Another Trial Tower, under Alka's control, entered the small world.
This time, Naphtos, the controller of the Trial Tower, watched the entire process unfold.
He watched as the Trial Tower was placed next to Number 6.
Although these Trial Towers had previously been unnumbered, Alka had assigned them numbers based on the order in which they were collected.
The one Alka now controlled was Number 7.
Naphtos looked at the Trial Tower.
"To be honest, it's a lot uglier now than when we first built it."
Hearing this, Alka turned to look at him.
"What did it look like before?"
Naphtos thought for a moment and waved his hand, and the scene in the memory training ground changed.
Then, twelve tall towers appeared on the grounds. Each tower was quite far apart, but together, they formed a circle.
It was then that Alka realized that the buildings outside the towers were actually arranged in a circle.
This circle of buildings surrounded the twelve towers in the center.
Then, the twelve towers surrounded an open space in the center.
Alka looked at the twelve towers. Each one had a different appearance, with exquisite relief carvings and paintings in different styles.
They seemed to symbolize something.
"Beautiful, weren't they? Now it's pitch black, leaving only the solid shell. Those beautiful decorations on the outside have been shaved off. What barbarians!"
Naphtos muttered unhappily beside him.
Clearly, he had a deep affection for the twelve Trial Towers. It was said that he oversaw their construction, so he put a great deal of thought into them, even immersing himself in them.
Alka gazed at the newly added tower and asked, "Will this new tower bring any new functions?"
Hearing this, Naphtos shook his head. "No, it won't, per se. But perhaps it could allow for an extra person at the Memory Training Ground."
"Really? One more person would be a good thing."
After a while of sailing, Alka and his companions successfully secured the seventh tower.
Originally, it was expected that acquiring the seventh tower might require some effort.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Four Gods issued the order.
So, the Church used coercive means to reclaim Trial Tower No. 7, forcing the original controlling forces unwilling to return it.
Obviously, they had no choice but to surrender under the Church's harsh approach.
So, Alka's acquisition went relatively smoothly.
Aside from the few people who originally controlled the tower, who were displeased with him.
They were already on their way to the eighth tower.
According to the latest news, there were no unexpected incidents on the island where the eighth tower was located, so they should be able to take it easily.
Sofia, who had just finished training, stood beside Alka and said with a smile, "I hope the collection will go as smoothly as these two times.
After all, just traveling takes too much time."
Alka smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, with the Four Gods' Oracle, these local churches will definitely pay more attention to these Trial Towers and devote more energy to them."
Sofia nodded; she agreed.
When Alka left the small world and arrived at the Voice of the Dawn, the Voice of the Dawn had already left the island where the Trial Tower was located and headed for its next target. Alka was on the deck, reviewing the information in his hands.
He began calculating how long it would take them to reach their target.
He couldn't help but smile as he looked at the information in his hands. It looked like the journey wouldn't take long.
The two Trial Towers were quite close to each other, so it looked like it wouldn't even take half a year, perhaps three or four months.
...
Counting their training on the battlefield, it had probably been over a year.
If we were to say how much their strength had improved over the past year, the rate of improvement was actually quite normal.
However, their actual combat effectiveness was far higher than before.
More importantly, it had improved their ability to cope with various situations.
After all, many treasures had strange properties and effects, and Alka and his companions hadn't actually experienced many battles between treasure masters.
On the battlefield, they experienced a wealth of experience. Various rules and abilities caused them all kinds of trouble and death. These things left a deep impression on them.
This allowed them to react more quickly when faced with similar situations in real life, preventing unnecessary casualties.
This was the area that greatly improved their strength.
After approximately three or four months of sailing,
they were gradually approaching their target.
Due to the location of the Trial Tower, they should reach it first. It would take another two weeks to reach the signpost island surrounding the Trial Tower.
The Trial Tower was also nearly two weeks' journey from the signpost island, making it an island outside the island chain.
However, due to its nature as a signpost island, it had long been controlled by the surrounding Holy Mother Church.
You could even see a small church and some immigrants there.
Clearly, this Trial Island must be quite large, otherwise the Church wouldn't be willing to build a church here.
There should be a sufficient population here.
"Based on the distance, it'll take two or three days," Sofia said.
"Two or three days?"
Alka repeated, nodding.
However, he didn't return to the small world to train. Instead, he sank directly into the dream.
