Chapter 900: When No One Can Win, Someone Is Bound to Get Anxious
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 900: When No One Can Win, Someone Is Bound to Get Anxious
"Just as I thought," I said with a light chuckle.
After all, while this choice was called a gamble, it was never a question of whether to accept or not. It was a gamble on whether the Main World Consciousness could help Fool's Dream become a true life form!
The Ley Line Shackles were never truly a problem; once I broke free from them, they would no longer be an obstacle.
Next, I used my Domain Order to observe the status of Yulan and the others.
Although Sister Bai said she hadn't detected any Ley Line Shackles, that didn't mean I couldn't.
In the Main World Core World, reality and dreams exist in equilibrium. Since the phenomenon of Ley Line Shackles had already appeared on Yu Yun, then Yulan and the others wouldn't be far behind. After all... dreams have ley lines too.
A complete world possesses two layers: reality and dreams. However, a world cannot encompass the entire Primitive Dream Realm. It is more like a product of the balance between reality and dreams—a cradle shaped for the nurturing of life.
Reality is the physical space of the "Endless Void."
Dreams are the shallow layers of the "Primitive Dream Realm."
This is the special concept of a "World" within the Endless Void and the Primitive Dream Realm.
After carefully observing their current dream-state souls, I caught faint traces of the Ley Line Shackles, though they weren't as obvious as Yu Yun's. It seemed the world treated reality and dreams differently.
However, this also brought other questions to mind. For instance... dream creatures.
While those things couldn't be considered true life, the nightmares that formed them were essentially another manifestation of Dream State Soul Essence.
So... would dream creatures have Ley Line Shackles inside them?
If they did... would they be territorial?
As soon as the question arose, I quickly dismissed it.
The world cannot reach the deep layers of the Primitive Dream Realm, so it naturally cannot interfere with the dream creatures there. There is no concept of "territory" in the Primitive Dream Realm. Even if there are ley lines, they wouldn't have the so-called "attributional" characteristic.
Even if they belonged to something, they would only belong to the Primitive Dream Realm... Wait.
Belonging to the Primitive Dream Realm?
When that thought surfaced, a possibility suddenly occurred to me.
Why couldn't dream creatures belong to the Primitive Dream Realm?
I truly hadn't considered this before because I hadn't compared a concept as vast as the Primitive Dream Realm to a "World." In my mind, the Primitive Dream Realm was the counterpart to the Endless Void!
Dreams and the Void correspond to each other; dreams cover every place where the Void exists.
I shook my head quickly, casting aside these impractical thoughts. At my current level, pondering such questions would yield no results.
To test my hypothesis, I even went to the nightmare storage room to conduct a specific observation. I found no reaction similar to Fool's Dream's Ley Line Shackles on the nightmares.
In other words, the idea didn't hold up—or perhaps it did, but I couldn't observe it, nor was it my concern.
Setting those questions aside, I focused all my energy on Yulan and the others.
Once they all crossed the barrier from dream to reality, I could begin creating physical bodies for them in the real world!
After all, once they had soul-bodies, I could combine them with physical vessels. By using "Life Evolution"—a derivative of Soul Drawing—alongside the Incubation Rebirth Spell, I could better engrave the bloodline information of the Fool's Dream Clan!
* * *
While I was busy with Fool's Dream's affairs, a major commotion was brewing in Mei Lind's office.
"How is the Qi Observation Instrument running?" Mei Lind asked, following protocol.
"It's performing a self-check. We're still seeing some interference, likely issues from the calibration phase."
"What kind of interference? What's the specific situation? Can it be fixed? Or ignored?"
"Uh... we've detected World Consciousness luck interference within the academy."
"The one from the Glacial Throne Secret Realm? Ignore it. Just filter it out," Mei Lind said.
"No, the interference from the Glacial Throne has already been filtered. This is a new one," the witch in charge of direct observation replied.
"New? Where?"
"Checking the coordinates... it's in the Experimental Zone. The second self-check is complete; it's not a false reading."
"The Experimental Zone..." Mei Lind fell silent. To be honest, there were many projects there that even she couldn't interfere with. Even as the Academy Dean, she wasn't an authority in every field.
