Chapter 842: Aina's Frustration...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 842: Aina's Frustration...
"That's true... the facts are right in front of me..." Aina was momentarily stunned before she forced herself to calm down. She couldn't afford to lose her composure like this in front of a Little Witch.
"Then... could you tell me how you did it?" Aina asked, her voice filled with hope.
Manifesting a Saint Realm Domain within a dream!
In the past, she wouldn't have even dared to dream of such a thing.
In fact, she had never even heard of it. If one could manifest a Saint Realm Domain and establish a Domain Order within the Primitive Dream Realm, why would the witches' exploration of its depths still be so far off?
One had to understand that current exploration results in the Primal Dream were all products of sheer brute force—for instance, the Primal Dream refined by the Great Power of the Primal Witch.
Without significant backing, one couldn't even begin to navigate the Primitive Dream Realm. It was only during the rise of the Great Soul Subject that a major breakthrough in its development occurred.
So, even though she knew this might be a top-secret matter for Xiao Han, she steeled herself and asked anyway. She was fully prepared to be rejected.
In her view, if a Little Witch like Xiao Han, who hadn't even ascended to Transcendent status, could do it, then she, a Transcendent Witch, might be able to as well.
"How I did it..."
I expected Aina to ask, but explaining the principle... is actually quite difficult. The threshold for entry is incredibly high.
"I can tell you, but it's very difficult, and the requirements are quite steep," I cautioned her.
"I knew you would ref—wait! You're actually willing to tell me?!" Aina looked at me in shock, as if she had only just processed my words.
Suddenly, she recalled the rumors surrounding Xiao Han.
Those rumors claimed that Xiao Han loved to share, often doing so for free. From the free sharing of the Floating World level Real Time architecture for the Fireball Spellbook, to the public release of Dream Magic and Dream Rewriting Spells, and even the mass popularization of the Great Knowledge Seed and Knowledge Seed—derivatives of the Great Spellbook. She had open-sourced the techniques for the Omni-Link Main Network Tree, and recently, she was even preparing to promote her research on the Self-Generated Mana project...
And now... Xiao Han was even willing to share the method for manifesting a Dream Domain within the Primitive Dream Realm!
This was the first time she had felt Xiao Han's "selflessness" so directly.
If this weren't just her soul consciousness, she felt her heart would be racing. Her excitement was so intense it was written all over her face.
"Yes, I don't mind making the method public. But I must warn you, it's very difficult and hard to popularize."
"It's fine! Xiao Han, just say it! If I can't learn it, that's my problem, definitely not yours!" Aina said with great confidence.
"Alright... since you insist..." I sighed and began my explanation.
"Based on my practical experience, the primary requirement is to have a certain level of attainment in the Great Soul Subject. You need a thorough understanding of the connection between the soul and dreams..." I slowly began to recount my experience.
"No problem. I'm a practitioner of the Great Soul Subject. What's next?" Aina interjected eagerly.
"Next, you use the power of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation in coordination with your thorough understanding of the soul's essence. You link this with your sixth sense, Heart Sense, to shape a Heart State Domain. This allows you to bridge the connection to dream information and establish a sensory channel between yourself and that information. This completes the initial connection to the dream. After that, it's about understanding the essence of the Primitive Dream Realm. There aren't many ability-based thresholds for this part; you just need to grasp its essence, and your cognition and instincts will naturally align to understand how to utilize it..."
I hadn't even reached the halfway point of my explanation when Aina froze.
Or rather, the moment she heard the very first requirement—"Self-Awakened Body Cultivation"—she went numb.
Wait... did she miss a huge chunk of the explanation?
Why did she understand the first sentence, but the second sounded like gibberish?
"Uh... Sister Aina? Was I not clear enough? Should I use the Great Knowledge Seed for information sharing? Was I speaking too fast?"
"Uh... ah... no." Reminded by my voice, Aina realized she had lost her cool. "That... Xiao Han, does it really require Self-Awakened Body Cultivation right from the start? Why is the jump so massive?"
"Oh... sorry, Sister Aina. I might have moved too quickly."
"I knew it! How could the requirements be that high right from the start?"
