Chapter 979: What! A Second-Year? The Advantage is Mine!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 979: What! A Second-Year? The Advantage is Mine!
After Xing Anlei returned with Jiao Xiaoshuang, news quickly reached the Witch Secret Realm Club, the Jack-of-all-trades Club, and other organizations.
That Teaching Assistant Xiao Han was actually going to take action personally?
This was truly unexpected. Furthermore, according to the information they had, wasn't Teaching Assistant Xiao Han’s main body supposed to be staying in that game world?
However, once Xing Anlei mentioned that the Transcendent Witch Mentor named "Bai Yu" was accompanying her, all objections vanished.
With a Transcendent Mentor intervening... there would be no problems at all.
The only thing the club members still couldn't quite figure out was why the Academy was going to such great lengths for this specific play.
They couldn't find an answer to that. Ultimately, they concluded that either the situation had taken a turn the Academy hadn't anticipated, or... the Academy had some yet-to-be-revealed scheme in motion.
Once they confirmed that this wasn't something they needed to worry about—since a Mentor was going to handle those pests—their hearts finally found some balance.
At this moment, they were more concerned about the materials.
Upon learning that these materials could only be produced by those Ancient Remnant Ice kings, they felt a pang of regret, as if they had just missed out on hundreds of millions.
But regret was useless now. The only silver lining was that the other side hadn't gained much profit either.
Before the secret realm was fully occupied and the Ancient Remnant Ice enslaved, the value of the materials those people obtained through such methods wasn't even enough to fund a single Resurrection Ritual.
This thought immediately made them feel much better.
Afterward, they began to study the crystal material samples Xing Anlei had brought back.
Since Xing Anlei could bring them back, it meant the Jack-of-all-trades Club might be able to reach a cooperation agreement with the other party.
Since the other party said they were going to take action, then both the secret realm and the Ancient Remnant Ice would most likely belong to them.
The same applied to these materials.
If the production capacity of this material was massive, they might even be able to collaborate. After all... the Jack-of-all-trades Club was the largest material market within the Witch Academy.
At this moment, they suddenly realized why Teaching Assistant Xiao Han had been laying the groundwork in the Expansion Realm earlier. Perhaps even before that time, she had already known about this concept and wanted to use it to break into the Expansion Realm's material market.
The Expansion Realm was a world where nearly everyone was extraordinary! Even if it wasn't as prosperous as the Academy, the important thing was its development potential!
The shallow extraordinary resources scattered throughout the Expansion Realm were, in the end, non-renewable consumables. These materials, however, were stable, reproducible products that would never run out.
Now, the Jack-of-all-trades Club... seemed to have a reason why they had to cooperate with her.
One had to remember that branch academies were going to be established in the Expansion Realm!
Could the Jack-of-all-trades Club afford to stay huddled only in the Core World?
Absolutely not.
Although the Witch Academy currently had a power network plan to promote universal transcendence, the resistance in the Core World was simply too great. Even their families felt powerless against it.
For the Core World to truly reach a level of universal transcendence, the Witch Academy would either have to steamroll every opposing Transcendent Academy or persuade them all.
As things stood, neither seemed particularly likely.
If the so-called universal transcendence ended up being nothing more than witches entertaining themselves within their own territories, then in the end, it really would just be self-amusement.
They hadn't been pondering this plan for long when they suddenly received news.
Teaching Assistant Xiao Han had left the school!
And she was heading straight toward the Qunluosen Wasteland.
Upon hearing this, the crowd was shocked but didn't hesitate. They immediately dispatched people to follow and investigate.
They had to keep a close eye on the progress of such an important matter. After all, they were also very curious about what means this Teaching Assistant Xiao Han would use.
Based on their expectations and their superficial understanding of her, they guessed she would most likely just fight her way through.
After all, this was a person who hated trouble!
If something could be solved with violence, she absolutely wouldn't waste words.
* * *
Qunluosen Wasteland.
After one initial probe, the various academies had all come to terms with reality.
Back when the secret realm was still in the Witch Academy's hands, the people from other academies participating in the counter-offensive were basically just clocking in without putting in any real effort.
After all, the secret realm wasn't theirs. Why should they risk their lives?
Even if they retook the secret realm, the fragments would most likely fall into the Witch Academy's hands. It was better to just let things remain at a stalemate.
But even so, the casualties among the people sent by the other academies had been heavy.
Fortunately, they weren't particularly important figures.
