Mage Manual

Distant Realm, the shattered dream kingdom, 34th level.

"Stay close to me."

As soon as Ash spoke, Sonia, Diya, and even Weiser pressed tightly against him. At this time, no monsters had spawned in the underground hall, only several streaks of faint purple smoke emerged from various places, slowly drifting towards them.

However, it was this purple smoke that stubbornly blocked Ash and his companions for three days!

Three days ago, Ash and their team had stormed through to the 34th level with unstoppable momentum. This was not only because of their seamless teamwork but also because the "Aurora's Dream Treasury" surprisingly acknowledged the passing of the Ghost Inheritance!

As long as they could pass 5 levels of the Ghost Inheritance, they would steadily draw out an auxiliary collection piece!

This was way simpler than exploring the Dream Bubble Shadow, as the bubbles varied in difficulty. Passing 5 bubbles generally took 100 minutes; Ash and his team typically explored 13 bubbles in one night, thus only obtaining two more collections.

But the first 5 levels of the Ghost Inheritance were generally low in difficulty. As Ash and his team became familiar with the Soul Faction and used the Initial Soul Technique Spirit more deftly, they breezed through the first 20 levels, at least boosting four more collection draws!

Moreover, the collections ignored the restraints of the inheritance and could help them clear levels more effectively! Occasionally, drawing potent colorful collections like "Night Comet" (which shoots out a comet stream with a hit), they could pass early levels with zero consumption.

Yet, even with collections backing them, some levels couldn't be simply passed through brute force, such as the 34th level's inheritance trial, "Soul Enchantment"!

When they first encountered this move, they had no ability to resist at all, plunging into a prolonged dream where their souls were continuously worn down. If not for Weiser's Soul Faction already being at the Silver Realm and her awakening just before death by using the 'Ghost Key' to escape the inheritance, all would have perished there!

Even a Holy Sanctuary Mage stands no chance in the Angel Inheritance, perishing without knowing what hit them!

Ash and his team were so terrified, and more troubling, even after escaping, they didn't know how to pass this trial. Just when they were stuck, Weiser found a breakthrough in the "Ghost Manual".

Mentioned earlier, the "Ghost Manual" contains numerous records, though most are irrelevant to modern mages, and generally, people just glance at them and forget. Many chapters documented battleground records from when the Ghost Prophet was still a mage.

From these battle chapters, Weiser discovered that the Ghost Prophet had once used a soul miracle named "Soul Enchantment". The description and effect were very similar to the trial of the 34th level, revealing how close they had come to dying from it.

However, the "Ghost Manual" recorded "Soul Enchantment" as only being a powerful sanctuary miracle that could induce deep sleep in its target, yet definitely without the effect of wearing down souls. Thus, the 34th level's Soul Enchantment was probably an enhanced version of the Ghost Prophet's miracle after ascending to Legendary Mage, possibly further elevated to a wonder after becoming a Demigod Angel!

"Soul Enchantment" naturally couldn't be resisted by brute force, and the means to break it was also in the "Ghost Manual"—the Ghost Prophet wrote that this miracle could even erode the Holy Domain, and most mages were utterly defenseless against it, incapable of even putting up a defense, as it invades through all aspects of sight, hearing, smell, and touch. Once the mage noticed the faint purple smoke, their soul would already be ensnared.

But a mage with a profound and solid soul could totally remain unaffected. No matter how the Soul Enchantment entangled them, their soul would remain unbudged!

The method to strengthen the soul lay within the Ghost Inheritance!

The Ghost Inheritance offered two standard rewards, one being the "Soul Experience," the other being "Temporary Technique Spirit".

Indeed, besides their own generated 'Initial Soul' Technique Spirit, most Technique Spirits obtained during the inheritance couldn't be taken out, whether because the Ghost Prophet was a skinflint in rewards or unwilling to see incompetents gain freebies from the inheritance.

The reward of Temporary Technique Spirits included many that could directly affect the mage's soul, such as the 'War Soul' that grew stronger with each battle, the 'Sword Soul' that increased blade damage, the 'Evil Soul' that enhanced with malice, and the 'Dark Soul' that grew stronger as light diminished.

Among them was a 'Soul Refining' Technique Spirit that could purge soul impurities, compress the soul's quality, making the soul more substantial and dense! However, merely this wasn't enough, as it wasn't possible to snag four Soul Refining Technique Spirits, so after three days of trial testing, Ash also chose the 'Soul Coat' and 'Soul Sleep' Technique Spirits.

