Chapter 367: Returning to Daily Life and the Monthly Exam
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 367: Returning to Daily Life and the Monthly Exam
"I'm back! Anyone home?"
Looking at the familiar villa before me, I pushed open the front door ahead of Dongli Yiren. Seeing that no lights were on inside, I called out instinctively. After all, it had been a while since I’d seen the others, and I actually missed them quite a bit.
"Logically, Guan Qiuling shouldn't have classes today, just like me. But it’s usually hard to find her; she’s probably off getting private tutoring from a senior sister," Dongli Yiren said after a moment of thought. "Still, they should be finishing up soon."
"Yeah, true."
I scanned the interior of the villa. Not much had changed. I checked the villa’s mana reserves and found them in better shape than I’d expected—they weren't at a critical level yet.
"We make sure to deposit our mana here every day to keep the reserves topped up. You could say we’ve maximized efficiency. It’s not just for the villa’s daily consumption; we have to charge our phones, too," Dongli Yiren explained, noticing my observation.
"Then, logically speaking... haven't you all been a bit too frugal lately?" I asked, somewhat surprised. Given there were only a few of them, even if they poured in all their mana every day, keeping the villa running should have been a struggle.
This was where having more roommates was an advantage. This villa had plenty of guest rooms, but with only a few people currently living here, their contributions should have been a drop in the bucket.
"No, well... I should actually thank Guan Qiuling. Currently, she’s the one in our dorm with the most... oh, except for you, the most Mana Sources."
"Guan Qiuling?"
In my memory, she was a very timid girl who mostly liked playing games with senior sisters.
"Yes. According to her, the senior sister looking after her is quite generous. She already has double-digit Mana Sources," Dongli Yiren said flatly.
"Aren't you envious?" I asked instinctively, though I was surprised.
"I won't sell my dignity. Besides, I want to create value with my own two hands." Dongli Yiren closed her notebook as she spoke. "And didn't you mention that there are ways to obtain Mana Sources through Witch Secret Realms, Xiao Han? It’s fine to accumulate them slowly. We’re just in the accumulation phase right now. I even asked my counselor about other ways to get Mana Sources, but I... well, I was just embarrassing myself. It should be very easy for you to get them, right?"
"Well, I wouldn't say it's that easy, but I have enough for my needs," I nodded.
After all, Mana Sources were used to accelerate the Witchification process. My physical Witchification had already reached the level of a "Pseudo-Witch Physique." Continued Witchification would steadily improve my physical fitness, the quality of my mental power, my transcendent affinity, and other abilities, but these were very slow processes. It could easily take years to see significant results. Therefore, there wasn't much of a practical difference for me between having a thousand Mana Sources or a limit of ten thousand.
But now, I wasn't using Ley Line Shackles to carry my Mana Sources, so theoretically, I shouldn't have a fixed upper limit.
Furthermore, I possessed an advantage that others at my level didn't: "Self-Generated Mana." The foundation I accumulated through Witchification would be even deeper than that of the senior sisters who relied solely on Mana Sources.
This was why beings like Transcendent Witches were so powerful. Even if they weren't Body Cultivators, the passive physical enhancements brought by the innate talent of Self-Generated Mana alone made them incredibly formidable.
I leaned down and gripped the villa's charging port.
Previously, I could only wait for it to slowly draw mana from the Mana Sources within my body.
But now, I had begun to master mana. I could actively and rapidly power the system.
I watched the numbers on the display jump upward at high speed, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction.
Beside me, Dongli Yiren, who had been about to head to her room, caught a glimpse of the display. Her eyes filled with confusion and shock.
"This... what's going on? The numbers are jumping so fast. Is it broken?"
"Once the quality of your mental power is strong enough, you can master mana. At that point, you can actively charge it," I explained.
However, I suspected that mana manipulation wasn't just about having strong mental power. It likely related to the degree of Witchification as well. During my previous experiments, I had sensed a concept: Mana Affinity. Witchification seemed to be linked to Mana Affinity. Therefore, strong mental power alone might not be enough to master mana; otherwise, mana wouldn't be called the exclusive transcendent power of the Witch race.
One had to first accept mana and undergo Witchification to gain Mana Affinity. Only then would one's mental power be qualified to master mana.
