Chapter 275: Enlightenment of Wisdom, Transformation of Meditation Technique
Time flies.
After gaining a clearer goal, my practice of advanced meditation technique became more efficient than I expected, even ahead of schedule by several days.
As everything seamlessly came to fruition, akin to a slow walk reaching a perfect conclusion, I felt the sensation described by Sister Bai.
It was a sense of clarity, but after a moment of satisfaction, it gave way to endless emptiness. My brain went blank, thoughts vanished, and a sense of void unconsciously occupied my mind.
At this moment, the advanced meditation technique lost its utility.
I pondered, aimlessly thinking about how the insights I had gained so far could relate to the complete spellbook before me.
The rituals brought about by those Fool Dreams and the accidental insights seemed unable to align with the runes or even the structure of the spellbook.
It seemed that only a derivation or transformation of the meditation technique could reach a new realm.
The prior experiences from the energy manipulation spells offered no applicable reference at this moment.
It seemed that only insights could inspire something new.
“Meditation… Enlightenment…”
After a long period of contemplation, a reasonable derivation had emerged regarding the concept of spell effects: meditation quiets the self, returns to the self, sparks inspiration, and enlightens wisdom.
In practical terms, expressing such aspirations through runes would be a true ritual facilitated by the wishes of the Fool Dream.
Thus, the insights previously obtained from Fool Dream were not just inspiration for rune combinations, but rather the runes themselves.
In the beginning of my study of runes, I learned that runes are the smallest divisions extracted from various ritual manifestations, and that rune rituals can be combined.
At this moment, I confidently dismantled the advanced meditation technique I had; this spellbook was useless to me, and I was naturally unreserved. Rather than causing damage, I valued this fleeting inspiration more.
Looking at the compact arrangement of runes within the advanced meditation spellbook, this was the limit of the spellbook, but not the limit of the runes.
Complex and advanced, what if the insights I obtained were not about altering their structural combinations, but rather simplifying them into new combined runes?
Even though I didn’t recognize any of these runes, guided by these insights, it felt as simple as assembling building blocks.
Once the originally obscure insight was placed in the right context, everything suddenly became clear.
If the Fool Dreams wanted to become true life, they needed to confront the concepts of life and d*ath. This was the reason for their mindless imitation of d*ath and rebirth despite being indifferent to it.
Because they didn’t understand why, they labeled this behavior as a ritual.
This was merely the normal expression of life regarding life and d*ath.
Yet this was a clumsy imitation of life by the Fool Dreams, revealing their desire to become true beings.
Even if the Fool Dreams had reincarnated to this point, they had forgotten the memories needed to become life; however, this desire remained. Because of this, the Nightmares, as the other half of their existence as dream creatures, would constantly seek them out.
At this level, they truly welcomed outsiders, as this allowed for more interaction with real life, even at the risk of Nightmare attacks.
However, even when attacked, they would not truly d*e, as they possessed no concept of d*ath. They would merely revert to the form of secret realm creatures and be reborn as a Fool Dream under that boulder. They hoped to help those who arrived, providing some small hint of enlightenment.
As the Village Head, Fool Lake became the most crucial role at this moment. He needed to meticulously record this memory, showcasing their past efforts to those qualified.
This was not a task that could be accomplished by a single person, requiring continual accumulation while waiting for the final person to perfect it or for a chosen one to appear.
But I seemed to be no such chosen one; I was the one who had the upper hand.
“Is this the composite runes formed under the enlightenment of life and d*ath? Truly… wonderful…”
I looked at the intertwined composite runes before me; so many runes etched from Fool Dream had combined into two runes, creating a meditation technique made from two runes!
No… this was no longer meditation technique; even… even its effects, I was unclear about. I only knew that this was a transformation of a spell I had completed by hand; this qualitative leap surpassed the quantitative stacking from meditation to advanced meditation technique.
The birth of this spell did not reveal any information, meaning even the Academy Head who arranged all this might not have anticipated this step.
With my blind trust in the realm of extraordinary witches, I could only silently ask myself if the Academy Head couldn’t achieve this step.
No one gave me an answer, but I could answer myself: the Academy Head should be able to, at least the one in my heart, managing an entire Witch Academy, could.
Doing some things always requires a faith set before you, regardless of existence or correctness; its value lies only in inspiring the relentless power to move forward.
“Xiao Han.”
A voice, seemingly distant, pulled me back to reality. At that moment, I realized I seemed to already be in the high sky.
