Dream Treasury

The slaughterous sword art blooming at its peak collided with the berserk battleaxe capable of crushing cities and breaking armies! Boom! The splashing shockwaves clashed like two opposing armies, grinding the surrounding rubble and petals to dust; dust and life became the only colors left on the battlefield. Longyuan was knocked back amidst the billowing smoke, her leather shoes carving two deep furrows into the ground. "A battle of ten thousand armies indeed," Lehuai said, tilting his head to dodge a flying pebble before shoving both hands back into the pockets of his beach shorts. Longyuan exhaled a long breath. Rather than the unexpected hitch in her foolproof plan, it was the four sorcerers before her who truly caught her attention. Three Rainbow Holy Grails, one colorless Holy Grail. Nothing proved their strength better than the epic feat of condensing a Holy Grail. Even Longyuan had to admit that they were the most outstanding sorcerers of this generation. Yet in everyone's impression, the stronger a sorcerer was, the more solitary and arrogant they became. This was not merely due to the mental distortion brought by power, but because sorcerers could only pursue power alone. Whether willing or not, they grew accustomed to solitude, wallowed in solitude, and embraced solitude. It was not that sorcerers could never have companions, but those were usually followers far weaker than themselves. When encountering peers of equal caliber, the best they could form was a temporary alliance; forging deep bonds was utterly impossible. The yearning for independence and freedom was the fundamental backdrop of a sorcerer's soul—there should be no chains in this world capable of binding a sorcerer's wings! Yet what was Longyuan looking at now? These four sorcerers were actually leaning on each other, trusting each other, and fighting side by side. And they were no temporary alliance; Longyuan could see that these exceptional sorcerers, who should have repelled one another, had genuinely forged an intimate bond where they entrusted their very lives to each other! If failing to kill the Spectre Prophet merely left Longyuan with regret, the existence of this sorcerer clique filled her with dread! If such a mutually trusting clique existed among the demons, no other demon would be able to compete with them. Even if Longyuan did not believe these sorcerers would ever share the stage with her as competitors, this potential alone was enough to make her want to nip the danger in the bud. Every team inevitably revolved around a single axis. Longyuan swept her gaze over them. Was it the red-haired sword sorcerer before her, whose swordsmanship had attained the pinnacle of mortal legend? Was it the contemporary Gospel girl whose appearance mirrored Yinzhi's? Was it the Spectre Prophet, thrice reborn, who was most likely to claim the largest share of the inheritance in this Angel Hunt? Or... that man who refused to give up even unto death? Longyuan let out a long breath and tightened her grip on her battleaxe, a chilling murderous intent surfacing in her eyes— "Setting aside what came before, just pretend I never said what comes after," Yinzhi's voice rang out from the rooftop. "Time's up. The Spectre Prophet extermination operation is over. I'm done playing." She waved toward Yaxiu. "Give my regards to Igola and Harvey. Bye-bye." Lehuai glanced at Weixi. "You're the one who deduced the Hell secret poison, aren't you?" "That's right." Weixi also vaguely realized who Lehuai's master was. "Rajesh really made a mess of things for me." "Next time we meet, we decide life and death." Lehuai ran along the walls, vanishing without a trace moments later. Seeing this, Longyuan could only sigh in her heart. She cast a deep, lingering look at Yaxiu and the other three, etching their features into her memory, and dragged her battleaxe around the corner into an alleyway. Watching the demons depart, Yaxiu instantly felt as if his spine had been pulled out. The excruciating agony of his broken virtual wings flared through his soul once more. His grip slackened, letting go of his swords, and he collapsed limply backward. Diya and Weixi were just about to reach out to catch him when they saw an arm wrap around Yaxiu's waist ahead of them. "Seriously," Sonia said, "how on earth do you survive without me?" "That's why I can't be without you," Yaxiu said with a wry smile, wrapping his arms around the Sword Princess's neck to steady himself. "Sword Princess, earlier with Feili, I—" "Feili already told me. I don't want to hear the story again from your mouth." Sonia reached up, pulled down Yaxiu's mask, and ran her finger across his lips. "I was originally planning on a long-overdue reunion kiss, but you've successfully killed my mood." "You forgive me?" Divine light seemed to leap into Yaxiu's eyes; escaping with his life from the demons hadn't made him half as thrilled as this moment did. "Take a guess." "You forgive me?" The Paw-Extending Sword Saint smiled sweetly. "Guess again." "Hey! I'm still here!" The Witch shoved her way between them, hugged Yaxiu, and plopped right down on the ground—the high-intensity slugfest had left her mentally and physically drained as well. She said, "Right now, we need to think about how to get the Observer back to reality." "I can't return to reality," Yaxiu immediately said. "I'm infected with the Hell secret poison." "The Hell secret poison?" "Mistresses, you can understand it as this: the moment we return to reality, we will face a trial of certain death, but staying in All Stars allows us to buy time." Weixi sat down slowly against a shattered wall and said, "If Master wants to live, he has to seek out an opportunity in the Angel Hunt." Both the Sword Princess and the Witch understood the risks and benefits associated with secret poisons, and they also knew that the two could not disclose the poison's specifics. As for whether they would investigate after returning, that was another matter entirely. Sonia glanced at Weixi, who offered a faint smile. "Mistress Sword Princess, I am Master's personal maid, Weixi." "I'm no mistress, so don't throw that title around." Sonia arched an eyebrow, the corner of her lips curling slightly upward. "You make it sound like I'm his appendage... Just