Chapter 780: Easy Daily Life and Uncertain Accidents
Witch Academy.
“Yirui, sorry to bother you at this time. I feel a bit off with my body. The changes in the Demon Transformation Body Cultivation Method are a bit beyond my control…”
At this moment, Tan Han directly contacted Yirui through a communication device. As soon as it was connected, she immediately explained her situation.
Yirui quickly inquired about the details.
“Is it serious? Did something happen? Or is it that…”
“Oh no, it’s not that. It’s just a very strange feeling, like I’m on the verge of success, but I don’t know what to do next. If I continue like this, it feels like all my efforts will be in vain.”
“This feeling?”
Yirui was somewhat surprised. She had experienced this before during her own Self-Generated Magic shaping ceremony. She had gone through this feeling of failure more than once.
“Relax, this is a very common attempt at shaping. Didn’t Xiao Han tell you about this? By the way, have you contacted Xiao Han?”
“I tried, but the academy communication is offline. Xiao Han might be off-campus or in some special space… If I use the contact channel of the Great Knowledge Seed, I might be able to reach her, but…”
“Little Tan, what’s important is your body! Why not leave a message for Xiao Han? Perhaps… she’s busy with something again… I’ll check the lab. Can you come over, or should I come to find you?”
“I’m fine, really. It’s just that there’s an issue with the progress of the Demon Transformation Body Cultivation Method. I’ll go to the lab too.” Tan Han shook her head, indicating that she was okay.
And she truly had no major issues. Even in the worst-case scenario, she could quickly save herself using the method of stripping away the Magic Source, a self-rescue technique to be learned before cultivating the Demon Transformation Body Method. However, no one had ever used it until now.
After hanging up, Tan Han let out a sigh.
As the main experimental subject currently, she was the one undergoing the complete Demon Transformation Body Cultivation Method experiment, simply because she was the Child of Fortune, capable of bringing good luck.
But only she understood that she was no different from an ordinary person, and the fortune bestowed upon her by this identity, that eye capable of seeing through fortune… was of no help.
After this experiment, perhaps she could fulfill that promise. She took a business card out of her storage equipment. In the vision of her spiritual eye, the business card was connected to a Thread of Fortune.
The name on the card was… Trix Destinie.
The witch who called herself a Fortune Alchemist.
This witch had taught her many principles and helped her resolve many biases about fortune.
The most important thing is that one should never compare themselves to others.
For example, Xiao Han, when she determined to break the Earth Vein Shackles, her heart was already higher than the sky, destined to soar to greater heights.
As for herself… in Trix’s words, she was merely performing resistance through avoidance.
True resistance should be like Xiao Han… perhaps her methods were somewhat immature at first, but throughout, she shone with a brilliance that fortune could not bind.
“It’s been a while since I last saw Professor Trix…” Tan Han muttered to herself.
Typically, when she wanted to meet this mentor, the Thread of Fortune on the card would arrange a chance encounter within three days at the latest. Perhaps this was the romance unique to a Fortune Alchemist.
But she hadn’t seen this witch sister for an entire holiday.
Right now, she was just someone still at a very low level, relying on fortune to keep climbing.
She needed to seize every opportunity to make herself stronger.
“Self-Generated Magic… is this an opportunity for me since school started? Fortune, please give me a bit more strength…”
After ending her self-talk, Tan Han seemed revitalized once again.
She then said goodbye to the store manager beside her and hurried toward the lab.
……
Instance Realm.
On the central island of the lake.
These days have passed.
With Bai Jie’s and my joint efforts, the prototype of a small wooden house has roughly taken shape.
After some discussions, we decided that the small wooden house we would build here wouldn’t be too large.
Moreover, we also considered that we shouldn’t overly disrupt the spatial stability of the instance realm, so we do not plan to use spatial expansion runic techniques to enlarge the indoor space.
Rather than a house, it would be more accurate to call it a large integrated living space, with minimal partitions defining the internal areas, only different furniture indicating different functional areas.
The style will be more retro, focusing on warmth and comfort, as well as functional integration, etc.
Related to the extraordinary, items like potion cauldrons and experimental tables will be more about decoration and creating ambiance.
After all, who would actually conduct experiments here?
Any random lab would be more comfortable to use than here, right?
However, these alchemical tools aren’t entirely useless; for instance, trying to handcraft a bottle of pink potion here should be possible.
The space is more about enjoying a vacation with Bai Jie.
Using an entire instance realm to create a pure natural-style deserted vacation island is perhaps something only a person like me would extravagantly indulge in…
But no matter the issues, they don’t outweigh a single phrase: “I like it.”
“Well… there are still many things to buy. The vintage decorative materials for the exterior are running low, and we need more wood. For the wood, let’s choose this one and add another layer for protection against corrosion, moisture, and pests… nine-in-one with a natural aroma…”
“These belong to traditional enchanting techniques. We should choose nicer-looking wooden textures, and we can use runes to enhance them ourselves, the quality will definitely be better.” Bai Jie suggested.
“That makes sense~” With our rune literature foundation, we will definitely do much better than industrially mass-produced enchanting.
“So, is that all for now? I’ll go get them~” After jotting these down on my memo, I asked.
“Xiao Han, you really think of everything, huh?”
“Ah~ Only when I get there can I know what’s needed and what’s not!”
But this means I will have to run around a lot.
Ignoring some large lumber, various indoor decorative items, artworks, materials, etc., will need to be sourced from different locations.
However, the Witch Academy has quite a few craft shops and market areas in the vicinity since, for many students, a villa they will live in for ten years requires decoration for their own bedroom.
Now that the semester hasn’t started long after the new students arrived, during this late period of the new student tournament, there are still many small items that attract newcomers for sale.
