Destiny Rekindled

Chapter 273 The Sleeping Truth (Two in One)

"There's someone there!"

Zheng Xiaoyu was the second one to discover the girl dancing in the sea of ​​flowers and exclaimed.

"What is that?" Lin Yue looked at Qin Chuan with an inquiring look.

"The Lost People Salma." Qin Chuan spoke softly, his expression somewhat solemn, "She was clearly asleep in the real world, but she is awake here."

"She is the one we want to wake up?" Lin Yue looked a little surprised. "So... are we in her dream now?"

"That's probably the case." Qin Chuan nodded.

As if she noticed the three people's observation, Salma, who was dancing on the other side, stopped and looked over here curiously.

After hesitating for a brief moment, Qin Chuan raised his foot and walked towards the other party.

Lin Yue and Zheng Xiaoyu followed closely behind.

When the two sides got closer, Salma spoke a mysterious and unfamiliar alien language.

[Immortals? That doesn't seem right.]

[Although you look similar to them, I can feel that your aura and power are different from those of the immortals.]

[It seems that a new race has appeared on the Sky Steps...]

[How strange! I didn't even notice any sign of duplication before this. What race are you? ]

"We are human." Qin Chuan was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, "What race are you talking about, the Immortals?"

He originally wanted to try to wake the other party up from the dream by talking to him, but he never expected that the other party would give him a great shock as soon as he opened his mouth.

What race are the immortals?
and…

The opponent in the copy actually mentioned "Stairs of the Sky" and "Copy".

This made him feel as if he was not talking to the projection of power in the copy, but to the real creatures of the Sky Stage.

This feeling has never appeared in previous copies.

Salma looked at Qin Chuan and the other two, her colorful eyes flashing with vigilance and suspicion.

[You don’t know the Immortal Clan? ]

[Didn't you guys try to clear a dungeon before ascending the Sky Stairs? ]

[In the dungeon, you should have seen all the races in the Sky Steps. ]

"We have never encountered the Immortal Clan." Qin Chuan said in a deep voice, "We have only encountered Moon Spirits, Half-Demons, Dwarf Demons, Dead Ghosts, Crystal Clan and Dragon Clan."

"Besides, we haven't even climbed the so-called steps to the sky yet."

"Now, we are in the dungeon."

Salma's expression froze.

Her eyes were somewhat empty, and the previous look of suspicion was replaced by an unprecedented confusion.

【wrong…】

[It shouldn’t be like this…]

Qin Chuan frowned.

Although every word Salma said contained a lot of information, there was a sense of dissonance between the two sides.

Just when he was at a loss, a hand gently grabbed his hand.

Lin Yue gave him a look that said "leave it to me", then her expression became serious and she took a step forward.

"Do you remember? Your tribe has already failed."

Salma's delicate face suddenly lost all color.

【Failure?】

【impossible! 】

【We are born with the power of dreams, and we are the race most likely to succeed. 】

【We can't fail! 】

"But this was written by you, right?" Lin Yue took out the white kite.

Clues to the copy, the monologue of the lost person.

The moment she saw the kite, Salma's movements and expression froze at the same time. She seemed to have seen something that was absolutely impossible to happen, and her expression was full of struggle.

Her delicate face was filled with despair and confusion, and she immediately covered her cheeks with her hands in pain. The originally calm atmosphere gradually rose as the expressions of Qin Chuan and the other two changed slightly, and the entire fantasy world was in turmoil.

Palace level... Epic level... Legend level...

Salma suddenly raised her head, her eyes and pupils filled with deep hatred.

【impossible!】

[You are lying to me! You are lying to me! ! ]

The aura that made Qin Chuan and the other two feel like they were falling into the abyss suddenly burst out. At the moment when the sound exploded, Salma's aura suddenly broke through the upper limit of the legendary level and quickly moved towards the mythical level!
Two light arrays appeared under the feet of Zheng Xiaoyu and Salma, instantly cutting Salma's rising power in half.

Lingping's second talent is activated.

As Yue Li clasped her hands together, countless points of light flew out from Salma and gathered around Qin Chuan.

The third talent of Prayer is activated.

【00:00:07】

Time stop, 2 seconds.

Standing in place, Qin Chuan expressionlessly dispersed the ice knife that had appeared in his hand at some point.

With Salma's sudden outburst, some special changes also occurred in the dreamland, allowing Qin Chuan, who was stopped in time, to exist here in a sober state.

