Chapter 596: The Idea of Incorporating the Omni-Link Main Network Tree into the System
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 596: The Idea of Incorporating the Omni-Link Main Network Tree into the System
Language represents many things. To master a language, one must first grasp the fundamentals: "literacy" and "grammar."
Although the vocabulary I acquired in that small world wasn't vast, one can sense the relative merits of different languages and scripts during the learning process.
Some languages require a person to recognize twenty to thirty thousand common characters or "words" before they can communicate fluently in daily life. Others require only a few thousand characters; combined with a flexible grammar, they are sufficient for daily communication and the appreciation of most literary works.
This was the approach I took.
At this moment, the Ley Line Operating System had essentially become a dictionary and lexicon for mutual translation. One should never underestimate the processing power of the Tree of Great Knowledge. With these foundations in place, all that remained was the teaching itself.
After all, language instruction is a process of constant practice, error correction, and reinforcement. The best teachers for these people were the refugees who were so desperate to communicate with them.
Thus, I didn't use the Knowledge Shadow to train those learning the new language. There was simply no need, was there? The very purpose of the language they were learning was to communicate with those around them.
Things seemed to be progressing faster than I had anticipated. Perhaps it was because I had taken a hands-off approach, simplifying the knowledge I was meant to teach to a level where they could self-study.
But as I said before, the reason Ninglan New City was called Ninglan New City was that it wasn't a campus of the Witch Academy. There were no teachers here to instruct them for free. Even though they affectionately called me "Scholar Xiao Han" or "Teacher Xiao Han," I remained unmoved.
In the eyes of other teaching assistants, my behavior was likely seen as a textbook example of a thankless task.
During this period, I once again cast the Knowledge Shadow for the group of city defense soldiers sent by Le. I must say, these men were clearly hand-picked. At the very least, they knew their place—they didn't ask questions they shouldn't, and those who don't cause trouble are always the most likable.
Once I finished with them, Wumali invited me to observe the current progress of the Association. It's fair to say that the development of Transcendent techniques within the Association was moving at a breakneck pace. Even the Beyonder Killing Weapons that had to be hidden away last time were now visible as prototypes. It seemed the city defense forces were likely already equipped with newer gear.
But... it still wasn't quite enough to be impressive.
Perhaps only the cutting-edge Transcendent research bases of Ninglan New City would be worth seeing. I preferred things that were truly novel, rather than watching them endlessly add and subtract from the same old techniques.
Although they were following a path of Rune techniques similar to the Witch Academy, different civilizations have different points of emphasis. I hoped to see a brand-new spark of brilliance in their craft.
Just as I appeared in the lobby of the Association, a girl who had been waiting by the entrance for a long time stepped forward.
"Excuse me, are you Teacher Xiao Han?"
"Hmm? Yes, and you are?" I asked curiously, looking at the girl who had suddenly appeared before me.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lan Ke. I'm a secretary to City Lord Qiuyue. When the City Lord heard you were here, she was very excited and sent me to invite you for a meeting," the girl said, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation.
"Ninglan Qiuyue... I see." I nodded in agreement. After all, I had already helped with the language issue; if I had to spoon-feed them everything, it would be going too far. It was a good time to visit Ninglan Qiuyue and see how things were actually progressing.
After a brief word with Shentu Le and Wumali, I followed the girl who claimed to be Ninglan Qiuyue's secretary to Ninglan Township Castle.
The castle remained the residence of the City Lord and the operational hub of the entire Ninglan New City. Upon arrival, I noticed it had been renovated, though the overall style retained its original character.
Looking at the refreshed Ninglan Township Castle, I couldn't help but remark on its extravagance. Then again, she was the lord of a city; such luxury served as a necessary facade. Besides, these materials that looked expensive were merely common building supplies to a Transcendent academy.
After all, the value of the materials a Witch might blow up during a failed alchemy experiment could probably fund the construction of another Ninglan Township Castle. One should never underestimate the Witches' capacity for squandering wealth.
Climbing a long succession of stairs, I finally entered the massive fortress.
In the area where the City Lord and high officials discussed affairs, only a few people were scattered about talking business, but the design of the space was undeniably grand.
"This way, please. City Lord Qiuyue should be waiting here." Lan Ke led me down a side corridor. This area felt familiar; it led to the VIP reception room.
