Chapter 690: The Oral Report to Dean Mei
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 690: The Oral Report to Dean Mei
In the end... the crowd obscuring the sky above the 6th Shelter finally dispersed.
Once the Totem within my domain finally "quieted down," I was safely escorted back by the witches. Yi Rui and her group left with us as well. After all, we had caused such a massive scene that it wouldn't make sense for them to stay behind.
More importantly, they had personally witnessed so many mentors from Transcendent Academies acting against the Witch Academy for no apparent reason. They weren't sure if they would become targets for harassment themselves, so for safety's sake, they decided to leave.
Although those present were merely the powerless clones of the Transcendent mentors and no actual fight broke out, the events at the 6th Shelter were bound to cause an uproar. Ordinary students wouldn't understand why things had developed this way; at the very least, they didn't yet have the right to touch upon the answer.
As for those Transcendent mentors...
Though they had remained silent in the face of the Witch Academy’s forceful attitude, it was impossible for all of them to be lacking in vision. Some had recognized exactly what that thing was.
A Totem.
And it was precisely because they recognized it as a Totem that they felt such a massive headache.
Any Transcendent who had studied or even looked into Totems understood just how difficult they were to master. Or rather, it wasn't even a question of whether one could learn them. Now, a student had suddenly appeared who possessed such power—power that, at the moment of its birth, was enough to tear open a void rift!
They didn't even dare to imagine the source of such power. A void rift... even a Great Spellbook forged from [Transcendent Knowledge] could barely manage to pry one open. Yet this Totem had torn fine cracks in the void just by manifesting its form.
This meant that the future potential of that power was likely no weaker than that of a Great Spellbook.
But as for how to deal with it? They couldn't steal it, and as for killing her... they had no confidence they could kill someone while surrounded by that group of witches.
It was truly a headache.
The girl was already a little witch who possessed two Great Spellbooks and a domain; her eventual advancement to Transcendent would inevitably lead to the Saint Realm. What did that represent? It meant that once she advanced, her combat power would be far superior to an ordinary Transcendent!
And now she had mastered a Totem. They were green with envy at such talent—so much so that they wished they could kill her just to be rid of the threat.
* * *
Meanwhile, under the escort of the witch sisters, I returned to the safety of the Witch Academy.
Yi Rui and the others took the opportunity to head back to their own academies, as they had been away for quite some time.
The moment we arrived, the clone of Sister Bai that had been accompanying me dissipated, and the real Sister Bai was there to greet me. The clones of the other witch sisters returned to the Omni-Link Main Network Tree laboratory. Now that the show of force was over, they naturally had to get back to their regular work.
I might be back, but I still had to provide an explanation for what I’d done. After all, I had nearly triggered a Transcendent melee between various academies. They couldn't just let me off that easily, right?
Sure enough, I immediately received a call from Dean Mei and was summoned to her office. However, Sister Mei only called for me, the "culprit"; Yi Rui and the others weren't implicated.
"Xiao Han, what am I supposed to say to you? What did you do in the Expansion Realm this time? Out with it." Dean Mei’s clone looked at me helplessly, ultimately asking me to explain the situation first.
"Uh... Sister Mei, you're not mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad? Witches never blame a witch who can cause a massive stir—unless they're just looking for trouble for no reason, of course."
"Alright then..." I glanced at Sister Bai, who was standing beside me. After receiving an encouraging nod, I finally managed to settle my lingering anxiety.
"The commotion this time was mainly due to the power of a Totem. I don't know if it's a 'true' Totem, but based on the characteristics I currently understand, it fits the description perfectly."
"A Totem..." Mei Lind watched me in silence.
She remembered that it hadn't been long since Xiao Han first encountered the concept of a Totem. What kind of development was this? Wishing it into existence? Were Totems really that easy to master?
"Is it convenient for you to demonstrate?" Dean Mei finally managed to squeeze out the request.
"Okay." I nodded in agreement.
I took a starting stance for Body Cultivation power, and a surge of energy manifested from deep within me. Immediately following that, the mark of the Body Cultivation Totem surfaced on my body.
After mastering the Totem, I understood that it was more of a "derivative" of a certain source power rather than something that existed independently. A Totem wasn't an independent system like runes, so it couldn't be "learned" in the traditional sense.
