Chapter 890: The Body Cultivation Witch and the Dream Domain Experiment
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 890: The Body Cultivation Witch and the Dream Domain Experiment
"This girl?"
Upon hearing Mei Lind’s introduction, the gazes of the three Body Cultivation witches shifted instantly.
They detected no trace of a lie from the Dean, which meant that, at least in her eyes, this girl had truly achieved such a feat.
A witch capable of breaking through into an entirely new field for the academy would be considered a top-tier Academic Witch, wouldn't she?
The typical impression such witches gave off was one of extreme arrogance. After all, no one who excelled in their field could tolerate others poking their noses into their work. Of course, those types of witches also loved to refer to Body Cultivation witches as... muscle-bound meatheads.
It was a stereotype played to the hilt.
However, they hadn't been subjected to any such insults yet. Moreover, their initial impression was that the girl before them was also a Body Cultivation practitioner. They couldn't help but feel a faint curiosity toward her.
"Yes, her. Before we continue, I hope you three will keep what we discuss here confidential. Even for the other witches in the academy, this is classified information."
"Do we need to sign a Witch Contract for secrecy?"
"A contract won't be necessary. I trust your self-control," Mei Lind said with a light chuckle.
Even with a contract, some information would inevitably leak. If they had to resort to formal contracts, it would become a matter of rigid principle.
"Then we thank you for your trust."
"It’s fine. I’ll continue then." Mei Lind nodded and picked up where she left off. "Earlier, we spoke of our breakthroughs and discoveries in the Primitive Dream Realm. That discovery is this: within the Primitive Dream Realm, one can construct a domain order similar to that of the Saint Realm."
"A domain within a dream? That sounds interesting."
"Can you tell us the significance of this? If you're looking to help us construct a second domain, I might be interested in giving it a try."
The two witches who spoke clearly hadn't realized the implications of constructing a domain within the Primitive Dream Realm. As they had mentioned before, their understanding of that realm was limited. In their minds, a domain in a dream was likely just a form of lucid dreaming—a way to command the dream at will.
Mei Lind naturally realized this misconception.
"There is significant meaning, of course. I understand you might not fully grasp it, so let me give you an example." Mei Lind pointed toward me and spoke again.
"This is Xiao Han. In the Primitive Dream Realm of the Expansion Realm, she constructed a Dream Domain as an experiment. The secondary disasters caused by the domain's effects resulted in the deaths of sixty-one Transcendent consciousnesses. Sixty-one wasn't the limit of how many Transcendents she could kill; rather, within the range of the secondary disasters, there were only sixty-one Transcendents present who weren't witches."
"The fatality rate was one hundred percent. Until other Transcendent races catch up to our exploration progress in the Primitive Dream Realm, this method is without counter and irreversible."
As Mei Lind finished her last sentence, the three witches instinctively gasped.
While it was true that Transcendent power could easily crush dozens of opponents when crossing power levels, no one dared to claim their methods were "without counter."
Amidst their astonishment, they instinctively began to hold the witch calling herself Yang Yuehan in higher regard.
It was often said that terrifying Academic Witches were also exceptionally powerful, and that their methods were usually bizarre, inexplicable, and beyond common logic. Today, they had experienced a direct demonstration of that truth.
"Then... does such power have anything to do with us Body Cultivation witches?" Long, acting as the informal representative of the three, was the first to ask.
"Naturally. In fact, the connection is profound. According to Xiao Han’s descriptions, the prerequisite for mastering this power is being a Body Cultivation practitioner—ideally, a Self-Awakened one. But Body Cultivation power alone isn't enough. Another prerequisite is practicing Five Senses Body Cultivation and awakening the Sixth Sense."
When Mei Lind finished, Long felt a flicker of awkwardness. Of the three Body Cultivation witches, she was the only one who wasn't Self-Awakened.
She was a Dragon Witch from a Black Dragon bloodline branch. Even without being Self-Awakened, she was confident that her physical body was no weaker than the two Self-Awakened witches beside her. Of course, this didn't mean Self-Awakened practitioners weren't powerful; it simply meant that in terms of pure physical stats, they were roughly on par with top-tier bloodlines.
However, Self-Awakened Body Cultivation wasn't just about raw physical strength.
