Chapter 544: The Dead Have No Secrets
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 544: The Dead Have No Secrets
Since Teacher Lina had arrived, I took the opportunity to leave the infirmary.
She looked as if she wanted to say something to me, hesitating, but in the end, she didn't stop me.
After leaving, I immediately used a teleportation spell to return to the ruins I had marked earlier.
Since I hadn't personally witnessed what had transpired here, I planned to spend some time reconstructing the disturbed Ley Line information of the area.
It wouldn't take long. Although the explosion had affected a vast area, organizing the Ley Line data at specific key nodes would be enough to reconstruct certain scenes. I could then pass a copy to the Academy Dean and the others, contributing another brick to the refinement of the Qi Observation Art.
After all, this was a collision between a scripted, vital resource—[Transcendent Knowledge]—a Child of Destiny, and Players capable of forcibly manipulating luck. It held immense value for information gathering.
While I was busy, the sounds of rescue operations already echoed across these ruins—or rather, this disaster zone. There were ordinary people helping with the rescue, transcendents volunteering their aid, and so on.
They braved the potential threats posed by powerful beings, even risking the possibility that the perpetrators of the disaster hadn't yet left, all to save every possible survivor.
I walked through the rubble, piecing together the scenes that had unfolded. Occasionally, I stepped forward to treat those who still had a breath of life in them. However, at the epicenter of the explosion, survivors were far too few. Most were merely mangled blurs, shaken by the shockwave until they no longer looked human. I even encountered those so close to death that even my Flesh Healing spell could not bring them back.
In this moment, I clearly felt how easily a human life could vanish. Soul essence dissipates, flows into the earth, and returns to the cycle...
And then, as I used the Ley Line Identification Art once more, I finally confirmed one thing.
Along the way, I had relied on the Ley Line Identification Art to gather fragmented Ley Line information in an attempt to reconstruct local scenes. However, once the collection was complete, I found it interspersed with other information fragments that far exceeded my expectations. Some were quite intact, yet they had absolutely nothing to do with what I was looking for.
Now I understood... When a person dies, their soul essence returns to the Ley Lines, and their memories turn into data that flows into the earth. The information I had dismissed as "interference data" actually originated from the memories of the deceased.
In other words... when a person dies and their individual concept dissipates, their information becomes public and exposed. At that point, the person no longer has any secrets.
This was a significant discovery. It meant that the Ley Line Identification Art had taken a massive leap forward in "peeking" into personal privacy. Furthermore... I also possessed the Resurrection Spell...
When a person dies, they lose all secrets, even if they are brought back by a Resurrection Spell.
Thinking of this, I attempted to use the Resurrection Spell on a deceased individual to gather some test data.
Previously, my understanding of the Resurrection Spell was based entirely on my own foundation. Now, the spell was interacting with this world and this specific stretch of the Ley Lines; it was competing with the Ley Lines for the dissipating soul essence to reshape it.
The Resurrection Spell I mastered involved reshaping both the soul essence and the physical body. However, since my life essence was a soul, it was no wonder I felt it was "so simple" when I first tried it—back then, the spell only had to handle the physical reconstruction.
As mana was consumed, the Resurrection Spell caused the figure before me to gradually reshape until it was recognizably human. But in the end, I stopped my hand and did not continue.
There was no point in saving a dead person for no reason. My abilities were limited, and I wasn't looking to invite trouble.
Could a resurrected person accept their current reality?
Could they accept the passing of their loved ones?
This wasn't saving someone; it was dragging a departed soul back to reality to experience its cruelty once more. Once I realized this, I immediately withdrew my power. Suddenly, I understood the perspective of the Transcendent Witches—viewing ordinary people from a higher level of life.
Choosing not to save a life when it was a mere flick of the wrist... if word of this got onto the internet, I'd probably be condemned by a mob.
But to a Transcendent, what did that matter?
I spent several hours traversing the area, doing my best to collect and refine the information I needed, including those memories. They would help me better understand the nuances of the Main World from various perspectives.
I also personally saved many people.
I heard more expressions of gratitude and pleas for mercy than I had in both my lives combined. Perhaps only at such a time are the emotions and feelings a person displays at their most sincere, whether beautiful or ugly.