The former was quite practical, forming a layer of armor with defensive capabilities over the soul, with defense strength proportional to soul quality, precisely synergizing with the Soul Refining Technique Spirit. The latter was a restorative Technique Spirit, accelerating soul damage recovery through sleep.

Facing the dreamlike pale purple smoke of Soul Enchantment, Ash had already used Soul Refining, experiencing intense pain akin to chiseling and cutting, leaving his frame much leaner, yet both his face and skin radiated with a glowing elasticity, as if his true form had arrived in the void realm!

Then, the combination of Soul Coat and Soul Sleep!

Miracle: Greatcoat Slumber!

A light blue greatcoat appeared on Ash, enveloping Sonia, Diya, and Weiser within. Instantly, Sonia, Diya, and Weiser felt drowsy, quickly leaning against Ash and falling asleep.

At that moment, the pale purple smoke of Soul Enchantment circulated them several times, having no effect on Ash, unable to wear down the souls of the three.

This was the solution Weiser devised: The essence of Soul Enchantment was to draw out and gradually erode the target's soul. Aside from resisting the pull through a solid and settled soul, letting the soul first be drawn by another miracle could likewise resist Soul Enchantment!

This Miracle, Greatcoat Slumber, relied on the soul foundation Ash fortified through Soul Refining, forcibly drawing in Weiser and the others' souls. Simply put, Ash swallowed Weiser and the others first, as long as Soul Enchantment couldn't pry open Ash's mouth, it couldn't affect Weiser and the others.

Five minutes later, while holding them, Ash began to feel a bit fatigued, and the pale purple smoke gradually dissipated, revealing three reward light orbs in the hall.

Ash immediately dispelled the Greatcoat Slumber miracle, and Weiser was the first to awaken. She stepped back two steps, exhaling lightly: "Finally passed the level."

"I didn't expect to succeed on the first try," Ash was also filled with joy.

Actually, Ash had already gripped the 'Ghost Key', prepared to exit the void realm immediately if Greatcoat Slumber failed. After all, Soul Enchantment was a legendary secret technique or even a wonder, and their Greatcoat Slumber was a nascent miracle, failing to break through was normal.

Yet, despite seemingly breaking the challenge with ease, it required obtaining the Soul Refining, Soul Coat, and Soul Sleep Technique Spirits from rewards. Moreover, the Ghost Inheritance couldn't utilize magic power, forcing Ash to activate these two Technique Spirits into a miracle through soul drive.

This was no simple laughing matter, as this miracle wasn't just a simple overlay of two Technique Spirits, but it made Soul Sleep's effect permeate Soul Coat, subsequently manifesting through Soul Coat the power of Soul Sleep. If Ash's Soul Faction hadn't reached the Silver Realm, he couldn't have invoked this miracle.

This was also why they delayed three days before attempting the 34th level. During those days, they farmed soul experience in previous levels, and when the Sword Maiden's soul faction ascended to silver, Ash naturally ascended to silver through experience sharing. Thus, even in the event of unexpected encounters later, they at least possessed some self-defense capability.

As for why Ash performed Greatcoat Slumber, it's because he was the only unoccupied team member.

The Sword Maiden was on the 'Sword Soul' route, continuously enhancing melee abilities, and was usually the first to charge in and attack in most combat tests;

Weiser was on the 'Soul Master' route, enlarging soul computation capabilities to control multiple enemies, often excelling when enemy numbers exceeded double digits;

The Witch followed the 'Servant Soul', 'Martial Soul', 'War Soul' routes, and although Technique Spirits couldn't be used within the inheritance, her Fist Claw Faction was legitimately Gold level, allowing her to assist and supplement during the Sword Maiden's frontal assault.

This was also why they persistently undertook these challenges with a four-member team—regardless of the rewards from the levels, they always suited at least one operator's path, while a solo mage encountering unfit rewards would have to pick randomly.

This situation was quite awkward for Ash; although he mastered many magic faction crafts through experience sharing, his actual combat heavily relied on ranged swordsmanship. If he went down the Sword Soul route, he would not only vie with the Sword Maiden for resources but also have excessive output.

Until discovering the Soul Refining and Soul Coat combination, Ash defined his route within the Ghost Inheritance—Guardian.

Simply put, when enemies sought to concentrate fire, he was to rush in and take the blows.