Chapter 976: Picking Up a Secret Realm for Free?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 976: Picking Up a Secret Realm for Free?
In the Dungeon World.
"Hmm, the situation is stable, nothing serious. It's just that the concentration of vegetation essence is a bit above the optimal range for gestation. Ling Yi~"
"Yes! I'm here!"
"You have to be careful! Don't just blindly stuff vegetation essence into your friend anymore," I said.
"Eh? But... but if I don't..."
"Ling Yi, you really like eating fruit, right? But if I made you eat a giant one all at once, could you finish it? In many things, more isn't necessarily better; what's most suitable is best, understand? You're overfeeding your friend."
"Is that so? I... I understand! I'll definitely be more careful next time!" Ling Yi said seriously, looking exactly like a patient strictly following a doctor's orders.
After sensing the condition of the plant spirit embryo, I left the remaining time and space to Ling Yi.
After all, Ling Yi needed some private space too.
"Still no sign of consciousness emerging..."
Once we were further away, I met Sister Bai's curious gaze and spoke up.
"So that unborn plant spirit is like... a person in a vegetative state?"
"A person in a vegetative state at least has consciousness, whether they're in a deep sleep or awake. That plant spirit is different; consciousness doesn't seem to emerge as easily as I imagined."
"Then Xiao Han, what do you think a soul without a governing consciousness is?"
"A... material? Like soul essence. It's an important part of what constitutes life, but life isn't just a pile of these materials." This made me think of the difference between a mimicry soul and soul depiction.
A mimicry soul is just a pile of mimicked soul matter. The Ancient Remnant Ice currently within the Ice Throne was stuck in that state, which was why it had yet to become a true life form.
But I was also curious... if the Ancient Remnant Ice King became a true life form, what would be the relationship between that life and me?
A life clone?
That was a realm my current external incarnation composite technique couldn't reach.
My clones weren't alive. Beings above the Transcendent level could easily sense that when facing them.
It was lucky that in the game world, Transcendents weren't allowed to interfere; otherwise, they would have realized instantly that the "me" there was actually just a clone.
As Sister Bai and I talked, we slowly reached the edge of the island in the heart of the lake.
At a spot with an excellent view, a wooden house frame had been erected. This was the second residence Sister Bai and I had chosen.
A lake-view house with stunning scenery.
"Sister Bai, let's finish building this house quickly, and then let's go somewhere, shall we?"
"Oh? Suddenly have something to do?" Hearing me say this, Sister Bai immediately understood that this was something my main body needed to handle personally.
"Yeah, I plan to take a trip to the Glacial Throne Secret Realm. It's time for my Ancient Remnant Ice clone to come out and move around outside the Secret Realm." I spoke quite directly.
"Not leaving right now?"
"Our new house isn't finished yet." I pointed to the wooden frame nearby.
After all, the events had only just happened. The impact of the Jack-of-all-trades Club recalling its members from the Qunluosen Wasteland hadn't spread yet. This matter naturally had to wait a bit.
"Since you're not in a hurry, Xiao Han, then I won't be either~ Come on! Let's go prepare some materials together." Sister Bai pulled my hand with great enthusiasm.
* * *
Meanwhile, the club members stationed in the Qunluosen Wasteland were utterly bewildered, but they still followed the orders, packed their things, and prepared to return to the academy.
They had to confirm repeatedly that they didn't need to bring the Secret Realm core back before they reluctantly departed.
Though they were confused, this clearly wasn't a problem for them to worry about. Moreover, living in this Qunluosen Wasteland was truly uncomfortable.
The academy dormitory beds were much better!
Seeing that the people from the Witch Academy had truly vanished, leaving nothing behind but a Secret Realm core that couldn't be moved, the observers bit the bullet and sent the news back.
Before long, the Wizard Academy, Elf Academy, Angel Academy, and other top-tier or large-scale Transcendent academies all sent students here in succession.
"Wait... those witches really just gave this Secret Realm to us? Didn't the rumors say this Secret Realm didn't belong to their club?"
"I don't know. Maybe the rumors were fake."
