Source Crystals

"The god that the original body initially sought to create was not Nightmare, but Sweet Dream." The Dream Demon said, "If he had been able to create the god Sweet Dream, he could have unleashed the miracle 'Dreams Come True'—interfering with fate, bending time, doing as he pleased, truly omnipotent. If he had held both the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams and the god Sweet Dream at once, even as a newly ascended God Lord, the original body would have had no fear of challenges or sieges from the ancient God Lords. "Unfortunately, the dream faction was a secondary sorcery school created by the original body based on the mind and soul factions. In the past, the original body jealously guarded his secrets, so it never truly flourished. In the original body's era, the conditions for the birth of a god of Sweet Dream were not yet ripe; try as he might, the original body could not design a godhead for Sweet Dream. "However, because the original body excelled at cursing and slaughtering with Nightmare miracles, the concept of nightmare reacted back upon the Void Realm from reality, ripening the conditions for the birth of a Nightmare god. That was why the original body shifted to creating the god Nightmare instead." As a devil, the Dream Demon could not lie, and so the expressions in the eyes of Yaxiu and the others shifted slightly. If up until moments ago their impression of the Nightmare Angel was largely that of a 'hooligan monopolizing public resources,' a 'loser from countless years ago,' or an 'evil sorcerer who refused to rest in peace even in death,' now they finally viewed the Nightmare Angel as a venerable forefather of sorcery. Creating the dream faction out of the mind and soul factions—for this alone, sorcerer history had to remember the Nightmare Angel's achievements. He had pioneered an unprecedented new domain of sorcery, even compelling the Void Realm itself to adapt and adding to the grand sum of the Void Realm's knowledge. The title of Nightmare Angel was proof enough that he had not merely founded it, but carried the dream faction to heights that struck terror into the hearts of his enemies. Regrettably, the Nightmare Angel had kept it closely guarded all along. Following his sudden demise, the dream faction's legacy was cut off, leaving it without further development. His accomplishments were likely absorbed into the mind and soul factions; for example, the Spectre Prophet's 'Soul-Tethering Dream' probably had deep ties to the Nightmare Angel. What Yaxiu and his companions felt now was akin to seeing a figure from a history book stepping right before their eyes. Even though the Nightmare Angel was no good man—and had even threatened their lives—he remained a sorcery pioneer far beyond their current reach. Yet the Dream Demon had not said all this to earn their admiration. "Although the original body could not create the Sweet Dream god, the concept for the miracle 'Dreams Come True' was feasible. Drawing upon the unique environment of the Distant Sky Realm, through continuous revisions, the original body created the miracle 'Yearned for in Dreams.' "The foundation of this miracle lies in the fact that whenever any sorcerer enters the Distant Sky Realm, they generate their own dream bubble." Yaxiu and the others stared in surprise. "The dream bubbles you traverse are all other sorcerers' dreams." The Dream Demon said, "Why do some dream bubbles suddenly shatter? Because that sorcerer has left the Void Realm. Why are the affixes on each dream bubble different? Because an affix is a different sorcerer's perspective on the world." "Affixes are a sorcerer's view of the world?" Sonia could not help asking. "What do you mean?" "Suppose there is an affix stating that fliers suffer no damage whatsoever. What perspective does that represent?" Weise offered an example. "It represents that sorcerer's conviction regarding flight within their dream," the Dream Demon said. "Most likely, they are adept in aerial combat and believe aerial combat completely outclasses ground combat, hence giving rise to such an affix." The bubbles we traverse are other sorcerers' dreams? Then are other sorcerers traversing our dreams as well? "I think I've seen rumors like that before... No, I even saw a similar plot in a movie!" Sonia murmured. "That's it—it was that blockbuster hit from a few years ago, Adventures in Wonderland!" "The female lead encounters her own dream inside a dreamscape resembling the Distant Sky Realm! Could a sorcerer have actually—" "Impossible," the Dream Demon said. "The original body already conducted experiments. Whenever a sorcerer approaches their own bubble, it automatically bursts. You can never encounter your own bubble. "It