Although I still don’t know for sure if the giant is the Master of Divine Seal himself, as No.4 Xuanming suspected, one thing is quite certain: he is undoubtedly the center of the Mist Dream Realm, the master of this place.
And we are guests who have been forcibly invited here, or to put it less pleasantly, without the ability to use our superpowers in this place, we are likely already fish on the chopping block. Extending this taphor, what would I, this discordant foreign object, seem like in his eyes?
No.4 Xuanming seed to have so kind of reliance, or perhaps it was courage that spurred him on, as he repeated his question to the giant without any response.
The others all adopted a defensive posture, ready to retaliate at any mont, but it seed that only I, as the person involved, could feel the giant’s scrutinizing gaze.
Wait, there was another person who seed to notice the giant’s gaze. It was No.2 Xiaowan. Even though she was in this place, she appeared to still possess extraordinary perception. She clearly realized the giant was staring at , first giving a tense look, then deliberately moved closer to my side, as if to say she wanted to stick with through thick and thin.
Suddenly, the giant withdrew his heavy gaze and then lifted his arm, lightly waving it.
My vision plunged into darkness. It wasn’t a failure of sight, but rather the mist in front of suddenly beca so thick that even light couldn’t penetrate.
The darkness lasted only for a mont, and my vision imdiately returned to its original state, the only difference being my position. I was initially standing on the ground, but the next thing I knew, I was seated in a rock seat without knowing how I got there.
The others were in the sa state as I was. Those who had previously been standing were now seated in rock chairs, comporting themselves quite properly. I reflexively tried to move, but felt my body constrained. The fog around us seed to have an invisible pressure; when I made any movent suggesting I would leave my seat, it would forcibly press back down to the rock seat.
I twisted my neck to take a careful look around. At least this action was unhindered. I was now seated on the third rock chair from left to right, with No.2 Xiaowan on my left and No.4 Xuanming on my right. The order of seats clearly corresponded to the numbered titles we had given ourselves.
Could it be that the giant hadn’t really been asleep before but was secretly listening to our conversation? Or, could he review past information in this Mist Dream Realm like Mazao could?
As I was trying to analyze the situation, the giant finally spoke.
He first answered No.4 Xuanming’s question.
"I am the Master of Divine Seal."
His voice was abnormally deep, not like soone speaking with his own voice, but as if the gray fog encompassing this dream itself was talking. It was as if there were countless people hidden within the gray mist, their voices layering upon each other like a solemn chorus, the resonating sound waves even minutely shaking my chest.
No.4 Xuanming appeared completely unmoved by this grand display, asking in an extrely serious tone, "Then, was it you who wished for the destruction of the world with the divine seal?"
"What is your purpose in bringing us to this place?" No.6 demanded without any niceties.
The Master of Divine Seal looked at them indifferently.
"Most of what happens in this world, I am aware of. Your questions, I can answer as well," he said again, with that layered, commanding voice, "But if you want answers, you must abide by the rules of this place."
"Playing god!" No.6 voiced sarcastically, "Rules? Rules are enforced with power. Do you think I truly have no knowledge of your true nature?
"Or do you believe that with this gray mist that suppresses superpowers, you can truly rest easy in this place?"
As his words ended, this being, possibly from Luo Mountain, seemingly Impermanence, suddenly shone with dazzling light.
In this Mist Dream Realm where no superpower was supposed to be usable, he burst forth like a dazzling sun erging suddenly. For a mont, not even the gray mist could block the penetrating white light, no, it was the gray mist that was torn apart by the white light!
A vacuum, free of any gray mist, ford around his body. Needless to say, the force that had kept him seated on the rock chair was utterly shattered. Transford into a white sun, he shot out like a projectile toward the distant Master of Divine Seal, carving a vacuum corridor through the mist. The shockwave swept in all directions. If it weren’t for the gray mist still pressing down, I would have likely been blown away by this unstoppable blast.
No.6 was actually making an attack on the Master of Divine Seal!
How did he manage to use superpowers here? Was it because he was Impermanence, powerful enough that not even the gray mist could suppress him? Or had he found a loophole in the brief ti?
And what did he an by claiming to know the Master of Divine Seal’s details? Could that be related to his ability to use superpowers in this place?
No.4 Xuanming did not join No.6’s charge, whether it was because he couldn’t or was still observing. I could only watch from behind as No.6 charged. It happened so quickly, from the start of No.6’s charge to the end, that I wasn’t even sure if it lasted the blink of an eye; even if I could have helped, it was too late to act. The white sun hit the Master of Divine Seal with a resounding impact, the light exploded, spreading across my field of vision, and then swiftly faded away.
