Chapter 631: The Hottest Commodity: Xiao Han!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 631: The Hottest Commodity: Xiao Han!
Once I finished explaining the concept of the Reincarnation Rebirth Spell, Mei Lind was the first to propose joining the project, expressing her willingness to help me perfect the spell.
The other witches, who had been watching from the sidelines, immediately followed suit.
Admittedly, they weren't researchers in the field of Soul Domains, nor were they specialists in Resurrection Spells, but they were eager to lend a hand.
How could they help?
By assisting in the creation—or rather, the modification—of spellbooks. They would transform a standard Resurrection Spellbook into a derived "Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook."
As Transcendent Witches who had mastered Real Editing, they were exceptionally skilled in this area.
In truth, I didn't strictly need their help. This wasn't the first time I had replaced an original spellbook with a derived spell; that was how the Tree of Great Knowledge came to be. Its predecessor, the Tree of Knowledge, had evolved from a Memory Bookshelf spellbook.
However, having these witches assist me was undeniably convenient.
They were genuinely curious and deeply invested. After all, it was a momentous occasion for such a terrifying spellbook like "Reincarnation Rebirth" to be born within the Witch Academy!
In the Academy, researching Great Spellbooks wasn't the only prestigious project. The birth of any significant spell was enough to draw immense attention.
After some investigation and research, the Dean and the other Witch Sisters discovered that the "Reincarnation Rebirth" spell I had constructed differed from the legendary version. Mine was more like... a simplified version.
In fact, it seemed that once created, I might be the only one capable of using it. The external techniques and personal requirements needed to trigger the spellbook were simply too high.
The "True" Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook was a terrifying artifact that could be used with almost zero threshold. Even when facing a target whose body was completely destroyed, it didn't require casting materials to provide a physical foundation; it could resurrect someone out of thin air.
A spellbook with no threshold, no casting materials, and no requirements was the ultimate state of perfection that spellbook craftsmanship aspired to.
Such a spellbook had only one hard requirement: the mana needed for the cast was measured in the tens of thousands. According to the cases the Dean and the others knew of, using that kind of Resurrection Spell to revive a single ordinary person cost nearly 500,000 mana!
500,000! And you couldn't pay in installments. That was fifty times the capacity of my current mana source!
But at least that version was a "complete" spellbook—no threshold, no requirements, no materials.
My current concept wasn't quite that perfect yet, so it still had many additional requirements. However, one thing was certain: I could actually afford to use it now.
For me, the low usage threshold was a trade-off, swapped for the prerequisite of mastering other specialized techniques.
True Reincarnation Rebirth Spells were incredibly rare. Their upper limit was far higher than standard Resurrection Spells, and their lower limit was equally high.
Even so, this did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of Dean Mei Lind and the other Witch Sisters.
Because I had provided the foundation, this spellbook had a future where it could be perfected. What it lacked now was the ability to use Real Editing technology to integrate my unique techniques directly into this simplified version of the Reincarnation Rebirth Spell.
The prerequisite for using Real Editing to create a spellbook was that the creator had to completely master every single technique involved in the spellbook's production.
Therefore, there was only one way to fully perfect the Reincarnation Rebirth Spell: wait until I became a Transcendent Witch and learned Real Editing myself.
Of course, they could also try to learn my techniques.
But setting aside whether I was willing to teach them, the Academy couldn't find a single person who possessed the Self-Awakened Body Cultivation ability...
Not to mention my Floating World Level Spirit Vision, my methods for gathering information, and so on.
As this temporary "Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook Creation Group" formed in Dean Mei's office, it attracted a crowd of witches who came to watch the spectacle.
Even though it wasn't a Great Spellbook, the fact that a temporary group had been established in Sister Mei's office was enough to bring many witches over to see what the fuss was about.
Furthermore, the group's composition was staggering: a Dean of the Witch Academy, a Teaching Assistant, and several Transcendent Witch Mentors who didn't even possess standard Resurrection Spellbooks themselves.
Seeing such a group working together to create a Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook—something the Witch Academy didn't even have in its archives—naturally piqued everyone's curiosity.
In truth, most witches were quite proud, and many were even prone to overestimating their own abilities. This was evident from how many witches tried to join Great Spellbook creation groups the moment they arrived in the Main World.
Many witches looked down on ordinary Resurrection Spells. Some didn't even bother owning a Resurrection Spellbook, keeping one only as a collector's item to pad their inventory.
For them, being able to manually cast a Resurrection Spell was enough. Besides, a standard Resurrection Spell couldn't be used on oneself anyway; under normal circumstances, you just needed a friend who knew the spell.
