Chapter 520: The Feasibility of the Great Knowledge Seed for Fool Dreams
After leaving the bakery, it was almost noon, and I have no regrets about what I said back at the bakery.
If only they could be a bit more rational, I wouldn’t have remained completely unresponsive. Of course, the main reason is that I didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.
However, those few at the bakery are really… persistent, joining a club that will hardly bring them any improvement, just because I once joined it. I also don’t know if the store manager has treated them poorly.
After sighing, I set aside thoughts of them. Although I must admit their behavior did stir some of my emotions, this unexpected encounter is destined to have no outcome.
Previously, the “pleasant conversation” was merely superficial. Even though I used the Great Knowledge Tree to understand their nature and weaknesses, even their real-time emotional fluctuations, I still found that I do not understand girls well and am not skilled at interacting with them. Perhaps this is due to the different ways of thinking that destined me not to be one of them.
Noon.
I arrived at the cafeteria, where I ordered a lot of dishes because I realized that as my five senses in Body Cultivation training gradually got on track, this feeling is always with me. Just as Sister Bai said, every aspect of life is a form of practice, even eating is no exception, after all, taste and smell are also one of the senses through which the body perceives the outside world.
While I was eating, I paid attention to Teacher Ji’s private messages. I had originally thought of visiting Teacher Ji in the afternoon, since it has been a while since my last visit, and I wanted to bring her a Great Knowledge Seed.
Since the Academy Head mentioned that even Extraordinary Witches sometimes require the assistance of a Great Knowledge Seed, perhaps Teacher Ji might need it too.
But it seems that Teacher Ji likely won’t reply; I opened her profile information on the academy’s site, which showed the note “Busy during the holidays, leave a message if needed.”
As for what she’s busy with, it must be her Extraordinary Knowledge.
Holidays are the best time without any disturbances. I expect Teacher Ji has been living there this entire holiday and has likely cut off communication with the academy. So, the next time we meet will entirely depend on fate.
After leaving her a private message, I finished my lunch and headed to Teacher Ji’s office.
It was also empty here, but I had prepared a box with a Great Knowledge Seed, as a… surprise for Teacher Ji. I don’t know when she might discover it.
Having done all this, I didn’t linger.
I returned to the villa that the academy had prepared for me after I became a teaching assistant.
After all, I had turned the basement there into a laboratory and had three Fool Dreams studying extraordinary knowledge there.
Additionally, I had let those few Fool Dreams help manage the villa, and it has been a while since I returned to check on them.
When I teleported back to my villa, I was shocked by the scene before me!
The originally empty living room was now surrounded by several Fool Dreams, and their slightly immature voices were discussing something in an orderly manner. After listening carefully, I realized they were talking about Rune Literature!
My appearance immediately broke the harmonious atmosphere.
“It’s Sister Xiao Han!”
As soon as the Fool Dream, Yu Lan, noticed my presence, her eyes widened in surprise and joy.
While the other Fool Dreams were puzzled about why Yu Lan had suddenly stopped, her exclamation of “Sister Xiao Han” sent all the Fool Dreams jumping up to look at me.
I responded with a smile and approached them.
“Yu Lan, what are you all doing?” I leaned down and patted the first Fool Dream, Yu Lan, with a friendly tone.
“Um… sorry, Sister Xiao Han, they came here because I took them without permission. This is obviously your home…” After a moment of excitement, Yu Lan was the first to react to the situation and quickly apologized.
Her words of apology caused concern among the Fool Dreams behind her.
“Alright, don’t blame yourself right away. This villa is empty anyway, so I won’t hold it against you. I fully welcome other Fool Dreams to come and play here, but could you tell me why they wanted to come?” I immediately reassured them.
The instinctive apologies from the Fool Dreams stem from their limited understanding of me. They fear my dissatisfaction because I am a significant figure who can influence their entire group. Because of this, they regard me with a bit of fear and are worried about displeasing me.
I suddenly realized… the relationship between the Fool Dreams and me feels somewhat similar to that between me and the Academy Head… What a peculiar coincidence.
