Only the Final Step Remains

When the Spectre Prophet expended a vast number of thoughts to deduce the situation, he instantly discovered the insidious nature of this Starry Sky Divine Miracle. The miracle had quietly entwined itself with the entire Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams. Clearly, during the time the Starlight Angel governed the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams, the Divine Lord of Stars had studied the realm extensively as well. It possessed two effects in total: completely locking down the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams, and providing comprehensive support to the Sanctuary sorcerers, helping them restore soul energy, mend injuries, and accelerate the recovery of their sorcery power. Yet the question arose: where did the energy maintaining this divine miracle come from? Naturally, it was drawn from the bodies of the two thousand Sanctuary sorcerers! Though the Sanctuary sorcerers currently appeared completely unharmed, the moment they stepped out of this false starry sky, they would discover that a quarter of their rainbow void wings were gone! If the Starry Sky Divine Miracle continued to persist, their rainbow void wings might even dissolve completely, and it was not impossible that their golden void wings and silver void wings would be dragged down as well! The Spectre Prophet had no way of sowing discord among them, because the Sanctuary sorcerers had not yet lost their void wings; all consequences would erupt only after they departed. If he wished to break free from the starry sky's lockdown, he would have to slaughter every single Sanctuary sorcerer to plunge this starry sky into abyssal gloom! However, these Sanctuary sorcerers were bolstered by the starry sky. Killing them was not impossible, but it would require a massive number of miracles and expend an enormous amount of sorcery power! To make matters worse, the current Spectre Prophet was not even a sorcerer. Far from generating sorcery power, his very existence relied on miracles to sustain—every single thought he had right now was produced through miracles burning soul energy, all to avoid exhausting his core will! He had been squandering the source crystals left from his past life just to drive his sorcery spirits to cast miracles! In maintaining the Spectre Inheritance for an entire month, his source crystals had already been more than half depleted. Just moments ago, he had unleashed the Second Sleepwalking Soul-Refining Forbidden Rite to reshape his soul body, compounding the strain on his already meager reserves. The Divine Lord of Stars appeared to be assisting the two thousand Sanctuary sorcerers, but in truth, she was using their lives to drain the Spectre Prophet's stockpile of source crystals! Even if the Spectre Prophet won, his reserves would plunge to precarious depths. Forget carrying out the second phase of his resurrection; he would struggle even to cling to life, his remaining lifespan entering an immediate countdown! How venomous, how ruthless, how insurmountable! Yet the Spectre Prophet's expression remained utterly unchanged. While evading the Sanctuary sorcerers' relentless pursuit, he rapidly burned through soul energy, countless thoughts colliding and reorganizing in his mind! He had encountered desperate crises like this countless times in his past life. He had even been hunted down by the Divine Lord of Stars herself, reduced at his most miserable to a state where his physical body was obliterated and only a wisp of soul escaped alive. Had the Divine Lord of Stars personally descended to slay him, that would be one thing, but right now it was merely a single divine miracle. What did he have to fear? Suddenly, the Spectre Prophet manipulated the black spheres to attack the Sanctuary sorcerers. The Sanctuaries scattered to dodge, while the ranged combatants seized the opportunity to snipe at him. However, the Spectre Prophet hid among the black spheres, using them to deflect the ranged bombardments while repeatedly ramming them into the clusters of Sanctuaries to no real effect. After a few exchanges, Igola and the other Mind Sanctuary sorcerers saw through it—the Spectre Prophet was stalling for time. Indeed, this was the solution the Spectre Prophet had devised. There was no need to engage in a war of attrition with the Sanctuary sorcerers. The lockdown, the restoration of soul energy, and the acceleration of sorcery power recovery—every single effect was depleting their void wings. So long as he dragged things out until their void wings were exhausted, the starry sky miracle would naturally unravel on its own. Because the Ghostly Dream black spheres were creations he had forged in his past life, controlling them required only a tiny fraction of thought. Although doing so wasted a considerable amount of time, the Spectre Prophet could at least conserve a substantial amount of source crystals for the future! Yet while the Spectre Prophet wanted to stall, the Sanctuary sorcerers certainly did not! They had no knowledge of the truth behind the Starry Sky Divine Miracle, but that did not stop them from adhering to a fundamental principle: whatever the enemy supports, we oppose! Since the Spectre Prophet wanted to drag out the fight, they had to bring it to a swift resolution! After a brief, efficient exchange through mind communion, the Sanctuary sorcerers received a new order: attack the black spheres and seize