Chapter 954: Gardening Without Deliberate Definition
Witch Academy.
After learning some gardening skills with Sister Bai, I quickly got the hang of it.
As I slowed down my pace of life, I gradually began to discover little surprises within life.
These so-called surprises were, of course, the plants in the villa that Sister Bai and I shared.
I had previously regarded these plants merely as decorations for the villa, neglecting these carefully nurtured little lives.
However, all of them were personally planted by Sister Bai.
Sister Bai occasionally watered them and applied some fertilizer.
Basically, there was no need for magic to interfere with the normal growth of the plants.
But as Sister Bai became busier, she primarily tended to some resilient plants, such as succulents.
Now, I too had started to delve into gardening, and Sister Bai added some more delicate plants.
If I were to say where the best place to plant would be… it would certainly be in the instance realm, which is a complete fragment of the world. It even has Wood Elemental Sprites; how could it not be suitable for some planting?
Upon returning to the instance realm, we proposed some solutions regarding the issue of Ling Yi, the Wood Elemental Sprite.
After all, Ling Yi had remembered that once we went out, we would find out the problems for her friends!
To this, we did not directly say we could solve it, but rather mentioned we had a way to help accelerate the nurturing of Ling Yi’s friends.
However, this method carries some risks.
Such a risky choice indeed requires Ling Yi some time to make a sound decision.
We mentioned this because we currently do not have the time to conduct a life experiment for Ling Yi’s “friends”… No, it can’t even be called an experiment; it’s more about creation!
Because her friends had not even been fully nurtured before they died.
In the end, we left the moment of decision to Ling Yi, after all, it concerned her “best friend,” and she naturally needed to prepare herself psychologically.
Thus, we temporarily left the instance realm to Ling Yi and the others.
As for me, I continued learning some basic knowledge of gardening.
Although this foundational knowledge was already available in the Great Knowledge Tree, being taught again by Sister Bai felt different.
“Hey~ Sister Bai, look! The succulent leaf you dug up has sprouted new little buds!”
I held up a landscape pot, only the size of a palm, shaped like a cat. The amount of soil on it was not much, but it was definitely enough for the little succulent just blossoming from the leaf.
“Xiao Dou! Did you use magic to hurry it along?”
“Um… a bit~”
I stuck out my tongue to Sister Bai, wanting to gloss over the topic. After all, what plant could grow so fast without magic?
“Is your butt hurting? The skill in gardening is to enjoy the slow process of plants changing day by day. How are you any different from efficiency-seeking planters?”
“Um! I won’t do it next time~ Ow! Don’t hit me~ Mmm~”
“Do you realize your mistake?”
“I got it, I got it! No magic next time!” I immediately begged for mercy without a trace of hesitation.
“Modestly accepting, but unrepentant, huh?” Facing my actively admitting fault, Sister Bai would not be deceived.
Well… after all, it was not the first time I had done this in the past few days.
Indeed, the heart pursuing efficiency and results had been transferred to planting.
After our “interaction,” I carefully picked up my little potted plant.
No matter what, this was a result of my own handiwork.
“Xiao Han… is your restless heart still unable to calm down?”
“Um… if I could settle down, I might now be tirelessly attempting the purification magic…” I sighed as I spoke.
“It seems… to be the case,” Sister Bai paused a moment upon hearing me. Although it seemed to hint at a covert shift in concept, wasn’t Xiao Han’s very essence like this?
When did I start using those rigid concepts to explain things to Xiao Han?
“I sensed it~ Sister Bai, it seems you’ve figured something out, haven’t you?” I felt a resonance of heart sense from Sister Bai and smiled as I spoke.
“It seems these past two days, I’ve been rather confused…” Sister Bai shook her head, apologetically.
She naturally understood what she had done wrong, as it was something that should not have been inverted.
What was meant to be about garden skills, Xiao Han going to learn, was for the sake of self-improvement, wasn’t it?
Everyone has different purposes when learning a skill, hence the different emphases.
