Chapter 521: Falling into a Deep Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 521: Falling into a Deep Dream
At this moment, the information the Dean had once shared with me regarding Life Elucidation echoed in my mind.
That Truth Witch, the one who pioneered the Great Subject of the Essence of Soul Life, had ventured deep into the dreamscape to master the Dream Authority. She had thoroughly proven the connection between the soul and dreams. The reason dream creatures were not recognized by the Void’s concept of "Life" was likely due to the barrier between dreams and reality—and the soul, it seemed, served as the bridge.
The moment the Tree of Great Knowledge was completed, the main body of the Great Spellbook had attracted the effect of its counterpart, "Wisdom Enlightenment," manifesting it as a reflection on the other side of the tree.
Thus, what separated the Sea of Consciousness from the Dream Sea was never a "mirror" effect formed by Void energy; that was merely a means of presentation. Even if I were to pass through that mirror, I wouldn't be able to reach the side of the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment.
However... when the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment surfaced, the Knowledge Shadow appeared there.
"Try entering the dream from within the Sea of Consciousness," the Knowledge Shadow’s voice drifted over, acting as a sudden realization.
But I had never tried to enter a dream in such a manner.
"You dummy, use meditation."
Right, meditation... A witch’s meditation method borrows from the Primal Dream. Because of this, if one does not expend energy to maintain conscious clarity during meditation, it is easy to slip seamlessly into deep sleep. Meditation, by its very nature, is a method of mental fortification that wanders along the edge of the Primal Dream.
But it could be used for more than just that.
In that instant, I "closed my eyes" within the Sea of Consciousness. It felt as though I had lost consciousness; my body sank into the ocean, and the sounds of the outside world seemed to be muffled by a barrier. It wasn't just sound—my five senses began to fade one by one, only to be reorganized. Everything about me was being reshaped.
My consciousness felt as though it had inhabited a new shell, "reborn" into a new world.
When I struggled to open my eyes, I found myself floating in a void without any support. It was a place entirely different from the Sea of Consciousness, where order had already been established.
It wasn't until my gaze was drawn to something that I found a point of focus.
It was a tree... an existence completely different from the Tree of Great Knowledge.
"Is this the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment?" I murmured.
In this disordered dreamscape, anything could suddenly appear or abruptly vanish. Absurdities occurred one after another, picking through my memories to piece together grotesque scenes. It seemed the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment was the only source of order here; it stood tall, its roots spreading endlessly and its branches reaching outward.
In this dreamscape that I had previously been unaware of, the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment had already grown to a shocking degree.
But right now, it was merely the effect of a spell. It seemed I had never truly understood the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
At that moment, a thought surfaced in my mind.
Or rather, it was something I had always wanted to do but lacked the confidence to attempt... to unify the two Great Spellbooks into one!
However... I couldn't achieve that yet. I knew too little about the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art. A perfected Great Spellbook whose developed effects couldn't even match a Tree of Great Knowledge that had only just reached the level of a Great Spellbook—that was clearly wrong.
But now, what I needed to do was touch the thing I had never dared to handle: the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
This was a perfect opportunity to test the effects of this Great Spellbook. I had never actively tried to understand it, passively assuming that casting the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art would simply grant me a boost in IQ, reaction speed, and so on.
But I realized that wasn't the case...
Those were merely incidental effects. The spell's true power certainly went beyond that. I simply hadn't truly mastered it yet; I needed to seize it proactively.
My current situation was like a primitive man who knew nothing of magic but had stumbled upon a Fireball Spellbook. After casting the Fireball Spell, he would only passively use it for warmth or to light a small area, never realizing its offensive potential or using it to hunt animals for food.
Every spell has its proper domain of application; using it in the wrong place only leads to sinking deeper into trouble.
The predecessor of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, the [Transcendent Knowledge] fragment, originated from a Fool's Dream who was still a dream creature. Therefore, its effects must be related to dreams and life.
Thinking deeper, I shouldn't let myself be limited by the name Dean Mei had given it—the "Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art." Perhaps that was only its surface appearance.
The concept of "Wisdom" is far too broad—so broad that there is no concrete concept to describe it. How could it possibly be governed by a single spell?
It must have a specific scope of application. For example... the Fool's Dream. What are the Fool's Dream?
Dream creatures.
And what are dreams related to in my current context?
The soul.
Therefore, this spell should be an existence related to the Great Subject of the Soul.
Though this was merely an intuition and a guess, I now possessed the qualifications to test it.
