Chapter 513: Lucianne Exploring the Tree of Knowledge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 513: Lucianne Exploring the Tree of Knowledge
Watching the figure depart, Lucianne wanted to say something more, but the words wouldn't come. She remained there, standing alone in the silence.
This was an observation deck on the upper deck of the yacht. A gentle breeze blew across one side, and fortunately, no one came to disturb her. Lucianne’s mind quickly became active again.
Now that the source of her pressure had left after that series of shocks, she felt free to experiment with this so-called Tree of Knowledge.
The way everything had unfolded felt "surreal" to her. She had obtained the power she had previously dreamed of with such ease.
Settling her mind, she used the anchor of the Tree of Knowledge to quickly perceive her Sea of Consciousness. Within that void, a small sapling floated, its roots seemingly plunging deep into the depths of her consciousness.
The moment the seed sprouted, she felt a connection to it. It felt like an instinct, allowing her to perform many basic tasks.
"Memories... as nourishment..." Lucianne meditated for a moment. Countless memories surfaced in her mind; she truly wanted to test this ability for herself.
After searching for a while, Lucianne found some trivial, embarrassing incidents from long ago—things she didn't want to remember but could never quite forget.
"Let these past memories turn into nourishment and vanish from my mind!" Lucianne gave a soft cry, following her "instinct" to feed the memories into the tree.
In truth, she didn't know what form "turning into nourishment" would take, but since she had already established a connection with the Tree of Knowledge, following her instinct seemed viable.
And indeed it was... but the result was beyond her expectations.
"Damn it, wasn't it supposed to be nourishment?" Lucianne felt the memories being shared back by the Tree of Knowledge, and her expression soured. This time, she feared she would never be able to forget them. However, aside from those unpleasant memories, the Tree of Knowledge truly had grown a tiny bit.
"Memories turned into nourishment also become archived memories... and the original memories aren't actually consumed..."
Quickly pushing aside her annoyance, Lucianne summarized the information gained from this attempt.
She then performed a self-test. After memorizing a string of random numbers, she waited. Before long, she began to forget the sequence, but the information recorded in that memory remained stored within the Tree of Knowledge. This simple method verified that the so-called photographic memory was real.
"Is there no way to delete these memories?" Lucianne muttered to herself, feeling a mix of joy and distress. Through simple experimentation, she had confirmed that this unknown method had granted her "photographic memory." Moreover, these backup-like memories weren't much different from her original ones; she felt she would be fully adapted to them in just a few days.
At that moment, she recalled the three abilities of the Knowledge Seed she had seen earlier, as well as what Xiao Han had said before leaving. Since her own pondering yielded no results, she decided to try something else.
That... Knowledge Shadow. She had witnessed the terrifying nature of such a technique during the Joint Exam. Furthermore... it seemed the other party could control this ability like a clone.
Thinking of this, a sudden realization struck Lucianne. Could the Knowledge Shadow from this Tree of Knowledge also be "monitored" by the other party?
A cold sweat broke out on her back.
But regardless, since she had accepted the benefits, the price was unavoidable. Even if everything was exactly as she feared, she couldn't resist at this stage. Or rather, she couldn't bring herself to give up such a powerful ability. After experiencing it, who would have the courage to say they didn't need it?
In any case, she couldn't say no to such temptation.
"But... how am I supposed to summon the Knowledge Shadow? Do I just call for it?" Lucianne was currently clueless.
Most of the spellbooks she used included instructions on how to operate them. Now, this single seed was stumped her.
However, the moment the thought crossed her mind, a figure suddenly appeared in her field of vision.
"You really are useless, Lucianne. Such a good thing is handed to you, and you don't even know how to use it?"
The familiar voice echoed in her ear, making her heart skip a beat.
"Knowledge Shadow..."
"Correct~ You've already established a connection with the Knowledge Seed, and many of its abilities have become instinctual. Summoning me is just a matter of a single thought. What exactly are you so afraid of?"
