Chapter 954: Gardening Without Definitions
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 954: Gardening Without Definitions
Witch Academy.
After spending some time learning gardening techniques with Sister Bai, I found myself picking it up quite rapidly.
As I slowed down the pace of my life, I began to discover the little surprises hidden within the mundane. These so-called surprises were, of course, the plants in Sister Bai’s villa.
Previously, I had always viewed these plants as mere decorations, hurriedly passing by these tiny lives that had been so meticulously cared for. But every single one of them had been planted by Sister Bai’s own hands.
Occasionally, Sister Bai would water them or add a bit of fertilizer. For the most part, she refrained from using magic to interfere with their natural growth.
However, as Sister Bai grew busier, her primary focus shifted toward succulents and other plants with robust vitality. Now that I had taken up gardening, Sister Bai had added some more delicate varieties to the collection.
As for the best place to plant them… nowhere beat the Dungeon World. It was a fragment of an entire world, home even to beings like the Saint Realm Elves. How could it not be suitable for a bit of cultivation?
Upon returning to the Dungeon World, we provided some solutions to the question Ling Yi, the Saint Realm Elf, had posed earlier. After all, Ling Yi was still counting on us to find the root of her friend's problem after our trip outside!
We didn't claim we could solve it directly; we simply said we had a way to help Ling Yi’s friend accelerate their incubation. However, the method carried risks.
A choice involving such risks required time, and Ling Yi needed a moment to make her decision.
The reason we framed it that way was that we currently lacked the time to conduct a life experiment for Ling Yi’s "friend"—no, it couldn't even be called an experiment; it was an act of creation! Her friend had died before even being fully gestated.
In the end, we left the moment of decision to Ling Yi. Since it concerned her "best friend," she naturally needed significant psychological preparation. Thus, we temporarily left Ling Yi and the others to the Dungeon World.
Meanwhile, I continued to study the basics of gardening.
Although this fundamental knowledge existed within the Tree of Great Knowledge, the feeling of being taught personally by Sister Bai was entirely different.
"Hey~ Sister Bai, look! The succulent leaf I plucked from yours has grown a new little bud!"
I held up a palm-sized decorative pot shaped like a cat. There wasn't much soil in it, but it was more than enough for a tiny cluster of flesh blooming from a single leaf.
"Xiao Han! You used magic to force its growth again, didn't you?"
"Ugh… bleh~"
I stuck my tongue out at Sister Bai, trying to dodge the subject. After all, without magic, what plant could possibly grow that fast?
"Is your butt itching for a spanking? The art of gardening is about enjoying the process of watching a plant change slowly day by day. If you act like this, how are you any different from a commercial grower chasing efficiency?"
"Hmph! I won't do it next time~ Ow, ow! You're really hitting me~ Ah♡~"
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
"I know, I know! No magic next time!" I immediately begged for mercy without a hint of hesitation.
"Accepting the criticism humbly but never changing your ways, right?" Facing my enthusiastic admission of guilt, Sister Bai wasn't about to be fooled again.
Well… after all, this wasn't the first time I’d done this over the past few days. My heart, which constantly chased efficiency and results, had bled into my gardening.
After our "interaction" ended, I carefully cradled my little potted plant. Regardless of how it got there, this was the fruit of my own labor.
"Xiao Han… can that restless heart of yours still not settle down?"
"Hmm… if I could truly settle down, perhaps I would be tirelessly attempting the Purification Method over and over again right now," I said with a sigh.
"I suppose… that’s true." Hearing me say that, Sister Bai paused. While my words were a bit of a logical leap, wasn't that exactly how Xiao Han was?
When had she started trying to impose these rigid rules and frameworks on Xiao Han?
"I felt that~ Sister Bai, you seem to have realized something, haven't you?" Sensing the resonance of Sister Bai’s Heart Sense, I asked with a smile.
"It seems I’ve been overthinking things these past two days…" Sister Bai said, shaking her head apologetically.
