Chapter 911: Broken [Transcendent Knowledge] and the Coronation Ritual
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 911: Broken [Transcendent Knowledge] and the Coronation Ritual
"Saved Lucianne, did she... that girl... hehe~"
After the Tree of Great Knowledge ceased providing shared data, I received a message from Tan Han. They had encountered Lucianne within the Secret Realm.
Consequently, the sharing of related materials had been paused; for now, only Shi Ruizhi was slowly sharing some paper-based documents.
While I wasn't particularly interested in Lucianne’s plight, Tan Han had summarized the event and sent over a brief report.
I simply treated it as a bit of entertainment.
What I was truly concerned about were the paper documents and literature Shi Ruizhi was currently sending over.
The content recorded there clearly had a disconnect from what Tan Han had sent; they weren't from the same stage of research.
However, I spotted the word "component" in these files!
I immediately contacted Shi Ruizhi.
"Shi Ruizhi, where did you find those documents? Go back there and keep searching. This isn't the full set, and the information in here is vital!"
"Huh? Oh! I’m on it!"
With a brief response, Shi Ruizhi reacted quickly. She hadn't expected the materials she’d stumbled upon to be so important.
A moment later, another large batch of data was shared, but it didn't seem to align with the previous set.
This portion explained the process of creating a spellbook based on "Real Editing."
Even though it didn't match the earlier files, I still read through it seriously. After all, it described the techniques for creating a spellbook—and a Great Spellbook at that!
As I am not yet a Transcendent, I cannot use these techniques myself, but I can still understand them, even if some methods were a bit obscure.
This wasn't a textbook for teaching, after all, but experimental records documenting a process!
Still, I didn't come away empty-handed. I managed to verify at least one thing.
The major hurdle that needed to be overcome in these records—the [Transcendent Knowledge] of the Great Glacial Throne Technique—was inherently "fragmented."
That was why using it to complete the Great Spellbook experiment was so difficult.
In the end, the only reason it could be coalesced into a complete Great Spellbook was by using the "Coronation Ritual" of the Ancient Remnant Ice race as a medium.
Dean Mei had never mentioned this to me.
I wasn't sure if Dean Mei didn't know herself, or if she simply felt there was no need to tell me.
After all, I had always acted as if I had no interest in this Great Spellbook.
"Shi Ruizhi, keep looking. This part doesn't quite connect with the ones you found earlier," I urged.
* * *
Meanwhile, inside the laboratory of the Glacial Throne Secret Realm.
Shi Ruizhi was busy hunting for more documents. Seeing her sudden flurry of activity, Lucianne stopped her narration.
It was all just a matter of "humanity revealing itself for the sake of survival" anyway.
Usually, these were the kind of stories that would bore one to tears, but since it had happened to her, it only left her feeling a sense of melancholy.
As for deeper personal grudges, Lucianne didn't speak of them—like the fight between the wizard squads they had encountered, or that one person whose mere sight made Lucianne see red...
"Xiao Han must have discovered some important data. The contract is mostly drafted; take a look and see if it's acceptable..."
"I accept." Lucianne took the parchment and pen, signing her name without even glancing at the contents.
As the parchment flared with light, the power of the contract drifted into Lucianne’s body along with the dissipating ash.
"You're really not afraid I'll sell you out, are you?" Tan Han asked Lucianne with a rare bit of banter.
"You might as well sell me. I might actually live a bit easier that way."
"Life in the Jack-of-all-trades Club isn't comfortable?"
"It's certainly not easy." Lucianne seemed to reminisce for a moment. If it weren't for Senior Sister Daphne being relatively kind to her, she really wouldn't know what the point of that club was.
And that senior sister would be graduating before long...
"Have you thought about quitting the club?"
"Have you thought about what would happen to me? In the Jack-of-all-trades Club, I can at least scrape by. If I leave, I'll truly have nothing."
"Then... do you have the courage to start over?" Tan Han had originally intended to ask if she had thought about starting over, but she changed her wording at the last second.
This question struck Lucianne into silence.
