Chapter 656: The Cognition of Totemology

Big Sis Trixie had left.

The noise inside the tavern became the main melody of the moment; no third person noticed that a conversation had taken place here during this time.

And I stood up, gripping the coin.

Having spent only this short time with Big Sis Trixie, even I was somewhat surprised by the information she revealed to me.

Even now… I felt a bit spaced out.

The main thing was the Seed of Destiny; it was still on my body.

This was what gave me a headache.

Did that mean all my previous efforts were actually in vain?

“Don't you find it boring to question whether past efforts were meaningful based on the current result?”

“True… at least I expressed my choice to the world.”

With the Shadow of Knowledge saying that, I mentally resolved many things.

One only understands the meaning of an experience by going through it personally, and the same applies to things that happened in the past.

Even if I had known the truth at that time, I would still have chosen the same course of action without hesitation.

Since I wouldn't regret it, there was no need for self-doubt now.

“See? You still came full circle, didn't you? You know what I'm talking about.”

The Shadow of Knowledge spoke again at this moment.

“Mm-hmm, perhaps.”

I perfunctorily agreed twice, then left the place.

I had originally planned to spend the night here, but after this incident, even though I had figured many things out, I chose to fly through the night sky to clear my mind and cool my thoughts.

After flying in the night wind, I indeed calmed down a lot.

My primary source of annoyance earlier was the concept of Destiny, which was just too persistent.

And, of course, the disgust towards the World Consciousness of the Main World.

However… once I accepted the concept of "what I do has nothing to do with you," I quickly came to a realization.

When the level is different, the weak have no choice.

The current me is weak and has no choice; I accept that.

Then, when I become strong, and you have no choice, you must also accept it.

That's what is fair.

This was not me accepting external standards of judgment; never!

I was simply using this method to repay the other party.

If the other party quietly endured it, I would even develop respect for them.

If the other party got desperate, then they truly deserved it.

“Ah, I seem to have forgotten to ask one thing. I wonder what kind of existence the World Consciousness is. If I become strong later… I must make this World Consciousness toil for me.”

After secretly making up my mind, I took out the Book in the Casket, flying rapidly through the night sky while absorbing the nourishment of knowledge to fill the emptiness of the night.

The only comfort in the night was that there was thankfully a Clone tucked in bed, accompanying Big Sis Bai…

Time passed bit by bit.

The new day also arrived quietly in the darkness.

As a ray of sunlight illuminated the earth from afar, it declared the arrival of a new day.

I, too, finally closed the book in my hand and watched the sun rise.

Although this was just a normal and regular natural phenomenon, it still contained innumerable intentions.

Perhaps it represented a new beginning, or maybe the arrival of new unknowns…

Of course, there was a reason for me having so many emotions today.

I had traveled the Expansion Realm for so long, and seen the sun rise and set so many times, yet why did this time feel the most emotional?

Because I spent the entire night reading Totemology.

I received warnings from several Witch Big Sisters about this knowledge of Totemology, which proved its difficulty.

I chose to start learning it now mainly because many of my tasks had already reached a temporary conclusion.

Runology, Soul Portrayal technique, Wisdom Bestowal technique, and even Destiny.

If I had to say if there was anything else urgent… there seemed to be none, so choosing to expose myself to some new knowledge in this state was actually a very good choice.

The concept of Totemology was very ancient, and according to the materials I have obtained, the concept of the totem was the enlightenment stage of life researching the Transcendent path.

This meant that the totem predated the Rune system.

The book also used world case studies to depict the earliest appearance of the totem.

The earliest form of the totem was regarded as a symbol with special meaning.

For nascent, ignorant life, the totem was also a mysterious worship of the Transcendent by life.

They were mostly made into totem pole forms for rituals and sacrifices.

And with the birth of this behavior, the Totem and Rune systems separated.

The totem represented the objective mystery of the Transcendent in the Void and the worship of life.

Sacrifice represented the ritual conducted by life for the understanding of the unknown.

And this ritual was interpreted and utilized by life.

The Rune was the subjective interpretation and depiction of Transcendent power.

But precisely because the perspective of interpretation was different, the response received was also different.

Therefore, the Rune system continues to expand the boundaries of Rune concepts even now.

And this discovery would continue for a long time, as there were innumerable angles for interpreting the unknown.

The study of Totemology seemed to have "stagnated in development."

