Chapter 783: To Witness Some Fun?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 783: To Witness Some Fun?
Once the Witch Academy decided to roll out student instruction via the Power Network, the circulation of physical spellbooks within the academy would begin to decrease significantly.
If Tan Han didn't ask for her Ancient Remnant Ice Transformation back, it would only become harder for her to acquire another Over-consumption Spellbook as time went on.
However, this raised another question in my mind.
"I recall the Shopkeeper’s private stash having Over-consumption Spellbooks, right?" I asked.
"There are..." Tan Han quickly realized what I was getting at. "I know what you’re asking. I’m not that thick-skinned. The Shopkeeper offered me one, but I refused. At least in that situation, I hadn't reached the point where..."
"Heh~ you know what?" I chuckled softly, interrupting her. "Back then, my teacher—Teacher Ji Niang—used you as an example to educate me. She told me not to be so thin-skinned. She even said that if you had the chance, you’d probably even open your mouth and ask the Academy for a Myriad Methods Book."
"That... that was just youthful arrogance." Tan Han pursed her lips in slight embarrassment. It seemed she really had done something like that in the past.
Perhaps the high-flying Tan Han of the past possessed a level of confidence that made her feel she truly deserved that kind of power.
Was this a regression?
I wasn't sure. Perhaps recognizing her own limits and finding her proper place was a form of self-improvement for her.
Since enrollment, Tan Han’s sharp edges had been visibly ground down. It was, in a way, a necessary resignation to reality.
"I'm joking. That's all in the past. Since you want to stick to the philosophy of mastering power that truly belongs to you—rejecting so-called charity and holding onto your inner bottom line—then it’s necessary to try new things. The Witch Academy isn't just a place for Mana Sources and spellbooks; there are many other things. Even my suggestion is just that—a suggestion."
"But you just said you needed me to do this..."
"That’s from my perspective. Naturally, I want everyone to act according to my ideas, but that’s impossible." I shrugged.
"Then do you have any recommendations? I actually saw a new elective course for Body-into-Spell. That’s undoubtedly related to you, isn't it?"
"Mm... it is. As for recommendations... before, I would have recommended Sister Bai’s course without hesitation. But lately... Sister Bai might be a bit busy. I can recommend some other mentors' electives. They are mentors I know, pioneers who created Body-into-Spell type Body Arts, and the ones who helped perfect the Magic Ritual War Dance."
I recommended those Witch sisters to Tan Han based on my memory. For those Transcendent Witches dedicated to Body Cultivation, Body-into-Spell didn't necessarily increase their raw strength; it just enriched their utility and broadened their inspiration. They continued to experiment with Body-into-Spell out of a love for new things, but they wouldn't stay on that path forever.
After all, they had their own roads to walk.
I believed that with their progress, their current development of Body-into-Spell Body Arts could likely rival Over-consumption Spellbooks in terms of energy application.
They were Transcendent Witches, after all. Even a Transcendent Witch who hadn't ascended to the Saint Realm could accumulate a Mana Source limit of one hundred million.
A spell they threw out casually might start at the intensity of a Myriad Methods Book.
However, limited by the Great Weakening Spell, their power would likely be heavily suppressed.
But no matter how much it was suppressed, the utility granted by Body Arts wasn't much weaker than spells.
"Anyway... thanks. So, do I still need to come to the laboratory here for the time being?"
"You don't have to for a while. You can take this time to settle down and get in touch with things you like. But I’m not forbidding you from coming, either. Yi Rui and the others consider you a friend. You can chat with them about your experiences with Self-Generated Mana. If you have the skill to get them to teach you how to perform Spell Derivation, that’s your own talent at work."
"Spell Derivation..." She had naturally discussed this topic before.
According to Senior Sister Yi Rui, before she joined my "ship," she had been dedicated to spell research and Spell Derivation experiments.
"I understand."
Spell Derivation was truly a miraculous ability. It required a massive foundation of spell-related knowledge to achieve.
In fact, such derivation was enough to turn a spellbook with a consumption of a hundred points into a far more powerful Over-consumption Spellbook!
A significant portion of the Over-consumption Spellbooks in the academy entered circulation this way; it was something of an open secret within the Witch Academy.
Precisely because she liked discussing these topics with Senior Sister Yi Rui and the others, Tan Han had gained a clearer understanding that a spell's power wasn't simply determined by how much mana it consumed. It involved the spell framework's efficiency in energy utilization.