"Of course, it’s not a deal-breaker if you aren't Self-Awakened, though it is better if you are." Mei Lind naturally noticed Long’s unease; after all, she had read their files. "Currently, our academy already has a Body Cultivation witch who isn't Self-Awakened but has successfully established a preliminary Dream Domain order. We have a successful case, so there's no need to worry."
"Is that so? That’s good, then..." Unknowingly, Long had already begun to project herself into the role. After all, gaining a new power just by participating in an experiment was a win-win situation.
"I have a question," Muli spoke up from the side.
"Go ahead, ask."
"Since the prerequisites for this Dream Domain align so perfectly with the thresholds of Body Cultivation, is this ability you're researching a power of the Body Cultivation system?"
"That question..." Mei Lind turned her gaze toward me. Since she didn't meet the requirements to practice this power herself, she hadn't delved deeply into that specific research.
"Xiao Han, why don't you answer the technical questions?"
"Objectively speaking, yes," I said. "The Heart Sense of a Body Cultivation practitioner is currently the only point of compatibility for controlling this power. At least for now, I haven't found any other universal way to master it. You could say the Dream Domain is a coincidental derivation of the Body Cultivation system. It’s foreseeable that in my research, powers related to Body Cultivation sensory channels will have a very high affinity with the Primitive Dream Realm..."
"Thank you for the explanation. You don't need to tell us the detailed specifics; we won't understand them anyway," Muli interrupted me with polite honesty.
"I understand." The momentum I was building came to a screeching halt. I had originally wanted to use this chance to properly organize the relationship between the Primitive Dream Realm and Body Cultivation power.
But... ordinary Body Cultivation practitioners didn't care for theoretical talk. So, I stopped.
I knew that Body Cultivation practitioners trusted their "gut feeling" above all else.
Even I was like that.
One could say that although Five Senses Body Cultivation was treated as a separate branch, its shadow permeated many corners of the Body Cultivation system, even influencing the subject who wielded that power—the practitioner themselves.
"Since you three have a general understanding of the situation, are you willing to participate in this experiment? If you are, our Main World Witch Academy welcomes you. If not, you are still welcome to stay here as instructors for physical arts."
"I’d like to ask... is this experiment led by... Yang Yuehan?" Muli asked. She hesitated for a moment before using my full name rather than "Xiao Han."
Even though Body Cultivation witches were very straightforward, she still showed respect to a witch willing to pioneer and expand their power system.
"Yes, naturally. However, she’s been quite busy with other experiments lately, so she won't be able to devote all her energy to you, and progress might be a bit slow."
"A bit slow... that’s not unacceptable. It’s understandable. Roughly how many decades will it take?"
"Eh?" Mei Lind hesitated at Muli’s question. Decades?
But she quickly realized the discrepancy.
Over the past year or two, Xiao Han had completely warped her Time Sense. She often had the illusion that more had happened in the academy in these two years than in the previous century combined.
"Is there a problem? It couldn't be a century, could it? That would be a bit long. If I can still cultivate normally during the experiment, I might consider it."
"No, no, no! It won't take nearly that long. Take the Body Cultivation witch who is close to success as an example. With Xiao Han’s full cooperation, she completed the preliminary construction of the domain order in about a month. Although she hasn't achieved total success yet, it’s unlikely to drag on for decades. That’s an exaggeration."
"How long? A month?!"
One had to realize that when a Transcendent Witch prepared to ascend to the Saint Realm, constructing a spell domain took far longer than a month!
"What’s there to refuse then! With an experiment this efficient, I’d praise it even if it blew a hole in me!" Long was the first to voice her agreement.
Seeing results in a month? Did they think this was just practicing physical techniques? Even with physical arts, which one didn't require years of daily grind?
"Don't get too excited. These things vary depending on the individual witch."
"Understood, understood~"
"Since you've all expressed your stance, I’ll take it as a 'yes' from everyone." Mei Lind met each of their gazes in turn, seeking final confirmation.
"Of course."
"I’m fine with it."
"This experiment isn't mandatory, right? If for some reason I don't want to continue midway..."
"You can withdraw whenever you like. We don't force anyone," Mei Lind confirmed.
"Then I agree as well. When does the experiment start? Or... can we start now?"
