A veil of stars once again obscured the eternally blazing sun.
The bright day immediately gave way to a night illuminated only by the stars.
The hotel on the island.
In the largest cluster of greenhouses.
Jason and his companions had already returned, and Juanlu was busy outside.
Because of the greenhouses, the kitchens here are almost all built outside the houses.
"I'm really getting a bit queasy after smelling this floral scent so much," Jason said, rubbing his nose.
The floral scent in the hall was unusually strong.
It was nothing like the delicate fragrance they had experienced when they entered.
The reason for this was that Simon and Mathilda seemed to be conducting some sort of purification experiment.
This experiment wasn't something they had intended to do, but something Juanlu had just asked them to do.
The essence was being purified from the flower ingredients.
As he spoke, Jason suddenly raised his hand and caught a small figure flying toward him.
"Be careful! Overdoing it isn't good."
He placed the figure on the table.
The puppet girl giggled and finally ran off.
Watching this, Jason could only shake his head helplessly.
At this moment, the puppet girls scattered around the hall, each doing their own thing.
Some were reading, some were studying the strange furniture plants.
Some were following Simon and Matresa, observing their experiments and helping out.
Of course, there were also those who, like the ones just now, were mischievous and playing all sorts of dangerous games.
The puppets' tough bodies made these games relatively safe for them.
"What are you doing?" a voice tinged with solemnity rang out.
It came from Zero, who was dressed in a maid outfit.
The puppet girls, who were running around and making trouble, paused for a moment, then reluctantly began to pick up the things they had disturbed in the room.
Watching this scene,
Julia smiled, looking at San, who was sleeping with his head resting on her shoulder.
"Hey, you're back."
Hearing this, Julia looked up as Alka and the other four walked in from the doorway.
She took a quick look and saw that the three had changed into local attire. They seemed to be showing no signs of injury or breathing disorder, so she looked away.
But their trouser legs and sleeves were a little damp, which was inevitable.
"Ah, I'm so tired," Alka said, returning to her room.
The others returned to their rooms, changed their clothes, and cleaned themselves off before returning to the hall.
Sofia found a spot to unpack his tools and began drawing a map. No one bothered to interrupt.
Simon and Matresa had also finished their purification and were resting in the hall.
Matresa held a glass of water and handed it to Pororo.
Alka looked at Jason and said, "How's it going? Have you found anyone to sell gems? Urulius scolded her outside today, and she's not happy about it."
Heard this, Jason felt a little helpless, but he still took out a gem and shook it, indicating that he had bought it.
Then he said, "The Bloom Festival starts in a week. When should we act?"
"I don't know. Let's take a look at the map first. This will definitely take some time."
At least that's what Alka thought. After all, if they were to obtain this orange [Scepter]-level treasure...
Jason nodded, then added, "The area around this place isn't safe. I saw it today. I think the island has wanted notices posted."
"We've seen quite a few wanted criminals there, and not just them. We've also seen many wanted notices for the same criminals here on Twin Islands.
These guys are hiding around the Land of the Spirits, in various places in the swamp."
Alka nodded; he had anticipated this.
And they were definitely in the endless forest not far away.
When they went out to explore today, they had gotten a good idea of the surrounding terrain.
About twenty or thirty miles from the Land of Fragrance, there's a large forest made up of swamp trees.
That's the best place to hide.
And there were indeed many guards patrolling the area.
"But the Land of the Spirits area should be okay. After all, it's considered the safest," Simon said.
It was indeed just as he said.
Of the three areas, the most dangerous is undoubtedly the border of life and death.
No matter if they are normal people like Alka or various pagans or criminals, they would not go there.
The danger there stems purely from the local environment and the local undead creatures.
The next is naturally the giant tree habitat, which occupies half of the marsh sea.
That area is pure chaos, with local indigenous people, chaotic beliefs, and various fugitives and pagans all operating there.
It is a pure chaos, a no-man's land.
Most of the shipwrecks and rumors of the marsh sea's dangers are due to that area.
If you are facing an area close to the border of life and death, as long as you take a short detour just before contact with the marsh sea, your chances of survival are generally very high.
Of course, if you accidentally encounter an undead ship, you can only count yourself unlucky.
But if it was in that area, there was no way around it.