The Totem I held had originally originated from both my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation and my Self-Generated Mana. Later, I had used the power of my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation to touch it, which ultimately led to the previous "tragedy."
Now, the power of this Totem felt "perfectly integrated" with my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation. Yes, the root of the Totem I was currently displaying came from my Body Cultivation.
Furthermore, I discovered that this Totem might not be complete. It seemed to be missing another half—the other half that had birthed it: Self-Generated Mana. Only when the two were combined would the Totem likely reach its complete form.
As for why the Totem could interact with my domain... that was because the foundation of my Mindscape domain was a derivative of my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation.
"This is... a Body Cultivation Totem?!" Clearly, Dean Mei recognized the power.
"Uh... it might be a Totem of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation. I can feel that its power originates from my Body Cultivation..." I explained.
"Well... it's the same thing. However, I'm sorry to say I don't have the experience to teach you in this regard. You'll have to conduct your own research and exploration into Totems slowly," Dean Mei sighed, perhaps in admiration or some other emotion.
"Yes, I've already prepared myself for that." I nodded, accepting the challenge.
After all, Sister Mei had told me before that she had studied Totems but didn't specialize in them. Perhaps the power of this Body Cultivation Totem was something entirely new to them.
"Now that we've cleared up why it happened, tell me about the how," Dean Mei prompted. "Weren't you out proctoring the college entrance exams recently? To come back so quickly and cause such a scene in the Expansion Realm... I don't believe for a second you were focused on Totems from the start. You must have been doing something else, right?"
She knew very well that Totems were the kind of thing you couldn't get by forcing it. Therefore, the power of the Totem was most likely a "byproduct" of Xiao Han doing something else. She could have used the Ley Line Identification Art to get the information, but she chose not to. It was better to hear it from Xiao Han herself.
Listening to Xiao Han humblebrag in front of her every now and then... well, it helped build her psychological resilience.
"Alright, I guess I can't hide anything from the Dean..."
"Tell me, then. What 'genius inspiration' prompted you to do this?" Dean Mei leaned back in her chair, settling into "listening mode."
"This matter... uh... it started with the technique for condensing Mana Sources that I mastered recently."
"Oh? You've started touching upon that?" Dean Mei raised an eyebrow and looked at Bai Yu. Bai Yu nodded, confirming she was the one who taught me.
"That's right. Because I recently learned that forming a complete domain requires a hundred million Mana Sources, I planned to learn the technique early and start accumulating them bit by bit..."
"Mana Sources aren't a threshold for further improvement after advancing to Transcendent. Xiao Han, you were a bit impatient this time."
"Yes, Sister Bai told me the same thing. So, I stopped after condensing about a handful of them, because I thought of something else."
"Mm, continue." Hearing this, Dean Mei knew things were about to enter the "absurd" stage. She was even starting to feel a faint sense of anticipation. What kind of unreasonable inspiration had Xiao Han drawn from a simple Mana Source condensation technique?
"Well... it has to do with the Self-Generated Mana constitution."
"The Self-Generated Mana constitution? Oh... and then?" Dean Mei was a bit surprised. The answer was unexpectedly grounded, as condensing Mana Sources was indeed inseparable from the Self-Generated Mana talent unique to witches.
"Then I wondered if this Self-Generated Mana talent could be promoted on a large scale at the non-Transcendent level. Is there a technique that could bestow this talent upon any trainee witch?"
"What?!"
Mei Lind felt lucky she wasn't drinking tea, or she would have spat it out! Xiao Han was actually thinking about codifying Self-Generated Mana into a technique to be distributed among the trainee witch population?
Mei Lind’s first instinct was to refute it, but she stopped herself. Honestly, was the idea terrifying? Yes. Was it possible?
Possibly. Because Xiao Han was the perfect example!
When she had submitted the summary of that successful case to the Great Library of the Witch World, it had caused a massive sensation. The only pity was that Self-Awakened Body Cultivation was simply too rare! And since the subjects weren't Transcendent witches, even if you wanted to grab a test subject for experiments, they might not cooperate.
"How do you plan to do it? You know how high the threshold for such an experiment is." Mei Lind’s tone became steady, shifting into the state of a scholar engaged in a serious discussion.
"One of the thresholds is Self-Awakened Body Cultivation," I said.
"No, Self-Awakened Body Cultivation isn't the only threshold. Xiao Han, the success of the experiment on you was mostly due to a series of coincidences. You might not understand many of the details of the research process. You don't realize what kind of concept Self-Generated Mana actually is..."
