Chapter 426: Things Stolen by the Excavators
Seeing that I was also preparing to return to my bedroom to rest, the several Witch Mentors who had spoken to me earlier stepped forward to chat with me for a bit longer.
However, they only asked if there was any fun in this world or something similar. I briefly mentioned some locations in my global travel plan, but they seemed disinterested in those places and were rather curious about the Wanlian Main Network Tree.
After watching me leave, one of the witches suddenly spoke up, “By the way, shouldn’t we tell Xiao Han about this?”
With this remark, the atmosphere in the front hall slightly relaxed.
“What’s the point of telling Xiao Han in advance? I’m not like that Mei guy with a big mouth; let’s keep some surprises. I wonder how Xiao Han would react when she sees these folks in the Main World. Her expression might be quite entertaining!” Principal Beif said dispassionately.
She then started playing with an Extraordinary Pixel, which appeared in her hand without being sealed and hadn’t dissipated yet.
Such actions hinted that they weren’t completely ignorant about the Excavators.
“That’s true, but it seems Xiao Han’s Reverse Summoning Spell has some potential. I hope that world isn’t taken over by her before we get there.”
“That shouldn’t be the case, right?”
“Has Xiao Han already spread the Reverse Summoning Runes Ceremony? What if?”
“Forget it, forget it. Let’s not discuss this. By the way, this world isn’t that entertaining either.”
“I suppose… this world should be the admission ticket sent by Abyss Demons, right?”
At this moment, this group of witches was discussing these matters quite openly, and they clearly understood the intentions of the Abyss Demons and the attitude of the Witch Academy—wasn’t it all about settling into the Main World?
But this didn’t prevent them from disliking those ugly demons.
In front of them, this small world was at most just an appetizer, while the unknown world they tentatively described as a large world, connected with this small world, was the main attraction.
After a brief understanding from Xiao Han, that world was temporarily designated as the “Game World,” and the numerous small worlds associated with it were also quite considerable.
It was evident how much effort the Abyss Demons put into this, even though on the surface it was just a “gift” of a small world, the actual situation was that “the gift may be light, but the feelings behind it are heavy.”
In that case, the witches would have to support the Abyss Demons entering the Main World.
In fact, other Extraordinary Academies had received similar benefits; otherwise, how do you think Inferior Demon Academies and Undead Academies in the Main World were established?
Naturally, they offered benefits to forge relationships and sidestepped formalities.
Those three top Extraordinary Academies had surely received benefits; otherwise, how could they possibly acknowledge the legitimacy of these academies?
However, this time it seemed it was the turn of the Witch Academy, and the Abyss Demons were not foolish. After sending gifts to those three extraordinary races, they ended up stuffing in some rubbish like Inferior Demons and Undead, so they naturally stopped their losses in time.
It would be better to work with the witches; they seemed quite indifferent. Some witches even expressed willingness to accept high-ranking demons like Succubi into the Main World. With the leadership of high-ranking demons, their settlement in the Main World would mark a significant breakthrough.
The Abyss Demons were confident that they would eventually integrate those small academies and launch the Abyss Demon Academy to a scale comparable to those top three academies.
…
At this moment, I also paused on my way back and listened to some conversations among the headmistresses, but after waiting for a long time without any sound, I gave up, probably because they had set up some soundproofing spells…
Most likely to prevent me from listening.
If they didn’t want me to hear, naturally, I wouldn’t…
After all, it was the best outcome for the upper echelons of the Witch Academy to talk openly about such matters with me, but I understood that they were not obliged to tell me everything, nor their own plans.
After taking a quick shower, I returned to my own bedroom.
However, I didn’t go to sleep, as I was getting less and less rest time, and my daily routine seemed to be straying further from its original path.
Thinking about it like this, the idea of waking with the sun and sleeping at sunset is a habit cultivated by humans adapting to their environment. But from the perspective of the Void, there is no concept of day and night, so when thoughts are no longer confined to a specific world, the concept of rest also changes.
The external environment’s day-night cycle is no longer a factor influencing me; rather, I need to decide my own rest time based on my situation.
It is a process of shifting from reliance on the external environment to self-reflection.
Isn’t the day-night cycle in the world also a compliance test for all life within the world?
For example, now that it is night, do you sleep? If you don’t sleep, you are staying up late. Or, it is daytime now; do you get up? Not getting up means you’re sleeping in, and you’re daydreaming.
