"Is this also... the power of magic?"

"Indeed. As for the manifestations of magic alone, one could not exhaustively describe them even in a lifetime. To put it in terms you can understand, it is something that transcends the four fundamental forces, and is also the ultimate solution for unification." Lan spoke in a calm tone, delivering an incredible explanation, "But even so, it does not mean you can casually enter the realm of the gods and interfere with the operation of the Divine Will War. After all, this world is relatively independent, like a thick membrane separating it. It is precisely because of this characteristic that I have the opportunity to sit here and meet you."

A picture of blowing bubbles surfaced in Roland's mind, in each slowly rising bubble, as if one of them was the dream world. "Then how can one pass through the barrier?"

"The same way magic enters our world," Lan paused, "Erosion."

"Uh... could you explain that in more detail?"

"You should have already noticed that this world is vastly different from when it was first born." The other party's words made Roland's heart skip a beat, "It was initially just a reflection of your consciousness, but now it has many things that even you haven't seen. And all these changes began when you started recovering the Power of Nature."

"You know about that too?" Roland was slightly surprised.

"Because from the moment I developed self-awareness, I have been wandering in the realm of consciousness, and I am quite sensitive to such changes." Lan said without hesitation, "Listen well, child, both the dream world and the realm of the gods are maintained by magic, which is reflected in reality as those Powers of Nature. By continuously recovering them, this world will continue to expand until it overlaps with the realm where the gods reside, and erosive fissures appear."

This theory was not much different from the explanation given at the Newcomer Welcome Party. "As far as I know, the Martial Artist Association has collected a large number of corrupted Power of Nature cores. If I want to recover them as soon as possible, wouldn't it be most beneficial to stand on the side of the Fallen?"

Lan surprisingly did not object, but smiled wryly, "Unfortunately, I am only a disciple guarding this place and cannot take you into the central storage of the Prism City."

"Even if it means turning against the Association?"

"If you can stop the Divine Will War, the dream world will naturally no longer be threatened by erosion. In a sense, this is consistent with the Association's purpose. It's just... that child might feel heartbroken. After all, she has high expectations for you."

Speaking of this, a rare expression appeared on Lan's face, a mix of helplessness and a hint of loneliness.

She was referring to... Garcia?

Roland couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised. Since the other party served the gods, her existence probably spanned millions of years. Such a person should have already seen through everything, so why would she develop such deep feelings for an ordinary disciple?

Was it that the other party was used to playing a role, or had she unknowingly been affected by this identity?

"I didn't say I had to do that." Roland planned to ease the somewhat stiff atmosphere with coffee, but then remembered that the cup had already been smashed to pieces, so he had to withdraw his outstretched hand. "Besides, you said that it must be effective when entering the realm of consciousness in both worlds simultaneously, right? Maybe by then, enough cores will have been recovered. The only question is, how do I determine when the dream world has overlapped with the realm of the gods? Those erosions in Prism City can't be the entrance, can they?"

"Of course, those cavities created by erosion are the void zones of the realm of consciousness, and they have completely different rules from here, so they cannot be used as passages." Lan nodded, "As for what degree of erosion is needed to the world where the gods reside, you will naturally feel it when that moment arrives. However, this will also start the countdown to the destruction of all things simultaneously. You must open the passage to the Bottomless Land before that."

"And then?"

Lan shook her head.

It seemed that the following content would be deemed as "information that could potentially harm the gods" and trigger a ban, Roland thought, but he didn't rule out the possibility that the other party was deliberately concealing it. In any case, after talking about this, he had a general understanding of what he had to do. In fact, whether it was driving the demons out of the Dawn Territory or robbing the Fallen to subsidize the ancient witches' expenses, these were all pre-existing plans, and these intelligence reports didn't have much impact. If he had to say it, it was probably prioritizing the Divine Will War and adjusting it to be a two-pronged approach.

The uncertain part was what he would encounter in the Bottomless Land, which was what the other party had never mentioned. If there was a trap, it was most likely in the step of replacing the gods.

He didn't think that as long as the passage to the realm of consciousness was opened, the "gods" would surrender respectfully. In addition, all these descriptions were likely to be cloaked in ambiguity, and he should be more cautious at that time.

Roland also had a question – why him?

From the perspective of the entire plan, he didn't have any irreplaceable qualities. Although Lan's appearance was human, Roland would never regard her as an ordinary member of humanity. With the Union collapsing step by step and the survivors retreating to a corner of the continent, it was clear that the demons and the Tianhai Realm were more suitable for achieving this goal.

According to what the other party said, the Bottomless Land was close to the northern part of the Dawn Continent and was now obviously occupied by demons. And Kabrada had brought aggressive intelligence from the Tianhai Realm, undoubtedly indicating that the demons were not doing well either, and whether they could hold on to their existing territory was still a question. But in any case, the advantages of these two races were much greater than those of humans, and almost half of the two goals had already been achieved.

Even if the Bottomless Land could not be entered from the outside, Roland was not so arrogant as to think that leaving traces in the realm of consciousness was something only he could do.

At least Jie Luo possessed such ability – he had vaguely realized that the "Soul Battlefield" borrowed the power of the realm of consciousness.

And the dream world was expanded from this.

He asked this question, "I'm afraid... I'm not your first seeker, am I?"

Lan's answer came without the slightest pause, "No, there have been several in the past millennia."

Sure enough, Roland's heart tightened, "Including demons?"

"I am not clear about the affairs over there. After leaving the Divine Realm, I lost the ability to contact other servants – I can only tell you that there is more than one traitor."

"Who is the other one? Jie Luo?"

"Dream Weaver, Alfina. She lived six hundred and sixty-nine years ago."

Roland went through it in his mind and found that this was a completely unfamiliar name, "None of those people succeeded?"

Lan sighed, "You may think that talking like this is an easy thing, but in reality, they couldn't even do the first step – that is, to open up a stable space in the realm of consciousness. Otherwise, even if their abilities could connect here, I could only convey a few words, and it would be difficult to have stable communication. In addition, my identity and words cannot exist independently of their consciousness. In other words, it must be within their range of understanding to be considered effective information transmission. And the higher the degree of understanding, the more accurate the answer. This is an insurmountable iron rule, whether for you or for demons."

"Like a summer insect cannot discuss ice?"

"Exactly. In fact, you are the first person to meet these conditions – although I don't quite understand why you possess information that is far beyond this era, it is a fortunate thing for me."

"Then..." Roland hesitated for a moment, but decided to ask, "What if I fail?"

Lan was silent for a moment before answering, "I will continue to wait, waiting for the next suitable person to appear, until I am finally liberated... or destroyed by the gods."