Chapter 636: Return to Ninglan New City
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 636: Return to Ninglan New City
Last night was a wonderful night, one that finally filled the void of all those evenings I spent waiting in vain.
The Fireball Spell Sister Bai gave me—that expectation that belonged uniquely to her "first time"—filled my body in the way she found most satisfying. It left me feeling as though a ball of fire was burning within, brimming with passion and energy.
At the same time, I felt the persistence Sister Bai had shown through her constant attempts over the past few days. She had poured every ounce of her heart and soul into this single spellbook until the moment of success, when all her accumulated restraint was released in an instant.
This spellbook felt like the final fuse connecting me to Sister Bai, allowing us to blend into one another in the most intense way possible.
...
In the afternoon.
The tasks I needed to complete at the Witch Academy were essentially finished—or rather, over-delivered.
I had perfected the experiments with the Mimicry Soul and even developed the Reincarnation Rebirth Spell to provide the Fool's Dream with entirely new physical forms.
However, I hadn't attempted this on all of the Fool's Dream yet. Currently, I had only implemented the dual-tree structure of the Tree of Great Knowledge and the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment for the collective, and promoted the Enlightenment Meditation Art among them.
Until I could thoroughly complete their life metamorphosis, it was better to avoid over-experimenting on the general population of the Fool's Dream.
Yulan, Yu Yun, and Yu Guo—the three little ones—were willing to act as "pioneers" for their race. That was their own choice, and it meant they would face more setbacks and even danger.
Then there was the issue of condensing and promoting the Knowledge Seeds. How should I describe the current progress?
It was a perfect workflow!
As long as things proceeded step-by-step, there would basically be no accidents.
Aside from the specific stages where my participation was mandatory, the Witch sisters could handle everything else—and they did it more perfectly than I could.
Thus, my business at the Witch Academy was successfully concluded. The remaining tasks had shifted to the Expansion Realm.
In the Expansion Realm, my primary goal was to plant trees—to keep planting them and guide the people there in rebuilding civilization. Perhaps the people of that world didn't strictly need someone to guide them, but I simply wanted to accelerate the process.
While guiding them, I also needed to spend time constantly accumulating and learning.
After all, I had just acquired a wealth of knowledge regarding Runes, not to mention that unique Totemology.
These were all things I needed to master.
Furthermore, planting trees didn't require much technical skill. Or rather, once the Omni-Link Main Network Tree system was established, many troublesome tasks could be bypassed.
The free time during this period would be my study time.
One could say this was my period of "sedimentation" in the Expansion Realm. I currently possessed too much knowledge, but most of it was just a surface-level taste. I hadn't digested it, let alone conducted in-depth research. It was... such a waste!
Therefore, I needed to cast aside external distractions and devote myself heart and soul to my studies.
Balancing reality with my ideals and knowing what to prioritize—that was my plan for the immediate future.
But before that, I had quite a few trifles to handle.
For instance... helping Ninglan New City out of its predicament, or helping certain individuals solve their troubles. These all seemed to boil down to the same thing: "solving the Dream Overlap phenomenon."
However, this wouldn't come without a price. By solving Ninglan New City's crisis, the entire city would owe me a massive favor.
As for helping those people solve the Dream Overlap issues in the mining zones, that wasn't something a mere favor could settle. I had no intention of having excessive contact with them; their favors were useless to me. What I wanted were tangible benefits—specifically, a share of the resources they extracted.
It was true that I only needed "enough" resources, but I wasn't some selfless saint. No matter how many resources I had, it would always be "enough."
Sister Bai was adapting to my way of thinking and trying to understand my perspective. This was also a revelation for me; perhaps my methods should be a bit firmer. I should speak to people according to who they were and take the appropriate payment for the work I did.
Besides solving those problems, there was one more thing.
I had an appointment with the students I met yesterday. Their mentors had already finished the paperwork for them to enter the Expansion Realm, and for the sake of convenience, they planned to enter with me.
Since I had invited them previously, I would naturally see them settled.
As for why I had bothered to invite them... perhaps I was preparing to develop them into my friends?