As she pushed open the doors, several figures inside immediately turned their attention toward me.
"Sister Xiao Han."
"Mm." I gave a brief acknowledgment to Ninglan Qiuyue, who had stood up in her excitement.
My gaze was then drawn to two other figures. They were both teaching assistants.
During the previous meeting, although I hadn't made a conscious effort to get to know everyone, I had seen all the teaching assistants who attended. At the very least, they were familiar faces; I wouldn't fail to recognize them.
These two were no exception. Using the Ley Line Identification Art, I quickly identified them.
To my surprise, they weren't both from the Witch Secret Realm Club as I had guessed. One of them... was actually from the Jack-of-all-trades Club. It seemed the relationship between the Jack-of-all-trades Club and the Witch Secret Realm Club was quite good.
"I didn't expect to see you two here." I was direct with them.
I doubted they would try to plot against me. After all, if you try to play tricks on someone you can't control, you must be prepared to handle the consequences when they flip the table.
"It is an honor. It was a great regret of ours that we didn't get to properly acquaint ourselves with you after that meeting."
"Indeed. We hope Teaching Assistant Xiao Han won't hold a grudge against the club because of the actions of a few individuals."
"There's no need to bring up old news." I waved it off, signaling that the unpleasantness was behind us. Upon hearing this, the two of them visibly relaxed.
For them, being on the radar of someone like me was far more uncomfortable than direct confrontation. You never knew when such a person might drop a bombshell on you.
"I'm surprised you didn't immediately head out of the city to scavenge resources from the outside world."
"Aren't you the same, Teaching Assistant Xiao Han? I heard you even had the leisure to teach a brand-new language to the Literary Association."
"True. After all, Teacher Lina gave us two choices at that meeting, and I didn't choose to be a robber."
"Haha... a robber... Your phrasing is quite humorous, Teaching Assistant Xiao Han. But those people really are like robbers, terrified that if they arrive a moment late, everything will be snatched up by others." The girl sitting next to Ninglan Qiuyue chuckled, seemingly in full agreement with my assessment.
This girl was a teaching assistant from the Witch Secret Realm Club named Betsy, and the one beside her was Winnie from the Jack-of-all-trades Club.
When two major clubs like these joined forces, no one would believe they weren't planning something big.
However, I couldn't quite figure out their angle. Were they using their relationship with Ninglan Qiuyue to partner with the city and harvest resources? After all, Ninglan Qiuyue was just a City Lord. While teaching assistants didn't necessarily have to listen to her, what if the two massive organizations—the Witch Secret Realm Club and the Jack-of-all-trades Club—threw their weight behind her?
Then their rules would be the rules.
I didn't know if they had that kind of ambition, but the general idea was likely similar. Everything requires a justification, after all. Ninglan Qiuyue was probably trying to use this method to bind them together through shared interests, thereby gaining more leverage for Ninglan New City in this affair.
As the conversation progressed, I began to understand.
They had used Ninglan Qiuyue's relationship with me to invite me for a talk, hoping to use her as a bridge to smooth over conflicts and, incidentally, try to gauge my situation. To them, my existence was the greatest uncertainty.
In the end, my conversation with Ninglan Qiuyue was mostly trivial, whereas I discussed a great deal with the two teaching assistants.
However... I didn't enjoy talking to these two. It was exhausting. Every sentence was loaded with hidden value and traps, designed to extract information they didn't have. Ninglan Qiuyue didn't know much, so she naturally didn't speak often.
Since Ninglan Qiuyue tacitly allowed this dynamic, I didn't hold back. Since they were using intelligence on Ninglan New City as a bargaining chip, I reciprocated with information of equal weight.
Ultimately, they learned things from me that they wanted to know but which didn't affect me much—such as how I learned the language of that world and what that world was originally like.
In return, I gained a piece of intelligence that caught me off guard.
During the period before we arrived, Ninglan New City had already conducted outward explorations. Originally, there were no people around the city; some of the refugees were discovered by the city's long-range scouts.
They had essentially exposed their own position and invited trouble. But they couldn't be blamed; it was their first time facing such a situation. The Witches wouldn't care about such things; if they did intervene, it would likely be to feed those people into the Ley Line's soul essence cycle.
Of course, what truly surprised me wasn't that, nor was it the Transcendent crystal mines Ninglan New City had discovered and marked, or the mapping of the surrounding area.
