Overall, the Colorless Dream Secret Poison was fairly similar to the Rainbow Tail Secret Poison, its most crucial effect being the conversion of sorcery power. Although Yaxiu and the others hadn't condensed a single bit of colorless sorcery power yet, whenever they wished, they could convert their silver, golden, or rainbow sorcery power into primary color sorcery power.
What baffled them right now was this: what exactly was primary color sorcery power? How did it differ from colorless sorcery power?
"Colorless sorcery power isn't truly colorless."
In a situation like this, it was naturally time for model student Sonia to take the floor. "There are no truly colorless virtual wings in this world. It's just that when legendary sorcerers first condense their legendary virtual wings, the color is so faint that people casually refer to them as colorless.
"In fact, legendary virtual wings are not only not colorless, but they are also kaleidoscopic. Every legendary sorcerer's legendary virtual wings are unique. The professor told me that once a sorcerer reaches Ruby Mountain, they no longer condense universal sorcery power. Instead, depending on the sorcery faction they specialize in, they condense different colors of sorcery power.
"For example, a fire sorcerer's legendary virtual wings might be composed of flame-colored sorcery power. When commanding fire sorcery spirits, flame-colored sorcery power not only expends less energy, but can also unleash several times or even tenfold the potency. In exchange, however, using flame-colored sorcery power to drive other sorcery spirits will drastically increase consumption, and it offers no buff whatsoever."
"Even so, legendary sorcerers rarely condense pure-colored virtual wings." Sonia spread her hands. "I don't know the exact proportions, but they're usually a composite color blending multiple sorcery factions together, meant to amplify the vast majority of sorcery spirits they normally use.
"As for this primary color sorcery power..."
Sonia closed her eyes, suddenly drew her longsword, and swung it from afar at the ground!
A sinister ripple like a grinding winch gouged through the terrain, blasting a deep crater into the earth!
The little fox spirit gave a soft yelp and stared at them with wide, pitiful eyes, as if asking why they were hoeing the ground when the earth had been so well-behaved.
"It drastically enhances the effects of sword arts sorcery spirits and reduces sorcery power consumption," Sonia said. "This primary color sorcery power is the pure-colored sorcery power of our main discipline. In my case, I condense sword-colored power."
Weise pondered. "If that's the case, this secret poison puts us at a slight disadvantage. Under normal cultivation, we would have condensed composite-colored virtual wings, but now we're forced down the pure-color path."
Diya, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't resist speaking up. "Do you know how long it takes to dye legendary virtual wings?"
"Huh?"
"Another reason legendary virtual wings are called colorless is that they stay without color for a very long time. A sorcerer has to slowly adjust them, permeating them with sorcery to dye them." Compared to Sonia, who relied on hearsay, Diya had learned the details from the Gospel long ago and naturally knew far more. "This process usually takes three to five years. Before then, using colorless sorcery power to drive Four-Wing sorcery spirits provides no boost at all, and it even increases sorcery power consumption.
"Furthermore, pure-colored sorcery power is far more precious than composite colors."
Diya said earnestly, "Whether in combat or in production, a pure color represents a higher spellcasting ceiling. Compared to the sustained casting endurance offered by composite colors, a higher ceiling is obviously vastly more meaningful to a sorcerer."
There was another detail Diya didn't mention: obtaining pure-colored virtual wings was far harder for legendary sorcerers than obtaining composite ones. If composite colors took three to five years of dyeing, then pure colors required at least ten years of color-tuning to slowly filter out the impurities previously condensed inside.
Even so, the information the Witch provided was enough for Yaxiu and the others to realize that pure-colored sorcery power was superior. Most sorcerers had little need for sustained casting endurance; even if they did run into a war of attrition, if they felt they were being outlasted, they could simply run away. With a sanctuary, how could they fail to escape?
Raising the spellcasting ceiling, on the other hand, meant more possibilities: tails they couldn't sever before could now be severed; injuries they couldn't heal before could now be healed; attacks they couldn't withstand before could now be blocked for an extra second, leaving enough time to flip the enemy off...
Everyone tested their colors. Yaxiu and the Sword Princess were both sword-steel; Diya was time-gold; Weise was truth-green.
After taking stock of their personal gains, they turned their attention to the little fox spirit.
