Chapter 786: Annoying Things, Enter the Soul Material Cycle Soon
Setting aside the schemes of that Betrayer Witch, looking at the bigger picture reveals many things that suddenly make sense.
After all, knowing what they want allows one to understand how they will act next, but their ultimate goal will never change.
They are ultimately after “Extraordinary Knowledge.” Although I don’t know why this thing has suddenly become so sought after, the existing intelligence clearly reflects this.
The current situation is roughly that other Extraordinary Academies are once again isolating the Witch Academy, and since they want the fragments of “Extraordinary Knowledge” within the Witch Academy, they will need other means, like courting the All-purpose Association?
To acquire the fragments in the hands of the All-purpose Association, as for how to obtain them… the means are not much of a concern.
“Sister Bai~ Let’s go, I’ve found another interesting place!” I pulled Sister Bai away from here, but we still hadn’t left this castle.
After all, this castle feels like an adventure house to me, filled with various surprises and fun.
The place I insisted on going with Sister Bai is the basement located on the underground level.
Sure enough, in such a large castle, there must be some intricate underground passages and rooms.
“Indeed, these are all Extraordinary Materials.” After arriving below, we couldn’t help but exclaim upon seeing these items.
Although the Extraordinary Academy doesn’t allow ordinary people to possess anything related to the extraordinary, it’s clear that this is likely a rule they only pretend to follow.
Behind the scenes… their behavior is quite rampant.
However, this is ultimately not the Witch Academy, nor is it the Witch Academy’s territory; perhaps that is why they are so bold.
Moreover, I noticed that some of the Extraordinary Materials here are only secondary; there are quite a few things like alchemical potions, but even more items are… Extraordinary Items!
“The proliferation of Extraordinary Items in the family was expected, but this is my first time witnessing it. However, upon careful thought, it’s not surprising that the most rampant things are Extraordinary Items.”
“Eh? Why?” I asked curiously.
“Because the birth conditions of Extraordinary Items are not extraordinary techniques, but rather coincidences and luck. Even if the Extraordinary Academy can block all outflows of Extraordinary Materials, it can never prevent the unintentional birth of Extraordinary Items. Moreover, the family controls this ordinary society, so they can quietly reclaim these items at the first opportunity.”
“Is that so?” After this explanation, I found it quite reasonable.
The birth of Extraordinary Items mainly comes from special ceremonies and coincidences. Even without any Extraordinary Materials involved, it is still possible to birth Extraordinary Items; it’s just that such Extraordinary Items have minimal effects and side effects.
“Yes, Xiao Han probably hasn’t participated in the external extraordinary disturbance subjugation tasks issued by the Witch Academy, right? Actually, most of the time, the good deeds are done by ordinary people who possess Extraordinary Items.” Sister Bai seems to recall some past events, her tone carrying a hint of nostalgia.
“Indeed, I haven’t.” I said somewhat regretfully; it seems I unknowingly missed a lot of excitement within the academy.
Subsequently, Sister Bai and I looked through these Extraordinary Items here, but there wasn’t anything that caught our eye.
But thinking about it, if there were really effective Extraordinary Items, those families would probably carry them with them and wouldn’t leave them here to collect dust.
Originally, I was thinking about whether to swipe a few as toys, but there really weren’t any items I liked, so I gave up that plan. As for… is stealing such behavior wrong?
Well, isn’t their family seriously violating regulations by illegally possessing Extraordinary Materials and Extraordinary Items?
“What does Xiao Han plan to do next?” Seeing me in such a lackluster state, Sister Bai timely inquired.
“I originally planned to go meet Aipuli, but surprisingly, the Hothorn Family hasn’t expelled her from the family. Currently, my player clone is contacting people from the Hothorn Family, and I’m trying to understand what kind of bond remains between the Hothorn Family and Aipuli.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes~ Aipuli is now an ordinary person, without any spellbooks or Magic Sources. As time goes on, her physical quality will gradually decline with her life level; is the Hothorn Family still planning to make use of her?”
After all, Sister Bai and I were strolling around this castle, witnessing the security forces here.
The security forces here did indeed exceed my expectations, as they are mostly graduates from the Wizard Academy!
