Yaxiu looked at his new blessings, his expression turning somewhat subtle.
"Silver Blessing · Spectator's Visage: Your appearance is deceptive. Unless you engage in anomalous behavior, others will subconsciously overlook your existence. In the Void Realm, this blessing is enhanced: unless one shares an intimate bond with you, others cannot see your facial features clearly."
"Golden Blessing · Listener's Sorrow: Your existence is deceptive. Unless you actively court death or seek out hardship, the hostility others feel toward you will decrease by one level. In the Void Realm, this blessing is enhanced: unless one shares an intimate bond with you, it is difficult for others to harbor murderous intent toward you."
The blessings the Void Realm bestowed upon Yaxiu were never direct power-ups.
Take the Silver Blessing, "Spectator's Visage," for example; it had repeatedly proven its worth during his prison break in the Blood Moon Country, the assassination of Professor Shilin, and his disguise as an adventurer. Yaxiu had originally assumed the blessing would rarely come in handy after leaving the Blood Moon, never expecting to become a wanted criminal less than ten days after arriving in the Gospel Country. That he hadn't been knocked unconscious and dragged to the Red Hats for a bounty during his outings these past few days was all thanks to his full-coverage cloak and this Silver Blessing.
If the blessing could speak, it would surely ask Yaxiu, "Are you truly not planning to live a few peaceful days?"
Meanwhile, "Listener's Sorrow" was unquestionably superior in practicality. It seemed somewhat similar to the unit trait [Concealment] of Spider Tower. However, the effect of [Concealment] was 'as long as other allied units are nearby, you will not be attacked'—which meant "you must attack that minion with Taunt first." On the other hand, the operating mechanism of "Listener's Sorrow" was 'enemies lower their attack priority toward you.' In other words, though Yaxiu would still take beatings, fatal blows would become severe injuries, severe injuries would become minor wounds, minor wounds would become a thrashing, a thrashing would become a scolding, and a scolding would become "I'll let it slide."
The blessing sounded formidable—it seemed that so long as Yaxiu didn't destroy the world, slaughter entire clans, or plunge the realm into chaos, virtually no one would want to kill him. Yet Yaxiu keenly detected a loophole: hostility was a subjective emotion.
If it was an objective conflict of interest, this Golden Blessing would not save him.
Just like when Yaxiu was previously wanted and hunted by Cleios and the other Red Hats: Cleios harbored no personal hostility toward him, but capturing Yaxiu would advance her career, so the Weeping Red Hat would certainly strike him with full force.
Though a loophole existed, the blessing remained exceptionally practical. After all, humans were emotional creatures, and purely rational beings who completely cast aside emotion simply did not exist. With this blessing, Yaxiu could essentially walk around with near impunity.
However, Yaxiu harbored strong doubts regarding the line "In the Void Realm, this blessing is enhanced"—if one lacked an intimate bond, one could not harbor murderous intent; conversely, so long as an intimate bond existed, one could sanction Yaxiu without restraint!
What kind of enhancement was that supposed to be?!
In the Void Realm, Yaxiu only ever acted alongside his operators. A rise in operator bond level was inevitable sooner or later. Unless he pulled an operator who bore a blood feud against him, or the Sword Princess and the Witch tried to stage an uprising against the Spectator's tyranny, the Golden Blessing would be completely useless in the Void Realm!
Therefore, Yaxiu omitted the Void Realm enhancement feature and told them only the first half.
Sonia said, "Though it doesn't sound like it directly boosts combat capability, it qualifies as a permanent passive miracle. Its practicality isn't inferior to my blessing or the Witch's in the slightest. Besides, for someone like you... the Void Realm really is taking good care of you."
Yaxiu pressed his hands together in prayer. "Thank you, Mother Void Realm."
In a few days, they would infiltrate the imperial palace to carry out the "assassinate the princess" plan; this blessing was practically charcoal delivered in a snowstorm, rain during a drought. If their cover was blown and they needed to make a run for it, the enemies' attacks would probably outline around his body, missing him entirely.