However, they were intensely interested in a Resurrection Spell with its own unique derived name like "Reincarnation Rebirth."
This phenomenon was similar to how women in the ordinary world chased designer brands; the more famous the name, the more the witches flocked to it.
But spells weren't luxury goods. In the world of magic, the more famous a spellbook was, the more powerful it tended to be. In most cases, that was an absolute truth.
As for the witches "watching the show," they could only observe from the sidelines in Dean Mei's presence, not daring to say much.
Respect for spells and techniques was a common-sense principle all witches followed, even if the primary technical expert researching this Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook was just a Little Witch.
The creation process took over two days. Or rather, it was a modification based on a Resurrection Spellbook prototype. For someone like Mei Lind, this should have been simple, yet it still took several days.
However, compared to a typical witch who might take over ten days just to complete a basic spellbook, this efficiency could be called god-like speed.
When the "to-be-perfected" spellbook was finally finished, a burst of boisterous celebration erupted in Dean Mei Lind's office!
Compared to the distant and lofty Great Spellbooks, these rare spellbooks with unique effects were the domain witches encountered most often.
Now that the Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook was complete, the first order of business was, naturally, to grant the Fool's Dream their brand-new bodies!
"Right, we've been so busy with the spellbook that I almost forgot. I'll share this with you—this is all the information for the original template I made for the Fool's Dream's temporary bodies. Now you can use Reincarnation Rebirth to permanently engrave their physical appearance data onto their Mimicry Souls," Mei Lind said.
"Thank you, Sister Mei~"
I thanked her quickly and used the Tree of Knowledge to accept the data transfer.
Dean Mei didn't actually have to waste her time helping me with this. Once I understood the concepts, she could have just handed me the data and let me handle it myself. However, achieving the current results on my own might have taken much longer—perhaps a month or two.
But she didn't do that. She was the first one to step up and help.
After obtaining the template for the Fool's Dream bodies, I didn't hesitate to begin learning it and integrating it into the Reincarnation Rebirth Spell.
If I were just resurrecting a person, it wouldn't be this complicated. But I needed to transcribe the Fool's Dream's life information into their very life essence, which was no simple task.
The mana consumption was also significant. My mana source limit was only around ten thousand, so I couldn't complete the transformation for all the Fool's Dream in such a short time. However, I could at least manage the initial metamorphosis for Yulan, Yu Yun, and Yu Guo.
"Dean, you're finally finished~"
While I was busy shaping the bodies for the Fool's Dream, several witches from the group waiting on the periphery stepped forward.
"Hmm? I remember you. You're from Xiao Han's laboratory, aren't you?" Mei Lind looked up at the witches who had approached her the moment she finished her work, before she even had a chance to rest. It was likely they had something important to say.
"That's right! Our lab's experiment on the Tree of Knowledge condensing Knowledge Seeds is officially complete! We've spent the last few days running multiple rounds of tests and debugging. The Information Grading is basically fully adapted now!"
"Really? That is good news indeed."
Mei Lind was genuinely happy to hear this. The success of the Great Knowledge Seed experiment meant that the collaborative project with other Transcendent Academies could officially begin.
"What about mass-production technology?"
"The lab samples were just perfected~ and the test-type Tree of Knowledge Seeds need to be provided by Xiao Han. I lost the rock-paper-scissors bet, so I'm the one who has to bring Xiao Han back~" the Witch Sister said with an embarrassed scratch of her head and a smile.
"Oh? Is that so... Is Xiao Han really that much of a hot commodity now?" Dean Mei joked.
Objectively speaking, she was.
Unbeknownst to them, out in the Expansion Realm, a wave of students was currently scouring every corner for any sign of Teaching Assistant Xiao Han.
Because right now, standing atop the walls of Ninglan New City, one could see the Dream Overlap region slowly creeping closer with the naked eye!
A while later, I walked up to the Dean, cradling the newly transformed Fool's Dream.
"Thank you, Dean~" The three little Fool's Dream waved their tiny hands, expressing their most sincere gratitude to Mei Lind.
"What adorable little things~" Mei Lind reached out and pinched their cheeks. Why hadn't she realized how cute they were before?
Perhaps it was because she had gifted the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art to someone else, letting them carry the burden for her?
"Alright, since I've kept you here for so many days, it's time for you to go, isn't it? If you don't leave now, this one over here might just carry you back by force," Mei Lind said with a laugh, pointing to the witch beside her. She was a Witch Sister from my lab, and I had a slight memory of her.
