Chapter 746: Were Still Alive

Chapter 746: Were Still Alive

Heritage?

Ashe glanced at the Circle Cicada on his shoulder. After Vesser took the initiative to send over the Square Cicada, the Round Cicada had merged back with the Square Cicada.

Logically, now that Ashe had become a legendary sorcerer, he should be able to subdue the Circle Cicada, this Four-winged Spirit. But judging from the cases of the dove, Fire Cat, and Bluebird, these deities who ascended from Demi-God all developed a strong resistance toward their sorcerer masters. So this Circle Cicada, a spirit transformed from a Demi-God, probably wouldn’t be much friendlier to its sorcerer master either.

As long as the Circle Cicada stayed with him, Ashe didn’t necessarily have to subdue it.

Besides the Circle Cicada, Ashe also had more than ten spirits like Thousand Changes in his possession. Vesser, knowing she was doomed, had no interest in taking these spirits with her to the grave, so she simply gave them all to Ashe for free.

Not only that, Vesser even gave herself to Ashe for free:

The Silver Lantern deity.

Ashe looked at the silver block before him, reached out and rubbed her head, and the silver block immediately began to flow, cheerful music ringing out around them.

From soul to body, from spirit to deity, everything of Yolan Vesser was now by Ashe’s side. What other heritage could Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook possibly give Ashe?

No tutorial needed, Ashe simply slapped the virtual button, and the slot machine spun.

Ding! First reel: a Vesser playing with fire.

Ding! Second reel: a Vesser doing a high kick.

Ding! Third reel: a Vesser dressed in dazzling ice spell attire.

“Triple draw: ‘Mirror Dragon’s Illusion’! Congratulations, you’ve obtained ‘Yolan Vesser’s Doll’!”

“Yolan Vesser’s Doll”: Every time Yolan Vesser looked in the mirror, the Mirror Dragon would turn the illusion in the mirror into a doll. Anyone who possesses the doll will suffer misfortune until death. Interestingly, whenever Yolan Vesser received these dolls, she would often give them to her closest people. Using it unlocks Bond features.

Ashe was stunned-wasn’t this a maxed-out artifact? But now all the operators were gone, what was the point of giving him this?

The doll appeared directly in Ashe’s hand. He looked down and saw that, though the doll was cutesy and chibi, it was still instantly recognizable as Vesser.

The heritage lottery wasn’t over yet. The (3/3) atop the slot machine changed to (2/3); he still had two more chances.

Ding! First reel: a woman Ashe didn’t recognize.

Ding! Second reel: same as above.

Ding! Third reel: same as above.

“Triple draw: ‘Vionelle’! Congratulations, you’ve obtained ‘Yolan Vesser’s Watercolor Pens’!”

“Yolan Vesser’s Watercolor Pens”: These were watercolor pens Vionelle gave her daughter. Yolan Vesser couldn’t bear to use them, and later couldn’t find them no matter how she searched. Though Vionelle gave her another set, by then Yolan Vesser no longer felt like drawing. Using it unlocks Bond features. Ŕ𝖆NȮ𝐛Ę𐌔

Ashe looked at the box of watercolor pens, didn’t complain, and placed it beside the doll.

Ding! First reel: portrait version of Yolan Vesser!

Ding! Second reel: Silver Lantern version of Yolan Vesser!

Ding! Third reel: …Ashe!

Just as Ashe was regretting not getting three of a kind, he saw the third reel’s image suddenly tremble, then restart on its own, and with a ding, the third reel showed Yolan Vesser wearing a fox mask!

La↓la↑la↑la↓

“Triple draw: ‘Yolan Vesser’! Congratulations, you’ve obtained ‘Yolan Vesser’s Sorcerer’s Handbook’!”

A notebook fell into Ashe’s hand, the heritage lottery interface vanished into thin air, and even the game interface tactfully disappeared on its own. Ashe stared blankly at the Sorcerer’s Handbook in his hand, not even knowing what expression to make. A vast sense of absurdity overwhelmed him.

Ever since he learned about the Sorcerer’s Handbook mechanism, Ashe had wondered if he’d ever read the handbook of someone he knew. He just hadn’t expected that moment to come so soon, so coincidentally, and so awkwardly.

