Leaving Senluo

In the Dead City, everyone trained individually, scattered around the church ruins. Igola placed Gwen on a nearby elevated platform, observing her to see whether the Zero-Hour Hourglass would produce any other effects. Then he summoned his sorcery spirits, gently nuzzling, teasing, and stroking them, even taking out gold and silver coins to feed them. The relationship between a sorcerer and their sorcery spirits had always been an ambiguous matter. Was it useful? Well, no matter how much a sorcery spirit hated you, as long as you were willing to expend sorcery power, it still had no choice but to submit and serve you. Was it useless? In moments when your sorcery power was utterly drained, if you had a good relationship with your spirit, it might just be willing to dig into its own pockets and trigger a sorcery spirit resonance to help you. Still, sorcerers generally leaned toward staying on good terms with their sorcery spirits. Most of the time, a spirit would accompany its master for years or even decades; even without deliberate flattery, spending so much time together was enough to build a bond of trust... Having repeatedly benefited from sorcery spirit resonance during his time in Shattered Lake Prison, Igola was particularly attentive to this. Moreover, even someone like him couldn't wear a mask all day long; only before these innocent, ignorant spirits could he let down his guard completely. Playing with his sorcery spirits and taking baths were his only two outlets for venting stress. After all, Yaxiu could turn to him to confide his mental burdens, but the deceiver had no one to share his pressure with—or perhaps he did, but Igola would never expose his vulnerabilities to anyone; that was a weakness he refused to tolerate. "La la (*^▽^*), la la la..." The relaxed smile that surfaced on the deceiver's face as he romped with his sorcery spirits was something not even Yaxiu had ever seen, let alone Harvey. Only Gwen, frozen in time beside him, could silently appreciate this hidden scene. Boom! Hearing the blast, Igola looked toward the west. It was the orc Chikala studying his flame miracles. To the east, Harvey had found a basement, taking advantage of the free time to perform a comprehensive, meticulous overhaul on Alice. As for why he chose a basement, Igola had assumed it was for the atmosphere, only for the necromancer to explain that it was to keep cadaver fluid from splattering everywhere. The thought of having shared baths with Harvey multiple times in the past made Igola feel as though the stench of corpses clung to his own skin. To the north, Yaxiu and Black Crow were sparring. Although Black Crow had wanted to impart a lifetime of knowledge to Yaxiu, after multiple rounds of dissuasion from Yaxiu, Black Crow had finally abandoned that terrifying notion. Just as Black Crow had said himself: "Effects I achieve only with great difficulty, you people can pull off with ease—and do it even better." Thus, there was no need for Yaxiu to learn those convoluted techniques; what he truly needed to hone under Black Crow was combat awareness. Igola's cultivation did not require physical movement. He continued refining his "Visualization Superposition" miracle while contemplating how to employ his new sorcery spirit, "Change of Heart." "Change of Heart" [Mind Faction, Three-Winged Sorcery Spirit] [Active Effect: Alters the target's will for an instant. The more focused the target is, and the more critical the situation, the easier it takes effect.] [Passive Effect: The sorcerer's own will becomes increasingly steadfast, making it harder to change their mind.] [Your mistake was believing you still had a chance to make mistakes.] The Change of Heart sorcery spirit took the form of an androgynous beauty in a white tailcoat, looking like a groom at a wedding. In truth, he had obtained this sorcery spirit back in the Gospel realm and had once used it to make enemies attack themselves, but by and large, it had sat idle. Because this sorcery spirit could not penetrate a Sanctuary—against opponents below the Sanctuary realm, Igola's damaging miracles were more than enough, and more often than not he didn't even need to lift a finger, simply letting Harvey and Yaxiu off the leash to tear into them; while against Sanctuary sorcerers, if Change of Heart couldn't penetrate their Sanctuary, it was utterly useless. However, after witnessing Silver Lantern's series of "Chaotic Warfare" miracles, the deceiver had gleaned a glimmer of inspiration. Perhaps this sorcery spirit wasn't meant for offense, but for defense... Twelve hours passed, and Gwen did not wake. Igola no longer had any doubts about the effects of the Zero-Hour Hourglass. He retrieved a coat from his spatial card, draped it over Gwen, and returned to studying his miracles. On the fifteenth day, the hyper-extroverted Chikala ran out of conversation topics with everyone, made little headway with his miracles, and completely exhausted his sorcery power. Unable to endure it any longer, he activated the Zero-Hour Hourglass and fell into a deep slumber. On the thirty-second day, Harvey emerged from the basement, his sorcery power completely depleted. He hauled