Chapter 936: The Witch Secret Realm About to be Transferred Out of the Academy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 936: The Witch Secret Realm About to be Transferred Out of the Academy
"The River of Causality is essentially the same as the River of Luck. One cannot overlook the macro-regulatory effect Luck has on a world. The development and turning points of a world, along with countless coincidences, always manage to catalyze the infinite possibilities within each realm."
"Um... shouldn't the River of Luck be a branch of the River of Causality?" I asked weakly.
After all, I had only heard this from that one Luck Alchemist, and I wasn't sure if it was actually correct.
"Hmm... the branch of the River of Causality is indeed the River of Luck." Dean Mei covered up a moment of awkwardness. "However, the River of Causality is Unknowable. There is no empirical evidence to confirm its existence, nor is there evidence to disprove it. So, under normal circumstances, the River of Luck and the River of Causality are treated as equals. Since we aren't professional researchers in these fields, a general understanding is enough."
"Oh! Right, right! I understand." I nodded quickly. It seemed that the fact that the River of Luck was a branch was more or less the correct scientific explanation.
"Generally speaking, a world is a special existence born upon the River of Time. Only from the perspective of Real Time can one see its full picture."
"It controls the River of Ley Lines, the umbilical cord that links life; it harnesses the branches of Causality, manipulating the Script of life."
"The consciousness born from a world is the Primal consciousness of the Void. Therefore, the World Consciousness of the Main World simultaneously influences all World Wills in the Void, even dictating the direction of the Void worlds."
"After saying all that, what does any of this have to do with the opportunity to locate the World Navel?" I asked.
"I'm laying the groundwork with necessary common sense! If you don't understand the basics, how are you going to understand the principles built on top of them?" Mei Lind said crossly.
"Oh! Right! Please continue, Sister Mei!"
"Once you understand the essence of the world, we can talk about how to lock onto the World Navel."
"The World Navel, simply put, is the key node between the world and the River of Ley Lines. Qi Observation senses Luck, which is the deep-level manifestation of the River of Luck within a world. By analyzing these manifestations, one can understand the underlying deep-level concepts."
"So, Qi Observation cannot directly observe the World Navel, right?" I interjected.
"Correct!" Mei Lind nodded with a smile, indicating I had hit the nail on the head.
"Now, let's look at the technique of Qi Observation itself."
"The technique itself?"
"Yes. What principle does Qi Observation rely on?"
"Um... Spirit Vision," I answered.
"And what is Spirit Vision?"
"A Talent."
"That's true, but Spirit Vision is equivalent to a person's True Vision within Real Time. Therefore, Qi Observation is a method that combines Spirit Vision to observe from the perspective of the River of Time."
"Thus, Qi Observation has the potential to observe the World Navel because it already combines the two layers of the River of Time and the River of Causality. This makes it possible to calculate the location of the World Navel within the River of Ley Lines."
"Sister Mei! I have a question!" I raised my hand.
"What is it?"
"Since the Luck layer alone cannot observe the Ley Line layer, how can the Real Time layer—the River of Time layer—observe the Luck layer?"
Dean Mei pondered my question for a moment before speaking. "Are you trying to confuse yourself?"
"Huh?"
"You just mentioned it yourself: the River of Luck is a tributary of the River of Causality. Therefore, in terms of Rank, the River of Luck is lower than the River of Time."
"This means the Luck layer cannot directly observe the Ley Line layer, but the Real Time layer can observe the Luck layer. This gave birth to Qi Observation. Qi Observation uses Luck to compensate for certain deficiencies in Real Time, which is why it has the potential to observe the World Navel."
"Oh~! I get it now!"
"Good. Now, to answer your previous question: right now, there are only world fluctuations at the Luck layer. They are useless; we cannot use them to observe the World Navel."
"Back then, we reproduced the Ancient Remnant Ice race in the Main World, which triggered World Recognition and allowed the racial information to be recorded a second time by the River of Ley Lines and the world. But this method cannot be replicated a second time. The current identity of the Ancient Remnant Ice is now like that of ordinary humans in this world—they have already been recognized by the world."
