Chapter 387: The Strange Girl in the Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 387: The Strange Girl in the Dream
"Academy Dean?"
The moment Ji Niang opened the door and saw the figure standing there, her entire body instinctively froze. She had considered many possibilities, but this was the one person she never expected!
"Xi Lan, are you that surprised to see me?" Mei Lind walked into the laboratory with a slight smile. Ji Niang reflexively stepped aside to make a path.
"Yes, I truly am. Did you come to check on our progress with the [Transcendent Knowledge], Dean?" After her initial shock, Ji Niang quickly recovered and welcomed her in with a smile.
"This lab has only been in your hands for a few days. Why would I come to check on your progress so soon? That’s impossible. I simply had a premonition that you two were stirring up quite a commotion here."
"A commotion?" Ji Niang looked at Mei Lind suspiciously, unsure of what she meant.
"Yes. I was bored, so I tried a bit of casual divination. I saw that Xiao Han seemed to be up to something, and after learning you brought her here, I wanted to see for myself."
"Bored? Divination? With all due respect, if divination is something you use as a game to pass the time, it’s going to cry." Ji Niang was somewhat speechless after learning the reason for the Dean's visit. Was the Academy Dean really that idle?
Ji Niang looked at the Dean again. It’s a clone... oh, then never mind.
"The skills I've mastered are meant to be used. Now, tell me, what exactly did Xiao Han do?"
"She managed to pry a single rune from a nearly systematic, self-contained spell structure within the [Transcendent Knowledge]. That’s about the gist of it," Ji Niang explained helplessly.
In truth, Ji Niang and Mei Lind weren't particularly close. Even though they were both Transcendent Witches, Ji Niang felt there was a vast gap between herself and the Dean. Consequently, she treated every meeting with a degree of awe and seriousness.
However, it was clear that Mei Lind wasn't going to stand on ceremony. After all, they now shared a common topic of interest: Xiao Han.
Ji Niang realized she had still underestimated how much the Dean cared about the girl.
"Then your luck is quite good. How many routine tests will this skip for you?"
As Mei Lind spoke, she began to wander around the room. She circled the [Transcendent Knowledge] once before losing interest, finally stopping in front of the transcribed rune.
To use an analogy: if [Transcendent Knowledge] was a gold mine that was difficult to excavate, then this transcribed rune was a massive gold nugget already pulled from the earth. The Great Spellbook, meanwhile, was like building a factory on that mine to process the ore.
"It’s immeasurable."
"True. You haven't even begun to make progress on the research of the [Transcendent Knowledge] itself, yet you already have a derived spell to use as a reference. I’ve never seen a god-tier start quite like yours. But... is this a summoning spell?" the Academy Dean asked, pointing at the rune.
"Yes. It’s a type of summoning spell built on a spatial structure, and it carries the shadow of a self-contained spell. From the perspective of spell effects, it seems a bit like a white elephant—not very practical," Ji Niang agreed, her phrasing revealing a deep level of understanding.
"But it should have other strange properties, shouldn't it?"
"Yes, and that is what puzzles me." Ji Niang nodded in agreement and added, "Furthermore, when Xiao Han became the recipient of the spell effect, she sensed characteristics like dreams and emotions. Though there might be some deviation in her description, it doesn't look anything like a standard spatial summoning spell."
"That’s exactly why it’s interesting. Xi Lan, would you be interested in letting me participate in your research of this [Transcendent Knowledge]?"
"This..."
"I’m only interested in this specific part. It’s just temporary," Mei Lind added, pointing at the rune while Ji Niang was still hesitating.
"Alright."
Hearing Mei Lind say that, Ji Niang naturally agreed. Who else in the Witch Academy had the prestige to have the Dean offer her help?
Besides, this was just one of the Dean's clones. Since she said she was only interested in this rune, Ji Niang didn't have to worry about her taking over the group. As the Academy Dean, she surely had her own plans... perhaps even Ji Niang’s current work was part of Mei Lind’s grander design. She was more than willing to do this convenient favor.