As for what a "friend" was... I wasn't entirely sure of the definition. Maybe it was someone you could talk to, someone you shared common interests with, or someone who shared your ideals and goals.
From the very beginning, back when I first enrolled, I told myself not to look down on my peers. Geniuses were everywhere.
But the clowns who had constantly pranced about in front of me made me realize that not everyone was worthy of my respect.
Perhaps it was that contrast that gave me a decent initial impression of Yi Rui and her group.
Moreover, their learning ability was terrifying!
They didn't have Great Knowledge Seeds, nor did they have "cheat" methods like the Memory Bookshelf. They relied entirely on their own memory to learn Runes. They also didn't have my Floating World Level Spirit Vision; they relied solely on their own exploration.
From the start, they had puzzled out the rituals and runes of spells, and now they were even touching upon the theoretical logic of Real Editing, beginning to understand spells through spellbooks...
They had chosen the same path as me, but through a much harder and longer journey. That was why I respected them.
So, I felt they might become my friends—a group of friends I could... at least talk to.
At the very least, we wouldn't stand there awkwardly with nothing to say... that level of connection counts as being friends, right?
I set the meeting for the afternoon. They needed time to prepare, which I understood.
I arrived at the Witch Academy's Teleportation Hall a little early. It was a habit of mine; I preferred to be there waiting.
However, it seemed I didn't run into Yi Rui's group first, but rather someone else.
"Sister Xiao Han, you really are here!" I remembered this girl; her name was Millian, a member of the Jack-of-all-trades Club who had communicated with me back at the Second Shelter.
But now, she had switched to calling me "Sister Xiao Han," even though I wasn't necessarily older than her.
"Why are you here? Don't tell me you're here to ask me to solve the Dream Overlap problem in Ninglan New City?" I asked. I couldn't think of any other reason.
"That... that is indeed an issue. I believe the decision lies with you, and if you are unwilling, I wouldn't dare force it. However, that's not why I'm here this time," Millian said quickly, seeing the look of impatience beginning to cloud my face.
"Then why are you here?"
"Sister Xiao Han, have you forgotten the Second Sanctuary so quickly? Since you left, many things there have ground to a halt. We at the Jack-of-all-trades Club have finished communicating with the eighteen representatives. All we need is your nod of approval..."
"First of all, let me correct your mistake," I interrupted. "I have always called it a 'Shelter,' not a 'Sanctuary.' It is a place for them to hide from disaster, the starting point for them to rebuild their civilization. It is not a place where we grant them housing and food out of charity, nor is it a place where we provide them 'sanctuary.'"
It was a place for them to gain strength and evade calamity, not a place for them to demand protection from us.
Many things must start from the right philosophy. Others might not care, but I had to be particular.
"Secondly, I once said that I would leave everything to their own discretion and that they shouldn't ask me about anything. Why are they standing still without my 'nod'? Do they need housing, or do I? If they don't understand this principle, then they can keep living in tree hollows or dirt pits."
"Phew. That's it. Just relay my words to them exactly as I said them. There's no need to come to me for things like this." After finishing my piece, I sighed, my tone softening as I waved her off.
Millian, however, was stunned by my tone.
"Yes... Yes! I'll go relay it immediately!" Millian stammered after a long moment of silence, nodding frantically.
But as she turned to leave, she gritted her teeth. She had to do this.
If she couldn't establish a connection with this Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, she would be worthless... her status would even drop, and she'd become nothing more than a glorified messenger boy for refugees!
She had to do more. The Baker family, the Jack-of-all-trades Club... these powers had pushed her forward to curry favor with Xiao Han. She wasn't content to just be a sycophant.
If she only played that role, then once the Second Sanctuary—no, the Second Shelter—was built, she would lose her value.
She was merely the temporary link between Xiao Han and the Jack-of-all-trades Club, a relationship maintained under the pretext of cooperating on the Second Shelter.
Once many of the other TAs left the Expansion Realm, Xiao Han would be the one person there you absolutely could not afford to offend. Period.
So, they needed her to pull Xiao Han closer to the Jack-of-all-trades Club.
But Millian didn't dare reveal a single word of her inner schemes. At the very least, she had to get the job done before she could implement her own ideas.
