Chapter 341
Haina’s Dream of the Future
“…Mmm.”
Haina slightly opened her eyes, her muscles subconsciously tensing.
She looked around, feeling a moment of disorientation. It was as if she had spent a long time in a dream, and upon suddenly returning to reality, she momentarily forgot what she was doing before falling asleep.
“Yo.”
Eivass leaned in and greeted her enthusiastically, “It seems everything went smoothly. Interview time, how are you feeling now?”
“I… cough…”
Haina, wanting to speak, coughed as her whole body exerted itself too much.
The next moment, a strong aura of killing intent, accompanied by her cough, overflowed. Her pupils were completely engulfed in a silvery-white radiance.
Haina gasped for air, subconsciously reaching for the clothes on her chest. It was like entering a plateau from a place with higher oxygen concentration—her cheeks immediately turned flushed, and her heart began to pound violently.
“Don’t disturb her yet.”
Sherlock reached out and pulled back the curious Eivass, who was peeking, “Ascending to the Fourth Tier is quite troublesome.”
Haina no longer paid attention to Eivass.
At this moment, her soul, strengthened and returned to the Material Realm, was filled with the power harvested from the Dream Realm. It was like a cup overflowing.
The instant she woke up and her consciousness returned to the Material Realm, her soul finally poured those powers into her body.
Those continuous streams of Path Power surged from Haina’s soul, visibly strengthening her body.
Her muscles and bones greedily absorbed the essence of this silvery-white power. Her aura continuously and visibly intensified. A silvery-white, invisible aura enveloped her, like a gentle eggshell.
Visible white ripples echoed in the air—a sign of completing her first professional advancement, with her life form undergoing a transformation. Eivass could capture the manifested Path Power with his naked eyes, without needing spiritual vision.
This power was not gathered from the Material Realm but brought back by Haina from the Dream Realm. It was like dry ice returning to room temperature, sublimating into white vapor.
—But after all, this was a regular Ascender who had completed the Ascension Ritual and obtained the world’s recognition. The process of upgrading her Energy Level was not painful, nor was it overly lengthy.
In about three to four minutes, the radiant light burning on Haina’s body dissipated.
When she opened her eyes again, her expression had returned to calm.
Eivass raised an eyebrow, feeling the change in Haina’s aura.
After waking up this time, the sense of clear-headed foolishness that once emanated from her had almost completely vanished. That carefree, gentle smile was also gone.
In its place was a stern, almost dangerous aura.
Even her posture had clearly changed. Her previously languid and casual sitting posture was now incredibly sharp.
—It was only then that Eivass realized. This was indeed “Nameless,” the leader of the “Hyena Gang” from the game. Even though she had avoided that future with the help of Eivass and Sherlock, she still possessed the talent to reach that identity.
Eivass was not the only one who realized this. Lily and Sherlock also clearly felt the change in Haina’s temperament.
But in the end, the first person to speak was the little Sherlock, who didn’t know the meaning of politeness and fully utilized his current outward advantage: “What did you experience in your dream this time?”
Haina, who always spoke her mind, subconsciously hesitated for a moment.
—Just this slight growth surprised Eivass greatly.
He could clearly sense that what Haina was hesitating about in that instant was “whether she should lie.”
But in the end, Haina chose to tell the truth.
However, there was a difference between saying whatever came to mind without cunning, and deciding to reveal everything after careful consideration—undoubtedly, the latter represented deeper trust.
“…I might have foreseen the future.”
Haina’s expression was solemn, even grave. “Because the era of my Ascension Ritual this time is 1900—that is, two years from now.”
“Can Ascension Rituals foresee the future?”
Lily was somewhat astonished.
Eivass and Sherlock, however, did not react much.
Sherlock looked up at Eivass. Seeing that his expression was calm, he turned back to Haina and explained, “There is indeed such a possibility. But that is not the actual future, merely one possibility of the future.
“Perhaps Miss Haina’s first Ascension Ritual was too long ago. During the first Ascension Ritual, the Host mentions… that the dream used for the Ascension Ritual is an ‘alternative possibility of history’ deduced by the Nine Pillar Gods. And since such deduction preparations are made, they naturally would deduce the future.
“According to scholars’ research, there are two understandings that can be derived from this statement. One is the ‘Multiple Histories Theory.’ Scholars of this faction believe that history is not singular. However, the outcome of history—that is, critical junctures—is fixed.