I couldn’t tell if it was because this place was a dream, but logically speaking, the light of the white sun should have been blinding, yet I could still see clearly. I carefully observed the Master of Divine Seal’s condition.
I didn’t think the Master of Divine Seal would die so easily, or rather, I didn’t wish for the enigmatic being who had appeared in such a mysterious manner to die so casually under No.6’s retaliation. However, No.6 was, after all, Impermanence, and he was suspected of having a grasp on the Master of Divine Seal’s secrets. He had even broken through the blockade of the grey mist, so it would be acceptable if he had inflicted damage on the Master of Divine Seal.
Yet, the Master of Divine Seal was unscathed.
He still sat serenely on his stone throne, his posture unchanged, as if the attack just now had been nothing but an illusion.
So where had No.6 gone?
"—What?" A voice ca from the direction of my right hand.
I imdiately turned to look and saw that No.6 had sohow returned to his own stone seat. He was sitting there properly, as if he had never launched an attack in the first place, even showing a confused deanor about his own state.
Even though his attack had failed, he didn’t panic, but rather quickly accepted the fact and muttered darkly, "Ti reversal? Altering reality? Or simply manipulating dreams? No, none of those, but you were supposed to be..."
The others watched all this with shocked expressions.
The Master of Divine Seal seed not to care much about the offense, nor did he heed the other’s mumbling, instead he simply stated, "Should there be another offense, I will show no rcy."
"...Hmph."
The situation seed different from what No.6 had initially estimated, and as a result of his apprehension, even Impermanence had to comply, at least for the ti being.
No.4, Xuanming, glanced at No.6 and then said to the Master of Divine Seal, "You just said we should abide by the rules of this place, so start by explaining your so-called rules!"
"First of all, I must tell you the purpose of my gathering you here," the Master of Divine Seal said with unchanged deanor, "You have all received Divine Seal Fragnts and have personally experienced the power of the Divine Seal Fragnts, so there is no longer any doubt in your minds about the existence of the divine seal.
"But the Divine Seal Fragnts you possess are only part of all the Divine Seal Fragnts. And the mission I bestow upon you is to collect the scattered Divine Seal Fragnts."
Upon hearing the Master of Divine Seal’s speech, the newcors, No.6 and No.7, showed no confusion. It seed I was the only one who didn’t know "the power of the Divine Seal Fragnt."
And No.4, Xuanming, countered, "But wasn’t the divine seal never shattered in the first place?"
The Master of Divine Seal then uttered a seemingly contradictory statent, "The divine seal being intact does not prevent you from collecting its fragnts."
"Then, is that intact divine seal in your possession?" No.4, Xuanming, persisted in his questioning.
"It is and it isn’t," the Master of Divine Seal once again uttered a contradictory phrase.
No.4, Xuanming, fell silent. Clearly, no one present could understand the Master of Divine Seal’s words. I couldn’t like this riddling, enigmatic person’s way of speaking, especially since I wasn’t the one playing the mysterious character, which made it even less likeable.
However, since this genuinely related to anomalies that surpassed common sense, especially anomalies like the divine seal, it’s possible that human language truly cannot accurately describe its form of existence. Just as humans cannot understand an object that is both intact and shattered, sothing that transcends logic cannot be explained with logical language; perhaps the Master of Divine Seal was helpless to do otherwise.
The people present each had their reactions to this series of changes and dialogues, among which No.7 was certainly the strangest.
Since her appearance, No.7 had been doing as she pleased, not speaking a word. Whether it was the Master of Divine Seal speaking up, No.6’s sudden attack, or the current changes, she maintained a stance of indifference. It was as if she was a bystander with a mindset of ’not my circus, not my monkeys’, a thoroughly complete spectator.
To tell the truth, I also wanted to watch from the sidelines like her, simply enjoying the atmosphere of this mysterious organization’s gathering as a participant. Regrettably, it seed the Master of Divine Seal had already marked . Even now, without having launched an attack or posed questions like No.4, Xuanming, and No.6, I guess he would not forget to deal with later. In that case, I might as well be forthright and express what was on my mind.
"So, why should we help you collect the Divine Seal Fragnts?" I simply spoke up, "What’s in it for us?"
The Master of Divine Seal looked at again.
"Once the Divine Seal Fragnts are collected, I will fairly assess the contributions each of you has made to this matter, and select the person with the highest contribution," he stated, "And for that victor, I will grant their wish."
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