Chapter 692: Distribution of Knowledge Seeds
After bidding farewell to Yi Rui and the others, I once again confirmed the text message sent by Teacher Lina, which contained the location and time of this teaching assistant meeting.
Like last time, I arrived here with a casual mindset, but upon my arrival, I realized that this meeting seemed different from last semester’s final meeting. Last semester, the conference room had only a few people, like Lin Yi and Li Feiya, whom I knew.
This time, however, the meeting was actually held in a gigantic conference hall!
I usually belong to the type that arrives a little early, but there were still others who had gotten here ahead of me.
The scale of this… was almost comparable to the number of teaching assistants gathered when Ninglan New City first opened.
Moreover, unexpectedly, I ran into a familiar face here.
Lin Yi.
The teaching assistant who had participated in the lower grade assessment with me during the last final exam.
“I didn’t expect you to come so early?” I habitually went to sit beside her since sitting next to someone familiar is probably the choice for most people.
“I happened to have nothing to do, so I came early. After all, this is quite an important matter, it’s more respectful than those who only arrive just on time. Besides, aren’t you here pretty early too?” Lin Yi put down the book in her hands and looked at me as she spoke.
“That’s true, but I’m curious, why did you come again for this final exam?”
“Aren’t you here for the same reason?”
“Well, I have a reason; I owe Teacher Lina a favor, so I came.”
“A favor? Alright, I won’t pry into that.” Lin Yi seemed a bit surprised but didn’t delve deeper. Noticing my evident curiosity and uncertainty, she didn’t mind explaining a bit more, “Actually, it’s not just me; many people will be coming here afterward. This upcoming lower grade final exam might become the joint examination with the most teaching assistants ever gathered.”
“Why? That seems unnecessary?” I was somewhat taken aback, but glancing around this vast conference hall, I chose to believe Lin Yi’s words.
“You really don’t know anything?”
“What should I know?” I asked, puzzled.
“Do you remember when was the last time so many teaching assistants were gathered? It was when Ninglan New City in the Expanding Realm opened.” Lin Yi began to explain to me. “What did Teacher Lina say at that time? From the very beginning, the instructors said that Ninglan New City in the Expanding Realm would only be open for one semester.”
“Yeah, it does seem to have been said, so this meeting isn’t just about the final exam; it’s also the final report of this trip to Ninglan New City?”
“Pretty much, but Ninglan New City… no, it’s now the Ninglan Realm. With all that effort put into managing it, many people are unwilling to leave just like that.”
“Will the instructors agree?”
“I’m not sure. After all, the decisions of the instructors cannot be directly challenged even by us teaching assistants. But… if this is the unchangeable conclusion, I believe more people will go all out in the little time they have left, gathering resources without any limits until the very last moment. After all, they need to maximize their benefits.”
“Will the academy agree to this?” Hearing Lin Yi say this took me by surprise.
If they used those tactics to maximize benefits by harvesting… can those indigenous people really continue to live normally?
Even if they could, because of being harvested, they might hardly be able to recover for a long time afterward…
“I don’t know either, but that’s the attitude of each teaching assistant. The Witch Academy never cares about matters outside the academy, just like the outside society we’re in; the same goes for the Expanding Realm. However, the Expanding Realm is currently considered an experimental field of the academy, and those people want to take a gamble…”
“Do those teaching assistants have the guts to do that?” To put it bluntly, they just want to pressure the academy to keep them in the Expanding Realm for continued profit.
After all, the Expanding Realm has maintained a connection via spatial portals with the academy, meaning methods such as teleportation can operate between the academy and the Expanding Realm.
So for the academy, opening or closing the portal to the Expanding Realm is just a matter of words, rather than a limitation of objective factors.
If the academy disagrees, even if they use teleportation to get over there, it would just be “illegal crossing.”
Because of this, they feel this method might allow them to communicate with the academy.
I talked with Lin Yi for quite a while; she indeed knew many things I was unaware of. I once again recognized how annoying these small maneuvers of the teaching assistants were when it came to benefits.
However, from the perspective of the Extraordinary Witch, it seemed somewhat childish.
Yet from the perspective of those teaching assistants, if these small tactics could yield even a slight advantage, it’s worth it.