"We've made contact with the witches... The Secret Realm wasn't left for us. They've strictly forbidden anyone outside the Witch Academy from entering the Secret Realm privately..."
"Haha! Isn't that hilarious? They've all run away, and they think they can tell us not to go in? Do they think they own the place?"
"Careful! This is very likely some kind of trap. You dare talk like that—has your brain never been scammed by a witch before?" The people from the Wizard Academy were the first to calm down, sharply rebuking the idiot who had spoken without thinking.
The person who was snapped at saw it was a representative from the Wizard Academy and immediately shut up.
Wizards' methods were incredibly eerie. He didn't want to be killed by these heartless fellows; if he was, there would be nowhere to seek justice.
After staying in a Transcendent academy for a long time, one would realize that life was truly cheap within the academies.
The only time you were worth anything was when someone used your death as an excuse to demand compensation.
If a person died, no one actually cared.
Not every Transcendent academy was as harmonious as the witches—even if that harmony was only on the surface.
In the Main World, the surface-level civilization merely masked the truth; the Transcendent world had always been a place where the strong preyed on the weak.
Now, facing this Secret Realm core, the crowd didn't know what to do for a moment.
They didn't dare rush into the Secret Realm blindly. After all, there was a powerful Ancient Remnant Ice inside.
If those witches had set traps at the entrance before leaving, they would be dying for nothing!
Though... using an entire Secret Realm just to trade for the lives of a few of them seemed like a bad deal no matter how you looked at it.
But they didn't dare gamble with their lives.
Even if their lives were negligible in the eyes of the Transcendents, they cherished them as treasures.
Shortly after the information was reported back, the various academies sent people over to investigate.
Given such an anomalous situation, they naturally had to have trusted individuals see it for themselves.
Once they confirmed it was true, they were overjoyed!
Although they had communicated with the Witch Academy's club for a long time and the Secret Realm had never been transferred, they already viewed it as their own property.
Soon, they set up temporary camps on the vacant land where the Witch Academy had moved out.
Originally, they wanted to move the Secret Realm core, but after trying, they found they couldn't.
The Secret Realm cores of the Witch Academy weren't something that could be moved by ordinary means. Furthermore, with representatives from so many academies gathered here, it wasn't appropriate to move it to any one place.
After all, even if such a Secret Realm was just an empty shell, its value was immense.
So, in the end, they could only leave it where it was.
Although the Secret Realm core was still within the Witch Academy's sphere of influence, the Qunluosen Wasteland was a highly disputed area. If the witches actually came looking for trouble, they were confident they could tie them up in arguments and disputes.
If possible, they even wanted to kick the witches out entirely. they didn't like a bunch of witches bossing them around.
After a brief discussion that unilaterally excluded the Witch Academy, they quickly established a joint Secret Realm development team.
Led by the three top academies, they proposed to completely seal the Ancient Remnant Ice inside the Secret Realm.
After all, previous attempts and the deaths of personnel had made them realize that their combat power wasn't enough to kill it on its home turf.
So, they changed their approach: using the complex methods of the wizards as a core, they would set up a Wizard Sealing Art to simply trap it.
The reason they had to do this was because they discovered that the Ancient Remnant Ice inside seemed to have the power to leave the Secret Realm at any time, but for some unknown reason, it had stayed put.
Since they couldn't move the core by ordinary means, they had to use other Transcendent methods to assist.
The sealing arts mastered by wizards were a very versatile tool. For example, a Folded Space Sealing Art was perfect for containing this Secret Realm. Once sealed, they could use space transfer sorcery to "transport" the Secret Realm core hidden within the folded space.
As for where to move it, that didn't matter, as long as it wasn't within witch territory.
Now, their primary goal was to use special means to enter the Secret Realm and test the waters.
Whether it was spells, alchemy items, or even puppets and clones, they needed to explore the interior to confirm those witches hadn't left any "surprises" for them.
Only then could they truly return to the Secret Realm.
After a round of tense probing, they confirmed there was no danger, which only deepened their confusion.
Why on earth did those witches evacuate so urgently?
