Chapter 798: Dean Mei’s Fierce Protectiveness
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 798: Dean Mei’s Fierce Protectiveness
With the domain’s seal lifted, the people who had been trapped in a state of despairing paralysis fled as if they had lost their minds.
Heaven only knew how much damage they had suffered, being forced by that incomprehensible power to maintain a single posture for hours!
It was nothing short of dual torture, both mental and physical.
Fortunately, the witch had let them go. Even the members of the Hawthorne family, who had been so arrogant before, didn't dare utter a single word of nonsense now. They actually ran faster than the agents from the Shi’an Bureau.
Standing to the side, Bai Yu was somewhat curious as to why Xiao Han had suddenly retracted the domain, but she didn't disturb her. Instead, she chose to stand guard in silence.
However, her gaze lingered briefly on the phantom figure behind Xiao Han. She seemed slightly dazed, as if she recognized who it was.
Before long, the sky over Monopeng City grew oppressive. Heavy black clouds gathered in the night sky, churning the atmosphere. Erratic peals of thunder and flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the world, creating a sense of intense pressure that felt like a series of frames from a stop-motion animation.
Then, the thick clouds formed a massive palm that descended from the heavens. It reached down in a grasping gesture, aimed directly at my position, closing in rapidly.
Faced with such a phenomenon, even I was forced to take notice. This was not a technique an ordinary Wizard Apprentice could pull off.
That meant… it could only be a Transcendent Wizard.
Though I was tempted to see if the Order of my domain could block such a move, I had more important things to do.
"It really is you… Heh… Die!"
A low voice boomed from the sky. Clearly, this was the voice of the Transcendent Wizard performing the spell.
"Wizards really have no bottom line. A Transcendent is personally stepping in to target me?" I huffed, not caring if the other party heard me.
This was my most direct experience yet of the sheer determination these Transcendent Wizards had to kill me, even if it meant ignoring all the rules!
Before, I had only heard the other witches talk about it. Sister Bai and Dean Mei had described the severity of the situation, but that was nothing compared to the direct pressure of experiencing it firsthand!
In the next instant, a blade’s flash rang out across the world like a thunderclap.
The strike was incredibly sharp yet appeared utterly unadorned. However, this single slash split the massive arm in the sky right down the middle.
The giant hand, formed of thick mist, seemed unable to heal. It lost control, collapsing and dissolving back into the ambient energy of the world.
"Damn it… I knew it!" An exasperated voice drifted down from the sky. Realizing he had lost his composure, the wizard’s voice turned oppressive for the second half of his sentence. "Witch! Do you not know this is the territory of the Wizard Academy? Do you intend to start a war with our academy by coming here so brazenly?"
"I have no intention of starting a war. I simply saw a shameless imbecile attacking a teaching assistant from our Witch Academy and attempting to disrupt a sacred Witch Promotion Ritual."
Bai Yu no longer used her Ordinary status to hide her presence. Holding a long blade, she pointed it directly at the heavens.
However, she didn't strike a second time.
There was no need.
The phenomenon before us didn't represent the wizard’s actual body. It was merely a Transcendent Wizard using a Wizard Tower and the local Tower Lord to guide an anchor, allowing for a consciousness possession. The wizard’s physical body was still tucked away inside his turtle-shell Wizard Tower.
After all, wizards who didn't specifically undergo specialized Body Forging Witchcraft had the worst physical stats among Transcendents of the same level. Thus, wizards—who prided themselves on logic and wisdom—didn't waste much time on Body Forging. Instead, they chose to build Wizard Towers.
A Wizard Tower was both a symbol of a Transcendent Wizard and a part of their power. It was also the laboratory where they researched witchcraft. They would spend the majority of the latter half of their lives within one.
So, Bai Yu’s single slash was merely a deterrent. As she said, she wasn't here to pick a fight. If possible, she only wanted to buy some time for Xiao Han.
"Damn it, who are you calling a shameless imbecile!"
"I’m calling whoever is hiding in their turtle tower, afraid to show their face, an imbecile."
"Damned witch! You dare provoke the Wizard Will? If you want to promote, why don't you crawl back to your own territory? Why must you do it on our land?"
While Sister Bai and the wizard were busy trading insults, I began my exploration of the Soul Domain.
However, before immersing my mind entirely in the research, my attention was briefly drawn to Sister Bai. I really hadn't expected her verbal attacks to be so sharp…
But I only marveled for a moment. I couldn't waste the time Sister Bai was winning for me.
