Sorcerer's Handbook-Chapter 661: Oneiric Schism
It’s hard to imagine any sorcerer not being thrilled by the term “Divine Sovereign Candidate.” A Divine Sovereign is not only a magnificent being above all others but also embodies omnipotence. They are eternal, and they can welcome mortals into the Celestium, granting them everlasting happiness and endless pleasures.
They can pierce through hell to resurrect life, and they can graffiti the Kingdom as they please. The entire world is their amusement park, and the rise and fall of all things hinge on their whims.
The Witch excitedly clung to Ash’s arm, the sword Princess’s breath became shallow and her cheeks flushed, and even Vesser silently clenched her fist. Only Ash remained relatively calm, as becoming a Divine Sovereign might not solve his problems-like returning to Earth, or having the sword Princess agree to be his wife alongside the Witch…
Wait, Ash suddenly recalled that his time travel seemed closely linked to the Four Pillars Cult. The Four Pillars are likely at the Divine Sovereign level, so perhaps becoming a Divine Sovereign would reveal the secrets of time travel. Even if it doesn’t, he could at least confront the Four Pillars for intelligence.
In any case, there’s at least a glimmer of hope.
However, sorcerers aren’t fools. This enticing promise is sweet, but it only counts if they can actually achieve it. Vesser took a deep breath and asked, “What do we need to do?”
The nightmare raised its hand, and a massive three-dimensional diagram appeared in the air of the hall: “This is the divine diagram of the Nightmare deity. Your task is to construct the Virtual Divinity according to the procedure.”
Ash and the others stared at it for a moment, feeling dizzy. Deya exclaimed, “This procedure looks like the challenge from Level 15!”
“That’s because the challenge of Level 15 in the Specter’s Inheritance is about selecting Truth sorcerers.”
The nightmare explained, “While any sorcerer can construct a divinity procedure, there is a failure rate. Any mistake can lead to the collapse of the procedure. Below Demigod level, only Truth sorcerers have a chance of successfully constructing a divinity procedure; above Demigod level, if a sorcerer isn’t proficient in the Truth Sect, constructing divinity is prone to failure.”
Ash and the others realized why the nightmare chose them as successors-because Vesser is a Truth sorcerer!
Who would have thought that the Truth Sect is the key spellcasting for creating deities? If this news were to spread, well… it probably wouldn’t change much, as the Truth Sect is one of the mysterious three spellcastings, and ordinary people can’t even find the threshold to enter.
Vesser studied the procedure diagram and said, “This divinity procedure requires many spirits for construction. Do you have spirits?”
“Because the originals once attempted to construct the Nightmare divinity and failed, many materials have been preserved.” The nightmare gestured, and the walls on both sides of the hall revealed glowing crystal walls containing spirits. “But due to the long passage of time and lack of nourishment, many spirits have starved to death.”
“Four Wings Heart Sword!” Sonya tugged on Ash’s arm, and Ash looked over to see a Four Wings Heart Sword spirit-his current Heart Sword is still at two wings!
“Fortune, Timing, Time-consuming, Speed-up…” Deya first focused on the time spirits within the crystal walls, murmuring, “There’s even a Four Wings Reverse Year!”
Reverse Year series: One-Winged lasts one year, Two-Wings for eight years, Three-Wings for twenty-seven years, and Four-Wings for sixty-four years!
Even the treasury of the Yisuo Royal Family doesn’t have a Four-Wings Reverse Year spirit!
It’s worth mentioning that although Reverse Year spirits are the best products for extending life, their usage comes with many caveats. For instance, they cannot be used simultaneously. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
In other words, if you’re 99 years old, even if you have 64 One-Winged Reverse Year spirits, you can only revert to 98 years old. But if you have a Four-Wings Reverse Year, you can return to the prime age of 35!
So, wouldn’t a 63-year-old be unable to use a Four-Wings Reverse Year? Normally, they can’t, but Deya knows of a Time Miracle called ‘Eternal Youth,’ which can precisely adjust how many years you revert, locking your age for the remaining years.
