Chapter 910: Finding the Laboratory Within the Glacial Throne Secret Realm
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 910: Finding the Laboratory Within the Glacial Throne Secret Realm
"As you have learned, the Ancient Remnant Ice clan is indeed an ancient race revived by Witches, and they represent a very precious biological asset."
"As for the connection you discovered between the Ancient Remnant Ice and the Great Glacial Throne Technique, it is indeed a fact. The inspiration and ability derivation for the Great Glacial Throne Technique were drawn from this race. In other words, they are the most compatible with the fragments you currently hold."
"So... if those Ancient Remnant Ice gathered all the fragments, wouldn't their power be comparable to a Great Spellbook?"
"Strictly speaking, they wouldn't measure up," the Mentor shook her head, dismissing the hypothesis.
"Then... what is the Academy's stance toward the Ancient Remnant Ice clan?"
"They are precious experimental subjects and valuable Academy property. The Academy does not wish to see the Ancient Remnant Ice clan wiped out again; at the very least, we must ensure the survival of the royal bloodline. Beyond that, the Academy will not interfere."
"Mentor... the Academy should have mentioned this to us sooner."
"Initially, we didn't think you were capable of wiping out the Ancient Remnant Ice clan. Furthermore, the most correct choice should have been to cooperate with them to develop the Secret Realm. But unfortunately..."
At this point, the Mentor stopped speaking. The Academy's assistance had essentially reached its limit.
The rest was up to them.
Whether they would change their strategic direction afterward was also their own business.
Since they had admitted their lack of capability and sought help with intelligence and information to bypass the trials, the Academy wouldn't be polite—they had made their bottom line clear.
* * *
While the Academy clubs were getting busy again because of this news, Tan Han and her group had already reached their destination.
"We finally found it! It's the main laboratory!"
"We can't be sure yet. Let's go in first. Don't damage the structure between the building and the ice layers."
Though Tan Han spoke cautiously, her tone was brimming with excitement.
They had been searching for quite a while before finally locating the entrance within this experimental zone.
The laboratory here wasn't a single building but an experimental zone stretching across a vast area. Tan Han had only locked onto the specific building they needed to enter after using detection spells to roughly map out the terrain.
The materials used to construct these buildings were extraordinary. Although they had been buried under the snow and many of the spell structures, rune rituals, and inscribed engravings had failed, it still took Tan Han and the others a great deal of effort to finally cut an opening.
As for entering through the front door?
Sorry, the doors were even more absurdly reinforced than the walls, so they decisively gave up on that route.
However, once they stepped inside, the three of them were momentarily dazed.
"Tan Han, do you know how to operate this equipment? It feels like it's been out of repair for ages."
"First, find the power center and see if it's driven by mana. Then, look for any paper records and collect them all. Xiao You, you'll assist me in operating and interfacing with the equipment related to the Ley Line system," Tan Han arranged the tasks methodically.
The equipment in the Secret Realm's laboratory interfaced with legacy Ley Line system hardware. They couldn't actively interface with the Great Knowledge Seed unless they used a Ley Line Identification Art to force a connection, but even then, it would only be an interaction at the information level.
They had encountered small, temporary laboratories before, so they knew a bit about operating Ley Line equipment, but it was still a tedious and busy process.
The Ancient Remnant Ice knew nothing about such things, so it was responsible for keeping watch beneath the ice layers.
As for Lucianne... they had simply placed her in a convenient spot for the time being. Regardless, she was no longer in any immediate danger.
After a long period of busy work, the laboratory suddenly flickered. Power began to flow, and even basic lighting was restored.
However, the laboratory was massive with many sub-sections. Tan Han and the others could only take it one step at a time; they couldn't afford to rush such things.
* * *
At that same moment, far away in the Primitive Dream Realm...
I noticed Tan Han's movements and the information she was sharing.
Currently, I was leading the three Body Cultivation Witches through their environmental adaptation to the Primitive Dream Realm.
They weren't me, after all; many things simply couldn't be described clearly with words.
Therefore, I used a Consciousness Communication Spell to barely give them an understanding of the situation.