Originally, they were about to give up on the fight for the fragments. Everyone had thought they could succeed at the start, but now that they had failed, they—as families—possessed at least a sliver of grace to accept the outcome.
But no one expected it! The secret realm had actually fallen into their hands in such an absurd manner!
Naturally, they had to ramp up their exploration efforts!
However, without the witches acting as the main force to shoulder the pressure, the danger of facing the Ancient Remnant Ice became much more direct and apparent!
The first wave of explorers all suffered moderate injuries at minimum, and several even died inside the secret realm, their bodies impossible to recover.
After all, not every senior student dabbled in space-level transcendent methods, and they certainly didn't have the foundation of the Witch Academy, where a single spellbook could facilitate spatial effects.
Losses were inevitable.
Over the past few days, they hadn't focused on exploring the secret realm, as the cost of a single expedition was too high.
They were planning the distribution of the secret realm, but there was a disagreement among the top academies regarding the plan to move the secret realm core.
The two sides of the disagreement were the Afuhemi Forest Elves and the Wizards.
The Forest Elves' logic was simple: the territory the Witch Academy occupied in the Core World bordered the Elven territories.
While it didn't directly border the Afuhemi Academy's territory, those were still Transcendent Academies belonging to the Elven lineage, nominally affiliated with the Afuhemi transcendent race.
Therefore, Afuhemi Academy advocated for transferring the secret realm core to the nearest bordering location. This was simpler and more convenient for future plans.
Furthermore, the Qunluosen Wasteland was the junction between the Witch Academy and a transcendent race academy called the "Sun Rock Elves."
The Sun Rock Elves were Elemental Elves who controlled the elements. They were a hybrid race that had stabilized after the intermingling of various elven tribes. They loved sunlight, and their living environments were primarily rocky wastelands.
Their attributes clashed with nature-loving elves like the Afuhemi Forest Elves. It was no wonder they served as a buffer zone between Afuhemi Academy and the Witch Academy.
Even so, out of dependence on the transcendent race, the Sun Rock Elves had entered the Main World through their relationship with the Afuhemi Forest Elves. They were, in fact, subordinates.
Now, Afuhemi Academy wanted to move the secret realm core to the Sun Rock Elves' territory with minimal cost, claiming nominal ownership of the core and completely cutting the Witch Academy out.
But the Wizards, the other party in the dispute, could never agree to this.
The Sealing Art used to transfer the secret realm originated from the Wizards. The spatial rules used to pry into the sealing space also belonged to the Wizards. Spatial methods ignored distance—wouldn't it be safer to send it directly to the Wizard Academy?
Those witches wouldn't charge into the Wizard Academy for these interests, would they?
Moreover, when it came to "enslaving life," if the Wizards claimed to be second in the Main World, no other race would dare claim to be first!
Not even the witches!
The two sides were at a major impasse regarding the temporary location of the secret realm core. Even if the distribution of interests was settled, if they lost the initiative, they would truly be at the mercy of whatever the other side said.
With two top academies in disagreement, the other academies didn't dare interject. Add in a peacemaker like the Holy Angels, and the three top academies essentially left no room for the others.
"We can't drag this on any longer... we've wasted several days on this nonsense! If this continues, something is bound to go wrong!" the representative from the Elves spoke again, hoping the Wizards would consider the bigger picture.
This time they didn't have the witches. Without the witches' intervention, they didn't have the means of a Witch Contract to bind the distribution of interests for all parties.
And the Wizards' rule of Equivalent Exchange made it too easy for the Wizards to find loopholes. That was why they had been arguing for so long.
"How about we, the Holy Angels, preside over a Holy Judgment for the distribution?"
"Scram!" ×2
Just as these people were arguing incessantly, a familiar yet somewhat strange girl's voice drowned out all the contention.
"Since none of you can provide a good suggestion, how about I offer one? For example... return it to the Witch Academy."
"Who's there!"
When that voice rang out, everyone present felt an instinctive shudder run through their bodies.
It was their bodies telling them danger had arrived before their consciousness even registered it.
Only after their minds told them that such a person "existed" nearby did they belatedly see a figure standing not far away!
The derivative power of the Ordinary Subject influenced the levels of consciousness and mental perception. Furthermore, under the branch of the Great Soul Subject, it was an all-encompassing life-essence suppression against soul-essence lifeforms. This was what made the methods of the Ordinary Subject so terrifying.
