Chapter 385 : Chapter 385

Chapter 385: I'm Done For... I've Contracted a Nasty Thing!

After the heart-to-heart talk with Guan Qiuling, even my head felt swollen, as if the after-effects of overusing my Spirit Vision had flared up again.

Earlier, I had decided to try my best not to treat my roommates as mere sources of entertainment.

After all, they were people I would spend many years with, and no matter what, they would eventually become friends.

But... Guan Qiuling.

I had been trying to understand and guide her actions with a very inclusive and open mindset, but in the end, she had utterly shocked me.

They say there are four things in the world you shouldn't try to do: support rotten mud, carve rotten wood, flip a salted fish, and scald a dead pig.

The only reason I hadn't given up on Guan Qiuling was that amidst her views, which I couldn't bear to look at directly, there was still a fundamental sense of self-awareness worth cultivating.

She was simply limited by her lack of knowledge and didn't know where to start.

In fact, at the very beginning, when I saw the newcomer curriculum, I, out of inexperience, thought the courses were very important.

But when Teacher Ji Niang unequivocally granted me course exemptions, that was my first doubt about the curriculum.

As I noticed the gap between me and the people around me widened, my doubts about the curriculum intensified.

Only after further in-depth understanding did I realize that the curriculum was part of the academy's screening process.

It perfectly suited the path of students who liked to follow instructions: theoretically, they could become an ordinary Transcendent Witch, but that was it.

I felt that what newcomers truly needed to learn were courses on Transcendent Common Knowledge and how to plan their future path, rather than being silently thrown into the Transcendent World to muddle through.

Moreover... even if they were meant to figure things out for themselves, the Witch Academy protected its students too well.

After all, for ordinary people, life is finite, but for Transcendents, it is not necessarily so.

This is the difference in perception between Transcendent Races and humans.

When lifespan is irrelevant, the moment one awakens to realization marks a brand-new beginning for their life.

But this perception doesn't apply to us.

I admit that those who can enroll in Witch Academy are all geniuses, geniuses among geniuses.

Many of them naturally know how to plan their own paths.

But one point is very important: everyone in my dorm was lured here and were previously boys.

Having their plans shattered, their gender changed, and then being forced to accept this reality can easily break a person.

Don't let Guan Qiuling's seemingly good mood, enjoyment of the Witch Academy, and happiness fool you; she was the one who was broken first.

In fact, instead of making Guan Qiuling master power, it would be better for her to master a Technique.

In the relatively peaceful environment of Witch Academy, mastering a skill is always valuable.

I initially recommended Alchemy, and Guan Qiuling immediately took to the idea, expressing a desire to learn it.

She didn't even ask for any reasons from me or for a comparison with other options, which caught me a little off guard.

I recommended alchemy because it was something she could try as long as she had money, and Guan Qiuling didn't seem to be lacking funds.

Of course... the main reason was to see if Betty needed any help supervising her.

Due to Teacher Ji Niang, I might not be able to join Betty for alchemy attempts for a long time.

Given Betty's disposition, I wasn't sure if Guan Qiuling would get along well with her.

But I couldn't take anything for granted.

If Guan Qiuling had no foundation, she would be completely useless to Senior Betty.

Betty was someone I met while learning runes, so I also recommended that Guan Qiuling learn runes.

I wondered if she had taken that suggestion to heart.

After my role-play as a life mentor was completed, I said goodbye to Guan Qiuling and went upstairs.

As I walked up the stairs, I saw an unexpected figure at the corner of the second floor.

"Little Han..."

"Mhm... you heard everything?"

I looked at Dongli Yiren in front of me, surprised, but I didn't show any awkwardness.

So what if she heard everything I said to Guan Qiuling?

Would she chastise me for my mental manipulation of Guan Qiuling?

I didn't think Dongli Yiren would do that.

"Mhm..."

"Eavesdropping on other people's conversations isn't polite, oh?"

"Sorry..."

"But if you're not seen next time, it won't count as eavesdropping, do you think?"

I didn't wait for Dongli Yiren to reply.

I walked straight past her toward my bedroom.

The answer I wanted wasn't her response, but for Dongli Yiren to think for herself.

As long as she had the answer in her heart, that was enough.

Everyone is curious about the unknown, even though eavesdropping is outwardly impolite.

