In the basement of the luxury villa in Jialesi.
As the five overlapping contracts dissolved into wisps of smoke, all five faintly felt a subtle weight settle onto their souls.
"Now that the contracts are signed, where's the treasure?" Adele looked around curiously. "I get it! Is it hidden inside these desks and chairs, and we have to shave off the outer wood?"
It was hardly surprising Adele thought so. After all, the basement was mostly filled with ordinary desks, chairs, and furniture. Everything was visible at a glance, with nowhere obvious to conceal anything.
"The treasure isn't here," Felix said.
"If it's not here, what did we come down here for?"
Adele looked utterly bewildered, but the others appeared to have anticipated this all along. Lois pinched Adele's cheek in exasperation. "Pay a little more attention in class! We're sorcerers, not ordinary mortals. When we hide something, how could we stash it away in the real world like common folk?"
"If not in the real world, then where... Oh, the Void Realm!" Adele had an epiphany. "No wonder sorcery spirits are needed to unlock the treasure!"
Compared to the real world—rife with unexpected turns, shifting seas and mulberry fields, natural disasters, and human follies—the Void Realm was the most ideal storage vault imaginable: unchanging across eternity, free of calamities, and utterly devoid of human habitation.
The Void Realm had never been merely a training ground for sorcerers; it was the bedrock of the entire sorcerer system. To this day, no one dared claim to have thoroughly unraveled the Void Realm's secrets. Almost every year—every month, even—sorcerers developed new techniques by utilizing the Void Realm.
Sorcerers were like children picking up seashells along the shore; before them still lay a vast ocean brimming with the unknown.
Void Realm storage technology was nothing new, yet even today it remained uncommercialized—a miracle exclusive to high-ranking sorcerers.
The principle behind it was simple enough: find a way to anchor the Void Realm coordinates of the Gate of Truth, ensuring that one would arrive at the exact same location every single time. That coordinate naturally became the sorcerer's personal storehouse.
Easier said than done. The Gate of Truth manifested randomly within sorcery spirits, so how could one ever anchor its coordinates?
This involved another little-known field of study: sorcery spirit relational studies.
Since sorcery spirits possessed intelligence, they naturally harbored emotions as well. However, sorcerers were incapable of perceiving them; at least, sorcerers below the Sanctuary realm could not discern a spirit's joy, anger, sorrow, or delight.
Yet when multiple sorcery spirits drew close and interacted, their moods inevitably shifted. If one could identify the patterns behind those shifts and stabilize a spirit's mood in a specific state, the Gate of Truth within its body would remain stationary, turning into an eternal, unchanging coordinate in the Void Realm!
Felix summoned his Wave Sword sorcery spirit and instructed, "The moment Wave Sword's expression changes, you must immediately have Killing Intent Sword approach it. Are you ready?"
Sonia nodded and summoned the Killing Intent Sword spirit.
Felix let out a breath and summoned his Mutual Affinity spirit as well—a pure, adorable, single-winged young maiden sorcery spirit.
The Wave Sword spirit had the appearance of a cold, stern swordsman. When the Mutual Affinity spirit fluttered around him, his expression remained completely unchanged; when Mutual Affinity took his hand and swung it back and forth, he still did not react. Then suddenly, Mutual Affinity leaned in and kissed Wave Sword. The perennial icy mask on Wave Sword's face finally thawed, revealing an almost imperceptible blush.
Now!
Sonia immediately commanded Killing Intent Sword to step forward. Killing Intent Sword appeared as a red-haired swordsman in crimson robes wielding dual blades, wreathed in a red aura. As he drew near, Mutual Affinity ducked behind Wave Sword, and Wave Sword confronted Killing Intent Sword without a shred of fear, black ripples radiating from his entire being!
Sorcery Spirit Relational Dynamic: Battle of Pure Love—achieved!
Felix's gaze sharpened, his consciousness delving deep inside Wave Sword to seize the Gate of Truth!
Expand!
A grey speck flew out from within the sorcery spirit, then swelled rapidly, soon turning into a hazy, translucent grey bubble.
The grey bubble expanded slowly in midair, illusions of thunder and lightning even flashing within it. Everyone hung back, not daring to get close.
The Gate of Truth could indeed be expanded, but that held little practical meaning for sorcerers in the real world—because only a soul could enter the Void Realm.
No matter how large the Gate of Truth expanded, it was impossible for a sorcerer to carry anything inside.
Physical matter could not enter the Void Realm.
In reverse, however, the rules changed.
Things from the Void Realm could pass through the Gate of Truth into reality. Certain knowledge creatures would even seize the opportunity to cross over into the physical world, acquiring real bodies and wreaking wanton havoc.
This was also the very foundation of how sorcery spirits were born: sorcerers used knowledge to stir resonance with the Void Realm, allowing the truths of the Void Realm to flow into their knowledge. When knowledge and truth intermingled, a sorcery spirit came into being.
