Chapter 901: The Sequence of the Primal Progenitor and the Saint Realm Domain
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 901: The Sequence of the Primal Progenitor and the Saint Realm Domain
After a great deal of effort, the three little Fool's Dreams finally found the knack for it, entering reality in the form of dream-state souls.
Among them, Yu Xing was the last to complete the transition. Unlike the other three, who had spent a significant amount of time in contact with reality—or at least were more accustomed to life there—Yu Xing was less familiar with it. This instinctual familiarity provided the others with a better anchor to reach the physical world.
Regardless, Yu Xing eventually succeeded.
After conducting checks on them one by one and finding no major issues, we quickly moved on to the next stage of the process.
Actually, I hadn't initially recommended moving this fast, but the enthusiasm and anticipation of the Fool's Dreams led me to cooperate and move the experiment forward.
The goal: to shape physical bodies for them based on their current dream-state souls.
In truth, this process was much like using a Resurrection Spell. Their current state was like that of a deceased being whose soul had left its body. The difference was that they never had bodies to begin with, and there was no physical information within their dream-state souls that could facilitate a standard resurrection.
This was where I needed to step in with the bloodline engraving and body reconstruction of the Fool's Dream race.
Body and soul complement each other. Just as when Yi Rui "resurrected" using my body and her soul essence was influenced by my physical form, the soul determines the posture of the body, and the body can, in turn, engrave bloodline information back onto the soul.
So, that was the plan.
By using the Reincarnation Spell in tandem with Life Evolution techniques, I would weave a near-perfect life form for the Fool's Dreams. The rest would be left to the "Life's Self-Perfection" trait, allowing them to gradually become true living beings.
Though we hadn't reached that step yet, my conceptualization had already progressed that far. I was beginning to vaguely sense the significance represented by a racial "Primal Progenitor."
A so-called prototype contains all the possibilities of a race; it is the original template of what makes a life form belong to that specific race.
I also seemed to understand the deeper meaning behind "Primal Summoning Technique" and "Primal Transformation Spell." They represent the absolute prototype, the absolute ancestor. They represent the highest tier.
Take the Spirit Cat Summoning Spell that Teacher Ji Niang gave me as an example. I haven't used that spellbook in a long time, but it hasn't been gathering dust on my Myriad Methods Bookshelf. Under the deductions of the Tree of Great Knowledge, the spells I have the most of are derived spells.
The Spirit Cat Summoning Spell is no different.
It can derive many variations, such as the Fire Spirit Cat or Thunder Spirit Cat from the elemental sequence, the Spirit Cat Swarm from the quantity sequence, or special derivations like the Plague Spirit Cat and Illusion Spirit Cat. However, all these derivations remain within the "Spirit Cat" framework; they can never become another species of cat.
If it were a Primal Progenitor Cat, its derivation sequence would be far more terrifying!
One might ask what the point of this is...
With my current understanding, the only thing I can think of is... the Saint Realm Domain!
When it comes to the power and progression systems of domains, the most comprehensive is the magic domain. While there are composite domains formed by combining different spells, conventional domains are more often a combination of a "Prototype Spell + Derived Spells."
The compatibility of traits between homologous spells is more conducive to the "leveling up" of a domain. This means that the "ceiling" of a magic domain is determined by the number of spells in a spell's derivation sequence.
While the number of derived spells for a prototype spell is theoretically infinite, a living being's cognition, creativity, and execution are finite. Consequently, the higher the tier of the prototype spell—especially if it reaches the level of a "Primal Progenitor"—the stronger its derivation potential!
Of course, this is just a comparison within magic domains. Many other things cannot be fit into this system, such as the Great Spellbook domains centered on [Transcendent Knowledge], or the Mindscape domains of Body Cultivation power. These fall outside this specific framework.
Thus, the classification of magic domains doesn't apply to all races in the void. And of course, "magic" in "magic domain classification" doesn't strictly refer to spells; it can also refer to witchcraft, divine arts, elven magic, and the like.