In the most extreme case, a 25-year-old with a Four-Wings Reverse Year can use Eternal Youth to lock their 25-year-old state for 64 years!
It’s easy to imagine that anyone who gets their hands on a Four-Wings Reverse Year would keep it hidden for personal use, never trading it away.
As for other time spirits, they’re mostly Four-Wings level, and the occasional Three-Wings time spirit is a rare gem even Deya would covet!
Even a royal family’s treasury can’t compare to the legacy left by a Demigod Angel!
Everyone walked around the crystal walls, almost dazzled by the sight. Even if they didn’t gain anything else, just being able to choose a few spirits here would be a huge win!
“Can we pick a spirit here as a deposit?” Ash asked tentatively. “Of course, we won’t choose any that are needed for the divinity procedure-“
“No,” the nightmare shook its head. “All spirit materials are solely for constructing the procedure.”
“But surely there are extras?” Sonya suggested. “Can’t we choose from the surplus?”
“No.”
The nightmare repeated, “All spirit materials are solely for constructing the procedure. You are not allowed to use them personally.”
The group exchanged glances, their eyes flickering with realization that something was off about the nightmare.
As sanctuary sorcerers, they had interacted with other sanctuaries and understood the average intelligence of upper-tier sorcerers. Foolishness and incompetence can’t overcome the challenges of the Virtual Realm; calculation and thought are almost ingrained in a sorcerer’s soul, speaking with reservation is instinctive.
Yet the nightmare not only detailed the Soul Divinity School unrelated to the Virtual Divinity School but also mentioned the death of its originals without any concealment or avoidance. When faced with Ash’s group’s request, it refused outright, without any leeway or courtesy.
This was completely unlike the social skills expected of a demigod sorcerer. Coupled with its claim of being a devil derived from the Sorcerer’s Handbook, everyone suspected it lacked normal thinking abilities, resembling more an intelligent program executing commands, straightforward and literal.
Vesser’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she asked, “If deities are born from concepts, how did the first deity come into existence?”
The nightmare explained, “Concept Aggregation Phenomenon. It’s generally believed that as spellcasting continues to develop, concepts will autonomously aggregate various materials, evolving into deities, but this process often takes thousands of years. However, if a sorcerer knows the specific materials required for a concept’s aggregation and understands its Ritual Track, they can use the Soul Divinity School to accelerate the birth of a deity.”
Sonya caught on and asked, “Deities are unique. If a deity corresponding to a concept already exists, does that mean it can’t be created again?”
“Exactly,” the nightmare confirmed. “If a deity already exists, no matter how many times you try, you can’t create the same deity. However, the same concept can lead to multiple different deities, and it’s also possible to create entirely new ones. A Nightmare is a deity that has never appeared before, so there’s no need to worry about that.”
Ash inquired, “What’s beyond Ruby Mountain? How do we proceed on the Path of Origin?”
“I can’t tell you,” the nightmare replied, “or you’ll be infected with a secret toxin. If you wish to walk the Path of Origin, you must find the Angel at Ruby Mountain.”
Deya watched as they bombarded the nightmare with questions, realizing they were exploiting its mechanical nature to extract as much intelligence about the demigod sorcerer as possible. For sanctuary sorcerers, the intelligence the nightmare held was likely more valuable than the spirits on the wall. This was divine knowledge even legendary sorcerers craved, and they couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
“Faded dream!” Deya suddenly remembered. “The faded dream requires the Into Dreams spirit and the Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon materials. Is there any Into Dreams spirit here?”
The nightmare shook its head. “The Into Dreams spirit was a natural spirit produced when the concept of entering dreams was closely tied to the Dreaming Celestium before it shattered. After the Dreaming Celestium broke, all Into Dreams spirits were annihilated, leaving none behind.”
