The Dream Awakening God and the Wishing Pool

“To think we actually slept here for a whole day and night…” With that, the Witch sat up and let out an earth-shaking, lingering yawn. Then she came over and shook everyone awake. Yaxiu and Sonia had no choice but to wake up obediently. But when they opened their eyes, they saw Weise lying right beside them, a strange, unreadable smile playing on her lips, which made both their hearts flutter with unease. Yaxiu immediately changed the subject. “Is this the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven? Why is it so… so…” “Desolate,” Weise defined precisely. To be designated a “kingdom,” the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven was naturally vast and expansive. The four of them stood in a temporary palace atop a high ridge, unable to see the end of the horizon no matter where they looked. Yet everywhere they cast their eyes was cracked, desolate earth. That alone would have been fine, but in the distance, they could see several kinds of disasters raging across the land, making the earth wail and the sky change color! The sky was split into three hues, their convergence point falling directly over their temporary palace. Beneath the crimson sky lay a sea of corpses swarming with maggots and flies, giving rise to immense clouds of blood flies every single second. Beneath the azure sky sat a crystal-clear, deep blue lake, but everything outside its waters was cast in monochrome shades of black, white, and gray. Beneath the yellow sky, a massive mushroom cloud erupted every ten seconds, unleashing a scorching radiance that melted all things, followed by a shockwave that flattened everything in its path! However, these disasters were each enveloped in a gentle white light, ensuring that damage remained confined to their immediate vicinity without affecting other areas of the heaven. Still, this was far too divergent from the Dream Heaven they had imagined—so much so that they even wondered if they were still dreaming. After Yaxiu and the others retrieved the Heart of Wishes, they were transported into the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven, whereupon everyone promptly collapsed into a deep slumber. They were simply too exhausted. Under ordinary circumstances, they shouldn’t have fallen asleep, since a soul entering the Void Realm served as a substitute for sleep. But they had not only endured two consecutive days of high-intensity godhead operation, but had also been forcibly replenished in spirit through the Dream Demon’s miracle, all while plotting their escape right under its nose… Both physically and mentally, they had been subjected to severe trials. Immediately after that, upon reaching Ruby Mountain, they had somehow managed to seize the Thousand Wishes Inheritance and inherit a heaven that even demigods could only dream of! Faced with such drastic ups and downs in life, the fact that their strained nerves hadn’t snapped on the spot was already proof of remarkable mental fortitude. Falling into a dead faint the moment they entered the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven and confirmed their safety was likely just their body’s stress-response mechanism kicking in. However, the most probable cause was the influence of the warm pool of white light beside them. Yaxiu and the other three turned their heads toward the only structure in the entire heaven that made them feel they had struck it rich: The Wishing Pool! There was no water inside the Wishing Pool; instead, an intensely concentrated light of wishes pooled together like dense milk, making one yearn to soak inside. The pool was far from empty. Many sorcery spirits frolicked and played within, while several Hearts of Wishes bobbed up and down. The five-tailed little fox spirit was currently soaking in the Wishing Pool. Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, the other sorcery spirits had gathered around it to form a living lifebuoy, allowing it to float around lazily and contentedly. Noticing its masters’ gaze, the little fox spirit lightly leaped onto the pool’s edge, then bounded up to give each of them a hug in turn, shouting excitedly: “Masters, you’re finally awake!” In the end, Diya pulled the little fox spirit into her embrace. In truth, everyone wanted to hold it, but Diya clung to it tightly and refused to let go. The four gathered around to review their gains and losses from this endeavor. “It feels like we’ve gained so much that I don’t even know where to start…” It was Yaxiu’s first time experiencing such sweet trouble. Looking at the little fox spirit, he asked, “First of all—what is your name?” Until now, they still didn’t know what god they had created. The Colorless Dream was merely a phenomenon, not the god’s name, though from it they had vaguely deduced the little fox spirit’s true identity. Sure enough, the little fox spirit tilted its head, as if they had asked a very strange question. “Dream Awakening’s name is Dream Awakening!” Its foundation was the concept of entering dreams, and its effect was to pull them out of an angel’s dreamscape, so it was obviously a god that awakened people from dreams. Yet upon hearing the little fox spirit’s answer, everyone couldn’t help feeling a trace of disappointment. Without a doubt, the little fox spirit was the nemesis of all dream miracles. Against miracles like ‘Soul-Tethering Dream’, ‘Same Bed, Different Dreams’, and ‘Yearned for in Dreams’, Yaxiu needed only to activate the little fox spirit to instantly dispel their effects. For Yaxiu and the others, however, they rarely encountered enemies who specialized in the dream faction. If they were proficient in the dream faction, they might have been able to use the little