Even in life, the Spectre Prophet had possessed no gods.
The only god he had ever owned, 'Second Cycle', had completely vanished after being used. After starting life over, although his cultivation path was smooth sailing, his foresight advantages dwindled as his strength grew, until they were utterly depleted by the time he reached the demigod rank.
Not only that, even after he advanced the prophecy faction to the demigod realm, he repeatedly ran into walls and suffered atrocious luck. No matter how meticulously he laid his plans, someone would always snatch away his opportunities.
As a result, in the several centuries after attaining divinity, he contested for gods dozens of times without yielding a single result.
Only when the Spectre Prophet elevated the time faction to the demigod realm did a vague realization dawn on him: the repercussions of restarting his life with the god 'Second Cycle' had simply been too drastic and profound, yet at the same time jarringly conspicuous. It was like a fish swimming in a river—if it drifted downstream making minor adjustments, it could remain safe and sound; but if it flapped its tail against the current to stir up ripples, those ripples would eventually accumulate into monstrous waves that would sweep the fish away instead.
Back then, the Spectre Prophet had taken the initiative to slaughter every genius and eccentric. It had certainly felt exhilarating, but the resulting ripple effect continually accumulated, only revealing itself once the future slipped entirely beyond his grasp. Simply put, his luck had turned abysmal; whatever benefits he tried to seize would, through sheer twists of fate, end up in someone else's hands.
Yet an evil sorcerer like the Spectre Prophet would naturally never regret what he had done; he would only seek another way forward and press on.
For a demigod sorcerer, a god was indeed the finest catalyst for universal laws, but that did not mean one could not cast divine miracles without a god.
Concepts and World Secret Realms could both substitute for gods to channel the power of laws!
After decades of scheming, the Spectre Prophet finally killed the twelfth master of the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams, becoming its thirteenth owner. Although the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams was already shattered, it still retained some of a secret realm's might. He devoted himself to research, creating numerous divine miracles with its help, and even refining a prophecy divine miracle: Prophetic Dream!
It was precisely because of the most crucial prophecy yielded by Prophetic Dream that the Spectre Prophet decisively abandoned clinging to an ignoble existence, choosing instead to be resurrected in the future.
Yet resurrection was already a divine miracle, let alone the resurrection of a demigod. The Spectre Prophet researched for a long time, and shortly before his life came to an end, he unexpectedly gained entry into the destiny faction, only to discover that he had all along been protected by a destiny brand—a brand originating straight from the destiny laws of the god 'Second Cycle'!
As a single-use consumable god, 'Second Cycle' not only contained the time laws that sent him back to the past, but had also engraved destiny laws upon him to help him resist the backlash of the ripple effect.
Had it not been for the protection of the destiny brand, the Spectre Prophet would have suffered fierce backlash back when he was still a mortal hunting geniuses. The destiny brand's effect was to postpone all that backlash until after he became a demigod, when it finally erupted gradually, only losing its efficacy upon his death.
Relying on the might of the destiny brand combined with the power of laws within the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams, the Spectre Prophet finally devised the divine miracle that could resurrect him: the Second Sleepwalking Soul-Refining Forbidden Rite!
The reason he had faced the two thousand Sanctuary sorcerers and reviewed modern sorceries earlier was precisely to attach wronged souls to the sorcerers and compel the Sanctuary sorcerers to squander their sorcery power. The less sorcery power they had, the harder it would be for them to resist this divine miracle. And since the black spheres were originally made from wronged souls, the sorcerers inside naturally could not escape this fate either.
The effect of this divine miracle was exceedingly bizarre: it plunged the targets into a dream, where they lived their lives all over again! Of course, the targets would not possess memories of the future; rather, they would re-experience their lives according to their original destinies.
Yet no matter what their lives were like, the event of the Spectre Prophet's resurrection would inevitably occur in their dreams, and at the opportune moment they would be attacked by the Spectre Prophet, ultimately being possessed and replaced by him without exception!
Having an entire lifetime in the dream as a foundation, they would naturally believe they had truly become the Spectre Prophet. When the Spectre Will then extracted their souls to reconstruct and refine them, there would be no rejection response whatsoever.