“Sister Xiao Han, I asked Yu Lan to bring us.”
“Yes, yes! If Sister Xiao Han is mad, just punish us. It was my idea to ask Yu Lan!”
“Yeah, Yu Lan was forced to agree.”
Hearing my words, the other Fool Dreams quickly stepped forward to defend Yu Lan, and even Yu Yun and Yu Guo joined in asking for leniency for her actions.
“Alright, alright~ I’m not angry with you. If you want to come to play next time, just come directly. I was just a bit surprised.” I said when I stood up.
And upon receiving my permission, their previous tension and worry seemed to disappear entirely. Indeed, Fool Dreams are quite innocent in this regard.
I picked up Yu Lan and set her down on the edge of the nearby coffee table while I reclined on the sofa, then curiously asked, “Yu Lan, were you teaching them about Rune Literature? What made you think of teaching them that?”
“Uh-huh, it wasn’t my idea to teach them. They wanted to play with me, but following what you said, Sister Xiao Han, I need to study hard to help you, so I refused.”
“Then they asked me what I was doing. I said I was learning, and I want to learn really well, so I can help Sister Xiao Han! They spontaneously wanted to learn too. I couldn’t refuse them, so I asked for Sister Xiao Han’s blessing. Me, Yu Yun, and Yu Guo all asked together, and Knowledge Shadow said it was fine to teach…”
“Is that so? Since Knowledge Shadow thinks it’s a good idea, then you should certainly go ahead and do it. How could I be upset with you? So, you really didn’t need to apologize to me just now.” I nodded and said with a smile.
I had not paid attention to this matter before, but now that I realized it, I reflected on it after receiving the information.
After comforting Yu Lan and the others, I started to arrange for the Fool Dreams. It’s not practical for them to always stay here; with so many rooms in the villa, there must be space for them to learn.
I had come here to bond with Yu Lan and the others. Their learning progress was clearly recorded in the Knowledge Leaf, but I had already eliminated the Knowledge Leaf. Now I was trying to find a way to use the Great Knowledge Seed on the Fool Dreams.
However, using the Great Knowledge Seed on the Fool Dreams also posed many problems: the Fool Dreams are not truly alive. Can they even open their Sea of Consciousness?
The Fool Dreams have not become lives or races recognized by the Void, and without a self-governing power system of their own race, naturally, they lack the ability to regulate Extraordinary Energy. How can they wield energy to nurture the Great Knowledge Seed?
These are all questions, but I am confident that these issues will be resolved gradually.
After I attempted to extend the Great Knowledge Seed to the Fool Dreams, more problems confronted me.
Among them, the aspect I understood the least was the research related to “life.” However, the information available in the academy library did not contain the content I was hoping to find.
So I went back to look for materials related to the Sea of Consciousness or the Sea of Spirits.
The Fool Dreams have their own mental power; as long as they possess mental power, it indicates that they can attempt to open their Sea of Consciousness.
Hence after researching some materials without much harvest, I decided to try it out directly.
I looked at the seeds that had roughly been nurtured overnight; apart from the one I was giving to Teacher Ji, there were a few left.
Currently, my rate of condensation of seeds is about one every half a day without considering resource consumption, which is normal efficiency.
At the same time, I can condense multiple Great Knowledge Seeds together, since the ability to condense comes from the Great Knowledge Tree itself. This is an effect of developing Extraordinary Knowledge, where the Great Knowledge Tree serves as a self-sustaining “plant life,” and condensing seeds is a natural reproductive behavior of plants. Now, accelerating the condensation efficiency of the Great Knowledge Seed fundamentally transforms the nurturing method of the Great Knowledge Tree.
After explaining the effects of the Knowledge Seeds and the plan to replace the Knowledge Leaves currently in them, they willingly accepted my proposal.
After a preliminary trial, I was blocked by unexpected situations as I had anticipated.
The Fool Dreams… I should have thought of this earlier.
The essence of the Fool Dreams is that they are dream creatures, and their lovely appearances are just shells for their actions in reality. Their mental powers still originate from the product of dream consciousness, which is fundamentally distinct from us ordinary people.
