Chapter 741: Breakthrough in the First Stage of the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 741: Breakthrough in the First Stage of the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method
Several days passed.
The initial buzz surrounding the expansion and renovation of the academy's open-air arena was gradually eclipsed by a new topic of conversation.
Namely, the sudden appearance of hundreds of "Teaching Assistant Xiao Hans" within the Witch Academy!
At first, people approached the topic with a mere spectator's curiosity, and many even questioned the authenticity of the photos circulating on the Academy Network.
That was until those figures seen online actually appeared within the Witch Academy, dressed in uniform attire, systematically guiding new students through their enrollment and registration processes...
Only then did the voices of doubt finally fall silent. The phenomenon even sparked a "check-in" craze, as students flocked to see them in person. Those who hadn't left the academy for the holidays were truly in luck.
Gradually, through repeated sightings and close-up interactions, many managed to glean some information. They learned that these "Teaching Assistant Xiao Hans" weren't the real Xiao Han herself, but rather clones of the legendary teaching assistant.
Rumors began to spread on the Academy Network that these clones were likely "byproducts" of the Witch Academy's attempts to resurrect the legendary little witch.
Some theories grew even more outrageous, claiming that the real Xiao Han was already dead and that these clones—including the first one to appear—were all mere replacements!
Clones meant to stand in for the original little witch!
While this theory was full of holes, one had to remember that this was the Academy Network, not reality. Once you took that into account, the students proposing and supporting such claims became somewhat more understandable.
Many pointed out that these clones might have existed as far back as last semester, citing the fact that everyone seemed to run into Teaching Assistant Xiao Han constantly while in the Expansion Realm as evidence.
However, the posts from those attempting serious analysis didn't gain much traction.
Students surfing the Academy Network preferred "unhinged" headlines that stimulated the nerves; that kind of atmosphere was much more in line with the "Amusement Seeker" vibe of the Witch Academy.
Some people lost their sense of boundaries when they got carried away, but that was fine. The Witch Academy was an incredibly "tolerant" transcendent academy. If an organization as contrarian as the "Sorceress Club" could exist, what was there that they wouldn't dare to say?
Would the teaching assistant really track them down in reality and give them a few slaps across the face because of their posts and replies?
No, or at least, that’s what they believed based on their "experiments."
They would merely be flamed by the Xiao Han Fan Club on the Academy Network until they nearly quit the internet.
After all, many still remembered one crucial fact: the Academy Network operated on a real-name system. You could hide off-campus during the holidays, but if you had the guts, try not to come back once the break was over...
Millian also intervened in this online war of words. Although she claimed to be keeping a low profile for self-improvement, it didn't mean she lacked a temper.
In truth, she didn't even need to give the word; a massive number of people spontaneously rose to defend Xiao Han. Her involvement simply ensured those trolls couldn't get a single word in edgewise.
Despite the drama, the sight of these clones constantly "wandering" around the academy continued.
Because of these professional entities, many senior sisters found they could simply enjoy the pleasure of inserting a Mana Source and then dump the remaining mess onto the Teaching Assistant Xiao Han clones. At most, they’d catch a scolding, but they could skip all those tedious procedures.
Of course, it wasn't just the senior sisters remaining at the academy discussing this. The new students who had just arrived were equally curious about this rumored "Senior Sister." Although they heard the one leading them was just a clone, they couldn't tell the difference at all; she seemed just like a normal senior sister.
She could talk, communicate, possessed her own emotions, and had her own thoughts.
Only the sight of multiple identical figures could prove that this was... apparently, indeed a clone.
This undoubtedly gave the freshmen, who were just touching upon the transcendent for the first time, a massive shock.
A group had even formed on the Academy Network specifically to "educate" students who arrived early or had been "abducted" into enrollment.
They popularized the stories of the "Legendary Xiao Han" to the freshmen to inspire them.
The real kicker was that the "Teaching Assistant Xiao Han" receiving them was a senior sister only one year older than them, yet she was already a bona fide teaching assistant.
She was an absolute genius, unprecedented since the founding of the Witch Academy!