More importantly, because their souls were being refined willingly, their sorcery knowledge would also be inherited by the Spectre Will!
With two thousand Sanctuary sorcerers as the foundation, even if a vast amount of knowledge were lost in the process, he could still seize the opportunity to become a modern sorcerer proficient in all sorceries!
Thus, this divine miracle actually consisted of two steps: the Second Sleepwalking, and the Soul-Refining Forbidden Rite!
Of course, this was merely the first stage of resurrection. To achieve complete resurrection, he would still have to go to Hell to locate his missing soul fragments.
Even as the Spectre Will pondered, the Second Sleepwalking had come to an end. So he flew to the dead center of the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams and began executing the Soul-Refining Forbidden Rite.
Whoosh...
All the Sanctuary sorcerers were like pigs strung up for slaughter, their mouths hanging agape as clumps of soul source-substance gushed from their eyes and mouths, converging upon the Spectre Will like thousands of tributaries.
The souls of these people—of varying races, genders, sorceries, and temperaments—fused seamlessly at this moment as if originating from the same source, pouring into the Spectre Will's body in constant reconstruction.
The Spectre Will let out a silent sigh in his heart.
Had it been after the End, going to Hell or doing anything else would have been far more convenient; at least the Divine Lords should have cycled through a new generation by then, and no one would remember who the Spectre Prophet was... But now, not only did he have to face the obstruction of 'old acquaintances', but he also had to figure out a way to survive the End. This was truly...
It was all the fault of that surviving bastard, the Prime Angel.
Just as the Soul-Refining Forbidden Rite entered its latter half, when the Sanctuary sorcerers had been drained until only wafer-thin phantoms remained, the Spectre Will suddenly raised his head and saw starlight shimmering across a sorcerer in the distance.
A dazzling, brilliant starlight.
The Spectre Will's eyes widened—The Concept of Stars?!
In the next second, a starry sky emerged within the dim Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams. The moment the soul connections between the Sanctuary sorcerers and the Spectre Will were illuminated by the starlight, they instantly dissolved and shattered.
The Sanctuary sorcerers opened their eyes as if awakening from a dream. Yet having undergone the baptism of a lifetime in that dream, they were unable to recover their wits right away. Their consciousness was still steeped in the rapidly dissipating memories of their sleepwalk, leaving only life's three quintessential questions in their minds: *Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?*
Soon, however, starlight burrowed into their minds, helping dispel their daze and drowsiness, continuously healing their souls and pointing out their direction: destroy the Spectre Will!
"It's the Divine Lord of Stars! The Divine Lord has intervened!"
"We were this close to dying silently..."
"Since your Divine Lord of Stars has intervened, why hasn't she broken through the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams already? Why leave us trapped here?"
"Watch your tone!"
"Because the Spectre Will has obtained a soul," Baiyu said, shaking his head to scatter the superfluous memories of the dream. "If she smashes Heaven, he would have an opportunity to flee as well. So the Divine Lord of Stars will not only refrain from breaking Heaven, she will even seal off the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams from the outside."
"Then how do we get out?"
"The only way out is to destroy the Spectre Will. This starry sky is constantly replenishing our soul energy and sorcery power just so we can risk our lives more effectively." Ezhao glared at the Spectre Will and asked, "Did you have a grudge against the boss of Stars in the past?"
The Spectre Will replied expressionlessly, "The twelfth owner of the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams was named the Starlight Angel."
After a brief silence, the war between the Sanctuary sorcerers and the demigod erupted once more.
...
When the Sword Princess and the Witch were teleported back to the Golden Hall, Yaxiu immediately rushed forward to pull them into a tight embrace. Weise turned around, gritting her teeth as she demanded of the Dream Demon, "Why did you wait until now to bring them back?!"
Yaxiu and Weise had had no idea what was happening outside until the souls of the Sword Princess and the Witch began to be siphoned. Due to the chain reaction of Bedfellows with Different Dreams, they had only then vaguely sensed that something was wrong with their companions.
