?" Sister Bai looked at me, her anticipation growing. "What exactly is this method? There's no need to keep me in suspense, is there?"
"This power is... the Halo effect derived from the Tree of Great Knowledge," my main body and clone said in unison.
"A Halo?"
"Mhm. It’s a special, non-sequential derivation I developed based on the foundation of the Tree of Great Knowledge," I explained briefly. Then I added, "Why don't you experience it for yourself, Sister Bai? Before you do, try attacking a target with a Fireball Spell."
"Fireball Spell?" Though confused, Sister Bai complied. A moment later, a fireball the size of a basketball flared to life in her palm.
"Like this? This is the basic prototype effect—a fireball without any cultivation-based augmentation. Do you need me to boost it?" Sister Bai asked.
After all, once a spellbook was fully mastered, one didn't have to follow the prototype framework. Through continuous practice, spells could be augmented.
A Fireball spellbook was, in the end, just a platform for the spell. How could it be so limited?
During the student phase, injecting excessive mana into a spellbook would cause it to burst. However, after becoming a Transcendent, a fully mastered spellbook could have its power continuously increased through specialized training.
But very few witches bothered to train the Fireball Spell. After all, given the same amount of time, the power increase from training Fireball Spell would never match that of a spell like Explosive Flame.
"No need for augmentation for now," I said, shaking my head. "Sister Bai, throw that fireball at me. I’ll run a digitized test on its power."
"Okay." Sister Bai didn't hesitate and fired it off.
She knew a mere prototype Fireball Spell couldn't possibly hurt Xiao Han.
With a casual wave of my hand, the fireball turned into a firework-like display of sparks in my palm.
Immediately after, a string of data appeared from my Tree of Great Knowledge.
"The explosive power of the Fireball Spell was 0.79. The fire element utilization rate was excellent... I’m using the theoretical limit of a single Fireball Spell as Unit One. It makes things more intuitive," I explained to Sister Bai.
"Only 0.79?" Sister Bai looked at the number, surprised.
Given her experience researching the Fireball Spell field alongside Xiao Han, she considered her understanding of the spell nearly peerless. Yet the final result was that far from the theoretical limit of Unit One!
"It’s actually quite good, Sister Bai. Don't look so dissatisfied. The members of the combat sequences I lead in the United Club usually score between 0.1 and 0.3. Part of that is because they look down on Fireball Spell and rarely practice it, but your value of nearly 0.8 is already very high. After all, as it stands, everyone thinks the ceiling for the Fireball spellbook is quite low."
"Well, thank you for the comfort, Xiao Han," Sister Bai said with a light laugh, though it was clear she still cared about the result.
"Next, let’s do a control group. Don't move, Sister Bai. This is also my first time trying to share a Halo effect."
"Halo effect... Xiao Han, you still haven't explained what this 'Halo effect' actually is."
"A Halo effect is an ability that uses my own understanding of knowledge, mediated through the Tree of Great Knowledge, to correct and fix theoretical defects. For example, with something like a spell, there is a theoretical upper limit to its effect, but in practice, it’s impossible to reach that limit. Even if I deliberately cast a spell with perfect precision, I can only reach about 0.98. That’s the unavoidable margin of error between theory and practice."
"A Halo effect uses an additional layer of empowerment to correct that error value. Currently, I’ve only researched this on the level of spells, and I only have one for the Fireball Spell."
"So, this Halo is called... the Fireball Spell Augmentation Halo."
"This... such an ability exists?!" Sister Bai gasped. If she hadn't heard it with her own ears, she never would have believed such a thing was possible!
If the theoretical values of a Fireball Spell were compared to 'proficiency,' then Xiao Han was essentially saying she had derived a spell effect that could indiscriminately max out that proficiency. Who wouldn't be stunned by that?
"Of course~ there are heavy restrictions... It’s all built upon my own understanding of the spell. This requires me to have a deep research progress and a thorough understanding of the principles behind a specific spell."
"I see... You want to use this method to assist in teaching Self-Awakened Body Cultivation... But is that even possible? This isn't a spell, it’s... it’s..."
"It’s a type of self-awakened talent. But I never said the Halo could only augment spells, did I?" I interjected. "Spells were just my first attempt. Any ability can be transformed into knowledge. The dissemination of this knowledge can even cross the barriers of cognition—like giving sight to the blind so they can finally know what 'light' is."
"That... that sounds incredibly difficult. The gap between a Fireball Spell and Self-Awakened Body Cultivation isn't just a small step," Sister Bai said.
"Now isn't the time to worry about whether it’s difficult~ It’s about the fact that a new path has opened up, and whether we are willing to try it!"
As I spoke, I raised my hand and asked Sister Bai to cooperate.
Currently, to share a Halo effect, I had to use a Great Knowledge Seed as a medium. A Halo couldn't blanket an area like a Domain; it was more like a concept of "permission."
This was my first time attempting to share it. After some coordination, Sister Bai finally "loaded" the Halo permission onto her Great Knowledge Seed.
Unlike the Great Knowledge Seeds I had already given out, which I could no longer control, I could manipulate these Halo permissions at will—granting them, rescinding them, or even banning their use. These were the functions we discovered through our testing.
"The damage value of the Fireball Spell has increased to 0.99!" I announced to Sister Bai.
"Still hasn't reached the theoretical value?"
"Actually, it should be able to. But reality isn't a game; spellcasting is tied to one's personal state. Try it one more time, Sister Bai."
Sister Bai followed my instructions and tried again. This time, it finally hit the theoretical Unit One!
"This feeling... it’s truly miraculous. It’s just like those augmentation spells," Sister Bai marveled.
It reminded her of spells that acted upon the effects of summoning magic.
For example, stacking a Feather Insertion Spell onto a Tiger Summoning Spell could give the tiger wings to fly. Or how Beast Transformation itself could be affected by spells like "Strength Augmentation" or "Speed Augmentation."
But those were effect augmentations. A proficiency augmentation... this was truly the first time she had ever seen such a thing!