Hence, the Sea of Consciousness opened by Fool Dreams… I would rather refer to it as Dream Space, or the Sea of Dreams, or Dream Consciousness; either works. After all, I found no records of this in the library of the Witch Academy, so I will have to rely on my own gradual exploration for now.
The problem I faced now is that the Dream Sea opened by Fool Dreams is not a very suitable place for nurturing the Great Knowledge Seed. This is an objective fact I have observed.
Until late into the night, with Yu Lan’s assistance, even after I modified the Great Knowledge Seed, adding an “endosperm” structure based on my basic biological understanding.
This is primarily designed to accommodate cases like the Fool Dreams, which lack the extraordinary energy to nourish the Great Knowledge Seed. The so-called “endosperm” structure essentially stores a magical structure of compressed high-energy mana, which is not too technically challenging.
But because of this, I deduced that the Dream Sea opened by the Fool Dreams is not suitable for nurturing the Great Knowledge Seed. The Great Knowledge Seed sprouts quickly under the nourishment of high-energy mana, but it cannot take root and connect with the carrier’s consciousness as it would in the Sea of Consciousness.
Even that one seed continues to deteriorate despite ample mana supply.
It’s as if seeds removed from soil are doomed to d*e.
This is a good metaphor, can seeds truly not survive outside of soil?
Perhaps that is what people used to think, but with technological advancement, soil-less cultivation technology has emerged.
However… the Main World doesn’t seem to have developed and popularized this technology, yet I have seen it in my previous life.
Although soil-less cultivation doesn’t help with my current dilemma in any way, my keen intuition still gleaned some insights from it. Yet this insight is quite… vague and requires constant conceptual iteration and inspiration to derive a definite solution.
“Um… Sister Xiao Han… are we useless? We can’t be of any help…” Seeing me lost in thought, Yu Lan and Yu Yun, along with Yu Guo, approached me with downcast expressions.
“It’s not your fault; it’s just that we encountered some difficulties. We’ll get through it. There’s no need to be sad or discouraged when faced with challenges, and you must never doubt yourselves,” I leaned down to comfort them.
This is just a perfectly normal failure. Although this level of failure is many times more challenging than my initial failures in researching the Great Knowledge Seed, I firmly believe I am a genius and won’t belittle myself.
“Umm… yeah…” The Fool Dreams nodded in agreement.
But their downcast emotions did not dissipate; it seems this truly affected them, especially since my first task after returning was met with obstacles. Naturally, it was a huge blow to them.
So… this time, I will surely overcome this difficulty and bring these Fool Dreams a significant success!
Now, I need to understand one truth: there are many paths to solve a problem. How to solve a problem does not require me to find the optimal solution; rather, it’s the inspiration I touch upon first that is most in line with my way of thinking.
I am currently pioneering an unknown path, not racing forward; speed and efficiency aren’t my primary concerns. What I should think about is using every possible method… to move forward!
So I firmly believe that concept that suddenly came to mind, “soil-less cultivation.” It gives me a somewhat faint insight: if I treat the Sea of Consciousness as the soil for planting and the Dream Sea as a void of air, then what is the “water,” the carrier needed for soil-less cultivation, that extends the root system, gathers nutrients, and is the same as the host consciousness? Does it exist?
After pondering for a long time, I came up with an answer: it exists.
If the Fool Dreams want to break free from the essence of dream creatures to become life recognized by the Void, what is the first step they need to take?
Or rather… what is the first step I should take for them?
Cutting off nightmares is equivalent to removing impurities.
And then?
I used… Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell on them!
At this moment, my mind sank into my Sea of Consciousness.
A huge Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Tree stood steadfastly in the vastness of my Sea of Consciousness.
I gazed at the reflection of the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Tree beneath my feet; my gaze fell into a trance once more.
“You say… what exactly is the Sea of Consciousness reflecting beneath the Grand Knowledge Tree?” I gently asked.
“Who knows? Maybe it’s the Dream Sea, perhaps? We can find out by trying!” Knowledge Shadow suddenly appeared before me, her tone carrying a hint of laughter.
