Chapter 945: The Main Body Ventures Out
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 945: The Main Body Ventures Out
Primitive Dream Laboratory.
"How is it? Have you adapted yet?" I asked.
Inside the Primitive Dream Laboratory, the controllable Primitive Dream Laboratory had already been smoothed out by me.
While this meant that any witches requiring the Primitive Dream Realm as an experimental environment during this period would have to wait, it wasn't a major issue. If anything, the witches in charge of those experiments might take this opportunity to give themselves a well-deserved break.
However, the environment for the shallow dreams had not been smoothed out. After all, this laboratory still housed a large number of Constant Dream laboratories, with a significant team of witches stationed here for long-term experiments. The dreams here were simply more stable than shallow dreams opened through conventional means.
The ones I was currently questioning were, naturally, Muli and Fanny. Long’s progress was somewhat slower; she was still in the domain prototype stage. Meanwhile, the other witches with self-awakened Body Cultivation had basically shed the "prototype" suffix.
This meant they had adapted and possessed enough talent to master the dream environment on their own. Much like a domain prototype in reality achieving a self-sustaining energy cycle, this was an absolute breakthrough.
"I adapted ages ago! This time, it might actually work!" Muli was extremely confident about this attempt.
I could faintly see why.
To be safe, all other experiments in the Primitive Dream Laboratory had been temporarily halted during this critical phase, except for those unaffected by dream impacts. If Muli truly succeeded, she might inadvertently trigger a Dream Overlap if she wasn't careful.
While I could prevent the fluctuations from spreading too far, violent tremors within a small radius were unavoidable.
Following Muli’s confident declaration, I could already feel a unique order rapidly influencing the dream itself at the Primitive Dream Realm level. As Muli accumulated practical experience, I did the same—except I was simulating and refining the technique of reverse-smoothing.
It was a win-win situation.
I was building up my own reserves for the future. Since I could reach this level, others inevitably would too, so I naturally needed counter-measures. One must never underestimate other geniuses.
After all, self-awakened Body Cultivation wasn't the only way to touch the level of the Primitive Dream Realm. The void was vast; there would always be races developing entirely new talents. As long as a possibility existed, the Endless Void would magnify it infinitely.
"Ha! It's done!"
A Dream Core of the Primitive Dream Realm materialized in front of Muli, abruptly descending into reality. The fluctuations surging from that fist-sized Dream Core were like a tsunami!
Even the witches physically present in reality felt an instinctive sense of crisis, the hair on their necks standing on end.
I had prepared for this long ago. Otherwise, the impact would have covered more than half of the Witch Academy, just like last time. The manifested Dream Core expanded rapidly, growing to the size of a person in the blink of an eye.
"Stop! Stop right there!" I hurriedly called out to Muli.
I could limit the size of the Primitive Dream Realm buffer zone, but I couldn't let her keep pushing it like this. The most important part of a "controllable" Primitive Dream Realm manifestation was that it stayed controllable. If it truly went out of control, I could end up blanketing most of the Expansion Realm.
Given my current state, I could certainly do more, but for now, moderation was key.
"Ah... sorry. I got a bit carried away."
Muli realized she had been impulsive, but as it was her first success, she was understandably a bit reckless. Still, the feeling of dominating the Primitive Dream Realm in this moment was truly magical!
I gave her some time to herself, letting her explore the sensation. Only after her excitement died down did I begin explaining the precautions. After all, when someone is that hyped up, they don't hear a word you say.
After reiterating and emphasizing the safety protocols to Muli, this stage of the advancement experiment was finally considered complete. This was the first major breakthrough in this series of experiments.
Fanny, the other self-awakened Body Cultivation witch, wasn't as fast as Muli. During our interactions, I discovered her style—how should I put it?
Despite her usual silence, Fanny was actually a theorist. She preferred to fully understand the theoretical composition before acting, aiming for success in a single attempt. I also noticed she had a slight touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder; she hated failing and was willing to do an immense amount of groundwork to ensure a perfect first try. Even though Muli had gone before her, Fanny viewed it as a chance to observe the controllable ability in action.
