Chapter 850: "Combat Power" That Nearly Crushes Transcendents
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 850: "Combat Power" That Nearly Crushes Transcendents
After a brief discussion, the final "fate" of these fellows seemed to be sealed.
First and foremost, even before the discussion began, we had already reached a "consensus": not a single one of them was going back!
Even if they did return, they certainly wouldn't be intact.
As for the Witch Contract proposed by that Holy Angel?
What a joke. A contract is just another method of enforcement; what better solution could there be than their deaths?
It was just that, before they died, they could still be put to some use.
After all, the Witch Academy wasn't quite ready to completely burn bridges with the other Transcendent academies. Even if the Witch Academy had a plausible excuse to blame everything on the Dreamscape Calamity and claim it had nothing to do with witches... so-called rules are built upon strength, interests, and deterrence.
Therefore... we couldn't let these people flip the table entirely. The best-case scenario was a prolonged period of diplomatic bickering. And what better way to facilitate that?
By claiming that these individuals' consciousnesses had become lost within the Primitive Dream Realm. The witches would then proactively and preemptively propose a collaborative exploration of the Primitive Dream Realm, aimed at "locating and rescuing" the Transcendents lost during this Dreamscape Calamity.
Since the incident had already occurred and the witches had offered a solution, if you didn't accept it, that was your problem—it proved you were looking for trouble.
Furthermore, if you didn't want to recover so many Transcendents, as long as one academy relented, the others would have to follow suit.
Otherwise, an academy failing to take responsibility for the lives of its Transcendent mentors... that would be a severe crisis of trust!
Moreover, the Witch Academy could coordinate by having a few witches "go missing" as well, only to slowly "find" them later.
If they questioned why most of those recovered were witches?
Then the Witch Academy could seize the opportunity to launch the theoretical Great Soul Subject of the Fourth Life Interpretation within the Main World.
On the surface, it might look like they were helping others achieve the sublimation of their life essence for free, but looking at the bigger picture, this was a gambit on the level of the entire Void race hierarchy.
In the Great Soul Subject, witches stood at the absolute forefront of the Void. As the instigators of the Fourth Life Interpretation, their advantage would be incomparable.
As the saying goes, the most expensive things are the ones that are free.
Once the vast majority of races in the Void joined the collective of soul essence, the rhythm of everything would be dictated by the Witch race.
Why had soul interpretation been circulating in the Void for so long, yet the majority of Transcendent races remained "indifferent" to it?
At least on the surface.
Behind this counter-intuitive behavior, there was bound to be a deeper level of maneuvering.
So... even if the Witch Academy laid out such an open plot, if you chose to join the rescue of those Transcendent consciousnesses in the Primitive Dream Realm, you would be stepping into the witches' rhythm. If you chose not to... then you would have to permanently lose over a dozen Transcendent powerhouses!
Though they were essentially "dead," the other academies had no way to prove it. Thus, they were forced to "rescue" them in name. If they didn't, the chain reaction would be beyond their control.
If a Transcendent had close friends, a wife, or a partner, the Witch Academy could even manipulate things to secretly turn them into defectors.
Of course... these were merely possibilities.
The Witch Academy didn't necessarily have to do it, but the others had to guard against the possibility that they might.
Naturally, this wasn't something the Dean and I had planned in advance. Before this, we hadn't even known the Dreamscape Calamity would be so terrifying, nor that I would happen to wield such Great Power.
For now, the Dean was actually dedicated to maintaining the relatively peaceful environment of the Main World. This collaborative exploration of the Primitive Dream Realm was really just a way to stall for time and redirect conflict and attention.
After all, for the witches, the most important "World Navel" was not yet fully in their grasp.
The plan to locate the World Navel through the Qi Observation Art was still underway, and for now, it seemed like a distant goal.
The Main World had been stable for so long; the witches didn't mind staying low for a while longer.
* * *
The general plan was settled.
More importantly... we held this discussion without the slightest attempt to hide it from the Transcendents, plotting right in front of their faces.