He landed directly on his throne.
"Two or three more days... Alas, there's no escape."
Alka, seated on the throne, felt distressed.
The reason, of course, was that his strength in the dream was about to reach the ninth stage.
He had been at the eighth stage of perfection for a long time, having already been here in the dream a year ago.
After a year of accumulation, his strength could no longer be stabilized. A breakthrough to the ninth stage was almost imminent.
His premonition had been particularly strong over the past few days, and he was practically certain it would happen within the next few days. And it just so happened that he had arrived at the Trial Island during those same days.
"I had originally wanted to collect the Trial Tower items before upgrading, but now it seems I can't wait."
Since he couldn't wait any longer,
Alka wasn't prepared to wait any longer.
Upgrading from Stage 8 to Stage 9.
This was a significant upgrade.
Because the dream world and reality seemed to be somewhat different.
In reality, starting from Stage 8, as long as you possessed all the treasures, you could begin the ascension ritual.
In the dream world, the upgrade from Stage 8 to Stage 9 seemed to have a different purpose.
This wasn't something he knew, but rather information he had obtained from Shadow Robe and other Dream Kings.
So Shadow Robe himself wasn't quite sure what the difference would be after the upgrade, as he was only at Stage 7.
He wasn't a Dream King, so he didn't know much about this information.
He simply asked Alcardo to make some preparations.
Thinking of this, Alka sighed.
He checked his own strength once more. He was truly stuck on that thin layer of window paper, about to break through and enter a new stage at any moment.
At this point, he could only shake his head helplessly and leave the dream. Looking at Sofia, who hadn't left yet, he said, "Tell everyone to stay on Trial Island for a while after arriving. The advancement ceremony I need to perform in the dream might take a while."
Sofia nodded and said, "Should I call everyone over? Are you in such a hurry?"
"No, but I am a little anxious. I was thinking of bringing the tower in first."
With that, Alka, carrying his real body, fell directly from the real world into the dream.
He didn't know what changes would occur this time, or how long it would take, so it was best to bring his own body inside.
And in the dream.
When Shadow Robe learned that Alka was about to ascend, he began to make preparations.
All the powerful dream creatures gathered around Alka's throne.
They surrounded Alka like the strictest guards, completely blocking any presence from disturbing Alka's ascension ceremony.
A vacuum zone appeared around the throne.
Even the surging white mist couldn't enter this area.
Observing this situation, Alka glanced at Shadow Robe, who was standing beside the throne, and Хирви, who was standing on the other side.
"I'll leave this place to you for now."
After the two nodded, Alka looked at Lilu, who was on the armrest.
"I'll let you tell them about my dream, so they don't get too nervous."
Lilu nodded.
Then he watched as Alka closed his eyes and leaned back against the throne, which began to radiate a powerful light.
This light, like a torch, illuminated the entire dream world. All the powerful beings within the dream world cast their gazes in its direction.
A vast, white mist snake opened its sleepy eyes and gazed in Alka's direction.
"After tens of thousands of years, a true king of dreams has finally emerged."
Not only the dream kings of mist-like beings, but also the dream kings of various light and shadow beings, even those of dark shadows, all silently gazed in Alka's direction.
They all seemed to be waiting for something.
There were also many ancient gods whose wills, even fragments, lurked within the dream world.
For example, the nightmares hidden in the nightmare realm. Even as timid as he was, he couldn't help but poke his head out of the outer wall of his nightmare realm.
He looked in the direction of Alka.
"Sounds so familiar? Who's ascending, and choosing this time?
The first in tens of thousands of years."
His frantic mood seemed to clear up.
"So familiar! Who is it? Someone I know?"
It seemed he hadn't quite come to his senses yet.
However, while he was eye-catching in the dream world, even being sensed by powerful beings within it,
Nothing changed in the real world; after all, the barrier between them was immense.
...
A few days later, the Voice of Dawn docked on the Trial Island.
Everyone on board stood on the deck, gazing at the Trial Tower in the distance.
"Has Alka not yet completed his advancement?"
Lilu, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, emerged from his dream for a rare moment.
"No, it's still early, as Shadow Robe would say. There's still time to wait."
Hearing this, Jason couldn't help but ponder.
"Does it take so long to advance from stage eight to stage nine in the dream?
Is it the same in reality?"
He couldn't help but draw a comparison.