"Exactly~ We've been waiting for you. The Dean is counting on the Tree of Knowledge collaboration to strengthen our exchanges with the other academies~"
As she spoke, the Witch Sister grabbed my hand, ready to lead me out.
Meanwhile, the other witches remaining in the office crowded enthusiastically around Dean Mei Lind, begging for the research data on the Reincarnation Rebirth Spell.
This was rare research data for a unique spellbook!
Normally, without the right connections, there was no way to get your hands on such information. It was only because they were at the Main World Witch Academy that they had the nerve to ask so shamelessly.
Even if they couldn't necessarily create the spellbook themselves using the data, studying it would still enrich their own cognitive foundations.
Witches specializing in Resurrection-related fields were particularly persistent!
They were researchers in that field, yet they hadn't been able to create this spell. What did that mean? It meant they were missing something.
A line of thought, a spark of inspiration, or perhaps some tiny, overlooked detail! They desperately needed this data to help them complete their own cognitive boundaries.
"Alright, alright, stop fighting. I'll organize my data and send it to you later. However, it will only be my personal records. I will not release any cognitive data from Xiao Han's perspective without her permission," Mei Lind said, yielding to the crowd of witches.
She only gave them her own insights. While the Reincarnation Rebirth Spellbook was driven by Xiao Han's ideas, they had all participated in the process. She had learned a great deal herself, and what she learned belonged to her.
But she also understood that Xiao Han had learned just as much during this attempt. It was a mutually beneficial collaboration; what one learned depended entirely on their own ability.
She could handle her own insights and share them for free, but she couldn't make decisions for Xiao Han. Even though she suspected Xiao Han would likely make the same choice, she couldn't do it for her. Xiao Han was no longer the Xiao Han of the past; she was now a "Little Witch" in her own right!
* * *
As the Witch Sister led me out of the Dean's office, I ran into some unexpected people.
"Teaching Assistant Xiao Han! Thank goodness, you really are here!"
"Hmm? Who are you?" I looked at the group that swarmed me the moment I stepped out. They weren't mentors; they were students.
"We're students assigned to the Expansion Realm. Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, we've finally found you! We heard you were at the Dean's office, so we've been waiting out here. Please, you have to come back to the Expansion Realm immediately!"
"What's the matter? I have other things to do. If it's not important, don't bother me," I said.
"It's like this: in the Expansion Realm's Ninglan New City, the surrounding Dream Overlap area is about to swallow the outer walls and the buffer zone! If the Dream Overlap reaches the city proper, the consequences will be disastrous!"
"Is that all... Haven't you all learned Dream Demon Spells? Mentor Elena is in the city teaching how to manually cast it. Why are you calling for me?" I waved them off, my expression one of total indifference.
"Exactly. You're bothering Xiao Han over a trivial matter like that? Is it more important than what we're about to do?" Just as the girl was about to say something else to persuade me, the Mentor beside me spoke up.
The moment the Mentor opened her mouth, the students immediately fell silent. They didn't dare talk back to a Mentor. If a Mentor had business with Xiao Han, it really wasn't their turn to interfere.
But the only person who could truly solve the Dream Overlap problem was this one person...
"But... this..."
"Don't give me that nonsense. Don't think I don't know what's happening in the Expansion Realm. It's just a Dream Overlap issue, isn't it? It's not like you can't adapt. Besides, you've already learned the Dream Demon Spells Xiao Han created. Without those, you'd be in even worse shape. Have you all become giant babies who only think about hoarding resources in the Expansion Realm and run for help the moment you hit a snag?"
The Witch Sister's words were blunt and harsh, leaving the girls unable to even lift their heads or breathe loudly.
"Go back and figure out how to adapt yourselves. I'm taking Xiao Han with me. Unless she wants to help, don't expect her to do anything for you."
"Yes... Yes, ma'am!"
The girls scrambled away the moment the lecture was over, terrified that staying a second longer would result in more scolding. If a Mentor at the Academy marked them like this, their future days would be miserable!
"How was that? If you don't want to do something, just reject them outright. Students who lack the resolve to become Transcendent Witches are always this pathetic. Don't bother saving face for them." Watching their retreating backs, the Witch Sister spoke to me with a grin, a hint of disdain in her voice.
"Thank you, Sister~" I replied with a smile. This was the first time I had seen a witch's true attitude toward students. It really was... quite merciless.
"It's nothing~ Let's go. The lab still needs you to take charge~ Our Scholar Xiao Han is the Little Witch who's going to lead us to do great things!"