This time, Dongli Yiren, as a third-party observer, could naturally tell the guiding nature of my words.

She would also constantly recall her previous conversation with me, wondering if I had a hidden agenda this time, too.

But I didn't care.

I believed smart people wouldn't care, and I thought Dongli Yiren was a smart person.

Returning to my bedroom, I instinctively checked the time.

Chatting with Guan Qiuling had indeed taken up a lot of time, but I felt it was worthwhile.

Spending some time to understand other people's lives was very much worth it.

Otherwise, my life would be empty, with nothing but my obsession with the Transcendent and Big Sis Bai.

Locking the door, I threw myself onto the bed, allowing my whole body to be cradled by the soft mattress.

This method of relaxation quickly brought a sense of weariness.

True to form, the bed gave me a sleepiness debuff as soon as I lay down.

Perhaps my energy had truly been depleted too much.

"I'll just take a nap."

I whispered, as if talking to myself.

Before closing my eyes, I took a last look at the Compound Rune I had mentally transcribed on my hand.

This was a Compound Rune formed by a piece of information from [Transcendent Knowledge].

The next challenge... must be to disassemble this rune?

Disassembling this rune would lead to understanding the deeper, underlying runes, which was probably what needed to be learned at the current stage.

Just as I was about to disperse it and nap, I noticed that the rune my mental power had transcribed was already showing the effect of detaching itself from my mental power's condensation!

"Incredible..."

I put one hand on my forehead, glanced at the rune with my exposed right eye, and sighed slightly, then casually dispersed it.

I slept very soundly in this nap, with a deep sense of comfort from a deep-level sleep.

But all of it culminated in a nightmare-like scene that made me suddenly wake up!

"Ugh! Huff..."

The moment I opened my eyes, I inhaled sharply.

Only after seeing the familiar ceiling and the flashing runes did I slowly recover.

My original memories flooded back, making me realize my current situation.

I... Yang Yuehan, was driven out by Teacher Ji Niang, returned to the villa, and then... took a nap.

My gaze was slightly hazy.

Something didn't feel right...

I turned my head to the window.

It seemed to be dark outside.

Had I slept for that long?

I turned my head back, staring blankly at the glowing rune in front of me.

Wait... Rune?!

I was astonished again by this sudden change, so much so that my breathing unconsciously hitched.

My eyes were glued to the rune.

The nightmare-like scene kept floating before my eyes.

A communal emotion that I couldn't control spilled out: sadness... sorrow... despair... helplessness... numbness...

A tear dropped from the corner of my eye, completely beyond my control.

"Something's wrong... very wrong!"

I muttered to myself, my whole body tense.

It was impossible for me to lose control of my tear ducts and shed tears just because of an emotion!

I was... a Self-Awakened Body Cultivator.

I reached out and touched the wetness at the corner of my eye.

It wasn't fake.

In an instant, I calmed down, waved my hand, and dispersed the rune again.

Then, I sat up, feeling the original emotion retreat like a tide.

"That rune just now... strange. Didn't I already disperse it?"

My face looked somewhat pale.

All of this was a bit beyond my expectation.

A rune that couldn't be dispersed—that sounded very eerie!

Moreover... I strongly suspected this rune was the culprit behind that strange dream!

But now that I was awake, the memory of the dream was gone, as if I had never experienced it.

Only that lingering emotion clearly made me feel that this was the source of the anomaly.

After calming down, I began to reflect.

A rune that I transcribed using my mental power, without being processed and refined by me... how could it exist independently?

Or... did this rune inherit some characteristic of the mysterious and unknown [Transcendent Knowledge]?

When in doubt, practice reveals the truth.

Spirit Vision, activate!

My Spirit Vision swept across the spot where I had wiped away the rune earlier.

There, I saw anomalous information—the information of that rune.

It was... spontaneously condensing!

And the root cause driving its condensation... seemed to be related to me!

There was a connection here that even I couldn't comprehend, and it was maintaining the rune's operation.

"I'm done for... I've contracted a nasty thing..."

I muttered to myself and quickly got up.

When in doubt, go find Teacher Ji Niang!

At this moment, I instinctively looked out the window.

It was completely dark outside, but I only paused for a second before resolutely deciding to go find Teacher Ji Niang.

So what if it was night now?

