Sword Princess, the Witch, and Silver Lantern had all been at Bond Level 4 previously; raising it temporarily to Level 5 was enough to trigger Void Wing Sharing.
Weixi, however, was only at Bond Level 3, so a temporary increase of one level merely brought her to Level 4.
Strangely enough, everyone had started at Bond Level 4, yet only Sword Princess had climbed two levels in a row, while the Witch and Silver Lantern had each only risen by one.
"Why is our bond level so low?" Weixi was dumbfounded.
Yaxiu spread his hands. "Because they and I are truly in love. Why don't you do some self-reflection?"
Though he spoke the plain truth, hearing those words left Sword Princess, the Witch, and Silver Lantern wearing complicated expressions, as if someone had just insulted the phrase "truly in love."
"Then the problem definitely isn't me!" Weixi planted her hands on her hips, putting on an aggrieved, pitiful display. "I genuinely like you already, so the reason can only be you!"
"And what would you do once I removed the chains?"
"Put chains on you."
"Can't you even bother trying to lie to me?!"
"You wouldn't fall for it anyway." Weixi looked up at the churning, raging darkness of Hell and spoke frantically, "What am I supposed to do, then? Without your dyeing, I might not be able to shoulder a Hell whose difficulty has multiplied so many times! If I die, I'm definitely dragging you down with me!"
Yaxiu felt utterly helpless, because he knew Weixi was probably right—the issue truly lay with him.
Weixi was not the unfeeling type who abandoned all humanity in pursuit of power. On the contrary, she was rich in emotion and indulged in love and hatred. Taking revenge in her next life for grudges from her previous one was practically second nature to her; anyone who crossed her was remembered for an entire lifetime. It was merely that she was willing to sacrifice anything for power. Regardless of whether her words were sincere or false, she would never allow romance to compromise her decisions. If using emotions served her purposes, she would not hesitate for a single second.
Yet Yaxiu could not play along like that. Just as Sword Princess had said, he still harbored resentment toward Weixi, which prevented their bond level from rising.
"You won't die," Yaxiu said. "Don't you still have your soul phylactery?"
"Huh?" Weixi froze for a moment, then nodded. "That's true, but reviving from a soul phylactery means starting over from scratch. I still hope to..."
"I thought you were being so resolute precisely because you had a soul phylactery. After all, in the worst-case scenario, you could break free from the Ruby Chains and reincarnate, whereas if we ascend, you'll have to remain under my control. For you, our failure might actually be the better outcome."
Weixi fell silent for a few moments, then let out a helpless chuckle. "Master truly saw right through me."
"Everything you've done makes it hard for me not to think of you that way," Yaxiu said. "But if... if you were to tell me that isn't what you're thinking, I might be able to cast aside my prejudice and raise our bond level."
"Except that really is what I'm thinking."
Weixi looked up at Yaxiu, the maid's fawning flattery completely gone from her face, leaving only the calm demeanor of the Spectre Prophet. "Considering a way out in everything and striving for maximum benefit—that is my way of doing things. I am a demigod who has lived for over a thousand years, having undergone three reincarnations. If you think I would stake my life recklessly for duty or affection..."
"Then you have vastly overestimated your place in my heart, and vastly underestimated my devotion to my ambitions."
Weixi gently pressed her hand against Yaxiu's chest, her voice so faint that only the two of them could hear it:
"Not all girls want to become your wings, Master."
Yaxiu was hardly surprised. In truth, even if Weixi had been willing to lie, he would not have been able to believe her. He knew what kind of person she was, and he knew he could never alter her nature. How could a gentle drizzle ever pierce through solid rock?
"Except..."
"Except?"
"I merely wish for the chains to break," Weixi said. "As for your destiny, I still want to be the one to toy with it."
"The Spectre Prophet's goodwill truly sends a chill down my spine," Yaxiu chuckled softly. "Yet precisely because of that... I believe you."
Right at that moment, Yaxiu felt a strange sensation in his hands as a notification suddenly popped up:
[Special connection detected with operator: 'Ruby Chains.' Strengthening connection effect.]
[Notice: Operator 'Demon Maid' bond level temporarily elevated to Level 5.]