* * *
"Sister Xiao Han, Sister Xiao Han!"
In the outside world, Yulan and the others watched as I closed my eyes and stopped responding for a long time. No matter how anxious they were, they could only choose to believe in their Sister Xiao Han.
But... as they watched the figure before them fall into a deep slumber and then collapse straight onto the floor, they finally realized something was wrong!
They tried to rush forward to support her, but the massive difference in size made it incredibly difficult. As her body slumped down, Yulan couldn't hold out any longer and was pinned underneath.
"Sister Xiao Han! Are you okay? Wake up!"
"What do we do? What happened to Sister Xiao Han? Why did she suddenly faint?"
The three Fool's Dream were thrown into a panic by this anomaly. It was the middle of the night! The other Fool's Dream had long since left, leaving only the few of them in the villa.
"Quick, take Sister Xiao Han to the infirmary..." Yulan said as she crawled out from under the body.
"But we can't move Sister Xiao Han..."
"Maybe we should call for help."
"But who can we call at this hour?"
For a moment, the three Fool's Dream were in a frenzy, until Yulan thought of something.
"How about... we go call Sister Dinah? Didn't Sister Dinah say we could ask her for help if anything happened? Sister Dinah and Sister Xiao Han are friends; she'll definitely save her!"
"Right! Let's find Sister Dinah!"
After all, the Fool's Dream had originally worked at the Witch Cat Café. They naturally knew the shopkeeper behind the café, and she was very caring toward them, even giving them her contact information.
It wasn't long before a figure arrived in a hurry.
Because they were in such a rush, the Fool's Dream couldn't provide precise spatial coordinates. Dinah had to tear through space to the general vicinity before she could find the place.
"It's okay, it's okay. Take it slow—what happened? Why use such an emergency contact? Did someone bully you?" Dinah rushed forward to comfort Yulan and the others the moment she saw them.
"Sister Dinah, it's Sister Xiao Han! Something happened to Sister Xiao Han!" Yulan cried, pulling away from Dinah’s embrace.
"Huh? Xiao Han?" Dinah was visibly stunned. How did this involve Xiao Han?
Was there actually someone in the Witch Academy who dared to bully Xiao Han?
Nevertheless, she quickly followed the Fool's Dream into the villa.
"Did Xiao Han turn this basement into her laboratory?" Dinah remarked with a hint of admiration as she looked at the layout and decor.
"Yes! Sister Xiao Han is just ahead. She fainted, and we can't wake her up no matter what we do," Yulan said anxiously.
"Xiao Han fainted?"
Dinah frowned slightly. Surely she hadn't managed to get herself into trouble with some strange experiment?
But Dinah felt somewhat helpless in this situation. At the thought, the cat ears on her head twitched irritably. Regardless, she had to check the situation first.
"She really did faint?"
After entering, Dinah stepped forward quickly to prop Xiao Han up. After sensing the situation, her frown deepened.
She couldn't find any reason for Xiao Han’s unconsciousness. There were no spell effects, no backlash, and no curses.
Even her body was in great shape—no injuries, and no strange drugs in her system.
"Do you remember what Xiao Han did before she lost consciousness?" Dinah asked the Fool's Dream standing nearby.
"Sister Xiao Han seemed to be facing some difficulty, and we couldn't help. Then Sister Xiao Han closed her eyes... and after that, there was no movement. She just fell over..."
"Sister Xiao Han must be so disappointed in us. Did we make her angry?"
"Huh? She just fell over like that?" Dinah felt a wave of helplessness upon hearing the details. She looked at the Xiao Han she was holding; her breathing was steady, as if she were truly just asleep.
"Whatever. I'm taking her to the infirmary." Dinah knew nothing about this sort of thing; it was better to let a professional witch handle it.
Dinah scooped Xiao Han up and tore open a teleportation channel in front of her.
"Sister Dinah, can we come too? We're very worried about Sister Xiao Han!"
"Fine, come along." Dinah signaled it was okay, and they stepped into the teleportation channel together.
A moment later, she arrived at the infirmary, followed closely by the three Fool's Dream.
Since the Fool's Dream had never been here before, they were naturally wary of the unfamiliar place and stayed close to Dinah’s heels.
After settling Xiao Han, Dinah learned the situation from the infirmary witch: Xiao Han was currently in a state of deep sleep.
"Wait, are you sure? Deep sleep? You're sure she didn't faint?" Dinah asked, still skeptical. "She fell flat on her face, and you're telling me she's just sleeping?"