call me Sword Princess. Same goes for the Witch—you're not allowed to call her Mistress either." "I actually don't mind... fine." Diya gave a quiet mumble of protest before letting it drop, then asked instead, "Then does that mean our plan to shatter the Astral Canopy has to be called off?" "No." Yaxiu had already thought this through. "As long as the Prime Angel remains in the Country of All Stars, the shattering of the canopy won't harm All Stars. Instead, it will rupture the blockade isolating All Stars from the outside, creating an opening for us to enter and leave the Country of All Stars. If I can freely travel between the Country of All Stars and reality, then the Hell secret poison can be delayed indefinitely." Sonia squatted down and looked at Yaxiu with keen interest. "You're actually being so honest about it? I thought you'd take the opportunity to stop us." "Even though I hate seeing you mixed up with the Four Pillar Cult, I'm even more terrified of you searching for other ways to save me. At least the Four Pillar Cult can serve as your shield and scapegoat." Yaxiu fully displayed his sense of responsibility as a feeler of the Four Pillar Gods. "I want to find a better path too, but as things stand, unless I reign supreme in the Angel Hunt or the Astral Canopy is shattered, there's no way I can return to your side." At this point, Yaxiu couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong; everything was merely the machinations of the Divine Lord of Stars. But whenever he thought about how many hurdles he had to overcome just to return, he couldn't stop himself from wondering whether everyone's lives would be easier if he simply accepted his fate and died. "Is that all it is?" Sonia's tone was unexpectedly light. Yaxiu smiled wryly. "I can't be as confident as you." "Compared to having to barge into Hell to recover your soul, at least we know what to do for these goals." Sonia reached out, brushed aside the bangs on Yaxiu's forehead, and said softly, "I'm not afraid of trouble. What I'm afraid of..." "...is only not having you by my side." Yaxiu gazed at her in a daze, pressing his lips together to steady his emotions. He smiled gently. "Me too." "Good, then you've promised." Sonia's expression suddenly shifted. She stood up and said, "The others should be arriving soon too. Once everyone's here, we'll go hunt down those demons. How dare they beat you into this state..." The moved expression on Yaxiu's face froze solid. He looked blankly toward the Witch beside him, but she just stuck out her tongue, puffed out her cheeks, and ignored him. Then he looked at Weixi. Weixi pondered for a moment before saying, "What the Sword Princess probably means is that you promised to stay by her side forever." "That's what I intended to do in the first place," Yaxiu said. "'Forever' carries another meaning: 'without interruption,'" Weixi said lazily. "When you promise forever, if it's short by a single year, a single day, or even a single hour, it doesn't count as forever." Yaxiu's eyes went wide. While that wasn't unacceptable, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just handed the Sword Princess leverage over him. He scrambled to his feet at once and said, "Sword Princess..." "Hmm?" Sonia narrowed her eyes slightly, giving him a sidelong glance. A strange glint shimmered in her ruby-red eyes, instantly making Yaxiu feel as if he were being stared down by a ferocious beast—one wrong move, and he would be torn to shreds. "Who are 'the others' you mentioned?" Yaxiu chickened out immediately. "Is it Feili?" "Not just her. Quite a few people, actually." Sonia stood on tiptoe to peer into the distance. "I think I can see them already—" Crack! As a crisp fracturing sound reverberated through their souls, their hearts skipped a beat as they whipped their heads toward the rainbow pillar of light in the city center. A massive fissure had split across the pillar. That was where the dream shone in. Bizarre, kaleidoscopic colors flooded Dream Heaven in an instant. Everyone lost consciousness, their minds going completely blank as they plunged into a deep slumber. * When Yaxiu opened his eyes, he found himself growing out of a colorless Holy Grail. White light radiated from his entire body, and his form seemed constructed of points of light that could scatter and reassemble at will—blurred, ethereal, and dreamlike. *I am dreaming,* Yaxiu realized with absolute certainty. He looked up and saw a dark yet dazzling world. Boundless, abyssal darkness stretched into infinity, yet shimmering, dreamlike bubbles crowded the entire expanse. The bubbles held all sorts of things—weapons, tools, patterns of light and shadow—a breathtaking, dizzying array. Yaxiu also spotted numerous specks of light—red, purple, pink—rapidly expanding and growing. He vaguely understood: every one of those points of light was a sorcerer. The Holy Grail's effect had simply allowed him to grow into this dream one step ahead of the others, granting him an early lead in competing for the rewards here. With that realization, Yaxiu hesitated no longer. He reached out and touched a nearby bubble. The bubble popped at the slightest touch, and the gauntlet inside dissolved into his white light, transforming into detailed information that flowed into his mind: [Miracle Item: Ogre Gauntlets. Drastically enhances the strength of both hands. A silver collectible of the Dream Treasury.] [Art Construction: Ogre arms as the base material (the stronger the ogre, the better) / Conception sorcery spirit / Herculean Strength sorcery spirit / Solidification sorcery spirit...] In an instant, Yaxiu mastered the crafting art for the Ogre Gauntlets. Without a doubt, this was a manufacturing art capable of generating immense wealth. The only issue lay in procuring the raw materials, but as long as he could return to the Blood Moon Country to open a factory and establish a strategic partnership with the hospitals, the material bottleneck would be solved effortlessly. Yet at this moment, his entire focus was captivated by another piece of information, unwilling to spare even a shred of attention for the Ogre Gauntlets. Yaxiu looked up, gazing upon the endless sea of collectible bubbles, and murmured, "This place is... the Dream Treasury?"