Yaxiu gave a gentle tug with his hand. Instantly, an exquisite collar pulled tight around Weixi's neck, as if about to drag her whole being into Yaxiu's body. At the same time, deep spectral-blue flames ignited upon Weixi's void wings, and Yaxiu condensed a fourth void wing of spectral-blue soul color!
"This is the authority of the supreme color! Not knowledge void wings, but supreme void wings! The boundaries of sorcery's supreme realm transcend all colors!"
Weixi danced excitedly through the air, intoxicated by the immense power she had gained without effort. "Too ridiculous, this is far too ridiculous! Even without a fifth void wing, I feel like I've already surpassed my past self... Thanks, Yaxiu!"
Delightedly, she flew over and pecked Yaxiu's cheek, as if the person who had spoken so harshly just moments ago were someone else entirely. Yaxiu's expression was conflicted. He had made it clear that the bond level was only temporarily boosted; did this woman honestly believe that a single dyeing would last a lifetime?
Regardless, with this, the broken-winged Yaxiu finally possessed the capital to shoulder Hell. He looked up at the vast, dark abyss of Hell, spreading his most dazzling, blazing wings toward the despair about to crush everything!
Purplish-red sword wings,
Pink-gold time wings,
Silver lantern light wings,
Spectral-blue soul wings,
And supreme tail feathers!
Hell seemed to sense their defiance. In this instant, everything in the world dissolved away, leaving only an overwhelming darkness sweeping down to swallow all.
"Let's go," Yaxiu said. "Hell is waiting for us."
Every entity in the world that had stepped into the divine realm held their breath and watched this spectacle. Rather than an ordeal, it was more like a grand festival—a mortal festival attempting to break through the limits of the Void Realm!
Though Hell was divided into five portions, beneath each section crisscrossed chains running four deep and four across, the gaps between them choked with eerie, pitch-black vines. As the sorcerers approached, these vines burst forth, exploding with the miracles stored inside upon breaking!
Yaxiu wove a net of ink-trace swords with his twin blades, easily slicing through the vines, yet he momentarily lost himself upon seeing the mind miracle that erupted from them.
The miracle that burst from the vines on Weixi's side was a necromantic miracle thick with the aura of death.
The miracles stored within these vines had all been left behind by preceding ascending sorcerers. They were not even truly part of the trial, but rather greetings shared between sorcerers. Regardless of whether the predecessors had succeeded or failed, the miracles preserved within these vines were their final creations left to reality.
*So you truly stepped ahead of us...*
Yaxiu let out a breath, sheathing his twin swords as he met Hell head-on. Compared to the murky, turbid Hell, the five of them in this moment shone as brilliantly as angels.
*Boom!*
The instant they made contact, the colossal might of Hell pulverized the five of them into the finest dust, dispersing their souls into nothingness!
***
So this was what it meant to step into the divine realm.
Yaxiu had always assumed that the "divine realm," like the "Silver Realm," was merely a term used to describe a tier of sorcery attainment. But as his soul was pulverized into the tiniest particles, he finally understood that the phrase was entirely literal.
He had become a god.
His vision swept past the Knowledge Sea, the Time Continent, the Dream Ladder, and Ruby Mountain; he could see the past and future of the Six Mortal Realms, while all things in the world revealed their truest forms to him. Time was continuous, every particle a River of Flowing Gold; space was matter constructed from countless strings, and physical objects were mere ripples born of vibrating strings...
He wanted to see more clearly and look deeper, but his sorcery realm would not permit it. There was so much he could see, yet so little he could comprehend. Every color his gaze touched flowed into his body; he was like a sudden, hollow abyss carved into the world, pursued by good, adored by evil, yearned for by the light, and desired by the dark.
Originally, he would have needed to reshape his soul body with these colors—in other words, build his Temple of Sorcery. Yet as the colors converged, they automatically began reconstructing along the framework of his soul Kingdom of Heaven. This was his peerless advantage: while other sorcerers had to construct their Temples of Sorcery during the ascension itself, he had prepared the embryonic form of his Kingdom of Heaven long before ascending.
Yaxiu slowly opened his eyes. He clearly felt a terrifying pressure bearing down upon his back, enough to drown his sanity, and the only way to resist it was to expand his void wings indefinitely until he could shoulder Hell!