However, most of these people are students from the Wizard Academy, their wizardry structures cleaned up, with their witch weapons reclaimed. Without the maintenance of Extraordinary Materials and the interference of Extraordinary powers in their cultivation, they too will decline in life level just like pre-apprentice witches without a Magic Source until they stabilize.
But even without any Extraordinary powers, their physical quality, residual undying nature, and instinct for combat grant them combat power that is difficult for ordinary people to match.
“Based on what you said, Xiao Han, it’s indeed possible to use a manipulation of guilt to control her personality and make her continue to work hard for the family, after all, Aipuli was previously a teaching assistant and hasn’t returned for many days, right? She should be considered the strongest non-student currently in the family.” Sister Bai nodded.
“How about we create some accidents for her? People are always like this; they either explode in silence or d*e in silence.” Many people who are psychologically manipulated often lack the stimulation from the environment to make a reaction, which is why they appear indifferent.
For ordinary people, extremes may serve as a form of redemption; perhaps no one has really experienced extreme care, but extreme suppression undoubtedly causes someone to burst completely.
Hatred, ruthlessness, coldness… these are also blades that can cut through Earth Vein shackles and human emotional ties, much like how I, upon entering school, reached out to my parents over the phone. Even if I was scolded, I needed to listen because I wanted to define their nature and eliminate any possibility of regret or wavering thoughts.
“Oh? How does Xiao Han want to do this?”
“Foolish and mindless people will always bring endless trouble. Sister Bai, do you think these family members deserve to d*e?” I inquired curiously.
“This must be analyzed from various angles. Objectively speaking, no one has the right to define who deserves to d*e, but from the legal perspective of maintaining order, the moral perspective of upholding the bottom line, and personal grudges from individual perspectives… anyone can d*e; it’s just a matter of who is on the right side after d*ath.”
“You actually went so far as to say something like this?!” I said somewhat surprised, “So, what do you personally think, Sister Bai?”
“Me? I think… annoying things should enter the Earth Vein Soul Material cycle sooner.” Sister Bai bluntly evaluated this, “But I cannot interfere like this and cannot carry out large-scale massacres against them; you know the reason.”
“Mm~ I understand naturally~” I nodded in understanding. Sister Bai is extraordinary, and she has many restrictions.
However, Sister Bai’s unreserved words also made my inner thoughts more resolute!
Letting them become the materials for my experiments… wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Currently, I still possess quite a few techniques, and I came here with the intent of perfecting Soul Drawing, but I also have another technique and its derived spell that I need to test.
That is… Wisdom Imbuement.
I have used this technique on those mutated beasts in the Expanding Realm, and afterward, those who hunted the mutated beasts reported that the effects were very good.
Wisdom Imbuement corresponds to a technique that exists at another layer above the essence of life.
From my current level of “broad knowledge,” this so-called “Life Wisdom” is similar to concepts like Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, Self-Generated Magic, racial concepts, and bloodline information.
They are all feedback above the “essence of life.”
Either they are inherent racial concepts or bloodline information.
Or they are abilities constructed from some postnatal technique framework, such as the “Wisdom Imbuement” derived from Self-Awakened Body Cultivation, Self-Generated Magic, and Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell technique frameworks.
The craft of Wisdom Imbuement, which delves deep into the essence of life and explores the foundation of wisdom, is also, in essence, a form of “taboo research” that transforms the essence of life.
Additionally, Wisdom Imbuement has given rise to a reverse application, which is Wisdom Deprivation.
The deprivation of wisdom has allowed the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell to give birth to a special sequential derived spell, known as—Seeds of Grand Wisdom Weaving.
This derived spell has thoroughly perfected the application of the Wisdom Imbuement technique.
I haven’t really used these abilities for a long time.
And now… they have new experimenters.
However, I do not plan to directly implement Wisdom Deprivation on them but will use another method, which is the second use of Wisdom Deprivation—Wisdom Withering.
This is a subtle influence, equally deadly and hard to detect.
I remember clearly that above the essence of life, the foundation of wisdom consists of “consciousness” and “memory.”
