Chapter 582: New Discoveries Regarding the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 582: New Discoveries Regarding the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art
Several days passed in a flash.
The students had already grown accustomed to the phantom of the Tree of Great Knowledge looming within the academy.
Recently, numerous rumors had circulated on the academy network. Some were true, others false, but in the end, they merely served as idle gossip over tea and meals.
Those who were observant noticed that the Tree of Great Knowledge changed slightly every day. Boundless Power of Knowledge swirled around it, adding a scholarly luster to its form.
Furthermore, some firmly believed that staring at it every morning until they felt lightheaded would help them become smarter. The strange part was that a significant number of people actually bought into it.
While the students remained oblivious, an undercurrent was brewing in the world outside.
Since the tragedy in the Magic City, the various transcendent academies had spontaneously begun investigating, cornering, and exterminating those responsible. They were determined to ensure that such a catastrophe never struck the Main World again!
However, these efforts felt like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water. Most of those captured were insignificant nobodies, or the efforts were spent suppressing local riots and protests.
In other areas, the Holy Light Academy was busy purging the cultists that had recently cropped up.
Currently, the Main World recognized only one mass-distributed faith: the Holy Light Faith. Any sect preaching doomsday theories or worshipping "saviors" was deemed a heresy that required the judgment of the Holy Light.
The Main World, a ranch tended by the various transcendent academies, had fallen into chaos due to these external factors. It was as if a catfish had been dropped into a stagnant pond, constantly stirring up the water.
Truths never heard before began to circulate through society, challenging the facts people had long taken for granted.
They spoke of how the transcendent academies exploited ordinary people, how they constantly manufactured social conflicts, and how they incited antagonism between commoners and transcendents.
Behind the stoking of these fires, the shadows of the world's top billionaires seemed to loom. These individuals sat at the very pinnacle of the social pyramid, possessing enough wealth and means of production to leverage the lifeblood of the world.
News that was once suppressed and information regarding the transcendent academies spread wildly across the internet. Unheard-of truths and alarmist rhetoric reached a fever pitch.
But this world was ultimately controlled by the transcendent academies. If they wished, they could quickly scrub all this information—and that was exactly what they did.
The wealthy and famous of the outside world generally moved in the same circles as the transcendents. With this sudden wave of public opinion sweeping the globe, the academies naturally needed to make an example of someone. By simply labeling someone a collaborator of the Players, they could make a person vanish instantly. Everyone understood this implicitly.
However, the rapid information bans created a different negative impact. The concept of conspiracy theories led more people to realize that the censored speech might have actually touched a nerve.
With just a little guidance, a firestorm of public opinion could be reignited online without any extra effort.
The Players acted this way to muddy the waters. If they could plunge the world into total chaos, all the better; after all, Players excelled at fanning the flames.
* * *
Inside the laboratory.
Compared to other, more rigorous labs, the witches here seemed quite relaxed.
Whether human or witch, no one could keep their focus entirely on one thing for too long.
Several days had passed, and I was still methodically working on the unification of Order. Sometimes I needed to slow down midway to plan the next steps.
"Xiao Han~ I’ve brought your lunch over."
"Thanks~"
I took it out of habit.
I hadn't reached the level where I could forgo food entirely yet. But even if I reached a point where I could survive without eating, I would still choose to have my meals on time.
After all... I really couldn't imagine what the point of life would be without the joy of good food.
I opened the packed meal box. In addition to a rich variety of dishes, there was a fruit platter that looked quite appetizing.
I took the opportunity to lean over and chat with the witch sisters.
"By the way, sisters, do you know if today is some kind of special day? Or has anything happened in the last couple of days?"
"Today... I don't think it's a special day? Why the sudden question, Xiao Han?"
"It doesn't seem to be any kind of anniversary."
"Though if you're asking about news, there was an announcement yesterday that the first batch of spellbooks for the Enlightenment Meditation Art has been produced and they're starting a trial promotion."
