Chapter 382: Research on Extraordinary Knowledge
Time passed day by day.
Every day, I followed a set routine of meditation and body cultivation, and during the remaining time, I went to Teacher Ji to start learning how to use and understand those instruments.
I haven’t yet gotten my hands on research related to Extraordinary Knowledge; according to Teacher Ji, after I finish learning how to use those instruments, I still need to go through a large amount of reference literature. After all, this is something that requires a significant knowledge base to undertake.
The materials… just looking at them was truly astonishing.
I felt as if I were a soldier who had already gone to the battlefield, but instead of allowing me to fight, Teacher Ji made me practice my accuracy by shooting at wooden targets on the battlefield, which felt quite frustrating.
“Xiao Han, help me test this by completing the runes and see what effect it has.”
“What is this?”
I looked up and pushed my glasses up. I had been reading books and documents for several days, so I put on the pair of glasses that Teacher Ji had given me earlier, which helped alleviate eye fatigue.
At that moment, Teacher Ji had already pushed a module that was part of the Earth Vein System in front of me.
“Clearly, after looking at these documents for days, you’re probably bored with them, right? Let me give you a little question to see if you can keep up with my pace.”
“Is that so?” A hint of surprise flashed in my eyes. Although I hadn’t reached the point of being bored with reading as Teacher Ji mentioned, how could I refuse something that seemed fun?
I took the Earth Vein module, which was actually just a light curtain that condensed Earth Vein Energy, bearing a combination of well-formed runes.
“Teacher Ji, what’s the situation with these runes?” I asked curiously.
“What’s the matter? Is it too challenging for you to handle?” Teacher Ji paused her actions and looked at me.
“No, some are simple. The completed assembly feels like it simply stirs the space, and it can’t even be considered a spell.” In Teacher Ji’s eyes, it seemed like I had combined all these runes, and then a brand-new combination of runes floated in my hand.
“What I’m curious about is… Teacher Ji, you asked me to do this. Is it part of Extraordinary Knowledge?”
“Of course.”
A hint of surprise flashed in Teacher Ji’s eyes. She set aside what she was working on and walked directly in front of me, observing the new combination of runes in my hand, seemingly incredulous at my speed.
“These runes are fragments that have been block-printed from Extraordinary Knowledge. We need to continuously test them and summarize the effects of these runes through an almost exhaustive method. Everything must be recorded in detail, waiting for the stage of integrating Extraordinary Knowledge, serving as reference information. Therefore, this process mustn’t have any errors; otherwise, the later inspections could lead to the most terrifying disasters.”
“Ah? Understanding Extraordinary Knowledge this way?” I felt somewhat incredulous.
“Yes, the more primitive the method, the more efficient and error-free it is. For witches with long lifespans, this is the most cost-effective way.” Teacher Ji carefully explained to me. It was clear that she genuinely hoped to teach me to become her right-hand person.
So, she didn’t mind explaining more things to me.
“So, does this mean that Extraordinary Knowledge is actually composed of runes? If it doesn’t move, can it be considered a kind of spell?” I asked curiously.
“Maybe, but using the concept of a spell to describe it seems a bit narrow. After all, the concept of spells has not yet encompassed all the extraordinary means mastered by various races, so it’s quite limited. As for whether Extraordinary Knowledge is composed of runes, I can only tell you that I don’t know.”
“Don’t know?”
“Right, we can only interpret Extraordinary Knowledge through runes, but it’s very likely composed of runes because runes are the language or script of the Void. The Void is like a huge book, relying on runes to write its story. Extraordinary Knowledge is said to be the lost power of the Void, written by runes.”
“To illustrate with a metaphor, if Extraordinary Knowledge is a life form, then runes are like its genes. What we are doing now is sequencing Extraordinary Knowledge, attempting to grasp the power of its origin. This is like a technology civilization conducting genetic sequencing on itself and exploring its own genes as if they were undeveloped treasures. Oh, sorry, do you know terms like ‘technology side’ and ‘genetic sequencing’?”
“Um, I know a bit.” I nodded slightly. In reality, these concepts are not widespread in this world. The intervention of extraordinary powers has severely suppressed technological development. Even if Teacher Ji asked how I knew, I could just say I read it in a novel.
“That’s good to know. Actually, compared to the analogy of genes, the relationship between runes and Extraordinary Knowledge is more akin to the concept of memes. If you’re interested, you can look up related information because the formation or existence of Extraordinary Knowledge is also dependent on a specific environment.”