The power emanating from the spellbook lifted me up into the sky, and as the spellbook quieted and the power dissipated, I felt myself gently descending until my feet touched the ground.
“What… exactly happened just now?” I looked up at Sister Bai. The tent I had been in tore apart, and the place I had been seemed to collapse into a radiating ruin due to some force.
“Xiao Han, don’t you know what just happened?” At that moment, Bai Yu also appeared somewhat dazed, seemingly relieved for my safe return.
“I don’t know; I only know I should… have benefited from the derivative spell, right?”
“Just now, the spellbook in your hand unleashed a terrifying power that destroyed this place. Although that power didn’t cause much damage, it seemed to be simply a release of energy.”
“Release of energy?”
Upon receiving this answer, I quickly realized that spellbooks were essentially a type of energy-based ritual, and by forming new runes, there could indeed be discrepancies in energy.
I just didn’t expect the commotion to be so great.
Curious but fearful, many Fool Dreams had gathered around me. Seeing the situation calm down, they tentatively stepped forward to check things out.
Even those students still in the village paused their actions.
Such commotion surely indicated that this was not a mundane occurrence. If this task were completed directly by the other side, they would be like clowns, gaining nothing after wasting so much time.
Discontent arose from this imbalance.
“Xiao Han, did you… succeed?”
“Not exactly a success; there’s still a long way to go, but I have made new discoveries.”
I ignored the glances and scrutiny of others and simply responded to Sister Bai’s curiosity.
In fact, even I wasn’t clear on what exactly I had accomplished; it felt vaguely surreal.
I merely relied on… intuition and insights; sometimes, these were seemingly more important than mere knowledge.
The only pity was that no one would explain the processes and principles to me.
This reminded me of asking Teacher Ji for help in magically altering the Memory Shelf spellbook. Although I still wouldn’t be considered the theoretical leader, at least Teacher Ji would continuously guide me through it, ultimately providing me with various materials and literature to comprehend the application fully.
“Alright, it’s fine now. I’m really sorry for causing such a commotion. Everyone can go back to their business~” I half-squatted and gently explained to the crowd of Fool Dreams. After all, a big trouble was likely brewing, inappropriate for them to witness.
Then they quickly returned to their own tasks as if nothing had happened. Fool Dreams were quite easy to manage; they were innocently adorable.
However, it was clear that others wouldn’t be so easily appeased as the Fool Dreams.
“Yang Yuelan, don’t you want to say something?”
I turned to the person who spoke to me. She was unfamiliar, a stranger, but she was also a new student.
“Are you talking to me? What do you expect me to say?” I smiled while maintaining my last semblance of decorum and replied.
Once someone opened their mouth to stop me, I lost hope in their quality.
“The commotion was so loud; you must have discovered the breakthrough for the enlightenment task. Can’t you share anything with us?”
“Share what? Am I not just a waste who knows nothing but to give in to temptation in your eyes, a fool ignorant of hard work? Do you expect me to share information?” I turned my head to stop Sister Bai, who had already shown signs of anger, then turned to look at the girl.
There were others following this outspoken girl, all new students, who seemed somewhat intimidated by Bai Yu at that moment. However, once they thought of all the spellbooks swapped here, they gained some courage.
I found it amusing to see their expressions change so dramatically; what gave them the courage to confront a senior?
Sister Bai indeed lost all her spellbooks, but spellbooks were not everything when it came to strength. Although I had no idea what techniques and skills Sister Bai possessed, the sheer physical prowess bestowed by her witch transformation would make it easy to handle them as if they were chicks.
“You must have obtained information we don’t know about. Share it, and we can figure out the key to the secret realm together. Isn’t that better than you working alone? This task has been hanging for over a hundred years; don’t be too arrogant!”
“Oh… listen to that, too arrogant? So you all know the task has been hanging for over a hundred years? How long have you been here? Do you have any leads? Do you even know what you’re looking for? I’ll tell you: will that allow you to move forward? Who gave you that confidence? A bunch of people only knowing how to ask for things; I was hoping you would provide me assistance?”
If it weren’t for the fact that there were still some Fool Dreams around who hadn’t left, I might have said something even harsher. But even at this level, I silenced them.
Silence indicated that they at least had some self-awareness, unlike those who say, “If you don’t tell me, how would I know?” who lacked even the awareness.
However, I knew these individuals were not planning to give up; one should not underestimate the greed of an ignorant person. It was precisely because they lacked self-awareness that they didn’t even know their appetite was so large, and facing something that could overwhelm them, they would greedily swallow it.