"What? It's only been a few days, and the Enlightenment Meditation Art is already being made into spellbooks?"
"It's just the fastest batch. Sigh~ I heard Lord Serena is on the list for that batch."
"For real? No way."
"Um... who is Lord Serena?" I asked curiously from the side.
"Lord Serena is also an Academy Dean of the Witch Academy. She doesn't usually show her face, but she did appear once when the Player Dungeon descended. Xiao Han, I think I mentioned her to you before?"
"Oh, another Dean. You didn't mention her name back then, so I didn't remember," I said quickly.
"Lord Serena is a true scholar who cultivates in seclusion at the Witch Academy. I suspect she's showing up this time largely because of the matter regarding that small world repairing the Main World."
"I've heard about that. I heard the repairs are going very smoothly. It should be entering the final stages soon."
I listened to their gossip while eating my lunch, not speaking further.
I had already obtained the information I wanted.
It was about the Enlightenment Meditation Art being turned into spellbooks and promoted.
To them, this might just be small talk or a trivial matter.
But to me, it wasn't.
Lately, I had been constantly trying to complete the unification of Order. Since it was my first attempt, success and failure were both inevitable.
In this methodical process, I actually preferred failure over success.
Success meant a path was clear; it was just a single successful experience. Failure, however, meant I could learn more—why it failed, which choices were wrong. Although it cost more time, time was the one thing I didn't lack.
The irritability caused by failure mostly stems from the perceived waste of time.
Once you stop caring about that consumption, failure becomes a process of continuous self-learning and research.
As for why I was paying attention to the promotion of the Enlightenment Meditation Art, that leads to another matter.
I needed to unify the three aspects of Order. I had already perfectly mastered the power of Body Cultivation. Before the Tree of Great Knowledge was further refined, I also maintained a high degree of control over it.
The toughest nut to crack was undoubtedly the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
Recently, the materials I consulted most were the research notes Dean Mei gave me regarding this Great Spellbook. I wanted to use this unification of Order to achieve a derivation of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, allowing its main body to evolve into a "Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment," thereby completely balancing the Dual Tree Structure.
After days of constant attempts, I suddenly realized something.
No matter how a Great Spellbook is developed, its function should serve me.
I didn't need to push the capabilities of a Great Spellbook to their absolute limit, because the effects of a Great Spellbook pushed to the limit are objective and do not change according to my will. Therefore, if I wanted it to be refined according to my own ideas, "Spell Derivation" was the best path.
A Great Spellbook is a tool. I shouldn't do something just because it should be done; I need to use it to achieve what I want to accomplish. That is the only way it has meaning in my hands.
However, from yesterday until now, I had sensed a slight discordance within the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
It was as if the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art had established some kind of connection. This wasn't the same as the link between the Tree of Great Knowledge and the Great Knowledge Seeds, but something far more profound and mysterious.
If I had to use a metaphor, it felt as if the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art was undergoing a metamorphosis.
A metamorphosis similar to... the Tree of Great Knowledge.
The spell form of the Tree of Great Knowledge belonged to a spellbook. It was a Great Spellbook derived by using the framework of the Skill Bookshelf spellbooks as a shortcut.
I remembered Teacher Ji Niang once saying that spellbooks had never truly belonged to me. At the time, I didn't understand what "belonging to me" meant.
It wasn't until I severed my Ley Line Shackles and my own body could no longer carry spellbooks that I experienced for the first time what a spellbook that truly belonged to me felt like.
That spellbook was called the "Spellbook Shelf Spellbook."
Because the Old Dean used a special method to make that spellbook entirely mine, other spellbooks could be stored within that shelf.
The second spellbook to truly belong to me was the Tree of Knowledge, which later transformed into a Great Spellbook because of [Transcendent Knowledge].
A thoroughly mastered spellbook means it has transformed from a tool into an inseparable part of oneself. It also means the spellbook can no longer be used as a tradable tool.
The Tree of Great Knowledge was currently in this state.