“I know this.” I nodded, similar to how the Great Spellbook I currently possess was once a product of the Fool Dream Clan. This portion of Extraordinary Knowledge, when expressed as magic, granted the Fool Dream the ability to progress towards becoming a true form of life. Therefore, the best way to understand Extraordinary Knowledge is to gain insights from its original ‘birth’ environment from a broader perspective.
“You know? Oh, it must be that Academy Head.”
“Yes.” I nodded but tacitly decided not to continue discussing this.
From this moment on, I officially became one of those researching Extraordinary Knowledge, but I still needed to look through all that information and literature.
This is the foundation, and as for what’s related to Rune Literature, I naturally had to study it too. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have the qualifications to touch upon Extraordinary Knowledge.
“It seems that these series of effects are all related to stirring space. This portion of Extraordinary Knowledge should likely be related to space, right?” I looked at the rune interpretations, which were almost identical to before, and asked curiously.
“Maybe, but we can’t draw conclusions like that yet. Don’t have preconceived notions; right now, we need to try objectively. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into a dead end,” Teacher Ji said.
“That does seem to make sense.” I nodded but then thought of something; it seemed that Teacher Ji’s earlier mention of falling into a dead end had stimulated me.
In the next moment, a figure appeared beside me.
“Oh, your chief Dead-End Inspector is online! Every time you hit a dead end, only when you think of me will I come online as your best troublemaker, your other self, shining on stage!”
“I’m not saying you, but how did you get so outrageous?” I muttered softly.
“The outrageous one isn’t me; it’s your own heart! Don’t you understand? I see you completely don’t get it!”
“Xiao Han, what are you mumbling about?”
At that moment, Teacher Ji naturally noticed my abnormality; however, due to the spell effects of the Illusionary Clone, this clone did not actually exist, so even the Extraordinary Witch Teacher Ji didn’t know what was going on with me, at most just knowing I had used an unknown spell.
“Oh, I used Illusionary Clone,” I quickly explained.
“Illusionary Clone? You used this… oh, I see,” Teacher Ji quickly responded, “It’s indeed a decent means. No worries, just share the effect with me.”
“Huh? Isn’t that inappropriate? My subconscious Illusionary Clone won’t be too subject to my control, and besides, she’s a bit noisy.”
“No worries.”
“Did you hear that? She said no worries! Let me go meet her; I want to see what this little Teacher Ji can do to me.” At that moment, the Illusionary Clone started to shout.
“Mm… judging by your expression, what else did she say?”
“Uh… it’s something you, Teacher Ji, probably shouldn’t hear…”
“It seems your subconscious is quite active. Don’t worry; I won’t blame you. The ideas of the subconscious can often provide a good corrective perspective. Compared to the troubles they bring, that’s naturally minor.”
“Then… okay.”
Runes flickered in my hand, and soon, the figure of the Illusionary Clone appeared before Teacher Ji.
“Hello, Teacher Ji! It’s such an honor to see you here. Is there anything I can help with? I’m way better at communication than the main body!”
“You…”
I looked in shock at the Illusionary Clone. Wasn’t she just shouting at little Teacher Ji a moment ago? Now she seems timid?
“The Illusionary Clone reflects a certain degree of the most real self. Xiao Han, perhaps you should reflect on why you became like this.”
“Yes…” I lowered my head, feeling somewhat scolded by Teacher Ji. As for reflection?
Why would I reflect on this rebellious self?
I don’t want to become anyone, not even the self within my subconscious. I just want to be myself, even if I’m taciturn.
Moreover… my taciturnity towards certain people is simply due to a loss of interest in playing along with them.
When I wish to change, that future self will have better excuses to refute my current self, so there’s no need for me to worry about my current inner turmoil—having figured that out, I continue with my work.
…
This daily routine seemed to have become the norm of my life. I often wonder if this is the kind of life I’ve been pursuing and hoping for.
But Teacher Ji told me that this kind of concern is typical thinking of short-lived species. Because of the limited lifespan of short-lived species, they consider whether anything is worth doing before engaging in it, and the restrictions of lifespan cause the value of time to weigh heavily on them.
Thus, short-lived species instinctively resist facing complex and lengthy repeatable tasks, as they subconsciously feel this is a waste of life and that life shouldn’t be like this. Their attention instinctively shifts to enjoying life instead.
For witches with extremely long lifespans, however, this is just a change in lifestyle. They won’t have such worries. My anxiety is simply a result of doing things that are counterintuitive and against instinct.