“Sister Xiao Han~ Oh, I came so early and still got to see you; it seems I’m late after all~”
At that moment, a rather flamboyant voice came through, and soon I saw a figure dashing over to sit beside me.
Looking at this girl, with a catgirl pose, she was also a teaching assistant I’d gotten to know during the last final exam, Li Feiya, the “Reflection Warrior” who wrote up her critique before the exam!
Her antics turned this place into a visual focus for the crowd, thankfully not too many people had arrived.
However, with Li Feiya’s joining, Lin Yi instead became quieter, as the entire conversation was dominated by Li Feiya.
Compared to the useful information Lin Yi shared, Li Feiya’s chatter mostly consisted of gossip.
As time passed, more and more people gathered in the conference hall. During this time, I also recognized several familiar faces, such as Fu Xinglan and Tracy.
Additionally, representing the Witch Secret Realm Association and the All-purpose Association were Beqi Payne and Wenni Beck.
Until the appearance of Teacher Lina, by the final moment, the conference hall was nearly filled with over half of the attendees, and not a single person was late.
“Well, I’m glad you’re willing to cooperate and attend this meeting. This meeting primarily discusses some issues and matters to note regarding the multi-school joint examination for lower grades.” Teacher Lina surveyed everyone in attendance, then proceeded with a simple opening statement.
Without unnecessary words or formalities, she basically got straight to the point.
“This multi-school joint examination will adopt a plan different from any previous formats, but before that, I need to distribute something identical to each of you.”
As she spoke, one of the instructors accompanying Teacher Lina pulled out a pile of items from a storage equipment.
At a glance, I recognized what they were.
They were consciousness crystals.
A synthetic material that simulates the medium environment of the Sea of Consciousness, and serves as a carrier for the Great Knowledge Seed and the Knowledge Seed.
Thus, what those piled items were had already become self-evident.
“Let me briefly introduce this item; it’s called the Knowledge Seed, which will gradually be promoted throughout the academy in the future. Its main function is somewhat similar to the special phones given to each student upon enrollment, but its convenience far exceeds that of a phone.”
As Teacher Lina spoke, she had several people in the front help distribute them to the back.
“Teacher Lina, we have the Great Knowledge Seeds; we shouldn’t need this Knowledge Seed, right?” At this moment, a teaching assistant near the front raised her hand to inquire, her tone seemingly carrying a hint of bragging and showing off.
However, her tone only drew some looks akin to those given to an idiot, but this indeed posed a question some teaching assistants wanted to ask.
After all, the Great Knowledge Seeds are currently only circulated among the instructor group; only a handful of teaching assistants possess this item. If they have it, it indicates their instructor has capability, or they have a good relationship with their instructor, regardless, it’s something worth showing off.
“You do need it. No matter what kind of seed you have, keep it. Even if you have the Great Knowledge Seed, this Knowledge Seed is equivalent to an expansion pack.” Teacher Lina glanced at the girl who spoke and then addressed everyone.
She understood that some present had the ability to obtain the Great Knowledge Seed, but that has never been a capital for bragging.
However… educating these individuals was not her responsibility.
The distribution of Knowledge Seeds included me, Lin Yi, and Li Feiya also receiving one.
Lin Yi and the others did not have the Great Knowledge Seed, as mine was derived after the last joint exam, and at that time, due to production limits and other concerns, distributing them was not even considered.
In the time that followed, Teacher Lina and a few other instructors began teaching everyone how to use the Knowledge Seed.
The original Great Knowledge Seed wasn’t immediately usable when received; if one didn’t understand its usage, it could indeed be damaged.
And this Knowledge Seed was somewhat like that as well.
I looked at the small consciousness crystal in my hand; after I crushed it, the Knowledge Seed was instantly completely “assimilated” by my Great Knowledge Tree.
I also learned about the optimization in this Knowledge Seed.
This Knowledge Seed continued utilizing the structure design of the embryonic layer from my Great Knowledge Seed, providing the initial catalytic energy for the seed “growth,” eliminating the need for personal additional energy to catalyze growth.
After all, for lower grade students, their mental power cannot interfere with magic power, and they haven’t learned to manipulate other extraordinary energies, so the energy issue indeed needs addressing.
Then there was the matter of opening one’s Sea of Consciousness. If a person had not opened their Sea of Consciousness, even if the Knowledge Seed entered their consciousness, they still wouldn’t be able to “sense” that seed.
