Chapter 776: A Cozy Little Cottage Built with Sister Bai
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 776: A Cozy Little Cottage Built with Sister Bai
Following Sister Bai's advice, I constantly sought out new things, using my heart to experience the feelings they brought me.
I expressed my will through the most intuitive answers: Did I like it, or did I not? It wasn't about whether it was bitter or sweet, or even whether it tasted good...
This was truly important for one's life.
Seeking out the bizarre and loving the solitary—this personality of mine seemed to become perfectly normal when Sister Bai spoke of it. Such idiosyncratic thoughts were actually not that rare.
Just as there are always people in the world who love to follow the crowd, there are naturally those who enjoy walking in the opposite direction.
"Ah... it seems things are starting to get boring again..." I held various cups of milk tea in my left hand and a variety of snacks in my right.
The type of drink I truly enjoyed most was refreshing and slightly sweet with a hint of bitterness—the kind where, after the sweetness faded along with the bitter notes, a lingering aftertaste remained.
And my favorite food was the texture of a crispy outer crust that, after being moistened, gradually softened, yet still retains a final, stubborn hint of crunch when bitten into, mingling with the ingredients inside as I chewed...
As it turned out, I didn't actually prefer things that were exceptionally bitter; I occasionally needed a hint of sweetness. I didn't strictly love that purely crispy texture either; sometimes I needed a bit of moisture and the patience of waiting.
I had thought this happiness and novelty could last a long time, but I realized my nature was prone to short-lived passions. The only thing I could do for a long time without getting bored was to immerse myself in my own world.
"I think I know what this is," Sister Bai suddenly spoke up.
"Eh? What is it?"
"It's an instinct originating from your body, or perhaps a habit you've cultivated. Long-term internal attrition has made you instinctively need to reduce your enthusiasm and passion to recover your energy. Once your passion reaches a certain threshold..."
"...I instinctively protect myself," I finished her sentence.
"Yes. The human body is truly a miraculous existence. Cognitive instincts shape a person's behavioral instincts. It's like how you instinctively feel sleepy when it gets dark, even though you know very well, Xiao Han, that your physical constitution no longer requires that much rest."
"So what should I do..." Hearing Sister Bai say this, I felt a momentary sense of helplessness. Even though I possessed Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, I still couldn't control this indescribable instinct.
"Then let me ask you: even if they are very tired at night, why do many people still choose to stay up late staring at their phones, defying their instinct to sleep?"
"Because... there's a greater temptation?"
"Exactly. Xiao Han, what you lack right now is a means of stimulation to make you throw yourself into something wholeheartedly. Do more things that go against your instincts. Tell yourself that your subjective consciousness is the master of your being."
Perhaps for an ordinary person, the mind mastering the flesh was nothing but a pipe dream. But for an individual who had stepped onto the Transcendent path and achieved self-spiritual awakening, mastering oneself was a possibility.
"So... what should I do?" I tried my best to open my heart, as if expecting Sister Bai to empathize with me and solve the confusion before my eyes.
"Xiao Han, don't let the freedom before you blind you. Blindly pursuing the ability to do anything actually results in being able to do nothing. So... we should look at the present." Sister Bai guided me, not saying that I had to rely on myself, but patiently teaching me how to think when I was lost.
"Is there anything you haven't finished yet?"
"The experiment with Self-Generated Mana?"
"But you've already announced your vacation, so these days belong to your private time. Set aside those responsibilities and touch the people and things closely related to you... Who is the first person you think of?" Sister Bai guided me meticulously.
"Sister Bai... it's Sister Bai!" I said firmly.
"Good~" Sister Bai hugged me from behind. "Now that I'm with you, what object do you think of? Don't be limited by your thoughts. It could be as small as the four-leaf clover hairpin on your head, or the clothes you're wearing... or as large as..."
"Um... something I care about... the Book in the Box?"
"Really? That tone wasn't nearly as firm as when you called out 'Sister Bai' just now~ If your own words carry the tone of a question, then let it go. It isn't that important in the depths of your heart; it has simply been appearing before you constantly, occupying too much of your vision."
"Then... clothes? I have so many clothes at home, many of which I haven't worn for you yet, Sister Bai..."