Although Teacher Ji didn’t provide any very good solutions, she suggested that experiencing and accepting this perspective more will gradually lessen such concerns.
Of course, there’s one more thing… I haven’t seen Sister Bai for many days!
Sister Bai has advanced to Extraordinary, and with the recommendation letter from the Academy Head, she theoretically shouldn’t waste too much time returning.
But I hadn’t received any phone calls from Sister Bai. Every night when I returned home, I would check my phone, but there was no sign of activity.
I also asked Teacher Ji about this, but she too couldn’t answer since she wasn’t in charge of this matter.
“No problem. Since she hasn’t come back, it means there are still some things to do. After all, you have to think about your Sister Bai, right? She can’t just register and immediately come back. The main world wouldn’t accept a newly promoted Extraordinary Witch without a proper background; that’s meaningless, even with a recommendation letter.”
“So… Sister Bai is studying in the Witch World now?”
“About that, yes. According to your description, the Grand Library in the Witch World has the most comprehensive information on body cultivation and body techniques. Since she wants to become a mentor in the main world, she must stand out in at least one aspect.”
“That makes sense…”
“Right, the recommendation letter from the Academy Head only reduces the threshold for her entrance. Now she needs to prove her qualifications.”
“Then… theoretically, Sister Bai will be back the fastest in…”
“The fastest would take a few months, and if slower, it could be years. The cost of this is that her abilities may stagnate for quite some time, after all, learning techniques also takes a lot of time. You mentioned that she seems to also be learning about real editing technology, right?”
“Yes, that seems to be the case.”
“Then don’t worry. Learning real editing technology takes at least years. The quickest way for her is to make some progress in body techniques, as a large number of witches in the Witch Academy are scholars, and there are few teaching body techniques. She could take a different approach; once she secures entry qualifications for the main world, she would be free to come and go.”
“Oh…”
After receiving this answer from Teacher Ji, I felt more at ease. Initially, I thought that leaving for a little while meant just a few days. I hadn’t expected it to take so long.
Once I got my emotions sorted out, I quickly immersed myself in the research on Extraordinary Knowledge.
I have to say that the research on Extraordinary Knowledge has been ongoing for many days now. If this were a spellbook, I could have easily crafted derivative spells from it just by hand.
However, Extraordinary Knowledge remains completely motionless; even by percentage, we haven’t even touched 1% of its depth.
The early “pioneering” stage is undoubtedly difficult, but as long as we collect enough test results, we can input them into the Earth Vein System and begin assisting with the tests, a typical example of “sweetness following bitterness.”
Moreover… according to Teacher Ji’s plans, this laboratory will not just involve me and Teacher Ji in the future… oh no, two witches, since I’m barely qualified as a witch myself.
Because exploring Extraordinary Knowledge is a colossal project, which I have witnessed firsthand for all these days, the best way to enhance efficiency is to increase manpower.
But now there’s a problem. According to Teacher Ji, her influence among the witch scholars in the Witch Academy isn’t strong. She doesn’t have many notable achievements, and she’s not a pure witch scholar. The only significant thing she has is this portion of Extraordinary Knowledge, but inviting witches in based on that likely means the final say won’t remain in her hands.
This does not align with her expectations because she genuinely wants to create the Great Spellbook on her own rather than just participating as an ordinary witch. What she wants is to take the lead!
“It’s fine… Teacher Ji, since Extraordinary Knowledge is yours, you’ll certainly lead this. I’m not afraid of anything; if it takes longer, then it takes longer—I’m not in a hurry, am I?”
“That’s true… I’m mainly worried about you. In the long and repetitive process, I fear time will wear down your edges. If my progress hinders you, you’ll be free to leave my laboratory.”
“What are you saying, Teacher Ji? Hinder? How could that be? If I gain the ability, of course, I will be the first to accompany you to tackle Extraordinary Knowledge instead of thinking you are a hindrance and leaving here.”
“However… Teacher Ji, do you think so highly of me? You really believe I would consider you a burden in the future?”
“Of course… I brought you into the Witch Academy. I’ve seen you make leaps in progress; how could I not understand you?”
“Alright… but now isn’t a time for sighing. What about the document I was supposed to receive today? Or should I go myself to get it from Extraordinary Knowledge?” I asked.
“Go get it yourself. If that doesn’t work, let me know. Your Spirit Vision is ultimately just a talent, not a skill you control, so be careful.”
