Chapter 574: The Breakthrough
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 574: The Breakthrough
After a considerable effort to pull Tan Han and Ninglan Qiuyue up, the crowd pressed forward, eager to know exactly what had happened. They were curious—why had the two come up from that specific direction?
Tan Han didn't hold anything back; she told them everything. There was no point in keeping secrets now. Their enemies were the Players, and understanding their goals was crucial to preventing another strike. Thus, Tan Han and Ninglan Qiuyue shared their intelligence, including the fact that the Players were plundering Luck.
Tan Han wasn't stingy with this information, sharing it not just with the Witch Academy but with the other transcendent academies as well. They were all trapped together; there was no reason to be reserved.
Upon hearing the news, the other academies were instantly thrown into a panic. They looked around and realized that the Children of Destiny from their respective schools... were indeed all missing!
Panic set in. If their Children of Destiny had their Luck plundered and were ultimately killed by those Players, the responsibility would be catastrophic. Everyone knew how much the academies valued these Children of Destiny; they were being groomed as the backbone of the new generation, meant to lead their peers to heights previous student bodies had never reached.
If an academy's Children of Destiny vanished, that academy would lose its competitive edge. The status of "Child of Destiny" had become even more important than raw strength, as it served as the "buy-in" for other academies to even consider you a peer.
Wasn't the Witch Academy—which no one used to play with—now being invited to everything? Weren't other transcendent academies that used to be beneath notice now part of the circle?
Having that qualification was vital, a fact the upperclassmen understood better than anyone. Why else would they bring their academy's "star pupils" to this auction if not to broaden their horizons? They wanted to see the Witch Academy with fresh eyes.
In just this one semester, during the multi-school joint events, the Witch Academy had twice suppressed all other transcendent academies! The first time was at the start of the term, representing the students' innate talent and the academy's heritage. The second was at the end of the term, representing the students' hard work and the superiority of their respective power systems.
No one was a fool. In the past, they were simply unwilling to face the truth, putting on a brave face while suffering in silence. Previously, students only realized the gap after being beaten down in their senior years, but this new generation was getting that reality check right from the start.
Communication was essential. But now, this accident had occurred. Those Players wanted to shatter the status quo and harvest the Children of Destiny from every academy! Naturally, they had to unite.
Once Tan Han finished explaining their exploration of the dungeon space and their plans, everyone finally had a goal. Previously, faced with the unknown, everyone had huddled in the upper dungeon layers, afraid to touch the rifts created by the anomalies. But now that they knew what lay beyond, the fear vanished.
While the others busied themselves preparing to search the various channels, the Witch Academy held a small internal meeting to plan their next move.
Though they had the advantage of numbers, blindly exploring unknown areas remained dangerous. The fact that Tan Han and her companion had survived the vastness of space to find their way back was likely due to luck.
Or rather... not luck, but Luck.
One couldn't forget that Ninglan Qiuyue still possessed a transcendent item: "Ninglan's Heart." After it had been returned to her, she had kept it on her person. Its function was to manipulate Luck, though the cost was the consumption of flesh and blood.
Luck was an ethereal thing, invisible to her. However, Tan Han possessed the Spirit Eye talent, which could see through Luck. She rarely used it because the cost was too high, and frankly, she didn't quite know how to use it effectively—what was the point of seeing Luck threads if they didn't clearly explain what they represented?
But now, Tan Han realized that if her ability was paired with that transcendent item, the effect would be a perfect match! While the power of Luck wasn't the same as mere "good fortune," it would help them make the right choices at critical moments.
"By the way, seniors, have any of you seen Shopkeeper Xia Li? And... Xiao Han? The number of people from our Witch Academy in the hotel should be more than just this, right?" Tan Han asked.
"We're not sure. They're likely on different hotel floors and got separated. Perhaps the others are also trying to find a way out right now."