But none of those Transcendents could find the strength to laugh.
Because this meant the witches weren't afraid of them leaking the information from the very start.
Watching their expressions shift from horror to despair, and finally to a numbness born of being unable to live yet unable to die, was truly a unique sight.
Even if they had seemingly never done anything personally to wrong me, it didn't matter. Hadn't I also done nothing to wrong them?
Yet they still viewed me as a thorn in their side.
In the face of opposing factions, "innocence" is pale and laughable.
"Xiao Han, are you certain that technique can work on Transcendents?" Dean Mei asked me once more.
The technique Mei Lind was asking about was, naturally, the reverse application of "Wisdom Granting"—"Wisdom Deprivation."
There was no more convenient way than making them idiots. This ensured they remained "alive" while guaranteeing they were as worthless as the dead.
"I'm not sure~ but this is a stripping technique aimed at the essence of life. I've never forcibly used this ability on a Transcendent before," I said quite bluntly.
"Then let's see. If it really doesn't work, we'll fall back on the original plan," Mei Lind said, looking at me with a complex gaze.
At this moment, the Xiao Han in her eyes was gradually drifting away from her previous understanding.
Looking back, ever since she became a Transcendent Witch, she had deeply agreed with one viewpoint: "A non-Transcendent can never kill a Transcendent."
It was precisely because of this massive chasm and the leap in status that the "Transcendent" rank was the only universally recognized division in the Void. Even the so-called "Saint Realm" was merely a human-defined grade.
But look at Xiao Han now. She hadn't even ascended to Transcendent status, yet she possessed means to crush them—that unheard-of "Dream Domain."
Now, if this "Wisdom Deprivation" technique could be successfully tested on the life essence of a Transcendent, then... Xiao Han would have mastered two methods equivalent to death for a Transcendent before even ascending!
Add to that Xiao Han's Innate Soul and her path on the Great Soul Subject—using the soul blessing "Soul Dream" to evade lethal Transcendent strikes.
From the perspective of "combat power," Xiao Han was already comparable to—no, one could even say she crushed—ordinary Transcendents!
I was, of course, unaware of what Dean Mei Lind was thinking. Even if I knew, I would only smile and not pay it much mind, because I knew very well that I had earned all of this.
Or rather, only through this could I feel a slight sense of security in this chaotic world.
My figure was no longer as massive as before. That previous posture, aside from looking giant, served no real purpose; it was merely a manifestation of my Domain Order's external expression, and it could only be done within the Primitive Dream Realm. In reality, I was as large as I had always been.
When I walked up to a Wizard, I looked at him, seemingly expecting some kind of reaction.
"Go on... do it... I never thought I'd fall at your hands in the end." The Wizard's face held an indescribable mockery, but it was mostly directed at himself.
However, the gaze he leveled at me was still filled with deep apprehension.
Most of the Transcendents here recognized me, but they couldn't fathom why a little witch who wasn't even a Transcendent would possess such terrifying means!
They should have pulled her up by the roots at the very beginning! Their previous methods hadn't been ruthless enough!
Unfortunately for them, they could no longer send that message out.
"I'm waiting for your last words. Is that all? You could curse me a bit; don't be shy~"
As I spoke, the man fell silent.
"How boring."
I gave a light snort and ignored him. I wasn't exactly someone who enjoyed being insulted.
Besides, what I was doing now was an experiment. Even I didn't know if Wisdom Deprivation could succeed against the resistance of the Transcendent level.
My previous experiments had been on variant beasts that couldn't escape my dominance, or the ordinary humans of the Hawthorne family.
A technique targeting the essence of life would inevitably be resisted by a high life level.
And once the formal experiment began, it proceeded exactly as I had anticipated.
Under conditions of intense conscious resistance, it was very difficult to perform Wisdom Deprivation on them!
However... as I gradually shifted to another technique, "Wisdom Withering"... they found it difficult to resist.
So, in terms of experimental results, the reverse application of Wisdom Granting was undoubtedly a success. After all, a half-success is still a success, isn't it?