Lucelia shook her head. "The power in reality is different from that in dreams.
Although Alka often uses the power stages in dreams to explain things, you must understand that this is just a generalization.
In reality, the difference in power between the two is quite significant.
The forces operating are somewhat different. I actually suspect... the advancement from stage eight to stage nine in dreams might be a concept similar to the ascension ceremony in the real world."
Hearing Lucelia's words, everyone turned to look at her, hoping for some explanation.
Because they hadn't considered this idea before. Gazing at the crowd's gazes, Lucelia said, "There's a dedicated bookshelf in the Great Library. The books and various recording media on it are all records of dreams. After all, it's the other side of the world, isn't it?
Various intelligent life forms have been imprinted and manifested there.
Therefore, there are numerous research records. Although there's no explicit explanation, based on my observations and my own experiences traveling through dreams, it's very likely true."
As for asking Lucelia to actually explain the reasons, she didn't think anyone would understand, after all, everyone specializes in different areas.
However, now that they had this understanding, everyone nodded, perhaps understanding why Alka needed to stay in the dream for so long.
"Forget it, let's split up into two groups and go to the island to learn more.
Since Alka needs some time, we can just wait here."
After all, this is an island, and there seems to be a nice town there, so it would be nice to stay on land for a while.
Except here, in the distant world of Scar.
"Damn it! Devouring Mouth, tell me why our power has been weakened again? Didn't you say that as long as the gate is opened wide enough, nothing can affect us?"
A powerful, giant demon, nearly ten meters tall, stared at the Devouring Mouth beneath him and roared angrily.
Although the Angry One was small compared to his size, he remained calm and said, "Since we are invading and destroying this world, the enemy will naturally do everything they can to stop and restrict us.
Isn't that only natural? What kind of world do you think this is, huh?
One of those weak worlds that shatters into pieces and becomes a ring of the abyss at the slightest demon's charge?
Or have you become so used to bullying the weak that you've become afraid of fighting these strong ones?"
"Bullshit! You damn loser."
The two's quarrel did not affect the conversation among the other demons around them.
All those here were the demon lords summoned to attack the World Scar.
When they learned about this world and its past history from the Devouring Mouth, they had already prepared for a protracted battle within it, desperately seeking to devour it.
So, this brief development was entirely within their expectations.
Especially since they had sensed the brief conflict between the gods beyond the World Barrier a few years ago.
First, they sensed the enemy's strength; second, they sensed the rewards of their efforts, and if they succeeded, they would be well rewarded.
Enough for so many demons to share equally. Whether they would actually divide it or fight each other in the end was a matter for the future.
"Have you figured out what the problem is?"
I don't know why the world has been so chaotic lately.
The scar's suppression of the abyssal aura suddenly intensified.
This caused all the demons' strength to retreat yet another level, allowing those damned humans to hold their line at this crucial moment. Almost all their efforts over the past year or two were wasted in a single moment.
Their overall attack suddenly lost the advantage they had anticipated.
This was also why the demon was so furious. This time, he was leading the charge, charging in the front and bearing the greatest losses.
Of course, he was furious.
"I suspect it's the dream," said a being shrouded in mist, yet cloaked in a flesh-like cloak.
"Really? Did you feel it?"
"Yes, a powerful being is emerging in the corresponding dream world."
"Can we find a way to…"
"Don't even think about it. Before this world is dragged into the abyss, don't even think about affecting the corresponding dream world.
That would only make our efforts in vain. Although I dislike the Devouring Mouth, necessary calmness and patience are necessary to reap sufficient benefits."
"Alright, you're an expert in this area, of course I'll listen to you."
The nearby demon couldn't help but ask, "Does this mean this kind of suppression is inevitable?"
"Of course, wasn't this something we'd expected? If it were that easy, why would we let you join? Let you share in our millennia of progress?"
This person was the leader of the previous world's scar.
Hearing this, some of the surrounding demons smiled, while others sneered disdainfully.
The situation nearly spiraled out of control again.
But this is the daily life of demons. If demons could always coexist peacefully, it would be absurd.
If demons could coexist peacefully and united, the world would have long been under their control. This would also violate the demons' inherent chaotic nature, which is the very essence of their existence.
Without it, demons would no longer be demons, and they would lose the label of chaos that makes them so feared.
If it weren't for the existence of the Abyss, these demons would have long since begun to fight each other.