Due to the chaotic nature of that area, pirates of all kinds abounded. Not just pirates, but even fugitive pagans had ships.
They didn't mind temporarily becoming pirates at all.
And that area, coincidentally, made up half of the Marsh Sea, making it easy for most people to venture there.
If they accidentally crossed into that area, they'd be in big trouble.
Due to the Marsh Sea's unique situation, there was no official force organizing a cleanup.
Thus, that area had been in chaos for millennia, practically a gathering place for criminals from the surrounding landmark islands.
And it had been for generations.
After discussing some not-so-secret information with Jason,
Huanlu prepared dinner.
After everyone ate, they retired to rest.
Lying on his bed of petals, Alka didn't immediately sink into his own dream.
Instead, he used his dream clone to descend into the dream world of his current area.
He observed the local dream world.
Generally, whenever he arrived in an unfamiliar area, he would enter its dream world to observe, even if his dream bubble no longer appeared there.
This necessary understanding would help him prepare for future battles should an unexpected situation arise.
Upon entering this dream world, all he saw were bubbles of all sizes, nearly filling his entire field of vision.
This was normal.
The bubbles on Twin Islands were far more spectacular.
This was the scene presented by the dream world of a gathering place.
The more people there were, the more dramatic the scene.
Mist-like creatures and light-and-shadow creatures filled the surroundings.
Strange, I didn't see the largest number of shadow creatures. These aggressive dream creatures couldn't possibly avoid coming here.
The large number of mist creatures gathered here contributed to the stability of this area in the real world.
Although the marsh sea shifts, and so do the islands, these mist creatures generally follow the area where the dream bubbles are located.
"Sniff... sniff."
Alka sniffed.
Why is there a floral scent even in the dream world?
He flew slightly higher, slightly above the stacked dream bubbles.
As soon as he rose, Alka saw it.
A gigantic flower existed in the dream world.
The enormous flower looked exactly like the flowers on the island outside, but unlike the flowers outside, the dream flower had already bloomed.
A beautiful girl with pink and white hair lay within the flower's stamen.
The curvaceous figure seemed to embody all the beauty in the world, and the fragrance of the flowers wafted through, bewitching everyone.
Alka immediately covered his nose and vanished instantly.
He dismissed his dream clone.
As he vanished, the graceful girl within the flower's stamen opened her eyes. She glanced at the spot where Alka had vanished.
Then she closed her eyes again and fell into a deep sleep.
It was a minor incident, but she didn't pay much attention to it.
Alka in the real world immediately opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
"Damn it, I saw something I shouldn't have. Could that girl and that giant flower be..."
Alka immediately stopped mumbling and completely cleared his mind of all thoughts.
He tried to stop himself from thinking, even mentally blocking out the thoughts that kept drifting to the past.
After calming down, he pretended nothing had happened and fell asleep again.
This time, he awoke from his dream bubble. He appeared in his dreamland.
This time, he received a phantom message the moment he entered. He left his dream bubble.
Construction of the dream palace was still underway.
As he emerged into the palace, Shadow Robe flew over.
"You looking for me?"
" Hearing this, Alka perked up.
"Tell me about it." Shadow Robe nodded.
"Excuse me, but could you please let me see your mirror-like mask?" Alka nodded and opened his right hand, revealing a mirrored surface. Looking at the mask made of mirrors, Shadow Robe observed it from side to side.
Then, as if reassured, he nodded: "It should be possible."
Then he asked, "Can you withstand the disruption of another increase in strength?"
Alka's current strength remained at the fourth stage of perfection. With Shadow Robe's help, Alka's ritual was extremely stable.
With his help, Alka could use very little energy, reducing his strength only slightly at a time.
Without suffering any damage, he could slowly reduce his strength, keeping it at the fourth stage of perfection and not increasing it.
Shadow Robe's question clearly asked if he could withstand the disruption that would come with reaching the fifth stage of strength.
Alka nodded.
In reality, his current strength was at the third stage, in the 22nd spiral.
"I should be able to withstand it."
Although he couldn't guarantee 100%, he was 95% certain.
Nothing can be guaranteed 100%.
Shadow Robe nodded at this.
Then he told Alka his idea.
"Through my investigation, your mirror dimension is firmly bound to the dream world and has become part of it.
