Chapter 616: Layout and Dilemma in the Seed Vault
“Have I arrived at… the hall?”
I looked around the spacious hall, with a vast corridor extending, but many places had already been isolated and cut off by space.
I walked over the tiled floor paved with unknown materials and came to a wall.
On it was a huge directional map, but in the current chaotic space, it seemed practically useless.
However, I still recorded it, as it displayed the area divisions of the seed vault.
From it, I could roughly see the methods of seed preservation; besides some common low-temperature storage methods, there were also live preservation techniques. Thus, there were large greenhouses and botanical gardens continuously breeding plants inside.
I instinctively glanced at the several paths in front of me; this area had not encountered much traffic.
Logically speaking, if I could enter this place so easily, then what about exiting…
I turned around to look back at the space from which I had just entered.
Due to the discontinuity of the space, the light was quite fragmented and blurry. When I took a step forward, I did not end up back in the original outside world, but rather in a different space.
“Interesting…” I raised my brows in surprise. After all, I had only heard of how chaotic the space was, but experiencing it personally was indeed fascinating!
After making my way across this piece of space again, I still did not return to the original hall.
“Does the space transition this quickly? Or is it that each time someone passes through, the merging of spaces will change the passage?” I waved my hand to stir the space and crossed again, keeping my hand moving until my whole body passed through, allowing the fragmented spatial pieces to not have time to “heal” before I went through again.
This time, I arrived at the area I had come from earlier.
“Hmm… It seems I’ve discovered some rules.” Seeing this miraculous operation piqued my interest to test it again.
However, while I was amazed, I suddenly noticed something that connected this place to the rest.
“This is… Magic Power Silk Thread?”
I gently tweaked this silk thread a few times; it didn’t disperse. After careful examination, I realized that this was not merely a silk thread condensed from magic power, but a type of magical effect!
It appeared that someone from the Witch Academy had come here, but did these people really treat this place as a cable maze?
I followed the other end of the Magic Power Silk Thread, only to find it branched off in the center of the corridor, with each silk thread connecting to a spatial section.
At that moment, I finally realized something was off.
Could the Magic Power Silk Thread pass through those split spatial cuts?
It seemed… it shouldn’t be able to, right?
With this thought, I used the Earth Vein Identification Technique to conduct a test, trying to gain information I was yet to find out, but upon retrieving it, I almost burst out laughing.
This was indeed the handiwork of those witches, and their goal was… exhaustive methods!
But there was nothing wrong with that.
After all, a seed vault complex has limited space; once they reached an area, they would do two things in that piece of space.
The first thing is to “mark the spatial unit,” treating this space as a whole, identifying what is inside, then marking and recording it while leaving nodes of the Magic Power Silk Thread.
The second thing is to leave the connecting “nodes” of the thread, linking to every passable spatial cross-section.
And it must be made clear that if the other end of the spatial section also has silk threads, those threads will, within a certain range, cross the fragile spatial cuts to form a “path.”
In other words, they solved the problem of spatial dislocation using a magic sensing method.
Their idea was to establish such means in every independent space, so when they found themselves somewhere, or wanted to reach a marked location, they could use this “magic network” woven from the Magic Power Silk Thread to find a direct route to another node.
Even if the space keeps changing, as long as there is a path leading to that place, they would have a way to get there.
I must say this method is simply genius!
However, it also faced many challenges, such as that entering random spaces is a matter of probability; it would take them a long time to cover the entire space, and cooperation needed to be tacit.
Moreover, now there were not just students from the Witch Academy here; students from other academies could easily disrupt this construction. It’s a fact that they cannot control magic, but they have countless ways to destroy the magical effects shaped by magic power.
Another point is… since they have already been to places, they should have thoroughly scavenged them; why come back?
Or are they simply ensuring that every student from the Witch Academy can exit through this method after finishing their scavenging?
Or perhaps… had others from different academies allied with the Witch Academy?
I fiddled with these Magic Power Silk Threads, and soon a small spell left a “message” on them.
“Please do not destroy the Magic Power Silk Threads left by the Witch Academy; this is a vast project to guide everyone out of the maze. If you find yourself lost here, try to walk towards the spaces with Magic Power Silk Threads and look for people from the Witch Academy; they will lead you out of here.”
“Hehe… I wonder how many will listen.” I shook my head and finally chose a nearby passage to go.
After all, it was evident that there wasn’t any seed storage here, and as I arrived at another space, a beam of sunlight shone on me.
I had arrived… outdoors!
I looked up at the sun in the sky, the source of light, and found myself in a… crowded plantation.
Yes, crowded.
All the plants here had mutated, with the most common anomaly being “gigantism,” indicating that this area seemed affected by Extraordinary Crystals; in some regions, crystalline clusters could be seen spreading, with those plants absorbing this extraordinary energy, subsequently mutating, making this open plantation a bizarre display of “all flowers blooming.”
But to call it bizarre, one must mention the sky filled with Magic Power Silk Threads!
This place resembled a colossal connecting hub, with irregular spatial cross-sections extending from the surroundings to the sky.
In other words, even if one flew up, they wouldn’t escape; they would just enter other spaces through the spatial dislocation above.
That’s why the Magic Power Silk Threads were exaggeratedly scattered throughout the sky. Fortunately, these threads did not hinder passage; otherwise, it would be mistaken for a connected “spider web.”
Moreover, this space was vast and connected so many different spaces that it naturally served as an excellent spot for rest.
Not only were the passages convenient for finding, but the spacious area also allowed one to see the sun, devoid of the oppressive feeling of a closed space, so even lost wanderers might have the thought of waiting here for rescue.
As I expected… here indeed gathered quite a few people.
“New arrivals… wait, how come it’s you!”
