Regarding the ownership rights over Yaxiu, Yaxiu himself had no voting power whatsoever. Just as spoils of war could not decide who claimed them, a Lalafell could not decide who had the privilege of tasting it. Although he sorely wanted to shout, "Stop fighting over me, everyone!", he feared the smugness in his voice would invite a harsh reckoning once the dust settled.
To his surprise, as Yaxiu watched the contest with his heart in his throat, the situation gradually stabilized into the exact outcome he most hoped for: an equal split, one-fourth for each of them.
The reason was simple enough: Sword Princess and the others couldn't beat Weixi.
On the battlefield of soul and consciousness, Weixi possessed an advantage that mere young girls could never rival. Consequently, they could only join forces to corner Weixi into a single quarter. Yet whenever they attempted to infringe further upon Weixi's base share, Weixi would immediately turn around and pummel the weakest among them.
To keep from being reduced to the little sister with the smallest share, they had no choice but to let Weixi hold her quarter. And so the situation reached a stalemate—if they continued fighting among themselves, it might give Weixi an opening to exploit, an outcome none of them could tolerate.
While none of them could bear seeing any single person take a larger share, if they truly had to rank preferences from best to worst, the order would be: Witch > Silver Lantern > Sword Princess > Maid.
The Witch was easiest to deal with; even if she took more, they could gradually win it back, and she was the operator most amenable to sharing Yaxiu, so there was no fear of her monopolizing him. Next was Silver Lantern; although she likely had a strong desire to keep him all to herself, her lingering guilt meant she wouldn't stand in the way of Yaxiu enjoying greater happiness. As for Sword Princess, forget it—if she claimed the lion's share, the rest might as well prepare to be swept out the door.
Yet at the very least, all three of them cherished Yaxiu as a precious treasure or a beloved pet. But if Yaxiu fell into Weixi's clutches, he would genuinely receive the Lalafell treatment.
In a sense, Weixi's role as the overt traitor had forced rebels like Sonia and the others to turn back into loyal ministers.
Had all of them remained rebels, Yaxiu would definitely have ended up as someone's exclusive plaything today.
Though this was not a true four-wing balancing, Yaxiu could already feel the terror a sorcerer experienced when ascending to demigod. The more a sorcerer gained from the Void Realm, the more the Void Realm claimed of the sorcerer. The sacrifices were mutual, and the demands were equivalent. What sorcerers owed the Void Realm could never be repaid, yet they would seek even greater favor from it in the future. Thus, only by counterbalancing the wills of the four directions could one maintain their own free will within the cracks; otherwise, they would inevitably become the property of one side.
Truly worthy of a demigod promotion ceremony—every single step was steeped in life philosophy. Yaxiu felt he had learned quite a lot from the Void Realm once again.
Yet this was merely an insignificant interlude, for the true trial was only just beginning.
An unholy gale shrieked, friction setting the air ablaze with furious black flames. The second layer of Hell came crashing down in a posture akin to judgment, heralding ferocious wind and thunder. The first layer of Hell groaned with a sound close to a wail. An unimaginable, titanic force pulverized the souls of all five of them once more into the tiniest particles, shattering every thought into a stream of information bordering on nothingness.
Yaxiu had not yet lost his free will, but he could no longer think, capable only of blankly observing all things in creation. He blended into the world, unable to extract himself. Past memories and emotions were like honey smeared onto his lips by a god—nothing more than a fleeting taste of no consequence, utterly trivial when measured against eternity.
He was to merge into this world, blend new colors, and formulate new laws for all creation.
Yet just as he stepped onto the irreversible path of a god, the sweet and bitter notes of each soul slowly bloomed outward, rekindling vitality within his consciousness. No longer was he drawn toward the colors; instead, the colors converged upon him.
Yaxiu reassembled his soul body. His purplish-red sword wings bore the first layer of Hell, while his pink-gold time wings shouldered the second. Compared to before, his soul body was vastly more solid. Inside, mountains and rivers began emerging within his soul Kingdom of Heaven, turbid energy sinking as clear energy rose!
"Sword Princess, Witch, Weise, Weixi!"
"I'm fine," Sonia's voice came, somewhat weak.
"Me too..." Diya answered with a trembling voice.
"No problem," Weise said.
"Something is wrong!" Weixi's anxious voice traveled along the void wings. "The tempering effect each layer of Hell inflicts on the soul should be identical, but the second layer was many times stronger than the first... Either this is a mechanic triggered by multiple people ascending together, or the Void Realm is targeting us!"
"The Void Realm is targeting us?"