Of course, this disaster zone needed more than just rescue; it needed the clearing of obstacles and the opening of roads. The ambulances needed a clear path to arrive.
This rescue operation would likely last for days, but I wouldn't linger here for too long.
My primary purpose for coming here was to collect on-site information, followed by experiencing the fragility of life, and finally witnessing the brilliance of life. I was like a heartless bystander; once my initial goal was met, I would tuck away all my pity and leave.
In a deserted corner, I looked at the reconstructed images showing the situation at the time.
From the moment the Shopkeeper was discovered and hunted by those Players, to the ambush by the group of dropout students, and even witnessing the brain-dead Birdman fanning the flames until the final disaster erupted—the entire event was quite dramatic. I figured the Academy Dean and the others would quite enjoy it.
Thus, I took the collected information and images, along with the data I had observed on-site using the Qi Observation Art, and transmitted them all to the Academy Dean and the others via the Tree of Knowledge.
This transmission made me realize the difficulty of passing information between the Tree of Great Knowledge and the regular Trees of Knowledge.
It was a one-way information transfer that eventually aggregated into my Tree of Great Knowledge.
It's important to note that the Trees of Knowledge generated from the Great Knowledge Seeds passively shared information with my Tree of Knowledge. This relationship was somewhat like "paying tribute." However, since knowledge and information are "resources" that can be spread and copied, this was a one-sided sharing that didn't exploit the lower levels.
But as the upper level, if I wanted to push information out, it was quite difficult. Currently, the most mainstream channel was the Ley Line Identification Art.
Every time someone else's Tree of Great Knowledge performed an identification, the aggregated information actually targeted the database within that Tree of Great Knowledge first. If the information was incomplete, it would then request "access permission" from my Tree of Great Knowledge's database to further refine the identification.
This was a system of information interaction I had refined into a complete framework. If I wanted to pull it out to use specifically for real-time information transmission, it would be difficult.
Even though the technologies seemed similar, someone would have to specifically design it to work that way.
It hadn't been long since the Tree of Great Knowledge was born. Inspiration doesn't just strike and perfect itself in a single thought.
However, the idea I just had could be solved in another way—by linking it to the Academy Network system!
But the Academy Network was ultimately an external integration. If possible, I wanted to break through the technical hurdles of the Tree of Great Knowledge to achieve information exchange purely through spells.
* * *
Back at the Witch Academy.
After a brief exchange with the Academy Dean regarding my findings, I spent the rest of my time back at my villa.
Although I had said I would temporarily halt my research on the Tree of Great Knowledge to attend to other matters—and that news had surely spread—it didn't mean I wouldn't come back to check on the progress when I had a moment.
"Xiao Han~ we just got your message saying you were going to rest. Why are you back so soon?" Many Witches were surprised to see me appear.
"Well~ I just couldn't stop worrying about you sisters, so I found some time to come back and check in. Although I haven't been gone long, some big things happened outside. Want to hear about it?"
I immediately responded to their curiosity. They had been staying here and didn't know much about the outside world. Hearing that I was going to share some juicy gossip from my travels, many Witches put down their work and gathered around.
However, some well-informed Witches already knew a bit. After all, several hours had passed since the incident. Teacher Lina had learned of the situation and rushed to the infirmary; it wasn't hard for the news to spread through the Witch Academy.
But they were more curious about the details, so I gave them an account using a combination of audio and visual projections.
When I finished, many Witches immediately began discussing it, offering their opinions, while some wanted to know what happened next.
"Xiao Han, Xiao Han, are there more details? What happened afterward?"
"Hmm... that's all for now, but I'll probably keep following up. Don't worry, just think of it as a vacation for me. If there's news, I'll send it back through the Tree of Great Knowledge immediately."
"Great! Thanks for the hard work, Xiao Han~ Are you going to become a scripted battlefield reporter? By the way, can you start a live stream? Hey, Great Gamer, you've already built a gaming platform on here. Can a live streaming platform be built on the Tree of Great Knowledge?"
"A live streaming platform? I suppose... that sounds like a good idea."
"Wait, did you guys forget that the Tree of Great Knowledge is already connected to the Academy Network? The Academy Network can already do everything you're asking for, okay?" the Witches responsible for the network interface spoke up.
