Chapter 1008: Family Ambition—Transcendent Families

After leaving Academy Head Mei’s place.

Big Sis Bai and I planned to have a good rest during the last few days of the holiday.

When it came to where it was most convenient to rest and least likely to be disturbed, one had to mention that Dungeon World.

“Big Sis Bai, speaking of which, didn't we say before that we were going to fish and grill fish at our newly built lakeside log cabin. How about we experience it during these few days?”

I suggested.

“Okay!”

Big Sis Bai thought of the house that had already been built and the grill that had been gathering dust there for many days, and she nodded in agreement without the slightest hesitation.

As soon as we entered the Dungeon World, we saw Ling Yi.

After greeting her and explaining why I had turned into this state, we headed straight for the lakeside cabin.

Regarding that “friend” of Ling Yi’s who had never existed, current me already had some clues.

This situation was essentially the same as the circumstances of the King of Ancient Glacial Ice.

The gestation of consciousness signified the beginning of life, the soul was the cornerstone for constructing life, and the physical body represented life’s initial exploration of the world.

This time, I didn't take time out to attempt any experiments.

When the priorities of my cognition were no longer bound by those frameworks, I could know what I truly wanted to do.

Coming to the platform extending into the lake, Big Sis Bai took out two fishing rods.

These were things Big Sis Bai had prepared long ago; not long after the suggestion was first made, she had them ready.

“Xiao Han, the fishing rod prepared for you seems a bit large.”

Big Sis Bai gestured with the rod in front of me.

She was indicating how I, with these small arms and legs, was supposed to hold it.

“Don't look down on me! Only my body has become smaller; my strength hasn't been weakened much! Even against an adult, I could grab them and perform a shoulder throw!”

I immediately defended myself.

“Of course I naturally believe in Xiao Han’s strength, but... since Xiao Han has become small, it's better to prepare a small fishing rod.”

As Big Sis Bai spoke, the fishing rod in her hand transformed into basic particles and finally reorganized into an even smaller fishing rod.

If this move were seen by other Witches, they would definitely be very surprised.

After all, destroying matter was something every Witch could do, but whether it was reorganizing or reshaping it into another form, the difficulty was completely different; it was pure showmanship.

Although there were some reshaping-type spells, those were for restoring things within a spell framework, such as repairing a shattered cup or a damaged sculpture.

To go a step further belonged to techniques at the level of restoration alchemy.

And Big Sis Bai’s Time Sense was an even deeper method.

“This size is just right for Xiao Han.”

Big Sis Bai handed the rod over.

“It really is quite handy.”

I remarked.

“When the time comes and Xiao Han catches a fish, don't let the fish pull you into the lake, okay? After all, Xiao Han in her Fool’s Dream form is light to begin with. One moment of inattention and you might fall into the lake to feed the fish.”

“How is that possible? I haven't even started fishing yet! It’s absolutely impossible to be pulled into the water by a fish!”

***

Unlike the leisurely and cozy atmosphere of the Dungeon World.

At this moment, the situation of the Witch Academy clubs was not optimistic.

At first, they felt this was merely an opportunity to cooperate with that Assistant Xiao Han, but no one expected this would be the fuse that directly led to the Academy War!

They had already thoroughly learned some information from the academy side: the Witch Academy was encouraging the academy clubs to be aggressive.

If in the past the academy side would merely release some information about excellent students in a new batch and then incite current students to go snatch the newcomers, then now... the academy was directly encouraging students to charge into the Sun Rock Elf Transcendent Academy.

After all, the Sun Rock Elf Academy had killed students of the Witch Academy; the debt definitely had to be repaid.

Although during this period, the academy had struck out one after another, making many people from the Sun Rock Elf Academy pay the price with their lives, it wasn't nearly enough to vent their anger!

Of course, those who felt their anger wasn't vented were mostly ordinary students who were easily swayed by emotions.

The clubs, which were primarily composed of family members, were currently very irritable.

Because in the border regions, armed conflicts had broken out between families!

The course of events was actually quite simple.

Regarding the Witch Academy’s actions in promoting the Power Network, families outside the Witch Academy territory were very envious.

Therefore, a family in the border region decided to throw themselves into the embrace of the Witch territory’s side.

