Chapter 618: The Pure White Dream

Pure white, a stretch of pure white.

Clyster woke up groggily and found that he and John were actually in a pure white world. Someone seemed to be calling out, and it also seemed like a singer was chanting.

“I heard that if a great prophet wants to conduct a trial, they will often summon the trial-taker in a dream. Perhaps this is our case. Clay, we might have entered the legendary Divine Realm Illusory Dream!”

John said to Clyster with a face full of excitement.

Clyster asked very confusedly: “What is a Divine Realm Illusory Dream?”

John said earnestly: “The so-called Divine Realm Illusory Dream comes from Mr. Artaidog’s The Locksmith’s Dream: Glimmer in the Hole. The original text in this book says this: ‘Those who pursue the light must meet a prophet in the Season of Restlessness to dream their way into the Divine Realm. There, it is a vast expanse of white, which is the beginning of the test.’

“The book also says that the so-called Divine Realm Illusory Dream is actually also called the Mansus Illusory Dream. It’s now November, approaching winter, which is exactly the so-called Month of Restlessness!”

His eyes were sharp as he said in a low voice: “The Time of Restlessness is the time to enter the Mansus. And the so-called Mansus has always been considered the source of the world, the place where everything originated.”

Clyster exclaimed: “We can actually enter the origin of the world? Is that possible?”

John said: “It is indeed highly unlikely for us, but if we have the guidance of a prophet, the power of a god will lead us to see the reflection of the Mansus. Although it’s a reflection, it is undeniably real in our eyes.”

Clyster looked at John somewhat puzzledly and asked in a low voice: “John, how do you know so much?”

Listening to the two’s headcanon dialogue from the side, Ace revealed a hint of a smile.

Actually, Ace did not set up a specific dream. The dreams He used were exactly the dreams of John and Clyster themselves. John believed the book The Locksmith’s Dream: Glimmer in the Hole spoke the truth, so the dream reflected that truth. As for whether that book was actually true or false, it really didn’t matter.

John continued to speak excitedly: “There are some mystical places in Hall City, and the most interesting among them is Morton’s Bookstore. That is a bookstore hidden in an alley. If you are not led by an acquaintance, Mrs. Morton will not allow you to enter.

“Rather than calling it a bookstore, it’s better to call it a mysterious secret realm isolated from the world. It is very beautiful there, and has a lot of knowledge regarding occultism, or rather, the Invisible Arts.

“There is a large collection of books there, but they are too expensive. I only read a few pages as a trial on my first visit. I didn’t expect…”

Clyster didn’t quite understand. He was illiterate and felt completely lost.

John was still talking continuously. His memory seemed to have become exceptionally clear, and his thinking was very agile.

Following John’s memory, the two continuously walked and indeed found a stretch of woodland.

“Legend has it that the woodland is the periphery of the deities’ residence. Many terrifying creatures live here. If we can pass through the woodland and walk to the Pure White Door surrounded by white bones, we can reach the outermost periphery of the deities’ residence. I heard prophets will test trial-takers there. Those who succeed will receive revelations and possess pursuits, while those who fail will become the white bones of the Pure White Door.”

Saying this, John couldn’t help but shiver. The path leading to the supernatural was right before his eyes; should he go or not?

Clyster felt a wave of admiration and said to John in a low voice: “How do you know so clearly?”

John said: “That was when I was an apprentice, I occasionally heard my teacher chatting idly with a black-bearded gentleman. Actually, it might not necessarily be true, but The Locksmith’s Dream: Glimmer in the Hole indeed mentioned the Pure White Door.”

Clyster nodded. He still didn’t quite understand, but he understood one thing: a person still needs to read and be literate, otherwise, they are as good as blind.

“John, if we can go back, I want to learn to read with you. Especially that Locksmith’s Dream thing.”

John nodded. His thin and weak body actually trembled somewhat. For a big guy like Clyster, who hated words so much, to actually want to learn knowledge made him very moved and inspired.

“The Locksmith’s Dream is actually a series. It consists of many dreams Sir Atta Brad had while experiencing the life of a locksmith. This Sir was the Pope of a secret cult; their Lord seemed to be related to locksmiths.

“But this was all three hundred years ago. That former secret cult has already disappeared into history.

“Actually, what I gained the most from my teacher wasn’t the wisdom of a pharmacist, but the profound mysteries regarding deities and the Invisible Arts. He actually…”

The two wandered in the woodland. Because of the fear in their hearts, the woodland also birthed many, many terrifying monsters, roaring at the two of them.