"Don't think the Void Realm can truly be fooled! We tried to help you ascend, and as a result, the Void Realm brought five layers of Hell down on every single one of us. Now you've used a near-shortcut to help us achieve four-wing balancing. How could the Void Realm let us become demigods so easily?"
"Divine Lords steal world secret realms, besieged day and night by heavenly retribution! Demigods steal knowledge of Hell, their lives hanging by a thread under trials! Sorcerers gathering four-colored void wings must cross ten thousand li of sea, trek ten thousand li of land, brave ten thousand layers of dreams, and battle upon Ruby Mountain!" Weixi's voice was as solemn as if reciting a legal codex. "To gain something, you must pay the price—that is the sole law of the Void Realm!"
"If we didn't pay a price, then we ourselves are the price. But you can rest assured, Yaxiu, because..."
"We are your price."
Space cracked like a spiderweb. In that instant, Ruby Mountain shattered into countless fragments. Yaxiu and the others could not even perceive the descent of the third layer of Hell, for it bypassed insignificant obstacles such as time, space, and entropy, descending directly onto their timelines like naked malice.
This time, the period Yaxiu lost consciousness was far longer. Only when the emotions and memories within his soul Kingdom of Heaven gradually revived did he break free from the divine realm. He had no time to spare for the layer of Hell looming behind him; his consciousness plunged into his mindscape, tracing the connection of their void wings to search for the others!
Above the mindscape, he saw four dreamlike wonder domains: a sword-grave wilderness ablaze with purplish-red flames, a palace towering over an ocean of flowing gold, old city ruins illuminated by a silver lantern, and a field of flowers blooming with deep-blue roses.
Yaxiu's heart plummeted into an abyss. All sound receded from his ears, and the colors before him drained to ash and white. The thoughts that had dragged him back from the divine realm branded themselves like searing irons onto the tenderest part of his soul—they had not returned from the divine realm!
Whatever you gained, you had to pay a price—perhaps your own life, perhaps everything they had. If someone could obtain rewards without labor, who would believe in the justice of the world?
Yaxiu ceased absorbing colors. Dazedly, he began merging into the world, leaving himself to Hell's judgment of his sins. Yet the colors still surged into his soul body of their own accord. He felt his hands gently lifted; dazzling, firefly-like fireworks bloomed across his mindscape, brilliant rays of light stretching out like tangible threads within arm's reach.
You are my feeler; longing is your authority.
Yaxiu seized these threads. In his mind flashed their past, present, and future. This time, they were not encroaching upon his consciousness; rather, Yaxiu willingly became a haven where they could rest. Only in this way could he use longing to reclaim them from the divine realm!
As Yaxiu pulled, the blazing purplish-red flames condensed into Sonia's figure; atop the palace throne on the pink-gold ocean materialized Diya's outline; in the deserted ruins of the old city emerged Weise's silhouette; and the petals of deep-blue roses coalesced into Weixi's form.
They opened their eyes blankly, only gradually shaking off the divine realm's influence.
"You actually managed to pull us back...?" Weixi murmured. "I thought I was turning into a god."
"Yet this is only the third layer of Hell. How many more times can you save us, Yaxiu?"
"Countless times!" Yaxiu said resolutely. "I am the feeler of the Fifth Pillar God, wielder of the scepter of longing. I will not let you become lost in the divine realm!"
Weixi was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking up: "Though I don't know how you did it, if your power can't protect everyone, then focusing all your strength on saving just one person might..."
She didn't finish, but everyone understood her meaning. Sword Princess, the Witch, and Silver Lantern kept silent, and even Weixi said nothing cowardly. Yaxiu made no promises, but his scalding soul, stinging from the branding iron, warmed the cowardice in their hearts every second of every minute.
Not even the maddest sorcerer would abandon their void wings; even the most desperate monster would cherish their soul. Therefore, he would never let go!
Amidst the suffocating silence, the fourth layer of Hell fell without a sound, as gentle as a withered yellow leaf. They felt no weight, yet they disintegrated all the same, for what descended was a darkness that swallowed knowledge, an origin that wiped away all traces—every word describing it warped, every page mentioning it shriveled, and every tale recounting it met its end.
This time, it took Yaxiu far, far longer to reclaim his thoughts. Almost immediately, he plunged into his mindscape and tugged on the threads of longing. But no matter how much strength he exerted or how many memories he poured in, he could not haul them back from the divine realm. Hell had dissolved their consciousness into something so minuscule that even longing could not reach it.
He was like someone standing at the center of a pitch-black world, unable to reclaim his possessions from the darkness no matter how he reached out.
