Chapter 732: The Self-Sustaining Mini-World Within the World Fragment
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 732: The Self-Sustaining Mini-World Within the World Fragment
After a thorough explanation, I finally understood what I was facing.
Ultimately, Dean Mei took out the World Fragment. Its form far exceeded my expectations.
It was a massive mechanical apparatus, much taller than I was, covered in a dense, flowing array of runes. Even a brief attempt to comprehend them brought a soul-shaking aura of sealing that gripped the heart.
The device was roughly spherical, with a flexible structure encasing a glowing internal core, its shape shifting in a rhythmic, constant motion.
"This is the method wizards use to seal World Fragments. After all, it is a piece of a world; being able to seal and compress it to this extent shows that their wizardry is somewhat capable. The outer layer is a World Fragment Sealing Wizard Tool. I’ve heard that among transcendent wizards, this thing alone is worth a fortune."
Dean Mei placed the massive object before us and explained exactly what it was.
"A Wizard Tool... but if it’s a Wizard Tool, we won't be able to use it, right?" I asked.
Previously, I had snatched some Luck Wizard Tools from a group of wizards. After fussing over them for ages, I realized I truly couldn't use them. At first, I refused to believe it and tried simulating the patterns of Witch Power and using mental strength to leverage the transcendent, but nothing worked.
After much trial and error, I discovered it wasn't that non-wizards couldn't use Wizard Tools; it was that no one except the specific wizard who knew how to use it could operate it. Even between wizards, their tools didn't seem to be interchangeable.
It was like a high-tech product protected by passwords, fingerprints, and voice recognition. Without the corresponding mental frequency and Witch Power fluctuations to verify access permissions, it was useless.
Furthermore, some Wizard Tools required a specific foundation of knowledge to operate. After all, wizards were terrifying beings who used knowledge to leverage the transcendent; their wisdom was the very crutch they relied upon to ascend the path of transcendence.
"Xiao Han, have you never encountered an open-type Wizard Tool? Those can be used even by ordinary people. However, generally speaking, Wizard Tools aren't designed that way unless they are commodities intended for trade. Even then, wizards usually add usage restrictions after the sale. That’s standard operating procedure for them," Dean Mei explained. She then reached out and pressed her hand against the sealing tool.
Instantly, the Wizard Tool seemed to activate. The rhythmically moving sealing structures and wizardry runes began to flow at high speed. After a series of shifts, the outer sealing framework reconfigured itself into something that could pass for a "door," just large enough for one person to walk through.
"Want to go in and see the private mini-world that will belong only to you from now on?" Dean Mei asked with a smile.
"I can go in now?"
"Of course. Entering a World Fragment isn't that difficult."
"Then... let's go take a look." I nodded, agreeing to the suggestion.
"Xiao Han~ can I come too? I want to see it as well."
"Count me in~"
"What about me? Take me with you!"
As the door to the World Fragment swung open, the Witch Sisters who were still lingering about spoke up curiously just as I was about to enter.
"Have you no shame, all of you? Is it possible you've never seen a World Fragment before? Are you just like Xiao Han?" Dean Mei looked at the ones shouting the loudest and spoke with a hint of helplessness.
"Eh? Is the Dean teasing me? It’s the Witch race that doesn't lack World Fragments. What does that have to do with a poor witch like me? My savings aren't nearly enough to buy one just for fun."
"We just want to satisfy our curiosity! Xiao Han... Xiao Han, you won't mind... right?"
"Uh... actually... it’s fine, I guess..." I said from the side. It was just a tour, after all.
"Xiao Han, let me teach you one more thing." Dean Mei saw that I had agreed immediately, but she wasn't about to let these witches off so easily. "Whether it's a raw World Fragment, a sealed one, or one refined into a Dungeon World, they are all very fragile... Xiao Han, you can't just let anyone visit your World Fragment."
"Uh... oh..."
I nodded, though I didn't yet understand why. Was there a limit to how much it could carry? Or a limit on the number of transcendents it could hold, similar to the Main World?
"You must be wondering why, right?" Dean Mei asked the very question I wanted to know.
"Yes, why?" I asked at the right moment.
