A Sharp Turn for the Worse

The Main City! The base camp of the Heroic Spirit Legion, the most perilous and mysterious zone on the Time Continent! Even Sword Princess hadn't been able to find a single scrap of information about the Main City at her academy. For the vast majority of sorcerers, simply encountering a Heroic Spirit Legion was already the limit of their abilities; unless they could kill a commander and obtain a map, they had no way of knowing where the Main City was located. As for stumbling blindly into the Main City's territory, that was even more impossible—both the Blood Tomb map and Star Hall map obtained by Yaxiu clearly indicated that at least three legions patrolled back and forth outside the Main City region. Moreover, the standard minion loadout for those patrol legions carried "Flying" and "Scouting" attributes. Ordinary sorcerers who stepped even half an inch beyond the line would be wiped out instantly and bounced back to reality—trying it meant dying. After Yaxiu's team learned the Main City's location, the idea of exploring it had never crossed their minds. For one thing, beyond satisfying curiosity, exploring the Main City offered no guaranteed returns; for another, the risk was ridiculously high—not to mention that the Heroic Spirit Legion was actively hunting them. Them exploring the Main City would be no different from a canister of gasoline voluntarily leaping into a raging fire to act as a firefighter. Wasn't it great to just mind their own business and climb steadily to the third layer of the Void Realm? Wasn't it satisfying to follow the maps and loot resources along the way? Why did they have to leave their comfort zone? Thus, when Yaxiu discovered that he had arrived at this unfamiliar Main City territory, his mood was just like that of a cancer patient—*Why did this happen?* Under normal circumstances, he would never have trespassed here. Even without a detailed map, the moment he saw a Heroic Spirit Legion appear ahead, he would have turned right around and left. After all, when you see dark clouds filling the sky, you know enough to seek shelter from the rain. Yet the shopping book's random curse, "Mutual Gaze," happened to make it difficult for him to focus on the Void Realm Map. At any other time, a curse like "Mutual Gaze" would have posed no threat whatsoever; at worst, they could just sit and stare into each other's eyes for an hour, and their bond level might even increase. Even in the absolute worst-case scenario where they encountered mortal danger, the most that could happen was death. While they couldn't voluntarily exit the Void Realm while the curse was active, once they left the Void Realm, the random curse would automatically end—which amounted to trading one death for their blessings. Yet it just so happened that Yaxiu and his companions were constantly being hunted down by the Heroic Spirit Legion! It just so happened that they had reasons they couldn't afford to die! And it just so happened that the sports car was fast enough to punch right through the patrol defense lines around the Main City! Yaxiu didn't know whether this was the unlucky fallout of "No Paper While Pooping," the curse of Everlasting Presence flaring up once more, or the Empress's Heroic Spirit drawing circles to curse him—naturally, this wasn't a single-choice question—but under the seamless interlocking of multiple coincidences, Yaxiu had actually barged unscathed into the unfamiliar territory of the Main City! Yet the sorcerers felt none of the pleasant surprise that came from seeing the wider world; instead, endless terror welled up in their hearts. "Roar!" Astride the walls of the giant wooden ramparts, several pitch-black dragons spread their wings and let out deafening roars. Their cries materialized into virtually tangible black lightning, rippling outward through space so violently that even the sports car at the edge of the area was nearly caught in the blast, sending ripples coursing across the "Refraction Curtain Wall"! As if provoked, Yaxiu's Soul Summoning sorcery spirit suddenly popped out on its own. The two-toned crystal hovered in midair, emitting a glaring, dazzling purple glow, looking for all the world as if it were shouting at the dragons: *Come at me! If you've got the guts, come beat my master to death!