But after thinking for a long time, no one could provide a correct answer. In the end, they could only conclude that the people from the Witch Academy had suddenly lost their minds.
If the people from the Witch Secret Realm and the Jack-of-all-trades Club were here, they would definitely say they didn't want this either.
But with the news brought back by Fu Xinglan and Tracy, followed by more new information, they had been forced to completely abandon their desires for this Secret Realm.
The Glacial Throne Secret Realm was a "disposable" realm. Once the Ancient Remnant Ice gathered all the fragments and reshaped itself into the Great Spellbook, the Secret Realm would collapse.
This was news they hadn't known themselves, but now they did.
Furthermore, they had learned one more thing: the final fragment of the Great Glacial Throne Technique—the missing Heart of the Cold Wave—was in Xiao Han's hands!
This meant that as long as a certain little witch teaching assistant wanted to, this Secret Realm could be detonated like a firework at any moment!
This immediately reminded many in the club of the threat Ming Xueming had brought back earlier.
If the club continued to harass Tan Han and the others, they could blow up the Secret Realm like a firework.
That wasn't an empty boast!
Thus, the club realized it was time to let go.
Not long after, they also received a notice from the academy. The Glacial Throne Secret Realm had officially entered the decommissioning process, with the specific time of destruction yet to be determined.
Before decommissioning, the club could engage in unrestricted destructive development and utilization of the Secret Realm.
But the club, already knowing the truth, understood exactly what that meant.
Development?
Develop what?
From start to finish, this Secret Realm was just a game the academy had thrown out!
The academy had made no promises regarding it.
If they really asked why the academy treated them this way, the academy would only respond: A Secret Realm assessed to be near decommissioning has been handed over to students for their own waste utilization.
All those elaborate setups were just them being over-imaginative.
And the academy hadn't lied to them; this really was a research Secret Realm for the Great Glacial Throne Technique. It had been abandoned for so long, so bringing it out now was obviously because it was on the verge of collapse. It did indeed contain research materials related to the Great Spellbook.
But now, the club no longer had the heart to argue with the academy over this mess.
Throughout the entire affair, the academy had only conveyed one message to them: the academy was extremely biased toward that little witch teaching assistant, Yang Yuehan.
Anyone who tried to scheme against her would come to no good end!
However, the people from the Witch Academy would absolutely never tell those outsiders about these convoluted internal details!
Let those guys who thought they'd picked up a Secret Realm for free be happy for a little longer; they wouldn't be laughing for much longer.
Moreover, the people within the Witch Academy's club vaguely felt that this Secret Realm was a pit the academy had dug for the other schools.
Even though they had lost everything, big and small, it didn't stop them from coldly watching these people fall into the trap the witches had set for them.
And the parties involved were still completely oblivious.
The people in the Qunluosen Wasteland, having tested that there were no traps in the Secret Realm, weren't making much progress.
To speed things up and prevent the Witch Academy from reacting, they had to move faster.
So, after preparing the materials for the sealing art, they tentatively entered the Secret Realm again.
However, before long, the space around the Secret Realm core distorted. Several figures were sent flying out of the torn space.
Ice crystals several meters long had impaled their bodies, pinning them to the wasteland!
"Hiss!"
Those left outside the Secret Realm gasped at the sight!
"Quick! Save them! Dammit, penetrating trunk wounds... their immortality has been completely drained. What kind of cruel monster is inside?"
"Where are the people who master spatial methods? Help them! Get back to the academy immediately and notify the mentors to set up a resurrection ritual!"
After a frantic round of emergency aid, the brutality of the first encounter cast a ridiculous shadow of gloom over everyone.
In the end, the few people remaining there stared blankly at the ice crystal spikes scattered around the Secret Realm core, which were still stained with the blood of those who had been sent away.
One of them stepped forward, picked up a broken piece of what looked like ice crystal, and examined it closely in his hand.
"What are you doing with those broken pieces of ice? Throw them away, they're bad luck," someone passing by said.
"Wait a second! these ice crystals... they seem to be materials that can conduct Transcendent power?"