Consciousness recognizes itself; memory influences recognition and can manipulate emotions.
Having tried the Self-Memory Sealing Technique, I know well that memory acts like a shackle on behavior for a person; it is also the foundation for cognition. Memory can provide a person with the motivation to do certain things but can also restrict what they can do.
For example, having a memory of praising others will subconsciously lead a person to like complimenting others; conversely, a memory of being burned will prevent someone from touching fire.
Memory is this magical.
And it is one of the foundations of wisdom above the essence of life.
…
At this moment, Aipuli is following her nominal father, participating in a family-hosted gathering. This is how families operate; inviting guests from other families naturally requires a name to host the gathering.
And she also needs to bear full responsibility for the mistakes she has made.
Not long ago, she was still a teaching assistant, but now she is nothing.
Moreover, she was even abducted to become a teaching assistant at the Witch Academy, and her current status in the family makes her increasingly looked down upon.
After all, the Hothorn Family is a family that follows the will of great wizards; they provide talent to the Academy, and the Academy provides them with protection.
Now returning in the guise of a “traitor,” everything feels so unfamiliar to her, as she has witnessed so much brilliance at the Witch Academy and knows too well the horrors of witches.
Thus, the family’s suspicion of her loyalty to the wizard’s will… is not entirely unfounded; even as she utters those words, she lacks the steadfastness of her childhood.
This further contributes to her helplessness at this moment and inevitably reminds her of the choice her mentor once gave her.
If… she had chosen not to follow her family, what would the outcome have been?
No… there can’t be any ifs!
She has studied the knowledge of Earth Vein Shackles, so she clearly recognizes that her choice would never change even if repeated a thousand times.
Family is such a tumor, invading her childhood and ensuring that her future life requires everything to be healed.
Whenever she harbors thoughts of resistance, the family’s influence will pull her back into the abyss at the slightest vulnerable moment in all aspects of her life.
Her so-called strength and ten years of honing are nothing but jokes; she is nearing her thirties yet her mentality remains as naive as a girl’s. The only thing she has learned is to pretend to be strong, when in reality, she is on the verge of collapse.
And upon returning, she didn’t even expect the first thing to break her down would be… losing her ability to bear children.
Yes, it is the inability to bear children; pre-apprentice witches do not possess this capability before advancing to extraordinary levels.
She is now an ordinary person, needing to face this terrible society, terrible life, terrible family, terrible relatives. Having lost her ability to bear children, she has lost even the value of a marriage alliance.
The values bestowed upon her since childhood have been such; even though she knows that so-called marriage alliances are nothing but dregs… when confronted with the unavoidable reality, she has even lost the value of a marriage alliance.
All she hears is the condemnation from others towards her. Who can really ignore others’ evaluations of themselves?
Thus, the only thing maintaining her value and significance now is her current strength; she can still rely on this strength to reduce unnecessary troubles for the family. She desperately wants to prove her worth because personal value is the meaning of existence for everyone within the family.
To this end, the family’s understanding of each individual creates a closed loop; even as Aipuli crosses the shackles of her family to study at the Witch Academy and has seen so many things and scenes she had never encountered before, she still cannot make any changes upon returning to her family.
She is just a girl who, when faced with difficulties, subconsciously looks forward to being rescued by others…
But she has completely lost her value. Who would come to redeem this sinner?
The family, the Wizard Academy won’t; the Witch Academy certainly won’t!
She no longer has any choices…
The banquet gradually comes to an end, and perhaps the dark night can offer her a hint of peace, giving her a moment to tend to her own wounds alone.
She is no longer the once noble lady of the family; even her former bedroom no longer belongs to her, leaving her with only a guest room where she could sleep well at night.
As she pushed open the door, two familiar yet somewhat distant voices that made her feel strange came through.
“Miss~ Why did you come back so late?”
“Yes~ Even if it’s this late, you still need to bathe and change clothes!”
The voices of the two maids instantly stunned her; these two… weren’t they the maids that used to serve her closely before she entered the Extraordinary Academy?
“Aila? Anni?”
Aipuli instinctively reached out to touch the two figures, but in the next moment, her hand passed right through “their” faces.