Teacher Ji Niang said she would be in that lab all day.

Immediately, I consumed magic power, and a Teleportation Channel appeared before me.

I stepped through, and the next moment, I arrived near the statue of the Teleportation Landmark where Teacher Ji Niang had taken me earlier.

Then, I showed my Permission to pass the front desk and rushed to Teacher Ji Niang's location, briefly dealing with the many mentor witches who greeted me along the way.

They seemed to have noticed my urgent expression and didn't pester me too much.

Arriving at Teacher Ji Niang's lab door, I pushed it open.

I immediately saw Teacher Ji Niang's surprised expression behind the door, seeming very unexpected to see me at this time.

Teacher Ji Niang seemed to still be in disbelief, rubbing her eyes and checking the time, confirming that it was night now.

"Little Han? Why are you here? Didn't you say you should be asleep by this hour?"

"Teacher Ji Niang! I can't sleep anymore!"

I closed the lab door with a click.

Seeing Teacher Ji Niang, I finally felt relieved.

"Can't sleep? Even though you've put a lot of energy into [Transcendent Knowledge] these past few days, I still need to tell you that you still cannot touch or observe the [Transcendent Knowledge] entity today."

"It's not that! Teacher Ji Niang, it's not that. I... I've contracted a nasty thing!"

I said, organizing my words.

"A nasty thing? Can't you just wipe it off?"

Teacher Ji Niang said to me with a strange expression.

"Not that kind of nasty thing. It's... it's that kind of thing..."

"Don't rush. Take your time. Did something happen to you?"

At this moment, Ji Niang also noticed my unusual behavior and immediately became serious.

She beckoned, pulling a chair over, and signaled for me to sit down and talk slowly.

"Teacher Ji Niang, do you remember the rune I transcribed from the [Transcendent Knowledge] before I left?"

"Of course. Reckless action. If anything happened, it would be entirely your own fault," Teacher Ji Niang said grumpily.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Ji Niang, I really was at fault... That rune, it's sticking to me now!"

I said, my voice tinged with anxiety.

If it weren't for the fact that it hadn't caused me any substantial harm so far, just established a strange connection with me, I might be even more frantic.

After all, the unknown is always more frightening.

"A rune is sticking to you?"

A curious arc involuntarily lifted the corner of Teacher Ji Niang's mouth upon hearing my description.

"Tell me, how is it sticking to you? Can't your Spirit Vision see the reason?"

"It's... even without my mental power actively condensing it, the rune is spontaneously condensing and appearing in front of me little by little. And... this rune seems to be making me have nightmares, but I can't remember the content of the nightmare. Only the emotions left behind after waking up are incredibly intense, even breaking through my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation's mastery over my body and emotions, causing my tear ducts to secrete tears!"

"Spontaneous condensation? That has a hint of..."

Ji Niang nodded as if she wasn't bothered at all.

Then her gaze fell back on me.

"Then what does your Spirit Vision see?"

"My Spirit Vision... I don't know. The information feedback from Spirit Vision tells me that an incomprehensible connection has formed between me and this rune. That's roughly all it says..."

"A connection between you and the rune... Hmm, it has a fated feeling..."

"Fated? But haven't I already escaped The Script?"

I asked.

"Of course you've escaped The Script. I only said it seems like it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, in the Transcendent World, you'll always encounter many inexplicable things, and you might not even be able to figure out the reason for them in your entire life. Furthermore, the root cause of all this should be [Transcendent Knowledge]."

"Yes. Is it that the rune ritual I transcribed from that portion of [Transcendent Knowledge] inherited some characteristics or power of [Transcendent Knowledge]?"

I asked tentatively.

"Perhaps. Consider this a lesson for you. Condense that rune now. We'll set aside the original plan and work on this first," Teacher Ji Niang said helplessly.

"I'm sorry... I've troubled you, Teacher Ji Niang..."

I lowered my head.

This time, I truly admitted my mistake, the kind of admission where I was trying to repent...

This time, I had taken a huge setback... I had fallen hard on the path of exploring the Transcendent.

This made me realize my own insignificance in the Transcendent World.

The Transcendent World was not a place where I could run rampant relying solely on Spirit Vision.

"It's good that you know you were wrong. Hurry up now," Teacher Ji Niang said with a smile of relief.