Chapter 942 - 461: Spirit Casting Art Exchange (Part 2)

Chapter 942: Chapter 461: Spirit Casting Art Exchange (Part 2)

Artisan Cassandra, the bearer of the Hammer of the Source Material, leaning on her cane, said, "Diao is a very traditional girl. Since she has never had the chance to hold a wedding, without any ceremony, there are no Spirits... uh, I remember there are supposed to be many Spirits offering congratulations, right?"

Diao nodded gently. "If the Ten Thousand Spirits are willing to bless us..."

Before she finished speaking, she was already lifting her head in surprise, because Li Ang had taken her hand ahead of her words.

A burst of teasing and cheering exploded around them.

They drank hard, shouted loud, letting the emotions at the bottom of their hearts flow out with their cries, turning into tear-streaks on their faces.

Life and future no longer followed any pattern; life and death were capricious, the future without light. In such a moment, people had only one another—especially with those they loved most, every single second was immeasurably precious.

Blessing this young couple also allowed them to hang their last hopes upon it.

If the world ends, let there be, in the New World, their children walking across the Earth.

...

Li Ang jolted upright, his fingers digging into his hair and tugging a few times; his hand slick with sweat, which he wiped carelessly on the sheets. He opened his eyes wide, scanning his surroundings—the antique, luxurious ornaments, the unfinished ancient rare fruits, Inanna’s discarded long dress, only half slipping down over the back of the chair...

This was the Illusion Realm of the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits.

What had just happened was a dream—so it was a dream... was it really a dream?

Li Ang wanted to pinch his arm, but his fingers found only the metal Armor Plates of the Hand of the Wounded Knight. He looked into the hollow of the Prosthetic Hand: his original severed arm was sprouting like a bud, slowly growing back.

Confirming that what he saw now was reality, he recalled who he was and what he had been doing before.

Spiritual Forger, Curse lifted, Realm of Ten Thousand Spirits not yet concluded.

It had been Diao who drew down the blessing of the Ten Thousand Spirits to cast a powerful Healing Spell on him, and then everyone had rested together, preparing to greet the changes the Illusion Realm would undergo at dawn.

The only interlude had been a small request from Inanna, whose curiosity was growing stronger and stronger, but after touching him only a few times she cried out and fell into a deep sleep.

After he had confirmed where reality ended and illusion began, Li Ang let out a long breath.

What had just happened was a dream, and yet the images had felt far too real.

At the beginning of the dream he still remembered who he was, felt that what unfolded before his eyes was not quite right, but as the dream progressed he began to merge into it, as though he had always lived in that very scene.

That scene was... Li Ang rubbed his temples, recalling the "Nebis Future" that Da and Xiao Mei had spoken of, and matching it to the sky-battlefield that would arise after the Empire’s ascension, as they had described.

The Demon Influence, swelling alongside Sub-grade Star Souls, the Justice Forces fighting as they retreated...

In that reality, Li Ang and Diao advanced hand in hand, and were also the ones everyone relied upon.

The Six Dragons at their side were not these familiar few, but the yet-unmet Annette.

Real, and yet not reality—was such a dream, which left Li Ang unable to distinguish true from false, caused by the Ten Thousand Spirits? Or was it some Magic of Diao’s?

It should not be the latter; all information about Diao could be seen on the system panel.

But the Ten Thousand Spirits were already conducting a trial—did they have reason to reveal such a dream?

Sorting through the information hidden within, Li Ang thought on it until daybreak.

When dawn arrived, music flowed from the Crystal Sanctuary. The servant Race of Zosia lined up to play, beginning to arrange the day’s ceremonial celebration.

Stepping out of his room, Li Ang saw that the chief Servant, who held authority over the operation of the Creation Formula, was gripping a Magical Artifact to guide pure Magic Power, crafting exquisitely carved crystal seats around the platform of the Essence of Dragon array; delights and rare exotic foods were likewise being borne forward.

The seats were set in fixed numbers, crystal stairways branching out from them in all directions, some of which simply hung suspended in the air, as though aware that guests would arrive from the sky.

Beneath the seats and the stairways, crystal stretched into enormous petals, within which Divine Light Runes flowed. The platform offering the Essence of Dragon thus transformed into an altar that combined beauty with mystery.

High above, Zosia hung in midair, raising a hand to open the Holy Sanctuary’s shielding; the Energy bound by Runes bloomed all together like a flower. Li Ang thought that, seen from the heights, the entire Holy Sanctuary would surely resemble a vast lotus of Creation Energy; these petals not only accentuated the bearing of a Primordial Being, they themselves were superb conduits for Energy flow, able to draw in Power from the surrounding environment and even from the Magic Power Dimension.

Not long after, figures appeared in the sky.

Li Ang recognized that the first to arrive hand in hand were Agni and Thanatos. Now they no longer had the adolescent forms of the first Illusion Realm, but looked as they did in later ages.

Li Ang had never met Thanatos before, but from that youthful form and the traits of Dark Element, there was little need to guess.

Next came the Primordial Beings who looked one after another like rare Gemstones—some condensed jasper without a trace of murk, some brilliant without casting a shadow; each one was an indisputable Divine Spirit.

Akuya, in archaic guise, came cradling a Jade Cat. With a face similar to Livi’s, the tall Leviathan seated herself beside her. Not far off was a youth clad entirely in feathers, the Power of Dragon on him subtle and shifting; Li Ang guessed that he was the Human Form Avatar of the Ancestor of Feathered Serpent.

Judging from the remaining seats, Li Ang sensed that Zosia had not reserved places for the twin of black and red or for Nidhogg. Thinking it through, those three were probably the kind who could not have a proper conversation; the process by which Zosia had extracted their Essence of Dragon was likely not very amicable.

Freyia, Tangaroa, Jenova, and Gorum also took their seats one after another. The fourth was that Primordial Being of pale blue crystal with Double Pupils; Li Ang had specifically asked Inanna his name.

"Let’s go too." Inanna led Li Ang and Diao up onto the platform, coming to stand near the Six Dragons.