Yet the moment he extended his void wings, Yaxiu suddenly felt himself being invaded by colors. Sword Princess's purplish-red, the Witch's pink-gold, Silver Lantern's pure silver, and the Maid's spectral-blue... As his soul took on the colors of his operators, he felt himself plunging deep into their souls as well. This zero-distance contact of souls nearly made Yaxiu forget he was still shouldering Hell.
"Yaxiu..."
"Ah, ah, Ya, Ya..."
"Mm-hmm."
"Pay attention to four-wing balancing."
Yaxiu realized it as well—when other sorcerers extended their void wings, they were borrowing sorcery power and knowledge from the Void Realm, because their void wings were inherently connected to the various layers of the Void Realm. The further a sorcerer's void wings extended, the more severely the will of the Void Realm encroached upon their own mind. Therefore, sorcerers had to perform four-wing balancing, doing their utmost to keep the four void wings in dynamic equilibrium so that the wills of the Void Realm eroded each other, preventing them from becoming the personal possession of any single layer.
Now, however, Yaxiu's void wings were condensed through his operators; his wings connected to the souls of his operators, not the Void Realm.
If he wanted to extend his void wings, he had to plunder Sword Princess and the others' void wings.
Just as Yaxiu was at a loss, he suddenly discovered his void wings were growing at breakneck speed, with an endless stream of sorcery power and knowledge funneling into his soul along the wings.
Yaxiu blinked, noticing that the operators' void wings had all extended enough to shoulder Hell. Only then did he realize what he had overlooked: his void wings were connected to his operators, but his operators' void wings were connected to the Void Realm.
Using Sword Princess and the others as mediums, Yaxiu could extend his void wings indefinitely just the same. Furthermore—
The five of them shared void wings, their souls linked through Yaxiu as a central hub; in truth, they were already a single collective sorcerer!
An ordinary sorcerer had to balance four wings alone, but the five of them could perform four-wing balancing together.
More importantly, they had Yaxiu as a buffer pool.
Other sorcerers dared not expand their void wings indefinitely, keeping them as short as possible—ideally just enough to withstand Hell—for fear that knowledge would rush in like a flood and crush their will.
Sword Princess and the others, however, could divert that knowledge into Yaxiu's pool. Consequently, they could keep all four wings at equal length without needing to perform any intricate balancing at all!
Nor was Yaxiu afraid of being overwhelmed by knowledge. His soul Kingdom of Heaven was the ultimate dam. Weixi's original ascension advice had been to expand all four wings to their limits and keep them at equal length, with no need to worry about balancing; now, that perk was simply shared among them all.
Sword Princess and the others seemed to realize this as well, smoothly expanding their void wings and shouldering the first layer of the Void Realm with utter ease. Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief. Once everyone's wings had expanded to an equal degree, he used the mental link to remind them they could stop.
He, too, needed balancing, except that while ordinary sorcerers balanced the conflicting wills of the Void Realm, he had to balance the harmony of his operators' wills. His soul was now completely occupied by the colors of Sword Princess and the others, purplish-red, pink-gold, silver-white, and spectral-blue each claiming a quarter. It was precisely because of this that Yaxiu could maintain his own free will; otherwise, whoever held a larger share could influence his thoughts.
Yet at that very moment, Sword Princess's purplish-red suddenly seized another portion of his soul, squeezing the space of the other colors.
Before Yaxiu could even say a word, the pink-gold, silver-white, and spectral-blue reacted violently to combat the purplish-red intrusion, only to quickly turn against one another in a chaotic war. Using Yaxiu's soul as their battlefield, they played out all manner of exquisite tactics: alliances, backstabs, feints, deceptive ploys, and shifting coalitions...
"Four-wing balancing!" Yaxiu roared in fury. "What are you doing?!"
"Me having nine parts and them having one is also a balance," Sonia said calmly.
"I want four! I must have at least four!" Diya clamored. "There are so many of us sisters, asking for four isn't asking too much, is it?"
"I just want to keep my one-fourth," Weise said. "No one will ever take what is mine again."
"It's really hard to pass up an opportunity to influence your will, Yaxiu," Weixi giggled. "I'll take whatever I can grab."
"Hey!!!"
Chapter 1007