Furthermore, they constantly goaded the freshmen to surpass this legendary genius. The people on the Academy Network were the type who wouldn't let go of a joke until they’d milked it for all it was worth.
The freshmen were left in a state of total bewilderment.
However, what these freshmen didn't expect was that their yet-to-be-met Department Head was already planning the Freshman Competition that would take place shortly after the term started.
And in all likelihood, it was related to this "Legendary Senior Sister" they were currently discussing so heatedly.
* * *
None of these rumors on the Academy Network affected me, however.
I rarely browsed the network anyway, and I had no need to vent "trashy" emotions.
The Witch Academy was an institution full of girls; even if the majority were normal, a few bad apples were inevitable.
When encountering such people, the best thing to do was simply avoid them.
By spending time with people who were worth it and purifying your social circle, you’d find that life still held much beauty. Negativity is ultimately just a part of life, not the whole.
Currently, I was in the laboratory.
Beside me were seven or eight clones just like myself. They had been the labor force helping out in the lab lately, significantly improving the efficiency of Yi Rui and the others' experiments.
I was here today for one reason.
The Mana Source Body Cultivation Method had seen its first successful case!
This case wasn't Yi Rui, however. Or rather, such an experiment was inherently filled with coincidences.
The one who succeeded was named Cen Tan.
I was quite familiar with her because she had revealed her identity as a Biological Alchemist right at the start and had demonstrated immense professionalism.
Now that she had succeeded, while luck played a large part, her own abilities could not be ignored. One could say that every factor was indispensable for this success; luck was merely the seasoning.
Everyone offered their heartfelt congratulations.
Even I couldn't help but clap and cheer for her.
However, the celebration in the lab was brief. Cen Tan even proactively declined the sole credit, as this was the result of everyone's collective effort; she couldn't pluck all the fruits of victory just because she was the first to succeed.
Even so, I took the initiative and had Millian book a hotel so we could have a proper celebration in the evening.
It served as a congratulatory party for the milestone success of the experiment.
For this dinner, we also brought along Mentor Belica and the others from the lab. Sister Bai was there as well.
Aside from Sister Bai, the other mentors were nominally there to use the lab space, but during this time, these witch mentors had provided no small amount of help.
I remembered their contributions and attention just as well.
Tonight, everyone allowed themselves a rare night of indulgence.
They weren't like me, accustomed to long periods of self-suppression. Constantly conducting experiments and collecting data—whether it was data analysis or practicing on themselves—was an incredibly stifling and energy-consuming process.
I even declared a holiday for tomorrow. Although many didn't want to take a break at this stage, I ultimately made the call.
The project we were working on wasn't mandatory or time-limited. We were working so hard simply because we shared the same goal.
But proper rest was equally important.
I was even considering whether I should take everyone out for another trip during the break to relax.
"Phew..." I walked to the window, letting the slightly cool night breeze blow over me as I began to clear my mind.
When I opened my eyes again, a figure had appeared beside me.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Yi Rui stood there holding a wine glass. Seeing me open my eyes, she offered a slight smile.
"Of course not. Is something the matter?"
"In an atmosphere like this... I shouldn't really be bothering you with anything, but I just wanted to check on you. Your pressure must be quite high too, right?"
"It's fine. I'm not like them; I'm not good at socializing or small talk. In any situation, if I'm talking, it usually turns to business. You have something you want to ask me, don't you? About Self-Generated Mana?"
"Actually, having spent so much time together, I can tell. Yes, it is about that." Yi Rui was stunned for a moment by my words, eventually giving a helpless smile as she tried to let the moment pass.
"You want to ask if I have any leads?"
"I didn't actually plan to be that direct."
"But you still want to know, right?" I shrugged indifferently. I hadn't been idle during this time.
I admitted that the difficulty of the Self-Generated Mana project had exceeded my expectations. Back then, because I had Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, Self-Generated Mana, and the Resurrection Spell, I had overconfidently started this project and lured them in with grand promises.
Looking at it now... though the difficulty hadn't decreased, it proved the saying: just thinking about things is useless. Only by doing them and pushing to your limit do you earn the right to say something is impossible. Any other excuse is just fluff.