Just as many were beginning to take action, a dull thud suddenly echoed from below. The force of the impact caused the pixel blocks on the ground to ripple like waves. Moisture in the air condensed into frost on the floor, followed by a bone-chilling cold that slowly radiated outward.
But it wasn't over. In the next instant, the pixels on the ground violently exploded! The flying pixel blocks were shattered by a fierce force, followed by a sweeping cold wave! A massive hole was torn into the floor.
A figure wrapped in crimson flames leaped up from the depths. Seeing this form, everyone instinctively went on guard.
The person who had caused the commotion froze for a moment upon seeing the crowd, then deactivated her transformation.
"Is that... Lucianne? How is it you?"
"It's me... hiss!" Seeing that the people here were mostly acquaintances or people she’d met once, Lucianne nodded in acknowledgment. But before she could finish, the moment she dropped her Flame Fairy Transformation, she was immediately frostbitten by the gem in her hand.
Everyone's gaze fell upon the gem Lucianne was holding. Wasn't that the Heart of the Cold Wave from the auction? However, the design seemed slightly different from the one they had seen on stage.
"Never mind that for now, watch out for Players!"
Lucianne hurriedly used her magic to pick up the Heart of the Cold Wave. This item had been a gift to her from the Jack-of-all-trades Club, sent along with the Great Knowledge Seed. She never imagined that this would be the key to breaking the deadlock. By stimulating its power, she could shatter the boundaries of these pixelated spaces. It was through this method that she had escaped the Players' pursuit.
But using it came with a price. Even with the Flame Fairy Transformation to ward off the cold, she could only barely manage to hold it. Every time she triggered a burst from the Heart of the Cold Wave, the cold wave discriminated against no one—friend or foe alike.
Furthermore, once the Players discovered she had this item, they had chased her like madmen.
At that moment, several figures emerged from the hole she had made!
"Hahaha! You think you can escape like that? Naive! This Tech Core... you... YOU!"
The Players who had chased her out didn't even get to finish their sentence before the collective, burning stares of every transcendent student remaining in the area made their skin crawl.
"Get them! Don't let these Players escape!"
"Take them alive!"
In an instant, the situation for the once-arrogant Players was completely reversed! They were facing a crowd of transcendent students whose rage was at its boiling point. Before their fire-support platforms could fully deploy or their strongest combat stances could take shape, they were instantly overwhelmed by a concentrated barrage of attacks.
Even though the more rational students shouted to keep them alive, the enraged crowd eventually lost control, and one Player was accidentally slaughtered. These were the bastards who had caused all of this; it was only natural that emotions were difficult to restrain.
The Players who were left alive weren't faring much better. However, they looked completely indifferent—a clear sign they had blocked their physical sensations. Perhaps they knew struggling was useless; even if they still had dungeon authorization permissions, they couldn't use them now.
Just as some specialists were about to step forward to interrogate them, one of the Players spoke first.
"I messed up this time, bah! What a load of bad luck. A bunch of sluts... just wait until we occupy your world, I'll make you lick my—urgh!"
The Player was cut off by a punch before he could finish his filth.
"Pah..." The Player spat out a mouthful of blood, acting as if it were nothing. He looked at everyone with a venomous gaze, as if trying to memorize every face. "Zis stren'th is nuthin'... just you wait... I'll be back in a new form to crush you..."
He spoke the most vicious threats in slurred, broken speech. Even though he was clearly no longer a threat, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
A moment later, his head slumped to the side, his breath gone. The other Players followed suit.
They had manually logged out.
"Suicide? How did they all die at once?"
The students' expressions were grim. Some, refusing to believe it, went over to check, only to find that all signs of life were truly gone. Healing spells and awakening spells had absolutely no effect.
A dark cloud settled over everyone's hearts. they hadn't managed to squeeze a single piece of useful information out of these Players! And the threat the man made before dying left them feeling cold, as if they were being stalked by a ghost that refused to vanish. It was a truly foul sensation.