However, the one with the strongest learning ability was still Long.
I felt that if it weren't for the influence of her dragon bloodline, Long might have been a similar type to Fanny. She could stand on the same level as Muli and Fanny through sheer effort. Even if her progress was significantly slower, one had to admit she was a genius—a learning genius!
And so, three days passed.
Muli had achieved a preliminary mastery of manifesting the controllable Primitive Dream Realm. Her proficiency was already no less than mine during my first attempt. At this level, Muli was qualified to take over my "job."
Fanny succeeded shortly after. Unfortunately, it wasn't a "one-shot" success. This kind of technique relied heavily on experience and intuition; only through practical application could one synthesize deeper insights. Fanny didn't dwell on it too much, though; her perfectionism wasn't that severe. She was a bit disappointed, but she completely adjusted her mindset within minutes.
Long’s progress lagged behind the most, primarily due to her lack of the inherent advantages found in self-awakened Body Cultivation. However, she possessed the power of Emotion Body Cultivation, which she had begun to master, allowing her to rapidly adjust her state. What Long needed now wasn't my teaching, but constant trial and error. At most, I could only nudge her back whenever she started to drift off course.
Regardless, I was finally free!
I expressed my deepest gratitude to Muli, Fanny, and Long for being willing to take over the Primitive Dream Laboratory.
With that out of the way...
Now that I had regained my freedom, the first thing I wanted to do was... go find Sister Bai!
I felt like I was forgetting something, but since it wasn't recorded in the Tree of Great Knowledge and I’d managed to forget it, it couldn't have been that important.
Meanwhile, in another part of the academy, Dean Mei—who was personally supervising a major project regarding Qi Observation instruments—suddenly felt a shiver. It was as if some unstable element had been released within the academy. She glanced at the perfectly functioning Qi Observation instrument and quickly dismissed the thought.
That was the nature of the transcendent; one would often catch strange intuitions or thoughts within Real Time. While these could sometimes act as a form of precognition, most of the time, they were useless. At most, if things went poorly later on, one might use that fleeting thought as a convenient scapegoat for the bad luck.
Currently, I was on my way to find Sister Bai.
As a formal mentor of the academy, Sister Bai was quite busy. Theoretically, since she had participated in the Primitive Dream Realm domain experiments, she didn't need to follow the standard teaching schedule anymore. However, she chose to continue.
This was because the Body Arts she taught were Body-to-Spell techniques. And she had quite a lot of students. Many were volunteers from the self-generated mana experiments who had seamlessly transitioned into the Mana Source Body Cultivation method. Between Tan Han dominating the Omni-Link Arena and the sheer visual impact of Body-to-Spell techniques, many people were drawn to learn.
It was quite a shock to the other witch mentors who taught Body Cultivation. Even if many of the students only had a "three-minute heat" of passion, there were bound to be some who would persevere.
Sister Bai was just one of many Body Cultivation mentors. What truly elevated her reputation among that group was her propagation of the Demonized Body Cultivation method and the Demonized Remolding Rebirth technique. After all, those laid the foundation for learning Body-to-Spell techniques!
Furthermore, the three Heart-Sensing Body Cultivation witches introduced by Bai Yu had given the academy's Body Cultivation witches a taste of the "Body Cultivation shock" from outside the academy.
"Is that... Teaching Assistant Xiao Han?"
On my way there, a voice called out to me.
"It's you?"
I looked at the person who had stopped me. It was Ming Xueming, who had already stepped down from her position as President of the Jack-of-all-trades Club. I didn't know if it was just my imagination, but she looked much healthier than before.
Ever since she had asked me for an opportunity, she had been coordinating with Millian and had stopped bothering me. I didn't expect to run into her by chance, and even more coincidentally, she had run into my main body!
My main body had only just come out.
I instinctively used the Qi Observation technique to scan her. There were shadows of Luck, but it was mostly just a display of good fortune.
"Yes, what a coincidence. I didn't expect to run into you in such a massive academy. Are you out for a stroll again?"
Ming Xueming had done her research. She knew that Teaching Assistant Xiao Han's main body was "Unknowable" and supposedly busy researching a Great Spellbook, while her clones frequently wandered the academy. She assumed this was likely the case now.