I turned my focus back to April. I had already bestowed the blessing of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art upon her.
Then, I began to apply the still-unperfected "Soul Depiction" technique to her.
Because the technique was incomplete, it essentially had no effect yet. I was simply waiting, observing, and witnessing the process of soul essence metamorphosing into a soul.
My Soul Depiction domain was indeed missing only this final puzzle piece: insight into the process of soul essence sublimation.
It was just like the Wisdom Granting technique. The Seed of Wisdom, shaped by consciousness and memory, only became a complete technique once one gained insight into the metamorphosis of the two and mastered the starting point of that change.
And now… April’s life essence was gradually being perfected. Although only a short time had passed in reality, she had already lived a long life within the world she had woven for herself.
I could feel that this woven life still seemed to originate from a dream. After all, the Ordinary Subject was essentially a Soul Subject, and the relationship between the soul and dreams went without saying.
If I were to explore the uses of the Soul Dream even slightly, using April’s memories as a guide, I might be able to participate in her life. From my perspective, it would still be an illusory dream, but for April, it would be a perfect life she had personally experienced—a manifestation of her interpretation of an ordinary life.
Perhaps that was the nature of the Soul Subject: blurring the boundary between dream and reality so that a person’s soul could find salvation in this manner.
But in the end, I gave up on the idea.
I… didn't dare.
It wasn't that I feared the protection of the Primal consciousness beside me. Rather, I was afraid that if I saw that blissful life, my own heart would be moved by such beauty. Like a rat in a gutter peeking at someone else’s wonderful life, it would only bring me unnecessary trouble.
I didn't need that kind of salvation. This was a method where "it exists if you believe, and it doesn't if you don't." I didn't need to use what was, from my perspective, a "fake" beauty to compensate for my own flaws.
The path I walked was to face everything head-on, accept it all, and then experience it for myself until I could look back on it all with a smile.
I was an experience-ist; April was a self-salvationist. There was no need to compare which was better. In our respective hearts, our own methods were surely the best.
Besides, if I truly wanted salvation… I would need to make up for more than just this life; I’d have to compensate for my previous life as well… but I had already accepted, come to terms with, and even forgotten many things from that life.
So, it was better to let things take their natural course.
"You seem to be hesitating. Why did you give up in the end? April’s ordinary life is the most beautiful thing to her, and it’s also something she feels no need to hide. If you were willing to enter and play a role, April wouldn't mind."
"Eh?" The sudden voice made me start. Then I realized who was speaking to me. "You… You! You’re talking to me?"
"Yes. Looking at how nervous you are, you seem to have misunderstood something. You should have realized what my essence is by now, shouldn't you? But I am not yet the Primal Witch you know."
"Eh? Not yet?" Looking at the phantom figure that was gradually solidifying, I quickly caught on. Her essence was a product of the Great Witch Subject, so… she wasn't a true Primal Witch yet, but rather the Primal Concept of a witch?
"Then… does that mean you will eventually become a clone of the Primal Witch?" Seeing her take the initiative to talk to me, I tentatively tried to learn more.
"Probably only after April wakes up and recognizes herself as a Transcendent Witch. At that point, she will gain a near-instinctive ability, similar to the God Descent Technique, to usher in the descent of the Primal Witch’s consciousness. Only then will I be a true clone of the Primal Witch, and I will take her away from here."
"Is… is this really something you can tell me?" Hearing this, I broke into a cold sweat.
I had never heard of such a thing. Even the information collected in the Tree of Great Knowledge consisted mostly of conjectures regarding the Primal Witch’s clones… Though it was possible I had already guessed the gist of it, I hadn't even promoted to a Transcendent Witch yet!
"I feel the aura of a Witch Contract on you. You are a little witch, very close to us. I think highly of you, so I am willing to share. Of course, what I admire most is your spirit of exploration, but it is best not to delve too deeply into certain forbidden domains. It is for the good of me, you, and the witch race."
"Uh… is that… a warning?"
"Take it as one if you like. You’ll be an obedient child, won't you?"
"Yes… I’m very obedient!" I hurriedly nodded my head in a frantic guarantee.
After ending that topic (warning), the Primal phantom didn't initiate any more conversation.