It was the fact that the "heritage" of that world still existed outside.
Some man-made structures remained—tall buildings, basic infrastructure, and the flora famous for its plant technology. Countless plant roots had been churned up, yet they continued to take root due to their tenacious vitality.
Almost all man-made structures had collapsed like toy blocks; habitable houses were few and far between. However, the supplies necessary for survival had also been preserved.
They needed to complete the reconstruction of their civilization, restart basic infrastructure, and achieve food self-sufficiency before those supplies ran out. This was the reality the people of that small world had to face.
But what I cared about most... among these preserved "infrastructure legacies," one thing in particular caught my eye.
The Omni-Link Main Network Tree!
According to their description, they had discovered such a plant during their exploration—a massive, magnificent tree. It was not far from Ninglan New City.
I was fairly certain it was the Omni-Link Main Network Tree. If it had been preserved, then the repaired Expansion Realm might be able to reconnect through it. The foundation for civilizational communication could be saved.
The reason I cared so much about the Omni-Link Main Network Tree was that it was intimately connected to my Tree of Great Knowledge. As I gradually perfected my tree, a fleeting thought had crossed my mind... to incorporate the "Plant Network" of the Omni-Link Main Network Tree into my own system.
This was the communication channel and network of an entire small-world civilization!
For the perfection of the Tree of Great Knowledge, this would be far faster than spreading Great Knowledge Seeds within the Witch Academy. It wasn't a matter of the quality of the knowledge, but rather the integration of a massive volume of information.
The most precious thing, naturally, was "experience."
But before that, I had to make sure these people were "fed." Otherwise, starving people might even try to eat the Omni-Link Main Network Tree.
They had gone from modern luxury to the stone age overnight. The environment they faced forced them to confront a hard truth: they were still bound by material needs. Until they solved the problem of food and warmth, there could be no talk of spiritual self-fulfillment.
Furthermore... it is hard to go from luxury to poverty. This was the driving force behind their desperate urge to rebuild a civilized society. With the legacy and infrastructure left by their original world, I believed it wouldn't take long.
It was like a world-wide disaster relief effort. Once basic survival was secured, what they needed was to use their own hands to rebuild their home.
"Having said all that, I wonder what you think, Xiao Han?"
"The same as before: I have my own things to do. As long as you don't get in my way, I won't be an obstacle to you."
"And as for cooperation..."
"I might consider it if I'm free, but it would likely be limited to a specific matter." I shrugged, appearing somewhat unyielding, yet they could do nothing about it.
"I recall that you aren't entirely without desires, Xiao Han. That's how this world is—money can do many things. Even Soul Crystals are a form of currency. It's hard to acquire much relying solely on your own strength. Perhaps you should learn to rely on the power of a group."
"Mm, I do indeed need Soul Crystals. You know what they're used for, so you surely understand they aren't a strict necessity for me," I said with a smile, acting indifferent as if the crystals didn't move me. Then I continued, "I am very fond of the unknown. For instance, that giant tree you mentioned earlier. Such a tree could never arise naturally, especially not in a civilized society. I'll head over to take a look when I have time."
I had revealed the concept of "plant technology" to them, but I hadn't explained the concept of the Omni-Link Main Network Tree. Leaving them room for imagination was enough; I didn't need to explain everything clearly.
We were not on the same path.
Although they had mocked the "robber" behavior of others earlier, were they any different? Wasn't their so-called "cooperation" just a better way to carve up those resources?
They were just as greedy for those resources. What they despised were the fools who tried to snatch them without using their brains, not the act of being a robber itself. These Transcendent resources were rare in the Main World, making them all the more precious.
The Main World hadn't seen upheaval in a long time, so there wasn't such a rich accumulation of World Three Source Elements; most of it had already integrated into the world itself.
Since our paths were different, mutual non-interference was the greatest achievement of this negotiation.
However... even if we weren't on the same path, it didn't mean we couldn't cooperate temporarily.
As they said, I did need Soul Crystals. This seemed to have become common knowledge among them, as I was the only one in the teaching assistant group whose life level was lacking.
But while a high life level was a prerequisite for advancing to the Transcendent stage, for me, it was merely the icing on the cake.
If they thought they could control me by controlling the supply of Soul Crystals, that would be the ultimate joke.