Suppressing the bittersweet feelings in his heart, he read the Sorcerer’s Handbook in reality for the first time.

Yolan Vesser’s Sorcerer’s Handbook was unlike any he’d read before. Her handbook contained several books.

Though it said “several books,” in reality there were only titles, covers, synopses, and outlines, with little actual content. As for the authors, each book had a different one.

The first was a fairy tale, “Mr. Fox and Mr. Bird,” authored by the smartest little girl of Dust Tribulation Fire. The cover showed a little girl chatting with animals; the story was about a little girl wanting to learn to read from the fox and sing from the bird, planning to surprise her elder sister when she returned. But the fox and bird refused to teach her, and with the help of animals like the lynx, the little girl successfully persuaded the fox and bird in a series of comedic episodes.

The second was an adventure story, “Elixir of Immortality,” authored by Liuli Hua Vesser Huancai Guang. The cover showed a little girl picking flowers in ruins; the story was about a little girl searching for the elixir of immortality in ancient ruins to save her elder sister, encountering many traps and experiencing a thrilling adventure.

The third was a political intrigue novel, “Tribulation Fire,” authored by Yolan Vesser Dust Tribulation Fire. The cover depicted a young girl reading; the story was about a girl striving to become a cult leader, step by step creating opportunities, eliminating rivals, and playing with schemes and intrigue.

The fourth was a fantasy novel, “Eternal Virtual Realm,” author unknown. The cover showed a girl walking through a great Kingdom; the story was about a girl who accidentally entered the resting place of all beings-the Eternal Virtual Realm-while sleeping. There, she saw people building a great Kingdom, where everyone no longer fought, had enough to eat and drink, enjoyed abundant spiritual entertainment, and could freely pursue different ideals. Everyone was kind, and society was peaceful. There, the girl saw her long-lost elder sister, and after a long-awaited reunion, she reluctantly left the Eternal Virtual Realm and returned to reality to keep striving.

The fifth was a manual, “Forty Things to Note Before Destroying the World,” author unknown. The cover showed a scene of doomsday with heavenly thunder and earth fire; the content was about preparations before destroying the world, such as ways to hide your true name to resist the Prophecy Sect, preparing more safe houses, and so on.

The sixth was a strategy guide, “Self-Cultivation of a Tactician,” authored by Yolan Vesser. The cover showed Ashe, the sword Princess, and the Witch walking ahead chatting and laughing, with Vesser quietly watching from behind. Ashe opened it to read the contents, and his face instantly darkened.

“…The captain likes to slack off at the back, don’t point it out, you can invite him to observe together, giving him a chance to slack off. When the captain is questioned, support him at the right time, but be careful not to flirt…”

“…Don’t steal the sword saint’s thunder. If you come up with a plan, notify the sword saint first. If the plan can be coordinated, then assist the sword saint in defeating the enemy. When the sword saint and the captain disagree, side with the sword saint…”

“…Chat more with the grappler. If you come up with a plan, coordinate more with the grappler. When the grappler and the sword saint disagree, side with the captain; when the grappler and the captain disagree, haven’t seen it happen yet.”

“Take care of personal hygiene before 10:45, log in at 11 sharp…”

“Don’t get involved in emotional disputes, remember, remember, remember.”

“To think she quietly studied us so thoroughly, really…” Ashe clicked his tongue as he carefully read the contents, memorizing the countermeasures regarding the sword Princess and Witch, determined to put them into practice.

This should be the last of it, only one page left, but when Ashe turned it over, he found there was a seventh book.

The Happy Life of the Tactician, authored by Silver Lantern Yolan Vesser. The cover showed Ashe, Vesser, the sword Princess, and the Witch walking together, bickering and laughing. Not only the other three, even Vesser was smiling and joining the conversation. Where no one could see, she secretly reached out to grab Ashe’s sleeve.

But there was only one page, no synopsis, no outline, no content.

She had just thought of the title, and it was already over.