"You don't get it! You guys have refined the Academy Network so much that there's almost no room left for development. But the Tree of Knowledge is an untapped blue ocean!"
"Isn't that just redundant?"
"But you can't deny that the Academy Network is ultimately just an external addition to the Tree of Knowledge~ Anyway, I'm bored, and I feel like doing it~"
"Fine, suit yourself. Just don't use the ecosystem we're building between the Trees of Knowledge and the Academy Network later. When we phase out phones and use the Trees of Knowledge directly, don't come begging me with your phone in hand."
"I'm sorry! Sister Qiong, I was wrong!"
Watching them so lively, bickering and then pleading for mercy, made me happy. Afterward, I sought out the Witch sister who wanted to develop the live streaming platform; her ideas aligned perfectly with mine.
After an exchange of opinions, I left satisfied. It seemed there was a high probability my idea could be realized.
Don't let her slightly ditzy behavior during the bickering fool you; she really had the skills.
Meanwhile, the gossiping Witches hadn't stopped. They had even started analyzing the behavioral philosophies of those Players based on the images I provided.
"Hey, hey~ I still think there's something wrong with those Players."
"What could be wrong?"
"Look at this scene. Their fear of Xiao Han is a bit abnormal. it far exceeds the threat Xiao Han herself poses."
" I agree. Look at the question they asked twice—asking if she's a person of this world. It feels very disjointed, like it was a query from the Game Architect behind them."
"Do you think it's possible they learned about the concept of Witches from somewhere? Maybe they're actually afraid of Witches, not Xiao Han herself..."
"That seems plausible. Repeatedly confirming if Xiao Han is a person of this world is the same as confirming she isn't the kind of 'Witch' they know about."
"That makes sense! I went to Dean Bev Alanna to ask about it before. That small world was also invaded, and then for some unknown reason, they ran away. Could they have been scared off by Xiao Han? Hahaha!"
"If that's the case, aren't they going to do even worse things to the Main World? Since they have no more reservations, they'll just settle old and new grudges together~ I'm looking forward to it, looking forward to it..."
They didn't bother lowering their voices, so many Witches joined in to share their views. I listened intently from the side. Honestly, many of their ideas were quite possible—things I hadn't even considered. Some of their analyses were actually quite sound and logical.
The only difficult point in the possibility they were discussing was how that world had learned the concept that "Witches are terrifying."
In truth, I didn't believe the power I displayed was enough to scare them off and make them abandon a world entirely. Nor was a single appearance enough to make those Vanguard Pioneers treat me with such "respect."
But I just took it as a joke. If I really believed it, I'd be a little fool. They were just gossiping to add some fun to their boring lives; whether it was true or not didn't matter much to them.
And as their gossip became increasingly outrageous, I stopped listening.
Leaving the group, I went to the rooftop terrace to rest and relax. After all, I had witnessed a tragedy involving so many people not long ago. To be honest, I couldn't quite empathize with the Witches' cheerful gossiping atmosphere yet. Those images had still left a significant impact on my mind.
The best way to calm these emotions was to shift my focus and find something to do. And I chose... to study!
I couldn't just let the books and content recorded in the Tree of Great Knowledge gather dust. Only by using them flexibly could they truly belong to me.
And to put this knowledge into practice, I naturally needed a target as an anchor.
At that moment, I thought of the spellbook Bev Alanna had given me. I heard it was a book even the Dean couldn't quite figure out, so I naturally wanted to see its wonders for myself.
As I activated the spellbook, I first examined its interior. There was no introductory information about the spell, not even a basic name.
It seemed this spell was indeed quite mysterious. As the spellbook was activated, I only felt a slight drop in temperature in my palm, but that was it. Then, a substance resembling an ice crystal fell into my hand. I picked it up, but I couldn't feel the cold of ice. Having dealt with Absolute Zero too much lately, I had subconsciously associated it with ice, but this wasn't ice.
With the feedback from the Ley Line Identification Art, I soon knew what it was. These were... crystals. Physical crystals. Moreover, these crystals weren't a spell effect; they were actual matter. So... the effect of this spell was the act of "crystallization."
"Interesting. I'll call it the Crystallization Art for now. It doesn't feel... particularly special, though. Could I have been tricked by Dean Bev?"