fox spirit to research new miracles. But both the Spectre Inheritance and the Nightmare Inheritance guarded the dream faction with utmost secrecy; they couldn’t even grasp the basics! Even so, the little fox spirit was far from worthless. On the contrary, its true value was absurdly immense—enough to overturn the entire sorcerer world! “Little Dream,” Diya said, rubbing the fox spirit’s ears with an affection she couldn’t tear herself away from, “if a Sanctuary sorcerer is in the Distant Sky Realm, and you cast a spell on their physical body in reality, can you make them awaken from the Distant Sky Realm’s dreamscape too?” The little fox spirit nibbled on its thumb, answering somewhat uncertainly, “Probably? But as long as someone is dreaming, Dream Awakening can wake them up!” The four exchanged glances. Sonia’s eyes held panic, Diya’s held contemplation, Weise’s expression was calm, and only Yaxiu showed a look of joy as something occurred to him. “However…” The little fox spirit looked at them, a puzzled look on its face. “Masters, why are you separated now… Dream Awakening will only recognize you when you merge your bodies!” “It’s soul fusion, not merging bodies!” Yaxiu corrected. “Is there a difference?” The little fox spirit grew confused. “Does it have to be all four of us together?” Sonia asked. “Can’t any of us do it individually?” The little fox spirit shook its head repeatedly. “Dream Awakening is very principled and will never serve a stranger—even an unfamiliar master won’t do!” “In other words, we can’t use the Dream Awakening god for the time being,” Weise remarked. “If we want to use the Dream Awakening god on someone in reality, we’d have to bring it outside ourselves. But we must perform a soul fusion to obtain its recognition, and soul fusion can only be done in the Void Realm. There’s no solution to this problem—it’s a dead end, at least for now.” Weise spread her hands. “If a single person had completed the ritual process, this problem wouldn’t exist. But in that environment, the sorcery spirit materials had to be distributed among us. Yaxiu was responsible for the soul fusion, Sword Princess and Witch were responsible for enduring the Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon Harmonization Forbidden Rite, and I was responsible for carrying the concept of entering dreams… We could only create the Dream Awakening god together.” “Still, perhaps for this very reason, our personalities don’t seem to have been influenced by the Dream Awakening god.” Weise looked toward the little fox spirit. “I’ve heard that when mortals wield a god, their will is often usurped or their personalities altered by it. With four of us sharing custody of the god, we’ve likely diluted Dream Awakening’s influence.” Diya chimed in, “It could also be because Little Dream was just born. It’s too young and hasn’t grown enough to affect us yet.” On this topic, the Witch was eminently qualified to speak. The Gospel god inside her was an ancient deity that had existed for at least several millennia, and every single host who wielded Gospel had developed a strikingly similar personality. That was also why she was so fond of the little fox spirit: beyond being adorable, Little Dream was so obedient and quiet, unlike that dreadful, wicked old hag Gospel! “Wait,” Sonia suddenly noticed something. “When we return to reality, where is Little Dream going to stay?” “I can stay right here!” The little fox spirit said eagerly. “There aren’t any gods here at all. I can help you manage the Wishing Pool!” “Manage the Wishing Pool?” Everyone was taken aback. The little fox spirit nodded vigorously, wriggled out of Diya’s arms, lay by the pool’s edge, and dangled its white-stockinged little feet into the pool, attracting a flock of sorcery spirits that swarmed around it. “If I can manage the Wishing Pool, Dream Awakening feels like I can grow up faster!” The little fox spirit thought for another moment, lowering its head a bit shyly. “Though when it comes to managing the Wishing Pool, Dream Awakening only knows a little bit. The output can probably only increase by 20% to 25%! And there might even be new special materials produced! Dream Awakening will do its best!” That the little fox spirit and the Wishing Pool could influence each other was something Yaxiu and the others had guessed long ago. After all, the Dream Awakening god belonged to the dream faction, which was a secondary sorcery branch reconfigured from the soul faction and the mind faction, whereas the Wishing Pool was a Secret Realm of the World formed by the intertwining of the mind faction and destiny faction… With the mind faction as a common intersection, it was hardly surprising that the little fox spirit loved frolicking in the Wishing Pool. Yet they hadn’t expected the little fox spirit to take the initiative to manage the Wishing Pool—and claim it could increase its yield by 25%! They could hear the longing in the little fox spirit’s voice; clearly, managing the Wishing Pool offered immense benefits to it as well! They knew that demigods and divine lords placed great importance on Secret Realms of the World—such as the Dream Heaven, or the six colors that had vanished from the Time Continent. They also knew that demigods and divine lords placed immense value on gods—such as the Nightmare god that the Angel of Dreams had coveted for countless years, or the unique social environment of the Senluo Wasteland that allowed gods to ascend… Yet they had never imagined that there was such a connection between gods and Secret Realms of the World! In a daze, they felt as if they were catching a glimpse of the Curtain woven jointly by demigods and divine lords, its corner now being quietly lifted by their hands.