Yaxiu thought for a moment and asked, "Xiao Meng, what do you think the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven can provide us?"
"Huh?" The little fox spirit opened its wide, bewildered eyes. "It can... provide a place for you to sleep? It's so big here, you can sleep wherever you want!"
In other words, aside from the resources in the wishing pool, they couldn't get much help from the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven for now... Yaxiu looked into the distance and asked curiously, "What lies outside the Kingdom of Heaven? The fifth layer of the Void Realm? The sixth?"
Yet the little fox spirit shook its head. "There is no outside to the Kingdom of Heaven."
Sonia said, "It's only this big, so there must be boundary walls, right? Isn't whatever lies beyond those walls the outside?"
"There are no walls." The little fox spirit paused. "If Masters keep walking straight ahead, you'll just walk right back to the wishing pool."
Since everyone had initiated into the space faction, they naturally understood what the little fox spirit meant—the space here was connected like the surface of a sphere. Yaxiu asked again, "What about the sky and the ground? If we keep flying up, or keep digging down..."
The little fox spirit stood on tiptoe and hopped once. "If you fly to a certain height, no matter how hard you fly, you won't get any higher. As for digging down, you can dig very deep, and there are lots of resources under the ground, but the deeper you go, the harder it is to dig!"
"Then can you send us out of the Kingdom of Heaven?"
Tears suddenly welled in the little fox spirit's eyes. With a wail, it wrapped itself around Yaxiu's thigh like an octopus and refused to let go. "Master, don't abandon Mengxing! Mengxing is very good! In the future, I'll eat very little and work a whole lot, and I won't cause Master any trouble!"
In truth, Yaxiu and the others were merely curious about what was outside. Clearly, the little fox spirit was incapable of granting that wish.
However, the little fox spirit's words reminded them of a very important, even terrifying question: "Xiao Meng, you... what do you eat?"
"Of course Mengxing eats dreams." The little fox spirit sniffled and gestured with its paws. "The kind that flutters around, with cyan wings and a red body, shaking out lots of glowing specks..."
The little fox spirit spent a long time describing it before Weise made the connection. "Your food is the entering dreams sorcery spirit?"
According to the *Spectre Manual*, the entering dreams sorcery spirit was precisely a butterfly with cyan wings and a red body!
"Yes, yes!" Hearing this, the little fox spirit couldn't help gnawing on its fingers, drool almost spilling out. "Crunchy, sweet, and smooth—so yummy! The more wings it has, the tastier it is!"
The four of them exchanged glances. Frankly, they weren't particularly surprised; after all, since the Mengxing god was the bane of all dream sorcery spirits, it was only natural that its food was the foundation of all dream sorcery spirits: the entering dreams sorcery spirit.
But where were they supposed to find entering dreams sorcery spirits for the little fox spirit?!
The entering dreams concept had just been consumed by them, and the Dream Kingdom of Heaven was now gone. Aside from hoping for sheer blind luck to pick up an entering dreams sorcery spirit in a place like Miracle Paradise, they couldn't think of any other way to obtain them.
"Though Masters were pretty tasty earlier, too," the little fox spirit added.
"What?" Yaxiu hastily inspected his own soul. "What did you eat just now?"
"Dreams," the little fox spirit said. "You slept for a whole day. You didn't make very many, but they smelled really nice!"
Everyone had a sudden realization—aside from entering dreams sorcery spirits, the little fox spirit could also survive by eating human dreams!
Even though they didn't know how to find people for the little fox spirit to feed on, it was still far simpler than tracking down elusive entering dreams sorcery spirits. Besides, the little fox spirit wasn't hungry right now, so it wasn't an urgent crisis. They all breathed sighs of relief.
Then came the ultimate question: how were they supposed to leave?
"The Gate of Truth can be opened here," Weise said quickly. "And it connects to our physical bodies in reality, not Ruby Mountain."
"So we can return directly to reality, and entering the Void Realm next time will bring us to Ruby Mountain," Yaxiu said. "Then how do we return to the Kingdom of Heaven... Right, the Wish Heart Core!"
They had originally been teleported here upon picking up the Wish Heart Core, so couldn't they just repeat the trick next time they wanted to come in?
