Chapter 10 The Second Dream Realm (Please Recommend/Favorite)

The dim, gray fog stretched out endlessly in all directions.

The pale, seemingly color-faded soil stretched out to infinity.

Rod stood in this colorless dream realm, somewhat bewildered.

"This... I've returned again?"

"Turns out I didn't need to seek out Miss for a comforting care?"

Ignoring his disappointment, Rod immediately felt elated again.

If entering the dream realm was this easy, then he wouldn't have to worry about not finding the truth.

Looking around, he immediately spotted that peculiar obelisk.

And the evil spirit-like shadow had already vanished, with the excruciating pain not recurring.

This indicated that the change was real, that the dream realm was continuous.

The truth might just be hidden within that obelisk.

Joy filled Rod's heart as he ran towards it.

The dim fog and the pale gray soil swept past him, everything here was steeped in deathly stillness, devoid of color.

Except for the obelisk.

It was cyan.

The damage from the last time had disappeared, with only a few minor cracks remaining on its surface, slowly healing.

Rod approached the obelisk and reached out to touch it gently.

The surface of the obelisk once again became profound, and countless star-like flickering points of light re-emerged.

In the center, there was still the dot that emitted a dark red glow.

After devouring that soul, its light condensed like a substance, flowing slowly like magma, much brighter than the other points of light.

Once again, when Rod focused his gaze on it, the dot revealed many indecipherable characters.

A realization suddenly dawned on Rod.

Could it be the "Fire Spark"?

In the Royal City, "Fire Spark" is a word with many meanings.

It often refers to the trialists and students with infinite potential.

It also broadly indicates the sprouting hope and the dawn of the future.

At the same time, it has another important meaning.

That is, the gifter of fire, also known as the "Starfire" sequence's Fire Holder, the potential hidden within their souls.

Each time "Starfire" kindles a Fire Spark, it gains a new ability.

The simple criterion for measuring the strength of "Starfire" is the number of Fire Sparks.

According to Wayne, an average "Starfire" could kindle four to five Fire Sparks in a lifetime.

A few strong individuals might ignite six to seven.

Beyond seven, one would be among the rarest, they are invariably outstanding figures in their respective domains.

And he who ignited nineteen, was but one person; he had become Royal City's most widely known legend.

If this dark red dot is an ignited Fire Spark...

Rod jumped as if pricked by a needle.

Then, wouldn't that explain the Archbishop's strangely favorable attitude towards him?

The Mechanical Research Institute's detection of him, wouldn't that be correct?

This dark red dot is definitely that Fire Spark known as the "black meal barrel."

The strange characters inside the dot must contain the meaning of "black meal barrel."

Rod gazed at these countless twinkling dots, ethereal and barely visible.

If this dot could be kindled...

Then could all these myriad points of light be kindled?

Suddenly, Rod felt an overwhelming surge of emotions.

But he quickly calmed down.

Rod remembered clearly that the "black meal barrel" truly ignited and reached its current brightness only after devouring a soul known as "Blossoms on the Frosty Shore, Prince Heigao'er."

If using the process of elimination, this "North Prince Heigao'er" is very likely to be the shadowy figure that attacked him earlier.

Under the mysterious blessing of the golden light, he killed it and obtained its soul, which he burned for the "black trash can".

If lighting a Fire Spark requires a soul, then where would he find a new soul?

The most crucial point is, doesn't this method seem quite evil?

Rod suddenly made an inexplicable association with the annihilation of the migration team and the strange patterns placed among the corpses.

Could that have been some kind of soul sacrifice ritual?

The murderer killed the members of the migration team, sacrificed their souls, and thereby obtained some kind of secret benefit.

With this thought, Rod felt a chill deep in his heart.

Could it be that I am the one who killed them?

Am I the murderer?

"No, not necessarily."

Rod found this conclusion hard to accept.

"This is just my imagination, the reality may not be so."

"There must be clues that I haven't discovered yet."

At that moment, Rod suddenly noticed a detail he had overlooked before.

"This obelisk has four sides, one side is the starry sky. Could the other three sides be different?"

He moved to another side of the obelisk, stretched out his hand, and gently touched it.

Indeed, new changes appeared.

The blue surface of the obelisk gradually darkened, with large blocks of black substance settling down.

The pure black color rose from the base, and when it reached about halfway, the change stopped.

Rod waited for a while, but no changes occurred.

Not understanding why, he moved to another side and reached out to touch it again.

This time the obelisk took on a golden hue, with Golden Light seeping out from within, settling downward.

But just like before, the golden color stopped after covering a fifth of the obelisk's surface, and there were no further changes.

Rod had to withdraw his hand, and the surface of the obelisk returned to normal.

He felt that these two sides were somewhat like thermometers, measuring some sort of existing index.

There was one last side of the obelisk left.

Please, give me some useful information.

Rod stretched out his hand and pressed it against the last surface.

The next moment, new changes really did emerge.

A line of blood trailed down from the tip of the tower, forming dozens of strange characters on the surface of the obelisk.

They flickered slightly, like some strange warning, as if heralding something.

But he didn't recognize any of the characters.

Rod had never hated his illiteracy as much as he did at that moment.

He forcibly memorized the shape of each character, planning to find a way to decipher them in Jinworth's library as soon as he woke up.

After making sure he had memorized all the characters, Rod released his hand, and the bloody characters gradually faded.

There was nothing more to see on the obelisk; more information would have to wait until after he had overcome his illiteracy.

Rod glanced at the distant horizon, where the grey fog stretched boundlessly, without end.

Since he hadn't woken up yet, he might as well wander aimlessly; perhaps he would discover something new.

Rod walked away, aimlessly roaming through the world of grey fog.

After all, as long as he woke up, he would return to the real world and wouldn't have to worry about getting lost.

After a short walk, suddenly, a stinging pain came from the back of his hand.

Rod looked down and saw the strange eye pattern on the back of his right hand heating up, its black lines roiling as if they were about to erupt from his skin.

"What's going on here?"

"Is my Demon King seal about to be broken?"

Rod was somewhat alarmed, but in the next instant, the eye on the back of his hand shot out, turning into a large mass of black air that fell to the ground.