Chapter 789: The Truth Behind the Fortune Layout
“Uh… it was Sister Bai who told me…”
“Really?” Principal Mei was also surprised by this answer but didn’t ask for further clarification. She glanced at Bai Yu and then turned her attention back to me.
“Let’s address your earlier question. I’m not sure about those guys’ little maneuvers, but from their actions, it seems they indeed want to gather that piece of Extraordinary Knowledge.”
“But… why go to such great lengths? Hasn’t Extraordinary Knowledge already become that precious to them?” Then… what about the Extraordinary Knowledge that so many Witch Sisters at the Witch Academy have been researching that I learned about before?
“Xiao Han, do you think that valuable things lose their worth when you see too many of them? Extraordinary Knowledge is already a precious resource that many would fight over. However, well-utilized and developed Extraordinary Knowledge is even more valuable,” Principal Mei explained.
“Uh… I’m sorry… I really hadn’t thought about that…”
“It’s alright. However, it is indeed as you said; it’s strange that a broken piece of Extraordinary Knowledge is being fought over.”
“Could it be because it’s tainted with fortune?” I speculated, as it was the only possible explanation I could think of; otherwise, what additional value could it have?
“Fortune is just one factor, and it’s not the kind of value you’re imagining,” Principal Mei shook her head, seemingly denying my hypothesis.
“Ah? Then what is it?” The only factor I thought of was just one of many, and it wasn’t even the kind of value I pictured?
Principal Mei’s words surprised me.
“Xiao Han, are you very curious to know?”
“Yes! Of course!” I nodded directly in response, “Um… I should be able to know, right?”
“Of course, you can know, but there are deeper reasons behind it, and I will explain it to you slowly.” Principal Mei seemed to have no intention of hiding it, simply describing the complexity of the matter, “Where should I start… How about we begin with this broken piece of Extraordinary Knowledge? Do you know why it is connected to fortune?”
“Uh… I’m not too clear. Is it because of the methods of the Fortune Alchemist?” I shook my head, expressing my uncertainty, then provided a speculative answer.
“Hehe~ I won’t deny that powerful Fortune Alchemists might have such methods, but those at the Witch Academy… are quite ordinary. They cannot do it. Fortune Alchemists only claim to manipulate fortune, but trying to accomplish anything through it is pure fantasy.”
“Then how is this accomplished?” I curiously continued.
“Because this fortune has always been linked to this piece of Extraordinary Knowledge; from the very beginning, it belonged to the original Extraordinary Knowledge of the Main World.”
“Is that so?”
I was initially shocked by this answer but gradually accepted it. It reminded me of the Small World that Qiu Ruxin used to be in, which also had a piece of Extraordinary Knowledge that was related to fortune, scripts, and world will and ultimately gave birth to a unique Extraordinary Item that could not leave that Small World!
So the Main World once had such a legacy too?
The only regret is that I cannot look back at the historical past; the tragedies and bloodshed have forever dissipated along with the shattered Earth Veins.
Or even if remnants exist, they would erase the past history to maintain the Main World’s extraordinary status.
“Yes, because this piece of Extraordinary Knowledge belongs to the Main World, and the connection to fortune represents that the consciousness of the Main World has not abandoned it. That is its significance.”
“But… if that is its value, then why would the Wizard Academy send this to the Game World? Isn’t that equivalent to cutting off all ties with the Main World?” I still asked, confused.
“Then, Xiao Han~” Hearing my question, Principal Mei chuckled slightly, then continued to explain to me, “Have you ever considered that this is the result they desire? They do not wish for anything connected to the consciousness of the world to exist.”
“Why… is that? They wouldn’t want the Main World’s consciousness to fall out of control, right?”
“Correct~ To prevent the Main World’s consciousness from falling out of control is one of the reasons; more importantly, they are on guard against us at the Witch Academy.”
“Guarding against the Witch Academy… Does the Witch Academy possess any methods that can threaten their position in the Main World?” I asked, puzzled.
“Yes~ They fear we might find a certain thing.”
“What thing?”
“The Navel of the World.”
“The Navel of the World? What is that?” I curiously asked, waiting for the Principal’s explanation.