Salma, who was about to break through the mythical level, suddenly stopped talking.

Blood scars deep enough to see the bones appeared on her body at some point, and her entire body was split in two.

【you…】

The hatred in Salma's eyes faded along with the strength, and her expression became melancholy again.

【turn out to be…】

We really failed.

A line of text appeared in front of Qin Chuan and the other two.

[Congratulations to the player for reaching the minimum strategy requirement and completing the strategy for the S-level dungeon: The Sleeping Plains of Miguel. The current dungeon strategy rating is: A]
-

In the middle of the desolate plain, Backland sat cross-legged and gazed affectionately at Salma lying on flowers in the crystal coffin in front of him.

Salma had been lying there for who knows how long, but the flowers were still bright and covered with dew, as if they had just been picked.

He just watched like that, not knowing how much time had passed.

Until a certain moment, Backland's pupils shrank slightly.

Salma's eyelids in the coffin trembled slightly, and then slowly opened.

Facing the pair of colorful eyes that were forever engraved in the deepest part of his memory, Backland's old body couldn't stop shaking. He stood up tremblingly and walked step by step to the coffin.

Salma looked at him steadily. The old face in front of her quickly overlapped with a young and persistent face in her distant memory. The corners of her lips curved slightly and she spoke softly.

"Long time no see, Backland."

Tears kept falling from Backland's face, which was full of deep wrinkles.

"Salma, you shouldn't wake up. I am willing to stay with you while you sleep forever."

"At least that way..." His lips trembled, "At least that way..."

"Hold me tight, Backland," Salma said softly. Her body became much more ethereal than when she first woke up. "I don't have much time left."

Backland held Salma carefully, lifting her up gingerly as if she were a fragile treasure.

“The Moon Spirit Ancestor… what a powerful fellow.” Salma leaned on Backland’s chest and whispered softly, “I didn’t expect that after our failure, the Sky Stairs would become like this.”

Backland's face turned pale instantly, and his eyes showed guilt. "I'm sorry, I..."

"No need to say sorry, Backland." Salma shook her head gently, "He is not wrong. No one is wrong."

"We just...we all want to survive."

They both fell silent. Salma, who was lying in Backland's arms, was silent for a while, then suddenly spoke.

"Hey, Backland."

"Do you think anyone will still remember the Illusion Clan?"

"Yes!" Backland said firmly, "Definitely!" "Really?" Salma's body became more and more illusory. She smiled with relief and murmured softly.

"That's good."

She slowly closed her eyes and hummed a soft tune.

Backland also closed his eyes and listened to the notes that resonated in the deepest part of his memory.

At this moment, he seemed to see the girl from the Illusion Clan kneeling on the soft grass under the shade of the dense forest and his teenage self lying on the girl's lap, closing his eyes and listening to the girl's humming.

He walked step by step towards the picture buried deep in his memory, but the picture gradually faded away as the notes drifted away.

The humming sound gradually became quieter until it was inaudible.

He slowly opened his eyes, and there was no trace of Salma in his arms.

"Salma..." Backland's voice was filled with endless loneliness.

He picked the most beautiful flower from the countless flowers in the crystal coffin and gently pinned it to his heart. Then he stood up, picked up the long sword stuck in the ground, and walked towards the border of the plain.

"Wait for me, Salma darling."

"I will reunite with you after I kill the guy who disturbed your sweet dream."
-

Qin Chuan's expression became solemn.

On the map locked by the third talent of the sundial, he saw that the light representing the Lost People, Salma, had disappeared, while the light representing the Dream Guardian, Backland, began to approach their location quickly.

The Yue Ling, holding a long sword with murderous intent, was in a state of extreme anger.

But at this moment, they still cannot escape from this dream.

Because Salma, who should have been killed in the dream, did not die.

After her body was restored to its original state, she looked quietly at the three people in front of her, and spoke softly after a moment.

[Backland is a stubborn idiot.]

"How do we leave here?" Qin Chuan asked in a deep voice.

[Leave...?]

Salma smiled.

[Human race, promise me one thing and I will tell you the answer. ]

“What’s the matter?” Qin Chuan frowned slightly when he sensed that Backland had crossed one-third of the distance.

[Please promise me that you will kill him with the power that killed me just now.]

There was tenderness in Salma's eyes.