* What was worse, he couldn't recall it, scaring Yaxiu so badly that he hastily grabbed Soul Summoning and tucked it away inside his trench coat. Sorcery spirits occasionally burst out on their own. The most common cause was hunger, but when they encountered something that interested them, they would also slip out quietly to goof off. For instance, whenever Yaxiu played *Sorcerer Duel 14* with Lisi, Heart Sword and Earth Sword would unknowingly perch on his shoulders to spectate. "There's actually a mature Evil Eye Shadow Dragon!" Sonia's voice trembled. "Isn't that a higher race that only appears in the Distant Sky Realm?! How could it possibly appear on the Time Continent?" "A knowledge creature of the Distant Sky Realm?" Yaxiu froze. "That means..." "In infancy, it already possesses the combat power of a Sanctuary Sorcerer; in adolescence, it can match a Sanctuary Sorcerer; and a mature Evil Eye Shadow Dragon is one of the 'Ten Great Sky Realm Disasters'!" Sonia gripped Diya's hand tightly. "My professor... she once challenged an Evil Eye Black Dragon, and afterward, she couldn't enter the Void Realm for half a year." Not a commander, not a troop type—just a knowledge creature raised by the Main City possessed power capable of crushing the Sanctuary tier! Only a fool would approach the Main City! Yet the relentless Heroic Spirit Legion hot on their heels gave Yaxiu no choice whatsoever! The sports car let out a shuddering roar, tearing across the peridot-green meadow for dear life as it tried to detour around the perimeter! The air carried the crisp scent of green leaves. Free of the curtain of rain, the open grass was clear and unobstructed, and a pair of lovely young operators were gazing at him with eyes full of anticipation. If one ignored the thundering roars echoing from all directions, this would not have been half bad as a pleasant joyride. "My hands are tied too," Yaxiu said, spreading his hands. "Carving a bloody path through the Main City was never part of my Void Realm side quests." "Then what do we do?" Diya asked anxiously. "If this keeps up, we'll definitely be encircled and slaughtered... Huh?" Diya suddenly froze. She adjusted her non-prescription glasses, and her hair turned entirely snow-white while her attire shifted into silver-white skirt armor. "White Queen?" "It's me." The White Queen nodded. "Sword Princess, let me make one thing clear to you first." Sonia, who had been staring at Yaxiu in deep thought, turned her eyes toward her. "What?" "The Watcher cannot die," the White Queen said. "In a few days, it will be the Spider Tower round. If he dies, he will definitely violate the Contract, and the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit will have to be surrendered to the Empress. Without the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit, we would be left at the Empress's mercy—yet obviously, not to mention that the Empress hasn't retrieved all her emotions yet, even if she retrieved every single one of them, mercy is surely not something she holds in her heart." Yaxiu didn't refute her. Even if he could brew a few more bottles of the soul-healing "Blazing Soul Essence Special Drink," his soul would never recover in a mere three days unless he could draw an even more powerful item—yet he had just purchased a curse that degraded his luck. Although Yaxiu could use the Book of Gospel to amplify his heart's will and boost his odds of winning a prize, that was no better than realizing there was hand soap nearby when there was no paper while pooping. Rather than banking on the gacha draw, Yaxiu would be better off wishing for tomorrow's leaderboard to update immediately, grant him an instant breakthrough to the Sanctuary tier, and throw in several wives on the spot—that would be truly solving all his problems once and for all. In truth, after losing the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit, reason dictated that the Empress would have no reason to keep hunting them, as there would be nothing left to gain. The problem was that the Empress was hardly an entity governed by ordinary reason. Besides, leaving one's life and death in someone else's hands was simply too foolish. It was precisely because Yaxiu refused to let others dictate his life and death that he had escaped from Shattered Lake Prison in the first place. "Three people maintaining eye contact is far too restrictive," the White Queen continued. "If it were only two, things would be much easier, and we could even attempt to cross the Flowing Gold River." "But the curse is already active," Yaxiu said. "Even if we wanted to break it, there's no—" Yaxiu cut himself off mid-sentence. This curse could indeed be broken, and the method was very simple. "Blinding oneself through self-harm will break it," the White Queen said. "However, a sorcerer's soul automatically mends injuries, so one would have to continuously damage their eyes to maintain blindness." "Yet what is more likely to happen is that the curse will intervene to prevent healing, ensuring that during the curse's duration, the sorcerer no longer possesses the ability to 'see'." The curse "Mutual Gaze" was quite intriguing; at its core, it was essentially "keeping the sorcerers in a fixed, unvarying state." When a sorcerer forcibly altered that state through self-harm, the underlying logic of the curse remained the same—or rather, even if it wanted to revert, it couldn't, since mutual gaze required two parties. Therefore, it would most likely adopt an opportunistic compromise: turning "maintain mutual gaze" into "maintain blindness." "If two people maintain eye contact and together carry the third blinded operator, it would indeed restore a degree of mobility," Yaxiu mused. "As long as we find a Flowing Gold River to cross, we'd have a very good chance of making it out alive..." *Boom!