It seemed that asking why I hadn't entered April’s dream was just a conversation starter. Her main purpose was to remind me not to mess around…
However, I certainly couldn't give up on the Soul Depiction technique. Moreover, she had already agreed to it earlier, so… she shouldn't stop me.
"A very marvelous technique… I see infinite possibilities in it, as well as endless ambition. Can you tell me the name of this technique?"
"Uh… it’s called Soul Depiction," I stammered before explaining. It wasn't a name I had to keep secret; I had even told the Dean. Facing a Primal Concept, there was naturally nothing I couldn't say.
"Soul Depiction… Hmm… A very vivid name. Unfortunately, I cannot offer any further evaluation…" After all, she wasn't a clone of the Primal Witch, just a product of the Primal Concept.
After a few more words, the Primal Concept faded back into April’s body. I breathed a sigh of relief and began to focus on the task at hand. Perhaps she had realized that if she stayed by my side, I wouldn't be able to concentrate…
What a truly considerate Primal Witch…
Once I focused, I ignored everything happening in the outside world, trusting that Sister Bai would protect me.
At that moment, Sister Bai was still in a standoff with the wizard.
However, realizing he couldn't win an argument against Bai Yu, the wizard began to call for backup.
None of the wizards who arrived came in their physical bodies. They were all projections of Wizard Will, bolstered by their Wizard Towers. Even as projections, however, they were not weak.
Combined with the wizards’ unpredictable methods and their ability to leverage Transcendent Truth, they had abandoned physical strength in favor of wisdom, using the smallest possible cost to manipulate Transcendent rules. This made their offensive methods terrifyingly potent.
Bai Yu now had to fully deploy her domain just to withstand their techniques while protecting me.
It had to be said that fighting wizards on their home turf was a major disadvantage. The range of the Wizard Academy’s influence was where the Wizard Tower’s will-projection was most effective. One could imagine how great their home-field advantage was.
These wizards weren't like the Dragon-Blooded Transcendents from the Dragon-Blood Academy. If they were, Bai Yu could confidently take them down one by one. But combat power wasn't always a contest of brute force, especially against wizards who prided themselves on wisdom and logic!
"You, a lone Transcendent Witch, dare to cause trouble on our home turf? You’d better prepare to stay here forever today!"
"Jie jie… I recognize you! Not just you! That little witch is going to die here today too!"
The wizards’ coordinated efforts formed a comprehensive suppression of witchcraft. Even their raspy voices seemed to carry a form of mental pollution that made one frown.
But they had the misfortune of touching Bai Yu’s sore spot. When the wizard with the hideous laugh spoke, Bai Yu’s sudden outburst nearly shattered his descending consciousness. Terrified, he shut his mouth and scrambled to hide behind the other wizards’ projections.
The descent of a wizard’s consciousness was not without cost, but no cost was greater than dying there.
If possible, none of them wanted to lose their lives in this place.
"Is it useful? Is it? What’s the point of making yourself look so pathetic? That little witch is your sore spot, isn't she? You get angry just hearing about her, don't you? Hahaha! Then you’re finished…"
After Bai Yu’s outburst left her briefly weakened, the wizard immediately saw through the relationship.
But before he could celebrate for long, his smile vanished in the next instant.
"Is that so? Say it again—who is finished?"
A woman’s voice suddenly appeared, her tone dripping with disdain. With a casual reach and a grab, the wizard’s consciousness lost all ability to resist.
"Who! It’s you! Damn it… Mei Lind… Why are you here! You were baiting us, weren't you…" The wizard’s consciousness in Mei Lind’s hand grew weak and stopped resisting. Or rather, even his will to resist had been weakened. He had become a mere plaything in Mei Lind’s palm.
Seeing Dean Mei step in, Bai Yu breathed a sigh of relief. However, she didn't let down her guard. She retreated to stand watch by my side.
"Baiting? That’s the first time I’ve seen someone flatter themselves like that. What kind of little minnow are you that you’d be worth my time to bait? I’m here today to protect my own. So, you’re the ones bullying our faculty, are you? You’re the ones trying to assassinate our little witch? And you’re the ones disrupting a Witch Promotion Ritual? Who gave you the right?"
Mei Lind listed their "crimes" while "calling roll" one by one. Even under the Great Weakening Spell of the Core World, Mei Lind still displayed the power and grace of a Witch Academy Dean.
In the time it took to say a few sentences, those wizard consciousness projections had all been captured alive by the Dean.