"I've been getting a bit twitchy lately whenever I hear about that place... It couldn't be Xiao Han's doing, could it? She already severed her Ley Line Shackles..."
Mei Lind tried to reassure herself, but the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. It really was possible. Wasn't Xiao Han working on that "Fool's Dream Dream Life" project recently?
Dream life...
She didn't even know what kind of life form that would be, or if she would be lucky enough to see it in her lifetime.
"So, what do we do? Ignore it? Or should we ask Xiao Han to come help calibrate? Didn't you say she's been trying to adapt to Floating World Level Spirit Vision lately? It shouldn't be much trouble for her, right?"
"Do you want that Rebel Witch to say we're just a bunch of hacks who rely on a Little Witch for everything?" Mei Lind said gloomily. "It's not like we can't do it ourselves."
"I think you've been driven mad by that Rebel Witch. What do you mean 'rely on a Little Witch'? If you deconstruct that logic, why doesn't she ask the Primal Witch why she only relies on the Rebel Witch to correct the bad habits of the witch race?"
"Exactly! To each their own expertise, and the same goes for talent. Don't they understand efficiency?" another witch chimed in.
"Tch... I have the dignity of an Academy Dean to maintain, you know..." Mei Lind sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fine, fine. When Xiao Han is free, I'll let her... actually, I'll just wait until she comes to me for something and have her fix it then."
"You're just increasing our workload for no reason!"
"Keep calibrating after you're done complaining. I'm right here in the trenches with you, aren't I? It's not like I'm slacking off."
* * *
Inside the Glacial Throne Secret Realm.
The wind howled, carrying snowflakes as sharp as razor blades. Tan Han and her two companions trekked across the ice field, warily using detection spells to sense the surroundings.
Previously, they had been forced apart by a massive swarm of ice crystals and monsters from above the clouds, but they had managed to reunite using special means. They had known the risk of getting lost beforehand and hadn't come unprepared.
Still, they had suffered quite a bit during the regrouping phase.
As they gradually adapted to the environment of the secret realm, they began to figure out a few tricks for survival.
Furthermore, Tan Han and the others discovered that while most spells were suppressed here, the fragments split from the Great Glacial Throne Technique were like fish in water!
She only needed to slightly release the power of the Blade of Ice and Snow to crush those ice crystal monsters of the same element. However, this wasn't without its drawbacks.
The downside was that as she used the fragment's power, the ice crystal monsters would sense it and hunt them down. These monsters were attracted to the power of the fragments!
Fortunately, the "Ice Sealed World" held by Shi Ruizhi exploited a loophole.
The three of them hid within the Ice Sealed World, making them immune to the blizzard's hazards and the physical attacks of the ice crystal monsters. Although it attracted a large number of monsters, they couldn't land a hit, rendering their efforts useless.
Even so, Tan Han and her friends hadn't had a moment's peace over the past few days.
"Say... Tan Han, do you get the feeling that the wind and snow in the secret realm are... weakening?"
At a temporary shelter in a grotto, Shi Ruizhi asked hesitantly.
"Wasn't it said that the extreme weather here is a spell effect from a Great Spellbook? Spell effects like that are supposed to be constant, right?" Xiao You whispered a reminder.
"Being constant is its inherent trait, but that doesn't mean it can't be worn down by a massive amount of targeted countermeasures," Tan Han replied.
"Was that in the briefing?" Xiao You looked embarrassed and quickly opened her Knowledge Seed to check.
"Don't bother. It's not in there. I learned it from Xiao Han."
"Xiao Han..." The moment the name was mentioned, Xiao You shut her mouth. She didn't have the courage to contradict anything that came from that person.
"If Xiao Han said it, then it must be true. So... someone is actively working against the spell environment of the secret realm?" Shi Ruizhi asked.
"Definitely. They probably inquired about this trait from the very beginning. It's not hard to get this information from a mentor; the hard part is thinking to ask the question in the first place," Tan Han explained briefly.
"If the environmental issues in the secret realm are resolved—or even just weakened—then exploration won't be a problem anymore. The competition will only get fiercer then."
"Mm... wearing down a Great Spell requires a massive amount of mana. No wonder those clubs were so aggressive about recruiting students who had completed their self-generated mana." Tan Han recalled the commotion those clubs had made.