For example... the Fire Rain Domain Over-consumption Spellbook I possessed.
Its prototype was the Fire Rain Spell, a basic Evocative Magic. In principle, it shouldn't be able to beat the Ancient Remnant Ice Transformation she once owned.
The prototype for the Ancient Remnant Ice was the "Ice Creature" known as the Ancient Remnant Ice King. In terms of spell rank, the Ancient Remnant Ice was a very powerful existence, but she had never truly utilized that spellbook well.
After ending these idle thoughts, Tan Han left the laboratory.
Before she left, she took a test version of the Self-Generated Mana Perfecting Ritual from me.
This was a ritual I had summarized after groping my way through perfecting Self-Generated Mana.
It wasn't guaranteed to work; it was just for testing.
If it didn't show results after an attempt, I told Tan Han to give up on it immediately.
I would stay in constant contact with Tan Han over the coming period, and the "Perfecting Ritual" would be continuously iterated and updated. Tan Han would be responsible for trying it and giving me feedback on the effects.
This way, it wouldn't waste Tan Han’s time by making her stay in the lab constantly.
Tan Han had her own life, but I was different—I was the type who could treat the laboratory as my home.
"Xiao Han~ did Tan Han just leave?" Someone asked as I walked out of the experimental cubicle.
After all, Tan Han had left a step ahead of me.
"Yeah, I gave her some things to do. She’s not the same type as us lab rats. Keeping her here all the time would just be a waste of her time," I explained.
"Xiao Han, aren't you quite the time management master? Actually, it wouldn't hurt for Xiao Tan to stay and chat with us~"
"If you want her here, you can just call her over to hang out. But Tan Han has her own arrangements and plans. School has started, after all, and you all know my progress—it won't be that fast."
"Alright then~"
"Do you need our help?"
"Of course~ The Mana Source resonance limit for the Magic Remolding Rebirth Technique can continue. Once Self-Generated Mana is successfully shaped within ten thousand units, there’s no longer a 'limit' per se. To keep perfecting Self-Generated Mana, the quantity needed might be massive—hundreds of thousands, millions... the numbers alone sound a bit ridiculous."
"Actually, those numbers should sound quite spectacular! Does Self-Generated Mana have no carrying capacity limit?" someone asked.
"Of course it does~ Before the Transcendent level, the limit is probably somewhere below one hundred million. The threshold of one hundred million involves another realm above Transcendent. We certainly don't need to worry about that much," I explained.
"One hundred million! The entire Witch Academy combined probably couldn't scrape that many together!" Hearing my words, someone immediately cried out in shock.
"How is that possible? Maybe our Academy Dean alone has that many? She’s a Transcendent Witch!" someone countered.
"Aiya~ I’m obviously not counting the mentors. As for students... hiss... counting the hoards of those clubs, it’s hard to say."
The group began a heated discussion regarding the one-hundred-million Mana Source limit. They had learned about related issues before, but not in great detail. Now that it was brought up, many had their own ideas.
After all, that was... one hundred million Mana Sources!
Imagine having tens of millions of Mana Sources before even ascending to Transcendent. Just thinking about such an existence was terrifying!
Later, the topic gradually shifted to how Self-Generated Mana techniques would be promoted in the academy. With the popularization of Mana Source condensation techniques, the value of Mana Sources would drop significantly.
The cost would infinitely approach the value of the time spent condensing them.
Of course, that was only the ideal state. The Witch Academy would never let Mana Sources leak to the outside world.
Anything related to the Transcendent level could not be circulated outside. Even the so-called ten-year completion required signing a Witch Contract.
The main goal was to prevent Transcendent power from flowing into the outside world. The Witch Academy—or rather, all Transcendent academies—had permanent missions to crack down on the smuggling of Transcendent materials.
If a student didn't want to continue aiming to become a Witch after finishing their studies and didn't stay at the school, they had to use their own methods to sell off all those resources—including but not limited to Mana Sources and spellbooks—and go live as an ordinary person.
The most convenient place to handle these things was the "Black Market Street" under the Jack-of-all-trades Club.
Of course, one could also directly seek paid recovery or unpaid return from the academy.
After chatting for a bit, I bid them a brief farewell.
