Wishing Pool

At the same time, Ruby Mountain. This ruby-red mountain range, washed by the waters of the Flowing Gold River for countless years without ever fading, now looked as though a layer of dreamlike, milky-white jam had been drizzled over its summit. The milky jam blanketed the crimson crystal beneath, fading in density from the heights down to the foothills. Seen from afar, it resembled a creative dessert—strawberry and milk flavored, at that. Up close, however, one would find that the milky jam was merely a layer of faint light clinging to the ground. Yet it was this very glimmer that caused the Legendary Sorcerers attempting to climb to either weep uncontrollably, dance in ecstatic frenzy, grieve in sheer despair, or bristle with towering rage! Halfway up the mountain, Mercury Trojan crawled forward on all fours, slowly ascending. She had barely advanced a few steps when her body suddenly trembled violently as if an electric current were coursing through her. Intense waves of maternal love, joy, and anticipation battered the sea of her heart. She could almost see herself cradling an ugly newborn babe, filled with immense joy that this child had been born into the world, sincerely hoping the child would grow up happy... Feeler Secret Art: Trojan Tower! A mercury-colored ripple stirred across her soul, and the surging emotions within her gradually subsided until rationality regained the upper hand. At the same time, back in reality, at least tens of thousands of female Four Pillar Cultists suddenly felt a spontaneous surge of overflowing maternal affection, desperately craving something cute to soothe their yearning hearts. Mercury Trojan's form steadily stabilized, and she continued climbing Ruby Mountain. Even without knowing the progress of others, she knew she was undeniably among the foremost ranks—perhaps even the fastest climber of all! Mercury Trojan was naturally not a Legendary Sorcerer herself; at present, she was merely occupying the soul of Olewa Warcraze, the 'Pope of Annihilation'—a Legendary Sorcerer of the War Temple. She generally did not interfere with her subordinates' Void Realm Exploration, but when it came to a god's inheritance, she naturally had to step in personally. If the god's inheritance were too difficult, she would probably have given up. But the thing was, among the four inheritances that had appeared in the Void Realm, the one from the Mirage Lord of Thousand Wishes happened to be the easiest for her! Compared to the inheritances of other angels, the trial set by the Mirage Lord of Thousand Wishes was remarkably simple and straightforward, not complicated in the least: climb to the mountain's peak, seize the 'Heart of Wishes' left behind, and inherit His divine kingdom. To this end, He had even temporarily suppressed Ruby Mountain's 'Infinite Extension' trait. For the duration of the inheritance, Ruby Mountain would not be endless as it had once been. As long as one was willing to walk, theoretically, two hours was all it took to reach the peak! And the trial provided was this milky-white glimmer blanketing the upper half of Ruby Mountain. At first, the sorcerers had no idea what it was. But as they continued climbing and breaking through, information regarding this faint light gradually flowed into their hearts. This glimmer was entirely the projection of a secret realm from the Mirage Lord of Thousand Wishes's divine kingdom—a realm known as the 'Wishing Pool'! The sorcerers had never heard of the Wishing Pool before, yet just like the Flowing Gold River, the Great Road, and the Inquiries of Destiny, the Wishing Pool was a world secret realm capable of bridging reality and the Void Realm. Inside it accumulated the wishes of countless sentient beings over tens of millions of years. Every sincere wish transformed into a point of light stored within the Wishing Pool. After countless years, the Wishing Pool had become an ocean of light. The layer of glimmer currently spread across Ruby Mountain was not even one ten-thousandth of the Wishing Pool. When sorcerers came into contact with this light of wishes, they would be battered by the wishes within: at best, their will would become confused and unable to advance; at worst, their personality would undergo a drastic shift, taking another's wishes as their own! In theory, the light of wishes was merely a mind faction attack, and Legendary Sorcerers essentially possessed means to resist the mind faction, so they should have been able to bypass the light of wishes with ease. Yet whether due to the Mirage Lord of Thousand Wishes's divine miracle modification, or because a qualitative change had arisen from quantitative accumulation within the Wishing Pool itself, the light of wishes now actually contained the profound mysteries of the destiny faction! Even if sorcerers could immunize themselves against the psychological shock, they still could not avoid being contaminated by the destiny within! The destiny faction was inherently one of the most enigmatic sorcery factions; let alone defending against it, most Legendary Sorcerers had never even seen it before. How could they possibly contend against the destiny miracle left behind by the Mirage Lord of Thousand Wishes? Yet precisely because of this, the Legendary Sorcerers' thirst for the god's inheritance burned all the more fiercely. If before they had not fully understood what use obtaining a divine kingdom would be to them, the Wishing Pool was now an irresistible temptation—this was a world secret realm capable of elucidating the profound mysteries of destiny! As long as they secured the Wishing Pool, not only could they cultivate the destiny faction, but the Wishing Pool might also spontaneously generate destiny sorcery spirits, just like the Flowing Gold River! Unlike the other Legendary Sorcerers who could only withstand