That was why Sonia and the others had retreated in fright toward the foot of the stairs, ready to turn and bolt the moment anything went wrong.
Coordinates in the Void Realm that sorcerers could use as storehouses were rarely peaceful, gentle places. If a sorcerer stashed items on a calm, quiet islet, setting aside the risk of discovery by other sorcerers, knowledge creatures also hunted for food there.
Felix's choice to expand the Gate of Truth rather than project himself inside also signaled his awareness of how perilous the corresponding location in the Void Realm was; anything could happen. A widespread joke around the academy told of a sorcerer who had barely opened his Gate of Truth before being knocked unconscious by a blast wave—likely because a battle was raging at that very coordinate.
Getting killed by one's own Gate of Truth was widely regarded as one of the most foolish ways for a sorcerer to die.
The grey bubble grew larger and larger, the tempestuous lightning within growing ever more violent, until everyone was terrified enough to flee the basement altogether. Felix, his sorcery power draining rapidly, turned pale. With a muffled grunt, the unformed Silver Wings unfolded from his back!
Sonia narrowed her eyes slightly, gazing at that Silver Wing, which was already more than half-condensed.
The grey bubble kept swelling. Suddenly, a crack of thunder struck a nearby chair, instantly reducing it to charcoal!
"Whoa!"
"What do we do?!"
"How about we come back when the weather's better?"
Everyone turned subtle, complicated looks on Adele—how could the Void Realm possibly have a concept like weather...
Just as Felix was on the verge of giving out, a chest suddenly dropped out of the bubble. He immediately cut off his sorcery power, and with a soft pop, the grey bubble vanished into thin air. The dispersing sorcery power kicked up a gentle breeze that brushed across everyone.
"Is this the treasure?"
Adele darted over to the chest in a flash, curiously inspecting this box that had dropped straight out of the Void Realm. "It looks like... Huh? How did it disappear? Wait, it's back! Am I seeing things?"
The chest appeared to be made of obsidian and didn't seem particularly extraordinary, yet the moment Adele blinked, it vanished, only to reappear when she focused her eyes once more.
"Unremembered Wood," Lois whispered, as though speaking too loudly might frighten the treasure chest away. "The moment you look away or lose focus, you won't be able to see it. You'll overlook it, and in the end, you'll forget it entirely... This is a precious material that can only be obtained in the Void Realm.
"Its greatest value lies in the fact that it can be concealed within the soul, brought out of the Void Realm by a sorcerer, and likewise carried into it.
"If Unremembered Wood is crafted into a sealed container, the items inside will leak no aura whatsoever. One can even place real-world objects inside to carry them into the Void Realm..."
The others murmured in understanding, marveling at the wondrous nature of Unremembered Wood without giving it much further thought.
Only Lois cast a subtle glance at Felix, feeling unsettled and suspicious.
Thanks to her family background, she possessed some knowledge of such extraordinarily rare and costly goods.
She distinctly remembered that Unremembered Wood was a rare material found on the third level of the Void Realm, the 'Distant Sky Realm.' It was something that anyone beneath a Three-Winged Sanctuary could never hope to obtain.
Truth be told, this chest was likely worth far more than whatever was hidden inside. A rarity capable of traversing between reality and the Void Realm wasn't just a matter of priceless demand—it was a seed of chaos that could incite bloodshed and slaughter among sorcerers!
Originally, she hadn't held high expectations for Felix's 'mother's inheritance,' assuming it was merely some items that could assist a Silver Sorcerer.
Yet the moment this Unremembered Wood chest appeared, Lois couldn't help but ponder deeper: for the sake of her son, to use a chest suited for a Three-Winged sorcerer just to hold items for a One-Wing sorcerer, Felix's mother was far more extravagant than he was.
Or perhaps, in his mother's eyes, an Unremembered Wood chest was no different from an ordinary Silver-tier item.
Just as Lois wouldn't buy cheaper clothes just because of price—not out of vanity or luxury, but because the price difference registered as practically nothing to her, so why shortchange herself?
Felix's mother surely had other ways to preserve belongings, yet she had specifically chosen an Unremembered Wood chest. That could only mean a mere Unremembered Wood chest didn't create the slightest ripple in her mind.
So what rank of sorcerer was Felix's mother, really?
Three-Winged Sanctuary? Four-Winged Legend? Or perhaps...?
Lois swallowed hard, feeling as if Sonia had dragged her straight into a pit. This involved the internal strife of the Voslodar clan! How could a merchant's daughter like her possibly afford to meddle in this!
Yet regret was useless now; she had already signed the nondisclosure contract!
"It's open."
Felix opened the Unremembered Wood chest, and a brilliant golden glow surged forth.
Chapter 71