Chapter 745 – Sheril: I admire Xiao Han～
Expanding Realm.
Temporary Wizard Tower at the forefront of the Wizard Academy’s Primordial Dream World.
“The witches have sent news indicating that the Expanding Realm may soon experience a large-scale dream disaster, and they have already begun packing to leave.”
“What? How did you find out about this?” The wizard overseeing the data observation of the Wizard Tower was slightly annoyed by the sudden intrusion of a Layer Master, breaking his focus.
“Um… A witch from the Witch Academy came to notify us…”
“So you just believed whatever the witch academy said? Are you out of your mind, reporting such news to me?” The wizard scolded angrily at the revelation.
The Layer Master was becoming increasingly displeasing in his eyes; after all, Layer Masters were not extraordinary wizards. Their position was akin to that of teaching assistants at the Witch Academy, essentially students, and at this moment in the Expanding Realm, they were also consumable resources.
Extraordinary wizards rarely collaborated on research projects which is why there was a development direction of “one extraordinary, one wizard tower,” with apprentices and Layer Masters permanently aiding wizards.
The lives of these apprentices and Layer Masters were largely in the hands of the extraordinary wizard tower masters because they had been exposed to too many of the wizard’s “secrets.”
Wizards operated this way—once methods were exposed, they would be targeted.
Since the relationships among wizards were also unreliable, their only commonality was a singular belief: “Wizard Will.”
“But… the Witch Academy even sent this news to our academy… Originally, I didn’t believe it and thought it unnecessary to report to you, but this is an official notification from the academy.”
“The academy…” The wizard frowned, still somewhat impatient. “Is the academy forcing us to return?”
“No… but the academy is still advising us to go back. The Witch Academy’s actions are too abnormal; the academy suspects they might try something big, and even…”
“If the academy hasn’t forced us to go back, then why should I care! Those people at the academy only know how to debate around the table. Each of them just wants the first-hand data of the Primordial Dream World shared, yet they call us back after obtaining the data? They’re afraid we’ll figure something out! Look at their nonsense…”
The wizard started a tirade against the higher-ups of the Wizard Academy, with some of his words becoming quite over the line.
The Layer Master listened carefully from the side, not daring to argue.
The wizard then continued to focus on his current research, mumbling something under his breath.
“Hmph… I’m about to achieve results… Those witches are truly foolish; recently, they made the Dream Demon Spell public to the students… What could they possibly learn? They don’t even understand the core of this spell, and they don’t realize how broad the application prospects of Primordial Dream Runes are…”
Clearly, this wizard, who had some research into the Primordial Dream World, was valuing the moment of the Expanding Realm’s opening, where the majority of teaching assistants had learned the “Dream Demon Spell.”
It wasn’t surprising that wizards liked to spend time on seemingly inconsequential things.
After all, for the witches, even an ordinary Fireball Spell Spellbook in a wizard’s hands could leverage their summarized rules of wizardry to amplify its effect exponentially, creating a terrifying outcome.
This wizard saw infinite possibilities in what everyone else overlooked.
And he also planned to apply this new, optimized witchcraft skill into the Primordial Dream World.
It wasn’t just the witches who coveted the destructive effects brought by the disasters of the Primordial Dream World; the wizards were the first to have this greed.
To them, the Primordial Dream World was the perfect vessel for the Consciousness Exile Sealing Technique!
Did they really think that the student consciousness drifting in the Primordial Dream World was meant for them to collect data?
No, the students were the expendable materials for the experiments!
And it was the exiled consciousness that the wizards most wanted to see!
When the witches decided to personally explore the Primordial Dream World, the people from the Wizard Academy outwardly cursed them for being reckless, but deep down, they were quite pleased, practically overjoyed.
When those witches inevitably “could not return,” they were even more convinced that the Primordial Dream World was an excellent vessel!
If even extraordinary witches couldn’t resist the dangers of the Primordial Dream World, why wouldn’t they expend effort studying it?