John and Clyster ran for their lives, but the monsters gradually closed in. John shouted: “Pray to that existence! The only way to survive in the woodland is devotion! Devotion to the Lord we serve will turn into a sharp blade to annihilate all monsters.”

The two knelt piously, muttering randomly, and a ball of flame actually gradually rose.

Meanwhile, the sharp claws of a shadowy figure had already approached Clyster. The sharp claws carved a hideous scar across his back.

At the very top of the flame hovered a brilliant ruby, bursting with magnificent light.

Various evil monsters and sharp claws instantly screamed miserably and disappeared without a trace. Unknowingly, it was already late night, a bright moon hanging high.

The two looked at each other; sweat had already soaked their backs.

Observing as a formless entity, Ace was somewhat astonished.

“This dream indeed possesses supernatural power, but how exactly it is shaped depends entirely on the two themselves. Bound by the world, I cannot communicate with them. I didn’t expect they would actually headcanon to this extent. Truly impressive.

“In this way, the dream fluid I used to construct the dream this time can be considered exhausted. They will also be able to obtain the power they imagined through the dream. What will it be?”

Ace was also somewhat curious. This dream He constructed actually only provided supernatural dream fluid. What they could obtain from it depended entirely on the dreamers themselves. Some people might gain nothing, while others might achieve the supernatural overnight.

This method was relatively consistent with the way the True Name World operated, and also fit Ace’s Dream Domain. His current goal was only one: to integrate into the world and no longer be rejected.

The choices made by those native “gods” who stayed on New Aberdovey Island were actually not wise. The believers of the Lamp martyring themselves for their faith had already broken the heterogeneity of the shed skin. World assimilation had already merged, yet they were still trying to put up a desperate struggle. What awaited them ultimately could only be turning into dust.

This wisp of Ace’s clone bore the task of scouting out the reality and falsehood of the entire True Name World; He had to integrate into the world.

And regarding this integration, Ace now had a vague idea. A secret cult might be a pretty good method. It’s just that for specific knowledge, Ace still needed to investigate more.

Within the dream, as the gem was born from the flame, the two also gradually felt at ease. Suddenly, the dream shattered and scattered like glass, and even that flame and gem shattered into two parts.

Huff, huff!

The two, who were sound asleep, opened their eyes simultaneously, sweat soaking their backs, as if they had run thirty miles on a night road in the middle of the night.

Clyster felt a burning pain on his back. He reached out and touched it; it was somewhat slippery and wet.

“John, could you light the oil lamp for me?”

John, shocked by the dream, was just feeling somewhat puzzled. He got up and lit the oil lamp. Clyster took off his shirt, revealing the somewhat hideous, bleeding wound on his back.

“This is…?”

Like a flash of light streaking through his mind, John remembered the scene he saw when he opened his eyes while praying in the dream. Was this dream real?

“We seem to have had an incredibly real dream, the Pure White Dream, and we arrived at the woodland! According to the records in The Locksmith’s Dream: Glimmer in the Hole, surviving the woodland means that although we didn’t pass the trial, we have already obtained the opportunity for the next trial.

“Moreover, we will bring something back from the dream, whether good or bad.”

John was very excited, trying his best to lower his voice as he spoke.

Clyster wailed in pain in a low voice: “So I brought back this scar. I feel like I’m going to die.”

John looked at Clyster seriously and said in a low voice: “This is indeed a part of what was brought back. If we are injured or die in the illusory dream of the Mansus, then we will also be injured or die in reality. Don’t move here; I’ll go get some hot water and gauze. I hope this wound isn’t poisonous.”

Clyster said in a low voice: “May the gem protect us!”

Suddenly, a flame actually flickered into existence above his head, spitting out half a ruby fragment. That flame swirled and directly burned the scar on Clyster’s back. Clyster roared in pain in a low voice, and the scar had already turned blackish-gray.

The flame quickly disappeared. Clyster’s face was a bit pale. John observed his back carefully and gently touched the blackish-gray area.

“Does it hurt?”

Clyster shook his head and said: “It’s a little itchy.”

He moved from side to side, and the blackish-gray actually fell off, exposing somewhat red, new skin.

“It’s already healed! It’s simply too miraculous, to actually heal your scar in an instant! This is the true benefit you obtained from the dream! I’ll try it too.”