"Mastering mana? But didn't the teacher say in class that it takes at least several years? How can you do it already?"
"Your teachers are already talking about that?" I was a bit surprised. Theoretically, the current curriculum shouldn't have covered this knowledge yet. Had these topics been reclassified as Transcendent Common Sense?
"The teacher mentioned it in passing when talking about mana."
"Oh. Well, that's the case for normal people. I'm a special case. You see my current appearance, right?" I stood up and brushed aside a lock of my silver-white hair. "This form is no longer the result of a Disguise Spell. This is my true form now. My old appearance is a thing of the past."
"You... you... was that Sleep Curse so vicious that it turned your hair white overnight?" Dongli Yiren asked in disbelief.
"Wrong guess. It doesn't have much to do with the Sleep Curse. Dongli Yiren, in the transcendent world, a change in appearance usually represents a qualitative change or an increase in power. You might not understand exactly what I did, but you just need to know that I went into the Sleep Curse incident voluntarily."
"You've got some nerve..."
After her shock subsided, Dongli Yiren couldn't help but sigh.
"Is that so? Thinking back, it wasn't just me. Quite a few people voluntarily let themselves be infected by the Sleep Curse this time." Those who were willing to dive headfirst into the unknown—those were the ones who truly had guts.
"That's just reckless. If it were me, I'd be running the other way."
"Your way of thinking isn't wrong. That wasn't something an ordinary person should get involved in. If the Witch Academy encounters something similar again, take my advice: stay as far away as possible."
I actually admired Dongli Yiren's mindset. Of course, I was also saying this because I hoped she wouldn't get dragged into a "Script" by accident. Once that happened, you truly lost control of your own fate.
Because I had experienced it, I understood how powerless cannon fodder was within a Script.
One only had to think of the people who were blood-sacrificed in the Underground District to understand.
"The Academy will have similar incidents again?" Dongli Yiren asked suspiciously.
"Maybe... who knows? That is the powerlessness of the weak in the transcendent world. The weak have no right to choose. A single thought from the powerful can be a dimensional strike against us. That is the nature of the Transcendent."
* * *
After finishing my chat with Dongli Yiren, I returned to my room. As soon as I lay down on the soft, large bed, a wave of exhaustion washed over me.
Ah, it really is better here...
I had been busy for days, draining an immense amount of energy. The excessive use of Spirit Vision had improved my mastery over it, but using Spirit Vision wasn't without its costs.
The non-stop fighting, combat, thinking, and researching... In Ninglan New City, I’d only enjoyed a few leisurely days at the start before things got hectic. The further it went, the more high-stakes it became. But I had to admit, under that kind of pressure, I had also reaped massive rewards.
For the next two days, I planned to give myself a break. At most, I’d "relax" by looking over the material for the monthly exams and then properly say goodbye to Sister Bai.
Sister Bai said she’d be back in a few days, but who would believe me if I said I wasn't worried?
I certainly didn't believe it myself.
I also planned to use these two days to map out my future path. Thinking about it... I had so much to do.
There was the daily meditation I couldn't skip. The meditation incense I’d bought from Senior Sister Gongxi Huanxin needed to be put to use now. And I had a new long-term project: the Ritual War Dance paired with the Body Tempering Ring to increase my physical strength. These were things that required persistence; I couldn't afford to be sloppy.
Then there were the matters related to Runology and Alchemy.
Runology, needless to say, was vital.
If I hadn't studied Runology before going to Ninglan New City, I wouldn't have had the foundation to master those techniques.
And after mastering them, I also realized my own shortcomings. My understanding of runes wasn't deep enough. Whether it was the Nightmare Spells or the Dream Rewriting Spells, although I had successfully pulled them off, the process had been bumpy.
Plus, I couldn't answer many of the questions the scholars asked me because I simply didn't understand the underlying theory.
Ultimately, my foundation was too shallow.
As for Alchemy...
The Alchemy system was a more effective way to understand the transcendent world than the spell system.
Since I had started, I certainly wasn't going to let it go to waste.
I opened my phone and scrolled through the long-neglected dorm group chat. Looking back through the history, I saw many messages about picking up food. It was just as Dongli Yiren said—nothing much had happened.