So… facing such a rigid situation, those who are unwilling to accept reality develop a rebellious mindset, and nightlife naturally emerges. According to the witches’ characteristics, I suddenly understood why the nightlife of the Witch Academy is such a significant feature.
So now… I rightfully stay up late!
Since I am not tired at all, of course I take this time to explore matters concerning the Knowledge Tree.
I was still thinking about linking it with the Illusionary Clone, but doing so was not an easy task at all.
In the meantime, I was also guiding public opinion on the Plant Network, pretending to be another Excavator who discovered the secrets of this world, relating to the origins of Magic Spells! The hidden secrets of this world are the origin of Extraordinary Power, and so on.
I knew that this could not fool the high-ranking figures of that civilization; they place such high importance on the secrets of this world because they know it should contain [Extraordinary Knowledge]. Even if they don’t know, they must have similar conjectures, but it is definitely not magic!
Otherwise, the introduction of magic and spells would cause quite a stir in their technological side.
But what if the high ranks know? As long as the lower-level players remain ignorant, that is sufficient. Even if they wanted to stop it, it would be futile, unless they were being unreasonable, but in that case, it would be dismissing the fact that the game had issues.
After a sleepless night, I continued to fiddle with my matters. Even when dawn had not fully arrived, I began my daily routine of meditation and physical training—these activities had already become integrated into my bodily habits.
However, I found that the effects of the physical training were gradually diminishing. I was probably reaching the end of this primary ritualistic battle dance. When I return to the Witch Academy, I can simply switch to some higher-level ones.
After finishing my daily routine, I noticed that quite a few Witch Mentors seemed to have gotten up early, or perhaps… like me, they simply didn’t sleep at all?
I had a strong feeling that this was very likely.
Some who disappeared last night allegedly went out for fun.
After a night, I discovered I still had many questions I wanted to ask.
For example… what exactly was the purpose of these Excavators invading this world?
Simply for this [Extraordinary Knowledge]?
But without any benefits at all, how can this endure?
Moreover, they had now abandoned their efforts halfway through, resulting in a complete loss.
When I asked this question to the headmistress, she did not hide it and told me directly.
First, the headmistress corrected my misunderstanding: the “harvest” of invading a world doesn’t simply involve material plunder anymore.
If they were to engage in this kind of plunder, it would mainly revolve around Extraordinary Materials and rare substances.
The inter-world plunder mainly focuses on three aspects, known as the “Three Source Elements of the World.”
Regarding the material plunder mentioned earlier, it is essentially a plunder of the “World’s Fundament.” Sufficient World’s Fundament is the foundation for a world to grow and expand.
Then there is the “Extraordinary Source Crystal,” which determines a world’s development and is one of the main reasons for the abundance of Extraordinary Energy.
Do you really think every technological world is firmly on the technological path?
Maybe they simply lack enough Extraordinary Source Crystals to give rise to the seeds of Extraordinary Civilization.
In the small world we inhabit, while not exceedingly rare in Extraordinary Source Crystals, it has embarked on the path of Plant Technology under the intervention of the world’s will.
As for the last of the Three Source Elements, it is what I know as “Soul Material.” Soul Material flows through the world as life and is the basis for a world to give birth to life.
Given the murderous tendencies of those Excavators I described, it is highly likely that they are plundering Soul Material.
After all, they are invading and controlling the small world by means of [Extraordinary Knowledge] through a game approach, which requires a large population to support such development. So they discovered the secret of Soul Material and used plundered Soul Material as their means of world development—this method is not difficult to guess.
As for why one of the Three Source Elements is Soul Material and not Soul, that is naturally because the concept of soul has not yet gained widespread attention in the Void.
Of course… the main reason is that the Main World has not “recognized” it. When the concept of soul penetrates the Void and the next Main World is birthed and recognizes the concept of soul, and life is born based on it, then the concept of soul will be implemented in the Void without obstruction!
Moreover, the newly formed world in the Void will begin its evolutionary process of life in adherence to the concept of soul from the start.
The Main World is special because it is the only existence situated in the mainstream of the Earth Vein.
Its fluctuations affect the changes across the entire Void.
Just as the concept of Real Time, which is broadly recognized in the Void, the Main World even has individuals who, despite not being Extraordinary themselves, possess talents like Spirit Vision. Not only Spirit Vision, but many of those formerly recognized as Main Worlds have other cases of perception touching Real Time; these correlate to the five senses of “Real Five Senses,” perceiving Real Time.
Spirit Vision is one of the five senses, visual perception.