Wisdom Withering... this unique technique was like a curse, born as a derivative of the Great Spellbook. Even if the opponent wanted to remedy it, they would need someone with profound attainments in life essence just to alleviate the symptoms.
Furthermore... only power on the same level as a Great Spellbook can counter its permanent effects.
Destruction is always much simpler than reconstruction.
This was essentially an unsolvable problem.
Moreover, according to my estimates, even if someone had the resources to be cured, the memory damage, loss of consciousness, and the series of complications caused by Wisdom Withering would be extremely difficult to repair.
After all... this was damage to the very essence of life!
"A mere little witch... who gave you the right to lay hands on a Transcendent... You think this kind of trick can strip my wisdom? Do you even understand the concept of wisdom!"
"A Wizard's wisdom is not something you lot can take away! You're delusional..."
"..."
"I admit you have some tricks in this dream, but what is a dream? Nothing but a daydream. You're only acting tough in here. In the entire Void, no non-Transcendent has ever been able to kill a true Transcendent! Not even a genius like you! Even if I let you strike me with my hands tied, you couldn't kill me! You might as well give me a quick death..."
The Wizard in front of me continued to vent his worldview, but he failed to realize that he was talking much more than before.
He was gradually losing the ability to restrict his own expression, and the line between the Primitive Dream Realm and a common dream was blurring for him.
As time passed, he would lose even more.
He would gradually lose control over his language; his word order would become jumbled, his logic would collapse, and his speech would shift from criticism to illogical emotional venting.
Finally, he would lose emotional control... cursing me the moment he saw me...
This process unfolded bit by bit before everyone's eyes, making their spines tingle instinctively.
Furthermore, I wasn't just experimenting on them; I was constantly optimizing the process... after all, these were Transcendent-level test subjects!
To me, they were rare opportunities that couldn't be sought out.
As the words from my test subjects became increasingly foul, the next moment, the language they spoke was twisted by the order of the Primitive Dream Realm until it was unintelligible.
Even the sound of their voices was heavily dampened within the Primitive Dream Realm. Though they seemed less than ten meters away, their voices sounded like the faint buzzing of mosquitoes.
Time passed quickly in the Primitive Dream Realm. For some, every day felt like a year; for some witches, it felt like only a moment had passed.
"Dean, how about I send you all back to reality first? These people are mostly handled, but I can't return to reality just yet."
"Why?" Mei Lind asked instinctively.
"I still need to collect some other data on the effects of Wisdom Withering. Also... Sister Mei, you know I'm still carrying the Fool's Village dream. I need to stay in the Primitive Dream Realm to settle those Fool's Dreams. Oh... right, there are several witch sisters in Fool's Village. They've been in the Primitive Dream Realm for quite a while; their mental states might have some issues."
"Alright then, Xiao Han, you must prioritize your own safety..." Mei Lind pondered for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. "Then, Xiao Han... what about your physical body in reality? Do you want us to bring it back to the Witch Academy, or leave it in the Expansion Realm?"
"Leave it in the Expansion Realm. It's more convenient that way."
"Then it's settled. We'll handle the fallout of what happens next," the Dean said.
"That's right! If those guys come looking for trouble, I'll be the first to rush out and settle them for you!" Dean Bev Alanna chimed in from the side.
"Bev, that's enough. You'd better not mess up the upcoming matters by getting reckless," Mei Lind scolded Bev Alanna again.
After personally seeing off the Dean and Sister Bai, what remained here... was my home field!
The Deans' battlefield was outside, where they would smooth over the ripples caused by this incident.
Once I was the only witch left, four figures appeared behind me.
They were the three little Fool's Dreams and the former Village Chief of Fool's Village, Yu Xing.
"Is this... the Primitive Dream Realm outside of Fool's Village?" As a Fool's Dream who had never stepped outside the village, this was Yu Xing's first time in the outside world.
Once upon a time, she thought the first time she stepped outside Fool's Village would be her final moment protecting her companions.
But now... the figure before her had completely rewritten her fate... and the fate of all the Fool's Dreams.