I decided to pop into the chat rather than giving them a silent surprise.
Yang Yuehan: I'm back.
Hong Chenyi: ?
Hong Chenyi: XIAO! HAN! SISTER!
Hong Chenyi: Sister Xiao Han, you're back?! I missed you so much while you were gone!
Yu Yuetian: I heard a few days ago that the people who caught the Sleep Curse were waking up. I didn't hear anything from you, so I thought something had happened.
Hong Chenyi: What could possibly happen to Sister Xiao Han?
Yang Yuehan: What could possibly happen to Sister Xiao Han? +1
Guan Qiuling: What could possibly happen to Sister Xiao Han? +1
Hong Chenyi: Oh, Qiuling is here? Everyone’s just lurking? Where’s Yiren? Is she lurking too?
Dongli Yiren: Yes.
Dongli Yiren: Xiao Han and I are already back at the dorm.
I looked at the messages in the group, replied a few times, and then went back to my room.
I organized my clothes. Many of them didn't fit me anymore. Quite a few had been prepared by Sister Bai before I enrolled, and those were even more unwearable now.
I planned to sort through them and get rid of them later, then go buy some nicer ones.
Also... I was going to take a proper bath today. It was my first time bathing with this body. Although I knew my body inside and out and could technically keep it clean at all times through other means, there were some things a bath just couldn't replace.
* * *
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
I looked at the exam paper I’d filled to the brim and stood up to hand it in, feeling quite satisfied.
This was the final exam, and also the most difficult course for freshmen: the theory test for Advanced Elemental Theory from the Basic Evocation Chapter.
The students nearby, still scratching their heads in frustration, felt a surge of pressure seeing someone already turning in their paper.
The proctoring teacher smiled and nodded to me as I approached. She didn't seem at all displeased by my early submission.
After my conversation with the Dean, I realized that my name—and even my current appearance—had already spread among the Transcendent Witches of the Academy, which meant the mentors.
The past two days had indeed been fulfilling. It would have been even better if random teachers hadn't kept coming to find me.
Their reason for seeking me out was simple: they were very interested in the half-finished spells I had created in Ninglan New City.
That’s right, half-finished spells. Whether it was my Dream Rewriting Spell or my Nightmare Spells, they were all unrefined, half-finished works. They lacked a clear system and couldn't be easily taught or used by others. After all, these spells relied heavily on my Floating World Level Spirit Vision to perform such precise operations.
Those teachers had rushed over one after another, hoping to invite me to refine these spells together. They were even willing to create corresponding Spellbooks once the spells were perfected and promised to gift me the very first copy resulting from the research.
But I politely declined them all. I simply didn't have the time for such things. After leaving the specific environment of Ninglan New City, Dream Rewriting Spell had no practical use. If the dreamscape was no longer acquiring reality information, what was there for me to rewrite?
The Nightmare Spells were much the same. If the dreamscape and reality didn't interact, the spell couldn't even find a target. After all, wasn't the point of a Nightmare Spell to pull people into a dream and have reality touch that dream?
Yet they remained undeterred. Thinking about it, I understood why. For Transcendent Witches, those qualified to research these kinds of spells... they would eventually find a way to make dreams invade reality. Wasn't Ninglan New City the perfect example?
Now that Ninglan New City had returned to its original state and the dreamscape had been expelled from reality, I wouldn't be able to use those spells even if I went back.
Eventually, unable to stand the persistence of these witches, I made the rune rituals public.
I didn't think there was anything wrong with releasing them for free.
It would have been unwise to demand benefits for something like this.
During the process of those witch teachers coming to find me, I realized that many witches were interested in these spells. I couldn't exactly ask every single one of them for a favor, could I?
If I only took favors from the ones who showed up, it wouldn't look good. It was better to just make it public and gain some general goodwill.
In truth, I just wanted to avoid the hassle.
After all, to get along well in the Witch Academy, the most important thing wasn't how good your relationship was with some powerful senior sister, but how you stood with the teachers. Any one of those teachers was a Transcendent Witch; no matter how influential a senior sister was, she wouldn't be able to do anything against them.
Walking out of the exam hall, just as I was about to leave, I saw a familiar figure emerging from another exam room nearby.
It was Tan Han.
It seemed her speed was about the same as mine.