In Lucianne's eyes, the figure stood beside her, constantly belittling her in a lecturing tone.
Lucianne recalled what Xiao Han had said before leaving...
"What are you acting so tough for... You aren't Yang Yuehan. You're nothing more than a projection of my own subconscious..."
"Oh, so you do know~ Shouldn't you have realized that during the Joint Exam? You only dare to say it now. Acting tough to yourself is quite impressive, isn't it? If you're so capable, why don't you say that to Xiao Han's face!" the Knowledge Shadow continued.
"Enough! I didn't call you out to argue about this!" Lucianne suppressed the urge to snap back, but she had to admit she was speechless.
"Your heart is in turmoil, and you're using this moment as an excuse to escape. Fine by me~ You want to use me to understand how to use this Knowledge Seed, right? Your thinking is correct. The Knowledge Seed does contain a significant amount of instructional information that requires me to express it. Ask away~"
The Knowledge Shadow currently held the posture of a superior. That final "Ask away" felt like an act of charity, stinging Lucianne’s heart once again.
"Xiao Han... she isn't like this..."
"Right, Xiao Han isn't like this, but this is how she is in your heart. You fear her, and you fear yourself as well, because your subconscious feels that if you had her strength, you would be even more excessive than she is."
Following Lucianne’s whisper, the Knowledge Shadow circled her. That familiar voice echoed in her ear, its piercing remarks striking the most fragile parts of her heart.
"Tell... tell me about the instructions for the Tree of Knowledge..." Lucianne took a deep breath, slowly pulling herself away from her emotions before speaking.
"Currently, the Tree of Knowledge has three basic abilities. You already understand the memory backup, and you understand the Knowledge Shadow—me. That leaves only the Identification Art... want me to tell you about it?"
"No, tell me about the memory backup function. I want to know how to completely delete memories backed up in the Tree of Knowledge... and... is there a limit to the memory storage?" Lucianne interrupted. She hadn't forgotten why she summoned the Shadow; she wanted to clear out those memories that were triggering her obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
"A simple question. Erasing memories within the Tree of Knowledge is easy. As for the storage limit you mentioned... there's no record of that yet; it hasn't been tested."
"But theoretically, there is a limit. However, this limit is likely related to a person's Sea of Consciousness, mental power, and so on. After all, if the Sea of Consciousness can no longer support the Tree of Knowledge, that's a hard storage limit. But you can handle that by periodically clearing out 'trash' memories."
"I have a concept here left by Xiao Han. You can categorize stored memories—for example: Important Information, Common Sense, Knowledge, Useless Trash, Lewd Thoughts, Temporary Important Memories, and so on. It makes it easier to do a one-click cleanup when the time comes."
As the Knowledge Shadow finished, Lucianne fell into thought. These concepts weren't hard to come up with, and they were very practical. In the short term, she really couldn't think of a more efficient way.
Afterward, under the step-by-step guidance of the Knowledge Shadow, Lucianne learned how to erase those memories. However, erasing the same memory provided basically no help to the growth of the Tree of Knowledge. She had thought she could exploit a loophole.
Thinking of this, Lucianne couldn't help but mock herself. This wasn't a game; how could there be a loophole for her to exploit? And even if she could, it would be meaningless. The growth stages of the Tree of Knowledge weren't a rigid requirement; what she needed most was knowledge!
The very knowledge that had once tortured her!
Now... Heh... she had already planned how to get her revenge. Before, she had begged for that knowledge to enter her brain, and it had acted all reluctant. Now, that knowledge would finally become a plaything in her hands—she could even throw it away whenever she wanted!
"What on earth are you fantasizing about? Is this what you should be thinking about right now?"
The sudden voice pulled Lucianne back to reality. It was the Knowledge Shadow, which had not yet disappeared.
"Is there anything else?"
"If there's nothing else, I don't want to see you for the time being."
"You still have one ability you haven't tried. Aren't you curious?"
