Chapter 638: "Friendly Communication" Achieved "Friendly Cooperation"

This meeting was, arguably, very unsuccessful.

No mutual needs were met even by the mid-meeting break; at most, they were at the stage of "both sides fully exchanged opinions."

And at Ninglan Qiuyue's request, I did not turn this mid-meeting break into the final conclusion.

After all... I hated trouble, and I hated wrangling.

However, I did convey one message to them: I was willing to give Ninglan Qiuyue face, but no one else had that qualification.

During the break, the officials temporarily left to prepare for the next session.

I remained there, holding the Book in the Casket and reading the Rune books I had acquired from Big Sis Belica.

Learning made me happy.

When I started to engage with the Rune Domain research from Big Sis Belica, I understood why no one could study the entire Rune Domain.

To use Big Sis Belica's analogy... if Runes were compared to a phonetic script system, then let's take a certain phonetic script system as an example: only 26 letters (Runes) could form so many words (Compound Runes), and these words, through grammar (Rune Rituals, Ritual Frameworks), could form so many sentence structures (Spells or Transcendent techniques).

And the true Runes?

There were hundreds of common basic Runes alone, and the number of rare Runes was even greater.

Moreover, new basic Rune Rituals were still being continuously discovered.

Its boundaries presented completely counter-intuitive Rune effects due to different domain classifications, and the total number of combinations... was terrifyingly vast!

This was the first feeling I had after looking at Belica's Runology research.

It showed me the meaning of "learning never ends" and made me understand the significance of classifying domains.

However... I had the Great Tree of Knowledge.

What was the purpose of my learning Runes?

It was to help me better understand the Transcendent.

Big Sis Belica's words were indeed right: Runes were the writing system created by the Void for life to understand.

They could help me understand many things.

Therefore, Runology was more like a "tool" to me.

I would make good use of the tool, but I wouldn't delve into how to polish the tool better, unless I truly reached the boundary of life's exploration of the Transcendent, where I couldn't understand the Transcendent without polishing the tool.

But that was still far off for me.

Walking on the path pioneered by others was a straight road.

I had to learn to accept my identity: a student walking on a path cleared by predecessors.

Learning was my current task, and surpassing them... was my future task.

And now, I would appreciate the surrounding scenery for those who didn't stop to admire it, record the stunning views they didn't have time to see, and then... share them.

This was not a loss, because I knew the scenery ahead would be even better.

Perhaps this was the charm of continuous learning.

Meanwhile, the officials' discussion continued, but I received a private message from Ninglan Qiuyue, which was just some words of thanks.

I glanced at it but didn't even reply, because at this moment, she should be doing more meaningful things instead of sending me messages of gratitude.

However, if she sent it during a quick break, I didn't mind.

But during this mid-meeting break, a figure no one expected appeared here.

“Mentor Elena, I didn't expect you to come?”

I immediately stood up to greet her.

“Of course. Just take a seat.”

Mentor Elena was completely unpretentious.

She came to my side, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

“Do you know why I came?”

“Mhm... for the Dream State Overlap issue? Otherwise, I can't think of any other reason.”

I said.

“It is indeed because of this. Xiaohan, I personally went to see the second Shelter you planned. The Dream State Overlap area there has indeed subsided. Although I didn't witness how you did it firsthand, I know you found the method.”

“So... is Mentor Elena asking me not to help Ninglan New City?”

I inquired curiously.

Since Mentor Elena knew I could do it, there weren't many reasons left for her to seek me out.

“That is your own ability. Whether to help or not is your choice.”

Elena lightly smiled, looking at the person who remained here.

After all, Mentor Elena suddenly showing up here was a rather important matter!

Every word she said to Teaching Assistant Xiaohan could potentially influence the progress of their negotiation with Ninglan New City.

“However, I have quite a deep research into reality and the Dream State. Otherwise, I wouldn't stay in Ninglan New City for monitoring.”

Elena explained with a smile.

Her staying in Ninglan New City was incidental to resurrecting students; her main purpose was monitoring the Dream State.

As a complete, restored world, the Dream State was an indispensable special existence.

They needed the Dream State's Earth Vein to complete the final piece of the puzzle, even for the complete repair of the Earth Vein.

“But Xiaohan, your method of restoration is truly difficult for me to imitate, even though you explained your plan and ideas... it still exceeded our expectations. We originally thought no one could solve this problem, but you did it using the power you mastered. This is as incredible as when you first created the Dream Rewrite Spell.”

