Chapter 861: The Impact of the Self-Generated Mana Experimental Accident
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 861: The Impact of the Self-Generated Mana Experimental Accident
"Oh my god... for real? That self-generated mana experiment was actually a forbidden experiment?"
"That’s terrifying... To think I was trying to find a way to join it earlier. That was a close call."
"That Xiao Han is actually a good person, huh? At least she didn't screw over us weaklings."
"What is wrong with you people? Has the Academy issued an official notice saying it’s a forbidden experiment? Why are you just believing every rumor you hear?"
"I was there. We heard it with our own ears: 'taboo experiment.'"
"I was there too! By your logic, we were handed a 'taboo experiment' gift bag the moment we enrolled! Mana source witchification and the Great Soul Subject would all be taboo experiments then! Why aren't you complaining about those?"
"Ooh~ Xiao Han’s dogs are so loyal, aren't they? She doesn't even give a damn about you clowns, you know."
"Fine, then don't even think about getting self-generated mana in the future. What are you all barking for? If you've got the guts, go to the Arena and challenge Tan Han to an Unrestricted Match!"
"Girls, seriously, does anyone else feel this? How is it that every time I open the Academy Network, I see a bunch of such cringe-worthy guys? What is there to defend about a taboo experiment? The site has been cordoned off, and they’ve got nowhere to go. No wonder they have time to bark here..."
"..."
Once everyone had been evacuated from the experimental site, the "Self-Generated Mana Experiment" that had been ongoing for so long became a hot topic once again.
But this time, the discourse wasn't one-sided; it gradually devolved into a full-blown flame war.
In truth, many people were glad to see the experiment fail.
They had seen too many success stories. As those lucky few began to shine within the Academy, the seeds of envy finally erupted.
In their eyes, those people were just lucky, and retribution was bound to come eventually!
And now, retribution had arrived.
Many even maliciously speculated that even those who had succeeded must be harboring some unknown, hidden side effects.
It could be said that human malice, fueled by jealousy, became exceptionally aggressive.
Meanwhile, the Xiao Han Fan Club, which used to defend her, seemed to be losing ground on the Academy Network.
It wasn't that they had lost their ability to sway public opinion, but rather that the internal friction among the fan club's leadership was intensifying.
Not long after the Intelligence Group received news that Xiao Han had woken up, word of the accident at the "Self-Generated Mana Experiment" followed.
This dealt a severe blow to the fan club's morale.
Millian saw the situation clearly. The fan club had completely changed its nature, to the point where she was no longer willing to use "Xiao Han" as a prefix when referring to the group as a whole.
It had turned into a collective gathered solely around the core of self-interest.
Millian was currently the only "orthodox" leader left, commanding the last faction that still gathered under the name of the Xiao Han Fan Club.
The accident provided Millian with the opportunity to recognize a harsh reality: the foundation of the Xiao Han Fan Club was simply too weak!
As the fan club became a name in title only, with other factions carving it up or leaving, Millian was left with nothing.
For an organization to exist, it needed a pillar industry—much like the Witch Secret Realm Club or the Jack-of-all-trades Club. Those clubs would almost never disappear because the pillars sustaining them gave them enough confidence to handle anything.
However, those pillars were essentially official versions or sanctioned by the Witch Academy, meaning those clubs were heavily restricted by the Academy.
Whether it was the Secret Realms or the Black Market street, those were what made those clubs what they were.
The Xiao Han Fan Club, however... had nothing.
Their initial capital consisted only of the resources harvested from the Expansion Realm... but those were "non-renewable" resources. Currently, they were like a fat sheep clutching a massive pile of cash.
And the one guarding this sheep was a hunter holding a "Life Reset Button."
The self-generated mana technique currently held a monopoly within the Witch Academy. If Xiao Han mastered this technique, she would hold the absolute "strength" and "talent" of the Academy in her hands!
While such a technique couldn't be monopolized forever—the Academy would surely demand its promotion—even having the initiative would be enough of a concept to serve as an absolute "foundation" for the fan club.