"Have you considered what would happen if a person or a witch who enters your World Fragment leaves behind a teleportation mark or positioning coordinates? A thief would appear in your World Fragment who could enter it as easily as going home. Even if it's refined into a Dungeon World, if the other party obtains the coordinates and breaks in by force, it will damage the Dungeon World itself. Do you understand?"
"Wait, Sister Mei, you can question my lifestyle, but don't question my character! Would I ever do something like that?" The witches on the side immediately began to protest.
"Sister Mei, you know me! I would never do such a thing!"
"Sister Mei~ I just want to see what the inside of a World Fragment I can't afford looks like~"
"How about I sign a Witch Contract?"
"I'm just using you as educational material for Xiao Han," Dean Mei said dismissively. "With me accompanying Xiao Han inside, you won't have any chance to leave a spatial mark."
After being lectured by Dean Mei, the witches behaved themselves. They followed behind Dean Mei and me, entering the World Fragment one by one.
The moment I stepped into the World Fragment, a peculiar sensation washed over me.
It felt as if this "world" was already dead, yet the scene before my eyes was "flourishing"—lush green grass and thick forests.
With a light touch of my perception, I could sense everything down to the tiny insects on the leaves and beneath the soil, and even the microbial decomposer communities. I could hear the cries of animals in the distance. Looking up, I could see a simulated sun radiating sunlight. This appeared to be a mini-world with a very complete ecosystem!
But that wasn't what shocked me the most. I discovered that this World Fragment actually isolated the effects of the Main World Core World's Great Weakening Spell!
Doesn't that mean this place is equivalent to an absolutely perfect experimental zone within the Core World?
Even the secret realms of the Witch Academy don't seem to be able to block the effects of the Great Weakening Spell, right?
That was the first thing that came to my mind.
I instinctively used the Ley Line Identification Art to gather information on the ground beneath my feet... and it actually succeeded!
While the other witches were happily experiencing the wonders of the World Fragment after entering, I noticed many anomalies.
"There are actually Ley Lines here?!" I exclaimed in surprise, looking at Dean Mei, hoping she could explain.
"Of course there are Ley Lines. Don't forget that every inch of soil here originates from a world. Only by retaining Ley Lines can the most basic World Cycle be carried out. However, the activity of these Ley Lines is greatly reduced, and they will slowly decline," Dean Mei explained promptly. "Remember when you first arrived at Ninglan New City? The Ley Lines outside the city were severed, turning it into an unreachable dead land. An important part of what a World Fragment captures is the World Ley Lines; that is the proof of whether a World Fragment is still alive. What a World Fragment captures isn't just earth and soil."
"What happens if the Ley Lines of a World Fragment decline until they are depleted?" I asked curiously.
"It will die. It would essentially become an oversized storage device. You wouldn't be able to build a self-sustaining ecosystem with living creatures inside it anymore."
"Then, can such Ley Lines be repaired?"
"Hmm... it's not impossible, but it's usually not worth it. Unless that World Fragment holds special value to a person or a witch, they wouldn't pay such a price. If it can't be repaired, transferring the Ley Lines of another world can also revive a World Fragment, but the world from which the Ley Lines were taken would become a desolate wasteland."
"I see..." I didn't ask anything else. I felt that any of the things I was learning now could influence the development or destruction of a world.
After all, topics related to World Fragments were inherently inseparable from various worlds.
Those worlds were like fruits waiting to be plucked. No one cared about the parasites or microbes on the fruit. Perhaps in the eyes of transcendents powerful enough to hold a world in their hands, the native life of these worlds was viewed in much the same way...
In comparison, the people of the Main World's Core World seemed to have better luck. At least we lived with dignity in a civilized society. Though we lived within a lie, ignorant of our past history, we didn't have to bear the pain of past humiliations.
"Xiao Han, although this isn't a very large World Fragment, its size is far beyond what you can explore on foot. Shall I take you on a tour of your future mini-world?"
"Yes, thank you, Sister Mei." I nodded in agreement.
Although I had my own flight spellbooks and an alchemical flying broom, why move myself when someone else was offering a ride?