Coincidentally, she wasn't in a hurry either. The faction she represented had begun a tentative partnership with the Baking House, using that as a foundation to build a closer collaborative relationship. Of course, given the current scale of the Baking House, it was more like one-sided support from Ming Xueming’s side.
Her actions had caused confusion and dissatisfaction among many, but she had the confidence to do it because she had backing beyond herself. While partnering with this Teaching Assistant Xiao Han was a risky move, it wasn't nearly as high-pressure as Millian’s situation, where she had to withstand everything alone. It was simply a case of a pro-Academy faction wanting to place their bets early.
The Jack-of-all-trades Club was huge; there would always be people trying different paths to avoid unforeseen circumstances.
"I'm not just wandering. I have some business with... well, a witch mentor," I said, diplomatically stating my purpose.
"I see. Is it urgent, Teaching Assistant Xiao Han? If not, I’d like to walk with you for a bit and discuss some topics of interest."
"Just say what's on your mind. No need to beat around the bush," I replied.
Was it urgent to see Sister Bai? Of course it was! But I could see that Ming Xueming really did have something she wanted to tell me.
"Well then, Teaching Assistant Xiao Han is as straightforward as I’ve heard. Shall we start with the matter regarding Lucianne?"
"Lucianne?"
I was somewhat interested in that opening topic. But only somewhat. I’d heard from Tan Han that she had taken it upon herself to bring Lucianne to the Baking House, and Lucianne had just happened to make it in time for the third self-generated mana promotion experiment.
"Yes. She was once a member of our club, after all. Now that she’s left us to join the Baking House, I imagine she’ll face quite a bit of trouble... for instance, regarding her parents and family."
"Weren't they being controlled by your family before?"
"Well... though I’d like to say the family was 'looking after' them... there really isn't much difference between that and control."
"You're quite candid."
"You flatter me. We know exactly what the family likes to do; it’s just that few people state it as bluntly as you. I’ve already used my connections to secure Lucianne’s family from the family's grasp. At the very least, the family won't be able to use them to constrain Lucianne with trumped-up charges anymore."
"Is that so? It seems you’ve gone to a lot of trouble."
"It was merely part of my contract with Junior Sister Tan Han. Although it wasn't explicitly stated in the terms, it was a simple matter for me. Besides, I wouldn't want our cooperation to suffer over such trivial details."
Ming Xueming spoke with great finesse. It was essentially selling a favor to gain goodwill, which really wasn't a big deal for someone in her position. Soon, our conversation shifted from that foundation toward another direction.
"Teaching Assistant Xiao Han’s methods are truly impressive. I assume your current form is also a clone?"
"A clone?" I looked at her suspiciously, though I wasn't particularly surprised. Even a Transcendent wouldn't be able to tell the difference without a very careful examination.
"Is there a problem? My main body is very busy."
"Of course. But... I’d like to take the liberty of asking a question. Naturally, if it involves your privacy or is inconvenient, feel free to refuse. I’m simply too curious."
"What is it? Just ask. Even if you don't, I won't tell you anything I don't want to tell you," I said bluntly.
"Thank you for your understanding. Then I’ll be direct. Teaching Assistant Xiao Han... is your main body... no longer in this world?" Ming Xueming asked cautiously.
"..."
I looked at Ming Xueming in surprise. That question revealed far too much!
"Why do you ask? Is that intel from your family?"
"Ah, so that's how it is." Seeing my initial silence followed by a non-answer, Ming Xueming quickly formed her own conclusions. "This information is considered highly classified even within the family. However, since we are partners, and this encounter was such a coincidence, I wanted to try communicating with you about it."
"The family knows... they even know I’ve left this world. Your family's intelligence network is truly all-seeing," I said with a playful smile.
This kind of information could only be known or deduced at the level of the Transcendent Academy. If the family knew, the Academy must have leaked it.
"You joke. The family's intelligence has always been confined to this world; we can't even learn much about the Expansion Realm. The reason the family knows this is, naturally, because a 'great hand' at the Academy level gave us a nudge."