Everyone sighed. Without the Into Dreams spirit, they couldn’t traverse the Path of Origin to reach Ruby Mountain and would have to diligently hone their Spellcasting Sect…
“Wait,” Ash suddenly realized. “After we create a deity, does its Gate of Truth open to us? Could we skip Ruby Mountain and directly reach the fifth layer of the Virtual Realm?”
But the nightmare shook its head. “That won’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“To reach the fifth layer, you must find the Angel at Ruby Mountain. If you don’t, even if you create a deity, you can only reach Ruby Mountain.”
The four exchanged glances-advancing through spellcasting realms, the traditional path of progression, was only effective below the legendary level. To break through the boundary from legendary to demigod, they must walk the Path of Origin and find the Angel!
Thud.
Suddenly, a slight tremor passed through the golden hall.
“Another layer of the seal has been broken,” the nightmare announced. “Sanctuary sorcerers can’t use their spirits or spellforce in the Inheritance because the specter seal harnesses the power of the Dreaming Celestium. Once too many seals are broken, sanctuary sorcerers will regain their full strength and tear open the Specter’s Inheritance from within.”
“The Specter’s Inheritance won’t hold for long. You must act immediately.”
As it spoke, the nightmare pointed a finger, and a black shackle connected Ash and the others, locking tightly around their necks!
“This is the divine intervention known as ‘Oneiric Schism,’” the nightmare explained. “You are currently in the ‘Oneiric’ state. I will leave one of you as a hostage. If I unleash the ‘Schism’ on the hostage, even if you escape to reality, you will be trapped in a nightmare curse until your entire souls are worn away by the nightmare.”
Ash and the others looked grim, but they weren’t too surprised. From the moment they were transported here, they had mentally prepared for the worst.
A nightmare angel, being an evil sorcerer, would certainly leave behind an inheritance fraught with mortal danger.
“The other three must gather the spirit materials missing from the divinity procedure,” the nightmare continued, gesturing with a finger to produce a list before the four of them. “A total of 26 spirits and two materials.”
Sonya spoke up nervously, “Wound of the Wind and Crystal of the Moon? But those materials have already vanished.”
“Materials in the Virtual Realm never truly disappear; they merely transform,” the nightmare replied. “These two materials are spatial and mental in nature. Due to the development of the Spatial Sect and the Mental Sect, they have likely evolved into spirits.”
Vesser seized the opportunity to ask, “What were the original uses of Wound of the Wind, Language of Flowers, Scattering of Snow, and Crystal of the Moon? Were they only for nurturing the Into Dreams spirit?”
“No, these materials were primarily for sorcerers’ own use,” the nightmare explained. “By interacting with these materials, sorcerers could experience the processes of spatial formation, completion, collapse, and void, thus mastering the Spatial Sect to form a Sanctuary. However, the production of these materials was limited, so not all three-winged sorcerers could enter the Spatial Sect.”
The realization dawned on Ash and the others.
It seemed that as the Spatial Sect developed to a certain point, these four materials gradually merged into the Distant Sky Domain, eventually forming the Ritual of Prohibited Synchronization of Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon.
In this regard, modern times had indeed progressed significantly compared to the past. What was once a luxury for three-winged sorcerers had become standard-without a Sanctuary, one would be crushed by the Ritual of Prohibited Synchronization of Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon.
“Although the original materials can’t be found, they can be substituted with spirits.”
With a swipe of the nightmare’s finger, ‘Wound of the Wind’ and ‘Crystal of the Moon’ on the list were replaced with ‘Four-winged Wind Formation Spirit’ and ‘Four-winged Moon Void Spirit.’
However, Ash and the others didn’t look any more relieved.
They eyed the long list of four-winged spirits with confusion. “This is the Distant Sky Domain, where only three-winged sorcerers exist. Where are we supposed to find so many four-winged spirits?”
“It’s precisely because this is the Distant Sky Domain that you have a chance to find these spirits,” the nightmare said. “The originals possess a divine intervention that allows them to create any spirit they need, regardless of type or wing count.”
Ash and the others were stunned-could it really be that whatever they wanted, they could have?
The nightmare concluded, “It is called, longing for.”
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