To me, the laboratory was a formal research site, but it wasn't the only one.
Besides, I had to go back and find my Sister Bai!
After leaving the experimental zone, I used a teleportation to enter my Dungeon World.
"Xiao Han~ you're back?"
As soon as I returned, Sister Bai immediately sensed my arrival.
"Of course~" I nodded and happily went to her side.
Although I had spent the last two days in the lab, I had still come back here.
Currently, at Lake Heart Island, the house had a visible rough shape. The planned flower beds around it were planted with ornamental plants and grass seeds. After all, these plants couldn't just wait around on the sidelines.
"Continuing today as well?" Sister Bai glanced at the house. With the help of magic, building a house was as simple as playing with blocks. The most tedious part had become the processing of materials and the addition of runes.
The house would be finished in a few more days, so Sister Bai and I weren't in a great rush.
"No rush, Sister Bai~ Right now, I have something with a bit of a time limit that I want to do. Are you willing to come with me?" I said, shaking my head.
"Something with a time limit? What could possibly catch your interest, Xiao Han? The academy shouldn't have any major movements lately. Or did some Witch seek you out?" Sister Bai became interested upon hearing my request.
The house could be finished anytime. If it weren't for the sake of working on it with Xiao Han, she could have snapped it together in an instant.
One should never underestimate a Transcendent Witch's mental strength, multi-threaded control, and conceptualizing abilities!
Moreover, she was a Saint Realm Body Cultivator of Time Sense.
Time?
That concept was merely a "toy" of subjective perception.
"Aiya~ it’s none of those! Remember my clone? That very special one." I reminded her.
"The very special clone..." Sister Bai thought back and quickly realized which one I meant. "The game player clone you experimented on and seized the account of?"
"Yes! That one!" I nodded in confirmation.
"Did something go wrong in the Game World again?"
"The Game World seems quite peaceful. It’s just been getting close to various Transcendent academies. Unfortunately, that clone didn't have time to get involved in the enrollment process, so I can't go see what the other Transcendent academies are like." I said with some regret.
That player clone was very weak and had few friends, so information gathering was very limited.
However, I had occasionally learned something a while ago: those players hadn't given up on collecting Tan Han’s [Transcendent Knowledge] fragment. They called it a "Tech Core," and it seemed its allure was quite significant.
"So, did something happen to that clone?" Sister Bai continued to ask.
"No accidents. Recently, that clone went to wander around the regions influenced by the Wizard Academy. I mainly wanted to see what the rift leading to the Expansion Realm in the Horaso Swamp looks like in the Core World."
"And then?"
"And then I met... well, someone who should be considered an acquaintance. It was April."
"Who?"
"Um... how should I put it? A teaching assistant. I mentioned her to you, Sister Bai; you couldn't have forgotten~ She’s the assistant who fought Tan Han. Her mentor is the Witch Chris. After that battle, I saw that she left the school directly." I said quickly.
"Are you interested in this person, Xiao Han?"
"Yes~ Although I haven't had actual contact with April, I learned about her from the Witch Chris during that match. Objectively speaking, putting aside the subjective influence Tan Han has on me, my impression of her is actually quite good. The only pity is that she didn't ascend to become a Transcendent Witch. The fact that she could be recruited as an assistant by Chris means she had the chance to become Transcendent. But looking at the result, she seemingly didn't cross the restriction of the Ley Line Shackles..." I said with a hint of regret at the end.
"So... what do you want to do, Xiao Han?" Sister Bai asked, curious after hearing my long explanation.
"To find some fun, or you could call it 'waste utilization'... She betrayed her mentor and returned to her family, but she lost a [Transcendent Knowledge] fragment. I want to see if, with my push, she can overcome the obstacle of the Ley Line Shackles and ascend to become a Transcendent Witch. If she can... I also want to witness exactly what the ascension of a Transcendent Witch looks like!"
I grew more excited as I spoke. Rather than learning more through theory, it was better to experience it once. Even if I couldn't experience it myself, observing from the side would be a great experience.
I didn't just want to understand the process of ascending to Transcendent; I wanted to witness the process of Soul Essence transforming into a soul after the ascension.
If this process went smoothly, I could even perfect my Soul Depiction technique in advance!
Of course... the premise of all this was that April could actually ascend. If not... then I’d just let her become a source of amusement, as payment for my trip.