If asked if she had thought about it, she certainly had. But to ask if she dared... that was a very grim question indeed.
It was like someone comfortably reading a novel to relax; who, upon being asked that question, would immediately dare to start a business from scratch?
Clinging to comfort is a person's greatest and most difficult mountain to overcome.
Without external interference, it is very hard to succeed on one's own.
"It seems I asked a stupid question..." Tan Han mocked herself. "The contract you signed lasts until you leave the Secret Realm. Once you leave, how are you going to face the Jack-of-all-trades Club after what they did to you?"
"..."
"If you choose loyalty, will they believe your sincerity?"
"..."
Another bout of silence.
It had to be said that Tan Han’s questions laid bare the immediate problems Lucianne was about to face.
Lucianne truly hadn't thought about how to handle these issues, nor did she have the heart to. When the soul is empty, it only breeds one thing: escapism.
Tan Han didn't press further, leaving Lucianne to her thoughts.
"Xiao You, follow my instructions to share all the data on the Ley Line System to... actually, just consolidate all the data, and I'll handle it when the time comes." Tan Han remembered that Xiao You didn't have a Great Knowledge Seed, only the standard Great Knowledge Seed provided by the academy, and abandoned the idea of having her stand in.
"Mm, okay," Xiao You nodded.
The reason Tan Han set aside the data on the Ley Line System was primarily because Shi Ruizhi had just said Xiao Han wanted her to focus on collecting those specific documents.
This meant Xiao Han had discovered something important in those paper records. Naturally, Tan Han had to help so they could share the vital information as quickly as possible.
Efficiency was the name of the game now.
"Senior Sister Shi Ruizhi, let me help too."
"Eh? You too? Great! These documents are such a pain. I really don't know why they still use paper files. And after being left for so long, the paper gets fragile. It would have been better to just store it in the Ley Line System."
"Data in the Ley Line System can be destroyed easily too. Paper records at least leave a physical trace. If the Ley Line System breaks, everything is truly gone."
After a brief chat with Shi Ruizhi, Tan Han quickly entered a state of high efficiency.
Just as Shi Ruizhi said, these papers were indeed fragile. Fortunately, they could use the Ley Line Identification Art to read information in bulk.
As for reading data from the Ley Line System, that was even harder than this. After all, it was an old piece of equipment that had fallen into disrepair without maintenance. If she tried to dismantle it to read the storage components directly, she might end up destroying the entire system. She didn't dare take that risk.
"By the way, did Xiao Han say anything else to you?"
"Very little so far. She rarely responds to me... but she did say that the Great Glacial Throne Technique, uh... the [Transcendent Knowledge] might have been broken to begin with?"
"Broken to begin with? Is that possible?" Tan Han asked, puzzled.
"I'm not sure, but Xiao Han said these records contain a ritual for shaping a complete Great Spellbook..."
"What! Really?" Tan Han was shocked.
"It's just a guess!" Shi Ruizhi corrected. "Xiao Han hasn't replied to my message yet. She just said the ritual is called the Coronation Ritual, and it seems to be related to the Ancient Remnant Ice."
"The Coronation Ritual... a ritual of the Ancient Remnant Ice race? Then I'll just go ask Lie," Tan Han said. After all, wasn't there a member of the Ancient Remnant Ice royalty right beside her?
If even a royal of that race didn't know... then they really could only wait for Xiao Han to find the relevant information in the documents.
"Is there something you need from me?"
Seeing Tan Han walking straight toward it, Lie spoke first.
"There is indeed something, though I don't know if you're willing to disclose it," Tan Han said bluntly, without any beating around the bush.
After all, the Ancient Remnant Ice didn't care for human games or the art of rhetoric.
"Under the witness of the Witch Contract, we have formed an alliance with you. There is no question of 'willingness.'"
"Thank you for seeing it that way. Then I'll ask directly. We learned of a very specific concept in those records called the Coronation Ritual. Are you familiar with it?"
