Chapter 643: Millian's Ambition and the Formation of a Faction

In the span of just one dinner, Ninglan New City seemed to have suddenly undergone a major change.

While the average student might not have noticed any turbulence, certain individuals immediately sprang into action.

The people who had originally chosen to continue observing suddenly couldn't sit still.

Because they learned that the opponent was going to disappear for at least a week!

What about the resource points in the Transcendent material mining areas, which were still shrouded by the Dream State Overlap phenomenon for that entire week?

Were they supposed to risk the threat of Dream State creatures and let the ordinary people carry out the mining?

Even if they wanted to dispatch a student who had mastered the Dream Magic Spell, how much would that cost?

The Dream Magic Spell was not something that the average person could cast Bare-handed.

Without some research into Spells or knowledge related to Runology, even a Teaching Assistant would need some time, let alone the low-grade students who didn't even know what Runology was.

So, the students who mastered the Dream Magic Spell were mostly upper-year seniors.

How high were the employment costs for such "high-end talent"?

They had many other ways to make money; using the life-saving Dream Magic Spell to chase away Dream State creatures for ordinary people was a huge loss of status.

If they delayed for this one week, and then wrangled with Millian over the contract for some time, and then Teaching Assistant Xiaohan still hadn't taken action... the loss would be far more than just one week.

They were mining rare Transcendent materials!

Not ordinary ore, which wins by quantity.

Since the popularization of alchemical items and the perfection of mining and detection technologies, their efficiency had greatly increased.

Even a one-day stagnation made them extremely uncomfortable.

The only consolation was that some resource points had already stopped work due to the Dream State Overlap.

Now, they would just wait another one or two weeks, having long since accepted the reality.

At worst, they would look for new resource points farther out, but ordinary people couldn't go that far.

Without the sheer volume of cheap labor provided by ordinary people, the mining efficiency and cost would significantly increase.

And now, the value of the second large Shelter was evident.

The Shelter provided housing for many people, serving as a rest stop and transfer station.

They could use it as a base to explore outward.

Furthermore, the location itself was a mixed mine, and although the resources were miscellaneous, the value was still considerable.

But an even more uncomfortable situation arose for them.

The second large Shelter currently belonged to Teaching Assistant Xiaohan and the Wan Shi Wu Club!

The cooperation project, which everyone had previously shunned, was now suddenly highly sought-after, but having lost the initiative, they were incredibly passive...

And, the person currently organizing the construction of the second Shelter and acting as the communicator was also that Millian...

Millian's name instantly became famous!

And this was the situation Millian had anticipated.

It was the basis of her confidence in daring to act this way!

And that one dinner allowed her to acquire the final, perfect piece of the puzzle: the business card that could summon Teaching Assistant Xiaohan at any time.

This was absolutely an unexpected development for her, saving her many schemes, and she experienced what it meant to rely on brute force to solve problems.

At this moment, Millian felt that happiness had come too suddenly.

She had seized the right time, the right place, and the right people!

Moreover, she was also a member of the Little Han Support Group... the "right people" factor was also working out.

She could even plan for the entire Expansion Realm... no, she could plan the entire Expansion Realm for Big Sis Xiaohan!

Millian didn't sleep well this night.

It wasn't that she didn't heed Big Sis Xiaohan's advice to rest and adjust her condition; it was simply that too many people were contacting her.

It wasn't that she didn't want to turn off her phone and give everyone the cold shoulder; there was no need.

Especially at such a crucial moment, it was important to remain calm.

There was no need to strain the relationship with those people too much, as she still needed to gain benefits from them later.

But she also had to refuse when necessary, and the reason was very uniform: Teaching Assistant Xiaohan's schedule was already fully planned for tomorrow and could not be temporarily changed.

With a strong backer, she had the confidence to speak.

I, on the other hand, slept very comfortably that night.

The next morning.

After completing my Meditation, I took Millian and began clearing the Dream State Overlap areas.

Although only four contracts were signed, plus the Wan Shi Wu Club represented by Millian, it did not mean there were only five areas of land.

These were the combined resource points owned by each society, so the total area was quite large, but the ownership belonged only to five parties.

While smoothing over the Dream State, I had a question in my mind.

That was the issue of resource point ownership.

I did inquire about this with Millian.

The Expansion Realm did not belong to anyone; this was according to the Witch Academy's contract.

