Mage Manual-Chapter 1286 - 936: Silver Lamp in the Dream

"Competing for the authority of the dream world..."

Diya touched the tenth bubble, immediately sensing a subtle connection with the Dream Treasury.

Although she couldn’t reach the Divine Beings of Gospel, the current information was enough for her to deduce the truth.

The demons couldn’t possibly have come for the collection; the only thing that caught their eye was this world.

But compared to the fight for the world, what surprised Diya more was that this was the Dream Treasury that Ash had once used.

Ash harbored secrets, and everyone tacitly knew, or rather, everyone initially wanted to possess Ash’s secrets, but unconsciously their appetite grew, not limiting themselves to just secrets.

Thus, they weren’t in a rush, treating people as their private possessions, and secrets naturally fell into their hands.

It must be said, affection was indeed the fundamental reason, but Ash’s attributes as spoils of war also effectively stirred the operators’ competitive desire.

"So did Ash foresee this exact moment and therefore let us use the Dream Treasury in the past?"

The ten bubbles Diya broke were all artifacts she’d equipped before, giving her an advantage over the vast majority of mages, even allowing her to lay claim to the world authority of the Dream Treasury, all thanks to Ash.

But upon second thought, she found it unlikely—if Ash had known, he would have said so. Therefore, Ash didn’t know; it was all a fortunate coincidence.

Moreover, Diya was already feeling discomfort, as absorbing ten artifacts continuously had put some strain on her consciousness. She estimated her absorption limit to be around thirty to forty artifacts.

Though they had an edge over other mages, their power wasn’t enough to bear such a vast opportunity. Their appetite was too small; just enough to fill their bellies, too much and they’d burst.

That was just right.

Diya also relaxed, knowing that finding the artifacts she’d equipped from an ocean of collections would be time-consuming. Although she might not be fully satisfied, at least there was no danger.

She had just discovered she could easily absorb the artifacts and thought she could take whatever she wanted here.

Faced with untold benefits, it was almost impossible for a mage to suppress their greed, especially when they lacked the power to protect those they loved. Diya asked herself if she could absorb the artifacts without restraint, then she surely would...

Force herself.

...

...

Buzz—

As if a sharp spike pierced through the soul, Ash’s white ball of light stagnated mid-air, slowly dissipating, only to gather again and regain consciousness after several seconds.

Clutching his head tightly, he rested for a few seconds before resolutely breaking another passing bubble artifact.

Boom!

A new wave of knowledge struck, and Ash felt as if he were sinking into a ten-thousand-meter-deep sea, the massive pressure threatening to crush him into foam. His body trembled, firmly holding onto a spark of spiritual light within, barely maintaining his consciousness.

35.

He was acutely aware that his limit was 35 artifacts; any more, and his consciousness and memory would be drowned by knowledge—equivalent to these 35 artifacts’ knowledge, stacking up to be even more substantial than over two decades of his life.

He was too young.

Ash was very sure that Vishi’s accomplishments were several times, if not tenfold, his own—not merely because Vishi had a deeper life experience, but because the will of the Ghost Prophet was refined through time, brilliant as a diamond, dazzling and unmatched.

Silver Lamp would certainly perform better here too. She had carried the heavy mission to destroy the world from a young age, willingly concealing her True Name, betraying everything for the hope in her heart. Yooran Weiser’s will was a Silver Lamp that darkness could not obscure.

The Witch wasn’t bad either. Though she had once been so weak as to split sisters for warmth, she was also strong enough to give up wishing for the sake of the souls of Gospel, donning the heavy crown. Lissdia was not just his daughter, sister, comrade-in-arms, but the Empress adored by billions.

And the Sword Maiden...

Ash steadied his mind and broke another bubble artifact, fiercely resisting the flood of knowledge!

Perhaps because he once owned the Dream Treasury, he could break any artifact here without limitation.

The only limit on him was his capacity to endure.

When he broke the tenth bubble and formed a connection with the Dream Treasury, Ash knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To steal an entire tier of the Void Realm, he didn’t know what gains he could achieve, but surely even a Divine Lord coveted the wealth to greatly reduce the Hell Trial’s difficulty!

It was also at this moment Ash had to contemplate why he could draw "Aurora’s Dream Treasury" from the Aurora’s Mage Manual. If Ash had never suspected something fishy with the Mage’s Handbook, it would be a lie; he just couldn’t be bothered to think about it nor was he qualified to do so.

Source Crystals are precious resources coveted even by demigods. Mages teaming up in the Void Realm is an unimaginable Wonder, and Ash was just a mortal—you might as well ask someone selling tea eggs to research nuclear bombs; it’s the same absurdity— what’s there to research about eggs.

He only needed to know that he could get help from the Mage’s Handbook.

But now, encountering the fortuitous opportunity of the Dream Treasury, Ash found it hard not to ponder whether drawing "Aurora’s Dream Treasury" from the Mage’s Handbook back then was preparation for this day.

More precisely, was entering the true Dream Treasury destined to be a part of his life journey? Had he never been in control of his fate, with everything he experienced being the arrangement of some unknown existence?

But such metaphysical speculations soon ended, not because Ash gave up, but because he soon found counter-arguments—he nearly died several times!

In the Kingdom of Gospel, if not for the Witch’s voluntary sacrifice, he would now be the ’Empress Yayin of Gospel’ (male), a hair’s breadth away from that fate!

In the Kingdom of Senluo, if not for the bond formed with Silver Lamp, he wouldn’t have been able to use the God of Silver Lamp to pierce the darkness and would have become a burial sacrifice for Lord Senluo!

Besides, there’s Freyja, Igula, Harvey, Gwen, Qikara, Tamasi...

He didn’t overcome calamities through his own power, nor did he rely on the Mage’s Handbook, but on those he cherished.

His life couldn’t have been controlled, for it didn’t belong to him alone; he had exchanged parts of his life with many others.

Ash cleared his mind, no longer worrying about such trivial matters, and instead focused on leveraging this advantage to strive for a future for himself and everyone else.

But he had truly reached his limit.

He clutched his head tightly, his thoughts scattered and disjointed, the knowledge in his mind as piercing as radio static. He knew he had done his best, yet he still wanted to do better.

Because he saw Sonia’s swordsmanship reaching legendary heights.

He also saw Diya cultivating the Soul Faction, trying to free herself from dependence on her sisters.

Ash could accept that they were stronger than him, even feel happy for them. But that didn’t mean he would accept everything without a fight; he clearly knew how much effort they must have put in to achieve such accomplishments, so he had to seize this opportunity to chase after them as best as he could.

He didn’t want to squander their trust; he needed to prove he was worth their dedication.

Ash opened his eyes, clearing the chaotic noise, and once more reached for a bubble artifact.

Boom!

Facing the knowledge storm capable of flooding his memory, Ash held onto his spiritual light, gradually erasing the storm’s wild dance. But perhaps he really had hit his limit, as the knowledge storm continued to envelop Ash’s consciousness, showing no signs of diminishing.

Was this the end...

Just as Ash sighed within, he suddenly saw a silver light breaking through the knowledge storm, and his consciousness seized the dream’s shell.

Ash opened his eyes, staring blankly into the distant depths of the abyssal darkness from which the silver light emanated.

This silver light, he had seen before.

At the same time, all mages saw this glow extending from the depths of darkness. Most mages were puzzled, with only a few like Igula faintly realizing something, though even they didn’t fully grasp the situation.

But the faces of the demons changed drastically.

"How is this possible..."

Yinzhi’s face was extremely grim: "In Little Zhan’s dream... there’s someone else?!"