the light of wishes by sheer endurance, Mercury Trojan had a way to mitigate the shock of its contaminating pollution! Her Feeler Mercury Trojan ability was not merely about controlling others; it linked everyone's souls into an interconnected whole, allowing her to traverse freely among them. When an avatar suffered physical damage, she was helpless and could only transfer away and retreat. But the light of wishes contaminated the soul—and through her secret art, 'Trojan Tower,' she could distribute that contamination across thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of people! However, this secret art functioned like a champagne tower: liquid could only spill over once the uppermost glass was completely filled. Thus, only when Olewa's soul could no longer bear it would the contamination flow down the Trojan Tower and disperse among the others. Even so, Mercury Trojan had it far easier than any other Legendary Sorcerer. Only if the concentration of the light of wishes reached a point where it instantly overwhelmed Olewa's soul would she be unable to climb any further. She estimated that one would need to hone their destiny faction to at least the gold tier within the light of wishes to have any hope of reaching the summit to claim the Heart of Wishes. Yet with the aid of her Feeler secret art, Mercury Trojan only needed to raise her destiny faction to the silver tier to make it to the top! As for destiny talent, Olewa might lack it, but Mercury Trojan herself was a prophecy sorcerer! The three great esoteric sorcery factions—destiny, prophecy, and truth—were inherently intertwined. When it came to destiny talent, only Truth Sorcerers might surpass her! Mercury Trojan looked up at the sparkling Heart of Wishes at the summit of Ruby Mountain. Funnily enough, ever since the god's inheritance began, the phantom image of an angel that normally appeared at the summit had vanished, leaving many Legendary Sorcerers quite disappointed. After all, Legendary Sorcerers were well aware of the rumor: once one condensed colorless void wings, as long as they found the angel atop Ruby Mountain, it would open the trial for the next level. If one could obtain the god's inheritance while simultaneously breaking through the boundary between mortal and divine to become a demigod, that would be ideal beyond measure. However, Mercury Trojan did not care about that. She only wanted the Mirage Lord of Thousand Wishes's divine kingdom and that blank concept. As long as Yaxiu and Silver Lantern remained uncaught, she would not feel safe for a single day. She lived every day in dread, terrified that in the very next second, she would lose her Feeler Throne, the Four Pillar Cult would fall under Yaxiu's or Silver Lantern's control, and she would be forced to flee in panic... Not to mention that Black Crow who kept his eyes fixed right on her... As long as she secured a divine kingdom, she would have a way out! And if she obtained the blank concept, she might even take things a step further! "Be it Yaxiu, Silver Lantern, or even the Four Pillar Gods..." Mercury Trojan pressed through the light of wishes, climbing upward. "I will not remain a powerless weakling forever... Never!" *** "Excuse me, are you a Veela?" the Little Witch asked curiously. Yaxiu was utterly certain that if Igola were present, he would have mocked him with biting sarcasm—*Haha, Yaxiu, so the day has come when someone mistakes even you for a Veela!* "No," Yaxiu said. "I actually don't know why they like me either..." "Ah! There it is! The classic Veela line: 'I don't know why he likes me either!' And said with such an innocent, naive tone!" the Little Witch declared in shock, pointing at Yaxiu. But soon, she giggled, patted Yaxiu's shoulder, and said, "I was just teasing. I know Veelas are only female; a male veela has never appeared in fairy tales." Yaxiu blinked, thinking to himself that the Little Witch's personality really was... quirky and whimsical. "Still, why does the picture I'm supposed to paint have you and four sisters who are in love with you?" The Little Witch tilted her head. "Do you guys have something to do with me?" Recalling Little Sword Princess's attitude from earlier, Yaxiu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Could I not say? It doesn't really have anything to do with your painting." "Then let me guess." The Little Witch paused, then said, "In truth, you're my son, and the four sisters are my daughters-in-law?" Yaxiu was dumbfounded. "Why would I be your son?" "Because I think you feel pretty familiar, like family, but you're not my brother or sister. If what you said is true and my memories have been blocked, isn't the most likely possibility that you're my son?" the Little Witch said as though it were the most natural conclusion. "Why didn't you guess that I'm your father?" "Because I don't think I have four mothers?" *Watching TV dramas makes kids violent, and reading fairy tales gives kids wild imaginations...* Yaxiu shook his head, telling himself that Sword Princess and the Witch were merely isolated cases; it wasn't the fault of TV dramas or fairy tales. Still, the Little Witch was in good spirits, so Yaxiu reached out and patted her head. "Good girl. Once you finish painting, we can leave." The Little Witch narrowed her eyes slightly and stood on tiptoe, leaning in closer. "Pet me a little longer." "Will you paint after I'm done petting you?" "Mm-hmm." Suddenly, the sound of stomping came from next door. Yaxiu looked over and saw Little Sword Princess stamping her feet. The moment Yaxiu looked her way, she immediately stopped and faced her whiteboard, merely watching them out of the corner of her eye. Her endearing little fidgets made Yaxiu chuckle inwardly. Right then, the Little Witch suddenly spoke up: "Actually, those four sisters... are all me, aren't they?"