"Cough... ahem... that is indeed a very tempting choice, but you know very well that if you put them on, I won't be able to help myself. Today isn't the night we agreed upon~" Sister Bai coughed lightly to hide her loss of composure, ultimately rejecting the tempting proposal with a heavy heart.
However, inadvertently, Bai Yu had already decided what she wanted Xiao Han to wear over the next few days.
"Oh, right! The Dungeon World! I've already gotten my hands on that Dungeon World. And... and Dean Serena delivered it personally, but I've just left it there and forgot to share it with you, Sister Bai!"
"Is that so? So soon?"
"Yeah, there was a little episode, but I don't really want to talk about it." After all, it involved that Rebel Witch. That Rebel Witch didn't seem like the type Sister Bai could afford to provoke, so I didn't want to trouble her.
"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."
"Let's go home. The Dungeon World can't be put into storage equipment, so I've been carrying it with me since I got it. Once I got home, I just left it on the study desk."
"Eh? You left such an important thing in the study?!"
"Because it's too precious! Wouldn't carrying it around be too flashy?" I argued my case. After all, Sister Bai's villa was the safest place!
Ever since that Rebel Witch had entered the villa uninvited, Sister Bai had reinforced the space around it. Although it wasn't a high-level spatial reinforcement that could prevent anyone from entering, anyone who did enter would absolutely trigger Sister Bai's early warning system.
Only when Sister Bai or I returned would the mechanism not be triggered.
...
We returned to the villa's study.
I pushed open the door. Several rows of bookshelves stood here, many of them filled with books Sister Bai had collected. Of course, a portion of them were her own recorded insights.
After all, Sister Bai dabbled in everything: Body Arts, spells, Runes, ritual architecture, Alchemy, pharmacy, magic potions, and even Real Editing Technology.
While she couldn't be called a master of every field yet, as a Witch, Sister Bai had an eternal lifespan. She wasn't in a hurry to master these skills; after all, these arts relied more on accumulation.
There were also some notes I had contributed. Of course, these weren't copied from the Tree of Great Knowledge, but were inspirations and insights I had recorded after reviewing the knowledge within the tree.
However, compared to Sister Bai's collection, mine was much, much smaller. After all, I usually spent my time elsewhere—either in the laboratory or the Expansion Realm.
"This is it."
I went to the desk and picked up the pendant hanging there.
"So it was this~ I thought it was just some little trinket you picked up from somewhere, Xiao Han~" Sister Bai leaned in and remarked with some emotion.
She had been in the study often these past few days, or in the Body Cultivation room discussing innovations in Body Transformation Spells with the other sisters. She had naturally noticed this small object, but she hadn't played with it.
"How could those street stalls have such an exquisite little thing~ This is a Dungeon World refined by Dean Serena Politzer, the Great Stellar Alchemist, using a World Fragment as material! Although I haven't gone inside once since I got it... I don't know what it's like in there."
"Yes, yes, yes~ its origins are quite impressive," Sister Bai played along cooperatively. "I heard you mention it before. Didn't you say it was full of vast forests?"
"Yeah, though that's just a general description... I wonder how it is now." I looked at the bead in the center. This was the World Fragment refined by Stellar Alchemy. It was as if a massive world had been tucked into this tiny space at my fingertips; it was truly miraculous.
"Do you know how to use it, Xiao Han?"
"I don't... but it shouldn't be that easy to break, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't have been made into an accessory to be worn." Moreover, I didn't know if this accessory could be "nested" and brought into the Dungeon World with me, though I figured that was unlikely...
I tentatively reached out with my mental power to touch it. Very quickly, I felt information being transmitted from the Dungeon World.
It was a type of identity authentication—a binding of information!
"It's this convenient?" I was a bit surprised by the object's identity binding mechanism and information synchronization function.
It was somewhat like the information recorded inside a spellbook; with a quick scan, I roughly knew what to do.
"You've figured it out already?"
"It really is fast. It looks like the art of refining Dungeon Worlds is a fairly mature technology." After a brief exclamation, I tied it to the side of my waist. "Let me see how to bring someone in."
