In the morning, in their inn in Black Robe Town, the moment Yaxiu returned from the Void Realm, he reached into his pants to grope around, only letting out a breath of relief once he confirmed everything had returned.
"Need me to step out for a moment?"
Harvey had returned to normal by now, no longer in the frail, helpless guise of a little girl from the night before. Head down, he was studying the corpse of a rabbit while Alice fed him pancakes. "If there are other people around, it might not be convenient for you to pull it out, right?"
"If it were anyone else, I'd think he was telling a dirty joke, but coming from you, I'd suspect you were talking to another corpse you just picked up," Yaxiu retorted testily. Hearing the sound of running hot water from the bathroom, he knew he couldn't go in to wash up just yet.
The inn's bathroom was tiny. Having a bathtub was already an unexpected pleasant surprise; there was no expecting a separate wet and dry area.
"Why are you messing with a rabbit?"
Harvey raised his head to look at him. "I'd rather tinker with human corpses, but the time isn't right yet."
"Not the right time yet?" Yaxiu didn't understand.
"Rabbits, cats, large dogs, big felines... Once you slowly get used to the sight of me conducting research, you'll definitely be able to accept it even if I start dissecting human corpses."
Yaxiu said, "A great plan, but have you ever considered one problem? The difference between a human corpse and an animal corpse isn't just size."
Harvey showed a puzzled expression. "Do you mean the difference in appearance? Should I use monkeys as transition material then?"
"It's about meaning! Value!" Yaxiu said earnestly. "A person's corpse is carved all over with the traces of time, recording the paths they walked, the pain they endured, the happiness they enjoyed—it is, one could say, the condensation of their entire life!"
Clap, clap, clap.
Harvey did not spare his applause. "Well said, Yaxiu! I never expected you to have such philosophical depth!"
"Mm," Yaxiu also thought he had spoken brilliantly. "Thanks—"
"It completely aligns with the core philosophy of our Necromancy faction!" Harvey declared. "Precisely because corpses are filled with meaning and value, we necromancers have an obligation to bring out all of their potential, rather than letting them be buried in yellow dirt, consumed by flames, turned into kingdoms for scavengers, or reduced to worthless ashes! Yaxiu, hurry and join me as a devoted lackey under Lord Häagen-Dazs!"
Having nearly forgotten that every sorcery faction possessed its own self-consistent logic, Yaxiu gave a couple of perfunctory replies and rolled over. "I'll consider it later."
Harvey asked, "Then after you die, do you want to follow me or follow Igola?"
Confusion washed over Yaxiu's face. "Since when did I become a child between you and Igola? You make it sound like you two are getting divorced and asking who gets custody of me..."
"If you die, as long as I'm still alive, I definitely won't bury you—I'll turn you into an undead," the necromancer said. "If you want to follow Igola, I'll teach Igola how to control you. If you want to follow me or go back to find Lisi, I'll bring you with me."
"Though I haven't asked Igola, he wouldn't possibly come with me. As for myself, neither of you are necromancers, so you can't turn me into an undead. When the time comes, you can dispose of my corpse however you like."
Yaxiu sat up and looked at Harvey with a strange expression.
"Why have you suddenly gotten so sentimental today?"
"Is this being sentimental?" Harvey asked. "Crow Slayer told me that if he loses his special condition of Void Realm repulsion upon death, I should turn him into a powerful undead. So long as I ensure everyone he kills is evil, he's willing to obey my commands."
As a side note, the three of them shared one room while Tamashi stayed in another. Originally, they had intended for all four to stay together so they could protect one another in the event of an ambush, but Tamashi stated that for religious reasons, he could not share a room with heretics.
"We'll return to the Gospel alive."
"Last night on the street, you ran into the Silver Lantern." Harvey shook his head. "If she had suddenly undergone god-hosting right then, could the two of you really have made it back? You might have escaped in time, but the Deceiver might not have."
"Aside from the Silver Lantern, there are far too many existences in the Senluo Wasteland capable of taking our lives. They might not even be sorcerers—it could be a relic of the past, like the blood seeds in our bodies. This isn't the Blood Moon, nor is it the Gospel. There is no regime here to suppress chaos; living by dawn and dying by dusk is the norm."
"It's a pity you don't study the Necromancy faction." He looked back down to study the rabbit. "Otherwise, I could have entrusted myself to you after I die."
Yaxiu blinked, a warm smile spreading across his face. "Harvey, I didn't expect you to actually care about us."
"Hmm?"
"You don't create undead out of your own desires, but to care for the feelings of the living by crafting phantom echoes of the dead," Yaxiu smiled. "When a friend leaves the table, you hope to keep his seat reserved, as though he were still savoring the feast of destiny alongside us."