the Spectre Inheritance! Without dealing with the black spheres, they could not hit the Spectre Prophet. In that case, they would wipe out every last sphere first. Moreover, this aligned perfectly with the interests of the vast majority of the Sanctuary sorcerers—they had come here to plunder the Spectre Inheritance in the first place! Noticing the shift in their tactics, the Spectre Prophet immediately kept shifting the black spheres around to prevent them from concentrating their fire. Although the spheres automatically restored their durability, the sheer number of Sanctuary sorcerers overwhelmed them. They would focus on hounding a single sphere, destroying it in a matter of minutes, and then happily divide the rewards inside. As time passed and the number of black spheres dropped below one hundred, the entire Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams felt far emptier. And whether it was an illusion or not, they felt the gloom of the Kingdom of Heaven turning somewhat grayer. When the number of black spheres dropped below five, the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams became hazy gray, as if dawn were about to break. At the same time, they noticed trails of star-marks appearing along the outer walls, making the Kingdom of Heaven resemble a colossal birdcage. When the black spheres dwindled to the very last one, the Spectre Prophet still had not struck back, and the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams was almost completely bright. Sensing something, Baiyu asked, "Are the black spheres the pillars supporting the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams?" "They are the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams," the Spectre Prophet replied leisurely. "Once you destroy all the black spheres, nothing will remain of the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams except an outer shell. When that happens, perhaps you might be able to leave." Leaving was naturally impossible, but in order to maintain the lockdown on a Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams reduced to an empty husk, the Starry Sky Divine Miracle would inevitably accelerate the drain on the Sanctuary sorcerers' void wings. That was precisely why the Spectre Prophet had barely lifted a finger to stop them from destroying the spheres—whether the Sanctuary sorcerers chose to stall or destroy them, either option saved him source crystals. As they attacked the final black sphere, some Sanctuary sorcerers drew close to the outer walls in preparation to flee, while even more closed in around the Spectre Prophet. Now that things had reached the point where battle was unavoidable, the Spectre Prophet showed no hesitation. He glanced over Baiyu, Zhuozhou, Ezhao, Trozan, Igola, and the other talents who had distinguished themselves in the earlier clash. He had always maintained the habit of hunting prodigies. In this unprecedented melee of Sanctuaries, the more of these leading figures he slaughtered, the easier the remaining rabble would be to handle. The order of targets, the methods to employ, the room to sow discord... Sparing no soul energy to generate countless thoughts, he swiftly formulated a flawless slaughter plan. If killing were considered a sorcery faction, the Spectre Prophet was undoubtedly a demigod sorcerer of it as well. Crack. With the thunderous shattering of the final black sphere, the Kingdom of Heaven in Dreams turned brilliantly luminous, nearly opening up completely to the outside world, save for the starry birdcage that still imprisoned them. When the Sanctuary sorcerers attempting to flee reached the perimeter of the birdcage, they discovered countless finer cage threads—slamming into them was no different from crashing headlong into a solid wall! As if receiving a signal, the Sanctuaries and the Spectre Prophet struck at the exact same moment. Vengeful souls, flames, frost, bullets... countless miracles stood poised to erupt! Yet at that very moment, right in the center of the Kingdom of Heaven that was supposed to be completely empty, a transparent golden sphere suddenly materialized! Inside the golden sphere stood a majestic golden hall! Within the hall were four black-robed sorcerers and a bizarre demon—the Dream Demon! Yet what drew everyone's eyes most of all was none other than the crystal spirit base in the center of the hall, formed from the convergence of countless sorcery spirits! At that moment, the black-robed sorcerers were slotting the final fragment into the crystal spirit base. Immediately, the raging flames, thorns, dark clouds, swamps, and skeletal remains within the crystal spirit base took on their corresponding colors, as though the scorched earth were calling out for its master. Merely gazing upon this spirit base made the Sanctuary sorcerers feel as though their throats were being gripped, suffocating them. Intense dread emptied their minds, and even the sorcery spirits within their souls crouched, clutching their heads and trembling in terror! "This aura, this might..." Ezhao's eyes widened. "Is it a god?!" "It's a godhead!" The Spectre Prophet's face contorted with ravenous frenzy. "A complete virtual godhead!" Gazing upon the virtual godhead before it, the Dream Demon spoke in a low voice that sounded like a solemn proclamation, yet also like a groan: "When all living beings enter dreams, the nightmare shall begin its descent! "Now, only the final step remains!"