* Blazing fireballs crashed like meteors against the "Refraction Curtain Wall," blooming into fiery lotuses. The ear-splitting shrieks of flying creatures drowned out their voices as yet another detachment of the Heroic Spirit Legion emerged from the curtain of rain outside the Main City, once again cutting off the escape route of Yaxiu and the others! Faced with such an onslaught, the sports car had no choice but to veer closer toward the Main City to evade them. But this was merely drinking poison to quench thirst. Their room to maneuver would only dwindle, and at any moment, a commander from the Main City might step outside to collect the takeaway delivery that had delivered itself right to their doorstep! Just over half an hour ago, they were still overjoyed at running into the special mechanism of the "Confused Shopping Book." A little over half an hour later, things had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Though they were driving across a vibrant, green meadow, death was already eagerly lunging forward to plant a kiss on them! Moreover, this death would directly lead to defeat in their wager with the Empress. Once they lost the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit, their future survival would hinge entirely on the Empress's mood on any given day! Defeat swept over them like a collapsing mountain; even survival was a dead end! "If this goes on, we'll turn into knowledge creature dung before we even find a Flowing Gold River," the White Queen said. "It's time to make a choice." "What do you mean?" "Equip the blinded one with military troops and leave her behind to stall for time," the White Queen said calmly. "It might only buy a single second, or it might successfully deceive the Heroic Spirit Legion, but either is far better than sitting and waiting for death." "The return is far too low!" Yaxiu said immediately. "And whoever stays behind to cover the retreat is doomed to die!" "But this isn't the Spider Tower, and they aren't the Empress; they won't go out of their way to order their minions to devour our souls. Though the rear guard's soul will be severely battered, she will at least keep her life," the White Queen said. "If we do nothing, we die all the same. Getting even a modest gain out of this is not a bad outcome." "That's right. I agree with the Witch's analysis," Sonia said suddenly. "This truly is the only recourse when there are no options left. In that case..." "Let me do it." "Let me do it." The White Queen looked slightly surprised. "Sword Princess, you and the Watcher have been teamed up longer and coordinate better. If someone like me has to maintain eye contact with him, I can barely display any strength. You should be the one to remain." "No." The country girl shook her head. "Our combat power is negligible compared to the Heroic Spirit Legion. If it comes down to fighting, it would just be a dying struggle anyway. But Witch, you possess a sharper affinity for time; last time we crossed the Flowing Gold River, it was all thanks to your help. If we ultimately have to escape across the Flowing Gold River, then Witch, you are the one who should remain." "Sword Princess," the White Queen said, "we are volunteering to cover the rear. You don't need to shoulder any emotional burden, nor do you need to prove that you and I are equals. When we crossed the Flowing Gold River last time, we already placed our trust in you two." "I didn't... Fine, setting aside how useful it would be for you to stay, just as you said, I have to prove that we are equals!" Sonia said. "Normally, I take the most spoils, consume the most orbs, and have been on the team longer than you. So at a time like this, I have to shoulder greater responsibility—otherwise, how can we be equals?" "It's pointless to say you don't mind. You don't mind today, but what about tomorrow? What about the day after? I don't want to test human nature, because once tested, it always turns into an abyss, into an evil dragon! If it were anyone else, I'd take advantage of it and move on, but we still have countless days and nights to spend together in the future. I can't let you look down on me!" "Sword Princess, you have too much pride. I wouldn't look down on you because of this." "It's not about pride. I'm just used to judging others by my own standards."