Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

Especially at this stage; not to mention, Alka’s grand wish is to save this world, to free it from its sea of suffering. Or perhaps, to destroy it. But whatever his goal, he needed the help of these mist-like creatures, these natural essences of the Spiritual World. Forgoing their help now would be almost equivalent to severing his own arms—his strong arms of the future, at that.

After sighing for a while, Alka stood suspended in the air and closed his eyes. He completely immersed his mind in his own memories. It was a vast labyrinth of recollections, and he needed to carefully comb through Mirmi’s century of shattered memories once again. Searching for a possible solution? He had been rummaging through them for several days, hoping for a significant breakthrough today.

Mirmi, as a Dream Realm King with Sixth or Seventh Stage strength, certainly possessed powers that Alka was unaware of. Not to mention, Mirmi’s long lifespan had granted him knowledge of the Dream World far exceeding Alka’s own.

「Before long.」

Alka suddenly opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his face. His joy was undeniable.

”After searching for so long, I’ve finally found a viable method.”

I’m already at the point where my rapid strength growth has become a concern, Alka thought, then muttered helplessly to himself. But there was no other way. To abandon reality and choose the Dream Realm meant rapid strength growth. If I want both to coexist and progress in parallel, I have to suppress my rapidly growing power in the Dream Realm.

He carefully recalled the information he had unearthed from his memories. It described a method of overdrawing power, typically used in overwhelming situations or when immense strength was required. After employing it, one’s strength would decline, the extent of which varied depending on the method’s potency. It was akin to forcibly elevating one’s strength, a powerful state that came at the cost of significant energy drain and power consumption.

At this point, Alka’s power in the Dream Realm had almost reached the perfection of the Fourth Stage; he could break through to the Fifth Stage at any moment. According to Mirmi’s experience and his manipulation of the Dream Realm, he might be able to endure the schism of the Fifth Stage, but he dared not gamble. The schism at the Fifth Stage was a fifty-fifty chance: either the spirit and body would completely detach, or they would maintain a precarious connection, sustaining an even more dangerous state of separation than his current one. This means I must act immediately to slightly overdraft my Dream Realm strength, reducing it by about Two Spirals. Maintaining it just below the perfection of the Fourth Stage will be safer.

I can treat Fifth Stage strength in the Dream Realm as a final trump card. The formidable power I can wield in the Dream Realm will become my greatest advantage in reality. Instantly jumping from the Third Stage to the Fifth Stage should allow me to handle most of the problems I currently face. Even though it might cause a complete schism between reality and the Dream Realm... It’s better than death.

Contemplating his strategy, Alka nodded in affirmation. This kind of power overdraft was a manifestation of Royal Authority.

Organizing the process in his mind, Alka opened his eyes and exhaled slowly.

Phantom came running from a distant bubble, racing across the Dream World. It arrived before Alka, tilting its head as it looked at him.

”Phantom, help me find the five most powerful mist-like creatures. I need their assistance. I’ll send the details of the ritual to your mind; help me arrange it.”

Phantom nodded, a clear, bell-like sound chiming. Only then did Alka notice that Xuan had, at some unknown point, perched atop his head.

A clear, resonant cry!

The bright, ringing call of a deer spread out.

Soon, Alka sensed several mist-like creatures approaching. Staring at them, he froze in surprise.

Huh? Since when did my Palace harbor such powerful mist-like creatures?

Before him stood a mist-like creature resembling a winged white horse, and another that was a simple, misty sphere. The issue was the strength of these two: they had reached the Fifth Stage! Fifth Stage mist-like creatures are submitting to me? No wonder, no wonder my strength has been growing so swiftly, almost unstoppably. So, among the dream creatures submitting to me, there are those whose power far exceeds my own.

He glanced at Phantom, who was beside him, tilting its head and staring at him. ...You did a great job.

Then he looked at the three creatures to his side and behind him. They too were strange mist-like beings, though their appearances were at least within Alka’s range of acceptance, not overly bizarre. The problem was that these three also possessed strength around the perfection of the Fourth Stage.

A total of five—the most powerful mist-like creatures currently in Alka’s Mirror World—were gathered before him, awaiting his command. Alka could clearly feel their submission, their respect. The fact that beings stronger than himself were submitting to him gave Alka a somewhat odd feeling.

Collecting his thoughts, he said, ”Phantom, convey the entire ritual process I told you to them.”

As Phantom communicated with the mist-like creatures, information from the Fifth Stage pegasus-like being piqued Alka’s curiosity. Because it was surprisingly familiar with this ritual.

”Why are you so familiar with this ritual?” Alka asked.

Hearing Alka’s question, the misty white horse lowered its head and slightly bowed its body as a sign of respect. Then, it communicated its thoughts through a mental link. Mist-like creatures that had reached the Fifth Stage generally possessed intelligence comparable to, or even exceeding, that of an ordinary human.

Through his communication with the pegasus, Alka began to understand. It had come to this domain because it sensed the aura of its former king here—Mirmi. This pegasus had once been a member of the Mirmi Realm. However, Mirmi had vanished after descending into madness, and its royal palace eventually shattered due to prolonged neglect and the inability to maintain it. The pegasus had assumed Mirmi had perished somewhere unknown. It even suspected Alka might be Mirmi’s successor; otherwise, why would the juvenile Mirmi—Phantom—be by his side? That was why it had submitted to him here. According to its words, a large contingent of creatures from the former Mirmi Realm might come to submit to him in the future.

Alka could sense that while these mist-like creatures possessed high intelligence, they seemed quite naive.

But... there might be even more powerful dream creatures? This is getting complicated. Other Dream Realm Kings would probably be ecstatic in this situation.

But Alka couldn’t help feeling more troubled. This means my strength will increase even faster. Why can’t my power progression just slow down? If only my strength in the outside world increased this quickly.

He thought with a sense of helplessness as he awaited the commencement of the ritual.