"That Identification Art... what exactly is it?" Lucianne reacted quickly. She had somewhat overlooked this ability earlier. But an Identification Art... was it just a joke to amuse her?
How could such a broken ability exist in the real world? She would rather believe it was just a common function similar to smart object recognition. Besides, wasn't that concept still in the realm of fantasy?
"That is one of the most proud abilities Xiao Han developed, and one of the core functions loaded into the Tree of Knowledge. Why don't you try using Appraisal on yourself?"
"This ability can be used on oneself?" Half-doubting, Lucianne followed her instinct for controlling the Tree of Knowledge and used Appraisal on herself. As the command was issued, she immediately felt a stream of information surface...
"What is this?" As Lucianne spoke, a simple, illusory light screen appeared before her. It felt as if she were operating the Ley Line system; the screen even responded to her hand gestures.
But the information on it made her skin crawl!
From text to her personal photo, it recorded her name, age, birth, and a whole series of information—including her former gender and the time she changed it...
The information regarding the Mana Source and spellbooks within her body was also recorded in meticulous detail...
The more she read, the more she felt a chill down her spine. This was like having her very soul stripped bare. There were some details she didn't even remember clearly herself, yet they were presented with perfect accuracy.
As she scrolled further down, she noticed the information was categorized differently.
"This information is debatable or unconfirmed. The further down you go, the lower the credibility; it's only for reference," the Knowledge Shadow explained at the right moment.
"This information... it's terrifying. Xiao Han has such a method... then doesn't that mean... how is this possible?" Lucianne forced herself not to think further, because the possibility was simply too horrifying...
"In the world of the Transcendent, nothing is impossible. It's all about human effort. There's no need to feel pressured, because you possess this power now too. But please, don't use this ability for anything bad—like checking the color of other girls' underwear," the Knowledge Shadow said bluntly.
"I would never use this power for something like that!" Lucianne argued firmly.
"Re~ally~?"
"Really!"
"Are you sure?"
"I-I'm sure! Damn it, I'm not a pervert!"
"Sure, sure~ By the way, this ability has another incredible use. Do you want to know?" The Knowledge Shadow changed the subject.
"What else can it do?"
"The information obtained through Appraisal can also be recorded in the Tree of Knowledge, serving as nourishment for its growth."
"!"
* * *
Meanwhile, after leaving Lucianne, I began wandering around the yacht. The facilities inside were so numerous they surprised me. There were two swimming pools alone—one outdoor and one indoor. With the addition of spatial expansion rune techniques, the interior design of the yacht was truly staggering.
I had thought the yacht was quite large, but this internal space was probably as massive as a cruise ship.
There were several decks: the main deck, upper deck, bridge deck, and sun deck. There was even a private cinema inside...
The open-air restaurant on the main deck had been turned into a buffet-style party dining area.
As for the area by the outdoor pool, it was a scene of wild revelry.
As the yacht sailed away, the witches here completely let loose, enjoying the rare party atmosphere. Not just witches—even the Holy Angels and Elves joined in, as if all barriers between them had vanished for this moment.
While I didn't necessarily fit into such a joyous atmosphere, I quite liked the lively vibe. I sat quietly by myself, enjoying it. Perhaps I just loved the inner peace that this extreme contrast brought me; it was truly addictive.
Thinking this, I walked over to the buffet area to pick out some food I liked. Although it was a buffet, the dishes were not lacking at all. Many were rare and precious ingredients, and most were seafood, fitting the maritime theme.
As I was eating seriously, a figure suddenly appeared beside me. Just as a hand was about to reach out, I noticed it first.
"Hey~ Sister Bai! Planning to ambush me, are you?" I turned to see Sister Bai’s smiling face and spoke immediately.
"Xiao Han, are you finished with your work?"
"Yeah~ Though the process was a bit twisty, I managed to get it promoted." I put down my fork and plate, then feigned a pitiful look. "Waaa~ Sister Bai, someone told me earlier that I'm not good at socializing..."