"No rush," Mei Lind said, looking at me with a smile. "An experiment is no trivial matter. You’ve just arrived at our academy; how could we push you onto the experimental table right away?"
Of course, Mei Lind said this because she hadn't yet coordinated the detailed experimental schedule and procedures with me. After all, if we were really going to do this, it depended on whether I had the time.
"A witch will come by shortly to help you settle in—work details, office space, housing, necessary paperwork, and so on. Get acclimated to the academy first. If you can, try to learn about the current situation in the Main World. Things are a bit tense for our academy right now."
"Very well. We’ll take our leave then."
Hearing the Dean talk about logistics, the three witches understood that the official business was over. Whatever came next likely wasn't for their ears.
"Wait... I almost forgot." Mei Lind nodded, then remembered something. She reached out and produced three seeds.
These were Great Knowledge Seeds.
As the Dean, she naturally had a reserve of them. However, since the formal process for onboarding mentors hadn't been fully integrated yet, she was still the one handling the distribution.
"This is... the power of a Great Spellbook." Muli was the first to react.
"Yes, exactly. This is the power of a Great Spellbook. It’s called a Great Knowledge Seed, derived from a spell effect called the Tree of Great Knowledge. Consider it... a perk of our academy? Its effects are quite unique; you can explore them on your own."
"Thanks~" The three witches were genuinely surprised.
They hadn't expected that upon joining this academy, every witch would receive the effect of a Great Spellbook!
Great Spellbooks were incredibly rare. No one shared their effects out of the goodness of their heart, and targeting individuals to grant effects one by one was a tedious process. No one wanted to do something so thankless.
That was why they were so astonished by Dean Mei’s generosity.
Even though it was "just" a spell effect, the effects of a Great Spellbook were permanent and indestructible. Even if the Great Spellbook itself were destroyed, the effect would essentially remain.
The same applied to the Tree of Great Knowledge.
However, without the Tree of Great Knowledge acting as a hub, the Ley Line Identification Art could only pull from the records within the Knowledge Seed itself. Techniques linking the Tree and the Seed would fail, and the vision of a massive network of Knowledge Seeds would collapse.
Fortunately, a Knowledge Seed could currently gestate a Knowledge Mother Tree to produce more seeds, but the system would forever lose its highest-level core.
"You're welcome. If you don't know how to use it, just ask any witch. I’m sure they’d be happy to help. Also... I won't see you out."
"It’s fine. We’re going."
After seeing the three Body Cultivation witches off, Dean Mei quickly turned her attention back to me.
"They're gone... Mmm~ Xiao Han, now it’s just the two of us. Tell me, what brings you to see me today?"
"Aren't... they still here?" I looked toward the center of the office at the massive Qi Observation instrument. The device had undergone significant changes since I last saw it.
Only the few witches circling beneath it proved that it wasn't finished yet.
"Is the Qi Observation instrument almost done?"
"Not yet. I was hoping you’d help speed things up, but you've been so busy. Plans really can't keep up with changes, can they?"
"Ha... sorry about that." I scratched my head awkwardly, but there was nothing I could do.
"It’s fine~ we can afford to wait, and asking for your help was always an 'if you have time' sort of thing. But as it turns out, you never seem to have a moment of rest. Is your head just constantly filled with plans to cause some massive scene?" Dean Mei said with a laugh.
"How could that be? Sister Mei, don't hold such stereotypes! I’m not a bad kid who likes causing trouble."
"Mmm~ sure, sure. You don't like causing trouble." Mei Lind laughed out loud as she said it, clearly not believing a word of it.
"Let’s get to the point. Every time you come to see me, it’s a harbinger of something big. Don't tell me you're here to file a report for some weird experiment. I’m stating now: I won't approve it."
"Huh? I haven't even said anything yet!"
"You mean after all that, you really are here to file a report?"
"No, no, of course not!" I waved my hands frantically. "Actually, I came here mainly to ask for your advice on a few things."
"Advice? Alright~ ask away. What is it?" Hearing that it was just a question, Mei Lind relaxed and leaned back comfortably in her chair.
"Well, I’ll be direct then. Sister Mei... is turning Fool's Dream into 'Life' also a part of your search for the World Navel?"