【Give him liberation, but please don't let him suffer. 】

"I promise you." Qin Chuan said without hesitation.

【Crush the crystal of dreams.】

"Click——"

Qin Chuan crushed the dream crystal without hesitation, and the large amount of colorful light spots that he had absorbed before flew out in an instant and turned into armored figures behind Salma.

Those were the phantom guards and generals he had killed before.

At this moment, these figures took off their helmets at the same time, revealing their different faces and vertical pupils opened between their eyebrows.

They are of the same race as Salma in front of them.

【farewell.】

Salma spoke softly, and immediately walked towards an open portal.

The portal was completely black, with an atmosphere of death and desolation, which made Qin Chuan and the other two feel an indescribable sadness and loneliness.

The dream was shattered as Salma and her people walked through the portal.

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the advanced strategy requirement: Farewell to the last survivor of the Fantasy Clan lost in the dreamland. The dungeon strategy rating has been upgraded to: S]

The Phantom Clan?

As the surrounding scene quickly changed into a real copy scene, Qin Chuan finally knew the name of the race corresponding to Salma.

But...it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

He had a clear feeling as they walked through that heart-pounding portal.

He would never see any of the phantom disciples again.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Chuan looked at Backland who was walking towards him with a sword in hand.

There is no need to waste time stopping for a legendary opponent, Spirit Descent is enough to solve the problem.

嗏

Qin Chuan stopped Lin Yue who was about to attack, and stood up and walked towards Backland.

"I promised Salma."

The figure of Xuegao flashed by, and an icicle rose from the ground beside him. Qin Chuan raised his hand and inserted it into the icicle. He pulled out the Frost Horse-Cutting Sword from the shattered ice and held it high above his head.

"To free you from pain."

【00:00:06】

Time stop, 1 seconds.

Backland's body fell to the ground with a bang, and he gently covered the still intact flower on his heart with one hand. He turned into points of light in the sky and disappeared, leaving behind only a sigh of regret.

[Salma, here I come.]

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the advanced strategy requirements: Kill the Dreamland Guardian Backlander, and the dungeon strategy rating has been upgraded to: SS]

"Over there." Qin Chuan was silent for a moment, then raised his head and looked towards the location where Backland and Salma were originally located, which was also the most central area of ​​the dungeon map.

If I'm not mistaken, the final advanced strategy requirements are right there.

After walking for a while, a line of text appeared in front of Qin Chuan.

【Discover the copy clues】

He quickened his pace and soon saw the crystal coffin where Salma was sleeping that he had seen before.

The flowers in the coffin that were as fresh as if they had just been picked were now all withered and dead. Not far from the coffin, Qin Chuan saw the huge rock where Backland was sitting cross-legged.

Next to the boulder, there is a stone tablet.

[Congratulations to the player for obtaining the copy clue: Backland's Notes]

He raised his hand and gently touched the densely packed words on the stone tablet, and the lines of words then transformed into a language he could understand.

[Zu said, we have no victory, but we are not losers either. 】

[All the tribe members were cheering for the tribe's rebirth, but I was the only one watching over the sleeping Salma, falling into endless regret.]

[Every race on the Sky Steps knows that they cannot trust any other race, but I fell in love with Huan Tu. ]

[But I don't regret it. I just hate that the lifespan of the first level of the mythical stage is only a thousand years, so I can't stay by her side forever. ]

【...】

[I succeeded! I used the life secrets of the Moon Spirit Clan to create another me, an unconscious, young body, who will be my next stop after the end of my life.]

[This is a forbidden secret technique of the tribe, but I don’t care about that. I can still continue to protect my dear Salma. It is really a happy thing. ]

【...】

[This is the fourth time I have used the secret technique. Each time, I age faster. I feel my thoughts become heavier and duller, and I seem to have forgotten many things.]

[Fortunately, I haven't forgotten every second I spent with Salma.]

【...】

[This is the 11th time I have used the secret technique. I have forgotten more and more things. Fortunately, I have the stone tablet. It can remind me of my mission and the meaning of my existence.]

【...】

【22nd time.】

【...】

【35】

The record became shorter and shorter, until only a number remained.

Qin Chuan's finger slid across the first paragraph of the text on the stone tablet, and ten thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

[Congratulations to the player for reaching the advanced strategy requirements: Witness Backland's past, the dungeon strategy rating has been upgraded to: SSS]

(End of this chapter)