Only this time, it wasn't the result of Sister Bai taking action, but my own shallow interpretation of the Ordinary branch, using my powerful attainments in the Great Soul Subject.
Once everyone saw the figure, they all retreated. This was born out of fear of the unknown.
However, some among them, upon seeing that iconic silver-white hair, immediately shielded the others in sheer terror.
They recognized her. The person before them was the most untouchable person in the Witch Academy—Yang Yuehan!
Those who hadn't faced her personally simply had no idea how terrifying she was.
To reduce the influence of other academies on their own, most Transcendent Academies would downplay the geniuses of their rivals, especially the students of the Witch Academy.
"It seems some of you still recognize me, but it looks like even more have no impression of me at all?" I looked at the crowd's reaction with a sense of satisfaction.
After all, I had gradually faded from the students' sight for a while.
Even the Dreamscape Calamity incident, which had caused quite a stir, had only circulated at the transcendent level.
In this information age, as long as one doesn't appear online, people gradually forget them.
I was no exception.
If one really wanted to force them to remember something, they could only recall the anchors of specific events.
For example... taking first place in the Multi-Academy Joint Competition.
Those with higher status might remember the feat of fighting against players during the holiday auction.
"It's you... Yang Yuehan."
This time, the one who spoke was an apprentice from the Wizard Academy. If anyone had been affected by me the most, it was undoubtedly the Wizard Academy.
After all, the Witch Academy had personally extorted the Wizard Academy over my affairs.
Many Wizards still remembered how arrogant that Witch Academy Dean, who called herself Mei Lind, had been when she descended.
Consequently, they had indirectly looked into what had happened, only to find out that a Wizard had used special means to kill a little witch.
What was even more hateful was that this little witch was resurrected afterward!
Now, the kill-on-sight bounty for this little witch named Yang Yuehan was posted directly at the top of the Academy's bounty list!
No one knew why she occupied the number one spot, or why an entire page was dedicated to her arrogant bounty poster.
"So someone does recognize me. That makes things easier." I gave a light chuckle and clapped my hands. "Then, I ask all you sensible people to leave the property belonging to the Witch Academy. This Glacial Throne Secret Realm belongs to the Witch Academy."
As I spoke those words, an invisible pressure instantly settled on everyone's shoulders.
In this clash of auras, several people reacted instantly. Powerful life-levels bloomed, forming a suppression of life essence.
"What are you all doing! This Yang Yuehan is a second-year at most! She just has the title of a Teaching Assistant—can that really scare you?"
The leading Wizard apprentice spoke up indignantly.
He roared at his group of spineless teammates.
But only he knew—a second-year?
Even as a second-year, she was enough to suppress the entire Witch Academy to the point where no one dared compete with her!
She was far more lethal than her fragile appearance suggested.
The reason he shouted this to everyone was to use this method to provoke them into facing this terrifying individual together...
"What? Only a second-year?"
"Damn! I was actually startled by someone like that. Motherfucker, a second-year... the advantage is mine!"
Those who were unclear on the situation felt their confidence return upon hearing such a misleading description.
Most of these people were students from smaller Transcendent Academies.
However, the students from the Dragon Blood Academy remained terrified.
Because they remembered very clearly... it was because this little witch died that a Transcendent Witch claiming to be her girlfriend stormed their academy...
And hacked several of their mentors to death!
With such a chain-reaction landmine standing there, who would dare provoke her?
Perhaps the top academies had their own confidence, but did their small academies deserve to be the targets of her venting?
However, there weren't many academies as clear-headed as the Dragon Blood Academy. Now, with the people from the three top academies backing them up...
The opponent was just one person. How could they lose?
So, they all followed the Wizard apprentice's lead, releasing the pressure of their life-levels.
A second-year meant she had been in school for two or three years at most.
How could such a person withstand the combined life-pressure of so many of them?
Back when they were second-years, they were still struggling just to get by in their academies.
But clearly... they were all wrong.
Facing the combined life-level pressure of dozens, nearly a hundred people, I remained motionless.
The life-level originating from my soul's essence, combined with the control over body and soul I had gained since awakening as a Body Cultivator, perfectly neutralized this pressure.
After all... the soul-level enhancement techniques created through Soul Depiction and Life Evolution were no joke.
I said I would advance to Transcendent ahead of schedule.
Ten years is too long.
Since I set that goal, I must possess the means to achieve it!