For this issue, I think Luxien had the most authority to speak.
And clearly, the witches in the laboratory seemed to have addressed this problem.
I could feel that when this seed was placed within my consciousness, it had a strong consciousness guidance, along with a triggering information introduction, gradually guiding a person to recognize the “existence” of the Sea of Consciousness.
Perhaps for ordinary people, when they first realize the Sea of Consciousness, they might find its existence extremely small, about the size of a Knowledge Seed, but as the Knowledge Seed grows into a Secondary Knowledge Tree, the Sea of Consciousness will also expand alongside it.
Before long, nearly everyone present had completed the preliminary stage of the Knowledge Seed, with many expressing curiosity about this ability and continuously exploring.
I also tested how serious the information grading of the Knowledge Seed truly was.
First was the Knowledge Shadow, which reflected an illusionary projection of everyone’s subconscious; it had now turned into only a one-question-one-answer “artificial intelligence,” which essentially still reflected everyone’s subconscious, so it could often produce unexpected responses.
Next was the most crucial Earth Vein Identification Technique, which had an even more severe information grading. Many identification details wouldn’t even be presented, for example, using it on a person would not reveal their many private details, but only specific information.
Moreover, I discovered that those possessing a Knowledge Seed could also set what information could be displayed about themselves after identification… well, this certainly benefitted social interactions.
If someone doesn’t want to display it, they can set it as personal privacy, preventing anyone from accessing the information.
However, these limitations seemingly could not bypass my Great Knowledge Tree. Of course, the Great Knowledge Seed didn’t seem to be able to either?
“Regarding the Knowledge Seeds, I have distributed them to each of you, and you’ve all completed activation. You can explore its functions yourself or directly inquire with the Knowledge Shadow; it will provide the answers you seek. Next, we’ll discuss the rules of this multi-school joint examination.”
“This multi-school joint examination will be held in the Expanding Realm, and the colleges participating include those that currently have stable teleportation channels in the Expanding Realm, which include our Witch Academy, Aphhemia Academy, and Wizard Academy…”
“This joint examination will follow a hunting model. Candidates will face the mutated beast groups in the Expanding Realm, as well as some special creatures released suddenly by the colleges. They will all be marked for scoring, and the score for each hunting target can be viewed through the identification function of the Knowledge Seed.”
“Hunting targets that have already been captured will be marked and cannot be stolen. The hunters will have full rights to handle the prey and can choose to sell it directly or keep it for use of biological materials, etc. The academy will provide selling channels and waste recycling passages.”
“This joint examination will prohibit participants from using their own powers. The Witch Academy will provide a bulk limitation contract for each participant in this joint examination, and the powers that candidates can use will be limited to the special Power Network provided by the academy.”
“Wait, teacher, what is the special Power Network provided by the academy?” At this moment, someone raised a question.
“It’s the kind of power ordinary people have in the Expanding Realm, standardized and modeled extraordinary powers provided through the special Power Network,” Teacher Lina explained simply.
“Teacher, what significance does this have?”
“Significance?” Teacher Lina’s gaze sharpened as she stared at the teaching assistant who posed this foolish question, “To make you realize that some of you are already teaching assistants. If you can only go to confront lower-grade students with a Fireball Spellbook, you may not even be able to outmatch others; that’s the significance.”
“I know many of you snicker at this, thinking it unnecessary, but I must remind you again of one thing: before you promote to Extraordinary Witches, the magic source and spellbook that you think belong to you have never truly belonged to you. They are merely excellent tools, and more importantly, some people can even rob such tools away from you bare-handed.”
Teacher Lina’s statement sent chills down many spines, making them recall some… “tragedies” that had occurred previously.
And in that interval, someone subconsciously glanced at Liliana amidst the crowd.
Similarly, someone also looked at me, then quickly averted their gaze.
“I won’t waste any more words; educating you is something your instructors should do. Next, we will explain the more detailed aspects of this assessment and introduce you to the process and rules of the Power Network.”
As Teacher Lina spoke, she pulled out a projection of spell images for demonstration. After all, this was the Witch Academy; without the Wanlian Main Network Tree, the Power Network did not cover this area, so if it needed to be explained, a demonstration was essential.