At this point, continuing the argument with them would only be my fault.
“Alright, if you still feel embarrassed, feel free to continue entangling here, but by then, you’ll be facing me as well.”
At this moment, another voice sounded, and everyone looked toward the speaker, their pupils dilating in surprise.
Perhaps when they faced Yang Yuelan, they were confronting the unknown; the ignorant are fearless. But when they confronted Tan Han, it was a direct fear, as they had felt the pain of being beaten by her before. During their time in Witch Academy, Tan Han had theorized with them and crushed them with her strength.
Right now, even I was somewhat surprised. I didn’t expect Tan Han to come to my aid at this moment, but indeed, her name still held greater power over them.
I also thought about whether I should learn from Tan Han, making my name feared by others, but I truly didn’t know how to achieve that, clearly demonstrating my prowess during the exchange matches.
Or perhaps… people are forgetful, only remembering those who hurt them?
“Tan Han, don’t think you can threaten us now. We have signed a borrowing contract; without spellbooks, you’re nothing!”
“Then you can try. Only the short-sighted would think the spellbook is everything to power,” Tan Han responded without hesitation, and her counter-threat was quite effective.
At once, the atmosphere became tense. Although Tan Han had a point, they still had the advantage in numbers; with many people, ideas multiply.
“I don’t have much time to waste with you here. If you want to know what I discovered, I can certainly tell you, but what can you do with that information? Everything traces back to the meditation technique gained upon entering. Has anyone among you ever sat down to meditate? And then what? Only the professional content follows. Do you know what runes are? Do you know what rituals are? Have you ever gained insights in Fool Village? Have you deconstructed a spellbook? Have you studied rune literature?”
As I bombarded them with a series of questions, a wave of oppressive energy rushed toward them, causing them to instinctively take a step back.
With each thing I mentioned, they became increasingly confused; none of these were on their current course schedule.
“How dare you demand without understanding anything! Do you know why the Fool Village Secret Realm has an Aoqin as a barrier? It’s to prevent people like you from entering. I spent an Aoqin to learn something; you… have just come to buy lessons.”
“You!”
Clearly, someone among them took offense at my words, and feeling humiliated, they became so angry that they couldn’t even form a rebuttal.
But that’s fine; they could bottle up their grievances, but they could still vent through their bodies, meaning they could resort to fighting.
“Xiao Han, this time don’t stop me; you have more important things to do, right? I’ll handle this.” At this moment, Bai Yu stepped forward from behind me, positioning herself as my protector.
“Eh? Um…”
This time I didn’t refuse but obediently stayed behind Sister Bai as the protected one.
“Sister Bai, don’t go too hard on them. Before entering, the senior maintaining the secret realm said it’s best to avoid conflicts.”
“Of course, I’ll be very measured.”
“Yang Yuelan! Do you only know how to hide behind a senior? Why don’t you dare to fight fairly? You shameless!”
At this moment, I turned my head away and ignored her. Shameless? Fair fight?
How could she utter such words? Isn’t it fair when they surround me with numbers?
With people lacking limits, special measures are naturally required.
At this point, I truly had many things to do, like testing this new spellbook’s effects and… the “insights” it provided after forming.
This spellbook felt incomplete, just like the initial meditation technique. I didn’t expect to have to repeat the previous cycle at this step…
I shook my head with a smile as I stored the spellbook, then met Tan Han’s gaze.
“Thank you for rescuing me.”
“No need to thank me; it seems I haven’t really helped that much.”
“As long as we’re on the same page, it’s fine. I see you were prepared to leave?”
“Yes, I was supposed to leave today. My things are almost packed, but I encountered this situation, so… I’m not planning to leave anymore.”
“Oh…”
“Wait…”
“I understand.”
When Tan Han said wait, I directly interrupted her. I knew what she was going to say; it was indeed a good opportunity to speak.
This reminded me of when Teacher Ji advised me to learn from Tan Han’s audacity, seizing opportunities as they arise, just like Tan Han did when she said wait, already prepared for my refusal.
“But wait until I’m done.”
“Thank you.”
A brief conversation, without any unnecessary fluff, fundamentally, Tan Han and these individuals were no different; they all sought to reap without labor, but ultimately, the outcomes were different.
This is what I meant when I said I wouldn’t be stingy about sharing information, but at times it also depended on my mood and the attitude of the other party.