Watching her leave, I stopped paying attention to the matter.
I continued to wait for the people I had an appointment with.
A while later, as the appointed time approached, I saw several figures in the distance, just as expected.
"Xiao Han~ we're here!"
Yi Rui, leading the way, waved at me and hurried over with her club members. There were twelve of them in total, including Yi Rui!
That was more than I had seen yesterday.
"Um, sorry, we're not late, are we?"
"No, you're right on time. I only just got here myself. What's with... all the gear?" I looked them over. They weren't carrying massive crates, but they all had several bags on them.
"Oh, since it's our first time going and we heard we'd need to help rebuild civilization, we brought quite a lot. Of course, most of it is our usual equipment and casting materials. You know how it is—without the aid of casting materials, researching many spells is quite a hassle," Yi Rui said as she opened her small bag. She casually pulled out several storage cards. This was far more extreme than carrying big bags!
A single storage card had a massive amount of space!
And they were using a whole stack?
"You prepared this much? Everyone brought this much?" I asked, shocked.
"Pretty much. My mentor gave me a semester off to go to the Expansion Realm and see the world."
"Same here. Until the end of the semester... that's going to be a long time."
"Ah... it's not like you can't come back once you're in the Expansion Realm. Besides, there are plenty of materials there. Since you're going to the Expansion Realm, you should try out unfamiliar materials. Otherwise, what's the difference between being there and being here?" I said, slapping my forehead.
"That makes sense, I suppose. But since we've already brought them... I'm also curious about how many novel materials are in the Expansion Realm."
"We can do some comparative experiments along the way. I think that would be very meaningful."
"Forget it. Since you're already here, let's just head over together." I didn't dwell on it. Regardless of the logic, they had done their best to prepare to the highest degree they thought possible.
They were just inexperienced with the Expansion Realm, not lacking in their own ideas.
As our group appeared in the Expansion Realm's Teleportation Hall, we immediately drew many eyes.
Because Ninglan New City was now open, the daily foot traffic was quite high. The sudden appearance of several TAs and senior students "teaming up" was naturally eye-catching.
Even if Yi Rui and the others were usually low-profile, she was still a Teaching Assistant.
Furthermore, she wasn't the only TA in this group of a dozen or so; there were several others.
Of course, the most eye-catching person was me, leading the way.
Most students currently active in Ninglan New City were no longer strangers to my name.
Setting aside the fact that I was the only one who could solve the current Dream Overlap crisis in Ninglan New City, even the Dream Demon spells used for self-defense in dreams were my handiwork.
The two large shelters currently under construction also had ties to me. It was... hard not to be famous.
News of this quickly spread through the Witch Academy, and those who had connections with Yi Rui would certainly take notice.
Even if they had simply made a decision to travel, it would undoubtedly stir up waves on another level.
But whatever impact this had was none of my business. Under the enthusiastic reception of the service staff, we entered Ninglan New City.
"Is this Ninglan New City?"
"Wow, I suddenly feel like a set of shackles has vanished!"
"Is this a world without the Great Weakening Spell? I feel like I could hand-cast a fireball taller than I am right now!"
The moment they arrived, everyone felt the difference in the spatial fabric.
As scholars who researched spells deeply, seeing such active energy and elements around them made them incredibly excited.
I turned around and let them adapt to the new environment. I didn't say anything; if I were in their shoes, I would be just as thrilled.
I simply stepped forward to communicate with the City Guard.
Every member of the City Guard recognized me. The moment they saw me, they gave me the highest salute, and the leader stepped forward eagerly to talk.
After a brief explanation of the situation, they knew exactly what to do.
"Alright, sisters, let's get settled in our lodgings first. Remember, do not test high-power spells inside the city. Follow the spell usage regulations. Spells are much more powerful here, and it's hard to control them the first time. It's easy to cause an accident," I said, turning back and clapping my hands to get their attention. "The Ninglan New City Hotel has already had thirteen explosions and four fires caused by visitors. So, please restrain yourselves for now. I'll find a way to arrange an experimental area for you later. For now, let's finish the check-in process and then you can walk around and adapt to the new environment."