However, this spell couldn't be used within the Primitive Dream Realm. I had to conduct the experiment in reality and then return to the dream.
After all, spells were unusable within the dream.
While this method helped them understand concepts that language couldn't express, it lacked immediacy. "Experience" is not something that should be delayed.
Nevertheless, the progress of Muli and Fanny—who were self-awakened body cultivators—was very encouraging.
In the Primitive Dream Realm, the only thing they could rely on was their soul essence, and self-awakened body cultivation served as their foundation within the dream.
Though it couldn't be considered "power" yet, self-awakened body cultivation was the cornerstone for them to architect power within the Primitive Dream Realm!
That was why I said they were much more impressive than Sister Bai. Something that took Sister Bai at least half a month to start, they could achieve in just a few days!
As for comparing them to me... naturally, I wouldn't suggest they do that.
Self-discovery and being guided are two different concepts; the speed of pioneering the unknown and the speed of learning are incomparable.
The only pity at the moment was that they weren't practitioners of the Great Soul Subject. Even with a crash course in the relevant knowledge, it was a bit too late.
But that didn't matter to me.
Any theory can be tested by practice!
Teaching theory during the practical process makes the memory even more profound.
However, Long, who lacked self-awakened body cultivation, was progressing much slower. Still, compared to Sister Bai, her experience, insight, and comprehension skills far surpassed her.
Even in a field she had never touched before, she displayed considerable "talent."
Yet, this unquantifiable talent still couldn't beat the self-awakened body cultivation of Muli and Fanny.
Long could only rely on Heart Sense and then borrow the sensations of Emotion Body Cultivation to adapt to the environment and order within the Primitive Dream Realm.
If she wanted to architect a portion of power or order, she could only rely on her own soul and her Heart Sense's understanding to forcibly shape that "order."
The path she was taking was the same as Sister Bai's.
After confirming that the current Dream Domain experiment didn't require my interference, I went to Fool's Dream to ensure no problems would arise there before finally dealing with Tan Han's situation.
the data Tan Han shared was quite disorganized, but it was quickly integrated by the Tree of Great Knowledge.
It was a set of research materials related to the Great Glacial Throne Technique.
To use an analogy, it was like a small portion of the research data for the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art that Dean Mei had given me.
Creating a Great Spellbook required researching many things and then integrating them all to form a single work.
The Great Glacial Throne was the same.
There were even some common coincidences.
After all, Dean Mei had completed the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art using Fool's Dream as inspiration, while the Great Glacial Throne Technique was innovated by the entire Ancient Remnant Ice race.
Of course, these were only similarities. The creative styles and research directions of the two Great Spellbooks were entirely different. Every Witch has her own rhythm, which means every Great Spellbook is unique.
I mostly gave the information Tan Han sent a cursory glance before backing it up in the Tree of Great Knowledge for storage, then organizing and streamlining it to provide feedback to Tan Han and the others.
I wasn't about to go looking for trouble by trying to research another Great Spellbook right now.
Providing them with the necessary help was the limit of what I could do.
Unfortunately, the materials Tan Han had sent so far made no mention of information regarding the fragmentation of the Great Spellbook. Thus, these were currently meaningless to them.
What they needed most was intelligence regarding the fragmentation and the techniques for "integrating" those fragments.
* * *
While Tan Han and the others were working so hard they forgot to eat or sleep, a lying figure gradually began to move.
She instinctively reached out, her hand shaking with panic and weakness, a faint moan escaping her lips.
It wasn't until she dizzily woke up and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling that she felt a sense of mnemonic displacement.
She felt as though her current surroundings didn't match her memories.
The air was no longer filled with the biting wind and snow that stung with every breath. Instead, there was a stale scent and the unique smell of dust.
Then, she felt a hint of warmth.
"What... what happened to me..."
Lucianne's opened eyes were filled with confusion. She lay on the floor, the chill rising from the cold ground seeping through her clothes and stimulating her nerves, making her more alert.
Only the comfortable warmth nearby provided a sliver of solace in the cold.
