Void Realm, Time Continent.
"Witch!"
Arriving alongside Yaxiu's shout was a warm-yellow Sword Body Barrier. Snapping out of her daze, Diya managed to scramble clear of the blast radius just before the Ragecleaver Dragon's tail shattered the barrier.
As if sensing that Diya was their greatest vulnerability, the young Fishcleaver Dragons surged forward, intent on swarming her. Yaxiu, however, had already used the Heart Pen miracle to lay an inescapable net across the area. The moment the creatures barged in, they were snagged by the airborne strokes that resembled streaks of wet ink. Their bodies were instantly carved to ribbons by the ink, and the gruesome sight terrified the rest of the pack so thoroughly that none dared step into the dense web of brushstrokes.
The Heart Pen miracle Sonia had gifted Yaxiu was remarkably practical. Originally, combining Heart Sword with Sword Mark to lay distant trap zones had one glaring drawback: a sorcerer had to continuously expend sorcery power to sustain the sword marks. If Yaxiu cut off the supply, the marks dispersed immediately.
Not only did this burn through immense sorcery power, but it also forced Yaxiu to divert part of his attention to the trap zone while launching other attacks.
When he first started using it, he found it rather novel, but the sheer hassle soon wore him down. If sorcery spirits were a sorcerer's imperial harem, the Sword Mark spirit was like a petulant, drama-prone concubine—one Yaxiu hardly even felt like visiting.
The Heart Pen miracle ingeniously transformed how the Sword Mark spirit dealt damage. Normally, sword marks had to remain fixed in the air to continuously damage moving targets. Heart Pen, on the other hand, did not pursue sustained damage; instead, it treated the sword marks as disposable ink strokes. When moving targets brushed against them, the ink adhered to their flesh, consuming itself over a matter of seconds to deliver slashing wounds.
Precisely because the ink strokes were single-use, Heart Pen consumed vastly less sorcery power. Yaxiu could effortlessly scatter a vast field of ink traps without compromising total damage, and with far less strain on himself. What was more, he could sketch "dud strokes" that required only a sliver of sorcery power, using them purely to bluff and intimidate knowledge creatures!
As a high-grade miracle Sonia had spent fifteen gold coins to purchase, it even included a method to disable friendly fire. After all, team combat was standard practice for sorcerers on Sonia's side. Yaxiu only had to apply ink marks to his teammates beforehand, allowing them to freely traverse the trapped area without disturbing the distribution of ink!
Their recent tactic was simple: Yaxiu would set up the field of ink marks, Sword Princess and Witch would lure knowledge creatures into the zone, and the party would stay safely inside, picking off the beasts at leisure. Once the creatures charged in once or twice and suffered the consequences, they never dared set foot inside again.
Thanks to this clever new application of Heart Pen, the Sword Mark spirit shot from a troublesome low-ranking concubine straight to the rank of Imperial Consort, rivaling even Heart Sword and Substitute in favor.
When the Ragecleaver Dragon's skull was finally blown apart by Blood Moon Shattered Lake, Sonia flicked the blade clean in the rain of blood and sheathed it. The murderous aura shrouding her evaporated almost completely. Her sharp, frosty brow instantly softened into crescent curves as she turned to look back—only to see Yaxiu walk right past her without a word to loot the gemstone quarry.
Sonia glared at his back, muttering something under her breath, before walking over and pulling Diya aside. "Witch, spacing out in combat is very dangerous."
"I'm sorry," Diya said at once. "I won't let it happen again."
"I wasn't blaming you. Everyone makes mistakes. Look at the Watcher—he messes up back there every single day. You don't need to take it to heart."
"What did the Watcher mess up?"
"Breathing," Sonia huffed, her entire face practically spelling out irreconcilable enmity toward the team captain. "Witch, you've probably never seen the Watcher look handsome or gentle, right? Just to be clear, neither have I."
"And haven't you noticed how he's been getting more and more obnoxious lately? Let me tell you, he has always been this infuriating. Do you have any idea what kind of awful things he did to me back in the Sea of Knowledge? Just thinking about it now makes me shake with rage..."
