Chapter 972: The Spark of the Academy War
The encounter held in the Gruelossen Wilderness was unpleasant, with several conflicts erupting midway, ultimately ending on a discontented note.
Of course, the term “discontented” only means that the negotiations did not succeed this time; under the unspoken rules, they will need to engage in multiple interactions since the witches here do not have the authority to decide such significant matters.
Soon, this incident spread to the Witch Secret Realm community and the All-purpose Workshop.
After all, the Ice Snow Throne secret realm immediately involved these two large communities, while some other smaller communities only had minor ties to it.
In the Witch Academy, large communities represent the interests of the most prominent family factions on the witch side, while smaller communities are just secondary families.
To put it another way, the family relationships in the outside world directly impact the relationships between communities within the Witch Academy.
This time, the challenge was directed at the family forces in the entire witch region; whether anti-witch, pro-witch, or neutral, they were all included in the conflict.
Even if the All-purpose Workshop was influenced by Ming Xueming’s pro-witch faction and did not intend to delve into matters related to the Ice Snow Throne secret realm, the incident made it impossible for the Workshop to maintain a clear stance.
After all, secrets were just a pretext; the fundamental issue was the power network unleashed by the witch side.
Since the families have accepted the witches’ blessings, they naturally have to endure other pressures.
The organizations in the Witch Academy understood that other Extraordinary Academies sought secrets for those fragments.
However, secrets are not something that these organizations can simply transfer at will.
Regardless, the organizations still needed to send someone to communicate with the Academy, just in case—
In case the witch softened her stance, right?
Although the probability of that happening was exceedingly low, and it might even be impossible.
Of course, the people from other Extraordinary Academies were not limited to seeking out secrets.
They also wanted the witch side to surrender the culprit responsible for the whole situation, demanding justice for those who died within the secret realm!
As for who the culprit was… who could it be?
Tan Yin, Shi Ruizhi, Luxien, Xiao You.
The Academy side certainly could not throw their own students out to suffer, and the other Extraordinary Academies didn’t have that much face.
More importantly, these few individuals were all closely related to Yang Yuelan.
Even if the Academy side suggested that student disputes be resolved internally, they had no confidence in handling this assistant!
If it were that easy to resolve, they wouldn’t still be trying to pursue some symbolic compensation from these individuals without taking action!
They were completely ignoring you; even the slightest move could be seen as a downgrade attack.
However, there were other voices within the organizations.
At the heart of the matter… was that they learned Yang Yuelan’s main body had already left the Witch Academy, heading to the world where the players resided.
Leaving her aside, the mere fact that her main body was absent seemed to open up some possibilities.
Of course, there were also those in the organizations who were somewhat insightful.
That Yang Yuelan had the means to leave this world, either through her own ability or with the support of the Extraordinary Witch.
No matter what, they couldn’t afford to underestimate her.
Even if that little assistant left only her clones behind, a minimal operation between those clones and the instructor could easily send them back to their original forms.
It could be said that the divergence between the two factions stemmed mainly from the fact that they still didn’t know enough information.
Ignorance breeds fearlessness, while the pessimists’ foresight led to significant divergences.
As the saying goes, “butt decides brain,” those who supported targeting that little assistant,
It can be said that the divergence between the two factions was so great primarily because they knew too little information.
Ignorance breeds fearlessness, while the pessimists’ foresight resulted in vast differences.
As the saying goes, “butt decides brain,” those who supported going after that little assistant,
Might also want to use this to mock their opponents; those who opposed taking action might already have interests they couldn’t expose.
After several rounds of intense arguments, they reluctantly reached a plan that could be considered acceptable to all.
That was to conduct a probe.
They knew too little about that little teaching assistant; they had basically been too intimidated to act throughout the whole process.
However, given that the other party’s main body was absent from the Academy, they decided to touch upon the matter and see how it goes.
Moreover, their probe targeted only people like Tan Jing; based on the organizations’ understanding of them, coupled with professional profiling analysis, they didn’t seem inclined to frown at problems.
If possible, they also hoped to shift this conflict into their conflict with the other Extraordinary Academies, keeping themselves out of it.