This was definitely worth all of their efforts!
Similar situations for this wizard were also playing out elsewhere.
However, not all wizards, elves, or holy angels were willing to stay.
After all, it was common for people to spend half a day researching with no outcomes whatsoever.
With no positive feedback and witnessing the witches from the Witch Academy “making a run for it,” some extraordinary members from other academies also wished to leave.
Thus, various minor frictions began to appear in the Expanding Realm, primarily involving extraordinary members from other academies coming to the Witch Academy to stir trouble.
Although they called it “stirring trouble,” in essence, they were there to gather intelligence or to find an excuse to leave.
But they didn’t dare go too far; once the witches were enraged, they would truly make them regret it.
Soon, the news of an incoming large-scale dream disaster in the Expanding Realm began to spread even further.
The students in the Expanding Realm grew anxious, but the students from the Witch Academy seemed somewhat resistant; they did not want to leave the Expanding Realm so suddenly.
After all, other academy students were genuinely afraid, as their academy really did not plan to withdraw, whereas the students from the Witch Academy… were truly preparing to leave.
Perhaps this was the different sense brought about by the different academies.
Let’s not forget why the students from the Witch Academy came to the Expanding Realm; their cooperation in the instructor’s experiments was merely a pretense, as it was their true intention to extend their reach into the Expanding Realm.
Moreover, the Witch Academy did not advocate putting students in such dangerous experiments, so the favored were not just increasingly bold, but were about to go too far.
Thus, the academy’s position on this evacuation was very firm; if they did not evacuate or tried to delay, they would have to bear the consequences.
During this period, another individual was also very busy.
“Um… alright… okay.” Millien quickly nodded in agreement and then made a promise to Bai Yu before leaving.
As an important member of Xiao Han’s support group, she naturally made immediate arrangements for the academy’s temporary opening of the Expanding Realm passage.
However, she could not reach Xiao Han, not even through the Great Knowledge Seed.
So she had no choice but to find Instructor Bai Yu, from whom she learned about Xiao Han’s situation.
This matter was quite complex, but by combining the information she received from her intelligence network with the truth from Instructor Bai Yu, she grasped some of the context.
What shocked her the most was that the anomaly in the Expanding Realm was also triggered by Xiao Han, who seemed to have fallen into that place called the “Primordial Dream World.”
This made her extremely uneasy.
Because as far as she knew, none of the students who had fallen into the Primordial Dream World had woken up from it, and this dream was not an ordinary overlapping dream of the Expanding Realm—it was a deadly dream!
Moreover, news of Xiao Han’s fall into the Primordial Dream World spread among those participating in the experiment, once again delivering a blow to Xiao Han’s support group.
Many people left the support group because of this, which was something Millien did not want to see.
Though she understood that the nature of the support group was merely a loose assembly of individuals gathering under Xiao Han’s name, where everyone sought their own interests, and Millien gathered a lot of resources for Xiao Han in this process. She truly did not hope for this group to disband.
After all, calling it a partnership was a nice way to put it, and it made matters much easier. If they fell apart, it would spoil the relationship.
Members of the support group represented potential personal connections!
However, those who left were beyond Millien’s control; after all, they felt that Xiao Han was causing too much trouble, and the “instability” was the biggest flaw of Xiao Han’s support group, creating major incidents frequently and almost getting themselves killed!
Who could withstand that?
Even the ones who remained, Millien understood that they were not concerned about Xiao Han’s life or d*ath; they only thought that there were still benefits to be gained from staying. Since that was the case, there was naturally no need to openly break their relations; after all… Xiao Han wasn’t dead yet, was she?
Even if she was dead, what if it was another fake d*ath like last time?
Thus, Millien directly relied on her connections in the Expanding Realm, reaching out to Instructor Bai Yu to learn more about the situation.
Of course, this was not solely her intention.