"So that's how it is... So the other academies don't really care about this stunt the Witch Academy is pulling?"
"How could they not care? They don't know about the existence of Qi Observation, but they are very wary of the methods of our Witch race. So, if the Ancient Remnant Ice race were to be revived again because of this incident..."
"Um... what would happen?" I asked curiously.
"They would once again use Transcendent intervention to pressure us Witches. Using the World Navel as leverage, they would force the Ancient Remnant Ice race to disappear from the Main World once more."
"That's so cheap! They're clearly just being sore losers because they can't win a fair fight... Aren't they afraid of death?" I recalled my previous deductions; the other Transcendent academies didn't stand a chance.
"In the end, it would just be a stalemate..."
"Yes. If there's a stalemate at the Transcendent level, they have another method: starting an Academy War. Either way, they won't let us have it easy."
"Then... the King of the Ancient Remnant Ice is my clone. Surely we can make use of that fact?"
"What? Is Xiao Han already thinking about lightening the Academy's burden?" Hearing my words, Mei Lind chuckled teasingly.
"Uh... cough... My level of awareness is actually quite high," I said with a quick smile.
After all, the matter of the Ancient Remnant Ice clone was deeply intertwined with the Academy. There had to be a way to rationalize its existence.
Currently, the Ancient Remnant Ice was a source of trouble for the Academy, and Dean Mei could help me settle it.
But if the Dean and I joined forces to play the other Transcendent academies, that would be a partnership—something worthy of praise!
"Awareness... Heh~ Xiao Han, you're always excessively mature in the strangest ways."
"So, Dean, you're also looking to start an Academy War, aren't you?" I asked directly.
They had introduced the Players earlier, but for various reasons, it hadn't triggered the restructuring of the Main World's order.
Therefore, they needed to guide a different conflict to achieve their expectations.
Though doing so would involve countless sacrifices, to those at the Transcendent level, it was nothing.
As for my thoughts on the matter... I remained neutral.
Mercy served no purpose. This world needed a bloody restructuring so that the tragic life experiences I and others had suffered would never be repeated in the Main World.
The corruption and deformity of the Main World—how was it any different from the game world?
"That's a bit too blunt, Xiao Han. How could it be that we want to start an Academy War? Clearly, it's because they are driven to desperation and want to drag the entire world into the abyss of chaos. What does that have to do with us Witches?"
"Oh, right, right! We are merely ending the war as quickly as possible within our capabilities, and then doing our best to rebuild a new order for the Main World!" I immediately followed up.
* * *
"What happened here? Explain it to me clearly."
At this moment, several Witch Mentors had arrived before the Glacial Throne Secret Realm, invited by Xing Anlei.
Ming Xueming and her group had already been sent to the nearest infirmary.
It wasn't that Healing Spells couldn't fix them, but rather that after suffering such a massive shockwave, their spirits were wounded and they needed rest.
One shouldn't think that the bow Ming Xueming used came without a price.
Even with the help of several individuals with Perfect Human Self-Generated Mana talents, the mana she had to guide and control far exceeded the limits of her mental strength. No matter how powerful it was, it was still just an alchemy item.
After that single arrow, she truly needed a good rest.
The Witch Mentors walked over to the thick Ice and Snow Staff thrust into the ground. Even under the sun, it still radiated a bone-chilling cold, showing no signs of melting.
The frost it emitted even drew moisture from the air, blurring the transparency of the ice crystals.
As the mentors moved, Xing Anlei's voice began to recount the events with a hint of urgency.
However, she knew nothing of what had actually happened inside the Secret Realm. It had all occurred too suddenly, so Xing Anlei could only give a brief description before requesting the mentors to seal the Secret Realm.
Looking at that massive ice staff, dozens of meters thick—if the "monster" capable of using such a gargantuan weapon broke through the seal or simply destroyed the Secret Realm and tore through spatial stability, it wasn't impossible!
A Witch Secret Realm within the Academy was essentially a carved-out space. Unlike a World Fragment, it required a special carrier to hold the space.
This was the Secret Realm Core.
The Secret Realm Cores were maintained and operated collectively by the Witch Secret Realm Club. This included, but was not limited to, basic needs like lighting and air circulation within the spatial area, as well as many other specialized requirements.