After all, the fact that she could even obtain this [Transcendent Knowledge] meant that Dean Mei Lind deserved to be called... "instrumental."
* * *
At that moment, sitting in the meditation room, I was unaware of what was happening on Teacher Ji Niang’s end.
I was immersed in the scent of the incense, beginning my daily meditation.
Meditation is a tedious and energy-consuming task. Ever since my first successful session, I understood that the essence of the Witch Meditation Method is to place one's mental power and will into a special dreamscape for tempering and training.
With my Spirit Vision, I even possessed a unique "perspective" within this meditative dream. To a certain extent, I could even use my memories to construct creations within the dream.
This seemed somewhat similar to the Dream Rewriting Spell I had created before. The difference was that the rewriting spell utilized specific dream rules to achieve its effects, whereas the meditative state simply generated dream illusions based on the relationship between dreams and memory.
As I calmed my mind and meditated, my consciousness sank deep into the dream. However, an accident nearly forced me out of the state.
"This! This is..."
I looked at the rune that was condensing even within my dream and couldn't help but marvel at its persistence.
"What exactly are you? Believe it or not, I’ll use a purification spell to disperse you right now. Don't push your luck."
Since I was in a dream, there was no need to hold back. I started muttering to myself; it wasn't like anyone was watching.
But obviously, the thing in front of me wasn't something that could understand words. It was a heartless rune.
I plopped down in the dream and stared at the rune. The environment I had shaped with my memories dissolved, leaving me standing in the void of the dreamscape.
This rune was driving me to contemplate the meaning of life. But after calming down, I realized I might have been overreacting.
Since discovering this thing, too much of my focus and emotion had been stirred up by it. I didn't even feel like myself anymore.
Reflecting on this, I began to try and study what kind of characteristics this rune would have within a dream.
I reached out. This time, I didn't try to shatter it like I had before. Instead, I touched it gently. The rune had no physical form.
It was merely a special ritual. According to Teacher Ji Niang, it was the language of the void.
"The language of the void... then can you tell me what you're trying to say?"
My gaze fixed on the rune, and for a moment, my vision blurred. It was as if the rune was becoming indistinct.
The moment I refocused my vision, a flash of abnormal information from within the rune flickered past!
"What was that?"
I asked instinctively, but no one answered.
I reached out and grabbed the rune. It instantly collapsed, turning into dream information that scattered and vanished. The sliver of abnormal information my Spirit Vision had caught earlier now had nowhere to hide.
"Got you! Playing hide-and-seek in my own dream?"
I snatched the source of that information. It felt strangely familiar, which was why I had been able to detect it so keenly.
"Let’s see what you really are. You must be the thing maintaining the connection between this rune and me, right?" I confidently opened my hand and looked at the information hiding in the void. It seemed to be using the rune as a medium, finding me through a method I didn't quite understand.
"Hmm?"
As I reached out to pull it, a thread-like object was drawn out from the dream void. It began to glow with a familiar golden light, becoming the only color in this empty dreamscape.
When I saw that familiar, headache-inducing golden thread, my scalp went numb!
I nearly had a trauma response!
However, I suppressed my surging emotions instantly. Just as I was wondering why this strand of Luck was connecting to me through this rune, I felt the rune glow under the influence of the Luck.
In that moment, I felt my dream begin to crack. It reached a breaking point where even the void of the dream shattered. Then, the rune’s light intensified. I felt my body falling—a sense of weightlessness I couldn't resist stimulated my consciousness.
At a certain point, I instinctively opened my eyes. Once I recovered, I realized I was still a consciousness within a dream, and my current body was a product of that dream.
The sudden change had caught me off guard, but I knew that in situations like this, I had to stay calm. Only by staying calm could I think of a way out.
I looked at my surroundings. If I weren't certain I was in a dream, I would have thought I had transmigrated.
This was a strange world. The sky was gloomy, and it seemed to be raining. However, the raindrops had no "collision volume" with my body; they passed right through me and splashed onto the ground.
The damp, heavy environment exuded an aura of sorrow. The rain fell like tears, leaving a salty bitterness in the air.
