Soul Dream

As noon approached, Xilian took a thorough bath and changed into clean clothes. Even if he died in the ritual, at least he would go out looking respectable.

Tim and Mick had just finished a night of patrol and were still asleep. If they saw Xilian like this, they would tease him about who he was going on a date with.

Xilian did have a date today, but not with a lovely girl.

Given the tragedy that had once struck White Cliff Town, Xilian had told no one about it. Neither had Nuen.

The ritual would be held in secret today. If Xilian succeeded, everyone could gather at the Town Hall to celebrate the birth of another Transcendent. If he failed, Nuen would quietly cut off his head, and no one else would be affected.

Xilian and Nuen were both satisfied with that arrangement.

"Teacher, I'm here."

In the Wilderness outside White Cliff Town, Xilian found Nuen waiting for him.

Nuen was as stern as ever. He gave only a slight nod at Xilian's arrival.

Behind him, an intricate ritual array had been drawn on the ground. A ring of Soul Marrow had been scattered around its outer edge, enclosing the whole thing.

Nuen's voice betrayed no emotion. "Are you ready?"

"Of course."

Xilian was as confident as ever.

"Then I'll go over it one last time..."

Nuen drew the longsword at his waist. With its point toward the ground, he rested both hands on the hilt, like a statue weathered by years of hardship.

"Souls are real," he began.

"The souls of all living things come from a vast ocean called the Origin Sea. It is the sum of every soul and every power.

The Origin Sea churns and roars. Vapor rises from it and wraps around it in layers, forming what we call the Spirit Realm."

Nuen tapped the solid ground beneath him with his sword point and continued.

"Beyond the Spirit Realm, the vapor from the Origin Sea grows thinner and drier, until no extraordinary power holds sway. That is the material, physical world we live in.

Three worlds, nested one within another."

This was no myth. It was the truth of this mad world... or at least, it once had been.

"Every soul has a corresponding reflection in the Origin Sea, slumbering within a great Soul Dream.

To become a Transcendent, your consciousness must first awaken in the Origin Sea. You must wake from the Soul Dream and become a conscious, independent being. Only then can you have the 'will' to tame the Origin Sea instead of drifting with its currents."

Nuen recalled where myth and history overlapped.

"Several epochs ago, a Transcendent completely tamed a stretch of sea and created a Miracle Creation of his own. By using it to anchor his existence, he reached the end of his Fated Path, shed his mortality, and ascended into what we call a Giant God.

More Giant Gods were born afterward. To make it easier for those who followed to set foot on their Fated Paths, the Giant Gods used their Miracle Creations as anchors to forge a system of Fated Paths called the Sourcebinding Long Stair.

As long as a mortal wakes within the Origin Sea and steps onto the stair, they can begin their extraordinary journey along a Fated Path."

Xilian had read this history in books. He also knew the turning point came next.

"But... all of that changed with the outbreak of the Noonday Calamity."

At its mention, Nuen tightened his grip on the hilt until it creaked.

"I don't know the truth behind the Noonday Calamity. What I do know is that countless Giant Gods died, the Origin Sea grew restless, the power of Chaos invaded our world, and the Sourcebinding Long Stair shattered."

"The world fell into an absolute Dark Age. Only when the Three Sages rose an epoch ago did we see the first glimmer of dawn."

At the mention of the Three Sages, Nuen's eyes grew distant, as though something had come back to him. Then he said with conviction,

"The Secret-Speech Sage founded the Modian Society, calmed the Origin Sea, and drew forth the Silent River, allowing mortals to embark safely on the path to transcendence.

The Heavenly Craftsman Iron Father built the Court of a Thousand Mechanisms and restored the foundations of industry, allowing civilization to develop rapidly.

The last sage, the Expeditionary Pathfinder, raised legions and led an expedition into the Dark World, bringing lost lands back beneath the light of Torchlight Lighthouse."

Nuen ran a hand along the sharp blade of his longsword and said wistfully, "The path I took as a Torchbearer is the Expeditionary Pathfinder's Torchbearing Path."

"And it is the Grand Stairway to Godhood you will now set foot on."

Xilian had heard the same story many times. Yet when Nuen told it, he could almost hear the dreadful roars and smell the blood on the blades.

Xilian laid down his weapons, took off his coat, and stepped into the array Nuen had drawn. He knelt quietly.

"For a mortal to become a Transcendent, at least one scholar must be present. With a scholar's guidance, your consciousness will awaken in the Silent River."

Nuen himself had begun his journey to transcendence in the Silent River. Recalling it now, he realized with a start that it had been a hundred years ago.

"The Silent River?"

Xilian looked at Nuen curiously.

