Free Web NovelChapter 791: A Family Gathering Filled with Heavy Hostility
“Sigh as expected, when one has more abilities, there’s always endless work to do.”
After coming out of the Academy Head’s office, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of emotion.
“This just proves that Xiao Han is very capable.”
Big Sis Bai chimed in from the side.
I had learned quite a lot of the truth on this trip, and it wasn't just from the conversation with the Academy Head; my player avatar had also acquired a significant amount of intelligence.
Logically speaking, that player avatar of mine didn't have very high game permissions and shouldn't have been qualified to participate in this council.
It hadn't even triggered the side mission to collect [Transcendent Knowledge] fragments; this intelligence was only learned through the player's few friends.
I discovered that there was similarly a chain of contempt among game players, and it was divided into different types: some were based on membership levels, and some were based on permission levels, which was roughly equivalent to the class relationship between money and power.
That player avatar of mine quickly relied on other connections to sneak into that gathering.
After all, a beautiful female player still had many advantages within the player community.
If I wanted to, I could even modify that player avatar's appearance at will.
After all, a player avatar was nothing more than a very useful tool to me.
At that gathering.
Due to my limited social skills, I didn't end up meeting many people, but on the surface, I did manage to get the friend slots of several high-permission players.
This gathering lasted for a long time.
Even after my main body had finished chatting with the Academy Head and the others and left, this meeting was still ongoing.
Therefore, Big Sis Bai and I were in no hurry to head back.
Going to Mo Nuo Peng City now wouldn't offer any fun to watch either, so it was better to let the avatar record interesting scenes at the venue for me.
Big Sis Bai and I found a restaurant in the academy that we had experienced before and thought was quite good, preparing to have a hearty meal.
“Big Sis Bai, when do you think I should set aside time to help the Academy Head and the others debug the Destiny Gazing instrument?”
I sat at the dining table, flipping through the menu while aimlessly asking Big Sis Bai about this problem that was a bit hard for me to decide.
“Didn't you hear what the Academy Head said? She won't force you. It means everything is centered on your own affairs; even if you don't have time, she won't blame you. After all, they are also professional witches and won't necessarily be unable to handle it without you.”
“True enough…”
I nodded and stopped dwelling on this matter.
What I was currently doing was completely igniting April—this dud who had already fizzled out—to see if she was truly rotten wood or useless mud.
Once this matter ended, that would be the time to throw all my mind and energy into perfecting the Self-generating Magic Power technique.
I had also chatted a lot with the Academy Head about the topic of Self-generating Magic Power.
Between the lines, Big Sis Mei was constantly asking if I needed her to call some witches to help me.
It was evident that the Academy Head placed great importance on the perfection of the Self-generating Magic Power technique.
Presumably, she also wanted to speed up my progress so as to make time for the iterative upgrade of the Destiny Gazing instrument.
Theoretically, after I perfected the Self-generating Magic Power technique, I indeed could be considered free.
But just a while ago, I had planned out my life path for myself again, which was to advance to Transcendent Witch…
Advancing to Transcendent was certainly not something to be rushed.
The elevation of my life level alone couldn't be achieved through forced growth, and the foundation of the project was related to the new direction of perfecting the Great Tree of Knowledge.
Every single matter seemed no less easy than the business with the Destiny Gazing instrument, and… more importantly, I didn't have much cognition of the “Umbilicus Mundi” concept Academy Head Mei spoke of.
I could see that Academy Head Mei and those witch sisters who were busy earlier attached great importance to the Umbilicus Mundi.
But before being clear on what it could do, it was also hard for me to establish a value judgment standard for it in my own heart.
“Big Sis Bai… tell me, after the Self-generating Magic Power project concludes, how should I choose? Should I help the Academy Head perfect the Destiny Gazing Technique to search for and locate the Umbilicus Mundi, or should I put all my time and energy into advancing to Transcendent?”
“Mhm? Advancing to Transcendent? Xiao Han, you plan to advance to Transcendent?!”
Hearing my statement, Big Sis Bai instantly perked up!
“Didn't I tell you?”
“I only remember you saying some witches were going to enjoy a blessing.”
“Wait… Big Sis Bai, how do you still remember that!”
“Yeah I remember it all. So, Xiao Han, do you really plan to advance to Transcendent?”
Big Sis Bai asked very excitedly.
“I have that plan. Besides, wasn't I just offering a choice between two options? Did you directly ignore the matter of the Destiny Gazing Technique?”