However, this situation was unlikely to occur, as Tan Jing and the others wouldn’t let themselves be used as cannon fodder.
Not long after the organizations came to this conclusion,
Fu Xinglan and Tracy visited the Baking House.
As newly promoted teaching assistants from the Witch Academy, Fu Xinglan and Tracy would later become key representatives of the two major organizations. The significance of their arrival was tremendous.
Additionally, these two had met Yang Yuelan during the assistant examination written test and further collaborated in the Expanding Realm, solidifying their stance with the pro-witch faction and making them the face of the pro-witch camp.
They even sought a contract badge, which has proven to have increasing value.
This time, their visit wasn’t to fulfill this promise; unless they were foolish, the promise was unlikely to be utilized.
Their arrival aimed to seek further cooperation.
With the Witch Academy announcing plans for the establishment of branch campuses, they quickly understood… the Academy was serious about building branch campuses.
The branch campuses were not planning to immediately recruit students from the Expanding Realm, but the specific reason was not explained.
It likely had to do with everyone in the main world potentially awakening their Spirit Vision talents.
Thus, the first batch of students after the branch establishment would be transferred from the main campus.
The main group was comprised of first-year students and some upperclassmen.
This list of upperclassmen was based on the mentors chosen to follow along.
After all, branch campuses also needed mentors!
However, since the branch in the Expanding Realm was still under construction, the branch would be in a controlled state, meaning students could not leave the Academy to venture outside into the Expanding Realm.
But the Academy would open the teleportation passage between the campus and the branch, ensuring that students transitioning to the new campus wouldn’t find it too difficult to adjust.
Those organizations that initially received this news were just beginning to feel joy when they quickly fell back into silence.
They had initially thought that after waiting for another holiday, they could finally enter the Expanding Realm.
However, no one anticipated that with the Academy controlling access, even though they could realize the Expanding Realm, it didn’t make much of a difference.
Furthermore, the individuals entering and exiting the branch were still just a handful of students and low-year students.
Although among the lower-year students, there were many from new family generations, actually thriving in the Expanding Realm required qualifications and means.
Moreover, they had no opportunity to access the Expanding Realm market.
This visit by Fu Xinglan and Tracy was an attempt to probe the waters; perhaps some information from that teaching assistant inadvertently leaked could allow them to act first.
Of course, they also wanted to test the attitude regarding the Ice Snow Throne secret realm.
They believed that the awkward position of the Ice Snow Throne secret realm was certainly influenced by this teaching assistant.
However, they simply couldn’t make out what the other party wanted to do.
Was it truly just for fun?
Or was it to prevent those fragments from falling into anyone else’s hands?
These questions could only be clarified after talking with the other party.
Fu Xinglan and Tracy did not make a grand entrance; in fact, before arriving, they even made proactive polite inquiries to show their sincerity.
They spent nearly two hours in the Baking House before leaving, with no one knowing what they discussed during that time.
After their return, they quickly withdrew the guards stationed at Gruelossen Wilderness.
As a result, the core of the Ice Snow Throne secret realm truly became an unguarded treasure in the wilderness.
Still, it was placed at the edges of the Witch World.
This series of actions completely bewildered the other Extraordinary Academies. They had indeed proposed transferring the secret realm to them as compensation, but they never expected the other party would just hand it over so easily.
Anyone with eyes could see that this was a trap set by the witches.
The witches also did not clearly state that the secret realm was being transferred.
But just having this opportunity placed here was too tantalizing for them!
Inside this secret realm were nearly all the Extraordinary fragments!
As for the ancient ice that held tremendous combat strength?
It wouldn’t pose any significant risk in the hands of an Extraordinary Wizard.
As for what might happen if they bit down on it, no one cared; after all, those families had the backing of the Extraordinary Academies, and all they knew was that the wizards desperately wanted the fragments within the secret realm.
Such a rare opportunity might compel the Extraordinary Wizards to take action themselves.
Although it would violate the unspoken rule of non-interference, as long as the benefits were substantial enough, wizards had no bottom line.
At this moment.
In the Baking House.
“Wait, Xiao Han… are you really planning to hard confront that Extraordinary Wizard with your clone?” Shi Ruizhi asked with some concern.