Ashe lowered his eyelids, feeling that this heritage mechanism was truly hateful. What’s the use of seeing her Trajectory only after her death? Those wishes she never voiced, expressed in this way, without even a sound, could only gently pluck that most hoarse and unpleasant string in his heart.

He looked up at the dazzling sky for a while, slowly exhaled, stuffed the doll and watercolor pens into the silver block in front of him, then sat down beside her, opened Yolan Vesser’s Sorcerer’s Handbook, and said, “Yolan Vesser loved learning since she was a child…”

Ashe actually knew very little about Vesser, and he wasn’t good at telling stories. Even with the Sorcerer’s Handbook to fill in the gaps, he finished recounting the tumultuous life of this world-destroying maniac in just a few minutes. “…In the end, Yolan Vesser sacrificed herself, became a Demi-God, and then immediately ascended to become a deity, achieving the Silver Lantern deity.”

The silver block clearly trembled, and a question mark dent appeared on its surface.

“That’s right,” Ashe nodded emphatically, handing the Sorcerer’s Handbook to the silver block. “Silver Lantern, you are Yolan Vesser.”

The silver block took the Sorcerer’s Handbook, its shape shaking violently-sometimes turning gaseous, sometimes liquid, sometimes solid. But gradually, Ashe noticed that all the colors before his eyes began to take on fixed shapes: pitch black became a shattered sky, dark red formed a cracked earth, and the world began to return to normal.

In front of Ashe sat the calm little Silver Lantern. She sat cross-legged on the ground, the doll and watercolor pens on her lap, holding the Sorcerer’s Handbook in both hands, reading page by page, softly murmuring, “I am Yolan Vesser…”

It worked.

Ashe hadn’t expected it to be so easy. He just vaguely felt that if he wanted to trick the Four Pillars’ mechanism, he could only try something with Silver Lantern. As for whether telling Silver Lantern about Yolan Vesser’s past would help, he wasn’t sure at all. But even if it was futile, he would still do it.

It seemed that when Silver Lantern recognized herself as Yolan Vesser (even if it was just taking the name), the Four Pillars’ mechanism would consider her resurrected, even though she was already a deity now.

Successfully deceiving this mechanism, Ashe once again slipped out from under the gaze of the Four Pillars.

“A lot of time wasted…” Ashe stood up and looked around. “I need to find a way up-“

Suddenly, Ashe caught sight of a door appearing in the sky. This door wasn’t near the shattered rift; it was angular, abrupt, like a Miracle.

A shadow jumped out of the door, not unfolding virtual wings, not casting a Miracle, just dropping straight down, slamming into the ground with a quake, like a Comet striking the moon. Ashe stared blankly at the scene, then an indescribable joy spread through his body with the beating of his heart, and his battle-weary body seemed to fill with energy once more.

He immediately unfolded his virtual wings and flew over. From afar, he saw a beauty in tattered Black Feather clothes, right arm holding a Con Artist wrapped in bandages, left shoulder carrying a coffin, with a necromancer’s right hand dangling from the coffin’s edge.

“Igor,” Ashe landed in front of them, his voice cautious as if afraid to burst a bubble, “Tamashi, Harvey?”

“Any quieter and your voice will disturb my fifth broken rib,” Igor rasped, “I’m not a Raven who can set his own bones.”

Ashe asked, “Not an illusion?”

The coffin was set down, and Harvey signaled for the ghoul Alice to pick him up, saying, “Probably not an illusion. After all, you’ve probably never seen such a beautiful Alice.”

Ashe stared at them, and before tears could blur his vision, he rushed over and hugged all three of them. Igor had prepared a bellyful of ‘nice words’ for Ashe, but seeing this, he could only turn his head and say, “You can squeeze harder, so my one unbroken rib can finally join the shattered family.”

“I thought…” Ashe took a deep breath, his voice choked, “I’m just glad you’re all still alive…”

“We’re still alive.” Tamashi dropped the fake voice, his tone as melodious as birdsong. He gently patted Ashe’s back. “We’re all still alive.”

Little Silver Lantern walked over, holding the doll, watercolor pens, and Sorcerer’s Handbook. She looked at these four battered and broken people hugging each other, tilted her head, and flipped to the last page of the Sorcerer’s Handbook.