Chapter 707: Rules and Scheming Among Transcendent Races

Witch Academy.

A meeting where personnel of Transcendent level from various academies gathered ended in discord.

The initiator of this meeting was the Abyssal Demon Transcendent Academy, an academy that was not part of this joint hunt.

As a "top-tier" academy that had just established a foothold in the Main World, they also coveted the Expansion Realm.

They were actively trying to join this joint exam hunt, but were rejected by the Witch Academy.

After all, the qualification requirement for academies to participate in this joint exam was the establishment of a stable Teleportation Channel into the Expansion Realm by their respective students.

This was a non-negotiable prerequisite, and a rule set by the witches.

In the beginning, the Abyssal Demons immediately refused when they heard about helping to rebuild the civilization in the Expansion Realm.

Later, when they heard there were benefits, they came circling back again.

This attitude directly earned them a kick from the witches.

Subsequently, the Abyssal Demons once again employed their tenacious nature and have been pestering the witches ever since.

And not long ago, they had already persuaded other Transcendent Academies to "plead" for the Abyssal Demons.

This meeting was exactly that kind of meeting, with the Witch Academy as the sole opposing party, and the other Transcendent Academies, led by the Abyssal Demons, as the other party.

The meeting ending in discord also indicated that neither side achieved their objectives in this negotiation.

The Expansion Realm was primarily repaired by the Witch Academy, and the Witch Academy held absolute authority over its development.

Otherwise, why would other academies follow the Witch Academy's rules, using student exchange as a pretense and relying on their students to go to great lengths to establish Teleportation Channels?

Their Transcendent beings could easily break open the spatial channel between the Core Realm and the Expansion Realm, but they could not do that.

As for why, the witches would tell them that their rules were the rules!

And this time, the Abyssal Demon Academy simply didn't want to do the work themselves but ultimately wanted to reach into the Expansion Realm and grab a piece of the pie.

Their excuses were lame, such as… they contributed to the repair of the Expansion Realm, that small world was brought over by them, and it even came with a copy of [Transcendent Knowledge], and so on.

But the Witch Academy did not buy it and maintained a strong attitude.

Because these bargaining chips were already used when they first established themselves in the Main World.

However, some guys were just too thick-skinned.

Otherwise, why would they be called Abyssal Demons?

Moreover, they had also convinced other Transcendent Academies to stand with them.

In the eyes of the Witch Academy, even the academies standing with the Abyssal Demons were only qualified to enter the Expansion Realm with their permission.

It was ridiculous that they would unite to pressure the Witch Academy!

However, one very realistic issue was that the Witch Academy truly needed to consider their position.

Although the opposing party could not override the sovereignty of the Expansion Realm, they had the ability to damage the Expansion Realm and create trouble for it.

And this continuous trouble and harassment would persist until the witches openly broke their alliance.

What did "breaking their alliance" mean?

It meant that no one in the Main World could stand each other anymore, reverting to the sole path where power speaks, and reaffirming who was the undisputed boss.

This was the result no one wanted to see.

After all, if a Transcendent War broke out, there would inevitably be losses, and the Main World might further descend into fragmentation.

The Witch Race was not afraid of this fragmentation, because they possessed the Earth Vein Restoration Technique.

As long as they ensured there was still room for repair in the Core Realm, they would dare to launch an all-out war.

However, doing so would simply waste the Main World's development time and opportunity.

Therefore, the Witch Race would not openly break the alliance and overturn the table unless absolutely necessary.

And this "patience" of the Witch Race was the "leeway" that other Transcendent Races would constantly try to exploit.

Or perhaps this was the art of negotiation they spoke of—testing the witches' bottom line little by little.

During this meeting, the Abyssal Demon Academy repeatedly emphasized that if they were not given the qualification to enter the Expansion Realm, they would attempt to carve out their own qualification to enter.

The Witch Academy's response was also strong: dare to reach out, and they would chop it off!

Whichever hand reached out would be chopped off.

Even when the Abyssal Demons offered a tantalizing prospect, gifting the alleged medium-sized world, which they defined as a "game world," to the Main World to contribute to its repair, it still angered the Witch Academy!