“I should have mentioned the relationship between the world and the Void Earth Veins to you, right? The world is like a fruit on the trunk of the Earth Veins, and the Navel of the World serves as a bridge between the world and the trunk of the Earth Veins, much like an umbilical cord during the birth of life. So the name Navel of the World is quite fitting, isn’t it? It has many other names; terms like ‘World Spout’ refer to this thing.”
“As long as one masters the Navel of the World, many things can be accomplished. However, unfortunately, the existence of the Navel of the World has been hidden away. The three top academies, which were the three extraordinary races that first invaded the Main World, concealed the Navel of the World, and later, we at the Witch Academy were not given a share of it.” After revealing this truth, Principal Mei couldn’t help but sigh even now.
“So… this piece of Extraordinary Knowledge was originally used to lock onto the thing called the Navel of the World? Then… this plan must have failed, right?” With this realization, I connected many dots.
But this also proved another thing, which is that the Great Ice and Snow Throne Art was indeed an attempt by the Witch Academy, but it must have failed.
“You seem to know quite a bit?” Principal Mei smiled lightly and didn’t pursue further questions but began to give me a brief account, “Indeed, we at the Witch Academy obtained that piece of Extraordinary Knowledge and then attempted to utilize its properties for an experiment. In fact, it wasn’t long ago, and the Great Ice and Snow Throne Art is the product of that plan.”
“But unfortunately, as you know, the Wizard Academy saw through our plans. We couldn’t lock onto the location of the Navel of the World; the Great Ice and Snow Throne Art was destroyed, and even then, to thoroughly cut off the plan, they attempted to destroy the Extraordinary Knowledge. But unfortunately, shattering it into pieces was their limit.”
“Then why didn’t they just take it away? Instead of trying to destroy it? And even after shattering it, why didn’t they collect it themselves?” I asked curiously, wondering if this could explain why the Wizard Academy didn’t keep the Icebound World fragment but casually handed it over to an ordinary family.
“Because letting them take it was our initial plan. That way, we could locate the Navel of the World through this method. However, they’re not fools; even if the Great Spellbook was shattered, they wouldn’t dare gamble on whether we had any backup plan left. So they wouldn’t take this thing, but unfortunately, we indeed had no backup plan.”
“Oh, I see.” Indeed, this piece of Extraordinary Knowledge is a hot potato for other extraordinary academies; no wonder…
“Yes, so it’s quite unfortunate.”
“Then, Sister Mei, you haven’t given up on finding the Navel of the World, right?” I continued to inquire, not realizing that I had become somewhat curious about this question, to the point that my original purpose for coming was shifting.
However… understanding the Navel of the World, along with Extraordinary Knowledge and fortune, indeed seems to be one of my reasons for coming here?
“Of course, we’ve never abandoned the idea of locating the Navel of the World. The upcoming plan… Mmm~ Xiao Han, you probably count as one of the participants now.”
“Ah? What?” I widened my eyes in disbelief, unsure what that meant.
However… based on the timeline, the shattering of the Great Ice and Snow Throne Art occurred while Store Manager Shali was still in school, which means the time span afterward already brought us to the stage when I enrolled.
“Didn’t expect, did you? Child of Fortune, Child of Fortune, Xiao Han, aren’t you curious how a Child of Fortune is born underneath the grand fortune distribution ritual that covers the entire world during the college entrance examination, where fortune spreads thin?”
“Uh… So, Tan Han’s identity as a Child of Fortune is actually controlled by you and the Academy?” I asked in disbelief.
“Sort of, yes.” The Principal nodded as if recalling something and then sighed, “The meaning behind being a Child of Fortune is significant. According to the script’s development, completing the script’s ritual promotes them to become the Destiny Child. That is the ultimate destiny of a Child of Fortune and an existence that can connect with the world’s consciousness, so theoretically, a Child of Fortune can also help us locate the Navel of the World.”
“But… this plan wouldn’t also fail, would it? Or is it still ongoing?” I asked cautiously.
“I want to say it hasn’t failed yet, but it’s really hard to succeed… First of all, the Child of Fortune, Tan Han, was unexpectedly taken to our Witch Academy… We originally thought she would be captured and trained by another academy. The growth process of a Child of Fortune would help us lock onto the location of the Navel of the World.”