“Is it strange for me to be here?” I walked toward the girl who spoke, unbothered by their gaze.
“No… we were just curious; we didn’t expect to meet Teaching Assistant Xiao Han in such a cautious place.” The tone from the other side clearly shifted.
“Then that shows we are fate, doesn’t it? I heard you all got trapped here, waiting for rescue?”
“Yes, we are trapped here; the space here is very chaotic, and if one is not careful, they might fall into a spatial dead loop. Additionally, dream creatures appear from time to time, and if we’re not careful, our bodies and consciousness might separate, which would be a big trouble.”
“I see.” I turned to look at the place they had gathered, where some lay on the ground unmoving, while others were only semi-transparent dream consciousness bodies.
This was indeed quite tragic.
Some were likely ambushed by dream creatures, with their bodies and consciousness separated, passing through the spatial cross-section, causing them to be apart.
Some found their bodies, while others encountered consciousness bodies… No wonder they built such a vast network of Magic Power Silk Threads, was it to search for separated bodies and consciousness?
“It seems the predicament you encountered is a bit complicated.”
“Yes, so Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, did you come to lend us a hand?”
“No, I came purely to have fun, and I’ll collect some marvelous seeds along the way. If you are willing to give me some precious seeds, I wouldn’t mind helping you solve the troubles you are currently facing.” I said.
“No, let’s skip that.” The other side shook her head, thinking it wasn’t a very worthwhile trade.
I was a bit surprised; their valuation of the seeds here seemed unexpectedly high. Didn’t they claim they weren’t interested in plant technology?
Did Ninglan Qiuyue deceive me?
No… perhaps it was a matter of cognitive differences and preconceived notions. More extreme speculation could even suggest they might be hiding something regarding Ninglan Qiuyue.
However, discussing this now held no meaning.
Moreover, I had already completed the acquisition of the entire seed vault’s earth vein information using the Earth Vein Identification Technique. Although this area’s space was continuously twisting and changing, the earth vein would not be cut off by it.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect to the magic network they built, but with the information obtained through the Earth Vein Identification Technique, I could use the information generated from their laid networks to construct a “pirated network.”
Since they valued the seeds so much, I needed to act quickly; otherwise, the good things would be snatched away, and if I delayed further, I would only be left to scavenge.
Since they rejected my offer, I had no intention of caring about their well-being, so I left without mercy.
However, just as I was about to pick a spot to leave, I spotted a familiar figure here.
It was Yu Yatian.
I had just heard Dongli Yiren mention that Yu Yatian had gone out with the exploration team; I didn’t expect her to have explored to this place!
She quickly noticed me; or rather, she had taken notice when I arrived here.
But she didn’t speak to me, nor did she move her body; she merely nodded at me, which I interpreted as a signal.
And I responded with a faint smile, unnoticed by anyone else.
Since she didn’t want to borrow my power, let her be; I still remembered what Dongli Yiren told me.
According to Yu Yatian, this was a trial meant for her as a secluded practitioner.
Facing difficulties and dangers was normal, wasn’t it?
I crossed into a space that didn’t have a Magic Power Silk Thread linking it, a place they had yet to visit.
Here lay countless display stands showcasing various seeds.
However, after looking through them, I found that most of these seeds were… dead seeds.
It seemed even the seed vault had its facade project in that world.
After all, these were the seeds meant to be showcased to the outside world; the real seeds meant to preserve the civilization’s flame surely had to be placed in special storage areas, with strict temperature, humidity, and light controls.
However, a few seeds were incredibly resilient and still alive; after reading their introductions, I lost interest.
After all, the plants intended to enhance species diversity did not hold much practical value and might even turn into invasive species in another ecosystem.
But… a small portion of seeds had survived the impact of extraordinary energy, indicating those seeds had a high probability of experiencing extraordinary mutations; those were what I was truly interested in.
Subsequently, I continued to break into several spaces and encountered a couple of lost individuals here, but I paid them no mind.
My target remained clear: collect valuable seeds.
As for those lonely souls I encountered, they hadn’t gotten to ask me for help before I left, while the others didn’t have the courage to ask me directly.
During this time, I also came across some dream creatures, but in such an environment, they quickly fled when they realized I was not easy to mess with, so I captured one.
As for why I wanted to catch it, obviously to gather information from it.
The Mind Communication Magic allows me to communicate at the consciousness level bypassing language, as long as the dream creature has consciousness and the cognition to react, theoretically, communication is possible.
However, I underestimated the difficulty of communicating with dream creatures; their consciousness was quite chaotic, perhaps shaped by the environment of the Primordial Dream World.
Yet… this also presented a great breakthrough opportunity; at least there was a chance they could communicate with me.
Afterward, I began to stroll through the seed vault with this dream creature I had captured.
While scavenging for seeds, I also “cultivated a bond” with this dream creature. Though progress was slow, it was merely an additional task as I was busy.
Compared to this dream creature, I was much more shocked by the superb layout of the seed exhibition hall.
Designed with simple lines and spatial layouts, the exhibition hall showcased the artistry of architectural design, and on those towering seed walls, transparent materials neatly arranged each seed’s position, creating a stunning view.
But… that was all it was, merely attractive.
These seeds had no real use; it seemed the good seeds were hiding in more concealed places.
With the dream creature sealed and trapped, I once again stepped into an unknown area, but once inside, it was pitch dark, not a glimmer of external light.
Only a few bioluminescent plants emitted a faint glow.
Following the guidance from the Earth Vein Identification Technique, I reached out and touched a certain spot, causing the previously glowing plants to flicker briefly before going dark again.
I shrugged and cleared the root links within the wall, waiting for earth energy to surge. Only then did the bioluminescent plants emit bright light.
“Interesting, this place is… the basement? Looks like I’ve found the right place.”