It interpreted mystery with mystery and expressed the unknown with the unknown.

But even now, Totemology still had a profound guiding significance for Runology.

And it was described in some books as: Totemology can be defined as the discipline that studies and understands the role played by totems in spells, magic, life, social structure, and other related systems.

Furthermore, another Transcendent system was closely related to Totemology, and that was the Mysticism of the Transcendent Domain.

When I was trying to understand the definition of Totemology, I was equally perplexed.

Totemology permeated every corner of the Transcendent system, but as for spells… I did not find the existence of totems.

However, after I subsequently finished flipping through most of the Totemology materials, I understood the reason.

General spells were built upon the Rune system, but this did not mean that these spells were unrelated to totems.

By simply "tracing the source" of a spell, one could discover the totem's influence on that spell.

The existence of a spell could not be supported solely by Totemology, but the Rune structure within a spell could be augmented by the totem's enhancement of the spell.

In these research books, I saw a very vivid analogy.

If a spell was like a sentence composed of Runes, then the act of "tracing the source" was thoroughly understanding the meaning of that sentence, analyzing its grammar, the context of its application, the expressed meaning, and the desired feedback, and so on.

And the totem's enhancement was like translating and annotating the sentence below using the language of the "totem."

The meaning expressed by the sentence was the Rune system, and the annotation below was the Totem system.

Combined, it was the: Spell Ritual with Totem Augmentation.

The reason a spell could not discard the Rune system and be expressed using the totem was similar to the sentence not being able to discard the main body and be represented by the annotation below.

Because in that case, others would not understand the meaning of the sentence, corresponding to the caster being unable to cast the spell based on their understanding of the spell.

Therefore, the significance of Totemology for spells was an "augmentation," not the main body.

Unless we were not life, but the Void itself, we could not understand the complete meaning of the totem.

But even so, the totem was still a subject revered by those seeking a higher limit.

It was also a system with a higher ceiling than Runes, and it held a broad future.

During this period, I also used some Transcendent Materials to craft several palm-sized totem poles, but according to the records in those handbooks, the totem poles I crafted did not display the slightest hint of Transcendent power.

Even the most ordinary Rune, engraved somewhere and guided by Transcendent means, would cause fluctuations of Transcendent power, unless the Rune was a meaningless composite of interconnected Runes.

These few totem poles had no effect even when I guided Transcendent power into them.

This could only mean one very simple thing: totems were different from Runes.

The fundamental mindset of Runes was that Transcendent power condensed Runes to produce effects, which were then classified and summarized.

So, clearly, totems were not suitable for this method.

They didn't produce effects, so they naturally couldn't be summarized.

I roughly flipped through the book again but found no very useful records for me.

After all, these Totemology books were appendices in the Runology handbooks.

There was only that much content.

At my speed of learning and comprehension, I had pretty much grasped it in less than a night.

I guessed that Witch Belica and the others must have researched many other things.

Judging from the failed records in the handbook, she omitted many meaningless attempts and research, and ultimately recorded some ideas in these handbooks.

It must be said that these ideas indeed gave me a lot of inspiration.

Many original drafts for the drawing of totems were also included.

But in my brief research, besides accepting the analogical ideas of "language," "translation," and "annotation," I was also contemplating other questions.

The fear of learning is being misled by preconceived notions; it's a self-imposed shackle.

Since the materials in my hand were products of unsuccessful research, following them would be twice the effort for half the result.

So, this content was merely to help my understanding.

After understanding, I should discard them and establish my own cognitive system.

Since Big Sis Belica and the others constantly emphasized the importance of talent, this indicated that conventional learning methods were not suitable for Totemology.

Why not try a different approach?

So, after gaining a "shallow" understanding of Totemology, I prepared to construct a simple cognition system for it.

I decided to discard all analogies like pictographic script and phonetic script and try to understand the relationship between totems and Runes from a different perspective.

Upon initial contact, I realized that the Rune system seemed similar to applied technology; once Transcendent power intervened, a corresponding reaction would occur.

So, what role did the totem play?

The totem was more like the theoretical foundation; it provided guidance for applied technology, but it could not exist independently.

Just as we cannot directly create actual products relying solely on formulas and theorems, totems needed to be combined with practice to exert their true value.

So, what was practice?

The Rune system was the practice of the totem, a manifestation of life understanding and utilizing the Transcendent.