She understood what she had done wrong—she had put the cart before the horse. What was the original reason Xiao Han wanted to learn gardening? Was it to stress herself out?
Everyone has a different purpose for learning a skill, and thus a different focus. Perhaps… Xiao Han simply enjoyed watching those plants stretch out before her eyes at a visible speed.
"You weren't overthinking it, Sister Bai~ At least not anymore!" I comforted her. "Because you’ve figured it out now~"
"And if I hadn't figured it out, would you…?"
"There are no 'ifs'!" I interrupted her. "If it really came to that, we’d just keep dueling at night! Until I 'persuaded' you into submission in bed!"
"My, Xiao Han, you’re getting bolder with your words lately~" Sister Bai was instantly amused. Between lovers, who could resist a bit of dirty talk?
"Wait! Hold on a second!"
"What? Is there something else you want to say?"
"It’s serious business~ from the Game World!" I reined in my playfulness and turned serious.
"The Game World? Did something happen?" Sister Bai asked with concern. She knew Xiao Han had a clone in that world and had seen her summon several other clones there. If Xiao Han was bringing it up now, it meant there was trouble.
"Oh, it’s just a small problem~"
As I spoke, I expanded my Heart State Domain. The prototype of my composite domain, built on a triple-point architecture, instantly reorganized the order of my surroundings.
Although the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment had been dismantled to become the original Fool's Dream Holy Relic, as my order synchronized, I was gradually gaining control over this power that was "not quite under my command."
Sister Bai stepped back to give me space. Seeing my movements, Bai Yu understood what I was about to do. It seemed the clone in the Game World required support from the main body's power.
Though she wanted to help, she was restricted by the Witch Contract; she could not interfere with the Game World, not even in this manner.
I pulled out the Book in the Box, which I hadn't used in a long time. After my main body was liberated, this weapon had returned to me from my clone’s hands.
In an instant, my domain prototype reached its limit. The energy consumption of a domain was terrifying. Even with my self-generated mana and the techniques I’d learned to fuel the domain, I still couldn't drop the "prototype" suffix. After all, a self-sustaining energy cycle required a hundred million mana sources—not something a limited energy pool could handle.
I looked at the Reverse Summoning Spell constructed within my domain’s order. A faint smile played on my lips, carrying a hint of killing intent.
This time, I didn't choose to slash them. Whether it was the light of a blade or the qi of a sword, they were merely vessels for an attack. Order provided the carrier for that form of aggression.
Therefore, the Book in the Box could also bring them ultimate despair!
As I struck, a phantom image of a book's corner instantly vanished into the ritual structure of the Reverse Summoning Spell.
Just like that, a strike capable of obliterating an entire villa and its surrounding buildings was unleashed and then vanished within Sister Bai’s home.
As the runes and the summoning ritual structure dissipated before me, I acted as if I had done nothing at all, picking up my succulent pot again.
"Who are you fighting that requires such a grand display?" Sister Bai stepped forward, waving her hand to disperse the lingering aftershocks of the domain and the ritual.
"Oh~ just some outsiders. They wanted to gang up on my clone. I couldn't just stand by, so I lent a hand personally~" I said with a smile, completely indifferent to the slaughter that single strike had caused.
"I suspect it wasn't as simple as you make it sound. I’ve noticed you’re quite skilled in the art of conversation… How can someone so well-spoken be bad at socializing?" Sister Bai teased.
"Don't poke at my sore spots, Sister Bai~ This isn't eloquence; I’m just talking smack!"
Thinking back, I wondered how many people had wanted to curse my entire family the moment I opened my mouth… Recently, that Fallen Elf in the Game World probably counted as one.
"Fine, fine~ let’s not mention it. Having me is enough for you, right?"
"Right! Having Sister Bai is enough!" I responded enthusiastically.
After saying that, I held the succulent with its newly sprouted bud in front of her again. "By the way, Sister Bai~ look at this!"
"What is it?"