The world before me was riddled with scars. Looking back, I could see nothing but ruins. It was as if the world had lost its color, leaving only black and white.
Countless black lines sketched out the broken walls and debris. They twisted... they swayed. The ruins drifted before my eyes in the wind and rain, possessing a desolate, absurd beauty unique to dreams.
All of this appeared before my eyes without warning, and this dream no longer wavered in the slightest according to my will.
Then, that golden thread of Luck that had made my scalp crawl drifted past me. It was so conspicuous in this absurd world.
I instinctively followed it.
With every step I took, the distance I covered wasn't great, but the surrounding scenery pulled back like a slideshow. It was as if a single step had crossed a thousand miles, bringing me to... the center of this world.
There lay another set of ruins. A figure sat huddled on the ground, head buried in her knees, arms tightly hugging her shins, curled into a ball.
At that moment, the sound of sobbing accompanied by heavy breathing seemed to resonate with my heartbeat. Every one of her sobs tugged at my emotions.
The thread of Luck pulled away from me, circling her as if protecting its master.
So... I was the one being presumptuous. This Luck belonged to this girl.
I walked up to her. I had so many questions. Who was she? Was she also a Child of Destiny?
Where was she? Why was she connected to me? All these questions were at the tip of my tongue, but when I reached her and tried to speak, I found I couldn't make a sound.
It felt as though she was a victim just like me, and I couldn't bring myself to be too harsh...
Of course, the main reason was the emotion resonating within me. Every impression in this world seemed to hint at the girl's helplessness and sorrow. Walking here felt like experiencing her inner world firsthand, and now, I felt everything she felt.
As I hesitated, the girl in front of me seemed to sense something. She shifted her toes slightly and then slowly lifted her head.
I stared into her eyes, but our gazes crossed; she was instinctively avoiding my eyes.
"Excuse me... what is your name?" I asked softly, keeping my tone gentle.
She didn't answer immediately. She just stared blankly at the tips of my toes, seemingly wondering who I was... and why, in this world of black and white, I possessed such brilliant colors—colors that made her both long for and fear me.
I watched her gaze move upward, though she still didn't dare meet my eyes. Then, a nearly inaudible sound came from her.
"What?"
I strained to understand what she was trying to say, but I couldn't. She seemed to realize this, and her voice grew slightly louder.
This time... I heard it. I heard it clearly.
But... I didn't understand it.
I froze for a moment, then it clicked...
A language barrier!
How was that possible?
That was my first reaction. The languages of the Main World had long been unified. Even in the lost Ninglan New City, the most one would encounter was a bit of a "dialect" accent, not a complete inability to understand.
"Wait... wait!"
At that moment, the girl seemed to realize something as well. The entire world began to tremble. The black-and-white world began to warp, the colors interweaving and mixing until they became a chaotic gray.
Then, the gray world began to crack, shattering like glass.
The figure gradually merged into the gray tones, leaving only an outline in my vision until she vanished completely.
The familiar sense of weightlessness returned. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the meditation room.
I instinctively looked at the small incense burner. The incense had burned out, leaving only a trace of fragrance lingering at the tip of my nose.
"What... was that just now?" I reflexively touched the corner of my eye. This time, no tears fell, but my eyes were slightly damp.
The emotions that didn't belong to me dissipated, and my will once again took command over my consciousness and body.
In that moment, the rune in front of me shattered of its own accord. Then, the thread of Luck slumped weakly before me. It drifted slowly, falling toward the floor as if hoping someone would catch it.
I instinctively reached out to touch it. The thread of Luck seemed to gain a mind of its own, curling slightly and slowly tying itself into a butterfly bow around my wrist.
One end of the Luck bow reached out and vanished into the void.
It was like a marker, appearing incredibly fragile. It felt as though if I simply tugged at the other end of the bow, I could easily undo the connection.
Compared to the Luck I had encountered before, this strand lacked aggression and initiative. It felt like it was pleading, clinging to me as its final shred of hope.
It gave me the feeling that if I untied the bow, the Luck wouldn't just pull away—it would simply disintegrate.