After speaking, John also mimicked Clyster’s chanting. He deliberately tried a few different methods and finally determined the contract phrase was “Gem protect.”

In the following days, the two did not enter that miraculous dream again. They tried multiple times, researching this flame using wild animals, and finally confirmed its efficacy.

Clyster’s flame had powerful healing and toxin-removing effects. Injuries that weren’t too lethal could be treated very well. But if it was a severe injury, it could only be turned into a minor injury, and it was ineffective against lethal injuries.

Moreover, this kind of treatment could only take effect once, and they didn’t understand its principles.

John’s flame miraculously turned azure blue, and that gem also turned into a sapphire fragment. When the flame burned, he felt his spirit become much clearer, his memory became very good, and he learned things very quickly.

“So to speak, through the Divine Realm Illusory Dream, we obtained the supernatural powers of healing and spiritual enhancement! This power hasn’t yet become an instinct. This should be because we haven’t completed the trial and haven’t received the bestowal of a true name.”

Approaching their home village, John summarized in a low voice.

The supernatural, also called Invisible Arts, was almost equivalent to a true name in this world. Only by possessing a name could one truly be considered to possess supernatural power.

And a name originated from the bestowal of magical superiors. There were two types of bestowal: a superior taking the initiative to show favor, or an inferior obtaining it through some kind of ritual.

But regardless, the approval of a superior was required. This led to a multitude of various cults in this world. Besides the recognized Twenty True Lords of Time Churches, and the Six Outer Lords of Time Churches being suppressed and encircled, there were also Named Ones and Pseudonymous Ones permitted to preach in limited areas, too numerous to remember.

Further below were the hidden faiths, also known as secret cults or illegal orders, intolerant to the True Lords of Time Churches. The secret spies of the Joint Suppression Inquisition were spread all over the world. As long as they were discovered, they would either be hanged or tied to a cross and burned to ashes.

A true name is authority. For existences below Level 4, attempting to gather believers is actually hoping to walk another, unofficial path.

With believers comes personnel and organization; with organization comes status; with personnel comes faith, and one can then attempt to ascend to Level 4, gather believers, hold invisible rituals, truly enter the Mansus, and obtain a pseudonym.

Ambitious individuals and foreign “gods” mostly used this method to become official, hence it was also strictly prohibited. As for how Ace knew, although He couldn’t interfere, He could observe.

According to Ace’s observation, that Captain Dur was a believer of some secret cult. This captain going on an ocean voyage in such a hurry was actually a part of a ritual.

These rituals were very complex, one ring interlocking with another. Ace had no intention of disrupting them; He just wanted to mimic them, to integrate into this world according to the rules of this world.

As the Sovereign of Dreams, although He did not have Sovereign-level laws in the True Name World, Ace’s clone retained His Level 4 foundation. He easily diffused through dreams in Hall City and spied on many secrets.

“If I truly want to integrate into the world, the optimal strategy is to develop a secret cult, and then the true spirit reincarnates. If I do not reincarnate, I will forever be rejected by the True Name World.”

Entrusted within the ruby, Ace’s line of thought was already clear. Establishing this kind of hidden cult wasn’t a matter of choosing just anyone one wanted.

He needed someone whose destiny matched His own. Over half a year on New Aberdovey Island, Ace had only met this one qualified person, Clyster. Having a qualified person, He also needed the devout faith of the qualified person.

The so-called qualified person was actually someone who could help Him dissolve hostility with the world; it was a kind of turning point. Ace already knew that outsiders reviving from shed skins all needed to use the incarnation ritual to wash away the temperament of their otherworldly origins and be truly accepted by the True Name World.

Ace was very lucky. By the side of His qualified person was John, who was very interested in occultism. The two of them had both become His believers, providing a very good foundation for the soon-to-be-born secret cult.

Frankly speaking, John—literate, knowing some superficial occultism, and of reliable character—was more suitable to become the First Believer than the qualified person Clyster. But facts are facts: the qualified person was extremely important, even relating to Ace’s future reincarnation.

Therefore, both people had to be valued.

John and Clyster returned to their village. This place wasn’t wealthy; there wasn’t even a noble. The entire village was part of Baron Roger’s territory of Roger Town.

“I’ve thought about it over and over. We cannot give this one gold coin directly to Gale’s family. Not giving it to them, but rather, doing so would carry immense danger.”

(Chapter finished)

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