Chapter 797: A Primal Witch Clone? It’s a Lock!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 797: A Primal Witch Clone? It’s a Lock!
As for those students from the Wizard Academy who suddenly barged in, their presence was nothing more than a minor distraction. They were swiftly suppressed and sealed away by my Book in the Box.
The Book in the Box is currently my only weapon, and it possesses the highest potential of any I own—bar none. The materials consumed to forge it were so rare that even the Academy Dean would have kept them in her private collection.
By integrating the Great Knowledge Seed and the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, I created a Dual Tree Structure within it. It functions as a sort of alternative Omni-Link Main Network Tree, serving as the anchor for my Domain Order.
Coupled with my increasingly mature Clone Technique, the Book in the Box now acts as an "autonomous clone" that requires no direct supervision. Furthermore, the power it wields is not limited to the power network.
Since the Book in the Box is under my direct control, the essence of the power it exerts is identical to my own. With the addition of the Annotation Technique from the power of knowledge, it serves as a "butler" within my domain, handling more complex domain manipulations on my behalf.
Moreover, the Book in the Box is bolstered by the Great Knowledge Seed and maintains a direct connection to the Tree of Great Knowledge within the domain. Even if I do nothing, the book can exert the majority of my total combat strength.
Although the intruders so far have been mere small fry of negligible strength, word of what is happening in Monopeng City will leak out soon.
The most conspicuous sign is the Tree of Great Knowledge, which I have currently fully unfurled.
As the mental imagery manifested by the expansion of my Heart State Domain—and now serving as the vessel for April’s Transcendent advancement—the Tree of Great Knowledge cannot simply be retracted at will.
Before long, this phenomenon will draw more people: not just students from various transcendent academies and ordinary civilians, but potentially even Transcendent Wizards!
The latter represents the worst-case scenario. If it’s only one or two, Sister Bai can handle them. But if a large crowd is drawn here...
Then I’ll have to choose between running away or calling for backup.
If it comes down to it, I’ll likely choose to call for backup.
After all, this is a Transcendent advancement!
A new member is being born into the Witch race; what does it matter if we cause a bit of a stir?
The only slight problem is that Monopeng City falls within the sphere of influence of the Wizard Academy. We, from the Witch Academy, are technically trespassing.
The current relationship between the Witch Academy and the Wizard Academy is already strained. One wrong move could ignite a Transcendent war right here in the Core World!
Even with the suppression of the Great Weakening Spell, it might not be enough to stifle the fury of both sides.
"Sister Bai... um... should we report this to the Dean and the others?" I turned my head toward Sister Bai and asked tentatively.
"I’ve already reported it~" Sister Bai said confidently. "Just focus on what you’re doing, Xiao Han. Even if you poked a hole in the Main World, no one would say a word to you."
From the moment she realized things were progressing along this predetermined path, Bai Yu had already notified Dean Mei. Her primary purpose in accompanying Xiao Han was to protect her, and she was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that. When she realized a situation might exceed the power of a single Witch, she naturally called for reinforcements. There was no shame in it.
When it came to Xiao Han’s safety, Bai Yu refused to be overconfident. She wouldn't leave even the slightest thing to chance.
"Is that so? In that case, I can put my mind at ease~" Hearing that Sister Bai had already handled the logistics, I naturally stopped holding back.
The Book in the Box drifted from my palm, beginning to orbit me autonomously. I then poured my entire consciousness into the advancement ritual.
For April, this was going to be a long process. She hadn't entered this advancement with full preparation, so many aspects required careful refinement.
For instance, her damaged life level needed mending, and the impact of her mental exhaustion on her life essence had to be addressed. Furthermore, her metamorphosis from the "Ordinary" state required a reconstruction of her own psyche. All of this took time.
Each of these factors would significantly influence the perfection of her Witch Race Concept and the transformation of her soul.
While this was bad news for April, to put it bluntly, it was good news for me. Because the pace had slowed down... I could observe the entire metamorphosis process in much greater detail.
"The Ordinary Subject is a sub-topic of the Great Soul Subject. Right now, April is using the Ordinary Subject as a foundation to reconstruct herself, aiming to transform her soul immediately upon ascending to Transcendent status... Since I can't interfere with the soul during this period, I’ll focus my energy on the Witch Race Concept instead..."
I muttered to myself while manipulating the Tree of Great Knowledge to gather comprehensive observational data.
Regarding the perfection of the Witch Race Concept, because it touched upon Real Time, I could only use Spirit Vision to observe information on a single "visual" plane. While a bit disappointing, it was the limit of what I could achieve.