"The Coronation Ritual..." Hearing the term, Lie clearly hesitated for a moment. "I naturally know what it is. It is the great ritual of our race, the ceremony performed to welcome the birth of a King."
"A 'great ritual'... can you tell us more specifically about it? For instance, the process, the preparations required, and so on."
"I can. To hold the Coronation Ritual, we must select the member of our race who best embodies the qualities of a King. Upon their body, we carve symbols representing the glory and history of our race. We choose ice flowers condensed from the purest power of ice and snow to offer unto them. The one to become King stands within the Ice Crystal Temple, surrounded by all members of the royalty. They chant incantations and play the sacred music of the ice crystals. At the climax, a messenger crowns them with the King's circlet, and the power of the ice and snow will choose..."
Lie’s voice was calm, yet merely describing the process seemed to evoke a sense of reverence for the ritual.
Tan Han listened intently, recording everything.
After all, Xiao Han had said this ritual was related to the Great Glacial Throne Technique and might even be the key to shaping it into a true Great Spellbook.
This would be the best way to break the current deadlock!
"You just described the ritual in its entirety, just like that?"
"Yes. Didn't you ask?" Lie asked, confused.
"I mean, shouldn't this sort of thing be a racial secret?"
"Does a race kept like livestock in an experimental Secret Realm truly still possess the secrets a race should have?"
"..."
Tan Han was momentarily silenced by Lie’s words, unsure how to respond.
The current situation of the Ancient Remnant Ice was indeed awkward. Tan Han and the others had been avoiding the topic, but the Ancient Remnant Ice saw it with perfect clarity.
They didn't want to stay here forever. They wanted power to break the "cage" that imprisoned them.
But as for what lay outside the cage and what they would have to face—did the Ancient Remnant Ice know?
Perhaps they did... but they didn't care.
Their race had once completely vanished into the Void; they didn't mind vanishing into the Void a second time.
Perhaps Tan Han might not understand what the point of that was.
But I knew very well.
Once a race is recognized by the Void, it cannot truly be exterminated. The footprints of their Prototype are forever etched into the Void.
Even if the entire race disappears, their Prototype will certainly still exist.
Across the "infinite time" span of the Void, they might reappear in another form—namely, as Ley Line Life.
Perhaps Ley Line Life exists independently of all other life, but the birth of a Ley Line Life will inherently lead it to seek out its "kin." If it learns its kin have been wiped out, the Ley Line Life might revive the race once more.
Some might think the probability is too low or the wait too long, but for an extinct race, time is meaningless.
After the silence passed, Tan Han went back to her duties, and Lie did the same, as if the topic they had just discussed had never happened.
While Tan Han and the others were hurriedly organizing the data, the representatives of the United Club and the other Transcendent academies got into another argument.
They had a severe disagreement regarding the plan to clear the Ancient Remnant Ice within the Secret Realm.
The side represented by the Jack-of-all-trades Club followed the academy's requirements to protect the academy's biological assets, while the other academies insisted on completely eradicating these monsters, claiming their presence was a hindrance to exploration.
In the end, the other academy representatives yielded. After all, the Secret Realm belonged to the Witch Academy and was nominally under the club's jurisdiction; it wasn't for outsiders to dictate terms.
In response, the club alliance finally lowered the entry threshold for the Secret Realm.
After all, the resources produced in this Secret Realm were limited, consisting mostly of rare ice-type materials—and those materials only existed because of the Great Spell's effect.
If they continued with the plan to neutralize the Great Spell, this Secret Realm would truly become a joke.
But there was no helping it; this Secret Realm wasn't a resource-type realm to begin with, but a research-type one.
However, even if the entry threshold was lowered, not just anyone was qualified to enter.
But before they could address that, they had to deal with another problem.
The Ancient Remnant Ice had blockaded the entrance to the Secret Realm!
To ensure the fragments were not taken out of the Secret Realm, the first thing the Ancient Remnant Ice did after allying with Tan Han was to block the exit channels.
No matter how one looked at it, the Glacial Throne Secret Realm was the home field of the Ancient Remnant Ice!