"Actually, even without Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, one could train through Five Senses Body Cultivation. Once the sixth sense, Heart Sense, is achieved, you could barely manage to meet the subsequent requirements..."
"Why does it still involve Body Cultivation?!"
Hearing my words, Aina finally couldn't help but complain. Was Body Cultivation... really that necessary?
This was asking far too much of Spell Cultivators like them!
There was a world of difference between their fields. Moreover, it was the difference between using one's brain and using one's hands... She used to mock Body Cultivation Witches for being all brawn and no brains... but she didn't dare mention that now.
"I'm sorry... Sister Aina. Body Cultivation is currently the only way I've found to establish a sensory channel that interfaces with dream information. You understand that there is no transcendent energy in the Primitive Dream Realm, only dream information. My basic conceptualization of the current Primitive Dream Realm mainly categorizes it into dream consciousness, information, Dream State Soul Essence, and so on. Also..."
"Wait... just wait a second." Aina held up a hand, her head spinning. This was the first time she felt her understanding of the transcendent was so shallow that she couldn't even grasp the theoretical foundations laid out by a Little Witch.
After taking a moment to recover, Aina continued to listen to my explanation.
Once she confirmed that "Body Cultivation" was an unavoidable hurdle, Aina knew she had likely reached her limit. However, that didn't stop her from wanting to learn more.
Even if she couldn't succeed, what about other witches? Were they all incapable?
Surely the witch race had members who were skilled in both Body Cultivation and academic research?
There had to be!
She just hadn't encountered many of them yet.
But the more she listened, the deeper her confusion grew. For instance... how did Xiao Han even discover such a complex process?
This definitely couldn't be explained away as a mere coincidence!
"To put it simply... you used specific information within the Primitive Dream Realm to replace the transcendent energy of the reality realm, deconstructed the composition of a Domain, and then reconstructed it to fit the rules of the Primitive Dream Realm?" Aina asked tentatively.
"Mhm~ It seems Sister Aina understands perfectly!"
"Ha... haha..." Aina gave a strained laugh. She really wanted to say she didn't understand jack squat!
What exactly did she understand?
Xiao Han understood the principle and the process, and then achieved the final result of this hypothesis. But what about her?
She couldn't do any of it!
Setting aside that "Self-Awakened Body Cultivation," there was also the method of keeping [Transcendent Knowledge] functional within the Primitive Dream Realm... It required using Body Cultivation as the core to construct a Domain, achieving a Body Cultivation Domain, and then using the Great Spellbook to shape it into a Domain that formed a Composite Domain with the previous one...
Who on earth came up with this plan?!
Oh~ it was the Xiao Han standing right in front of her...
Well, nothing to be done about that then...
She almost wanted to kill her past self for making such a grand boast earlier. That display was truly unbecoming of a witch!
"Uh... Sister Aina? Are you okay?" I asked, looking at Aina, who looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
Aina's state was even beginning to affect her cognition. Her figure showed signs of physically shrinking. If I hadn't spoken up, I felt she really might have vanished into a crack in the floor.
This wasn't unusual in the Primitive Dream Realm. Just as the consciousness of students who went mad would lose the perception of being human, their conscious bodies in the Primitive Dream Realm would become blurred or even lose human characteristics!
Startled by my reminder, Aina snapped out of it. Her figure "restored" to its original size, as if nothing had happened.
"Oh, right... mhm... I'm fine... mhm..."
"Actually, Sister Aina, you don't need to take it so much to heart. From the beginning, I knew this method would be very hard to replicate. Perhaps in the future, I'll create a low-threshold technique that can be popularized, but for now, I'm well aware that these requirements might be beyond even the Academy Dean. So, don't be discouraged."
"True... even the old Dean might not be able to do it..." This thought made Aina feel a bit better, though for some reason, it still felt strange.
"Exactly. We can worry about that later. It's just like my Self-Generated Mana project. At the start, the threshold was also Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, but hasn't it since been lowered enough for small-scale promotion?"
"Xiao Han! You are simply the hope of the Great Soul Subject!" Aina suddenly realized. Recalling the Self-Generated Mana project that was once considered impossible, she now desperately hoped Xiao Han possessed such capability! "Xiao Han, if you really manage to lower the threshold for this technique in the future! Your... your future achievements will be astronomical!"