She turned her head to look. It was a candelabra.
The light and heat of a candle weren't enough to provide such a warm environment, so it had to be an alchemy item.
Someone had saved her?
That was Lucianne's first reaction.
But those people didn't seem to be by her side. She slowly sat up and discovered that her injuries had improved significantly.
Then, as if realizing something, she felt a certain spot on her body.
"It's really gone... my clothes are torn too, by those ice crystal monsters..."
As she pieced it together, a flicker of anger rose in her heart, but it was quickly washed away.
She had simply been abandoned to buy them time to escape.
Those ice crystal monsters had indeed locked onto her Heart of the Cold Wave.
Just as Lucianne was thinking this, she suddenly sensed something beside her.
When she looked over, her pupils shrank violently!
It was an ice crystal monster!
Lucianne immediately endured her physical discomfort to scramble away, but because she was unfamiliar with the environment, she made a lot of noise.
"Hmm? That direction... looks like Lucianne is awake?" Tan Han and Xiao You noticed the commotion immediately.
Tan Han turned to Xiao You. "I'll keep going. I'll head over once I finish this. You go and calm Lucianne down first."
"Okay."
Xiao You nodded and rushed out. She saw Lucianne currently facing off against Lie.
"Stop! Lucianne! Don't attack!" Xiao You shouted hurriedly.
If she didn't stop her, Lucianne was going to hurl a spell!
This was a laboratory; any destructive spell would cause irreversible damage!
"Who's there?"
Lucianne had been ready to fight to the death, but her physical condition was truly terrible.
Now that someone who recognized her—and could even call out her name—had appeared, it was a good thing regardless.
"Nobody move! We can talk this out!"
"What do you mean? This ice crystal monster won't—"
"Ice crystal monster... what a nasty name. I have my own name," Lie spoke up upon hearing Lucianne's words.
"Wh-what!" This was the first time she had heard an "ice crystal monster" speak!
"That's why I said don't attack! Lucianne, it's our friend. Its name is Lie. Don't attack, okay?"
"It's you... Xiao You." Soon, Lucianne recognized the person who had approached.
"Yes, it's us. We're the ones who saved you. Can you please calm down? It's safe here. You're the one being the most aggressive."
"Where is this?"
"A laboratory inside the Secret Realm. I know you have many questions, and we will answer them all, but only if you stop causing trouble for us."
While Xiao You was trying to soothe Lucianne, Shi Ruizhi also dropped what she was doing and came over because of the noise.
Then came Tan Han...
After a round of explanations, the misunderstanding was finally eased slightly.
However, Lucianne remained wary of Lie, as if afraid it might finish her off at any moment.
"So, you've temporarily reached a cooperation with the ice crys—er, the Ancient Remnant Ice clan, found this laboratory, and saved me when you found me critically injured and dying on the way..."
"That's the gist of it. Actually, I wasn't particularly keen on having you stay," Xiao You remarked from the side.
"But in the end, we saved you out of past sentiment. However, you must understand that we took a huge risk as well," Tan Han said.
"Then what do you want? My Heart of the Cold Wave was... was taken by the Ancient Remnant Ice. I can't offer you any help."
"We don't expect you to be of much help. I saved you only because you have some history with Xiao Han, nothing more. But given your status, if you want to stay here and move with us, I need you to sign a mandatory temporary travel contract."
"A contract? Fine. Do whatever you want. My life was saved by you anyway." Lucianne accepted the terms quite naturally. After all... she had been given up by those people. Or rather, abandoned.
If she wanted to live, she could only follow Tan Han and the others.
"You're taking this quite philosophically. I suppose that's expected of someone who's walked through death's door. I'll draft the contract. You shouldn't mind telling us your story, right? What exactly happened that made them abandon you?" As Tan Han asked, she pulled out a piece of parchment and began drafting the Witch contract.
"It's nothing much, really. If you want to hear it, I'll tell you... consider it satisfying your curiosity..." Lucianne said, her eyes drifting into memory.
The emotions that surfaced were complex—at times helpless, at times angry, and at times despondent.
But now, everything was in the past.