Just then, he heard a crisp metallic clinking sound.
Yaxiu reached into his pocket and brought out two silver coins tainted with rust.
"Dead Frenzy Sword Princess's Silver Coin."
He gripped the silver coins tightly until they melted into two threads. Pulling with all his might toward the void, he dragged Sonia out from the divine realm back to his side once more!
Yaxiu continued digging through his pockets. His fingers touched something sharp, and when he pulled it out, he found a pile of broken mirror shards.
"Black and White Witch's Magic Mirror Shard."
He clasped the mirror shards. Even though this was within the mindscape of consciousness, his hands were still cut and bleeding. The blood flowed along the threads of longing, turning into a surging river of blood—like a red carpet laid out for an empress—welcoming Diya back from the divine realm!
"Evernight Silver Lantern's Pocket Mirror."
Yaxiu's hand reached straight through the mirror's surface, seizing Weise's hand and wrenching her back from the divine realm!
Finally... Yaxiu looked toward the field of deep-blue roses, patted his pockets, and realized he possessed no bond token for Weixi whatsoever.
Of course. How could a demigod who had lived for a thousand years like the Spectre Prophet have any mental weakness? Why would she ever anchor her heart to an inanimate object? She was a monster without regrets. Memories and feelings were merely stepping stones on her life's path. So long as it brought her closer to her ideal, she would gladly accept death; surviving aimlessly without hope was the degradation she despised most.
She lived only for herself. Yaxiu could command her soul, but he could never win her heart. Perhaps that was another reason Yaxiu had been unable to raise their bond level: neither of them was willing to trade their life for the other's.
Helpless, Yaxiu could only give it everything he had. Yet under his full pull, Weixi actually squeezed her way out of the divine realm bit by bit! It was not merely his longing pulling her; rather, Weixi had seized his thread and was clawing her way out with all her might, like a demon clinging to a thread to escape Hell!
Through the thread, Yaxiu could even sense her intermittent, chaotic thoughts:
"I..."
"...must..."
"...ascend the Supreme Throne!"
No one knew how, in that unconscious state within the divine realm, she had managed to preserve her thoughts, let alone respond to Yaxiu's longing. Yaxiu had never imagined he would admire the Spectre Prophet, yet at this moment, he was not only overjoyed that Weixi had escaped the divine realm, but also awed by her unimaginable willpower—and terrified of her desires, which even Hell could not crush.
If I die, I must drag her down to Hell with me.
After half a year of weathering life and death together, this thought had not diminished in the slightest; if anything, it had grown all the more fierce. He was Weixi's comrade, he was Weixi's cage, and he would be Weixi's end.
For now, however, he welcomed Weixi's return with genuine joy.
"Did you forget that your longing reaches me?" Weixi's soft laughter sounded. "Still, I don't hate your murderous longing."
"Because I feel the same."
"We can definitely pass the trials of Hell!" Diya cheered them on. "We've already borne four layers of Hell, which means only two are left... but I've used up all my void wings!"
"Only five layers of Hell will descend; there is no sixth," Weixi said. "The fifth layer of Hell can be borne with one's soul or with a god. Originally, my soul foundation would have been sufficient to bear the fifth layer, but now... only Yaxiu should be capable of shouldering it."
"Although I have five void wings," Weise said, "with just me as I am now, I fear... But even if my sense of self fades, the Silver Lantern god will still revere you as master. Yaxiu, don't leave her forgotten in Dark Senluo—"
"Then summon the god!"
Yaxiu said solemnly, "Extend your void wings as far as you can, and absorb as much knowledge of the Void Realm as possible to summon your gods. I will guard your free will and ensure you aren't lost in the deluge of knowledge."
"Trust me," he said. "And trust yourselves."
The women fell silent, but upon the sword-grave plain the purplish-red flames began to boil, a tsunami rose over the ocean of flowing gold, the old city of the silver lantern began to collapse, and waves of petals surged across the field of deep-blue roses. A sorcerer was someone who believed in miracles. Since they did not stand alone, they would stride forward without hesitation, even if an abyss of ten thousand fathoms yawned before them!
"Yaxiu," Sonia whispered softly. "I have no regrets."
The instant the fifth layer of Hell descended, their void wings stretched to their absolute limits. Boundless knowledge poured along the wings into Yaxiu's mindscape. The total share they occupied in Yaxiu's soul reached an absolute one hundred percent. Not a single crevice remained for Yaxiu's own will to dwell, completely submerged within their thoughts.
Chapter 1008