"I'll show you something 'good'~" As I spoke, magical fluctuations rippled from my hand. The tiny bud, barely a quarter the size of a fingernail, began to bloom visibly under this power!
Not only that, but as it stretched out, the succulent’s petals underwent a metamorphosis. They became as transparent as crystal, and the once-rounded leaves turned faceted, reflecting the natural light from every angle.
"Is this… induction? You’ve changed the entire species, haven't you?" Sister Bai gasped.
She knew about succulents; this was a crystal-type, which was further divided into many sub-species. But this seemed to be… a brand-new variety outside of her knowledge?
"This is a technique I’ve mastered for inscribing racial concepts and evolution called 'Life Evolution.' It also involves using things like Crystallization Spells to inscribe induction-like techniques. Finally, I used a Non-Sequence Derivation Rebirth Spell—a variation of Reincarnation—to assist in rewriting… well, you can think of it as the concept of a bloodline. This is the final result~"
"It’s beautiful… Xiao Han, you can actually do something like this?" Sister Bai’s eyes sparkled as she took the palm-sized crystal succulent, unable to put it down.
"Actually… before the final effect manifested, I didn't know what it would look like either," I explained with a smile.
"Even you didn't know? So it was pure luck?"
"No, not necessarily luck, Sister Bai~ You might not have realized it, but I did this as another form of verification."
"Another verification? Are you experimenting again?"
"Mhm~ I just wanted to share what I’m working on with you in this way. You like it when I do this, don't you? Otherwise… if I used professional terminology, you might not understand."
"Of course I like it~ I like anything you tell me. But… if it’s in a way I can understand, I like it even more." Sister Bai toyed with the succulent before asking, "So, what did you want to tell me?"
"It’s about the life experiments and life creation of the Fool's Dream," I began. "The spells, techniques, and derivations I used on this succulent are essentially the same methods I’ve used or am using on the Fool's Dream. Their original purpose was to create entirely new life."
"And?"
"But what you’re holding isn't a new life. Its life form was altered by me in a specific way, yet it still grew into an existing type of plant. Isn't that miraculous?"
"That… well, it feels like something easy to grasp but impossible to think deeply about," Sister Bai commented.
"Exactly! It explains a very common phenomenon: life will find its own way! And that 'way' is a life form that has already appeared within the Void!"
As I spoke, I plucked another leaf from the succulent in Sister Bai’s hand. Following a flash of magical fluctuations so complex that even Sister Bai’s true perception couldn't decipher them, the leaf transformed into a completely different succulent form.
"Using this method, it is impossible to create a truly new life!"
"Relying on natural selection and natural interference will never result in a brand-new life form!"
"To create a new life, one must use their own will to defy natural selection from the very beginning, forcing it to become something new."
"That is what the Fool's Dream are."
"I see… Well, I’m curious then. If the Fool's Dream are meant to be a new life form, why did you choose the form of cat-girls for them?" Sister Bai asked. "Cat-girls are already an existing sub-race of beastmen, aren't they?"
"Hehe~ Sister Bai, you don't understand. The Fool's Dream… they are unique because their essence is dream consciousness! They are constructed from Dream State Soul Essence! From the very start, their form of existence is distinct from other life forms, much like the difference between the animal and plant kingdoms, or material life and energy life. They are fundamentally different."
"If I had to define the Fool's Dream, I would call them the 'Dream Kingdom.' Their existence isn't even on the same level as the examples I just gave. A true comparison for the Fool's Dream would be the 'Reality Kingdom' versus the 'Dream Kingdom.'"
"Speaking of which, biological classification uses Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family… Sister Bai, do you think I should create a whole new set of taxonomic ranks for the Fool's Dream? They are the dream life of the future, after all."
"I think it’s a great idea. If you want to do it, go for it," Sister Bai joked. "Just try to make the names simple and easy to remember. Consider it an act of charity—otherwise, future witches studying the Life Domain might end up crying over their textbooks!"