Then why not place the entire palace within the mirror dimension?"
Hearing this, Alka said, "Because my strength doesn't allow me to expand the mirror dimension to such a large size. And once bound to the dream world, it can't be moved."
Hearing this, Shadow Robe shook his head. "No, you underestimate yourself, and you also underestimate the power of royal authority."
"Why not be bolder? The privileges of royal authority mean that as long as they don't threaten the fundamental operation of the world, even threatening the basic rules of the dream world can be achieved through strength."
Alka knew this, of course, but the problem was...how to put it? He couldn't put it into words right away.
Looking at Alka's expression, he felt the fluctuations emanating from his thoughts.
Shadow Robe seemed to understand and nodded.
"It seems you haven't yet grasped the dignity of your own status. You haven't adapted to the change in your current status."
"But the method I just mentioned is indeed feasible. Shall we act?"
Alka stood there, pondering.
After a while, Huanya approached Alka and rubbed his crystal-like antlers against him.
"Okay, let's get ready."
Hearing this, Shadow Robe nodded, and Huan also nodded beside him.
"Then we'll take our leave."
With that, the two dream creatures said goodbye and departed, leading the mist-like creatures in the dream world to prepare.
Alka's first task was to break through to the fifth spiral within the dream world. Then, he would expand the scope of the mirror space to meet the requirements for building the royal court.
He quickly flew back to his dream bubble.
Although the dream bubble was now enormous, Alka continued to expand the crystal pillar.
In addition to the gold and silver energies, a pale gray energy also emerged within the crystal pillar.
This energy originated from the divisions brought about by Alka's royal power.
It grew with the growth of his palace and the influence of his court.
For now, Alka hadn't figured out how to use this energy and hadn't thoroughly researched it.
He flew to the side of the crystal pillar.
The mirror in his hand began to transform, becoming a deer head modeled after Mirmi, which he wore on his head.
His figure began to shift.
The Dreamcatcher crystal ball emerged from his chest.
Looking at the crystal ball, Alka gently squeezed it.
The crystal ball immediately shattered, dissolving into a thick pink mist that formed a halo around him.
This was the appearance of complete control.
He took a deep breath.
The golden and silver energies mixed with his own pink energy, and Alka began to release the suppression of his strength.
The strength within him then began to naturally grow, rapidly increasing under Alka's intentional meditation.
He broke through the barrier.
The golden and silver energies mingled within the pink mist, strengthening Alka's connection to reality.
This effectively alleviated the rift, solidifying the connection between reality and dreams, ensuring that his strength increased without any unexpected consequences.
As his dream power increased, the fastest thing to change was Alka's dream bubble, which began to grow again.
The divine bloodline brought on by consuming the divine fragment also began to boil.
As his strength increased, the changes brought about by the divine bloodline also began to manifest.
Has the rift stabilized?
Alka was puzzled, but before he could dwell on it, he seized the opportunity to make his final push.
It might be called a final push, but for Alka, it was simply a natural progression.
Easily, his strength increased.
Because the experience of advancing in his dream was clearly different from reality,
Same.
Alka's improvement didn't seem to manifest itself in many ways. An unknown person standing nearby might have thought Alka hadn't done anything.
But Alka had already opened his eyes. He had successfully advanced to the equivalent of five stages of strength within the dream realm.
The gap between his strength in the dream realm and reality had widened even further.
He also roughly understood why, despite such a significant rift, he hadn't broken through, but instead had stabilized it.
His identity as a descendant of the gods helped him.
The fragment of the godhead he devoured came from a god who existed half in reality and half in dream.
This was almost identical to his current state.
Therefore, this descendant of the gods' bloodline helped him stabilize the rift between the two.
For a normal person, even a one-stage difference would be enough to tear him apart into reality and dream.
But even after advancing two stages, Alka still managed to maintain his composure.
As his strength reached the fifth stage, the feeling of his strength rising naturally and inexplicably without any training finally subsided.
Alka could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, his image in the dream, wearing the deer mask, also changed.
The mask completely vanished, replaced by a similar pattern reflected on Alka's face, and two similar deer antlers sprouted from his head.
His previously arched deer legs transformed back into human legs, but he still maintained his mimicry.
His increased strength allowed him to move from the fourth stage of controlling treasures to the level of being able to transform them.