Now, seeing the dazed, blank expressions on both the Sword Princess and the Witch, let alone Yaxiu, even Weise felt a fury searing through her gut. Incensed beyond care, she summoned her sorcery spirits and aimed them straight at the Dream Demon!
Without realizing it, Yaxiu had also drawn his sharp sword, planting it beside him as he sat down cradling Sonia and Diya. The faint glimmer of the Heart Sword danced and wound around them, as though seeking to impart a bit of warmth to the two girls.
"They were under the Spectre Will's control just now. Teleporting them back then would have exposed the secrecy of this place," the Dream Demon said calmly. "However, there is no longer any need for them to stall for time out there."
Weise's gaze grew cold. "If there were still a need, you would have made them keep stalling?"
"Of course," the Dream Demon answered. "The Nightmare God takes precedence over all else."
Weise fell silent, turning around to crouch down and look at the trio. Her eyes met Yaxiu's, and both of them silently made up their minds.
"Cough, cough."
Diya suddenly coughed twice, a glimmer gradually returning to her eyes. Because she and the Sword Princess had been inside the black spheres, they had not received any assistance from the starlight at all, only coming around now.
"Dream Demon, shave away my soul cap to buff everyone," Yaxiu said calmly.
"As you wish."
When the Dream Demon cast the spell, Yaxiu took a deep breath to dull the pain. He turned his head and saw the Witch staring blankly at him, a faint smile gracing his lips. "It's all right now. I'm here."
"Mm."
The Witch reached out to loop her arms around his neck, leaning gently against his shoulder. "You'll protect me. You're the real one."
Yaxiu chuckled. "Could there be a fake Watcher?"
"Not only was there a fake Watcher, but there was also a fake Witch." Diya hugged him tighter. "Luckily, they were all fake. We're the real ones."
Feeling the Witch trembling against him, Yaxiu felt a surge of empathy. He gave her forehead a gentle kiss and then rested his forehead against hers. "Don't worry. Nothing you're afraid of will happen."
Diya nodded vigorously, only then slowly relaxing.
At that moment, the Sword Princess suddenly let out a whimpering sound. Yaxiu looked over and saw tears welling in her eyes, an expression of dazed grievance on her face, like a kindergartener whom no one had come to pick up.
"Sword Princess?"
"Watcher!" Sonia sniffled, shoving Diya aside and throwing her arms around Yaxiu, letting out whimpers like a boiling kettle. "I... I think I almost died—"
Burying her head and clutching Yaxiu's clothes, she choked out with a cracking voice, "I'm so scared."
Yaxiu was slightly taken aback, only then realizing something.
This was indeed the Sword Princess's very first time facing a brush with death.
Unlike a death-scamming veteran like him, who brushed shoulders with the Grim Reaper so often he had developed frozen shoulder from it, the Sword Princess had lived all her life in a school. The most dangerous activity she engaged in was merely competing in tournaments, and even those were safeguarded by miracles so that no matter how severe the injuries, one could always be saved.
Although they had been pursued a few times in the Void Realm, they had scraped through each ordeal, falling far short of facing true death. And no matter how perilous it got, he had always been by her side.
Yet this time, the Sword Princess had nearly died—dying silently, unknowingly, without even having the chance to leave behind any last words.
"Don't be afraid," Yaxiu said softly. "I'm scared too."
"Do you remember what you promised me?" Sonia sniffled.
"Too many things. Which one?"
"You promised you would come to Stars." Sonia looked up, gazing at him with tear-blurred eyes. "Coming to Stars will surely bring you plenty of trouble, and if I leave with you, there will definitely be lots of danger... But compared to all that, what I fear most is not being able to be with you."
"I don't want to die with so many regrets."
*Such a childish thought...*
Yaxiu couldn't help but chuckle. Yet he understood as well: when someone encountered the terrifying abyss of life and death for the first time, it dealt a tremendous blow to their worldview, easily giving rise to thoughts and emotions they would never normally harbor.
Looking at Sonia, who was still deeply immersed in her emotions, he leaned down and kissed the corner of her eye and her tears.
"I'll do my best so you can die with no regrets."
The Paw-Stretching Sword Saint froze, her wits yanked right back by those words.
Chapter 676