Because I had constructed it piece by piece and refined it to its current state, any spellbook could be thoroughly mastered through this method.
Without a complete understanding of the spellbook, this was impossible. This was especially true for students of the Witch Academy; for them to achieve this, they first had to sever their own Ley Line Shackles.
And now, the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art was also transforming from a "tool" into an "ability" of mine in a way I couldn't yet comprehend.
According to the records in my Tree of Great Knowledge, the methods for thoroughly mastering different spellbooks were not interchangeable.
Because transforming a spellbook into a mastered ability was extremely troublesome, even Transcendent Witches used the vast majority of their spellbooks simply as tools. It was convenient, and they could be discarded, exchanged, or even sold at any time.
A thoroughly mastered spellbook represented a witch's deep research into that specific magic; it also meant that these spellbooks were that witch's signature techniques.
After all, willing to spend time researching a specific spellbook to turn it into one's own ability—isn't that the ultimate expression of favoritism toward that spell?
Because different spellbooks varied in difficulty, the effort required to transform them into personal abilities also differed.
And for a Great Spellbook... even more so!
To me, the existence of the Tree of Great Knowledge was an unrepeatable miracle and my current foundation. It started from nothing and was constantly refined by me, eventually becoming a true Great Spellbook power.
But the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art was different. It was a tool—a tool Dean Mei had given me, along with an "instruction manual." I didn't have the slightest clue about its inner workings.
Yet, such a Great Spellbook had begun to form a connection with me between yesterday and today. Even though the connection was incredibly faint, I still noticed it.
After all, I was currently at the critical juncture of unifying Order, so my observation of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art had to be exceptionally meticulous.
Therefore, I had to take this seriously.
I didn't understand what I had done to cause this.
I even had the Fool's Dream spirits come here, but I didn't find anything unusual about them.
It wasn't until just now, when I heard about the promotion of the Enlightenment Meditation Art, that a thought flashed through my mind. I didn't know if it was true, but I needed to keep trying to verify it.
The only thing stopping me from believing my own hypothesis was the question: Can a spell from a Great Spellbook really do such a thing?
But then I thought about how the spread of Great Knowledge Seeds catalyzed and refined the Tree of Great Knowledge.
I couldn't prove it, but I had to admit I couldn't disprove it either.
So... could the Enlightenment Meditation Art I spread unintentionally to enlighten wisdom... actually catalyze the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art as well?
I didn't know.
But I would try.
I had a lead now. Regardless of whether it was right, I had to test it. Isn't experimentation just the process of forming hypotheses based on phenomena and then verifying them?
It would just take more time and energy to reach a conclusion.
* * *
Time passed quickly.
Today, an announcement from the Witch Academy once again shattered the peaceful daily routine.
Representatives from several transcendent academies were coming to the Witch Academy for a visit and exchange, as well as in-depth academic discussions.
Ultimately, the Witch Academy and several other institutions reached a series of close cooperation agreements and proposed many plans. One of them was particularly noteworthy: the concept of exchange students.
Promoting the fusion of different transcendent systems, sparking the collision of different educational philosophies, and experiencing how different transcendent paths lead to the same destination...
As soon as these notices were posted, they immediately caused a massive stir.
However, these matters were still in the announcement stage, and specific details had yet to be finalized. Even so, it was enough to get many students excited; after all, the students of the Witch Academy were the most restless of all.
But just as the announcement sparked heated discussion among everyone, a strange sound suddenly erupted from the Tree of Great Knowledge standing above the Witch Academy!
The distinct aura of a void rift suddenly appeared. The heart-palpitating power caused all the transcendent mentors to look over in shock.
"Heh... your Witch Academy... truly is a place of endless talent."
The mentors from various academies staying at the Witch Academy watched the distant phenomenon, their expressions shifting. There wasn't a hint of joy on their faces, only deep wariness.
"I didn't expect to see such a sight during this visit. Such a genius student... it would be best if they didn't meet an early end."