After a bit of investigation, I knew how to operate it. "Come~ Sister Bai, take my hand."
"Okay." Sister Bai nodded and reached out, grasping my hand and giving it a subconscious squeeze.
In the next moment, our figures completely vanished from the study.
Nothing was left behind, including the "main body" of the Dungeon World that had been made into an accessory.
Before I even opened my eyes, I felt the sensation beneath my feet change from floorboards to slightly soft earth and tender grass.
Tender leaves brushed lightly against my shoes, leaving behind a trace of imperceptible dew.
"This is the Dungeon World?!"
"Yeah, this is definitely it. It feels... a bit different!" I also opened my eyes to feel the breeze brushing against my face. Compared to the last time I entered, this Dungeon World felt more like a real world to me this time! There was less of a sense of dissonance.
"What's different?"
"Hmm... a more friendly feeling, though there's still a sense of dead silence."
"After all, it's not a truly perfect, self-circulating world~" Sister Bai comforted me.
At that moment, I suddenly noticed a flickering light at my side that caught my eye.
The pendant representing the Dungeon World was still at my waist!
However, the bead was now emitting a soft light, looking like a large orb of light.
"What's wrong?"
"This... how did it follow me in?" I untied the pendant and held it up before Sister Bai, somewhat incredulous.
This... the nesting was successful?
A world... inside a world?
"This... does seem interesting. I understand what you're thinking. You can't figure out why the World Fragment itself has come inside the World Fragment?" Sister Bai asked with a smile.
"You know why, Sister Bai?"
"I don't, but I know that if something happens, there must be a principle behind it."
"True. Your words reminded me, Sister Bai." I now looked seriously at the pendant. Clearly, I still knew too little about concepts like space and worlds.
"Xiao Han, have you ever thought that what you're holding might not have been the World Fragment itself from the beginning, but something like a key, or perhaps the core or essence of the World Fragment? After all, a World Fragment, even if it's just a fragment, is still a part of a world..."
"But the Sealing Arts used by the Wizards sealed this World Fragment..."
"But you said that the Dean used Stellar Alchemy to refine it~ Don't fall into a thinking trap, okay?"
"It seems... you're right?" I was a bit confused, but looking at the bead emitting soft light in my hand, perhaps it really was a key... No!
Using the word "Authority" would be more appropriate!
When I held it, I felt a kind of "Authority" that allowed me to control things at will.
For example, the day and night cycle within this Dungeon World. This wasn't control over the flow of time, but rather the simulated illumination and the position of the concepts of the sun and moon.
And this authority also extended to the control of temperature within the Dungeon World.
I could even simply control the atmospheric flow within this World Fragment. Unfortunately, this was only a simulated world cycle; it couldn't achieve a true ecological cycle yet.
Everything here was very fragile.
Including the Ley Lines here.
Therefore, it was best not to destroy this entire forest on a large scale.
Holding Sister Bai's hand, my body gradually began to float. This was still the "Authority Rules" of the Dungeon World—gravity simulation.
Of course, there was also the authority for spatial passage. As long as the permissions were set, the cost and consumption of spatial teleportation or tearing through space here would become very small. Conversely, even spatial movement could be made very difficult.
But if possible, it was best not to use these functions. These counter-natural behaviors were achieved by "straining" the Dungeon World. It was already a World Fragment; straining it further would be a drain on this world.
Though... Dungeon Worlds and World Fragments were themselves consumables. Once the world's Ley Lines were exhausted, it would be no different from an ordinary storage space.
After a brief experience of these permissions with Sister Bai, I began to wander through this Dungeon World with her.
It was truly vast, far exceeding our expectations. High mountains, flowing water, lakes, forests...
The natural aura here was very thick. Finally, Sister Bai and I arrived at an island in the middle of the largest lake in this world.
"Sister Bai... do you remember the ideas you mentioned back then? Finding a beautiful place to live, a secluded life..."
"Hmm? Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"How about we build a cottage of our own here? A peaceful little cottage on a forest lake island... it sounds very cozy, doesn't it? How about we make it our secret base?"
Hearing my words, Sister Bai was slightly stunned for a moment. Then, a smile spread across her face, and she agreed readily.
"Sure~"