Theoretically, other societies could also come to mine the area after the Dream State was dispelled.

However, after learning more, I realized that this was a customary rule they had established themselves.

They respected the academy's regulations, but as the protagonists of a brand new era, they also had the ability and strength to formulate their own rules.

The fact that they dared to do this was all based on the major premise that the Witch Academy would not care about this matter.

And precisely because of this, I was the unstable factor, because they couldn't control me, nor could they win me over...

“Big Sis Xiaohan, have you ever considered forming your own faction?”

“Why do you ask?”

Hearing Millian's sudden question, my first reaction was to refuse.

I didn't like managing so many people.

Perhaps the impression left by the Tan Han Support Group was too poor.

“I see that Big Sis Xiaohan dislikes negotiating with people in the academy, but as long as you remain in the Witch Academy for one day, this is a reality you must face. I know you feel that power can crush everything, but there's no need for you to personally draw your blade and waste time with those people.”

“So what are you trying to do?”

I continued to ask, even though I knew the answer.

“I believe Big Sis Xiaohan still needs a core group of your own to help you deal with the problems that pure power cannot solve. And you've deliberately nurtured those Shelter people and imparted Transcendent power to them. Don't you also intend to...”

“That is different.”

I interrupted her.

“My giving them Transcendent power is to allow them to master the most fundamental power so they can rebuild civilization in the fastest way possible. Of course, a new addition now is: to be wary of those people from the Witch Academy.”

“Alright...”

Millian saw that I wasn't being persuaded, so she didn't lead the conversation in that direction.

Anyway, she didn't believe that anyone who came to the Expansion Realm truly intended to help those people rebuild civilization.

Perhaps some hot-blooded, inexperienced youths did, but... she didn't believe that anyone who had the power to stir up trouble in the Expansion Realm wouldn't seek benefits from it.

“Then... regarding forming a faction, or even under the name of a society...”

“You are very persistent.”

I looked sideways at Millian.

Her saying this was tantamount to wanting to establish a separate organization.

But there were two constraints on her existence: she was a member of the Wan Shi Wu Club, and also a descendant of a certain faction within the Baker family.

Nothing unexpected had happened to her family.

Such a family connection was quite standard within the family.

“Do as you see fit. I will not provide any extra help. You can currently only leverage two things: my name, and the share you personally secured for me. If you ultimately turn everything into a joke, I will personally step in to end this boring farce.”

“Then... that business card...”

“I have given that business card to quite a few people. Its validity continues until I become disappointed with the relationship, and yours is no exception. I will treat everyone equally.”

I said.

And my saying this also represented many things.

She had many opportunities for trial and error.

As long as she wasn't foolish enough to disappoint me, she could continue this way indefinitely.

And this also implied another point: she could seek out others who also possessed these business cards.

If she could bring them into the fold, that would also be a testament to her ability.

Hearing my words, Millian didn't know if she fully understood what they meant, but her mood visibly brightened considerably.

“We've cleared this area. Now I only have three spots left. Shall we go directly?”

Millian asked somewhat eagerly, holding her Flying Broom.

She didn't have the Teleportation Spell, so she could only choose the Flying Broom, or rather, most people chose the Flying Broom, even those who possessed the Teleportation Spell, because they wouldn't dare to recklessly teleport to a place they hadn't been to or marked.

I was different.

I had the root network of two Myriad Connection Main Network Trees spreading out, one of which was connected to the Earth Vein "highway" and could extend its roots far every day.

I could use these roots to establish coordinates and then use the Spatial Teleportation Spell.

“Not so fast.”

I shook my head, declining Millian's suggestion, then reached out and touched the Mutated Beast I had confined on the ground.

“I can tell you have urgent business, so you should leave first. I know the location of the remaining few. The coordinates are on the contract. I have my own things to do.”

“I-I see. I'll leave first then.”

Millian nodded and didn't insist, immediately choosing to leave.

She truly had urgent business, and staying here would only be a hindrance; she couldn't help in any way.

Furthermore, Big Sis Xiaohan clearly had her own things to do, which was why she spoke so decisively in urging her to leave.

She needed to return quickly and prepare for many things.

To establish a faction that could gain a foothold in the Witch Academy, the absolute power pillar of this faction, Big Sis Xiaohan, was already secured.

As for the personnel issue... this needed careful consideration.

At least in the early stages, quality over quantity was essential, and every member needed to have value.