out his coffin, squeezed in beside Alice, pulled the lid shut, and warned Igola not to sit on top of it. On the sixty-eighth day, Black Crow had thoroughly synthesized everything he had observed and gained over these days, creating yet another new technique. Both Yaxiu and Igola were astonished—normally, shouldn't synthesizing and creating new techniques be measured in years? But according to Black Crow himself, excluding the time he spent hunting down vile crows and conditioning his body, he had actually studied combat techniques for less than three years, creating a special technique roughly every month. Taking two months this time was already because he had to train Yaxiu, and because he had truly gained so much during this period that he needed time to let it settle properly. With Black Crow as a sparring partner, Yaxiu's combat awareness had not only improved by leaps and bounds, but he had also thoroughly mastered his ranged attack system centered around "Heart Sword." Black Crow spent another three days scouring the Dead City, and only after failing to find the escaped Silver Lantern did he activate the Zero-Hour Hourglass to slumber. Before drifting off, however, he curled his entire body into a tight ball and pressed a hand firmly over his raven mask, clearly guarding against Yaxiu and Igola taking it off after he fell asleep. On the ninety-fifth day, Igola found Yaxiu still cultivating. "No wonder the others ended up living themselves to death," Igola said. "Our physical bodies follow the normal flow of time. When we were pulled in here, we were full of energy, which is why we still don't feel sleepy even now... After all, not even a second has passed in reality, so how could we be tired?" "Yet not exhausting the body doesn't mean not exhausting the soul. Our souls have remained under intense strain without any recovery whatsoever; wearing ourselves to death is virtually inevitable. If we truly stayed here for three years, our lifespans would probably be severely shortened." As someone proficient in the time faction, Yaxiu had an even deeper understanding of this. "Every action produces water from the River of Flowing Gold. Aging is the corrosion of the spirit body by that water. The Shelter only stops the River of Flowing Gold from corroding our physical bodies, but corrosion of the soul is unavoidable." "I've resolved everything I can resolve here. To take another step forward, I'll need to test it after restoring my sorcery power." The deceiver asked, "Are you going to keep training?" "Yeah." Yaxiu flicked Honeyed Words with a Dagger. "I feel like I still have room to improve." "You were never this diligent before." "Wasn't I inspired by Tamashi? He put so much effort into teaching me; even if it's just to beat him, I have to work hard." Yaxiu smiled. "You, on the other hand—could you stop picking on him?" "Pick on who? Where's your evidence? Don't slander me." Yaxiu suddenly pointed a finger at the deceiver. Heart Sword wove a warm yellow barrier resembling a helmet around the latter's head—this was the fruit of Yaxiu's dozens of days of work: the "Sword Body Barrier Armor." Igola froze—Why are you putting a helmet on me? Then he saw Yaxiu pull out a field cooking skillet from his spatial card. "Rhetorical questions, huh? Evidence, huh? Slander, huh?" With every question, Yaxiu smacked him hard with the frying pan, the bottom clanging loudly against the helmet with sharp clacks. Igola couldn't dodge at all. He was merely a deceiver who operated from the backline; how could he possibly evade a cult leader who had been drilled by Black Crow? "Fine, fine," Igola conceded helplessly. "I won't give him trouble anymore." In truth, even if Yaxiu hadn't said anything, Igola wouldn't have continued corrupting Black Crow. For one thing, they had shared life and death in the Dead City, and Black Crow had earned credit by duplicating the Zero-Hour Hourglass pattern, so the deceiver felt indebted to him. For another, when even the secret of the Senluo Azure Lord choosing a God Era failed to crush Tamashi, Igola felt ordinary methods could no longer break this crow. "Then give him psychological therapy," Yaxiu pushed his luck. "Just as you spent all these days leading him into corruption, you have to guide him back to the right path." "I don't know how to train birds," Igola said. "If a crow has mental issues, can't you just let him eat a few more corpses?" Seeing Yaxiu raise the pan again, Igola rolled his eyes. "You think I'm brushing you off? Tamashi has always been firm-minded. He's probably mostly recovered by now; his defenses only crumbled back then because he learned too much information all at once... Just let him kill a few more villains, and he'll naturally rediscover the meaning of his life through slaughter." Yaxiu thought about it and decided that made sense, so he put away the pan. "Then... good night." Igola glanced at him. "Get to sleep early. Good night." Once Igola lay down as well, Yaxiu began cultivating on the elevated platform where they slept. On the ninety-sixth day, Yaxiu practiced swordplay. On the ninety-seventh day, Yaxiu ran parkour across the rooftops, training his agility. On the