is only natural for ordinary sorcerers to guess that dream bubbles are connected to themselves, but from the vantage point of a Sanctuary Sorcerer, they have no way to verify their hypothesis. Besides, even if a sorcerer knew this secret, it would hold no practical value." Indeed. Although Yaxiu and the others were initially astonished by the connection between sorcerers and bubbles, when they thought about it carefully, what difference did knowing make? Would it get them a twenty percent discount on fruit? Between truth and practice still stood the barrier known as reality. Yet just because they could not make use of it did not mean a demigod could not. "The more bubbles you explore, the higher the chance of generating an affix bubble that materializes the bubble's affix into a sorcery spirit," the Dream Demon said. "In essence, this is actually you borrowing other sorcerers' insights to summon new sorcery spirits." Diya spotted a blind spot. "That's not right. Most sorcery spirits generated from affix bubbles are strange spirits that sorcerers cannot summon on their own, existing somewhere between fantasy and reality. For instance, my Witness spirit can attack targets along my line of sight. Sorcerers can't comprehend or summon fantasy spirits like that at all." The Dream Demon calmly replied, "A Three-Wing Sorcerer cannot comprehend it, and a Four-Winged Sorcerer cannot comprehend it, but would a Five-Winged demigod or a Six-Winged God Lord also fail to comprehend the Witness spirit you speak of?" It was not asking a question, and directly explained: "The sorcery spirits that can be summoned will always vastly outnumber the sorcery spirits you know of. For any minor step forward in a sorcery branch can intertwine with other branches to produce countless new sorcery spirits. Yet certain sorcery spirits can only be understood and summoned by sorcerers who have stepped into the divine realm. "And the unique nature of dream bubbles lies in how sorcerers utilize their own insights to retrieve the corresponding sorcery spirit from the Void Realm's complete repository of spirits. So long as a sorcery spirit can exist, it can become a reward from a dream bubble." Hearing this, Yaxiu and his companions finally understood the operating mechanism of the Distant Sky Realm. First, when a sorcerer entered the Distant Sky Realm, a corresponding dream bubble was formed. All their sorcery accumulation and worldviews up to that point became affixes within the bubble. When a sorcerer explored enough bubbles to form an affix bubble, they could use that affix as a medium to query the Void Realm's complete repository of spirits and ultimately receive their reward. Simplifying the entire process: sorcerers were retrieving spirits from the Void Realm's complete spirit repository! The dream bubbles and affixes were merely intermediaries responsible for testing and retrieval! "Based on this mechanism of the Distant Sky Realm, the original body created the miracle 'Yearned for in Dreams,'" the Dream Demon said. "By using other sorcerers as casting materials, distorting their dream bubbles and altering their affixes into the required affixes, one can summon desired sorcery spirits directly from the Void Realm's complete spirit repository. "In fact, the majority of the reserves here were created by the original body through 'Yearned for in Dreams.'" Only now did Yaxiu and the others understand why this miracle had to be cast within the Distant Sky Realm. Sorcerer → dream bubble → fantasy sorcery spirit: the tight connection among the three allowed the Nightmare Angel to find an exploitable loophole in the rules: by striking directly at sorcerers in the Distant Sky Realm, one could steal sorcery spirits from the Void Realm's complete repository! "But if that's the case..." Yaxiu began to speak, but halted instantly. "Right now, there are nearly a thousand Sanctuary Sorcerers inside the Spectre Inheritance, and all of them are suppressed under the Spectre seals, completely powerless to resist," the Dream Demon said. "This is your opportunity." The miracle "Yearned for in Dreams" evidently had two major difficulties: first, finding Sanctuary Sorcerers; second, subduing them. Yet neither of these difficulties existed within the Spectre Inheritance! To vie for the inheritance, Sanctuary Sorcerers from across the entire Void Realm had swarmed here—there was no shortage of targets! Furthermore, the Spectre Inheritance sealed sorcery power and spirits, reducing their combat ability to the barest minimum! The Nightmare Inheritance was perfectly piggybacking on the Spectre Inheritance to achieve its own goals. Yaxiu and the others exchanged glances, each seeing vigilance in the eyes of their teammates. Rather