But it's still a bit too early to think about all that. As for the Primal Progenitor of the Fool's Dream... I still have no clue where to start.
After retrieving the original bodies of the Fool's Dreams, we began a brand-new attempt. After all, reconstructing a body cannot be done out of thin air. The best raw materials were, naturally, their original "temporary bodies."
Just to be safe, I also prepared some biological materials related to bio-alchemy. Though I call them alchemy materials, they are essentially the same materials used in standard Resurrection Spells to repair bodies—they are largely universal.
It's just that most people find materials in this field a bit hard to stomach—things like specialized flesh, blood, muscle tissue, and bone constructs...
Experiments are not child's play. The truths that an experimenter faces are sometimes the very things ordinary people avoid at all costs. Only by overcoming these psychological barriers is one qualified to become even an entry-level experimenter.
This is why so few people study fields like life experiments, bio-alchemy, and resurrection research.
Preparing these materials took some time. However, I didn't have to do the legwork myself; Millian and my clone, Yue, helped me prepare them. The efficiency was quite high. Moreover, Millian didn't even need to make a special trip; Yue could deliver them directly.
"Hmm? Xiao Han, what are all these? It's rare to see you hauling big crates into the lab like this."
Inside the Primitive Dream Laboratory, a witch waiting for data collection spoke up curiously.
"True. Now that you mention it, I hadn't really noticed either," added Doreen, who was a permanent fixture in the lab, her voice full of curiosity. "What kind of experiment is Xiao Han doing? I smell the distinct scent of biological materials."
"Testing for the dream life experiment, of course," I replied.
"Dream life! Xiao Han, have you already found a dream life form?! Or have you already turned the Fool's Dreams into..."
"Not quite yet. I just want to give the Fool's Dreams a new form."
"Oh~ I see. Changing the little Fool's Dreams' bodies again. Xiao Han, you really do dote on them."
"Mhm~ I'm going to get to work now. You should all get back to yours, sisters."
After a brief greeting with the witch sisters, I returned to the Constant Dream Laboratory.
"Everything's here. The experiment can continue~"
I showed the materials to the Fool's Dreams and then began to categorize them. Not only did they need to be sorted, but some also required secondary processing to reach experimental grade.
None of this was a problem for me. Sister Bai came over to help as well. Although she didn't know much about bio-alchemy, her nature was to try every skill, and with the memory-synced database of the Great Knowledge Seed, she could pick it up quickly. At the very least, she mastered the sorting and material processing in no time.
As for the Fool's Dreams, they were currently in soul form and couldn't help much.
Could they return to their original bodies?
No. The current Fool's Dreams were dream-state souls. Not only were they incompatible with their previous physical forms, but forcing a return would cause the old bodies to negatively impact their dream-state souls. To be safe, I didn't support them doing that.
"Are you ready?"
After processing the materials for the reincarnation-based body shaping, I looked at the Fool's Dreams. Upon receiving their confirmation, I no longer hesitated.
I started directly with the Reincarnation Spell.
Trying to shape bodies for the Fool's Dreams using only the Reincarnation Spell was a bit taxing. This wasn't to say the spell was lacking; rather, it was too versatile. It could do almost anything, and with the right derivations, it could even achieve precision effects.
A person's desires and needs are infinite, but the effects a spell can achieve are finite. However, the Reincarnation Spell can satisfy the majority of needs, which is impressive enough. As long as there's a point of contact, one just needs to create a specific derivation for that need. Even someone without a talent for derivation can manage to use the spellbook. That is the true value of Reincarnation.
To make Reincarnation work with Life Evolution for the dual shaping of the Fool's Dreams, derivations were necessary. This reminded me of the "Incubation Rebirth" I completed during the early stages of the self-generated mana experiments.