I was finally tasting the frustration of being unable to conduct deep research due to the limitations of my own abilities.
But I wouldn't complain. If one path was blocked, I’d find another. If all paths were blocked, knowing when to give up was also a form of wisdom. After all, one must make choices; you can't have everything you lay your eyes on.
As I continued to gather information through my Floating World level Spirit Vision, I also delved deeper into the meaning of the Witch Race Concept.
As for the utility of exploring the meaning of such a concept... I can only say it wasn't particularly practical, but it could resolve some of my lingering doubts.
For example... what exactly is a Witch?
Or, what is the fundamental basis for the existence of recognized life forms like Transcendent Witches?
However, I discovered that the things I sought to explore were bound by endless shackles, barring the path I wished to tread.
This reminded me of a concept I learned from Dean Mei back when I was creating the reincarnation rebirth spellbook: the concept and bloodline information of a race can be "locked." This is done to prevent other races from probing the essence of one's kind or discovering their weaknesses.
Perhaps this was a self-preservation mechanism of the Witch race?
In this process of an "Ordinary life" ascending to a "Transcendent life," the burgeoning racial concept might even give birth to the very racial locks that shroud it. It was hard to imagine what kind of immense power had shaped such a massive "racial project" capable of affecting an entire species.
Every time I hit a wall in my exploration, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
It was like the first time humans explored the human genome and marveled at the wonder and majesty of nature. Except, this wasn't the result of nature—it was something the Witches had achieved for their own race!
Perhaps it was that "Great Existence" known as the Primal Witch, or perhaps it was the Truth Witches whose names can no longer be spoken...
All of it felt far too distant from me.
Although the deeper realms of the Witch Race Concept were beyond my reach, there were still vast territories waiting for me to develop. For instance... the "Self-Generated Mana" currently being structured upon the Witch Race Concept. It allowed me to gain a much deeper understanding of the concept of self-generated mana.
While this process was unknowable to other Witches, I, having already successfully forged self-generated mana, had long since crossed that threshold of "cognition."
I could even use my own methods to accelerate the progress of April’s burgeoning self-generated mana.
This was self-generated mana built on the foundation of a Transcendent advancement, not the pseudo-self-generated mana formed through the Demon Body Cultivation Method and a massive amount of mana sources.
Ultimately, however, I chose not to interfere. There were still too many unknowns involved. If something went wrong, even the Academy Dean might not be able to undo the damage.
So, I remained a qualified bystander and chronicler.
I observed the process of this "natural" birth of self-generated mana, correlating it with the three rituals I had summarized.
"Shaping," "Structuring," and "Perfecting."
The first thing I observed was the structuring. The self-generated mana talent gained through Transcendent advancement was incubated and formed the very moment the Witch Race Concept was perfected.
In other words, self-generated mana obtained through the path of Transcendent advancement required no "Structuring Ritual" at all.
This also meant that the Structuring Ritual in the Demon Body Cultivation Method could neither be omitted nor optimized by referencing this process. I could only rely on my own continuous refinement of the ritual's composition.
Next was the Shaping Ritual.
The self-generated mana gained from ascending to Transcendent was likewise shaped from nothing. There was no doubt about that. But the principles of its shaping...
Time ticked by.
The phenomenon above Monopeng City persisted, naturally drawing many people to witness the wondrous sight.
The Wizard Academy had also noticed the anomaly and dispatched wave after wave of students to investigate.
However, those people were essentially all dealt with by the Book in the Box—they were the "point of no return" type.
It was the middle of the night, after all!
As the night progressed into the early hours of the morning, the Wizard Academy finally lost its patience. They dispatched a wizard with the status of a Wizard Tower Lord to investigate.
The Book in the Box found it difficult to detain someone of that caliber.
After all, a domain prototype was still just a prototype.
Its order had only developed one truly useful technique: the Annotation Technique.
The Heart Sense derived from the power of Five Senses Body Cultivation was essentially a sensory channel. Neither of my two Great Spellbooks was characterized by killing or trapping enemies. The domain formed by the three was not a means of slaughter, but rather a higher-level means of suppression.
Furthermore, their opponent was merely the Book in the Box, not me personally, so it was naturally difficult to keep the enemy from escaping.
However, the Tower Lord wizard who escaped after the ambush quickly realized the gravity and complexity of the situation.
Moreover, he recognized me.