So, my definition for the totem was… "Knowledge."

My definition for the Rune was "Power."

Knowledge should have its corresponding domain, and power should have its space for execution.

Given my current "personal definition," expecting the totem to show any reaction when Transcendent power intervened was foolish.

Therefore, what I needed to attempt now was two directions: one was to try to "trace the source" of a spell, and the other was to find out exactly how a totem was "formed."

By figuring out these two aspects, I felt this was the correct way to approach the totem.

Although making such a bold conclusion right after first encountering Totemology seemed arrogant, could careful, step-by-step research advance the development of Totemology?

If one lacked confidence in doing something, there would be even less motivation for practical application.

Regardless of right or wrong, only by experiencing and practicing could one continuously correct the path.

No one could get it right in one go without trying anything.

Just like my Great Tree of Knowledge, I had never fully understood its [Transcendent Knowledge] and had not fully grasped it to this day, but I was continuously exploring its characteristics through practice, and constantly perfecting it according to my expectations.

So, at this moment, I thought of many things.

It was as if my previous accumulation once again gave me a push, strengthening my resolve.

“Big Sis Xiao Han? Hey—! You there, may I ask if you are Big Sis Xiao Han?”

With this shout, I was pulled out of the perception of Time Sense, and the Flying Broom, which was moving at high speed, slowly decelerated.

The figure in the distance, which I had instantly put a great distance between us, slowly flew towards me in my line of sight.

“You are…”

After the other person approached me, I asked, although I was quite surprised.

I didn't expect to be noticed by someone while flying so quickly in the sky above the Expansion Realm.

What were the chances of that?

And I noticed that the other person also had white hair like me, plus they could call me by name… I felt like I had encountered a member of my support group?

“Are… are you really Big Sis Xiao Han?”

The other person looked incredulous as she approached.

“It's not someone impersonating you, is it?”

“Barring any accidents, there shouldn't be anyone impersonating me, right?”

As soon as I said this, I felt a hint of unease.

“That's not necessarily true! That's not important… are you really Big Sis Xiao Han? I… I, I'm simply too excited to have met you here! Do you still remember me?”

The girl looked at me with expectant eyes, as if pleading for me to still have an impression of her.

Just as I was about to use the Earth Vein Appraisal Spell to see where I had encountered her without noticing, I suddenly found the girl looked somewhat familiar…

“Luo Yun?”

“You really remember me! Um, I'm sorry about that time. I didn't recognize you then and mistook you for another senior sister from the support group… I, I was only pointed out after I posted on the Academy Network…”

The girl named Luo Yun covered her face in shame.

The first time they met, she didn't recognize her own idol!

Nothing was more embarrassing than that!

She was almost teased by her friends to the point of wanting to crawl into a hole!

“Big Sis Xiao Han, you didn't say a word that time…”

“But I also said that meeting again would be fate. I can only say you didn't seize the opportunity.”

“Right! Oh right! Um… I also remember you said that if I met you again, could I get your contact information… Ah, I didn't mean it like that, actually… actually…”

“Here. Meeting in such a vast place like the Expansion Realm is indeed a kind of fate.”

I handed her one of my business cards.

As for the value of this business card… she would have to discover it herself later.

And at this moment, Luo Yun looked at the exquisite business card, almost fainting with joy.

If it weren't for the slight presence of instinct while riding the Flying Broom in the sky, she might have fallen.

“Thank you, Big Sis Xiao Han! Thank you! I… I actually got Big Sis Xiao Han's business card! Ah…”

I watched the girl's reaction and smiled with satisfaction.

Under the perception of Heart Sense, I could feel the intense emotions and power emanating from her, which also gave me quite a few new Revelations.

After unrestrainedly expressing her delight, Luo Yun finally realized her lapse in composure.

“I'm sorry… um, I was just too excited!”

“I understand, so you don't need to apologize to me.”

“Mm-hmm… Um… Big Sis Xiao Han, if I may be so bold, where are you going?”

“Back to Ninglan New City.”

“Then… then can I go back with you? You don't know how much Ninglan New City has changed since you left! And also… Big Sis Xiao Han's support group! It has flourished in Ninglan New City too! Um… would you like me to explain it to you?”

Luo Yun immediately offered her service enthusiastically.

“That would be great. Then I'll trouble you.”