That was a great source of inspiration. However, that existing derived spell wasn't a perfect fit for the Fool's Dream life experiment; it needed further refinement. While it wasn't unusable, I wanted to give the Fool's Dreams the very best.
So... what if it took a little extra time? I didn't mind.
Time ticked by. One day, two days... my entire mind was poured into the derivation of the Reincarnation Spell and its integration with Life Evolution techniques. Aside from maintaining the stability of the Primitive Dream Laboratory, I spent no energy elsewhere. Even all my clones were in an autonomous state so as not to interfere with my thoughts.
Equally busy was the Witch Club.
As a long-term "cooperative exploration and development" project, the Glacial Throne Secret Realm was currently consuming the entire club's energy. This didn't mean everyone in the club was inside the realm. While managing the Glacial Throne, they also had to maintain the stable operation of other secret realms—this was the foundation of their club's existence. If they focused all their attention on one realm and neglected the others, the club would be failing in its duty.
Thus, their current state was one of full-scale development of the Glacial Throne while maintaining stability elsewhere.
But... something unexpected had happened within the club.
The stability of the Glacial Throne Secret Realm had taken a massive hit!
Initially, they thought the shock was caused by their Great Weakening Spell effects, so they hurriedly halted that operation. But even after stopping, the realm failed to stabilize!
That was when the panic truly began.
It wasn't until a large number of heavily injured people forcibly escaped the realm that they learned the truth: the ice monsters inside were rioting.
Everyone was stunned by this news because they had no idea why it was happening. Furthermore, those who escaped reported that the power of the ice monsters had become terrifying, and some powerful ones could even manipulate ice and snow to suppress them.
Logically, a secret realm shouldn't become unstable because of something like this. No matter how great the power, it should only interfere with the space. Previously, when they condemned those who forcibly tore through space to leave the realm for "damaging stability," it was just an excuse to shift blame. They knew exactly how stable the realm was. Otherwise, the Academy wouldn't have entrusted the maintenance of a secret realm to a student-run club.
In all the witch secret realms they had handled, the worst-case scenario was usually internal depletion; they had never seen an internal riot like this!
Of course, the Fool's Village Secret Realm was an exception—but the Dean had blown that one up herself; it had nothing to do with their club.
But this time was different...
This time, if the realm broke under their watch, the consequences would be dire!
Although the Academy had handed the realm over to the club to manage, if they let it explode—especially inside the Academy—it would be a severe accident. it might even shake the very foundations of the club...
Amidst the terror, a small number of extreme members held a different view.
They thought... the Academy was setting them up.
After all, following the Great Purge of the final joint exam hunt, everyone was living in fear. Then came another targeted move secretly led by mentors, which resulted in more family members being purged. They couldn't help but doubt the Academy's motives. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a pattern.
Some extreme club members directed their resentment toward the Academy, though they only dared to whisper it in the shadows. After all, it would be all too easy for the Academy to give them a realm that was already problematic and then frame them!
However, before the situation was fully investigated, they didn't dare spread such claims. That would be a death wish. If they actually said it out loud, it would be an open "rebellion." If they weren't willing to be the Witch Club, there were plenty of other clubs willing to change their names and take over their duties!
"Have we still not found the cause? Something this big can't have come out of nowhere!"
"President... preliminary estimates suggest that the burden of those ice monsters might have exceeded the realm's limit. Based on our current intel, the density of ice monsters in the realm is too high. If a large number are awakened, it could indeed cause the realm's carrying capacity to fail."
"What about the energy? The energy levels are clearly about to exceed the warning threshold. They're just ice monsters; how could their cores have that much energy?"
"Could it be... the fragments..."
"President, we should report this to the Academy. Let them intervene. If this realm really explodes in our hands, it's no joke."
"...I'll go report it. But don't expect the Academy to be happy with us. If it comes down to it, we'll have to forcibly terminate this exploration. Also, inform the Jack-of-all-trades Club. If we have to take the fall, they're not getting away scot-free either."