Another widely circulated proof is the concept of “human.” Because humans held the dominant position in the initial Main World, many small worlds born in the Void manifest in humanoid forms.
They would also refer to themselves as humans, and even though they might have some differences in appearance, they all consider themselves humans. To differentiate themselves, they would also attempt to classify different human races.
Therefore, the Main World attracts many extraordinary races because it undoubtedly imprints the “concept” of their own race into the earth vein of the Void. Even though the influence may be small, it is enough for various extraordinary races to shine in the Void, much like the concept of “human,” allowing their unique brilliance.
Even if they have no essential correlation, as similar races, this sense of belonging is subtly ingrained.
Along with the innate tendency of life to admire the strong, those races in the Void naturally take the leading extraordinary race of their kin as their core…
This information had a tremendous impact on my understanding and deepened my insight into the concept of the “Main World.”
Of course, this was not what Principal Beif shared with me; she simply gave me a brief overview of the Three Source Elements of the World, and speculated about what the Excavators might be able to seize from this world—Soul Material—and left it at that.
Moreover, I compared the annual birth and total population data of this world through the Plant Network, and it was indeed declining year by year, indirectly confirming that the guess was not wrong.
As for the rest of the information regarding the Main World, I calculated it was time for me to shamelessly inquire from other mentors.
I had been nurtured by Teacher Ji and Principal Mei Linde into a character that was very curious about these novel concepts, so when encountering something intriguing, I would instinctively want to understand it.
However, gathering this information did come at a cost, as they weren’t as accommodating as Principal Mei Linde and Teacher Ji, willing to share everything.
To this end, I shared my total authority over the Plant Network in this world, which made one Witch Mentor relent. When I proposed this exchange, the Witch Mentor looked at me as if she had seen a ghost, but in the end, she accepted with pleasure.
She even shared with me many other interesting observations, truly broadening my horizons.
Sure enough… building good relationships with mentors; even some casual chats they have could be enlightening for me.
Though Principal Beif may not seem as talkative as Principal Mei Linde, she did not stop me from learning about these matters.
For the remaining time, I prepared to continue my journey, while I also helped extend the stay at the guesthouse where the headmistresses resided.
After all, regarding the current state of this world, the Witch Mentors would certainly need to investigate it themselves. The information they gleaned from me and Qiu Ruxin merely served as supplementary understanding.
However, with the maximum authority I provided for the Plant Network in this world, it could be said that their workload was significantly reduced all at once.
In any case, this world is to be integrated into the Main World; they naturally couldn’t start with the idea of world destruction.
Such outrageous notions were only something I would imagine.
Because this world was undoubtedly terrible, but… just thinking about it, if I wiped out a world simply because it didn’t match my expectations every time I found myself in a strange one, wouldn’t that wear me out?
I’m afraid that would solidify my title as the Catastrophe Witch, and perhaps even promote me to the status of World Destroying Witch.
Moreover, the mentors have hinted to me that their arrival was not only about breaking through the information barriers between worlds but also, to a certain degree, accelerating the collision and integration of this small world with the Main World, though the exact time frame remains uncertain.
Putting aside my earlier unrealistic fantasies and things I couldn’t interfere with, I planned to thoroughly release body and mind during this journey before returning to the Witch Academy.
This process is expected to last for a few months, as the headmistress and the mentors haven’t urged me to return. I consider it a reasonable exploration mission in another world!
Besides, I’m exempt from courses, and this journey also serves as my personal cultivation; at most, I’d just miss a few monthly exams.
Moreover, if Principal Beif or Teacher Ji wanted me back, a Reverse Summoning Ceremony would easily bring me back—very convenient.
If I were to worry about such trivial matters, then I shouldn’t have gone on this journey in the first place.
At this moment, the only thing I was a bit worried about was probably Sister Bai?
This time… it truly had been a long time since we last met…
But I hoped Sister Bai wouldn’t return so quickly. After all, the world of witches must be a place more suitable for witches, where Sister Bai’s development would progress much faster.
In the Main World… there would be quite a few restrictions.
This was a collision between my own selfish desires and considerations for Sister Bai.
However, no matter how I contemplated it, this decision could only be made by Sister Bai.
It seemed… even if my thoughts were clear, when it came to matters involving Sister Bai, I would become irrational… yet I didn’t want to think too much about it in this regard.
After all, love and affection cannot withstand such rational scrutiny, and people, too, need their moments of sensitivity.