"It's not that big of a deal~ That's still a long way off for me. For now, let's focus on settling... hm?"
"What is it?" Aina noticed the slight change in my expression immediately.
"There's another visitor at Fool's Village... this perception... it's likely another mad student's consciousness that slipped through my screening. Sorry, I have to excuse myself for a moment. Fool's Village has had quite a few accidents lately."
"It's fine, Xiao Han, go ahead and attend to your business..." Aina said. "Do you need me to... uh... never mind, I won't get in the way."
"It's no trouble~ It's just dealing with a crazed consciousness. I'll be back as soon as I've handled it."
As she watched my figure depart again, Aina found herself staring blankly.
She suddenly remembered something someone had once told her: "It's easy to admit you are smart, but very hard to admit someone else is smarter."
She wore the title of "Transcendent Witch," and she truly found it hard to accept that she was inferior to a Little Witch.
As expected... this Little Witch, known to all witches, was truly capable. There were even rumors circulating in the academy that Xiao Han was qualified to become a Truth Witch... At first, she had dismissed them.
If... she meant if... Xiao Han ascended to become a Transcendent Witch, spread this Dream Domain technique, and lowered its threshold, then she wouldn't be unable to admit that Xiao Han deserved the title of Truth Witch.
Think about it... Xiao Han's Great Knowledge Sharing Spell derived from the Tree of Great Knowledge, which was enough to construct void communications; her non-transcendent Self-Generated Mana shaping technique; and now, a low-threshold Dream Domain technique... If all of these were given back to the entire witch race as Truth Dedications, such prestige would be enough for Xiao Han to achieve the status of a Truth Witch!
One had to know that the title of Truth Witch was not easily obtained. Generally, there were two ways to get it. One was to become an Honorary Truth Witch through the recognition of the vast majority of witches. The other was to seize the title through absolute strength—which could refer to combat power, academic prowess, research ability, or the ability to correct the Rebel Witch race, and so on.
In short, a Truth Witch was a title widely recognized by witches. Regardless of the method—even if it meant using violence to persuade the majority—it was a testament to that witch's capability.
Of course, there were also rumors that the title of Truth Witch was more than just a title, carrying bonuses like the Truth Blessing from the Great Library of the Witch World, but those were merely speculations.
If Xiao Han completed these three foundational Truth Dedications, such an achievement would be enough to win the recognition of the vast majority of witches!
It would even increase the acceptance of "Provisional Witches" by the witch race!
The non-transcendent Self-Generated Mana shaping technique was something that could change the teaching methods of every witch academy in the void!
It could even cause the number of converted witches to skyrocket in a short period.
This was a massive contribution to expanding the population of the Transcendent Witch race! Even if some pure-blood native Transcendent Witches might resist, it was foreseeable that the Primal Witch would absolutely support the spread of such a technique.
Pulling back her wandering thoughts, she felt it was too early to think about these things—at least, too early for Xiao Han.
As she calmed down, Aina's logic and intellect began to regain control. She suddenly realized where that slight sense of dissonance she had felt earlier came from.
And that was... how did Xiao Han know that those consciousnesses were students from other Transcendent Academies, sent in as cannon fodder for experiments?
Looking at the timeline, Xiao Han should have been the first to enter the Primitive Dream Realm, followed by the Dean and the other Transcendent Academies.
Theoretically, there was no way for Xiao Han to know what was happening in reality.
The more Aina thought about it, the more she felt it was possible... could everything she was experiencing be a dream?
After all, the Primitive Dream Realm was incredibly bizarre and treacherous. It wasn't impossible for her memory to combine with specific plot developments to create something absurd... Had she been trapped in a specific dreamscape?!
Just as Aina was thinking this, my figure returned.
"Alright~ It's settled. Efficiency was very high this time."
"Xiao Han..."
"Mhm? What's wrong?" I asked curiously, noticing Aina's strange expression.
"How do you know what has happened in the outside world? During the time you've been trapped in the Primitive Dream Realm, you shouldn't know that those Transcendent Academies are using students as experimental fodder."