"...I've always said that the dead are meant to serve the living."
"I remember when we first arrived in the Gospel, you asked Annan to procure a corpse for you without caring one bit about how we felt." Yaxiu glanced at the rabbit carcass. "How come you know to consider our feelings now?"
"Because we don't have separate rooms right now," Harvey replied. "To avoid getting beaten up by you two."
"Let's just say that's the reason, then." Yaxiu shrugged. "Still, your worries are justified. Whenever we face the Silver Lantern in the future, just do what you can, and I'll give it my all."
"Rather than discussing post-mortem arrangements, why not think about matters of the living? Igola has Anfeier waiting for him. Harvey, where do you want to settle down? The Gospel or the Blood Moon?"
Harvey ignored him. Finding no further response, Yaxiu opened *Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook*.
The moment he opened it, three messages popped up.
"Dead Frenzy Sword Princess's Growth Report (6.14–7.4)"
"Bond Level: 4 (75% Experience Sharing)"
"Swordsmanship Faction: Gold → Gold"
"Light Sorcery Faction: Silver → Silver"
"Water Sorcery Faction: Silver → Silver"
"Time Faction: Gold → Gold"
"Space Faction: 0 → Silver"
"Sorcery Power: Gold Full Wings → Sanctuary One-Feather"
"Training Evaluation: S!"
"Due to receiving an S-rank evaluation, Dead Frenzy Sword Princess has gained the Sorcerer Handbook's class enhancement: Dead Apostle!"
"Dead Apostle Class Trait: 5% chance to inflict true damage on target's soul."
"Due to the increase in sorcery power, Dead Frenzy Sword Princess's talent has strengthened!"
"Due to receiving an S-rank evaluation, Dead Frenzy Sword Princess has received the class assessment quest: 'Dead Apostle'!"
"'Dead Apostle': Over the next 7 days, instantly kill 100 targets via the Dead Apostle trait. Upon quest completion, the Dead Apostle class trait can be permanently solidified! Current progress: (0/100)."
Ever since Yaxiu parted ways with the Sword Princess and the others in the Void Realm, there had been no growth reports, until now, when three weeks' worth of accumulated reports arrived all at once.
The trait 'Dead Apostle' was extraordinarily terrifying. True damage meant an attack that could not be mitigated by any means outside of a Sanctuary. Combined with the Sword Princess's inherently sweeping and lethal combat style, triggering it was practically an instant kill. However, while battles were frequent in the Distant Sky Realm, enemies were few in number, unlike the Time Continent where one could grind mobs. Instantly killing a hundred targets would still pose a bit of a challenge.
The Sword Princess's talent had advanced from middle tier to high tier. Beyond the numerical increases, she would now be able to summon phantoms of the Resentful Blazing Dragon far more frequently—and going by past experience, triggering this effect was essentially an instant kill as well.
"Black and White Witch's Growth Report (6.14–7.4)"
"Bond Level: 2 → 4 (75% Experience Sharing)"
"Mind Faction: Silver → Silver"
"Fist and Claw Faction: Gold → Gold"
"Time Faction: Gold → Gold"
"Water Sorcery Faction: Silver → Silver"
"Space Faction: 0 → Silver"
"Training Evaluation: S!"
"Sorcery Power: Gold Full Wings → Sanctuary One-Feather"
"Due to receiving an S-rank evaluation, Black and White Witch has gained the Sorcerer Handbook's class enhancement: Witch!"
"Witch Class Trait: 5% chance to inflict a special status on attack targets, lasting 5 seconds (Fondness, Infatuation, Cherishing, Obsessive Love)."
"Due to the increase in sorcery power, Black and White Witch's talent has strengthened!"
"Due to receiving an S-rank evaluation, Black and White Witch has received the class assessment quest: 'Witch'!"
"'Witch': Over the next 7 days, trigger the Witch trait 500 times. Upon quest completion, the Witch class trait can be permanently solidified! Current progress: (0/500)."
*Whoa,* Yaxiu marveled inwardly. If Dead Apostle was an extreme boost to the Sword Princess's combat prowess, then Witch pushed the Witch's crowd control abilities to a brand-new pinnacle. It was just that these special statuses felt rather bizarre—shouldn't they be things like Stun, Blind, Knockdown, and so on...?
And though it listed four special statuses, weren't all of them just turning the target into the Witch's lapdog?!
The Witch's talent had also undergone some changes:
"Inherent Talent: Witch (High Tier): Grants an additional 200% Time experience, with a low chance to gain 10,000% Time experience. Can occasionally summon the assistance of a Bronze Dragon (Talent tiers unlock as power increases)."
Yaxiu recalled that it used to be "Bronze Dragon's Favor"—how had it turned into "assistance" now?
