Void Realm

"So this is the Void Realm..."

Ash reached out to cup a handful of seawater, sniffing and then licking it; he was surprised to find it tasted slightly sweet.

He looked down, but the surface of the sea was too blurry to make out his own reflection.

Inspecting his attire, he found he was wearing the same deep black trench coat as his character portrait, and he looked quite dashing.

"It's exactly as the textbooks describe the Void Realm."

Since there was no one else around, Sonia spoke freely: "This must be the Sea of Knowledge, also known as the Silver Sea or the Initial Sea... Whether a genius or a fool, a legendary Six-Winged God Lord or a mere One-Winged Arcanist, this ocean is the inevitable first stop for everyone who enters the Void Realm."

"The only difference is this." Sonia tapped the small boat and looked around, noticing a book symbol on the bow and a sword symbol on the stern.

"The textbooks say that arcanists should be stark naked when they first arrive here..."

"Stark naked?" Ash looked at Sonia's black slip dress.

Sonia's face darkened instantly, and she subconsciously covered her chest: "Our appearance in the Void Realm is a projection of our consciousness. 'Stark naked' means we cannot have the aid of external objects, like bringing items in from reality... I heard from others that when you first enter the Void Realm, you're just floating in the seawater. It's impossible to have a boat."

"I get it!" Ash suddenly clapped his hands.

"Get what?"

"This boat is your true form; you're just a soul phantom!"

"What?" Sonia was stunned.

"Your consciousness split into two parts: one part is your heavy soul, which transformed into this boat to facilitate your travel; the other is your nimble mind, which took the form you have now." Ash said with conviction: "The soul is the boat, the consciousness is the person. The boat carries the person to the other shore—it must be!"

It sounded somewhat logical, but...

"How can you prove it?" Sonia asked.

Ash replied without hesitation: "If you don't believe me, try jumping into the sea. If I'm right, you won't be able to leave this boat at all!"

No sooner said than done, Sonia dove straight into the sea. Fortunately, thanks to that dream Trial, although Sonia had never learned to swim, she at least understood the basics and wouldn't sink like a stone.

Sonia quickly climbed back onto the boat and snorted: "You were wrong. I can leave the boat; this boat isn't formed by my soul at all..."

Personally verifying that the Watcher was wrong felt like winning a round against him, and Sonia was initially quite smug. But when she turned around, she found the Watcher staring right at her.

Although his features were still obscured by the dim light, Sonia could clearly sense his gaze. She looked down and realized her clothes were soaked through with seawater, clinging to her body and outlining her graceful curves.

"You—" Sonia was so angry she raised her Wooden Sword. Ignoring the gap in their strength, she summoned her Ripple Sword Spell Spirit, ready to strike. Ash quickly retreated and surrendered: "Wait, where did you get that wooden sword?"

Huh?

Sonia looked at the wooden sword in her hand. She remembered she hadn't brought any weapons with her. But seeing the Watcher being so infuriating, she had subconsciously wanted to beat him with a wooden sword...

"See? The wooden sword appeared the moment you wanted it. It's obvious this boat appeared because you didn't want to swim," Ash spread his hands: "I was just testing you earlier. Doesn't this prove the boat is indeed a manifestation of your intent?"

"Then was you peeking at me earlier also part of the test? No, that's wrong! The wooden sword is the weapon I'm most familiar with, which is why I could manifest it easily, just like I manifested my clothes!"

"Don't slander me. I wasn't peeking; I was looking at you fair and square!"

After this little interlude, the sense of strangeness and fear that came with arriving in the Void Realm was washed away.

Moreover, because they had company—much like having someone to share the burden of a bad situation—both of them felt a sense of stability.

However, just as Sonia did not know the difference between this "Watcher" and that "Watcher," Ash did not know the difference between this "Sword Maiden" and that "Sword Maiden."

One hour ago.

After finishing their meal and returning to the prison cell, the Sword Maiden began discussing a very adult topic with Ash.

"There are two pieces of news. The good news is that you'll be living in state-provided free housing for the rest of your life."

"Is there such a good thing?"

"The bad news is that you could be dragged off to be beheaded at any moment."

Ash understood: "I can't break out of prison?"

The Sword Maiden sat on the bed with her legs crossed and arms folded, eyeing Ash sideways: "You should know that arcanists are the most powerful group in this world, right? As a mere mortal, it's impossible for you to contend with an arcanist."

"Even that Ascetic who turned his body into diamond became nothing more than a diamond rat rolling in a shithole once his connection to the Void Realm was severed."

"And today's experience should have made you realize that as long as you wear that chip on the back of your neck, no matter where you are, you are bound by endless shackles."

At this, Ash's expression shifted slightly. He had originally thought the Miracle Chip was like an implanted computer, but he hadn't expected the chip to turn him into a computer—one whose administrator privileges were controlled remotely.

Whether he could hit someone, what he could see, and what he could say were all under the administrator's control. Today, the administrator could make him a polite, rule-abiding young man; tomorrow, the administrator could make him eat filth.

Until the chip was removed, all his plans were like a computer infected with a virus—the administrator could kill everything with a simple system reinstall. If the administrator decided Ash was beyond repair, they could even recycle him as scrap and let him start his life over.

"Is there a way to remove the chip?" Ash asked through gritted teeth: "Like cutting it out of the back of my neck..."

"If it were that simple to remove, this prison wouldn't be so lively."