But now... the experiment had run into trouble at the final hurdle.
The impact was massive, and there were surely other power plays happening behind the scenes.
Millian suspected the students were behind it, but the way the fan club members left so decisively made her consider another possibility... that the ones targeting Xiao Han weren't necessarily students, but the will of the Transcendent Witches behind them!
If that were true, Millian didn't even dare to imagine the implications!
But remembering that Xiao Han's "girlfriend" was also a Transcendent Witch gave Millian a slight sense of security.
At the very least... in the absolute worst-case scenario, Xiao Han wouldn't end up with nothing.
Putting that aside, Millian had already contacted Xiao Han. However, Xiao Han didn't seem to have time to respond, only telling her not to worry and that the Academy Dean had stepped in.
Knowing the Academy Dean was involved, Millian felt a strange sense of relief. After all... that was the Academy Dean.
Who could have guessed the Dean would get involved in this?
So, she temporarily set the matter aside.
Since she couldn't get more information from Xiao Han's side, Millian turned to contact Yi Rui and the others.
In just this short time, Millian was already overwhelmed. Not only did she want to gather more intelligence, but many people were also trying to pry information out of her.
Millian didn't have the bandwidth to deal with those people right now, but amidst the chaos, she noticed that Xia Li had contacted her—the shopkeeper of the Baking House.
Millian had quite a bit of contact with the Baking House. After all, Xiao Han had a "special relationship" with that small club. Moreover, she had previously discussed with Xia Li the idea of using their club's name to develop Xiao Han's influence.
Xia Li hadn't seemed very resistant to the idea and was even willing to contribute proactively. Millian could tell the shopkeeper felt a sense of debt toward Xiao Han.
Objectively speaking, Xia Li didn't owe Xiao Han anything, but now that Xiao Han had made it big, Xia Li wanted to maintain that relationship... so a sense of indebtedness was somewhat understandable.
Millian didn't want to overthink it. As long as everything moved in the desired direction, it was a good thing.
"I'll meet with Yi Rui and the others first to get the facts straight, then the Baking House. As for the fan club... hmph..." In Millian's view, the most important relationship to maintain was Yi Rui's group, followed by the Baking House as a backup plan for expansion, and the fan club last.
The current fan club was a den of competing interests. As a "fat sheep," she couldn't afford to be too conspicuous there. The weight Xiao Han placed on the fan club was already declining, and profit-seeking was gradually replacing the original bonds of the group.
Even though Millian knew this was likely irreversible, she still felt a pang of grief over the fan club's transformation.
* * *
Infirmary.
Special Care Unit.
"It's basically confirmed. The Great Knowledge Seed can't retrieve any more useful information. It's likely that someone with their own Great Knowledge Seed deliberately performed a targeted erasure of the Ley Line Data. It was a very clean job," Mei Lind said.
She couldn't just stand by and do nothing. She couldn't help with the specific techniques Xiao Han was using—professional matters were best left to professionals—so she had started investigating the sequence of events herself.
And for an investigation, the most convenient method was undoubtedly accessing Ley Line Data.
There were several ways to investigate Ley Line Data within the Witch Academy.
For instance, the Academy's original network system, the Root Network of the Omni-Link Main Network Tree that now spanned the entire Academy, and Xiao Han's Great Knowledge Seed.
The Academy had already integrated these three, though the Root Network hadn't completely replaced the old Academy Network yet, as the transition required time.
I didn't respond to the Dean's analysis. While she was doing that, I had already synchronized and shared that information, but I didn't have the energy to deal with it.
Right now, I was doing something I hadn't even dared to imagine before: using the Soul Depiction technique to ascend a person into a Soul Life!
However, the price of doing this was that everything about the girl before me, Shi Ruizhi, was laid bare to my eyes.
From her physical body to her life essence, from her racial concept to her life level, her immortality... even her memories!