"Don't question my professionalism. We aren't so incompetent that we can't tell the difference between sleep and a coma. She'll wake up once she's had enough rest. Though, this is one of the few times I've seen someone sleep this deeply. Could you ask her for me what kind of sleep spell she used on herself?"
Hearing this answer, Dinah rubbed her forehead in exasperation. She then relayed the news to the Fool's Dream, who were watching with wide, expectant eyes, which finally put them somewhat at ease.
"Tsk... I can't exactly stay here and watch over her all night. I remember Xiao Han saying she had a girlfriend..." Dinah searched for a while but couldn't find Xiao Han’s phone. She didn't want to force open her storage equipment, so she had no way to contact anyone...
"Fine, fine... I'm the unlucky one. Looks like I won't be getting any rest tonight. Sigh..."
Though Dinah complained, she stayed there faithfully to wait with the Fool's Dream. She picked up one of the Fool's Dream; at least there were cute cat-girls to keep her company.
She then prepared to get more details from the Fool's Dream.
After some questioning, Dinah gradually began to piece things together. "You said Xiao Han is currently researching the Great Knowledge Seed? Why does that sound so familiar?"
Dinah took out her phone and scrolled through some gossip group chats, eventually finding something.
"Wait, Great Knowledge Seed... Great Knowledge Seed!" Dinah suddenly realized. She had seen this mentioned in one of the gossip groups she was in.
She heard it was a goodie that had come from Dean Mei, and that it was quite interesting.
She felt like... she had discovered something incredible!
"Yulan~ let me ask, is this what you and Xiao Han were researching?" Dinah asked, holding Yulan and showing her a photo of a Great Knowledge Seed she had found.
"Mhm! That's it! Sister Xiao Han was researching that so we could use it, and then she ended up like this..."
"It really is?!" Dinah’s heart skipped a beat, still finding it hard to believe.
After all, Xiao Han... she was just a student. No, she was a teaching assistant now, but how could someone like her be researching a Great Spellbook?
Even if the Dean favored her and gave her a Great Spellbook, still...
As she thought it through, Dinah counted the factors: a Great Spellbook, Xiao Han, the Dean, the Great Knowledge Seed... things were getting complicated.
"Maybe... I should ask Mei?"
Dinah muttered to herself, falling into thought. Dean Mei was busy right now and had only left a clone at the academy. However... that wasn't an ordinary spell clone; it should be fine.
Deciding to act, Dinah opened her contacts and found Dean Mei’s number. Not long ago, she had been dragged into doing manual labor by Mei Lind. She had clearly said she wouldn't contact her again, yet here she was, forced to do so... What a disaster.
"Hello, Sister Mei~ I wanted to ask if you're busy right now?"
"Hmm? Dinah? Calling at this hour? Didn't you say you'd never contact me again? Why the sudden call? Is something wrong?" Dean Mei’s voice came through the phone.
"There is something. I wanted to ask about that so-called Great Knowledge Seed..."
"I don't have any more of those on me. You're too late," Dean Mei said bluntly.
"I'm not asking for one. I want to know... does it have something to do with Xiao Han?"
"It does have some connection. Did you ask Xiao Han?"
"Xiao Han is currently at the infirmary. According to the Fool's Dream with her, she seems to have fallen into a deep coma while researching that seed. Although the infirmary staff say it's deep sleep, even so..."
"What? What happened to Xiao Han? Be clear... Which infirmary are you at?! I'm coming right now!"
Before Dinah could finish, an urgent voice came from the other end. Before she could say anything else, the phone signal seemed to cut out.
"Huh? Wait, what is going on?" Dinah stared blankly at her phone. Confirming there was no response, she could only hang up.
But... she really didn't understand what was happening.
Because of Xiao Han... she had summoned the Dean with a single phone call!
Normally, it was a toss-up whether the woman would even answer her calls.
Just as Dinah was feeling confused, she suddenly felt a pang of dread. A massive sense of crisis surged from beside her.
The anomaly set off alarm bells in her head. Her instinctive perception of danger made her move to grab Xiao Han and the Fool's Dream to run.
But as she picked up the Fool's Dream and reached for Xiao Han, she realized the source of the danger... seemed to be Xiao Han herself!
Under her shocked gaze, she felt a terrifying aura manifest above Xiao Han. The ear-piercing sound of space tearing made her skin crawl.
"My Primal Witch Lilith... A-A Void Rift? How can there be a Void Rift here?!"