The Sword Maiden sneered: "Although it's called a chip, it gradually integrated into the depths of your bone marrow as you grew. Every bone, every nerve, and every muscle you have now bears the mark of the chip. If you want to extract it, jumping into molten steel at a steel mill might be your only chance."

"In other words, ordinary methods can't remove the chip," Ash said. "What about an arcanist's methods?"

"There are plenty of arcanist methods," the Sword Maiden replied. "And the one you are most likely to obtain is the sword miracle, 'Sever Self'."

"Sever Self" is a defensive miracle for a Swordsman, specifically used to purge abnormal status effects. Although it is a Silver-tier miracle that even a One-Winged Arcanist can cast, it can directly purge the continuous damage caused by most Two-Winged Art Spirits.

Miracle Chips are designed for mortals and One-Winged Arcanists; they cannot grant immunity to a "Sever Self" miracle that possesses Two-Winged power. As long as you cast Sever Self, you can instantly clear all Miracle Chips from your body. Only then will you have a chance at a prison break.

"Then how am I supposed to obtain the 'Sever Self' miracle?"

"To cast a miracle, you must first possess an Art Spirit. And to obtain an Art Spirit, there are four paths." The Sword Princess held up four fingers.

"First, by studying knowledge and resonating with the Void Realm, allowing Void Realm knowledge to manifest into an Art Spirit in reality."

"Second, go to the Void Realm to search for wild Art Spirits."

"Third, kill a sorcerer and plunder the Art Spirits on them."

"Fourth, Art Spirit trading."

"First of all, the first path is closed to you." The Sword Princess glanced at Ash. "The Miracle Chips have long since severed your connection to the Void Realm. No matter how much knowledge you absorb, it is impossible to trigger a Void Realm resonance."

Ash glanced at his original body's information on the light screen and, sure enough, saw a "Void Realm Resonance Prohibited" tag.

"As for the third path, while it isn't unheard of for a mortal to kill a sorcerer, it mostly happens when concubines or male pets murder their masters while seeking favor..."

The Sword Princess looked at Ash's face and shook her head. "You have no chance of taking this path either."

"You don't have to be so thorough in your rejection! Is there even a tiny possibility? I might be able to rely on my looks to get by, right!?"

"As for the fourth path, it goes without saying—you have absolutely no capital to trade with anyone."

"In short," the Sword Princess couldn't be bothered to chat with Ash anymore, "the only way for you to obtain an Art Spirit is to go to the Void Realm and search for a wild one."

Ash: "Then how do I go to the Void Realm?"

Sword Princess: "The only way to go to the Void Realm is to trigger the Gate of Truth within an Art Spirit, allowing your consciousness to travel directly into the Void Realm."

Ash blinked.

"So you mean, for me to go to the Void Realm, I need an Art Spirit?"

"Precisely."

"And my purpose for going to the Void Realm is to find an Art Spirit?"

"That is correct."

"Wait, wait, wait..."

Ash clutched his forehead and stepped back.

"Isn't this the same dilemma as a fresh university student finding that every job requires three years of work experience?! I can't go to the Void Realm without an Art Spirit, but I need to go to the Void Realm to find an Art Spirit. Isn't this a dead loop?"

"Who told you that you must use your own Art Spirit to go to the Void Realm?"

"Huh?"

The Sword Princess pointed at herself. "Have you forgotten? I already have a Ripple Sword Spell Spirit; I have the qualifications to enter the Void Realm. Watcher, you have formed a Soul Bond with me through the Sorcerer's Manual, and we can even share experience. Bringing you along to the Void Realm is a matter of course."

There was such a function? Ash subconsciously opened the Sorcerer's Manual to check his talents again, only to find that a new functional module had appeared in the game:

"Void Realm Exploration": Organize an Operator Squad to explore the Void Realm.

However, when Ash clicked "Void Realm Exploration," selected "Doomsday Watcher" and "Death Maniac Sword Princess" to act together, and clicked "Ready," nothing changed in reality—because the "Death Maniac Sword Princess" was still "Preparing."

"I've already confirmed I'm ready, you hurry up and confirm too," Ash urged.

"Then I'm going back to prepare. You just wait."

Ash was stunned. "What else do you need to prepare?"

"A lot, a lot. A virgin like you wouldn't understand."

"What the hell do you have as evidence that I'm a virgin—"

Watching the Sword Princess curl her lips into a playful smile before vanishing into thin air, Ash could only lie on the bed and wait. Perhaps the regeneration treatment had drained too much of his stamina, or perhaps the night was too boring without a phone to scroll through, but Ash soon grew sleepy and closed his eyes.

When he woke up again, he saw the Sword Princess sitting on the same boat as him, drifting on an ocean filled with white mist.

On the small boat in the Sea of Knowledge, Ash suddenly remembered something and silently tried to summon the light screen.

He both failed and succeeded: he failed in that although he summoned the light screen, the vast majority of its functions were disabled—the Void Realm truly did not support physical cheats. He succeeded in that the Sorcerer's Manual was still operational.

He clicked on Sorcerer's Manual - "Void Realm Exploration," and a map suddenly appeared on the light screen, along with a message:

"You have entered Void Realm Exploration mode. Please read the beginner's tutorial..."

On the other side, Sonia noticed Ash was silent and not speaking. She also focused her mind on the Void Realm, leaning over to stir the seawater with her hand, attempting to push the small boat forward.

"Wait, Sword Princess, don't be so impatient and move around. Let me do it."