An end that was always in sight... Having already been baptized by the concepts of the Sea of Knowledge, the White Ox, the reverse golden rain, and the like, Yaxiu could now accept this new premise with complete composure.
"Then where are we now?" Yaxiu glanced toward the mouth of the alley. The little blonde girl peeking in from the entrance immediately ducked away, but soon enough, she gingerly poked her little head out again, staring inquisitively at the three of them.
"A fleeting illusion," Sonia said. "In other words, a dream."
"Whose dream?"
"A sorcerer's dream."
"A sorcerer's dream?" Yaxiu stared blankly, as baffled as if he had been punched by a Lalafell. "Sorcerers dream?"
Though Yaxiu occasionally lounged on the carpet to take an afternoon nap with Lisi, he was an absolute outlier among sorcerers. Most sorcerers obtained plenty of rest in the Void Realm, returning to reality brimming with energy for the entire day with no need for sleep whatsoever—even if they did rest, they would do so in the Void Realm.
What respectable sorcerer would ever sleep!
"I know it sounds bizarre, but that's how the books described it. I'll look into it more once I get back," Sonia said helplessly. "Supposedly, the Distant Sky Realm is composed of countless dreams. If sorcerers want to condense Rainbow Wings, they have to venture through one dream after another. And the most common way to travel between dreams isn't flying across directly, but through spatial teleportation via gates."
"You could even say that spatial gates are the most common means of exploration for Sanctuary Sorcerers." The country girl gave a wry smile. "I should have realized it the moment I saw that the source of the Seven-Colored Tail was a gate... The passage between the Time Continent and the Distant Sky Realm is actually a spatial gate, and we've been teleported directly into a dream within the Distant Sky Realm!"
"Then if we were to walk back now—"
"It would only teleport us into some other dream in the Distant Sky Realm; we wouldn't return to the Time Continent. The Void Realm only allows moving forward, never backward. Besides..." The corners of Sonia's mouth curved upward as she shot Yaxiu an amused look. "Do you dare go through a spatial gate again right now?"
"What was that sensation just now?" Diya still seemed shaken, a streak of white and a streak of red still lingering in her black hair. Hugging the Sword Princess close, she asked with lingering dread, "I almost thought the Void Realm was punishing us for stowing away to the third layer."
"That was spatial teleportation," Sonia said. "We'll be experiencing it a dozen times or more every night from now on."
"A dozen times!? I couldn't handle even once more!" Diya shook her head repeatedly. "Are Sanctuary Sorcerers all masochistic lunatics!?"
"Of course Sanctuary Sorcerers aren't masochistic lunatics." Sonia shrugged. "The problem is, we aren't Sanctuary Sorcerers right now either."
Yaxiu paused, a flicker of comprehension in his eyes. "A Sanctuary?"
"Exactly," Sonia said. "The reason traveling through a spatial gate is so agonizing is because we... well, I don't remember clearly, but it's probably because we can't protect ourselves in the spatial turbulence. It's essentially like being disintegrated into countless particles on that end and reassembled on this end, which naturally hurts like hell. But if we can spread out a Sanctuary to protect ourselves, we can safely cross the spatial turbulence to reach the other side."
"That's also one of the reasons Sanctuary Sorcerers must master a Sanctuary." Sonia gently patted down the Witch's ahoge. "Without a Sanctuary, one can't move forward in the Distant Sky Realm at all."
Dreams, spatial gates, Sanctuaries... Just as Yaxiu was trying to digest this information, a crisp chime rang out, and their Golden Wings suddenly unfurled on their own, radiating a brilliant, dazzling golden glow!
The eyes of all three lit up. "Golden Blessing!"
Every time a sorcerer ascended to a new layer of the Void Realm, they received a Void Realm blessing! Moreover, Void Realm blessings were often tailor-made for each sorcerer, almost always boosting their combat prowess by 20% to 100%!
As the Sword Princess and the Witch calmed their minds to feel their new power, Yaxiu quietly brought up the operator interface.
[Death Frenzy Sword Princess]
[Human · Female · Age 18]
[Bond Level: 4 (75% Experience Shared)]
[Bond Resonance: Insatiable Greed: When acting together, a chance to obtain better spoils of war.]
[Silver Blessing: Carnival Cruelty: Each enemy defeated (including but not limited to sorcerer projections, knowledge creatures, monsters, sorcerers, construct creatures, etc.) increases Critical Rate and Critical Damage. Triggers different traits depending on operator development route (Currently Carnival Route, deals up to 250% Critical Damage).]
[Golden Blessing: Radiant Star and Moon Star: Each battle increases Insight, Willpower, and Charisma. Triggers different traits depending on operator development route.]
[Extra Blessing Trait: Radiant Star: The Sword Princess yearns to be dazzling, yearns for the adoration of ten thousand people, yearns to be loved by all. This route triggers the 'Radiant Star' special effect, granting a bonus to swordsmanship inspiration. The more people who love her, the greater the boost; inspiration can be elevated up to a continuous flow (able to easily create and improve swordsmanship miracles).]