If any of these methods were used on a person and the news got out, it would be considered an ethical and moral violation at the very least.
But Dean Mei acted as if it were perfectly normal, even suggesting that such an ability was quite useful.
Perhaps this was the difference between a Transcendent Witch and an ordinary person. Even when the Dean showed care for the preparatory witches, she didn't view them from a perspective of equality.
"Xiao Han, did you find anything in her memories?"
"Huh? Sifting through memories? Is that... okay?" I asked hesitantly.
Though I had tried searching the memories of the deceased before, the current situation was clearly different. Those were people who were already dead, while this... was someone I was about to bring back.
More importantly, I couldn't assume she was my enemy yet. If she were an enemy, I would naturally be ruthless and detached, but she wasn't... I still maintained a basic level of respect for people.
My main principle was that whatever I did, I had to keep my conscience clear.
It was a matter of perspective. If one breaks their moral floor without limit or principle, they eventually become the very thing they hate.
Though, even so, in the eyes of others, my perspective and moral floor probably look quite terrible...
"What's wrong with it?" Mei Lind said instinctively, but she realized something was off as soon as the words left her mouth.
If she were the one doing it, there would be no issue from a witch's standpoint, but she was teaching Xiao Han... what if she corrupted her?
"If you don't want to do it, that's fine. Or... should I be the bad guy?" Dean Mei added eventually.
"Never mind... but... I didn't expect you to work so hard to find evidence, Dean."
"With evidence, at least things can be done legitimately. Xiao Han, do you have some kind of stereotype about witches?"
"No... I was just joking!" I quickly corrected myself. "Then let me ask this instead... Dean, do you think this was done by students, or... Transcendent Witches?"
"..." Hearing my direct question, Dean Mei fell silent, not responding immediately.
"I understand... thank you."
"Ha~ Xiao Han, you 'understand' again? What do you understand? Didn't I say you shouldn't worry about this? And yet here you are, prying into everything," Dean Mei said in a teasing tone, though her initial laugh sounded a bit forced.
I didn't press further; after all, I had only asked the question in passing.
Now, most of my focus was back on Shi Ruizhi.
Actually, even if I had wanted to look at her memories when Dean Mei asked, I wouldn't have been able to.
Shi Ruizhi's memories were a complete mess. Although I subjectively didn't want to look, as the one leading the Soul Depiction technique, it would be a problem if I couldn't see them.
I soon noticed that her soul essence was so chaotic that even her memories had become jumbled.
Therefore, even if I used Soul Depiction to save her, she would likely wake up with amnesia, retaining only physical instincts and scattered memory fragments.
As I delved deeper into the Soul Depiction technique, I even had to actively help her piece her memories back together to ensure that even if she forgot who she was, she wouldn't forget how to speak, eat, walk, run, or fight...
These are instinctive behaviors and serve as anchors for a person's memory. Even if a person loses their memory, there are things they won't forget, and these instincts are the life essence's anchors for memory.
One could say the relationship between soul essence and memory is incredibly complex.
This was the difficulty I needed to overcome while using Soul Depiction.
In fact, from an objective standpoint, I should thank Shi Ruizhi. She gave me the opportunity to apply Soul Depiction to a living person.
Perhaps that sounds cruel to Shi Ruizhi herself, but it was the reality.
Whether she was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, someone who had snuck in with a hidden agenda, or someone who had been manipulated—none of that mattered now.
When she woke up, a brand-new life would be waiting for her.
As a small form of compensation, I was using the Soul Depiction technique combined with the self-generated mana technique to help her complete the self-generated mana structuring ritual on a different level.
You could say that the moment she woke up, she would possess the essence of a soul and the foundation of self-generated mana. Even with amnesia, her future potential would be enough to make her soar.
Furthermore, I looked forward to her ascending to Transcendent status. If someone with such a foundation couldn't become a Transcendent Witch, then I could only say... she deserved it.
But everything was still unknown, and there was no need for me to assume the worst of everyone...