Sorcerer’s Handbook

Before his eyes was an impenetrable darkness, not even the light of the Golden Flow could seep through.

In his ears, the chaotic breathing sounds made the chirping of the Circle Cicada seem incredibly distant.

Ashe felt as if he were dreaming, or perhaps just waking up in a daze. In his muddled state, occasional clear thoughts would flash through his mind-why hadn’t he crushed her heart yet?

Was it because, physically, he lacked the strength to resist?

Or was it because, rationally, he still needed Silver Lantern to dominate the Circle Cicada?

Or perhaps… was it all the influence of the Blood Seed?

“Hmm!”

Ashe suddenly felt a sharp pain on his lips-Silver Lantern had bitten his lower lip. Lips were far more sensitive than fingertips, and the pain made Ashe instinctively pull back. But Silver Lantern pressed even more forcefully against him, even attempting to bite him a second time.

This lunatic!

Silver Lantern didn’t dodge or resist, allowing him to bite her lip, and then she kissed him tenderly.

As the liquid flowed, Ashe’s tongue tasted something different. His blood was the authentic Blood Moon human blood, carrying a hint of metallic sweetness, while Silver Lantern’s was silver dragon blood, tart yet distinctly sweet, like lemon with sugar.

After a moment, Silver Lantern lifted her head and asked, “What does my blood taste like?”

Ashe didn’t want to answer, but he felt that not responding would make her even more extreme, so he said, “Lemon and sweet orange.”

“Do you like it?”

“I’m not a Blood Saint.”

Vesser leaned close to his ear and whispered, “I don’t know if you’ve ever kissed anyone before, nor do I care who you’ll be intimate with in the future…”

“But I want you to remember my taste,” she said. “It’s rust, lemon, and sweet orange.”

This reason threw Ashe into chaos. He could only struggle as much as possible, muttering softly, “You’re truly a lunatic.”

Vesser seemed to particularly enjoy watching him resist. She lowered her head once more to savor him.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud noise from nowhere jolted the weak and disoriented pair awake. Vesser still covered Ashe’s eyes, seeing the golden dome above them shaking violently.

“What’s happening?”

“Ashe, it seems you have quite the group of companions,” she said, turning her gaze toward the Circle Cicada. “But for us, it might not be a blessing.”

The tremors had the greatest impact on the palace’s drainage system. With the rumbling vibrations, numerous new drainage outlets opened in the palace’s passageways. The Golden Flow Water, no longer a straight stream, quickly dispersed and began to dry up!

The Circle Cicada immediately grew frantic. It was already only a few dozen meters away from Ashe and Vesser, and now, as the Golden Flow’s water level dropped, it swiftly raced along the river toward the source of the flow-right where Ashe and Vesser were.

Or rather, it was charging straight toward them. If the Golden Flow Water was akin to air, an essential for its survival, then Ashe and Vesser were at least emergency oxygen tanks!

Its newly awakened survival instincts and predatory drive made it realize it had to consume the two of them to prepare for the Golden Flow’s depletion!

Ashe heard the cicada’s shrill cry rapidly approaching and felt Silver Lantern’s body trembling. He hesitated for a moment, sighed inwardly, and gave up on pushing her away, simply sitting there in silence.

Vesser, sensitive to his subtle shift, pressed her face against his, finally able to suppress the fear born of her survival instincts and face eternity with dignity.

Crack!

Suddenly, the torches on the pedestals burst into roaring flames. The fierce fire erupted like an explosion, instantly filling the entire passageway. Vesser instinctively shielded Ashe, only to find the flames had no effect on them.

Instead, the Circle Cicada let out an ear-piercing screech. Its shadow stretched long-so long that it crossed the entire passageway, imprinting itself on the wall at the passage’s entrance!

Then, like ropes, the shadows pulled the Circle Cicada back toward the wall!

“Zhi-“

“Le!”

No longer the naive Demi-God, the Circle Cicada seemed to recall the countless years it had spent embedded in the wall. It summoned all its strength to resist being buried back into the wall once more. Its body flickered incessantly, and the surrounding Golden Flow Water rapidly dried up, indicating its desperate attempts to traverse time-escaping into the future or retreating into the past-to evade the Miracle Trap left behind by the Gray Fox sorcerer.

Yet Vesser saw it clearly: this Miracle Trap was likely a convergence of miracles from multiple Sects-Shadow, light spells, Truth, fate, and more. Most importantly, the core miracle of this trap was the Time Miracle, specifically designed to counter the Circle Cicada’s various spellcasting abilities!

It seemed the Circle Cicada cult had long anticipated the possibility of the Circle Cicada transforming into a spirit, even foreseeing its ferocious instincts post-transformation. That’s why they had meticulously designed this retrieval mechanism.

