"Come to think of it, when I was reading through the reference materials, I saw some sorcerers call the Flowing Gold River the 'River of Ambition.' I couldn't understand why at the time."
Sonia suddenly smiled. "Now, I finally get it."
"Fear can overwhelm courage, but it can also fuel ambition," the White Queen agreed wholeheartedly. "Sorcerers who can traverse the Void Realm are inherently the freest beings in the world. Only after staring senescence and death in the face do sorcerers realize that the chains in reality known as 'rules,' 'reason,' and 'common sense' are nothing more than trivial illusions.
"There were never any chains to begin with. Sorcerers are born to conquer all."
*Boom!*
Another sonic boom echoed from the distant sky, immediately followed by the roars of countless monsters. Evidently, someone else had taken flight in search of the Seven-Colored Tail.
The three of them watched the direction of the noise for a moment before Yaxiu spoke up. "You two need to work hard. As long as one of you advances your faction realm to the Sanctuary rank, the other two can climb along with you to the Distant Sky Realm. Even without the Seven-Colored Tail, we'll be able to smuggle our way into the next stratum of the Void Realm."
*So this kind of perk really exists...* Back when Diya had been brought into the Void Realm without ever opening a Gate of Truth, she had vaguely realized that this party system operated on the principle of "one person advances, the whole team benefits." If the Watcher could directly open the Gate of Truth leading to the fourth stratum of the Void Realm, wouldn't they leap straight to becoming Legendary Sorcerers?
Yet the Watcher was only at Two Wings, and according to the Sword Princess, he had lost his memories, meaning everything had to start from scratch... But the Watcher they had encountered in reality certainly hadn't seemed like someone who had lost his memories or his strength; if anything, he was even more wicked and wildly arrogant than a Legendary Sorcerer.
Meanwhile, the one here in the Void Realm, while a bit eccentric, was generally gentle and affable, like a slice of cake at afternoon tea.
If his core personality hadn't remained largely unchanged, the White Queen would have almost suspected the Watcher was like her—someone with multiple siblings sharing the same shell.
So was the Watcher the type to establish dominance over newcomers to keep them in line? From a management perspective, there was nothing wrong with doing so...
Or perhaps... The White Queen glanced sideways at the Sword Princess.
Could it be that the Watcher only refrained from acting rampant because the Sword Princess was around?
"You aren't planning to look for the Seven-Colored Tail anymore?" Sonia asked.
"I am, but you two can't slack off either. In case I can't find it, I'll have to rely on you two." Yaxiu dusted off his backside and stood up. "Beings like gods are still too far out of reach, but the Distant Sky Realm is something we can actually strive for.
"After all, the Time Continent is already so fascinating—who knows what kind of scenery awaits us in the Distant Sky Realm?"
Seeing that they had completely rallied their spirits, Diya took stock of her condition and said, "Going into the Flowing Gold River this time consumed about a third of our soul energy. We should be able to go in once more. What do you think—"
"Tomorrow night."
"Let's talk about it next time."
Yaxiu and Sonia chickened out instantly. The White Queen could not help covering her mouth with a chuckle.
Entering the Flowing Gold River did not consume soul energy, but restoring their aged, decaying souls back to their normal states required it.
If one was willing, a sorcerer could enter and exit the Flowing Gold River multiple times. In fact, quite a few sorcerers did just that. After all, sorcerers like Yaxiu, who could rely on the Void Realm Map to guarantee a harvest every night, were in the minority. Most sorcerers simply wandered aimlessly across the Time Continent, and even if they occasionally stumbled upon a resource point, they likely could not defeat the vicious packs of creatures guarding it.
Therefore, for most sorcerers, as long as they didn't die of old age, a round trip into the Flowing Gold River was pure profit.
Yaxiu and the others had only burned through a third of their energy because it was their first time and they lacked practice. Experienced scavengers could suppress the consumption to a fifth or even a sixth.
The three began checking the spoils of their scavenging. Yaxiu had the worst luck: not only were the five sorcery spirits he picked up not of high value, but they didn't even belong to the Year-Month-Day series. Instead, they belonged to the cheapest Hour-Minute-Second series. Such sorcery spirits could not be used independently and could only serve as casting reagents for miracles.
Sonia's luck was slightly better. Among the four sorcery spirits she gathered, one was 'Fix Day,' which locked one's bodily state for a single day.
Although Fix Day wasn't nearly as sought after as Fix Month or Fix Year, Sonia could use it herself. On important occasions, she could use this sorcery spirit to set her makeup, eliminating the need for touch-ups for the entire day.
As for the luckiest of all, it was undoubtedly Diya.
She had only picked up three sorcery spirits, but they were 'Reverse Day,' 'Ten Years,' and 'Listen to Month'!
Reverse Day went without saying: it could be used directly as a healing sorcery spirit to revert the body's state to what it had been a day ago. Ten Years was a two-winged sorcery spirit of considerable value—at least to the point that Sonia wouldn't dare buy one as a consumable. And Listen to Month was even more impressive, with a value only slightly below that of Listen to Tomorrow.
Facing their envious gazes, Diya said, "Watcher, could you give me all the sorcery spirits you picked up? In exchange, I can give you Reverse Day. Sword Princess, your Sword Sharpening miracle requires Ten Years, doesn't it? Here, take it."
Sonia reflexively refused. "These are your spoils—"
Diya smiled. "But we're a team now. I have no use for Ten Years; keeping it would only be a waste. However, my 'Fast-Forward' sorcery spirit consumes spirits of the Hour-Minute-Second series, so please give me all the ones you find. I don't currently have any channels to purchase time sorcery spirits, so I can only rely on what I scavenge in the Void Realm."
Yaxiu readily handed over the five spirits he had collected, but turned down Reverse Day. "I won't be getting into any fights in reality for now, and I shouldn't be in any danger either. Witch, you should keep it for yourself."
Watching this exchange, Sonia suddenly spoke up. "Since he doesn't want it, give 'Reverse Day' to me instead. Witch, consider it a favor I owe you."
Diya looked at Sonia in mild surprise, but since Yaxiu had no objection, she handed both Reverse Day and Ten Years to the Sword Princess, saying, "There's no need to put it like that. It's only natural for teammates to take what they need. Just make sure that when we come across resources I need in the future, they're allocated to me first."
Yet Sonia remained resolute. "I will repay this favor later."
Yaxiu asked curiously, "Sword Princess, are you going to be fighting soon? Is that why you need to prepare a healing sorcery spirit in advance?"
"None of your business," Sonia mumbled. "I never said I was the one who needed it."
*This woman is too much! She wants this and she wants that. This princess despises insatiable people like her the most.*
Watching the Sword Princess tuck the Reverse Day sorcery spirit into her robes, the White Queen said in her mind, *Princess, I don't know whether I should say this or not.*
*Say what?*
*While you're adorably silly most of the time, sometimes you can be annoyingly foolish.*
*You shouldn't have said it!*
*Too late~*
Chapter 222