Perhaps… Xiao Han simply likes to watch those plants unfold before her eyes at a visible speed?
“Sister Bai isn’t confused~ at least not now!” I reassured Sister Bai.
“After all, Sister Bai, you’ve figured it out~”
“If I hadn’t figured it out, would that mean…”
“There’s no if!” I interrupted Sister Bai ahead of her, saying, “If that’s the case, then let’s duel again at night! Until you’re worn out from our duel!”
“Okay~ Xiao Han, you’re talking with more confidence now~ Sister Bai laughed at my words because, after all, who could refuse a risqué joke between lovers?”
“Hey~ wait! Hold on!”
“What’s wrong? Is there something else you want to say?”
“It’s urgent! About the game world!”
I slightly restrained my playful tone and began to get a bit serious.
“The game world? What happened?” Sister Bai asked, puzzled. Of course, she knew Xiao Han still had clones in that game world, and she had seen Xiao Han summon them one by one.
“Did something unexpected happen?” Sister Bai asked with concern.
After all, bringing up this matter at this moment meant that something was wrong; otherwise, Xiao Han wouldn’t do it so nonchalantly.
“Ah~ just a small problem, a small problem!”
As I spoke, I unfolded my Heart Realm Field, a three-tiered composite domain structure, which instantly reorganized the order surrounding me.
Even though the Great Wisdom Tree had been dismantled by me, becoming the initial Fool Dream sacred object, with the order reset, this power, “**not easily controlled by me**,” gradually came under my control.
Sister Bai took a small step back to give me some space, and upon seeing my actions, Bai Yu understood what I was about to do.
It seemed that the clones in that game world already needed the power above them for support.
Although she wanted to help, limited by the Witch Contract, she could not interfere with the game world, even in this manner.
At this moment, I took out my long-unused Box of Books.
Once my main body was liberated, this weapon returned to my hands from the clones.
In just an instant, my domain’s structure reached its limit; the domain’s energy consumption was horrendous. Even with my Self-Generated Magic Power and having learned to supply energy to the domain, it still couldn’t escape the suffix of the domain structure.
After all, the domain energy cycle based on one hundred million magic sources couldn’t be managed with limited energy.
I smiled lightly with a hint of killing intent within the order I constructed for the Reverse Summoning Spell.
This time, I chose not to strike him with a single blow; whether it was blade light or sword energy, they were merely forms of carrying an attack.
Order granted this attacking form its carrier.
Thus, the Box of Books could also bring them ultimate despair!
As I attacked, it felt like a remnant of a book was momentarily engulfed within the structure of the Reverse Summoning Spell.
With that, a single strike capable of annihilating an entire villa along with its surrounding buildings was unleashed within Sister Bai’s villa.
As the structure of the rune summoning ritual gradually dissipated before me, I felt as if I had done nothing, picking up the little succulent pot I had set aside.
“Who were you targeting with that? You forced Xiao Han to use such a large array?” Sister Bai approached and waved her hand, dissipating the residual waves of the domain order and the Reverse Summoning Spell from earlier.
“Ah~ just some outsiders, they wanted to invade my clones. I couldn’t stand by, so I lent a hand!” I replied with a smile, not caring at all about the damage that blow had caused.
“I don’t think it’s as simple as you say. I notice you’ve learned the art of conversation… How could Xiao Han, who speaks so well, not be good at socializing?” Sister Bai suddenly teased.
“Don’t poke at my sore spot, Sister Bai~ I’m not a great speaker; I’m just openly chatting!”
Thinking back now, I don’t know how many people who faced me wanted to ask about my entire family…
In recent times, that game world’s Fallen Elf would probably count among them.
“Alright, alright~ let’s not bring that up, as long as I have you, Sister Bai, that’s enough, right?”
“Right! Having Sister Bai is enough!” I answered eagerly.
After I finished speaking, I placed the succulent that had just sprouted its young bud before Sister Bai, “By the way, Sister Bai~ take a look at this!”
“What’s the matter?”