Yet, seeing that both his Silver and Golden Blessings were survival abilities of this kind, Yaxiu couldn't help feeling that the Void Realm's perception of him had skewed somewhat. He was clearly just an ordinary person yearning for a peaceful life, whose only desire was to upgrade his Substitute sorcery spirit to the point where it could earn money on its own to support him and Lisi. How on earth had he ended up living like a harbinger of calamity causing disasters wherever he went?
Still, Yaxiu remained confident in himself: none of this was his fault. In the Blood Moon, it was because Heath hadn't cleaned up his own mess and left behind the "Cult Leader" plotline; in the Gospel, it was because the Everlasting Presence smeared shit all over his face and forced him to unlock the "Everlasting Walker" side quest. Either way, he was the victim.
That was right—when they went back later, he would mention it to Annan. If there was still wish capacity left, he would wish away the curse left behind by the Everlasting Presence... Even if it couldn't be removed, it wouldn't matter. Once the Weaving Ceremony ended and his Contract with Annan expired, he would stay in a safe place with Lisi and never go adventuring again.
However, the moment he thought about how nearly half the Contract's duration with Annan still remained, Yaxiu instantly lost confidence in his steadfast willpower. Speaking of which, although Yaxiu was reproductively isolated from the vast majority of species in the Gospel Country—such as the elf sisters Qinna and Nona—Annan happened to be a pure human...
Yaxiu shook his head to banish these pleasant daydreams and asked, "You should have already sensed the new secret poison, right?"
When they climbed out of the Flowing Gold River and stood atop the White Ox admiring the seven-colored tail they had created, a piece of esoteric knowledge had quietly surfaced in their minds.
"Seven-Colored Tail Secret Poison"
"Number of infected: 9"
"Secret Poison enhancement level: 9%"
"Current effects of the Secret Poison:
① You can convert golden sorcery power into iridescent sorcery power at a conversion ratio of 59:41;
② When using iridescent sorcery power to drive sorcery spirits below Three Wings, you can bring out effects equivalent to Three Wings;
③ While possessing this secret poison, all of your seven-colored sorcery power is converted into iridescent sorcery power, and using iridescent sorcery power to drive three-winged sorcery spirits reduces sorcery power consumption by 10%. (Reaching an enhancement level of 11% will diminish the benefits)."
There were three whole effects!
The first effect was similar to the Golden Fish Secret Poison. While the Golden Fish Secret Poison converted silver sorcery power into golden sorcery power, the Seven-Colored Tail converted golden sorcery power into iridescent sorcery power. Whenever Yaxiu and the others wished, they could stack their entire silver and golden mana bars into their iridescent mana bar at any time.
The second effect was even more formidable: using iridescent sorcery power to drive two-winged or one-winged sorcery spirits could unleash the effects of Three Wings, completely ignoring the sorcery spirit's own tier! It was just like offering a subordinate a monthly salary of fifty thousand, and the subordinate performing at a fifty-thousand-per-month level, even if they were merely a fresh graduate!
This meant that even though Yaxiu and the others had not yet grasped a Sanctuary, nor did they possess a single three-winged sorcery spirit, their combat prowess had already far surpassed Two-Winged sorcerers and reached the Three-Winged level!
Until they elevated all of their sorcery spirits to the Three-Winged tier, the second effect would provide them with immense benefits.
The third effect, however, left Yaxiu and Diya somewhat mystified.
Miss Sonia, the only one among them who wasn't functionally illiterate in this domain, explained, "The sorcery power of normal Sanctuary sorcerers is seven-colored sorcery power, not iridescent sorcery power. Iridescent sorcery power is most likely an enhanced version of seven-colored sorcery power."
Yaxiu recalled Banjie's frost sorcery power and Harvey's necromantic sorcery power, immediately accepting the explanation. With a hint of regret, he said, "If the Golden Fish Secret Poison had fewer than ten infected individuals, we probably could have obtained an enhanced version of golden sorcery power as well. It looks like we've missed out on that forever."