I helplessly repeated what I had just said.
“Was I? I didn't pay much attention just now. But… regarding the matter of the Destiny Gazing instrument, the Academy Head and the others have been searching for the Umbilicus Mundi for so long, laid out so many scenarios, and have one plan after another. They haven't been in a hurry for the last few years. If you can advance to Transcendent, Xiao Han, then you can also perfect the Destiny Gazing Technique more easily through Transcendent means, right?”
Big Sis Bai gave her own answer without any hesitation regarding this choice between two options.
“Sigh the difference in the concept of time again… but saying it that way seems right too. Witches aren't lacking this bit of time.”
I nodded in agreement with Big Sis Bai’s statement.
Since Academy Head Mei had given me the choice, then there was no need for me to have extra guilt for my choice.
If things truly reached a very urgent situation, it wasn't like I couldn't stop to help the Academy Head.
What’s more, I had to be able to help with this matter for it to count, as this was gambling at the Transcendent level after all.
After figuring these things out, I also very happily enjoyed the dishes of this restaurant that both of us had determined to be good-tasting.
“Big Sis Bai, guess what the meeting my player avatar is participating in is discussing right now?”
“I'm not too sure, but most likely it's still about how to gather those fragments, right? But no matter what, this matter seemingly cannot bypass you, can it? After all, on the surface, you still hold one Heart of Cold Tide.”
Big Sis Bai said.
“They are indeed discussing this matter but they’ve started arguing now. Or rather, the players and the family people have started arguing. Because this gathering directly announced that their collection of fragments was meant to be given to the players. As a result, an improper verbal expression led some representatives of families with explosive tempers to think this was an offering to the players. It was hilarious… a TA—no, a Keeper—of the Wizard Academy stated that the players' combat power wasn't even enough for them to exhaust; on what basis should they give them offerings?”
“Is that so? So interesting?”
Big Sis Bai also laughed out loud along with my narration.
“What a pity I’m not at the scene. But they do say that the communication methods for such important meetings are more primitive; arguing is also a type of intense expression of one's own demands.”
“True, a group of well-dressed fellows taking off their shoes to throw at each other's heads in a formal setting; this communication method is indeed very direct.”
I said with a smile.
And these people truly opened my eyes, letting me clearly understand that even people in high positions were still ordinary people; they would also be dominated by emotions.
“Speaking of which, did they go to such great trouble to gather so many people just for a quarrel?”
“How could that be? Now the two groups have been pulled apart. That Wizard Tower Keeper representing the Wizard Will is still very deterrent. Right now they are discussing how to send those fragments over to the Game World's side.”
I explained.
“Currently, the players advocate sending over all existing fragments to avoid long nights and many dreams, with subsequent fragments being sent over one by one. But the representatives from the Wizards, Elves, and bird-men sides expressed their disagreement.”
“They indeed cannot agree. Setting aside whether they have so many opportunities to conduct cross-void item transmissions, just the cost of separating so many cross-void transmissions is terrifying. They cannot be so extravagant and wasteful.”
Big Sis Bai also analyzed.
“True. So the intention of the Transcendent Academy side is actually to piece together the complete [Transcendent Knowledge] on the Main World before conducting a large-scale exchange, but that is very difficult.”
“I’m a bit curious how they plan to acquire that Heart of Cold Tide in your hand, Xiao Han?”
Big Sis Bai asked with a smile.
“Mhm currently the Witch Academy’s situation is at odds with other Transcendent Academies, and the families following the witches are also vacillating. They are bringing up old matters again, wanting to pull over the teaching assistant families controlled by super clubs like Wan Shi Wu and the Witch's Secret Realm Club, resolving this problem through hands internal to the Witch Academy.”
“It looks like those foolish fellows still don't know your status in the Witch Academy, Xiao Han.”
Big Sis Bai also revealed an interesting smile upon hearing this.
After all, information imbalance truly makes people make decisions that appear foolish.
“I really don't know if these families holding [Transcendent Knowledge] fragments counts as illegal possession of Transcendent materials. It probably does, right? So if I take advantage of the crisis to rob them all, nobody should dare to clamor, right?”
I said jokingly.
“If you really did that, then you could be considered to have provoked them all at once. Perhaps they would let you see the power of families dominating the secular world.”
“Smearing me or something?”
I asked dismissively.