[Extra Curse Trait: Moon Star: The Sword Princess yearns to depend on another, yearns to be cherished, yearns to indulge in the gaze of the one she holds dear. This route triggers the 'Moon Star' special effect, granting a bonus to flashes of inspiration across all factions. The deeper she sinks into her own love, the greater the boost; inspiration can be elevated up to a continuous flow (able to easily create and improve miracles across all factions).]
[Knowledge Curses: Vortex Secret Poison, Expulsion Secret Poison, Golden Fish Secret Poison, Bronze Dragon Secret Poison, Concept Secret Poison, Seven-Colored Tail Secret Poison.]
Well now...
When had the Sword Princess's Bond Level risen to Level 4? It was still Level 3 the last time he checked... Could it have leveled up over the past couple of days?
And this Golden Blessing...
Yaxiu blinked, unable to resist glancing at the Sword Princess.
Noticing his gaze, Sonia asked, "What is my Golden Blessing? I can roughly sense that it's a growth-type blessing—the more battles I fight, the higher the growth values."
Diya looked up as well, asking curiously, "Observer, do you know our Golden Blessings?"
Since every blessing was custom-tailored by the Void Realm for the sorcerer with no precedent to refer to, sorcerers generally had to figure out their blessing's effects gradually.
"Sword Princess, your Golden Blessing is..." Yaxiu hesitated for a moment. "Radiant Star."
"The more your battles are in the public eye, and the more people who love you, the easier it will be for you to create and improve swordsmanship miracles. Simply put, as long as you dress up beautifully and smash anyone on the stage who dares to look down on you, you'll become stronger and stronger."
"Yes!" The president of the Paw Stretching Club pumped her fist excitedly. "As expected of the Void Realm, this blessing suits me perfectly!"
"Observer, you seemed a bit hesitant just now," the Witch chimed in suddenly. "Almost as if you were making a choice."
Yaxiu instantly shook his head. "Not at all!"
"In the sorcerer manuals of some Two Wings sorcerers, they mentioned that their Silver Blessings had multiple paths to choose from, and developing in different directions could yield different effects," Diya analyzed. "Could the Sword Princess's Golden Blessing be a multi-route type as well?"
When Sonia turned a suspicious gaze upon him, Yaxiu shook his head with utmost conviction. "Definitely not!"
Yaxiu braced himself and met Sonia's gaze with righteous confidence. The country girl watched him for a moment before suddenly bursting into a giggle. "Fine, if you say it isn't, then it isn't."
She let out a soft huff. "Could I ever doubt you?"
Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly changed the subject. "Let me see your blessing, Witch..."
[Black and White Witch]
[Human · Female · Age 19]
[Bond Level: 2 (40% Experience Shared)]
[Bond Resonance: Toying with Hearts: Even without relevant mind sorcery spirits, you and the Witch possess supernatural abilities to influence the hearts of others.]
[Silver Blessing: Witch's Taboo: Secrecy grants you power; concealment is your weapon. The fewer people in reality who know your true inner self, the stronger you become in the Void Realm. Currently, the Black and White Witch's concealment level is 85% (Scarcely Known), granting an 85% bonus to sorcery power recovery speed. (The Observer's observations are not counted)]
[Golden Blessing: Witch's Rebellion: Rebellion grants you power; desire is your weapon. The more you wish to rebel against those who love you, or even harbor ill intentions toward those who love you, the stronger you become in the Void Realm. Currently, the Black and White Witch's rebellion level is 91% (Filial Piety Curdled), granting 91% bonus sorcery power.]
Yaxiu looked at Diya with a peculiar expression, yet Diya merely blinked her big, innocent eyes. Yaxiu suddenly recalled something: "Witch, can you still not see my face?"
"Nope, can't see it."
Observer's Countenance was still effective on the Witch, likely because their Bond Level wasn't high enough... Yaxiu coughed twice to clear his throat and said, "Witch, your Golden Blessing is called Rebellion. Its effect is increasing bonus sorcery power. If cultivated to the limit, you can gain a full hundred percent in additional sorcery power."
The Silver Blessing boosted sorcery power recovery speed, while the Golden Blessing increased max sorcery power. The Witch's future development path was crystal clear—a heavy miracle-casting artillery battery, bombarding enemies with high-cost miracles!
"Then how do I cultivate it to the limit?"
"Well, you have to rebel against those who love you." Thinking it had nothing to do with him anyway, Yaxiu spoke the truth: "The more ill intentions you harbor toward those who love you, the higher the rebellion level. It's already at ninety-one percent right now, which means your rebelliousness can still be pushed further."
"It needs to go even further!?" Diya said in surprise, her expression a little complicated. "B-but I thought we were already rebellious enough..."
"Since the general direction is sound, then put some effort into the details," Yaxiu suggested. "For instance, how to rebel, how to handle things after rebelling..."
The Witch nodded nervously, then lowered her head to count on her fingers, muttering under her breath, "One hour in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, three hours at night, two in three years..." Who knew what on earth she was counting.
Chapter 484