This action, to other families, was complete betrayal!

As the news leaked, this family faced an onslaught from surrounding families.

Finally, they sought help from the families on the Witch Academy’s side, triggering a war for territorial seizure and protection!

Even though families usually secretly collected some Transcendent items to enrich the family heritage, such private Transcendent power and armed forces naturally could not withstand the Dimensionality Reduction Attack brought about by the laying of the Power Network!

Now, various family factions were taking sides, making declarations, and cursing each other.

With the occurrence of armed conflicts and the changes in territories tied to families, the war had all-round affected trade wars and financial wars between families, and the import and export of strategic materials was also regulated by families.

This operation made the families on the Witch Academy’s side, who were single-handedly resisting all Transcendent Academies, feel very passive.

After all, the impact on the price of basic materials would directly reflect on the cost of living for ordinary households!

Additionally, the families in the Witch territory were not a monolithic block; there were always people contradicting them and even thinking of profiting from the war, so now the various family factions were negotiating and coordinating.

It was just that they couldn't reach a consensus yet.

The only consensus was... the extraordinary power they had finally mastered was something they had now tasted the sweetness of, and they would absolutely not let it go.

Moreover, this kind of extraordinary power didn't force one to become female like the Witch Academy did, nor would it affect the ability to produce the next generation!

With such a good opportunity, they could burst forth with power far exceeding their expectations!

They seemed to have already foreseen the world of the future and the scenes where those extraordinary powers were spread everywhere.

Perhaps this would bring greater competition, but they believed that with the family’s heritage, they could certainly become... Transcendent Families under such a major trend!

Transcendent Families—this was their ambition!

From the birth of families, Transcendent Academies had stood above all families.

Regarding this situation where Transcendent power was monopolized by academies, countless families hoped to change this status quo.

Their thinking was very simple: if an academy could become a transcendent force monopolizing Transcendence, then a family could too!

But they thought of the academies too simply.

Behind the Transcendent Academies were the stations of Transcendent races from outside the world, so this suppressed all families; not a single one had become a so-called “Transcendent Family” in a thousand years.

Transcendent Academies did not allow anything of Transcendence to flow out of the academy.

For example, in the Witch Academy, if one did not have the intention to continue further studies and advance to Transcendent after completion, everything related to Transcendence would be stripped away.

Even if they completed their studies and insisted they still had the intention to advance to Transcendent, wanting to bring Transcendent power to serve their family was not allowed; the binding force of the Witch’s Contract gave them no chance.

Other Transcendent Academies had other methods even without the Witch’s Contract.

Even for a system like the Wizards, which used knowledge as the core of advancement, one could forget about any improvement without the help of corresponding Transcendent materials and various resources.

Furthermore, the Wizard territory was also the region with the strictest regulation of Transcendent materials; being caught meant death.

The cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness of Wizards were built upon lives that thought themselves lucky.

Therefore, families at most scouted the world for some Transcendent items.

The birth of Transcendent items was filled with endless coincidences and mystery; it was also the only Transcendent power that could be touched in the outside society where Transcendent materials could not be obtained.

But using Transcendent items also required paying a price for use.

For a family to hope to rely on Transcendent items to accumulate and become a Transcendent Family was simply a pipe dream!

But now... the Witch Academy had actively promoted the Power Network, and this represented that the Witch Academy had made a start!

All families were extremely envious of this, but not all families hoped to connect to the framework of the Power Network system.

Because they knew the Power Network was a trap set by the Witch Academy; this power completely belonged to the Witch Academy.

If a family was disobedient, cutting off your power was as simple as cutting off your network.

What kind of Transcendent Family would one built upon such power be?

So the reason other families were currently holding fast was naturally to observe whether other Transcendent Academies would follow the Witch Academy's example and open up a gap for Transcendent power.

They didn't believe the other few Transcendent Academies would only give out this kind of Transcendent power whose root of power was controlled by the academy!

Therefore, the other families were essentially gambling.

As long as one Transcendent Academy truly spread unrestricted Transcendent power, then all... no, it should be most families would support that Transcendent Academy!

So the hardest part of this matter was that breakthrough point.

The broken windows effect—as long as there was one start, then the persistence of other academies would be meaningless!