With a gentle wave of Dean Mei's hand, I began to float alongside her. It felt like weightlessness, but with my powerful physique from Body Cultivation, I quickly adapted to this state of being carried along.
As we rose higher, the distant scenery came into view. It felt as if we would soon see the boundaries of the world if we went any higher.
After all, this was a world of "Round Sky and Square Earth."
"Xiao Han, are you curious about what the boundary of a World Fragment looks like?" Dean Mei asked with a smile, noticing my gaze fixed on the distance.
"Yes." I nodded. I really wasn't sure how such a thing was designed.
"Actually, when you reach the boundary of a World Fragment, it's usually either a dangerous zone or an unreachable cliff. Don't worry about what happens to creatures that fall off; they'll die. Any intelligent being with a bit of judgment wouldn't jump off a cliff for no reason, right?"
"So that's how it's solved?"
"How else? A world like this will always have a boundary. Generally speaking, the center of such a world has the most abundant matter, while the edges are scarce. This ensures that there won't be any large-scale biological communities near the boundaries."
Dean Mei continued to teach me these basic facts. To a witch who had lived a long time and seen much, these were common sense. At this moment, Dean Mei acted as the most dedicated mentor, explaining things I didn't understand, including but not limited to the maintenance of the World Fragment's ecosystem, resource replenishment, and how to interfere with it.
"It seems this World Fragment doesn't have any natives left, unlike what we speculated earlier?" I said.
"The traces of transfer are very obvious, meaning it wasn't like this originally. Perhaps something was being raised here—possibly a colony of Wood Element Spirits. Otherwise, it's unlikely there would be such a vast and undeveloped forest left behind," Dean Mei said casually. It was better that there was nothing here; she didn't like cleaning up messes, even if it was Xiao Han's property.
Meanwhile, I was retrieving Ley Line information and images.
However, the retrieval of this information was somewhat slow. This confirmed that the Ley Line activity of this World Fragment was not high. According to the Dean, if Ley Line activity is low, the world's resource cycle and self-sustainability are very poor.
If possible, it was best not to make large-scale changes to the internal ecological structure of the World Fragment, as it might accelerate the decline of the Ley Lines.
Currently, the speed at which my Ley Line Identification Art gathered data was quite sluggish. But before long, I obtained the information.
"These... should be the Wood Element Spirits you mentioned, Sister Mei? As expected, the wizards moved them all away." I opened a Ley Line image.
"Indeed, they are Wood Element Plant Spirits. They can condense Flora Essence, which is an energy very close to nature—extremely gentle and versatile. It can be used in many fields, including but not limited to alchemy, casting materials, forging, and ritual drawing." Dean Mei nodded, confirming that the creatures in the image were Wood Element Spirits. "Perhaps if you have time, Xiao Han, you can look for them. A World Fragment is so large; if they missed a few Plant Spirits, you could raise them yourself."
"Eh? Really?" I looked at the palm-sized Plant Spirits in the Ley Line image and suddenly became interested. After all, who wouldn't like something cute?
"Of course, provided they left some behind. To be honest, Plant Spirits are practically a taboo for the Forest Elves of the Afuhemi Academy. They don't allow humans or other non-elf races to enslave or raise creatures of the elf genus. If discovered, they will pursue the matter to the end. However, the Wizard Academy isn't afraid of them at all," Dean Mei said with a laugh.
"Is that so?"
"You don't need to worry about it. This is your World Fragment, after all," Dean Mei said with a smile. "I forgot to tell you just now—as of a moment ago, I've helped you clear out all the spatial marks and other things left behind by the wizards in this World Fragment. There were... about a hundred thousand of them."
"What?! Over a hundred thousand?!" I was shocked by the number. What was the Wizard Academy trying to do?
"Don't be surprised. They probably just left them there without cleaning up. A World Fragment is so large, and raising Plant Spirits is a heavy task. At most, they were just being hopeful. If even one mark remained unhandled, they could use it to observe what we witches are doing with this World Fragment."
"Then... are they all cleared out now?" I asked, still a bit worried.
"Of course. Even if I'm just a clone, I am still a Dean. What are you worried about, Xiao Han? Your Sister Mei is very powerful~"