After a while, however, many regained their composure. They were still trapped and had to find a way out. With Lucianne's arrival and her new Heart of the Cold Wave, it seemed many now had a new option.
Lucianne admitted that the power triggered by the Heart of the Cold Wave could break the boundaries of this dungeon space. However, the cost of use was too high. Even with her Flame Fairy Transformation, the shock of the power would cause her spells to spiral out of control, leading to backlash.
Now that she was back with the main group, Lucianne didn't care about her image and collapsed onto the ground to rest. Spell backlash was no laughing matter.
The heavy atmosphere didn't lighten with the death of the Players. They had to find a way to break the spatial lock. It seemed the Heart of the Cold Wave was the key to the breakthrough, but the boundaries it opened only led to other spaces, not directly outside. It wasn't a complete solution yet.
"Wait... I think... I think I know something..." Lucianne said, her eyes closed as she tried to recover. Her rapid breathing and racing heart wouldn't let her fall asleep just yet. Hearing the others' discussion, she forced herself to speak up about something she had encountered.
"Lucianne, do you know something?" Everyone was drawn to her words, hoping her suggestion would be the new breakthrough they needed.
"Yeah... I'm not sure if it matters... but on my way here, there's no way I could have outrun those Players on my own..."
"That's true. How did you manage to break through dungeon boundaries while resisting the erosion of power and spell backlash all the way here?" someone asked, the realization hitting them.
"Quiet! Everyone be quiet! Let Lucianne speak!"
"Mm... thanks..." Lucianne, eyes still tightly shut, adjusted her breathing as if recalling the situation. "Midway... I stumbled into a strange dungeon space... inside, there was a massive pixel creation... I destroyed it... and immediately after, that space collapsed... along with the space I had come from... then I fell into darkness and landed in a new space..."
"Are you saying that in these spaces, there are core creations that maintain the existence of the dungeon space?"
"Does that mean if we destroy those creations, we can collapse the surrounding spaces?"
Listening to Lucianne's fragmented description, many of the more attentive listeners managed to grasp her meaning.
"Yes..." Lucianne nodded, and then her voice trailed off.
"Lucianne? What happened?"
"She's asleep. Don't wake her. Lucianne must have been under immense pressure to make it all the way here. Let her rest," the senior holding Lucianne said quickly. She then cast a deep recuperation spell on her to ensure she got the rest she needed. "I hope you have a good dream."
Then, everyone's gaze turned back to Tan Han and her group. According to their description, they had also passed through many connected spaces.
"Tan Han, did you see the special dungeon space Lucianne described on your way here?"
"A special dungeon space?" At the question, Tan Han began to sift through her memories. She summoned a projection of the Great Knowledge Seed and flipped through the connected spaces she had marked one by one. If they were talking about a "special" space, she had indeed encountered one, but she hadn't acted then to avoid unnecessary trouble.
"Tan Han, is Lucianne talking about that one?" Ninglan Qiuyue seemed to recall something as well.
"Yes, probably that one. Let me find the recorded image." Tan Han nodded and pulled up a visual. The image manifested before the crowd. Many were amazed by the technique; while imaging wasn't rare, this was clearly a direct projection of a memory!
"Is this it? It seems to match what Lucianne described. Such a massive creation?"
"In that case, let's go check it out. We don't have any other breakthroughs anyway," someone suggested.
Many were eager to try. The Witch Academy was willing to cooperate; if others were willing to take the lead and test the dangers, they were happy to let them. Besides, this was clearly a unique dungeon space, and it was impossible for everyone to go. If something went wrong, it would be disastrous. Therefore, a portion of the group had to stay behind to "guard the base." After all, there were many wounded, Lucianne and the others were unconscious, and the Children of Destiny were here. They couldn't afford to take unnecessary risks.
Though... at the moment, it seemed all of these Children of Destiny... were from the Witch Academy?