When Transcendent power spread across the entire world, then the golden age belonging to the families would arrive!

And families would also have Transcendents belonging to the family, rather than Transcendents belonging to the academy.

Too many families had waited far too long for such an opportunity.

So long that their ambition was almost worn away, gradually becoming the likeness of the academies' running dogs.

Precisely because families had such demands, the family conflicts occurring at the borders of the Witch territory actually had many hands from families fanning the flames.

Small families became sacrifices, becoming fuel for the escalation of conflict for the sake of the rise of the Main World families.

Only by fighting, letting this world no longer be stable, and ensuring no one could enjoy the fruits without effort, would someone eventually become anxious.

Families were harboring the thought that academies were more anxious than families, pushing some small families into the pit of conflict.

Then they would go to the academies to cry about their misery; after all, the crying child gets the candy.

If they cried long enough, the academy side would eventually step in to pacify them.

They proclaimed the hazards of the Power Network as an invincible existence, and they needed an equivalent means; this was their demand.

It could be said that the families’ demands and the Witch Academy’s ideas had collided.

The Witch Academy needed a massive reshuffle to reorganize the layout of the Main World.

And the families also needed a breakthrough point to obtain the foundation for a family to become a Transcendent Family.

Perhaps the Power Network was not what all families wanted, but the Power Network could threaten other Transcendent Academies, letting families get what they wanted.

But obviously, most of the families in the Witch Academy territory did not think this way.

They had already accepted the Witches’ favor, so they had to share the external pressure for the Witch Academy.

Moreover, some of the endurance faction also felt that in the future, it wasn't impossible for them to strive for the right to autonomy over extraordinary power.

And they also hoped the conflict would grow bigger and bigger.

Once chaos broke out, they could also strive for more benefits, and even talk to the Witch Academy on equal terms!

After all, the Witch Academy needed people, a continuous stream of new population, to provide a continuous stream of high-quality students.

So they felt they were qualified to talk about chips with the Transcendent Academies.

After these thoughts within the families reached the club members inside the academy, this groundless confidence and ambition was what made them feel most speechless.

Only by entering the academy could one understand that kind of despair and defiance.

To be specific, it was like: before you enter a Transcendent Academy, seeing me is like a frog at the bottom of a well seeing the bright moon; once you enter the academy, seeing me is like a single mayfly seeing the azure sky.

The gap... was too big.

This time, with the Wan Shi Wu club taking the lead, clubs like the Witch's Secret Realm Club, the Stunt Flying License Training Club, the Explosive Witch's Cabin, and others as representatives, along with a crowd of small clubs, gathered together and held a discussion meeting.

Although these students were merely club representatives within the Witch Academy, the families behind them were colossi capable of stirring up storms outside the academy!

What they discussed at this meeting was naturally an exploration of the issues regarding the promotion of the Power Network to the outside by the various family forces, with an item on "Academy War" serving as the final grand finale.

Regarding the promotion of the Power Network, they naturally could not interfere with the academy's arrangements; they could only understand the subsequent impact after such a thing occurred.

It seemed there was an very important topic following that also gripped everyone's hearts, so the topic of the Power Network ended quickly and perfunctorily.

Regarding the concept of an Academy War, if it weren't for deliberately seeking to understand it, many people had never thought of such a thing.

But now they knew, and they also displayed a decent capacity for acceptance.

The main thing was that among them, there were still quite a few people who supported an Academy War.

After all... those people on the Academy Network calling out everyday that “I want to see blood flow like a river” were not all just talk.

More so, it was actually due to long-accumulated resentment.

Currently, the Academy War was still in the theoretical stage.

With the current small-scale conflicts, the vast major... no, all students felt that for the Witch Academy to want to wipe out a small academy was simply too easy.

For example, taking the Sun Rock Elf Academy that had provoked the Witches' public anger; wanting to wipe them out was a sure thing!

Confidence is the best catalyst for war, and provocations from the outside world are a match to light the final fuse.

As soon as this gathering of club representatives ended, calls for an Academy War on the Witch Academy's Academy Network began to appear in the open.

It could be foreseen that after the new semester started and students returned to school, the public opinion for this Academy War would completely take off.