Although iridescent sorcery power did not directly enhance the effects of three-winged sorcery spirits, its greatest strength lay in functioning across sorcery spirits of any faction, making it exceptionally versatile.
Even setting aside advancing to Sanctuary, these secret poison effects alone made Yaxiu and the others feel that the arduous effort to find the Seven-Colored Tail was thoroughly worthwhile—it truly lived up to being a vastly amplifying secret poison with fewer than ten infected individuals!
"The number of infected is nine..." Diya blinked. "We make three people, which means there are six others who know of this secret poison..."
For those who had just fled the Time Continent, the number six was steeped in chilling significance. At the thought that besides themselves, the "people" who knew this secret poison might be those supreme entities, even Yaxiu felt a bit intimidated.
To draw an analogy: when it came to someone you loved, the more secrets you knew about her, the closer you were getting to her, and you would feel excited inside. But when it came to a serial killer, the more secrets you knew about him, the closer he felt to reaching you, and an instinctive dread and repulsion toward twisted things would naturally well up in your heart.
And compared to the gods, serial killers were practically more innocent and docile than Lalafells.
Yaxiu didn't dare dwell on it any longer. Standing up, he said, "While we still have time, let's explore this place... By the way, Sword Princess, does the Distant Sky Realm also have a mechanism like the 'Domain of Stillness' where you die if you don't run?"
Sonia shook her head. "No."
The three stepped out of the alley. The street was bustling with foot traffic. The city streets were neat and clean, while the architecture was somewhat aged. The sky was bright, yet neon lights were fully lit across the storefronts, and even the vehicles on the roads had their headlights on. Perhaps the dream's actual setting was night, but the Distant Sky Realm maintained perpetual daylight.
Though not densely clustered, Yaxiu and the others could spot at a glance doorways consisting solely of door frames. Some rested against exterior walls, while others stood atop ceilings; in short, they were conspicuous as though afraid sorcerers wouldn't notice them. Without a doubt, these were spatial gates leading to other dreams.
None of the pedestrians paid any mind to Yaxiu's trio, merely veering around them as they passed. Yaxiu glanced back at the little blonde girl still hiding behind them and watching them, then asked, "How do we explore dreams?"
"There are sorcerer projections and knowledge creatures in dreams as well, only hidden," Sonia said. "Some dreams are purely ordinary dreams with nothing in them. However, dreams themselves are resources."
"Every dream has a Dream Master. So long as you find and make physical contact with the Dream Master, the dream will dissipate, and the sorcerer can gain faction experience from the Dream Master. Though it can't compare to Experience Orbs, accumulating it bit by bit adds up considerably. It's just that Dream Masters are exceptionally difficult to find, and the moment a sorcerer makes an unusual move, the Dream Master will evade the sorcerer and hide."
Yaxiu cast a suspicious glance toward the little girl ducking her head behind a large tree, deciding to take the Sword Princess's words with a grain of salt. "So the method of exploration is searching for the Dream Master?"
"Of course not," Sonia replied, shaking her head. "Exploration in the Distant Sky Realm is completely different from the Sea of Knowledge and the Time Continent. Given your IQ, it's rather difficult for me to explain it to you."
"Really?" Yaxiu turned to Diya. "Witch, looks like you'll only be able to bring out the White Queen from now on."
"We just have different personalities! I'm just as smart as the White Queen!"
"I wasn't talking about your IQ..."
"As if I don't know what you were trying to say?!"
"Actually, I was just making that up," Sonia interrupted their squabbling. "Books regarding the Distant Sky Realm require certain clearance levels to read, so the intel I have is only this much. More importantly, haven't you two noticed yet that you can't return to reality?"
Yaxiu and Diya froze. Trying it out, they instantly panicked—they couldn't find the thread of consciousness leading back to reality!
Descending into the Void Realm usually felt as though you had a rope tied around your waist before venturing into a labyrinth to explore. Now, you were standing inside the labyrinth, only to discover the rope was gone!
Chapter 485