"Mmm... is that so? Sister Mei, I actually have some guesses regarding Self-Awakened Body Cultivation. Can I ask about them?"
"Of course."
"Is the Self-Generated Mana of the witch race related to Body Cultivation power? And does Witchification count as a passive, Body Cultivation-derived power system for the witch race?"
"..." Hearing these two questions, Dean Mei fell silent. After a long pause, she finally spoke slowly, "Did you realize this yourself, or did someone tell you?"
"Well... I can feel that the power of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation is somewhat linked to Self-Generated Mana. So, I deduced that the concept of Witchification is primarily built on the foundation of racial transformation and... the physical talent for the spontaneous birth of Self-Generated Mana after advancing to Transcendent. I also discovered that Witchification has a passive power that enhances physical attributes, so I guessed it was related to Body Cultivation..." Of course, the main reason was that the mode of Witchification was similar to Body Cultivation—both enhanced the level of life.
"To be honest, Xiao Han, aside from some slightly naive phrasing, your ideas... I can only say they aren't far from the truth. I'm ashamed to admit that while I understand and know this concept, it was told to me by a senior, not something I discovered myself."
Dean Mei sighed, frankly admitting her shortcomings. It seemed Xiao Han’s growth rate was far exceeding her expectations. The only thing limiting her seemed to be the single threshold of becoming a Transcendent.
"Xiao Han, you said earlier that you wanted to codify the Self-Generated Mana talent into a technique that can be bestowed and promoted. I'm starting to believe you can actually do it. What's your progress?"
"Uh... just starting? Since I can't bypass the power of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation for this technique, I was researching that power, and then... well, that happened..."
"Just starting, huh... Fair enough. Since you're back, you should focus on your research here at the academy. I'll apply for an independent laboratory for you. Just let me know if you need anything."
With that, Dean Mei waved her hand and granted me a professional laboratory. The Witch Academy encouraged those with ideas and would provide a certain level of assistance. Even if the final result was failure, to the witches, it was just one failure. What they feared most was a lack of ideas, or the lack of ability and execution to realize them.
At this point, Dean Mei’s questioning was essentially over. She didn't need to worry about the finer details; she was busy—at least for now—which was why only a clone was in the office. But even as a clone, she had a mountain of documents to process.
"By the way, Sister Mei, can I ask one more question? Just one last thing."
"Another question? Go ahead," Dean Mei said, picking up a document.
"Um... I just wanted to know, regarding the technique I'm researching... are there any existing, mature techniques like it within the witch race?"
"No. At least, none that I've heard of," Dean Mei said with a simple, direct shake of her head.
"But... Self-Generated Mana is the most important foundation for several branches of the Great Soul Subject. With so many witches... and even Truth Witches specializing in those subjects... uh..."
"Xiao Han, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about Truth Witches?" Dean Mei looked up.
"Huh? Even Truth Witches can't do it?"
"I'm not sure if they can, but given the faith witches have in Truth Witches, I believe they are capable of such things. However... even Truth Witches are still witches. Even if their lifespan is infinite, their energy is not. They explore the absolute frontiers of the Transcendent realms; they aren't omniscient, omnipotent gods. If you tried to convince a Truth Witch to research a mana-granting technique for a bunch of trainee witches, you’d probably be beaten to death."
"Uh... is it that serious?"
"Every witch has her own path and priorities. Truth Witches are responsible for constantly forging ahead into the unknown, while the mission of those of us who follow is to repair, widen, and derive from that path. So... Xiao Han, I have high hopes for you. If you truly pull this off, you might even catch the attention of a Truth Witch." Dean Mei gave me a "fighting" gesture as she spoke.
"Uh... thanks for the trust, Sister Mei. I'll be going then." I glanced at Sister Bai, who hadn't said a word the entire time, and took her hand to leave.
Now, with this conversation with Dean Mei, I could go all out again!
Of course, this talk wasn't just a verbal report; it was also a way to clear my doubts. I hadn't been entirely sure of my idea before because I figured the witch race wasn't lacking in geniuses, and I couldn't be the only one to think of this. Dean Mei confirmed it could be done—by Truth Witches, for example—but they simply didn't have the time to do it.
In that case, I would be the one to fill that gap!