He had read scattered references to the Silent River, but no book had explained what it actually was. He knew only that its existence was one of the Secret-Speech Sage's great achievements, and a major reason she had been named a sage.

"Before the Noonday Calamity, even if mortals failed to awaken as themselves in the Origin Sea, they would emerge from the ritual unharmed."

Nuen explained in detail. None of this had appeared in the books.

"But since the Noonday Calamity, the Origin Sea has been filled with the terrifying power of Chaos. Once a mortal awakens there, there's a high chance Chaos will corrupt them and drive them mad."

"To let mortals safely become Transcendents, the Secret-Speech Sage traveled deep into the Spirit Realm and reached the Origin Sea.

She sang day and night, soothing a small stretch of sea until it grew still. She also cleansed the power of Chaos from it, creating what is now the Silent River."

As Nuen explained, he opened a bundle, took out a bottle of potion he had prepared earlier, and handed it to Xilian.

"In other words, if a scholar guides you, your consciousness will awaken in the Silent River, a tributary of the Origin Sea. Even if you fail, Chaos won't corrupt you."

Xilian understood. "But there's no scholar in White Cliff Town. Whether I succeed will come down to luck."

"My previous students wanted to take that gamble too."

Nuen gave a pained smile. "They said perhaps they could withstand the corruption of Chaos, or perhaps they'd be lucky enough to awaken in the Silent River."

It was a terrible joke.

Xilian weighed the potion in his hand. Nuen went through the ritual again, repeating his instructions.

"Once you drink this potion, your consciousness will awaken in the Origin Sea. You must hold fast to your sense of self to break free of the Soul Dream."

"After that, you must find a way to reach the surface, locate the shattered Sourcebinding Long Stair, and step onto it."

Nuen placed a hand on Xilian's shoulder. His eyes were full of worry and sorrow.

This might be the last time he spoke to his student.

Xilian wasted no more words. He twisted off the cap, and a pungent smell hit him.

He drank it all in one gulp.

An intense sourness filled his mouth. Unbearable burning pain spread through him, as though fire had scorched his throat and raced down his esophagus into his stomach.

He swallowed the flames, and they burned through his body.

Nuen took up his longsword and stepped out of the array. He struck a match and tossed it into the ring of Soul Marrow.

Whoosh—

Pure white flames surged up, forming a ring of fire around Xilian.

This was the safeguard Nuen had prepared. If Xilian failed and the power of Chaos used his body to reach the physical world from the Origin Sea, the Soul Marrow Flame would largely contain the spread of corruption.

"Stay rational. Do not waver."

The veins in Nuen's bare arms grew red and hot, forming dense crimson lines like pipes heated to a glow.

If his student returned from the Origin Sea, Nuen would embrace him warmly. If a Demon awoke instead, Nuen would cut off its head without hesitation.

Inside the ring of fire, Xilian squeezed his eyes shut and furrowed his brow. The phantom pain of burning melted through his stomach, then spread along his veins and through his marrow. He felt like a smoldering dead tree. With each breath, sparks and ash seemed to drift through his nose.

Just when Xilian thought he was about to burn to death, the rising heat inside him suddenly plunged. A gentle warmth rippled through every part of his body, bringing waves of comfort so deep he nearly lost himself in them. It was like sitting beside a hearth on a bitter winter day.

Xilian heard the faint sound of surf.

The boy floated in gentle warmth, like a child in the womb before birth.

He vaguely remembered that he had some mission to fulfill, but he could no longer recall it. He wanted to open his eyes and see where he was, yet his eyelids felt heavy. His mind was weary, and he could not wake.

So sleepy.

The boy struggled to open his eyes a crack.

In the deep blue around him, he glimpsed countless people like himself, lost in dreams beneath the sea's tides.

Men and women, old and young, all lay curled up like cocooned insects. Their outlines wavered between solid and insubstantial, like ghosts without definite bodies.

I'll just sleep.

Seeing the others sunk in slumber, the boy was ready to yield to it and rest in the warmth. But just before his consciousness faded completely, he heard something.

"The world outside!"

The boy was confused. His weary mind could barely form a thought. All he wanted was to sleep.

"Wake up!"

The voice roared.

"Wake up, Xilian!"

The voice was muffled and distant, yet it rang out like a great bell, shaking the heavens.

"Xilian?"

The boy's gaze gradually cleared, growing sharp as a blade. His murmured words shifted from uncertain doubt to unwavering conviction.

"I am Xilian Soflova."

The boy grabbed the invisible cocoon around him. His nails dug in, and he tore it open by force.

"I'm going to the world outside!"

Xilian opened his eyes. He had awakened from the Soul Dream and stood apart from the tides of the Origin Sea.