"Yes. Since you've brought it up, I'll ask. Even if you say that with our current strength, we can't fin—"
"Lately, I've been trying the path of normal Body Cultivation with Sister Bai," I interrupted Yi Rui, cutting off that sliver of defeatism in her heart.
She wasn't the lead of this experiment, so her thoughts weren't just her own uncertainty; she was also trying to give me a way out.
But I didn't need a way out.
I hadn't failed yet.
Just as Yi Rui and the others had reached their first stage of success, why wouldn't I have done the same?
"Normal Body Cultivation—practicing body arts—is the only way for an ordinary person to embark on the path of a Body Cultivator. When body arts are mastered to perfection, they resonate with something called a Martial Rune. Runes... to you, these mostly appear in magic rituals, but their traces are far more widespread than you'd imagine."
"Martial... Runes?!" Yi Rui was drawn in by my words, subconsciously ignoring what she had been about to say.
In truth, she had been hesitant to speak those words. Giving up sometimes only requires a beginning for everything to collapse.
But now, Yi Rui realized that Xiao Han was even more determined than she had imagined!
"Body arts are a means of influencing the physical form. The body, in turn, is a channel that reflects the essence of life. A systematic set of Martial Body Cultivation Runes can help me better understand what Body Cultivation truly is. It's helping me understand Self-Awakened Body Cultivation at a deeper level. And the feedback from this cognition can be obtained from the Totem in a form of understanding that is beyond words."
"So... you actually already have a direction?"
"Yes. I am constantly deepening my understanding of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation. You might not understand, but that so-called Totem isn't a single Totem for Self-Awakened Body Cultivation or Self-Generated Mana. Instead, it views the two as two nodes, resulting in a Symbiotic Totem."
"Is it roughly analogous to a composite magic ritual acting as a whole to construct a higher-level spell?" Yi Rui tried her best to grasp the metaphor.
"Hmm... I don't want to discourage you, but you can understand it that way. You just need to know that the deeper my understanding of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation becomes, the more I can understand the composition of Self-Generated Mana. And once I thoroughly know its composition and method of birth, the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method will be the carrier for that method."
"Hearing it like that... it sounds like your progress is actually much faster than ours?" Yi Rui fell silent for a long time, seemingly pondering my words or processing the analogy.
However, they didn't continue that topic. Since she didn't fully understand it, there was no point in dragging it out.
Yi Rui herself didn't like chatting with people who pretended to know things they didn't—people whose heads were full of "I think" without any basis. She felt Xiao Han was the same.
"You seem surprised by that?" I asked with a smile, my tone carrying a hint of a joke. "I've noticed you seem to value the research on the Self-Generated Mana project even more than I do. At least in terms of concern and urgency, it's more obvious in you."
"That..."
"Sorry, that joke didn't seem to land. What I meant to say was, it's better to maintain a sense of equanimity during research." Seeing Yi Rui's hesitation, I quickly explained.
"Is that so?" Yi Rui didn't quite know how to respond.
But the question she had come to ask had already been answered. Although she couldn't quite keep up with the other's mental pace, she didn't feel a single bit of negativity.
"So this is the confidence of someone who has everything under control?"
"Of course. You should be more confident too," I said with a laugh. But I was lying; I hadn't reached the point of having everything under control yet. However, if a lie could inspire Yi Rui, I didn't mind telling another one.
"You contributed the most to the derivation of the experimental incubation rebirth spellbook. Now that the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method has successfully broken through to the first stage, have you thought of a fitting name for it?"
"Me? I'm the one to name it? But you're the one who..."
"If you find it difficult, then go ask your friends. Are you going to deny that their hard work alongside you is worth less than mine?"
"No..." Yi Rui shook her head instinctively. She knew better than anyone how much they had sacrificed for this attempt, moving from initial lab rats to research branches sharing the load... so her reflex was to not deny everyone's efforts.
But she soon started laughing, as if she had realized something. "You're shifting the concept, aren't you? They and I did work hard together, but... didn't you? Why draw such a clear line? You are someone who must be involved in naming this new resurrection spell, and an indispensable one at that!"
"Oh, that's because I'm terrible at naming things. I personally suggest you don't take my advice," I explained with a smile.