Even though she was just talking about my clone, the clone represented my will.
“First of all, let me clarify: the opposing Extraordinary Wizards won’t come out so easily. Once they seize the opportunity, many witches will step in to cut off their extended hands. They also worry that this is a witch’s ploy, so in the worst-case scenario… if an Extraordinary Wizard intervenes, they would only dare to probe,” I explained.
“But what’s the point of going to all this trouble? I don’t understand…”
“The moment the secret realm blows up in the hands of the Extraordinary Wizards is its meaning,” I replied.
“Oh, are you trying to frame them? Do witches need such an excuse to attack wizards?” Tan Heng questioned with lingering doubts.
“It’s not really framing; it’s just a spark.”
“A spark… does an explosion in a secret realm suffice?” Tan Jun continued to probe.
“What if an ancient race resurfaces alongside a forming Great Spellbook? And if this still isn’t enough, what if the formation of the Great Spellbook leads to a Void Rift that accidentally kills a wizard? And still more: if the ancient ice tribe can use the Great Spellbook to create extraordinarily low-cost yet highly valuable energy materials?”
“Um…”
Upon hearing my words, whether it was Tan Jun, Shi Ruizhi, or the Store Manager, they all fell silent.
They were completely thrown into confusion by this chain of queries. Was this still just a spark?
How did it seem like this conflict could trigger an extraordinary war?
“Do you think this level of conflict can directly initiate an extraordinary war?” I asked with a smile.
“You’ve underestimated the depth of the witch race. Even so, they still wouldn’t dare to initiate an extraordinary war,” I remarked.
After all, I was well aware that if they took the initiative to begin, it would result in complete defeat for them; they would die, and the witches wouldn’t gain the main world.
The key still lay in the veins of the world.
However, these matters belonged to a realm they couldn’t discuss, at least for Tan Jing and her group.
“So this is the start of the Academy War?” Tan Jing tentatively asked.
“Is it really going to be the Academy War?” the Store Manager inquired.
Not only did the Store Manager find it hard to believe, but so did the others.
After all, Academy Wars… they instinctively felt this was a distant matter from themselves.
Even though I had already hinted at this concept and possibility to them last time, they still felt it was somewhat removed from them.
But truly… when they realized that the spark of this war was so close to them, of course, it would give them an almost unreal feeling.
This level of absurdity was comparable to being in school and participating in a learning competition, which then led to a world war.
Especially for Tan Jing and her group, they were the ones who had created all of this themselves!
“What do you think is the root cause of this war’s outbreak?” Instead of answering the Store Manager’s question, I directly inquired about the deeper reasons.
“This… this is merely a meaningless war planned by the Academy… our world right now fundamentally lacks the foundation for war, and there is no dire need to shed blood to cleanse social order, Xiaoying… this really isn’t necessary, right?” Store Manager Shali still found it hard to believe.
Although the atmosphere within the Witch Academy often shouted for bloodshed, when it came to situations like this… they instead began to hesitate.
Shali, the Store Manager, looked earnestly at me, believing that this spark was fostered by me. If I could change my mind, it should be possible to avoid this pointless war.
“Store Manager… do you truly believe that?” I raised my head to meet the Store Manager’s gaze, holding her intent gaze until she finally looked away, unable to continue meeting my eyes.
“While I understand that your original intentions are good, perhaps having spent too long in the Academy has made you forget the suffering outside; all resources beyond the Academy are monopolized by families, and the extreme imbalance of social resources has made it difficult for ordinary families to survive.”
“This world has already fallen into distortion, every person has become a living corpse maintaining the operation of society; the Extraordinary Academy, which could change a person’s destiny, is no longer an opportunity that those lower-class families can hope for. They aren’t foolish; it’s just that families, education, and resources have caused them to lose at the starting line.”
“The world we are in, the main world… needs a transformation, a complete change…” I paused here.
Because the changes I spoke of had entirely exceeded her understanding; they were reminiscent of the former glory of the main world.
But now, three Extraordinary insects were obstructing the development of the main world.
Crushing the bugs on oneself will inevitably lead to pain.
“Mercy… is because the suffering has not descended upon oneself.”