Because they had already used this trick when they settled in the Main World!

Of course, if it were only because of this, it wouldn't have infuriated the Witch Academy.

What truly angered the Witch Academy was the fact that the spatial beacon of that game world in the Void was leaked!

It was unlikely that the Witch Academy would do this.

Thus, the only ones who could have done it were the Abyssal Demons, and secondly, the other Transcendent Academies.

After all, the witches had long considered this game world to be a sure thing in their grasp.

They had even pulled together a number of Transcendent Academies to sign a Witch's Contract for fair competition, stating that Transcendent beings could not interfere, and they had a series of plans to rely on game players to drive the social reconstruction of the Main World's Core Realm.

Now, the opponent retaliated with an information leak, making things difficult for the Witch Academy.

After all, the Witch Academy was planning to rely on Xiao Han's unique nature, combined with the binding nature of the contract, to easily complete the harvest of the game world.

But now, before reaching the harvesting stage, that world was leaked.

Personnel outside the contract rules were one of the loopholes of this contract.

The main issue was that the witches had thought too highly of these guys…

Even though this game world already had the marker of a "Transcendent Witch," which scared many races from taking action, the subsequent leak of the contract between the witches and other Transcendent Races in the Main World regarding non-interference by Transcendent beings made many Transcendent Races eager to make a move.

Perhaps they didn't dare to openly claim the witches' property, but… pulling off some small actions behind the scenes was easy.

For example… connecting the Void forces with this world, synchronizing Void information, and pushing the world from a state of complete ignorance about the Void to a state of embracing the Void forces.

Perhaps this wouldn't change the ultimate fate of this world, but once this world recognized the current situation, they would start a frantic attempt at self-rescue.

With the Transcendent Witches unable to directly intervene due to the Witch's Contract, this behavior indeed caused great trouble for the witches.

The most direct consequence was that… the leaders of that world would realize the foolishness of their action of sending players to the Main World.

As long as the Void Races didn't fully inform the people of that game world of the entire truth, and packaged themselves as "allies" extending a helping hand to that world, they would gain an indirect force to oppose the witches.

Moreover, the development of that world was built upon a complete set of [Transcendent Knowledge]!

And this was not just a single piece of knowledge, but a complete system of [Transcendent Knowledge] developed by a civilization!

Furthermore, it was completed using technological means, and even derived a Domain Prototype.

In other words… the techniques developed around this core [Transcendent Knowledge] were a "power that could be inherited"! 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Facing the ultimate destruction of their world, a civilization would pay any price for a glimmer of hope.

If properly orchestrated, this [Transcendent Knowledge] that was nearly fully developed could be acquired.

This was the predicament currently faced by the Witch Academy.

Even though the witches possessed powerful strength, the omnipresent schemes still taught the witches a lesson.

This meeting essentially had only the Witch Academy and the Abyssal Demon Academy speaking.

Although other academies also sent representatives to side with the Abyssal Demons, they were only stating an attitude.

The true effort still relied on the Abyssal Demons themselves.

Precisely because this was an asymmetrical negotiation, it ultimately ended in discord.

But sometimes, a meeting is not for mutual gain, but to achieve a specific goal.

The Endless Abyss Great World, as a very unique world or force, means the Abyssal Demons can only represent one faction within it.

Because of its uniqueness, the Endless Abyss has become a "great market" for life forms in the Void.

Precisely because of the strange environment of the Endless Abyss, which constantly nurtures special life, the Endless Abyss is a hotbed for cultivating "new life."

What does new life represent?

A brand new race recognized by the Void, and the "Primal Spell Prototypes" of transformation and summoning that the race might research.

Thus, the Endless Abyss is a great life market.

The research of the Seed of Knowledge required a large number of life Sea of Consciousness.

The "gestation medium" for cultivating the Knowledge Mother Tree to condense the Seed of Knowledge was sourced from the Endless Abyss.

The Endless Abyss Great Market can even customize "life" for "customers" according to their needs, because they have too many Void life templates, even biological templates not recognized by the Void.

Therefore, the Abyssal Demons had enough bargaining chips to carve out a share in the Main World.

