Boom, boom!

The golden hall shook continuously, shedding sparkling fragments.

Ash gazed at the Virtual Divinity before him, which now resembled a giant structure about five meters tall, filled to 40% capacity. But it was only 40%.

Conservatively estimated, completing the Virtual Divinity would require at least another 24 hours, assuming Ash continued to burn his soul capacity to sustain everyone. The sorcerers outside, fiercely attacking the Specter’s Inheritance, were unlikely to grant them that time.

“You need to go out and confront the intruders to buy time,” the nightmare suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Ash and the others were not surprised. They had long known they were mere cannon fodder. The Nightmare Angel, in order to create a Nightmare Deity, would certainly prioritize sacrificing expendable forces to increase the chances of success.

“But we’re just ordinary Sanctuary sorcerers, capable of holding off one or two of the same level at most,” Ash replied. “Does it really make a difference?”

“Of course, it’s not about using your own strength to confront the intruders,” the nightmare explained. “The originals have left behind contingency plans.”

Ash exchanged glances with Vesser and the others, a hint of surprise in their eyes-had the Nightmare Angel anticipated even this? And had a foolproof plan in place? Could it be some divine intervention, instantly sending intruders to the recycle bin?

“The contingency plan left by the originals is the Inheritance of other Demigods,” the nightmare continued. “Though the originals couldn’t predict the future, with their example of failure, any Demigod leaving an Inheritance in the Dreaming Celestium would certainly consider how to fend off intruders. You just need to utilize the arrangements of the Specter Seer to effectively block the intruders.”

This nightmare had no mercy in its critique of the originals…

Yet Ash’s heart grew colder, for nothing was harder to accept than acknowledging failure. The Nightmare Angel’s ability to consider the repercussions of his own failure demonstrated a clarity and calmness that was far from the isolation of a failing individual setting up an Inheritance in his final moments.

“When sorcerers reach the 90th level of the Specter’s Inheritance, if the interior of the Dreaming Celestium is invaded, the sorcerer closest to the Codex can manipulate the levels to attack the intruders,” the nightmare explained. “The Truth sorcerer must remain to create the Virtual Divinity, while two of you must go to confront the intruders, leaving one to replenish the Truth sorcerer’s soul capacity.”

With the nightmare’s words, it was evident that the ones to confront the intruders would be the sword Princess and the Witch.

Ash exchanged glances with them, then opened “Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook” to check the operator profiles:

“Death Maniac Sword Princess”

“Human – Female – 18 years old”

“Bond Level: 4 (75% Experience Sharing)”

“Bond Resonance – Insatiable Greed: While journeying together, there’s a chance to obtain better loot.”

“Bond Resonance – Unwavering Determination: While journeying together, the Sword Princess is more likely to obtain Experience Orbs.”

“Class: Specter Swordsman / Frenzied Dancer / Dead Apostle”

“Class Traits: ① Any soul sword strikes you perform deal +15% damage;

② Attacking the same target increases attack speed by 2%, accumulates up to 5 times, switching attack targets immediately invalidates;

③ Has a 5% chance to deal true damage to the target’s soul.”

“Silver Blessing – Carnival / Brutality: Each enemy defeated increases critical rate and critical damage. Different traits can be triggered based on the operator’s training route.”

“Golden Blessing – Luminous Star / Lunar Star: Each battle increases insight, willpower, and charisma. Different traits can be triggered based on the operator’s training route.”

“Virtual Wings: Rainbow full-winged / Golden full-winged / Silver full-winged”

“Controlling Spirits: Four Wings Heart Sword Spirit, Four Wings Flower Rebirth Spirit, Three Wings Vibration Sword Spirit, Three Wings Unbounded Spirit…”

“Black and White Witch”

“Human – Female – 19 years old”

“Bond Level: 4 (75% Experience Sharing)”

“Bond Resonance – Playing with People’s Hearts: Even without relevant Mental Spirits, you and the Witch also possess the supernatural ability to influence people’s hearts.”

“Bond Resonance – Promising Future: Even without relevant fate spirits, you and the Witch also possess the supernatural ability to influence fate through agreements.”

“Class: Specter Warrior / Sorceress”

“Class Traits: ① Any soul punches you perform deal +18% damage;

② You have a 5% chance to inflict a special status on the attack target, lasts for 5 seconds (affection, infatuation, admiration, obsession).”

“Silver Blessing – Witch’s Taboo: Secrecy grants you power, concealment is your weapon. The fewer people in reality know your true nature, the stronger you become in the Virtual Realm. Currently, the Black and White Witch’s concealment level is 80% (little known), granting an 80% spellforce recovery speed bonus. (Observer’s observation not included)”

“Golden Blessing – Witch’s Rebellion: Rebellion grants you power, desire is your weapon. The more you wish to rebel against those who love you, even harboring ill intentions towards them, the stronger you become in the Virtual Realm. Currently, the Black and White Witch’s rebellion level is 96% (filial piety distorted), granting 96% extra spellforce.”