I looked around the vicinity of the house base and seemed to think of something.
“Bai Jie, how about we go to the gardening store or flower shop to buy some decorative plants to plant around? Or how about creating a small flowerbed or vegetable garden on the edge?”
“Good suggestion~ Let’s plan the surrounding area of the building!” Bai Jie nodded.
Suddenly, in the hustle and bustle, it felt like time was somewhat short.
But what we lack is time.
So in the end, after planning again and confirming the range and planting types of the outer flowerbed, we prepared to head out.
“Ling Yi~ We’re going out. We’ll come back to see you later~” I said to Ling Yi, the cute wood elemental sprite.
“Uh~ Okay! Travel safely~”
At that moment, Ling Yi was resting on a tree, which she referred to as the “World Tree” in her acknowledgment, thus giving it a name.
So this originally called the Wanlian Main Network Tree is now named… “He Ya Tree.”
After these two days, I used spells and wood elemental energy to nourish it, along with Ling Yi’s care, and it has grown to about two people’s height. However, its trunk is still not very thick, even less impressive than the trees along roadside greenery, but its rate of growth is definitely impressive.
Ling Yi resides in the branches of the He Ya Tree. Initially, I planned to help her build a temporary little house, but she refused.
Wood elementals can symbiotically grow with plants, and since she chose this tree as her home, she wouldn’t build her house in an unnatural way.
This sense of ritual feels akin to how Bai Jie and I chose to personally build our own little house.
Once the wood elemental establishes communication with the large tree, they will open a tree hole on the tree as their home. This tree hole does not harm the plant at all, and if the wood elemental leaves for too long, the hole gradually heals over.
Currently, the He Ya Tree isn’t large enough to accommodate Ling Yi comfortably, so she takes great care of it, accompanying it as it grows.
And she eats and sleeps on this tree as if engaged in the most simple symbiotic ritual.
After greeting Ling Yi, I also left her some fruits. Although in the forest, it’s impossible for a wood elemental to starve, Ling Yi clearly prefers fruits that come packed with various natural energies over just drawing plant essence from nature.
I also found that she really likes the taste of Fool Dream Drink, so I left her a small jar of it nearby.
As Bai Jie and I stepped out of the instance realm, I suddenly sensed an unread message from the Great Knowledge Tree in the academy network.
“Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?” Bai Jie naturally noticed my reaction.
“Someone contacted me, but I didn’t receive a notification in the instance realm. Well… the Great Knowledge Tree itself also has information… I just didn’t pay attention…” Perhaps it came through while I was focused on something with Bai Jie.
“Is there an emergency?”
“Tan Han… Yirui… I received news regarding them.” I was somewhat surprised to read the message sent by Tan Han.
Glancing through it quickly, I understood what it meant.
Tan Han encountered a hurdle in the structure of Self-Generated Magic. I should have talked to her about it; perhaps she didn’t understand my meaning at the time, leading her to face a similar situation as Yirui now.
After all, Tan Han’s progress has been slower than Yirui’s; she had only just caught up in recent days.
What Tan Han lacks now is… how to implement the structure of Self-Generated Magic, which shapes the essence of life, onto her concept and bloodline information of the witch race.
This heavily relies on fortune; many things that came easily to me seem to be quite difficult for her.
Actually, after deciding to make Tan Han the main experimental subject, I explained the steps for the next phase to Yirui and the other sisters as well.
This means they should continue to push the Resonance Method with the ten thousand Magic Source limit in the lab, and if they have the energy afterward, they can also try to structure the Self-Generated Magic themselves.
But now there’s no sign of activity; this not only indicates their slim chances but also reflects the immaturity of the techniques we currently possess.
“Xiao Han, if it’s something important, you can go ahead and take care of it~ There should be some order of importance; I can buy those things too.” Bai Jie’s voice came to my ears at this time.
“But… I wanted to go shopping with you, Bai Jie…” I began to say excitedly, but soon reason calmed me down.
“Did Xiao Han just show some selfishness? It’s fine~ You know I’ll wait for you regardless of how much time it takes. Life is always full of sudden surprises. Balancing life’s uncertainties with planned conflicts is part of the experience.”
“This is compromise!” I retorted, though I knew that when everything in life goes according to one’s wishes, that too can be a disaster.
“Then if you don’t want to compromise, go fight against it~ Solve this matter beautifully, then come back to show off to me, okay?”
“Hmph~ I’ll go then?”
“Go quickly~” Bai Jie smiled.
“I’m really leaving now…” To be honest, I still don’t feel tired of being with Bai Jie yet, and I don’t want to be interrupted from that comfort by things outside of plans.
“Go quickly! If I finish shopping and you’re still not back, I’ll wait for you in the instance realm, then we can build our little house together.”
After bidding goodbye to Bai Jie, I disregarded everything else and directly took the most efficient way to appear in the lab through a teleportation spell.
They said it would be better to ask them face-to-face for anything in the lab.
Moreover, this time they arrived at the lab before me! So I can’t say I’m pulling them along!
“Cough, um… what happened?” My figure appeared in the lab, where I saw a few familiar figures busy at work. Some of the sisters had already returned, and the most conspicuous were Yirui and her two companions, as they seemed to be the busiest.
“Xiao Han? You’re here! Did you see our message to you?”
“Yeah, it hasn’t been long since it was sent, has it? About half a day or so… Looking at you, it seems like you haven’t resolved the issue. What’s the problem?”
“Well, Tan Han is in a very special situation right now. I’m trying using the theoretical foundation you shared with us, although it’s a bit rushed…” Yirui glanced at her mentor beside her, indicating that she had her mentor backing her up, “But it seems there’s some progress… though… not much…”
“Really? Let me see~” I said expectantly as I walked forward.