They were like the silly sons of new rich families, using what seemed to them to be the cheapest things to exchange for what they wanted.

Although the meeting and negotiation ended in discord, who could say that this wasn't another form of "mutual benefit"?

At the very least, the Abyssal Demons received the implication that their intrusion into the Expansion Realm would not be held accountable by the witches.

They merely lacked the "justification" that other academies had.

What did this mean?

The Abyssal Demons were not allowed to enter the Expansion Realm.

Once they invaded, the other Transcendent Academies would drive them out under the guise of opposing invaders.

But the Transcendent Academies, led by the Witch Academy, would not pursue deeper accountability for this incident.

It meant condemnation only, without taking action.

The Abyssal Demons were very familiar with this model.

And the Abyssal Demons' bottom line for invasion was… below the Transcendent level.

In other words, this was an alternative form of "fair competition" led by their own academy students, where they had to abide by the "Transcendent non-interference principle."

***

After the meeting ended, all the Transcendent beings dispersed.

"Seeing that you were silent throughout the meeting, aren't you worried?"

At this moment, a figure walked up to Bai Yu and naturally engaged her in conversation.

"Hmm?"

Bai Yu looked up at the slightly unfamiliar witch in front of her, somewhat surprised, but still spoke, "Worried about what?"

"Worried about your little girlfriend?"

"What do you mean?"

"It seems you don't quite understand the current situation. Then let me put it more directly: your little girlfriend might be in danger."

"Xiao Han is in danger?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Yu immediately became alert.

After all, Xiao Han was her reverse scale; no one was allowed to touch her!

"Xiao Han is currently participating in the joint exam hunt, right? With so many mentors watching, what danger could there be?"

"It seems you still don't quite get it? With all these races acting up now, Xiao Han is one of the catalysts. Leaving aside how talented and monstrous she is, just with the achievements she has currently acquired, as long as she becomes a true Transcendent Witch, the honor of having realized the interconnection of the Void Worlds using the Great Knowledge Sharing Technique derived from the Great Tree of Knowledge as a bond is enough to push her toward a nomination for the Truth Witch of Honor…"

"……"

"Do you think I'm joking?"

"No, I believe Xiao Han is worthy of that honor."

"You are very confident… oh no, you highly trust that little witch named Xiao Han. But she is, after all, only a Lesser Witch right now. Although I've heard that the Primal Witch Lord seemed to favor this little witch, she only shelters true Transcendent Witches. Therefore, before Xiao Han advances, this will be the only chance for those Transcendent Races to prevent the Witch Race from developing further."

"The only chance? If they do that… then they will suffer my wrath."

Bai Yu gave this calm and resolute answer.

"Even if you have to face an entire Transcendent Race, or even multiple Transcendent Races? Hmm… a witch whose Ordinary Project degenerates into a pure Vengeance Project… that doesn't sound bad either."

"If possible, I don't wish to become what you speak of. Also, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. From you, I can sense a feeling that I dislike."

"Worthy of being a Body Cultivation Witch. Is that Heart Sense? Then you should also have guessed what kind of witch I am, right?"

"…Anti-Witch."

Bai Yu looked deeply at the witch in front of her, then spoke.

"You guessed correctly. You don't have any prejudice against Anti-Witches, do you?"

"Not at the moment, but that doesn't mean I won't later."

"I've already warned you that your little girlfriend is in danger right now. Don't you feel any goodwill toward me?"

"No need. I trust Xiao Han."

"Oh? Is this the trust bestowed by love? Alright, alright."

The witch looked defeated.

"The more you tell me this, the more I will suspect you of doing something. Although you are indeed the first Anti-Witch I have encountered, I have read about the deeds your Anti-Witch group has done. I advise you not to harm Xiao Han."

"Aiya… you're going to cause a misunderstanding. Fine I won't say any more, but before I go, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cheryl Owen."

"An insignificant name Like you, I also think highly of Xiao Han and her future, but I hope her power can contribute to the great cause of the Witch Race. For that, I am willing to offer my humble strength."

"Cheryl Owen… I remember you."

Bai Yu repeated the opponent's name, silently committing it to memory.