Yet the little fox spirit dumped a bucket of cold water over their heads. "Masters, if you want to lock onto the interior of the Kingdom of Heaven and teleport here, it will consume one wish heart."
Yaxiu froze. "How many wish hearts do we have left?"
"One hundred and thirty-two," the little fox spirit said, counting on its fingers. "After deducting the monthly divine miracle consumption, we can save up one extra every month."
Damn it!
Unless they stayed in the Kingdom of Heaven without leaving, coming here once a week—let alone daily—would be a stretch!
Even though they didn't have much business here, being able to drop by at any time felt completely different from having a strict limit on visits! It was like unlimited mobile data versus a ten-megabyte cap, an all-access gym membership versus a punch card, or playing a video game with cheat trainers versus grinding vanilla!
Just as everyone was reassessing the value of the Kingdom of Heaven, Weise suddenly asked, "Can one teleport in from reality as well?"
"Yes." The little fox spirit thought about it and said, "As long as you touch the Wish Heart Core, you can."
Before the Sword Princess or the Witch could speak, Yaxiu beat them to it. "Teleport in to eat Xiao Meng?"
A look of terror appeared on the little fox spirit's face, its expression practically shouting: *Mengxing is so cute, why would you eat Mengxing?!*
The Sword Princess and the Witch clamped their mouths shut at once.
Indeed, even the little fox spirit had nothing to eat here, let alone Yaxiu. Unless he also cultivated the frailty faction to the realm where eating dirt served as a meal, he wouldn't survive inside the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven either.
Of course, Yaxiu could teleport into the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven and then travel to other places, but the problem looped right back around: how was he supposed to travel to other countries?
Forget reaching other countries—once his physical body entered the Kingdom of Heaven, he wouldn't even know how to get out!
"You should keep it." Weise handed the Wish Heart Core to Yaxiu. Sonia and Diya readily agreed, and Yaxiu did not decline. Despite its numerous drawbacks, the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven truly was the best emergency retreat. If he encountered a life-threatening crisis, withdrawing directly into the Kingdom of Heaven and waiting for the Sword Princess and the Witch to bring him food was certainly an option.
As he took the Wish Heart Core, Yaxiu suddenly gazed intently at Weise. Weise blinked. "What is it?"
"The blank concept," Yaxiu said.
Weise paused, then shook her head. "I didn't sense any blank concept."
Only then did the Sword Princess and the Witch react—right, what about the most important blank concept? Their original goal had been to secure it so that Yaxiu could cross between countries!
"You were the one who picked up the wish heart. If a blank concept really exists, the owner it recognized should be you," Yaxiu said. "Perhaps it has already heard your wish. Weise, do you have any wishes?"
"I..."
Weise parted her lips slightly, then offered an apologetic smile. "I have far too many wishes."
Still, the blank concept had always been an off-chance hope, like a lottery ticket. On top of that, their gains this time were already immense; missing out on the blank concept wasn't heartbreaking. They didn't dwell on it any longer. After agreeing to rest tomorrow and begin exploring Ruby Mountain the day after, Yaxiu tapped open the "Void Realm Exploration" module and selected "End Exploration."
Thirty seconds later, their consciousnesses reconnected with their physical bodies, and they began their return to reality.
Unlike their usual return from the Void Realm, however, this time they seemed to encounter resistance. They felt as though they were diving deep under the sea, their speed somewhat sluggish...
In the abyssal darkness, Yaxiu and the others vaguely sensed a hazy grey road materializing before them. It branched into dozens of forks, and a fierce intuition warned them that setting foot upon it would mean becoming utterly lost!
Divine Miracle · Lost Road.
At the same time, a trail of blood-red smoke drifted up from behind. The smoke condensed into the shape of canine fangs, hideous and sickening; merely being aware of its presence felt as if a chunk of flesh was being ripped away!
Divine Miracle · Fang Smoke.
In the end, the Divine Lords had not been willing to admit defeat and let a few mortal sorcerers inherit the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven. They had laid an ambush along the path returning to reality!
These divine miracles wouldn't kill them, but they would certainly seize control of them!
Yet the four of them were powerless to act! Let alone fighting back, even forming a coherent thought was immensely difficult right now!
Suspended between illusion and reality was inherently the most dangerous moment for a sorcerer!
They could only watch helplessly as the divine miracles descended, paying the price for possessing what they were not worthy to hold—
"Eh?"