Not just her; those who genuinely cared about Xiao Han in the support group, along with Yi Rui and her research group, all needed some assurance.
After Millien obtained the information she wanted, she left.
Bai Yu watched Millien leave, and not long after, a figure appeared before her.
“Why are you still here? Have you had too much contact with me lately? Aren’t you afraid of the academy head suspecting you?” Bai Yu said helplessly, looking at the Betrayer Witch Sheril before her.
“Why do you care so much about me? If Mei could really guess my true intentions, shouldn’t you be happy?”
“Stop wasting time; what are you here for again? Xiao Han is still in the Primordial Dream World, do you still want to cause trouble?”
“Cause trouble? Don’t say it so harshly~” With a light laugh, she moved closer to Bai Yu’s side. “We’ve known each other for quite a while now, right? Some things… shouldn’t you not hide them from me anymore?”
“What do you mean?” Bai Yu asked, remaining composed.
“Then I’ll just say it directly~ I don’t believe that the communication between you and Xiao Han is just the open one on the surface; opening a private chat channel is very simple for the Great Knowledge Tree, right?” Sheril asked with a cheerful smile, but her tone was quite assured.
“How can you be so sure? And since you said it’s a private chat, do you think I would show you?”
“No, no, no~ I’m not interested in what you two have been up to~” Sheril quickly waved her hand, saying, “I’m more curious about what you know! Xiao Han must know a lot of things in the Primordial Dream World, but she hasn’t said anything, or she might not be able to say it; however, when you two chat privately, she must leak out a lot of information to you.”
“Why are you so certain?” Bai Yu continued to question.
“Think from another angle~ After all, aren’t you two a couple? If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stay this calm; after all, it’s the Primordial Dream World! Xiao Han must have said something to stabilize your emotions.” Sheril said very seriously, “To be honest, your acting skills aren’t that good. I guess the academy head has already figured it out. However, she hasn’t directly asked you, since it’s your privacy, so she chose to inquire indirectly. But I’m different; I’m asking you directly!”
“Then I can also choose not to tell you. Where do you get the confidence that I will tell you? If I really wanted to say, wouldn’t it be safer to tell Academy Head Mei?”
“I really admire Xiao Han~”
“What?” Bai Yu looked at Sheril with a puzzled expression, unsure why she suddenly said this.
“You understand my motives and the reasoning behind them… I’m starting to believe what you said back then~ ‘Xiao Han has her own pace, moving forward constantly… so-called calculations and schemes just can’t keep up with her.’ I’m beginning to experience that feeling too~” Sheril smiled as she echoed Bai Yu’s earlier words.
“So you’re saying… your plan was messed up by Xiao Han’s experiment? Or have you given up?” Bai Yu shot a sharp glance at Sheril, as if trying to catch a glimpse of defeat on her face; however, she found none.
“I’m beginning to admire her more and more, but saying it was messed up isn’t quite accurate. After all, I’m not trying to create trouble for Xiao Han; I’m creating opportunities to see her shine. So what has she done? I’m all ears, even if it’s been artistically processed by you, it doesn’t matter; facts don’t lie.”
“…”
“Silence represents your hesitation, and hesitation indicates the things you’re hiding that aren’t absolutely non-disclosable to me, so… isn’t that my bargaining chip not enough?” Sheril looked at Bai Yu, her tone a mix of helplessness and a hint of dissatisfaction towards Bai Yu’s greed.
“You think you can learn Xiao Han’s secrets just by saying a few words? Don’t you think you’re being too greedy?”
“Well, it does seem that way~” Sheril reflected symbolically but did not argue, “But you also know, there’s no room for bargaining here~ If Xiao Han were to resent me for this, I wouldn’t mind.”
“You truly are impenetrable.”
“Can’t be helped~ After all, what we Betrayer Witches do often offends the witches. Just tell me, or… you can ask Xiao Han if she would be willing to tell me?”
