"Polite Curtain Call: Even the most thrilling play must come to an end. When you bow, all the audience must stand and applaud."

"SUFFIX RECOGNITION REWARD: Little Prophetic Faction experience, little Magic Power."

"Limited Suffix Privilege: You may trigger 'Polite Curtain Call' once."

When Ash and his companions figured out the third word suffix, they knew this was the key to clearing the level.

If a Mage had known "Polite Curtain Call" in advance and bowed to the Beastman Mage and Mist Ghost Dragon, the latter would have become applauding spectators, naturally leaving their roles as performers.

Even so, a Mage must possess intangible attack methods to deal with these enemies, such as Wind Skill, Sound Technique, Spiritual Shock, and aging over time—however, all these were relatively niche factions as intangibles are harder to master than tangibles.

Although this Dream Bubble Shadow should be of higher difficulty, it was clear that the Void Realm was testing the comprehensive qualities of Mages: reconnaissance word suffixes, instant kill defense, mastering various attack methods to deal with different scenarios... Mages with limited techniques would soon be stuck in the Distant Realm and making connections across fields is a skill that Holy Sanctuary Mages must master at this stage.

After identifying all the word suffixes, the Dream Bubble Shadow suddenly shrank to a point and then directly shattered!

Everyone fell into the true Distant Realm, floating in midair, surrounded by endless brightness, with bubbles of Dream Bubble Shadow in the distance. But they had no time to admire the scenery, immediately raising the Holy Domain to stop the Harmony Prohibition of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon!

At that moment, Ash suddenly remembered something and hurriedly, with his gold and silver wings, rushed towards Sonia—the Crimson Blessing that could maintain the Holy Domain for only 3 seconds was about to shatter!

"Wait!"

The Village Girl raised her hand to stop him, hesitated, and then said, "I think... I can already gather the Holy Domain."

"So soon?" Ash was stunned and then breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great."

"Why did the Dream Bubble Shadow suddenly break?" Diya complained, "We haven't even picked up our spoils yet."

Weiser suddenly said, "You all look into your souls."

Everyone introspected their souls and quickly noticed inside a large bubble made up of multiple bubbles, ready to be burst with just a thought.

"Ah." Sonia remembered something, "These are word suffix bubbles!"

"After a Mage passes through certain Dream Bubble Shadows, the shadow may directly shrink into the Mage's soul and produce word suffix bubbles based on the word suffixes experienced by the Mage that day!"

"Just bursting a bubble will create a corresponding three-winged Technique Spirit!"

"The professor said word suffix bubbles appear randomly, unrelated to the difficulty of the Dream Bubble Shadows. They might appear in the first shadow or might not appear after a dozen. But only with word suffix bubbles can there emerge Technique Spirits that Mages can't summon!"

Ash blinked, "There are Technique Spirits that Mages can't summon?"

"Of course." Diya took over, "For example, the 'Observer' Technique Spirit I just got is impossible to summon, or rather, the race that could summon such a spirit no longer exists, now there is no creature that can attack others with its sight... only in Dream Bubble Shadows is it possible for similar suffixes and Technique Spirits to emerge."

"I see..." Ash murmured, "How did you get your Observer Technique Spirit?"

Diya blinked, "It's a gift from my grandmother."

"But aren't you and your grandmother on bad terms?"

"For some reasons, I forgave her."

"Congratulations." Ash continued introspecting the bubbles, "I have eight compound bubbles here, exactly matching eight suffixes, so should I randomly burst one?"

"Eh?" Sonia was puzzled, "Why do I have nine?"

"Me too, nine." Diya added.

"I have ten." Weiser looked up, "This number, along with the collections we got, matches."

Everyone was stunned and then turned to Ash, who spread his hands, "I know nothing."

"Come to think of it, collection effects are similar to word suffixes," Weiser murmured. "Could these collections have been word suffixes that once existed? You are the Observer, how do you not know?"

"Because he had memory loss, remember?" Sonia said.

Actually, I only said I had lost Heath's memories …though I felt like explaining, seeing that both the Witch and the Sword Maiden were convinced, and since Ash also didn't know how to explain his ignorance about the origins of the collections, I defaulted.

Weiser's gaze at Ash immediately rippled with many thoughts—like the Sword Witch, she immediately associated his ability to recruit people in the Void Realm and uncover endless hidden resources as akin to a seasoned player starting over.

However, she immediately collected her gaze and said calmly, "The appearances don't show any differences among the bubbles … it's all down to luck."

Pfft.

As the bubbles in their souls shattered, four fantasy Technique Spirits were born.

Diya obtained the 'Bubble' Technique Spirit—rather unlucky since this Water Element Technique Spirit was among the more common Water Magic Spirits. But she didn't care what Technique Spirit she got; after all, with a whole kingdom to spend freely, coming to the Void Realm was purely to amass Magic Power with Ash, treating the gains from the realm merely as fun, similar to a wealthy woman gaming with her hubby.

