Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1881: Section 1882: Hard Rules and Soft Culture

After returning to reality from the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel sat in the spacious study, the dim light casting his features into sharp relief. The space, devoured mostly by shadows, appeared very quiet, with only the slight sound of his fingertips tapping on the desktop.

Angel did not immediately enter a state of self-reflection but instead pondered over the events of the day.

Frode’s failure to take on the authority was already surprising to him, but what surprised him more was that the power chosen this time was actually ”Tree Civilization.”

The power of Tree Civilization stands out among the many authorities that have emerged so far, apart from the Ability Tree, as the most unique one.

Other powers basically revolve around expansion and extension outside the core law, tangible and visible changes, constituting the foundational powers of the world’s very existence.

However, Tree Civilization seems more like the supplementation and perfection of a complete world’s functionalities.

In Angel’s understanding, it’s akin to the difference between hardware and software. If forced to classify them, the other powers belong to the category of hard rules, while Tree Civilization is a soft culture.

The two might appear to be elements perfecting the Wilderness of Dreams, but there is indeed a distinction between them.

When Sanders was leaving, he had sighed: the appearance of Tree Civilization has allowed the Wilderness of Dreams to transcend the realm of nightmare, the beginning of civilization, the pioneering of continents, resembling the primal seed of a true world.

Indeed, this is the case. Although fundamental powers like celestial alternation, Gate of Dreams, and energy level designation are extremely important and one of the basic elements in world-building, what truly allows a world to shine with bright beauty is the soft culture akin to Tree Civilization.

The appearance of Tree Civilization also signifies that the Wilderness of Dreams is indeed transforming into a complete world.

This was Angel’s biggest unexpected gain today.

”Currently, the Wilderness of Dreams is only reliant on the interlayer space of the Wizards’ Realm, in other words, it’s just a world fragment, yet the seed of a true world has already begun to emerge. What if it were connected to other worlds?”

Angel is fully aware that the Wilderness of Dreams can be established with the Wizards’ Realm as its basis, and he almost built a new Wilderness of Dreams in the Abyss back then.

This means that other worlds can also serve as the cornerstone, connecting the Dream Realm and the Nightmare Realm, creating an interlayer space and forming a new ”Wilderness of Dreams.”

”When countless Wilderness of Dreams are united, will it form a true world?” After murmuring this possibility to himself, Angel’s eyes burst with a bright light.

If it could truly be done, what would the scene be like then?

The ’Book of the World’ is the most widely circulated tome in the Wizards’ Realm, containing some acknowledged ”truths,” and one passage reads—

”When the world begins to harmonize with you, you are getting closer to the truth.”

This truth, in the eyes of most wizards, can actually be understood as a universal law. However, not many people can comprehend this statement... but the Legendary Wizard, once active on the stage of the Southern Domain, displayed a complex expression toward this sentence.

Perhaps this statement is not wrong. When the world is in harmony with you, the path to truth has already been opened for you.

But how does one harmonize with the world?

Previously, Angel didn’t know, but at this moment, he suddenly had some guesses. Perhaps constructing a complete world is a way to approach the truth?

Angel pondered through the night until the clock’s bird of time chirped in the morning bell, waking him from his thoughts.

Throughout the night, Angel considered many things, but when really reflecting, it seemed as if he gained nothing. The concepts were grand, the dreams distant, and no matter how beautiful the outlook, it was all just ephemeral, impermanent bubbles.

Overthinking is not really beneficial; there’s no foundation in reality to support the qualifications to move toward the distance. Meanwhile, the path forward is shrouded in fog, obscuring the road.

The only thing he can do now is to refine himself bit by bit, like the Wilderness of Dreams, and wait for the moment of true transformation.

...

Putting aside his speculations and obsession about Tree Civilization for a while, Angel re-entered a period of recuperation, analyzing the green patterns from morning until night, to sediment himself.

These few days of immersion also finally led Angel to conclude his research on the green patterns on his right forearm.

The green patterns on the right forearm are somewhat similar to those on the right hand, but there are also a few different ones, though many of these patterns, similar to those on the right hand, exceed the current limits of Angel’s research. Maybe only with further power enhancement can they be comprehended.

Although no new green patterns were decoded, Angel discovered in his research that there is a special connection between the green patterns on the right forearm and right hand. This connection was previously ignored, but focusing on it these last few days, Angel realized it acts as a bridge, allowing multiple green patterns to have an amplification effect.

In short, activating the same green pattern on multiple parts is more effective than using them singularly.

For instance, both the right hand and right forearm have a green pattern with the ”release, pathway, door” structure. This green pattern is used for releasing the Nightmare Realm’s aura.

Under the construction of the ”bridge,” activating this green pattern simultaneously makes the released Nightmare Realm aura double compared to before.

This may sound insignificant, but during application, whether in casting the Art of Nightmare Illusion or replenishing energy for the Nightmare Realm, its efficiency has markedly improved compared to previous instances.

The existence of this ”bridge” had gone unnoticed by Angel before; now, with in-depth research, he realized how much time he had wasted. Hence, Angel has adopted a more serious attitude toward this self-reflection period.

After completing the research on the right forearm, Angel intended to shift his research focus to the right eye.

The research of the right eye is paramount in Angel’s green pattern studies because the right eye holds many unique green patterns, unlike the right hand.

Angel had previously studied it on the Continent of Yuantan, but perhaps due to insufficient computing power, he didn’t deduce much at that time. He vaguely understood a few abilities of the right eye, but what these abilities truly represent and whether there are undiscovered abilities behind them, Angel still does not know.

Another point is that on the Continent of Yuantan, Angel always felt that some risk might be associated with the green patterns of the right eye. Before his power reached a certain level, he dared not casually investigate further.

Now, though that premonition still exists, it’s much weaker than before.

Angel personally feels it’s within his tolerance range, which is an important reason why he has decided to study the green patterns of the right eye now.

Even so, Angel continues to approach the research on the right eye with extreme caution.