She heard that Big Sis Xiaohan had brought a group of people back to Ninglan New City this time, and there were even a few Teaching Assistants in that group.

She didn't aspire to recruit such high-level existences, but she could use Big Sis Xiaohan's name to befriend them, and incidentally figure out why Big Sis Xiaohan valued them so much.

Next was to inquire about the people Big Sis Xiaohan had given the business card to.

This was no longer a secret, and it wouldn't take much effort to inquire.

Those people were likely investigating very actively.

As for the funding issue, although it was currently all about profit sharing, the volume was huge.

There were still many societies waiting for Big Sis Xiaohan to rescue them.

However, all of this needed to be conducted in secret; at least, it couldn't be overt.

Otherwise, the large societies of the Witch Academy could easily crush this fledgling faction, and it would truly become the farce Big Sis Xiaohan spoke of.

And before implementing these ideas, she had one more important hurdle to cross: providing an explanation to the Wan Shi Wu Club.

Many situations that seemed stable still required careful navigation, and this greatly tested one's capability.

She didn't think her capabilities were poor. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

After all, which society didn't start as a makeshift organization?

Furthermore, the large societies, having been passed down for so many years, had long become like the families in the outside society, nearing their end.

Otherwise, why would they be so easily frightened by the news that the academy was going to completely reorganize the outside society, news that only they themselves spread?

It was because they knew the current families lacked the foundation to withstand it.

At this moment.

I was still in the same spot.

Looking at this large creature I had confined, I sighed slightly.

As expected, these Mutated Beasts outside were continuous.

The reason I hadn't directly killed this creature was that I recalled a flash of inspiration: what would happen if I used the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell on a Mutated Beast?

I had too few opportunities to use this Spell, so a large part of it remained in a theoretical state.

It didn't even have a corresponding Sequence Derivation; the only modification was the change of its main body form to the Tree of Wisdom's Enlightenment.

The only technique derived from this Grand Spellbook was Soul Mimicry, and the Meditation Method I learned from Big Sis Mei's research data, which I had now modified into the Enlightenment Meditation Method.

Logically, the main function of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell was to enlighten wisdom.

However, this wasn't particularly obvious for life forms that already possessed wisdom, but it couldn't be denied that it had an effect.

So I wanted to see what effect this thing would have on Mutated Beasts, creatures so mutated that their brains were practically all muscle.

My personal prediction was that the change would be very obvious, perhaps even more so than Fool's Dream.

After all, Fool's Dream itself was a Dream State creature whose consciousness had already been opened, and the change in them since using the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell was already significant.

They now possessed cognition and wisdom comparable to a normal girl, certainly much smarter than when they were in Fool's Village.

After I used the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell on it, its initial instinctive struggle calmed down.

I immediately released the simple Restraint Spell.

It didn't turn and run; instead, it stared at me with wide eyes.

Finally, it simply lay down, exposing its belly.

This behavior, seen in many animals, showed the most vulnerable part of the body, also representing "submission" and "abandoning resistance."

At this moment, apart from its enormous size, it was exactly like a "large dog" playing around, but I wasn't in the mood to pet it.

Just as I was about to continue observing what reaction it would have next, it seized the optimal moment and transitioned directly from rolling around to a posture of extreme running, darting away from me.

“Hmm? Showing weakness... then running away?”

I let out a soft laugh, amused by its reaction.

Since that was its choice, I respected it.

Therefore... the next moment, it became a corpse.

Since it wouldn't cooperate with my test, it would simply skip the process and become a test specimen.

However, this time I chose not to compete with the Earth Vein for this Mutated Beast's Soul-substance.

Instead, I let it return to the Earth Vein.

Then, I used the Earth Vein Appraisal Spell to acquire valuable information from its "memory."

Looking at such a large Mutated Beast carcass, a flash of inspiration struck me... perhaps I could try using the Reincarnation Spell to acquire the information of this Mutated Beast's body.

My next clone... why did it have to look like me?

However... looking at the foul odor from its mouth, I ultimately decided to improve the External Incarnation technique.

I didn't necessarily need to fully experience the daily life of a Mutated Beast.

And I discovered from this Mutated Beast's memory that it had a migrating pack.

Perhaps I could use the External Incarnation technique as an observation perspective, using the immense size of the pack as a unit to test the inspiration of the Tree of Wisdom's Enlightenment on the pack's collective wisdom.