"Yulanweise's Growth Report (6.28–7.4)"
"Bond Level: 0 → 2 (40% Experience Sharing)"
"Sorcery Power: Sanctuary Zero-Feather → Sanctuary One-Feather"
"Training Evaluation: B"
Weise's growth report showed almost no change, leaving Yaxiu with a mere 'B' evaluation. She was, after all, a newly recruited operator, so it was only natural that she hadn't grown much yet.
What was rather surprising was that Yulanweise's bond had actually leapt from 0 to 2—even though they had spent less than a week together!
This speed was faster than both the Sword Princess and the Witch!
Recalling Weise's soft, almost ingratiating demeanor, Yaxiu thought to himself that he had truly pulled an honest, genuine operator this time. Appearances could deceive, and attitude could deceive, but the bond displayed by the system couldn't possibly lie. If Weise didn't hold sufficient favor toward him, how could the bond have jumped from 0 to 2?
After reviewing the growth reports, it was time to configure training policies.
However, after feeding the three of them Advanced Stamina Potions, Advanced Experience Potions, and High-Grade Career Potions, Yaxiu did not proceed to assign specific tasks.
Things were different now.
When the Sword Princess and the Witch first arrived, neither placed much importance on sorcery, so Yaxiu had to urge their growth through training policies. But now that both were Sanctuary sorcerers who understood their own sorcerous paths, any arrangements Yaxiu made were virtually superfluous.
More importantly, it wasn't just the Sword Princess's and the Witch's bonds with him that had grown; the same was true in reverse.
He trusted them to manage their own plans and was glad to let them have more personal time to live their own lives. As the Watcher, all he needed to do was provide logistical support.
As for Weise, there was even less need to say. While Yaxiu and the others might slack off, how could a bona fide Sanctuary sorcerer like Weise—a Truth Sorcerer proficient in over twenty sorcery factions—ever slack in her studies?
Thus, Yaxiu stopped setting tasks for training, studying, entertainment, and the like, letting his operators develop freely.
By this time, Igola finally emerged from his bath. Yaxiu stretched his back and walked inside to wash up, asking around a mouthful of toothpaste, "Where are we heading next? I can't stand staying in this Black Robe Town for another day."
"Didn't you hear what the Mercury Trojan said?" Igola replied, drying his hair with a towel. "The Silver Lantern is here in Black Robe Town. We either wait for her prophecy to narrow down the search area, or wait for her prophecy to pinpoint the Silver Lantern's destination. Which means that no matter what, we have to stay in Black Robe Town for one more night."
"Noooo—"
...
...
In another room, Weise looked at the three potion bottles that had appeared on the table before her. After a moment of thought, she performed no tests whatsoever, simply gulping down all three potions.
Her reasoning was exceptionally simple: Yaxiu could deliver potions across space, so if he wanted to poison her, why wouldn't he send it straight into her stomach across space? There was no need to overthink such nonsense. Until Yaxiu declared his stance, she would simply treat him as an Awakened relying on composite miracles.
When he awakened to reality from illusion, it would mean his complete revival.
"I already understand the Sword Princess's background, but according to what she said, there's no reason for the Witch to be fond of the Watcher—she has never found any opportunity to deepen her relationship with him," Weise mused. "The Watcher's attitude toward the Witch makes sense; what doesn't make sense is the Witch... It seems the Witch possesses information known only to herself."
"Which pair should I bring together first...?"
A voice identical to hers suddenly drifted from the mirror: "You seem to be fretting over something rather entertaining."
Weise turned her head to see the demure girl step out of the mirror. Somewhat puzzled, she asked, "Has the Illusion Mirror Dragon been watching me too frequently lately?"
"Probably because what you've been going through lately is quite fun," the demure girl said with a smile. "From the look of it, you've already met Yaxiu, haven't you?"
Weise nodded, then asked abruptly, "What was the Yaxiu you met in that other world like?"
"Just like what you're picturing in your head right now." The demure girl lay on her stomach on the bed, swinging her calves back and forth. "Apart from you and me, he was the only one who broke free from the illusion."
Weise couldn't help feeling a tinge of envy. "How wonderful... Why did I have to end up with this Yaxiu?"
She immediately laid out her 'Fast-Forward Relationship Plan' and asked for the demure girl's opinion: "Do you think I should find a way to create an opportunity for Yaxiu and the Witch to stir up the Sword Princess's resentment, or should I go with the flow and help the Sword Princess and Yaxiu confess to each other, and then have the Witch swoop in to crash the party?"
Yet the demure girl did not answer Weise. As if recalling something, an odd smile appeared on her face.
"What are you smiling at?"
"I just remembered something funny," the demure girl giggled. "The Yaxiu in my world was married in reality."
Chapter 563