“Ah…” Hearing this, I thought of Store Manager Shali. Tan Han appearing at the Witch Academy owed much to her.
Moreover… in the last plan, concerning the Great Ice and Snow Throne Art, Store Manager Shali was fully involved. Although she may not have witnessed the extraordinary-level conflicts, she did bring back the largest piece of Extraordinary Knowledge to the Witch Academy…
“Actually, it doesn’t matter much. Having the Child of Fortune in our hands doesn’t impact us significantly; we are confident we can cultivate her into a strong individual and complete the script ritual to promote her to become the Destiny Witch. This way, we can also assist in locating the Navel of the World…”
“Uh… I haven’t disrupted this plan, have I?” I asked a bit shyly.
“No, Xiao Han, don’t think that way. Your appearance was indeed unexpected for us, but you did nothing wrong. Or rather, beforehand, the other extraordinary academies had already developed countermeasures. They overextended the world’s foundation and created many other Children of Fortune as a countermeasure. The more Children of Fortune there are, without distinguishing truth from falsehood, the competition for fortune inevitably leads to one outcome.”
“No one can be promoted to Destiny Child?” I naturally followed up.
“Yes, unless Tan Han kills all the other Children of Fortune, or she will never be able to be promoted to the Destiny Child. Achieving this is very difficult, and the other extraordinary academies will not allow us to do this, thus putting the plan for the Children of Fortune on hold. Ultimately, Tan Han’s potential ceiling will only be that of a Child of Fortune, but with fortune, Tan Han’s potential isn’t low, so she is worth cultivating.”
“Oh, I see…”
Back when Tan Han first enrolled, the academy paid such great attention to her, even mastering many spellbooks right from the start, and among them was that “Ancient Ice Transformation Spell,” which is also a fortune item, right? After all, its former self belonged to a fragment of Extraordinary Knowledge. If it weren’t for the Hothorn Family being aware of the general situation regarding the fragment, I might not have noticed that this spellbook was also one of the fragments!
However, as more Children of Fortune appeared, the academy’s support for Tan Han visibly decreased.
Previously, some instructors had explained to me that after Tan Han was no longer the only one, her value significantly diminished.
At first, I thought it was due to uniqueness, but I didn’t expect there to be deeper considerations.
Indeed… otherwise, for an already powerful extraordinary race that has mastered the manipulation of fortune, would a Child of Fortune really be that important?
“Are you feeling sorry for Tan Han?”
“Yes, a bit…”
“There’s no need to feel sorry for her. In a way, she’s somewhat freed from the fate that fortune bestows upon her, right? The premise is that she must break free from the shackles of her identity as a Child of Fortune to rise higher and further.” Saying this, Principal Mei paused, “But I also hope that you, Xiao Han, do not tell Tan Han about this. Is that alright?”
“Mm, of course, I will keep it to myself.” I nodded.
“That’s good~” With that, Principal Mei’s tone became much lighter, “Now let me tell you about the plans we are currently undertaking.”
“Huh? There’s still a plan?” I asked, somewhat surprised.
“Of course, I just mentioned we have never given up on searching for and locating the Navel of the World because it is incredibly important,” Principal Mei affirmed, “Can you guess what our next plan is?”
“Uh… regarding this… I really am not too sure…” I scratched my head.
“Let me remind you, this plan is still very related to you, and quite significantly!”
“Ah?”
“Alright, Mei, stop teasing Xiao Han and just tell her,” At this moment, the witches busy with the Observation Technique instruments interjected. “This plan is to use a higher precision and upgraded version of the Observation Technique instrument to locate the Navel of the World through the world’s fortune. This method has been theoretically proven to have high feasibility.”
“Huh?!” I turned around and looked at the group of witches working busily with the Observation Technique instruments, shocked!
“This is why they became so excited when you arrived because you are the creator of the prototype of the Observation Technique. We want to iteratively update it, reaching a level where we can observe the Navel of the World through the world’s fortune. With your help, it will be much more efficient.”
As Principal Mei said this, she came to my side, placing a hand on my shoulder, speaking sincerely.
“Huh? Me?”