than a coincidence, it was more likely that the Nightmare Angel had foreseen this scene long ago when setting up his inheritance. He was the original master of the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams, so naturally he anticipated how future successors would utilize it. He was a mind demigod, an angel who had founded the dream faction! So long as someone used the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams to establish an inheritance, the hidden inner inheritance he concealed would take effect alongside it! When a being like that laid out an inheritance, it was bound to be foolproof. Mere Sanctuary Sorcerers like the four of them had no choice but to obey. "All right, we understand," Weise said. "Then how do we cast 'Yearned for in Dreams'?" The Dream Demon lightly tapped a finger, and six sorcery spirits drifted down before them, accompanied by a miracle sorcery procedure. "'Yearned for in Dreams' was originally a complex miracle driven by hundreds of sorcery spirits at once, but after the original body simplified it, you can cast it in six steps using six sorcery spirits. These six spirits can be loaned to you temporarily. For the three tasked with collection, using two sorcery spirits each should be more than enough." Diya pointed at the sorcery spirits, her eyes wide. "But they have more wings than us—we're only Three-Wing Sorcerers, so how can we drive Four-Wing sorcery spirits?" "The original body anticipated this situation long ago," the Dream Demon said. "Not only for collecting spirits, but when crafting the virtual godhead, you will need to drive hundreds of spirits simultaneously. Even a Legendary Sorcerer wouldn't possess enough sorcery power to sustain that. Therefore..." A massive treasure chest rose behind the Dream Demon; its placement alone showed that this chest held what it valued most. It flipped open the chest to reveal dark, illusory, octahedral crystals resting within. Annihilation and change churned inside the crystals, as though energy reactions were taking place non-stop. "These are source crystals left behind by the original body." The Dream Demon conjured three source crystals and let them float before the sorcerers. "Each source crystal can be converted into a vast ocean of colorless sorcery power, and if used by a demigod sorcerer, it can even be converted into Five-Wing sorcery power. They serve as the universal currency among demigods. With these three source crystals, it will be enough for you to cast Yearned for in Dreams over a hundred times." Yaxiu's pupils shook violently, yet he managed to ask in a steady tone, "Are source crystals very valuable?" "Extremely valuable," the Dream Demon said. "At his peak, the original body accumulated around 1,500 source crystals. Now, only 88 remain." Yaxiu reached out, took the source crystals to examine them, and turned his head to cast a glance at his companions. Sonia and the others naturally had no idea why Yaxiu was so shocked, but they could at least tell that Yaxiu not only knew about source crystals, but owned some himself. This piece of information naturally strengthened their conviction that Yaxiu was a reincarnated powerhouse. In the past, they had thought Yaxiu was at most a reincarnated Legendary, but it turned out they had still underestimated him. Just what other surprises are you hiding, you little rascal? However, no one in the team cared anymore whether Yaxiu was a reincarnated powerhouse. Whatever secrets he still kept, in Diya's eyes he was still her knight, in Sonia's eyes he was always the Spectator, and in Weise's eyes he was simply Yaxiu. "Wait!" Diya suddenly blurted out. "According to this miracle sorcery procedure, if we want to create Four-Wing sorcery spirits, we have to subject sorcerers to extreme dream stimulation, wearing down their souls until they're obliterated before there's any chance of success!" "Yes," the Dream Demon nodded. "That is the drawback of Yearned for in Dreams. To create a Four-Wing sorcery spirit, one must almost completely grind down a Three-Wing Sorcerer's soul. That is why the original body could not farm Three-Wing Sorcerers to harvest them periodically and could only treat them as single-use consumables." Sonia held back the Witch, who wanted to speak further, and asked, "So we need to kill twenty-eight sorcerers to gather the sorcery spirits?" "In practice, because you will be inexperienced at first, you likely won't obtain the required spirit materials from the list in your first ten attempts," the Dream Demon said. "Therefore, I will grant you a harvest margin of fifty sorcerers. However, due to time constraints, you had best keep the total within one hundred. "If there are no issues, please begin as soon as possible."