"Isn't it close to dying...?"
"Interesting."
"You dare—"
Rustling murmurs reached the ears of Yaxiu and the others. Then, they saw dark green grass suddenly sprout all over the grey road and the blood-red smoke! The grass looked withered and limp, yet it stubbornly absorbed the energy of the two divine miracles. As it grew at a rapid pace, the divine miracles shrank swiftly in turn!
The grey road collapsed as a result; the blood smoke dissolved away!
Divine Miracle · Fate-Calculating Grass!
Just as they were about to escape disaster, someone seemed unable to swallow their anger. The blood-red smoke swelled outward and transformed into a colossal dog fang, snapping down viciously on Yaxiu and the others!
Like being bitten by a hound, an agonizing, heart-wrenching pain tore through their bodies!
Yaxiu bolted upright, gasping for breath as if he had just awakened from a nightmare.
Yet the complete numbness in his right hand told him that everything that had transpired in the abyssal darkness was no illusion!
Two shameless Divine Lords had attacked them!
Yet for some reason, another Divine Lord had stepped forward with righteous aid, helping them out of the bind!
Who would have thought that in a world of sorcerers drowning in materialism and cold indifference, there could still be such a warmhearted Divine Lord?
Even so, Yaxiu and the others hadn't escaped unscathed. Their souls had suffered heavy trauma, and there was no telling how long it would take to nurse them back to health.
Suddenly, a warm towel gently wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. Yaxiu lifted his head and realized Black Crow was sitting beside his bed.
Before he could ask anything, Black Crow's distorted voice preceded him. "You have been asleep for three days and two nights."
Yaxiu couldn't help feeling as though an entire lifetime had passed. Though it had only been three days and two nights, it felt like thirty chapters' worth of major plotlines had gone by.
"Thank you for looking after me the whole time."
"How do you know I looked after you the whole time? Perhaps I only just arrived."
"Well, I couldn't have changed my own trousers, could I?"
"Couldn't it be—"
"No." Yaxiu smiled. "I'm guessing Igola asked you. Harvey is fine for keeping watch over my life and death, but if Igola dared trust him with taking care of me, Harvey would dare treat me like a corpse... If there were no one else, Igola would probably have watched over me himself, but since you were here, he was naturally comfortable leaving me in your hands. He actually trusts you quite a bit."
"Speaking well of him to me is useless," Black Crow said.
Yaxiu shrugged. "Help me call Igola over."
"When you woke up, I already notified him. But he's outside right now, so it'll take a short while for him to return," Black Crow said. "The person you trust most is the deceiver after all?"
"Not at all. This time, it's because I want to show off something to him." Yaxiu lowered his voice mysteriously. "I now have the ability he's yearned for in his dreams!"
Black Crow asked curiously, "What ability?"
"The ability where whatever I say, people are willing to believe!" Yaxiu said excitedly. "Isn't that amazing? I can hardly wait to see the look of jealousy on Igola's face!"
The moment he had seen the effect of Troubadour's Words, Yaxiu's first thought had been Igola!
If Igola had this blessing, it would be a game-ender! But it had fallen into his own hands instead—talk about top-tier stationery paired with an academic slacker!
"It is very impressive," Black Crow said. "However, it holds little meaning for you."
"Why?" Yaxiu asked curiously. "Because I don't tell lies very often?"
"Because you already possessed that ability."
Black Crow suddenly turned toward the door. "He's back. That was fast."
Yet they waited a full ten seconds before the door was pushed open. The deceiver walked into the room with breezy composure, his appearance impeccably groomed. He cast a glance at Yaxiu and said calmly to Black Crow, "If nothing is wrong, don't summon me back. If something is wrong, call Harvey directly to dispose of the body. Understood?"
"Igola," Yaxiu said with a look of extreme frailty, "I'm dying."
Igola paused. He closed his eyes in silence for a moment, then slowly opened them, his words like chilling blades of ice: "If you intend to lie to a deceiver, I will make sure your death is an ugly sight."
Yaxiu turned to look at Black Crow with utter bewilderment. "Why do I feel like this ability of mine is completely useless..."
Black Crow stared at him in silence for quite a while before speaking slowly:
"Were you lying just now?"
Chapter 689