Nothing forged a bond faster than badmouthing someone behind their back—especially when that person happened to be everyone's boss. Diya listened with rapt attention as Sonia aired her grievances about the Watcher, the ahoge atop her head bobbing and curling along with the gossip.
After looting the resource node, Yaxiu collected a bundle of gemstone materials suitable for their sorcery spirits to feed on. Gesturing for the girls not to board the car just yet, he initiated another major upgrade to the Alchemical Throne. With a burst of rose-gold radiance, the golden drops of blood atop the seat reached eleven, and the surrounding reverse golden rain surged into the chair like a torrential flood!
"Alchemical Throne (Level 11): Increases golden sorcery power absorption rate by 130%.
Level 6 Special Effect: For every 60 minutes spent in the Void Realm, accumulate one stack of [Flowing Gold Years]. Each stack increases golden sorcery power absorption rate by 10%.
Level 11 Special Effect: Increases golden sorcery power absorption rate based on vehicle speed, up to an additional 100% (peaking at 400 km/h). Each stack of [Flowing Gold Years] reduces the required maximum speed for this effect by 50%.
Next level requires: 1,175 Gem Essence, Crystal Essence, Mercury Essence, Wood Essence, Ore Essence, and Gold Essence."
Pouring in all the resources gathered over recent days had finally pushed the Alchemical Throne to Level 11, unlocking its second special effect. The first effect spoke for itself: the longer they stayed in the Void Realm, the faster they absorbed sorcery power. As for the second effect, while it could grant an additional 100% absorption speed, it required the car to reach extreme velocity.
Under normal circumstances, that was utterly impossible. Road conditions on the Time Continent were comparable to a virgin forest. You didn't even need to hit a boulder or a stone wall; a sudden bump sending the sports car airborne into a tree would turn them into a spinning tornado of wreckage.
However, combined with the threshold reduction from Flowing Gold Years, after two hours Yaxiu would only need to drive at 100 km/h to gain the full 100% bonus—a speed barely manageable on the Time Continent. After four hours, the requirement dropped to a mere 25 km/h. Even cruising along at a leisurely crawl, they would enjoy an absorption boost of 130 + 40 + 100 = 270%!
Yaxiu explained the Alchemical Throne's new parameters and suggested, "Let's skip hunting for resource points tonight. We'll just drive around and check out some special landmarks."
They had already been in the Void Realm for over an hour. In a little while, they would gain two stacks of Flowing Gold Years. Even without any other gains tonight, the sorcery power yielded simply from speeding across the Time Continent would be more than double that of an ordinary sorcerer. Yaxiu's proposal was thoroughly sensible, and Sword Princess and Witch agreed immediately.
Yet as the sports car cut through the curtain of rain, Diya suddenly caught on after a subtle nudge from the sisters in her head. "Are we skipping combat tonight because of me?"
"Ha!" Sonia let out a loud, mocking scoff. Wrapping an arm around Diya, she fixed her gaze on the Watcher in the rearview mirror. "As if he'd ever be that considerate!"
The corner of Yaxiu's mouth twitched. Taking Sonia's cue, he adopted an aloof tone. "We already came up empty at several resource points today. Continuing the search wouldn't be efficient anyway. We might as well search for special buildings—we might stumble upon an unexpected windfall."
Yaxiu wasn't lying. Out of the five resource points they had scouted over the past hour, two had been completely bare. Not only were the materials gone, but even the knowledge creatures had packed up and bolted. Yet this was Blood Tomb's turn, and according to the Blood Tomb map in Yaxiu's possession, those locations were marked as major resource points guarded by knowledge creatures!
This could only mean one thing: Blood Tomb had dispatched Heroic Spirit Legions to reclaim the resources!
The proof was that even after roaming around for over an hour, no Heroic Spirit Legion had pursued them. Blood Tomb had shifted to a conservative strategy, executing a scorched-earth policy to gather all resources while pulling their Heroic Spirit Legions back to fortify their main city!
The reason wasn't hard to guess. Regardless of whether Spider Tower had successfully overrun the Oasis's main city, the fact that Spider Tower had preemptively ignited the Grand Investiture of the Six Nations was carved in stone. Every faction was abandoning peaceful development to enter high alert!