“Let me show you something good~” As I spoke, a surge of magical power emerged from my hand, and the young bud, originally only a quarter of the size of a nail, began to visibly bloom!
Not only that, but as it stretched out, the succulent leaves also underwent metamorphosis.
They began to turn as transparent as crystal, and the originally rounded leaves refracted natural light with multiple facets.
“This is… induction? This variety has changed, hasn’t it?” Sister Bai said in surprise.
She had previously studied this succulent; crystals and succulents have many subtypes, and this one seemed to be a completely new variety beyond her knowledge.
“This is a technique I mastered for inscribing racial concepts and evolution called ‘Life Evolution.’ It incorporates techniques similar to crystallization for an induced inscription, and I ultimately used the method of Reincarnation Rebirth to assist in rewriting… um… it can be seen as a concept of bloodline, resulting in the final product~”
“It’s beautiful~ Xiao Han, you can actually reach this level?” Sister Bai stared in awe, taking the palm-sized crystal succulent, momentarily unable to put it down.
“Actually… I had no idea what its final result would look like before it presented the final effect,” I explained with a smile.
“Xiao Han didn’t know either? So this is purely based on luck?”
“No, it’s not just luck, Sister Bai~ You might not have thought, but I have another verification for this.”
“Another verification? Xiao Han, you’re starting an experiment again?”
“Um~ I just wanted to share with you what I was doing in this way. Sister Bai should like it this way, right? Otherwise… if I used very professional terminology, Sister Bai might not understand.”
“Of course I like it~ I enjoy whatever you tell me, Xiao Han. Moreover… if you explain it in a way I can understand, I’ll like it even more.” Sister Bai toyed with the succulent and then spoke again, “So what does Xiao Han want to tell me? Is it about the life experiment and life creation of Fool Dream?” I began.
“All the spells, techniques, or derivatives I used on this succulent are basically the means and skills I’ve employed or once employed on Fool Dream, and their purpose was to create a brand new life.”
“So?”
“But the succulent you’re holding isn’t a brand new life. Its life form has been altered in a special way, yet it still developed into an already existing plant. Isn’t that remarkable?”
“This… um, it seems easy to think but impossible to contemplate deeply.” Bai Yu commented on this.
“Right! This explains a common phenomenon: life will find its own way! And that way is a form of life that previously existed in the void!”
As I spoke, I took another leaf from the succulent Bai Yu was holding. With a wave of a complex spell wave that even Bai Yu couldn’t discern with her genuine perception, this leaf transformed into a completely new succulent form.
“No matter what, this method cannot create a brand new life!”
“Relying on natural selection and natural interference can never create an entirely new form of life!”
“To create a brand new life, one must resist natural selection with one’s volition from the very beginning, becoming an entirely new life.”
“Fool Dream is just like that.”
“So that’s how it is… um, Bai Yu~ I’m curious, if Fool Dream is to become a brand new life, why did you make them choose the form of catgirls?” Bai Yu inquired. “Catgirls are already a subspecies of beastmen, aren’t they?”
“Hehe~ Sister Bai, you don’t understand this, do you? Fool Dream, they are the most special because their essence is Dream Consciousness! And what constructs them is the Dream State Soul Material! From the very beginning, their existence form has already distinguished itself from life forms, like the animal and plant kingdoms, or material life and energy life—at their core, they are fundamentally different.”
“If we were to define Fool Dream, I would call it the Dream Realm. Their existence doesn’t even exist at the same level as those I just mentioned. If we were to compare them on the same level, it should be called the Real World versus the Dream Realm.”
“Speaking of biological classifications, we have boundaries, phyla, classes, orders, and families. Sister Bai… do you think I should redefine a completely new classification level for Fool Dream? After all, they will be the future of dream lives.”
“I think that idea is good. If Xiao Han has thoughts in this area, feel free to pursue them. If you really think about it… then come up with a simple and memorable one, consider it doing a good deed. Otherwise, the future witches trying to learn about the life field might just cry!” Sister Bai joked with me at this moment.