“Um... is Mentor Elena trying to convey something?”

I subconsciously inquired.

Elena couldn't have just come here to praise me, could she?

But this also indirectly showed that I had once again shattered their expectations?

“The act of the Dream State resurfacing the Expansion Realm is irreversible and unstoppable; it's merely a matter of time. I came here just to understand the extent of the Dream State Dispel you mentioned?”

“Um...”

Hearing Elena's words, I seemed to realize something.

“Is Mentor Elena afraid that I will damage the interface between the Dream State and reality?”

“That's roughly the meaning.”

Elena nodded.

Although she understood through the second Shelter that it seemed to be a smooth relationship between the Dream State and reality after the subsidence, she still had to personally inquire to prevent any accidents.

“It's fine. The method I used is very simple.”

As I spoke, a Compound Primordial Rune I had obtained from a Dream State creature appeared in my hand.

“With this, Mentor Elena can imagine me as an extra-large Dream State creature. I first stirred up the Dream State Overlap, and then smoothed it over.”

“Smoothing over... Oh, I understand. You mastered the ability to create an environment suitable for the Dream Rewrite Spell, and then by using it in reverse, you can smooth the relationship between the Dream State and reality!”

Elena quickly understood my meaning.

After all, in the previous live stream, all I said was that I wanted to use a special method to artificially create an environment suitable for using the Dream Rewrite Spell.

They naturally knew how one would need to proceed to achieve such a thing.

It meant changing the relationship between the Dream State and reality.

Coupled with Xiaohan's previous mentions of Domain Resonance, the boundary between reality and the Dream State, and research on spatial resonance... 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

This became very easy to understand.

“I see... then consider this my intrusion ended...”

Just as Elena was about to stand up, the door on the side suddenly opened.

The people who entered were naturally the officials who had learned of Mentor Elena's sudden visit mid-discussion.

Upon hearing the news, they quickly suppressed their arguing faces and immediately came to pay their respects.

“I came here only to confirm one thing, nothing else. The resurfacing of the entire Expansion Realm by the Dream State is irreversible, just a matter of sooner or later. Xiaohan's method is a normal process. I will not stop her from doing what she wants, and our Witch Academy will likewise not interfere with the personal actions of a Teaching Assistant who has not violated the terms of the contract.”

Seeing them, Elena directly stated the purpose and result of her visit.

And with Mentor Elena completely defining the nature of this matter, it was destined that they had no opportunity to take advantage.

Although they never had one to begin with, who didn't have a little fantasy and psychological comfort?

After seeing Mentor Elena off, my gaze returned to the group.

“Since you've all returned, is this going to be the end of the mid-meeting break?”

I knew they hadn't finished discussing, but I was happy to disrupt their rhythm.

“I have thought of a brand new proposal: your Ninglan New City should abandon all that boring modern network construction and use the Plant Network system as an alternative.”

I spoke up again.

I was well aware of what those Teaching Assistants had done, and they understood it too.

Moving the interconnected network system established in the outside society to Ninglan New City was seemingly helping them complete modern construction, but it was primarily a way to gain control over Ninglan New City's network.

Establishing a brand new platform and then dominating it—this was an invasion of Ninglan New City.

After all, network security was also one of the important tasks for maintaining sovereignty.

Although Ninglan New City also had something like the Academy Network, this was a temporary measure, mainly to provide network access for the students here.

But the Academy Network was a system that could not be controlled or dominated by students, or even Teaching Assistants.

Ninglan New City was not part of the Witch Academy, so the Academy Network was not "legitimate" in Ninglan New City and would eventually be withdrawn.

In fact, I mentioned this concept to Ninglan Qiuyue the last time we met, but it seemed the progress was not smooth at all now.

“This... this is not possible... you suddenly want us to abandon what we have been researching for so long...”

Hearing my words, one of the people immediately took the lead to refute me.

“You shut up. What right do you have to argue with me when your mind is full of self-interest and betrayal of others?”

I immediately used forceful means to Silence the first person who stood out to object—Silence in the magical sense.

Then, an image constructed by the Great Tree of Knowledge was immediately projected by me, showing this person discussing with a student how to seize control of Ninglan New City's public opinion through network construction.

Unfortunately, no Teaching Assistant's figure appeared.