Yaxiu even suspected Blood Tomb knew he was the spark that had ignited the Oasis conflict. If he dared approach Blood Tomb's capital, over a thousand armed soldiers would likely pour out to blast him into fine dust.
Consequently, Yaxiu had no intention of upgrading the Alchemical Throne any further for now. Subsequent upgrades demanded far too many resources, and available nodes would only dwindle from here on out. Given the circumstances, seeking out special buildings offered yields no worse than scouring resource points.
Diya, however, was not so easily fooled. "Even if we skip resource points, we could still hunt large knowledge creatures. Experience Orbs and sorcery spirits provide steady gains. Not to mention, even if we head toward special buildings, we could clear resource points along the way. There's no reason to avoid combat entirely!"
"It really is because I spaced out and made mistakes multiple times tonight, isn't it? You're coddling me." Diya looked down at her knees. "I'm sorry. Tonight was all my fault..."
Yaxiu couldn't help chiming in. "Actually—"
"Actually, the Watcher just thinks you're a burden! That's why he gave up on fighting so readily—to keep you from dragging him down or getting him killed!" Sonia cut in, hugging the Witch tighter and glaring daggers at Yaxiu. "Men like the Watcher only care about profit and don't understand feelings at all! He doesn't trust his companions one bit!"
*This! Damn! Sword! Princess!—*
Yaxiu took a deep breath and said coldly, "Those are your words, not mine."
"I'm sorry!" Diya rubbed her eyes vigorously and said loudly, "I was affected by things happening in reality, so I couldn't focus on fighting earlier... But I've sorted out my emotions now. If I slip up again, I'll let the White Queen or the Red Apostle take over immediately so I don't hold our exploration back. Watcher, please stick to the original route and search the resource points!"
"You don't need to apologize," Sonia said gently. "Everyone has bad days. Taking one night off isn't going to stop us from becoming Sanctuary Sorcerers. Is there anything we can do to help?"
Diya slapped her own cheeks with both hands until they flushed bright red.
"Demanding that others accommodate you just because you feel down, upset, or lost is what spoiled children do," the Witch said earnestly. "I'm not a child anymore. I don't have a favorite color."
She paused, clenching her fists with determination. "Besides, I have someone I can act spoiled with too. You don't need to worry about me. For something like this, all I need to do is go back, get a big hug and lots of kisses from him, and everything will be fine!"
Sonia's expression froze instantly. She could only manage a strained smile. "Ah... oh... um... that's good, then."
"So, Watcher, let's head down the resource route!" Diya urged. "I'm completely fine now!"
"I wanted to switch back to the original route the moment you asked," Yaxiu said flatly. "But halfway there, I found the Flowing Gold River blocking the way. Right now, I'm driving along the riverbank. The original route is already useless."
Such occurrences were common. The path of the Flowing Gold River shifted randomly each day, often cutting directly across a planned route. For ordinary sorcerers, this was a blessing; most Two Wings sorcerers encountered the river at least once a day, and as long as they had the stamina to dive in and scoop up sorcery spirits, they wouldn't go home empty-handed. But for Yaxiu and his companions, who possessed a map, the Flowing Gold River only dragged down their efficiency.
"Then we can pick a resource point along the way—"
"We've already arrived at a special building," Yaxiu said, eyeing the golden 'Come Quick' marker on the Void Realm Map. "Though the Blood Tomb map doesn't specify what kind of building it is."
In truth, the vast majority of special buildings went unlabeled, which was one reason Yaxiu hadn't prioritized exploring them earlier: the returns were far too unpredictable. On reflection, it made sense. Heroic Spirit commanders had no reason to enter Void Realm structures, so they had zero incentive to catalog them—assuming they even recognized every building in the first place.
"Then I'll go inside first to check it out! As soon as I figure out the rules, I'll come right out and tell you!" Diya volunteered at once. "If it's a mechanism like the Amnesia Wooden Cabin, neither of you will have to risk going in!"
Since the Void Realm Map displayed 'Come Quick,' there was bound to be little real danger inside. Still, Yaxiu knew the Witch was eager to make up for her earlier slip-ups, and he wouldn't mind a brief moment alone with the Sword Princess either. He nodded.
"I leave it to you, Witch."
Chapter 434