These conditions weren't something a single Secret Realm could perfect on its own. Supplying these needs through a unified system was far more convenient.
However, the Glacial Throne Secret Realm was very special.
First of all, it wasn't a Secret Realm meant for student training; it was a private experimental Secret Realm for Witches.
Since no Witch wanted it now, it had been categorized as a one-time-use Secret Realm.
Even so, the realm possessed a powerful environmental self-circulation system, which was why it could be handed over to the clubs to manage independently.
One could say that the two clubs joining forces only to end up turning the Secret Realm into this state was quite a "feat."
Since the Gambler chose the highest risk for maximum profit, they naturally had to learn to bear the possibility of ending up with nothing.
After all, if they had developed the Secret Realm slowly and utilized it for gradual growth, the efficiency would have been unacceptable to the club.
Furthermore, considering the massive initial investment, it was better to treat this dungeon opportunity as a grand gamble.
"The stability of the Secret Realm has indeed taken a heavy hit, but it's still a long way from the collapse you're worried about."
After a careful inspection, the mentors gave an objective evaluation.
Though the Secret Realm looked fragile, a group of students below the Transcendent level—even with extreme outbursts or trump cards—didn't have the qualifications to actually break it.
However, after finishing their evaluation, the Witch Mentors received a private message via their Great Knowledge Seeds. Originally, they hadn't intended to interfere further, but their interest was piqued the moment they saw who the sender was!
It was Dean Mei Lind!
After a brief exchange, they acted as if nothing had happened.
"This... Mentor, are you sure? Inside the Secret Realm, at any moment..."
"If you are still worried, we can help you move the Secret Realm outside the Academy. That way, even if the worst happens, it won't affect the Academy grounds."
"The Academy won't hold you responsible. Besides, you've been reporting anomalies in the Secret Realm quite frequently; the primary responsibility doesn't lie with you."
"Is that so? Thank you for the reminder, Mentor. As for moving the Secret Realm... our clubs might need to discuss it. I can't take responsibility for such a major decision. Once we have a result, we will give you feedback immediately."
"Mm, then hurry up. It's not a big deal, just a simple task. You should start processing the applications for leaving the school grounds and such. It'll be a bit of a hassle for you once the Secret Realm is outside the Academy."
"No trouble at all, no trouble. Thank you again for the reminder, Mentor," Xing Anlei said quickly, before respectfully seeing the mentors off.
As for the mentor's suggestion to move the Secret Realm Core—it absolutely had to be moved!
Although they wouldn't bear primary responsibility because they had reported the issues, the Secret Realm ultimately belonged to the club. If they blew it up, it would cause a massive scandal within the Academy.
Even if they shifted all the blame to Tan Han and her group, or even resorted to dirty tactics like framing Yang Yuehan for sabotaging them from the shadows, such low-handed methods wouldn't save them.
Regardless, this had to be reported. The club had suddenly undergone such a massive upheaval, and the President of the Jack-of-all-trades Club was seriously injured... it really didn't look good. Especially since Ming Xueming had even exhausted the reserves of the temporary code-named "Mana Bow."
Her days as the Club President were likely numbered...
After all, competition within the clubs was fierce, and profit was a powerful motivator.
Before reporting any of this, Xing Anlei made a deliberate trip to the infirmary.
Not for any other reason, but simply to see Ming Xueming.
"You were impulsive this time," Xing Anlei said, using a rare tone with the President.
"Impulsive?"
Ming Xueming recalled that gargantuan figure. Even now, the memory made her vision blur.
"Weren't you? Though I'm truly curious about what you all encountered. I was so busy getting the mentors to handle the Secret Realm that I didn't have time to ask."
"It was a... a monster capable of destroying an entire Secret Realm..."
"So what if it's a monster? You weren't the only one who proposed using the Secret Realm for this plan. Even in the worst-case scenario, you shouldn't be the one purged. You know your position is at stake, right?"
"So what? On the contrary, it's Tan Han... she released a monster with her own hands. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. In the end, the Secret Realm cannot be saved."