At first, she had oversimplified it, thinking they just wanted a huge mana reserve. She hadn't expected them to use it to counter and erode a Great Spell.
"But isn't that a thankless task? They put in all that effort just to let others reap the rewards?"
"Not necessarily. Those family types are all thick as thieves; they've probably formed an alliance long ago. They look like they're competing, but in reality, the families are huddling together for warmth."
"That's just disgusting. Doesn't that mean we're up against an entire coalition of families?"
"It is disgusting..." Tan Han had learned about the distribution of the fragments from Xiao Han. Most were held by the families, and those currently carrying them were essentially the representative figures of those families. There were only a few exceptions, but those weren't worth mentioning.
"But... we aren't without a chance to turn the tables," Tan Han suddenly said.
"What do you mean?"
At her words, both Xiao You and Shi Ruizhi looked over.
Tan Han was staring at a chat log on her screen. The person she was talking to was Yang Yuehan.
"Think about it from another perspective. If it were Xiao Han, what would she do?"
"Uh... I don't know."
"She'd probably just destroy the whole secret realm," Xiao You whispered.
"Exactly! If it were Xiao Han, she would absolutely flip the table on this whole place!" Tan Han nodded, completely agreeing with Xiao You. She could summarize Xiao Han's style in one sentence: "When winning, watch the fun; when losing, flip the table."
Anyone who tried to make her life difficult ended up with their table flipped.
"Huh? But we don't have Xiao Han's power. How are we supposed to blow up this secret realm?" Shi Ruizhi said helplessly. It was a fair point.
"We can't, but does that mean there's nothing in the secret realm that can? You reminded me of the Bobapus Archipelago. On that last island, we ignited the volcano and made it erupt."
"Wait, you guys actually did that?" Shi Ruizhi was shocked.
"I forgot you have amnesia. It was just a joint exam. Let's not dwell on that. Let's organize the information we have first."
"Okay."
"First, we need to figure out how many factions are in the secret realm and which ones can be exploited."
"The families, us, and a few independent seniors... is that it?" Shi Ruizhi counted on her fingers.
"You missed one: the ice crystal monsters. No... they actually have a name. They're called the Ancient Remnant Ice."
"Ancient Remnant Ice!" Xiao You had the strongest reaction to the name. After all, her biggest trump card, that high-consumption spellbook, was the "Ancient Remnant Ice Transformation."
"How do you know that?"
"I asked for outside help. In a situation like this, did you really think we wouldn't use a 'cheat'?" Tan Han joked.
"Uh... okay. Just a quick question, who did you ask?" Shi Ruizhi whispered.
"Xiao Han."
"Oh... is there more?" Hearing that name gave Shi Ruizhi an instant sense of security. "Go on, I won't interrupt."
"According to reliable sources... well, the Ancient Remnant Ice is a race of ancient life forms revived by witches. The ones we've encountered so far are just the weak ones. The combat power of the true Ancient Remnant Ice..." Tan Han looked at Xiao You. "You've seen it. they can even command the power of the wind and snow. They're on a completely different level from what we're seeing now. Right now, we're mostly dealing with their home-field advantage and overwhelming numbers."
"So these guys can help us flip the table?" Shi Ruizhi asked.
"The current ones can't, but the powerful ones can. Of course... the prerequisite is that we return their power to them."
"Return their pow—wait, you don't mean the [Transcendent Knowledge] fragments, do you?"
"Exactly. We're currently the weaker side. It's unrealistic to think we can grab all the fragments. So, we'll muddy the waters. We might not get the fragments, but neither will anyone else!"
"But if we do that, won't we lose the fragments too?" Shi Ruizhi asked.
"Someone will get them for us. Once the Ancient Remnant Ice breaks through the secret realm and the situation escalates, the people who set up this game will have to come out and clean up the mess." As Tan Han spoke, she recalled the time the Fool's Village Secret Realm shattered...
Secret realms were not indestructible.
Those people thought they could use self-generated mana to offset the Great Spell's effects? Fine, she'd just flip the whole table. It was much more efficient!
"When no one is the winner, someone is bound to get anxious."
Looking at the last sentence sent in the chat log, Tan Han felt that it made perfect sense!