ninety-eighth day, Yaxiu found a building and carved all the intelligence and records they had discovered onto its exterior wall. Although crucial information was missing, it would at least save future arrivals some effort. On the ninety-ninth day. Yaxiu sat at the edge of the elevated platform, looking out across the entire Dead City. The night was inky black and utterly silent, as if he were the only person left between heaven and earth. He sat there for six full hours before patting his pants, standing up, and walking over to Igola's side. Speaking of which, their sleeping postures were truly diverse and strange: Black Crow curled up into a ball, Harvey was crammed inside a coffin, Chikala splayed out spread-eagled, and only Gwen and Igola could be considered normal. Yaxiu lay down gently on the cold floor, let out a long breath, touched the hourglass mark on the back of his left hand with his right, and his body grew completely still. One second, two seconds, fifteen seconds, one minute... five minutes... ten minutes. At the ten-minute mark, Yaxiu suddenly unfolded his wings and took flight, quickly patrolling all the surrounding buildings. After making a circuit, he returned to the platform, lay down, and stretched. After zoning out for a while, he abruptly drew Honeyed Words with a Dagger, planted it beside his hand, and activated the Zero-Hour Hourglass. His spirit body sank into dormancy. Half an hour later, Weise crept carefully up the high tower, poking her head out to survey the situation. Even knowing that no external force could wake anyone up, she still tiptoed over to Yaxiu's side. She carefully examined Yaxiu's sleeping face. This seemed to be the first time she had observed his whole face up close. His lips were somewhat thin, his nose rather sharp, his eyelashes quite long, and his eyebrows unkempt... In truth, he was just an ordinary person. How strange. He was clearly just an ordinary person, so why...? She looked at Honeyed Words with a Dagger beside Yaxiu's hand and reached out to touch the hilt, only to recoil as if struck by electricity. Though the wound on her right hand had already healed, when she touched this sword, Black Crow's voice echoed in her mind once more, making her hand throb with phantom pain: You don't deserve it. Weise stood up and found Black Crow. Even knowing it was pointless, she stomped hard on his head several times. Then she went back and lay down beside Yaxiu, turning on her side to stare at this sleeping man. "Actually, I learned how to cook Lalafell delicacies," Weise whispered softly. "I've studied the games you like, analyzed the women you love, and tried everything that interested you. "I actually felt like we still had a chance, but I know better than anyone that we have no future." She sat up and looked up at the lightless night sky. "It shouldn't have been like this," Weise said. "Yet it can only be this way." She raised her hand and gripped the hilt of Honeyed Words with a Dagger beside him. The reason she clung to this sword was merely to take it as a keepsake, or perhaps to seek non-existent companionship from the warmth lingering upon it. Yet the phantom ache in her palm still fiercely impressed a reality upon her. "Maybe I really don't deserve it." Weise took a deep breath, let go of the hilt, lifted her chin, and held her head high. "What's the big deal? It's all an illusion anyway." She leaned down and lightly kissed Yaxiu's forehead. A crystalline tear dropped from the corner of her eye, frozen in time— "Good night." When sunlight peeked through his eyelashes, Yaxiu's first thought was: Is it raining? He sat up, reached out to wipe his slightly damp cheek, and immediately gripped his sword, spreading his wings and flying into the air! Not just him—the other awakened sorcerers also spread their wings and soared high, and even Black Crow leapt up and clung to Yaxiu's back! Long before falling asleep, they had discussed the Four Pillar Cult—the Cult's camp was right outside the Dead City! After twelve hours, it should be dawn. If luck was on their side and the Four Pillar Cult found them as soon as day broke, then upon waking, they could use the full invulnerability granted by the Zero-Hour Hourglass to give the Cult a proper taste of morning irritability. If luck was not on their side and the Four Pillar Cult hadn't found them, then while their invulnerability lasted, they would charge right through and slaughter their way across the Cult's camp! Yet when they flew up and looked toward the Four Pillar Cult's camp, all they saw was a camp in flames. Harvey stared at the camp for five seconds, using who knew what investigative miracle, before stating, "No living souls there, but quite a few corpses." Everyone fell silent, all too aware of whose handiwork this was. "Igola, Harvey," Yaxiu suddenly asked, "how do you feel?" The two were taken aback, then immediately realized what he was asking. After checking carefully, they said, "The blood seed curse is gone." "Same for me." "That's good," Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief. "Then the only problem left to solve is my status as a semi-feeler... In that case..." "Let's find a way to leave Senluo."