"Damn it... You're Yang Yuehan! What are you doing running onto our Wizard Academy's turf? Do you really have no respect for us at all?!" the opposing Wizard Tower Lord roared in fury.
But for all his rage, he didn't dare step a single inch past the boundary of the domain.
His only response was silence. I didn't care about their anger in the slightest.
Without strength, one doesn't even have the right to speak to me as an equal. This was the current manifestation of my power and status in the Main World.
After waiting a long time without a response, the ignored Tower Lord understood this was a deliberate humiliation.
But the name "Yang Yuehan" was one he knew all too well.
He admitted he was no match for her, but in the Wizard Academy, there were plenty of wizards who wanted her dead!
So, he immediately began calling for backup. He wasn't calling other Tower Lords to come and be slaughtered; he was secretly contacting a Transcendent Tower Lord.
Yang Yuehan, this teaching assistant from the Witch Academy... was at the very top of their hit list!
At that moment, I gradually withdrew my focus from April’s advancement ritual.
Of course, it wasn't because I noticed the Tower Lord contacting a Transcendent Wizard, but because April had finally completed the birth of her self-generated mana physical talent.
This meant that, in substance, she had completed her Transcendent advancement!
It seemed to happen without any outward sign, yet many things were far from over.
For example, April’s subject was not yet perfected, and her self-reconstruction based on that subject was not finished... This wasn't the advancement of her body, but the metamorphosis of her mind—a journey belonging solely to her soul!
However, I had gained much from this observation.
This single observation was infinitely faster than the progress I’d made fumbling around blindly in the laboratory!
This trip had truly been worth it.
While there was no progress on the Structuring Ritual, I had gained a higher level of understanding regarding the Shaping and Perfecting Rituals. As long as I took the time to organize my thoughts upon returning, there would be breakthrough progress in those two areas!
But that wasn't the sum of my harvest. While observing the birth of the self-generated mana, I discovered another "unshrouded" part—a special concept within the Witch race, a unique existence that was born alongside the Witch Race Concept.
It reminded me of when Sister Bai ascended to Transcendent status, and a clone of the Primal Witch came to escort her into the Witch world to complete her certification.
Everyone had endless theories regarding the Primal Witch’s nearly "infinite" clones.
Perhaps I finally understood what they were.
Rather than calling them clones of the Primal Witch, it would be more accurate to call them manifestations of the will of the Primal Concept of the Witch race—a fundamental element not described within the Great Witch Subject.
Whenever a Witch ascends to Transcendent status, no matter where they are, a clone of the Primal Witch will appear to guide them into the world of Witches.
This phrasing was a hint in itself.
That manifestation of the Witch race's will, originating from the Great Witch Subject, was very likely the source of the Primal Witch’s power. The prosperity or decline of the Witch race directly influenced the Primal Witch’s strength.
The flourishing of Witches was inseparable from the Primal Witch’s might. A single Witch guarding the Great Library of the Witch World was enough to protect the Witch race across the entire Void. This connection, born under the Great Witch Subject, was like a bond that linked all Witches together.
Perhaps this sense of security was a romance unique to the Transcendent Witch race.
I watched as a phantom figure gradually coalesced above the Witch’s Cocoon. Even as a mere phantom, she radiated a dazzling maternal glow. She embraced the cocoon with her form, waiting as gently as one would for the first awakening of life.
With the descent of the Primal Witch’s clone, I suppose we’re in the clear now?
I gradually retracted my Tree of Great Knowledge and began to pull back my domain.
The phantom clone of the Primal Witch seemed to sense something and looked toward me. She said nothing, but responded with a smile, as if thanking me for everything I had done.
Then, she took complete charge of the Witch’s Cocoon. The cocoon of light gradually dissolved into drifting threads, and April’s curled figure became faintly visible. She had already completed the Transcendent metamorphosis of her body and life level; all that remained was the transformation of her soul and mind.
At this point, even I felt a sense of wonder. But I wasn't finished with what I wanted to do, so I boldly stepped forward and spoke tentatively.
"May I... experience the process of soul sublimation along with her? The metamorphosis of the soul is a realm I have never touched. In exchange, I am willing to offer the blessing of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art," I said softly, as the fluctuations of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art’s power appeared in my hand.
The development of events had already exceeded my expectations. Facing the protection of the Primal Witch’s clone, even I could only make a request.
In the face of my request, the Primal Witch’s clone did not explicitly refuse. Or rather, the clone at this moment was still just a phantom, lacking even facial features or expressions, but I understood the meaning she conveyed.
She agreed.