It seemed that such trivial matters would not require her to personally attend, but there were plenty of people to do it for her.

This segment of the video brought a tremendous visual shock to everyone and also demonstrated my methods as a Teaching Assistant.

However, the next statement I made completely overshadowed this evidence, which could have been a great breakthrough point, relegating it to a supporting role.

“You don't seriously think I came here to wrangle with you, do you? What I say is my bottom line, and I will not concede an inch. This is not even a negotiation; it's a notification. Because you are not qualified to talk to me from a position of strength. Don't think that because some of you cling to the coattails of a few Teaching Assistants, you have nothing to worry about. My word stands: those few Teaching Assistants combined are not enough!”

“Even if there's nothing to talk about, it doesn't matter. The Dream State creatures don't have the ability to kill, so you just have to endure it. Without special means of interference, it will only last a few decades.”

...

Night.

A city-wide announcement directly conveyed from the Ninglan Township Fortress shocked everyone.

Not only the city-wide announcement, but the City Guard also implemented a city-wide martial law at night, and the City Guard presence was even denser in the main city area.

But such a large-scale action brought a great piece of good news to the city's residents.

The dark cloud hanging over their heads was about to dissipate!

The Dream State Overlap incident could naturally not be concealed in Ninglan New City.

The fluttering Dream State creatures were practically attacking face-to-face.

They weren't blind, were they?

Moreover, this area would continue to spread.

Who knew if they would be affected when they woke up?

But now, they learned that their City Lord had successfully achieved "Friendly Communication" with a Witch Academy Teaching Assistant, and they had "fully exchanged opinions," and after "fierce negotiation," finally reached a satisfying "Friendly Cooperation."

The threat to Ninglan New City would eventually recede.

And tonight, that Teaching Assistant would take action to dispel those Dream State creatures and restore the safety of Ninglan New City.

To prevent this incident, which affected the entire Ninglan New City, from causing too much distress to the residents, the time for the Dream State Dispel was set for the night, with the wish that all residents would have a good dream tonight.

But even so, many residents probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

After all, the more they were told not to do something, the more they wanted to do it.

This was the public's rebellious psychology.

They simply wanted to witness the scene of the Dream State being dispelled.

Meanwhile, I was preparing for the dispelling work.

Actually, I didn't need any preparation at all; I was just making an excuse to stop those people from bothering me.

There was still a long time before midnight.

I was still reading.

Thinking back to the past, I didn't quite like reading, or rather, I couldn't stick with it.

But now... it had become my hobby to pass the time.

Indeed, was this the power of a person's "habit"?

I no longer felt the pressure of forcing myself to read like I used to.

Reading even brought me a kind of... spiritual comfort.

Coupled with the enhancement of my Time Sense, I could read for a very long time and contemplate many things.

For example, I was contemplating the Five Senses of Body Cultivation, which were species-based basic perceptions.

The Sixth Sense of Body Cultivation did not seem to be mere perception, and by the Seventh Sense, this feeling became stronger.

Perceptions beyond the ordinary Five Senses no longer seemed to be merely perception.

I was contemplating whether I had been mistaken by preconceptions from the start.

Perhaps the Sixth Sense, the Seventh Sense, and even the Eighth Sense that I had not yet touched, represented a completely new kind of meaning, rather than simple perception.

But clearly, such empty thinking was meaningless, and I wouldn't get the answer out of thin air.

Thinking thus, I continued to read.

However... I wasn't looking at new knowledge; instead, I was reviewing old knowledge.

Because my current state was not suitable for fully investing myself in the exploration of a completely new field, I chose to review the old to gain new insights.

Time flowed by little by little.

Ninglan New City's night life gradually ended, and the night returned to peace and tranquility.

I knew, now was the time.

I pushed the door open and walked out.

It was already late into the night, but Ninglan Qiuyue and several officials were still standing guard here.

“Big Sis Xiaohan, how is it?”

“Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan, are you ready?”

My appearance caused a flurry of inquiries, as they were afraid of accidents.

“Almost. Let's just start now.”

I said, and then without any hesitation, my Mental Realm Domain immediately unfolded...

Immediately after, a virtual Great Tree of Knowledge stood tall in the sky above Ninglan New City.

Countless Power of Knowledge flowed within the area covered by its canopy.

And the people who had stayed awake until now witnessed the most unforgettable scene of their lives.