Ash had acquired the "Acting" Technique Spirit, but it did not confer the "Invincible Opening Night" effect; it merely allowed a Mage to act with genuine emotion, as if following a script—an uncommon yet not particularly useful Technique Spirit. Nevertheless, Ash thought of a very intriguing experiment and gladly incorporated it into his soul.

However, when Weiser and Sonia displayed their new Technique Spirits, Ash inhaled sharply, "Be careful you don't trip while walking in the coming days."

Sonia's new Technique Spirit resembled a ruby, and Weiser's was a flash of Spiritual Light—these were the Technique Spirit transformations of the collection items "Crimson Blessing" and "Spiritual Light Glasses"!

Yet Sonia shook her head, "It's not as practical as before."

"Crimson Blessing"

"Three-winged Technique Spirit"

"Restriction: None."

"Passive Effect: Encounters any external attacks will automatically raise a Holy Domain for 1 second, cooldown 10 seconds."

"'May your flames shine eternally.'"

/

"Spiritual Light"

"Three-winged Technique Spirit"

"Restriction: None."

"Basic Effect: Deduces and conjectures about a specific target based on available information."

"Passive Effect: You will suddenly recall some distant and relevant crucial clues or lines of thought."

"'I close my eyes, touch the Spiritual Light, and read the Braille left by truth through wisdom.'"

The "Crimson Blessing" was manageable; though reduced to 1 second, its automated defense was crucial for a Sword Maiden to avoid being ambushed in any situation. However, that this Technique Spirit had only passive effects and no active ones was an eye-opener for Ash and the others.

"Spiritual Light" was more subtle and not useless; in fact, in the Distant Realm—a setting rift with inference suffixes—this Technique Spirit could shine exceptionally. But compared to the "Spiritual Light Glasses" collection item, "Spiritual Light" seemed much weaker.

Nevertheless, after an intense battle, the benefits already sufficed to soothe everyone's weary souls. Ash exhaled, "Let's call it a night."

Everyone nodded. Although only three hours had passed tonight, their soul energy had depleted by 80%. They'd need to slowly fly to the next Dream Bubble Shadow. Coupled with the recent half-hour skirmish where they could only flee without fighting back, their vigor, spirit, and soul had been thoroughly drained. Continuing the adventure could inadvertently lead to fatal errors.

While the adventure was over, it didn't mean they had to head back immediately. Sonia said, "We have some time now to talk."

"Sure," said Ash, "should we talk about my experiences in the Kingdom of Gospel?"

Diya was indifferent, and Weiser was about to nod in agreement when she saw Sonia shaking her head, "Not that tonight, let's talk about your current situation."

Ash scratched his head, puzzled since the Sword Maiden seemed eager to hear it just before, "Right now, I'm just chasing after Silver Lamp with my companions."

"It's my first time hearing you have companions," murmured the president of the Claw Club.

"They're the ones from when I escaped jail, you know them—the Spirit Mage and the Necromancer," Ash said with a smile, "We've been acting together since."

"But I thought you said they were bad people?"

"They are indeed utterly fattened fodder ready for slaughter," Ash floated in the air, arms crossed, "but as companions, they're quite trustworthy."

"Spirit Mage plans meticulously, considers others, and has a sunny, cheerful smile."

Diya recalled Igula's cold, menacing eyes and the sinister smile curling his lips. Liss used to sleep with Ash every night, primarily because she feared that the Swindler might strangle her in her sleep; it left her trembling with fear.

Weiser remembered the Spirit Mage's Spiritual Scream and his sequential traps of oil, stakes, and bombs. Wherever she fled, there were traps, and even ambushes from Ya Sha Jin as she fled... Before being pulled into the Void Realm, Weiser's most dreaded figure was the Spirit Mage, followed by Ya Sha Jin.

"The Necromancer is reticent but talented—a true artist immersed in his own world."

Diya remembered Harvey taking care of Alice every night, the food he prepared for Alice, and more of Harvey... She couldn't think further; the little witch in her mind almost threw up.

Weiser recalled the Necromancer's miracles of condensed despair and his fusion with a corpse to become a Ghostly Knight. His charges through the food town indeed halted Weiser's escape but also plunged all the townsfolk into terror. Later, it was heard that Ash and his group had been driven out, the Necromancer's contribution to that debacle seemed notably significant.

"That actually sounds pretty decent," Sonia remarked, puzzled, "how did two random death row inmates you met in jail turn out to be good?"

Diya and Weiser felt ants crawling in their throats but eventually managed to suppress their urge to retort and looked away.

"Maybe they just appear normal in front of me," Ash was somewhat self-aware, "or maybe I've been influenced by them, even seeing their abnormal behaviors as nothing unusual."

"No, you're not weird at all," Sonia replied, "Let's hear more about your upcoming plans."

Ash found it odd, "Why do you ask?"

"Of course, to help you strategize and find a way to capture Silver Lamp quickly."

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