“True… Xiao Han simply doesn't need to fear the harassment of those fellows. However, if those fellows want to be nauseating, they have many means. After all, one cannot underestimate how heavy anyone's desire for revenge is.”
……
Within the Grand Sorcery of the False World Space.
“Damn it… damn it! Do they actually give so little face to our Hawthorne Family! I truly want to slaughter every one of them after seeing their faces!”
April looked at this figure that was both familiar and strange.
Before she could even lament for herself for a second, the other party treated her as his current target for venting.
“What do you mean by standing there on the side and not saying a word? You should reflect well on why we are in such a predicament! Isn't it all because of you! Do you even know what it was you lost? If it weren't for your mistake, would we have lost so much face today!”
The man indignantly straightened his collar and smoothed his somewhat loose tie, his mouth still constantly complaining about the matters of this meeting.
If it weren't for the fact that April was his child, he wouldn't have had to come here to suffer this anger at all.
It could be said that the various family meetings this time were filled with heavy hostility as they gathered.
Of course, this was mainly due to those players setting a bad example, leading to the subsequent confrontation between the families and the players.
But they had to sit together and discuss matters “calmly.”
April’s matter was not a secret at the family level.
Every family had its own intelligence network; regarding such an important matter, they would naturally have cleared up the situation in advance.
Therefore, the Hawthorne Family had already become a laughingstock at this venue.
But this meeting was also about to end.
The representatives of the respective families also left the coverage range of the Grand Sorcery of the False World Space one after another.
At this moment, the situation on the Hawthorne Family’s side was similarly somewhat abnormal, but abnormal in an exceptionally “harmonious” way.
The father, who had been struck by Wisdom Withering, was gradually losing the calmness he should usually have, his speech interspersed entirely with intense words that didn't pass through his brain.
As the daughter troubled by the dream state, she already could not distinguish reality clearly at this moment, turning a deaf ear to any abuse or blame.
The accompanying bodyguards and the traveling driver, however, did not have even a sliver of a say in this.
The convoy could only carry them back to the family through the night.
Even for the sake of 'out of sight, out of mind,' the father and daughter weren't even in the same car.
And while the car was on the road, the man’s phone suddenly rang.
The man, whose emotions hadn't subsided yet, picked up the phone and instinctively wanted to hang up, but after taking a look, a slight hesitation appeared in his gaze before he connected it.
“What is it, having to call at this time?”
“Can't be helped. I saw you over at the venue just now, but I didn't expect you to leave so quickly, so I had to contact you by phone.”
“You were also at the venue back then?”
“Don't be so hostile. After all, we are friends who know each other; we should look out for one another.”
“I don't become friends with a player. If you don't have some damn business, I'm hanging up!”
The man said unceremoniously.
The other party was merely a player who had established a bit of a relationship with the Hawthorne Family, not enough for him to show much of a good face.
“Eh eh although we truly don't count as having any cooperation, I think… there is one thing you will definitely be interested in, and that is clues related to the Frozen World.”
“What! Clues to the Frozen World? You actually have clues to it? How is that possible? You are merely a marginal player!”
“But that doesn't prevent me from knowing some secrets. This will have to be asked of your good daughter. Did she really lose the Frozen World?”
“You suspect April didn't lose the Frozen World at all?”
“The Witch Academy is a very free academy. A girl who left her family for ten years—do you really think you can still control her? Can the family’s constraints truly still be a means for you to drive her at will?”
“Low-level linguistic manipulation…”
The man responded dismissively and then gradually fell silent.
His mind was full of scenes of his contact with April in just these few days.
Perhaps because they were separated by a car at this moment, the more his mind filled in the blanks, the more he felt something was wrong.
“She is a teaching assistant of the Witch Academy. Even though she is stripped of this status at this moment, she is still that TA. You should be very clear… Power breeds ambition. Once, April was a nail you drove into the Witch Academy. So, the current April…… could she be a gift returned to you by the Witch Academy?”
Words laced with bewitchment came from the other end of the man’s phone.
The tone of pauses and connections led to endless imagination.
“Think back. Has everything gone poorly for your Hawthorne Family since April returned? Yet she puts on the persona of an entitled victim while strolling around in front of you with her head held high…”
“Enough! Exactly what do you want to say? Don't think these words can guide me. Didn't you say you had clues to the Frozen World? Don't change the subject for me.”
“You are too impatient. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world; intelligence also has its value.”