“Virtual Wings: Rainbow full-winged / Golden full-winged / Silver full-winged”

“Controlling Spirits: Four Wings Sword Mark Spirit, Four Wings Snowbreak Spirit, Three Wings Claw Spirit, Three Wings Mask Spirit, Three Wings Witness Spirit…”

Since Ash no longer set training strategies for them, he simply fed them stamina potions, career potions, and experience potions to boost their status. He hadn’t paid much attention to their training reports lately, and only now noticed that both the Sword Princess and the Witch had become Specter Swordsman and Specter Warrior-likely due to the influence of exploring the Specter’s Inheritance.

After completing the ‘Dead Apostle’ and ‘Sorceress’ class tasks respectively, the Sword Princess became a triple-class, and the Witch a dual-class, their secondary classes undoubtedly enhancing their combat capabilities. Coupled with the recent high-density challenges, their virtual wings quickly solidified, and their strength was undoubtedly that of three-winged formal sorcerers.

Yet Ash was still uneasy, so he spent two Source Crystals to use the Soul Ignite Chart on them, instantly boosting the Witch’s soul count to four hundred Human Souls, and the Sword Princess to three hundred Human Souls!

“Nightmare,” Ash suddenly asked, “Will the ones going to intercept return later?”

“They must return,” Nightmare replied, “You need to guard the Virtual Divinity until it’s complete.”

Ash felt reassured. As he turned around, he suddenly found himself with a soft embrace, looking down to see the Witch’s little head nestled against him, her hair slightly disheveled from nervousness. He held her close, gently stroking her hair, then glanced at the Sword Princess standing quietly nearby.

“See you later.”

“See you later.”

With those words, Sonya and Deya vanished from the golden hall.

Ash continued with the Spirit Convergence, his expression serious, as if truly intent on completing the Virtual Divinity. After a while, Nightmare signaled for them to stop, “Your efficiency is starting to drop; it’s time to replenish your enhancement.”

It’s worth mentioning that Nightmare’s method of sacrificing one person to boost everyone’s divine intervention not only invigorates others with heightened spirits and thoughts but also stimulates Ash, whose soul limit has been reduced, to a state of clear consciousness.

The essence of this refreshment isn’t about ‘increasing soul limit,’ but rather the process of ‘increase’ and ‘decrease.’ In real-life terms, both happiness and anger can excite a person, as can comfort and pain. Ash and the others had their souls wearied and stiffened by the monotonous task of Spirit Convergence, so using change to activate their souls was necessary.

Therefore, Ash’s sudden surge from Ignite Soul wasn’t particularly useful; production line work doesn’t become less tedious just because you’re energetic today. Fatigue will still set in, so sacrificing only his soul to enhance the group is the most cost-effective approach.

Since the discovery of the Dreaming Celestium’s invasion, Nightmare’s demand for their work efficiency has been to maintain it at the highest level. Any slight drop prompts a refreshment, with yesterday’s highest KPI becoming today’s minimum requirement, shortening the refreshment interval to once every hour.

The familiar pain arrived as expected, and Ash groaned, kneeling down, instinctively reaching forward to grab something-until the next second, he remembered that the Sword Princess and Witch had gone out to confront the enemy.

Yet, his hand was still caught by a pair of soft hands.

“They’re not here,” Vesser said softly, “Let me help you share the pain.”

“Thank you.” Ash didn’t refuse her kindness, his body tensing as he took a deep breath, smiling, “Come to think of it, this seems to be… our first time alone together? Well, if we don’t count Nightmare watching.”

“Yes, before, at least one of the Sword Princess or Witch was present. Now it’s just you and me.”

“How strange,” Ash’s breathing quickened, “You’ve been in the team for two months, and I still haven’t found a chance to chat with you alone…”

“Now you have the chance.” Vesser said, “What do you want to talk about?”

“Well, for instance…” Ash forced himself to stop his shoulders from trembling, asking lightly, “Do you have someone you like?”

“I do.” Vesser replied calmly.

She could see that even amidst the soul-tearing agony, Ash visibly relaxed upon hearing her answer. She quickly understood his thoughts and chuckled, “Are you afraid that I like you? No, you’re not afraid of me; you’re afraid of her.”

“But you, a dignified sanctuary sorcerer, are afraid of your lover to this extent…”

“You say that as if everyone isn’t a sanctuary sorcerer!” Ash felt embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, “Let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about you. How are things with the person you like?”

“Not much going on.” Vesser said, “We’re not together.”

“Why?” Ash was quite surprised, momentarily forgetting the pain, “You, a dignified sanctuary sorcerer, can’t even win over a lover?”

“No reason, it just doesn’t work.” Vesser shrugged, “Sometimes it’s just like that.”

She looked down at her hand holding Ash’s, speaking softly, “Some people can’t become lovers, yet you can’t bear to let them go to someone else.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay