The Main City

The Dramatic Poet's stance was exceedingly clear: I am a haven for the weak, and an inquisitor for the strong. The truly formidable blessings in the shopping book all cost thirty points. In other words, if you wanted to obtain transformative, overwhelming power from the shopping book, the Dramatic Poet wouldn't lift a finger to help you. But if you were content with modest gains and knew when to quit while you were ahead, the Dramatic Poet was more than happy to bestow some perks upon his juniors. He would turn the blessings into genuine boons and the curses into brief trials, ensuring that every sorcerer who opened the shopping book walked away with something, if not laden with spoils. After a brief discussion, Yaxiu and the others ultimately resisted the temptation of the Prophecy and Destiny factions. Although investing in the three factions of Prophecy, Destiny, and Truth was undoubtedly worth far more than its cost in the long run, the return on investment took far too long to translate into immediate combat strength. More importantly, they couldn't afford to take any risks. In a few days, they would reach the Spider Tower region again. Yaxiu and his group were already stretching their abilities to the limit just dodging the Empress's Heroic Spirit; if a curse forced them to divide their attention, they might as well bathe themselves clean and wait for the Empress's bedchamber favor. Although the powerful blessings and curses were off the table, they still had plenty of options. After a quick discussion, they all chose the same blessing: "Critical Danger Sense"! The greater the danger, the slower time moved! This blessing likely pertained to the time faction. But since it was only worth ten curse points, an ordinary sorcerer probably couldn't summon a sorcery spirit through it. Yaxiu and his companions, however, were different—because crossing the Flowing Gold River last time had advanced all three of their time faction masteries to Gold rank! As long as they went through enough perilous battles, they would surely be able to use this blessing to summon a corresponding time sorcery spirit! And even if they couldn't summon one, the blessing itself was enough to directly boost their combat prowess! As for which curse to choose, their opinions diverged. Sonia picked a physique curse, "Delicate as a Reed," while Yaxiu chose a luck curse, "No Paper While Pooping." Yet the boldest was Diya—she picked an intellect curse, "Feebleminded Sluggishness"! Meeting her teammates' awestruck gazes, Diya unhurriedly wiped a hand over her face. Her hair shifted to burgundy, and her expression turned aloof and serene. Yaxiu and Sonia froze for a second before remembering that the Witch possessed multiple personalities. The Witch didn't need her primary persona to bear the feebleminded curse at all; she only needed to switch personalities to be immune to its effects! If not for the Dramatic Poet's restrictions, Diya would have dared to pick the curse "Won't Take Shelter from the Rain"! "Red Apostle?" Yaxiu asked. "Do you mind?" Red Apostle thought about it and nodded. "A little." "That's completely understandable," Sonia comforted her. "Although handling it this way is indeed the optimal choice, dumping a curse onto a sister really is a bit..." "No, I don't hate the curse. On the contrary, I'm quite curious about what I'll be like once I become feebleminded," Red Apostle said. "I just feel the Secret Princess had no reason to call me out—after all, this curse wouldn't affect her anyway." Because Red Apostle spoke with utter candor, Yaxiu and Sonia couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic. The curses Yaxiu's trio purchased were all worth only ten points, which would wear off after seventy-two hours in reality. At the same time, they would gain permanent random blessings of equal value. The blessings they purchased also cost only ten points, meaning the corresponding random curses would last for only a single Void Realm exploration and dissipate upon returning to reality. This was the proper way to use the shopping book: purchase one blessing and one curse, receive a bonus random curse and random blessing, and once all the curses expired, only two blessings would remain! With their shopping done, the three tapped confirm. The shopping book then proceeded to its final stage: paying taxes. The shopping book extracted their life experiences to generate new blessings and curses, enriching its inventory! The shopping book glowed faintly, sprouting several tendrils of light that passed through the sorcerers' bodies. They retracted like ink leaping onto the pages, generating new items in the list— "Blessing: Grand Wedding: You will have a grand wedding envied by all, an unforgettable honeymoon that will forever hold a treasured place in your memories, and then bear ten children." Huh?! Sonia blinked. Wouldn't ten be a bit too many? "Blessing: Family Reunion: You will possess a perfect family—a mediocre master of the house, a virtuous mistress, a sharp-tongued yet tsundere butler, an aloof yet passionate bodyguard, a cute and innocent daughter, and a troublesome pet." Red Apostle froze. "I'm the bodyguard?" Black Butler: "How am I tsundere?" Diya: "Ahem, who knew this book could be so tactful and perceptive? The mediocre master is definitely Yaxiu, so the virtuous mistress is naturally—" White Queen: "Could only be me. Sigh, does that mean my relationship with Lisi upgrades from sisters to mother and daughter...?" Diya: "Wait, then who am I?" Black Butler: "First of all, rule out the cute and innocent daughter." While Diya and Sonia let their imaginations run wild, Yaxiu wore a grim expression. "Curse: Emotional Swindler: Any con artist skilled at toying with feelings shall die without an intact corpse, their soul scattered to the winds. The Dramatic Poet says so—not even a god can protect you!" How on earth did this damned book extract a curse like 'Emotional Swindler' from my meager life...? Or was it being sarcastic? Like pointing at an overworked laborer and saying, 'Your schedule is so full, what a blessing!'? Count them up however you like. Among the women I know: exclude my operators (Sword Princess, Witch); exclude the one I've never met in person (222); exclude the one who's way too young (Lisi); exclude my enemies (Yifalin, Qinna); exclude my boss (Annan); exclude the one I have no resistance against (Freya)... isn't there literally nobody left?! Saying I'm good at swindling men would make far more sense! Igola, Langna, Ronate, and Harvey were all top-tier talents I personally abducted from the Shattered Lake talent market! Putting down the shopping book, Yaxiu's trio left the cafe. The instant they stepped out of the special zone, the random curse descended— "Curse: Mutual Gaze: You must maintain eye contact with others. Duration: 59 minutes, 59 seconds." Yaxiu didn't know whether this curse had been custom-tailored for their team. All he knew was that the moment it struck, he couldn't pull his eyes away from the Sword Princess's and Witch's eyes! Sword Princess and the Witch were in the same boat. The three of them stared wide-eyed at one another, none daring to move for a moment. Yet Yaxiu's "No Paper While Pooping" level of luck seemed to have already arrived—the thunderous clatter of hooves from a Heroic Spirit Legion rumbled in the distance. They had to drive and flee immediately! But this Mutual Gaze curse was practically a multi-target crowd control skill, locking them firmly in place. Suddenly struck by an idea, Yaxiu scooped the two of them up and dumped them into the front seat facing backward, while he sat in the back seat facing forward. That way, while maintaining eye contact, Yaxiu could look forward and steer the sports car to fle... e? Fuck! Because Yaxiu had to maintain eye contact, he couldn't look at the Void Realm Map at all! He could only move the Void Realm Map next to the Sword Princess's face and navigate using his peripheral vision. He could only focus on running away; as for the White Ox's direction, he couldn't care less right now! "Two Heroic Spirit Legions are flanking us," Sonia observed out of the corner of her eye. "Over a hundred attendants. They haven't armed their troop types yet." "Arming troop types consumes soul power. Unless the commander is certain of catching us, they won't waste resources," Yaxiu said breezily. Over the past few days, they had been chased all over the place by Heroic Spirit Legions, but in truth, they hadn't faced much actual danger. They had even managed to loot while fleeing. Aside from being fast runners, the Heroic Spirit Legions' lack of serious regard had also played a major role. Although they knew Yaxiu carried a conceptual avatar, arming troop types required tangible soul power. If they failed to catch him, wouldn't that be a massive loss? Thus, the Heroic Spirit Legions merely pursued and drove them off tentatively. But that made Yaxiu slip away all the faster, and since they couldn't catch up, the legions had even less reason to arm troops. In this recurring cycle, the Heroic Spirit Legions were like whips lashing at their heels. Yaxiu and his companions hadn't dared to stop and rest over the past few days, fleeing as soon as they looted and looting as soon as they fled—which had actually made their scavenging far more efficient than before. Yet no sooner had Yaxiu spoken than the ranged troop attacks of thousand-feather bird-dragons pelted against the Refraction Curtain Wall like a tempestuous squall. "Why did they arm their troops?" Yaxiu stared blankly. "Are they really that confident this time?" A Heroic Spirit Legion suddenly surged ahead. Startled, Yaxiu swerved sharply. Just as he was about to shake them off, another Heroic Spirit Legion cropped up ahead to the right! What was going on? It wasn't even the Blood Tomb's turn tonight, and Spider Tower came only after the Blood Tomb. It was one thing to be ardently pursued in the Spider Tower's territory, but why were the locals of this region also hunting them down with all their might? "Something's wrong!" Sonia said. "That's already the seventh distinct Heroic Spirit Legion, and they have no intention of giving up whatsoever!" "Are we lost?" Diya asked. "You can only be lost if you have a destination! What we're doing is at most taking a walk!" Yaxiu said helplessly. Yet another fresh Heroic Spirit Legion appeared ahead to the left. Yaxiu had no choice but to change direction again. He was in no position to tell whether it was a trap, as his two eyes were individually focused on the Sword Princess and the Witch, leaving only a sliver of peripheral vision for the Void Realm Map! "Press closer together, or I can't focus..." "We're already pressed super close! If I stick out my tongue, I could lick the Sword Princess's cheek," Diya grumbled. Indeed, her cheek was pressed against Sonia's right now. "Tsk, how about we switch? I'll sit in the back and watch you two snuggle?" "Witch, what are you babbling about?" Sonia said, quite vexed, her left arm affectionately wrapping around Diya's slender waist. Whoosh! Suddenly, as if passing through an invisible barrier, all three sorcerers sensed something amiss—no, they saw the abnormality directly! In their field of view, the reverse golden rain abruptly vanished, replaced entirely by lush, green plains! "Did we drive into a Domain of Stillness?" Sonia instantly recalled how the Domain of Stillness had turned them into a painting when they first arrived on the Time Continent. "No, it's not a Domain of Stillness," Yaxiu murmured. "You'll see soon enough." The sports car carved a donut arc into the turf and braked to a halt. Even through the abrupt stop, they kept eye contact, but now Sonia and Diya could finally see the colossal structure occupying this space— A fortress. A fortress constructed from giant trees and entwining vines! Innumerable knowledge creatures hovered, drifted, nested, and bred outside the ramparts! Deep within the fortress stood a spiral-shaped steel structure resembling an enormous brazier, pointing straight toward the sky above the Time Continent! The surrounding reverse golden rain could only drift outside the grassy expanse, forming a curtain that nourished the oasis's soil without staining the green before them with a speck of gold! A wondrous realization crept into the sorcerers' hearts: even the Void Realm's temporal rules could only serve as bricks and mortar here, never stealing the spotlight. A faint vanity welled in their chests; a shared pride as sorcerers made them all the more awestruck. For this was the work of the mightiest sorcerers. This was the manifestation of a god's will eroding the Void Realm! "No wonder there were more and more Heroic Spirit Legions along the way," Yaxiu said. "We drove right into the main city of one of the Six Nations."