“They believe that the Nine Pillar Gods constantly hold Ascension Rituals to find the ‘best past’… This is why sometimes the Pillar God says, ‘This is different from history,’ but the actual development is the same. It’s possible it was indeed different before, but it has already been changed.
“And I support another faction more, which is the ‘Watcher Theory.’ They believe that the Nine Pillar Gods constantly weave dreams and repeatedly hold Ascension Rituals to deduce the future from the past. Otherwise, they would have no reason to be obsessed with deducing ‘historical possibilities,’ as that would already be an unchangeable past.
“The River of the Dream Realm is a great river that flows through ancient and modern times, transcending space-time. Once, a Dream Traveling Monk confirmed… even mortals have a chance to directly reach the future through the River of the Dream Realm with their physical bodies, but once they go, they cannot return. As for Pillar Gods, they can see the other shore from afar, seeing the ever-changing future… so the Pillar Gods continuously confirm future possibilities through Ascension Rituals to prevent potential major catastrophes.”
Sherlock looked deeply at Eivass and said meaningfully, “Perhaps the root cause of certain disasters is just an ordinary, trivial matter; or perhaps preventing one disaster might instead trigger another, even greater one.”
“I know you want to mention Vixen sed again,” Eivass retorted. “I must say, you have a prejudice against the animal ‘fox’—this shows your lack of reading. You only know ‘Vixen sed’ and keep bringing it up. If it’s really necessary, I’ll change my codename for my next Ascension Ritual?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Sherlock denied it indifferently, casually turned his head back, and continued, “The monks of ancient Horus once discussed the philosophical question of ‘if a person can always return to the past to resolve various misfortunes, then when he returns to the future, will the sum total of misfortunes in the world always decrease?’
“The answer is obvious—it’s impossible. The world is constantly developing and changing, woven together by countless coincidences. This means we cannot focus on a single moment in the past to judge the future.
“Therefore, if there is any great being that can know infinite futures, it would likely be God alone. But even so…”
Sherlock paused slightly at this point.
Because he dared not continue, he subconsciously chickened out.
Eivass, however, unhesitatingly continued, “Even so, Pillar Gods would fall. If the Nine Pillar Gods could know all futures, then Supreme Heaven would not have been pierced by the Silver Spear and fallen to Earth.
“Rather than the possibility that ‘the former Crown Heavenly Envoy could evade the Pillar Gods’ gaze,’ it is more likely that… even the Nine Pillar Gods cannot know all futures, nor the further future changes caused by altering any future.”
Or rather, relying solely on the Nine Pillar Gods, the futures they observe are inevitably inaccurate.
This is why They need to hold Ascension Rituals and add mortal souls to increase variables.
Sherlock summarized, “Ascending to the Fourth Tier does indeed have a certain probability of encountering a dream of the ‘future.’ However, generally speaking, this is a situation encountered by Fifth Tier beings… Some Fifth Tier Extraordinary individuals go mad after ascending because they saw fragmented pieces of the future.
“Because these are usually part of a disaster, they are easily believed; and after waking from the dream, memories quickly become vague, and one’s imagination fills in many details, making this information even less reliable.
“But it is not a story that is bound to happen, merely one possibility of the future—but compared to the already determined ‘past,’ this ‘possibility of the future’ is obviously more referential. Even if it is just a possibility, this information is valuable.
“—So, what exactly did you see? Before you forget, tell us first.”
“I…”
Haina, who had now transferred to the Arbitration profession, simply opened her mouth in response to Sherlock’s inquiry.
She said in a low voice, “I dreamed… that Avalon was destroyed. Or rather, Avalon perished.”
Haina finished speaking with a mournful tone, but the room remained silent.
Eivass, Lily, and Sherlock showed no surprise on their faces. They could even be said to be expressionless.
Seeing her look up in confusion, Sherlock frowned and urged, “And then?”
“—Aren’t you surprised?!”
Haina was somewhat unable to hold back and emphasized, “I dreamed that Avalon was destroyed by the Star Antimony people, that it was utterly annihilated—not even the Royal Family remained!”
Looking at Haina now, Eivass felt that the sharp aura he sensed earlier was just an illusion.
She was still that not-so-intelligent girl after all.