But the Golden Flow’s channel was clearly prepared for the Circle Cicada’s feeding…

The ever-scheming Vesser immediately realized that the Circle Cicada cult must have had multiple plans when they recruited legends into the Cicada Sound Project. If the project succeeded and everyone could share the Circle Cicada, that would be ideal. But if it failed, these legends on the verge of extinction would become materials for a second plan.

But that was over two hundred years ago. No matter how much Vesser speculated, it was merely a reflection on the past. Instead, a peculiar thought arose in her mind:

If a Demi-God transformed into a spirit could possess such a strong will to survive and intelligence, then the deities ascended by Demi-Gods likely wouldn’t be inferior either. Would the Demi-Gods who ascended in the past truly be willing to serve as deities under the Divine Sovereign of Senlo?

At that moment, the Circle Cicada seemed to realize that it couldn’t escape the Miracle Trap on its own. It pressed itself against the ground, absorbing the water flowing into its body-or rather, it was actively drawing in the silver dragon blood still flowing from Vesser.

“Ashe.”

“We’re not going to die?”

“No.”

“That’s good news,” Ashe said slowly. “But for you, it might not be.”

“I understand what you mean,” Vesser replied. “But for me, it’s also good news.”

Thud!

As a massive stone fell from the golden dome beside them, the two immediately felt the heavy chains binding them vanish into thin air-

The seal on their spirits and spellforce was broken!

Sanctuary!

Ashe and Vesser instantly expanded their Sanctuaries, and in an instant, they separated to opposite sides of the passageway, just like before, just like always.

Spellforce rapidly replenished their weakened bodies. Ashe stood up and saw a familiar silver lantern.

It was exactly the same as the countless times he’d seen it before-stunning, mysterious, and dangerous. She had removed her mask, but she had also put on the most familiar one.

The moment Vesser regained her spellforce, she immediately used a miracle to complete her disguise, and her Gate of Truth automatically closed. The moment the environment shattered, the divine fire seed and her extreme time talent began to rapidly diminish. How much of it would remain as their power depended entirely on luck.

Vesser turned to look at the Circle Cicada. It was no longer bound by the Miracle Trap, but its condition was far from good, lying weakly in the water.

With a gentle wave of her hand, the Circle Cicada fluttered toward her.

Had Silver Lantern really succeeded in dominating the Circle Cicada!?

Ashe’s mind was instantly flooded with a strong sense of danger. Even without the Golden Flow, the Circle Cicada was an extremely dangerous Four-winged Spirit. If someone like Silver Lantern truly gained control of it-

At that moment, Ashe also felt a faint connection with the Circle Cicada. With a thought, he reached out toward it, and the cicada immediately halted, its compound eyes flickering uncertainly between Ashe and Vesser.

This could work!

Silver Lantern had used too much of Ashe’s blood, so the Circle Cicada was essentially nurtured by both of them. As a result, Ashe also had a certain degree of domination over the cicada!

Seeing this, Vesser was somewhat surprised.

She naturally understood why she could suddenly dominate the Circle Cicada-or rather, why the cicada had actively sought the protection of a sorcerer. The Miracle Trap wasn’t designed to hunt the Circle Cicada itself but to capture wild spirits. As long as it had no master, it would inevitably be buried back into the wall.

This also revealed that the Gray Fox sorcerer of the Circle Cicada cult had long prepared for the possibility of dominating the cicada.

The Circle Cicada had no choice but to submit through the silver dragon blood, pledging its loyalty to Vesser. Of course, it didn’t fully become her spirit. As a Four-winged Spirit, it instinctively resisted becoming the pet of a three-winged sorcerer.

At the same time, Vesser could sense that her authority over the cicada was far greater than Ashe’s. If she wished, she could completely seize control of the Circle Cicada. However…

After a brief hesitation, the Circle Cicada suddenly split into two-a square cicada and a round cicada. The square cicada flew toward Vesser, while the round one drifted toward Ashe.

Vesser caught the Square Cicada in her hand and looked up at the gaping hole in the collapsing dome. She spread her virtual wings and took flight. Even if she couldn’t reach the surface directly, her mastery of the Earth Sect allowed her to navigate through the underground.

“What’s your real name?” Ashe suddenly asked, panting heavily.

Vesser looked at him and shook her head. “I told you, my name belongs only to me.”

She paused, then added, “But Silver Lantern belongs only to you.”

With that, she flew into the hole, cast a miracle, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, a loud crash echoed nearby as a section of the golden dome collapsed, revealing a passage leading straight to the surface.

Igor and the others jumped down from above. Seeing Ashe leaning against the wall in a daze, Igor raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”

“A lot of things,” Ashe replied, turning to look at them. He glanced at the round cicada perched on his shoulder and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“But it was all just a delusion.”