Chapter 357: Imposed on Me, All are Shackles
“d*mn it! What does the consciousness of the Main World mean!”
The Abyss Lords responsible for infiltrating the Main World had gathered at this moment.
Or rather, after that weakened witch, Mei Linde, descended upon the Abyss World, they abandoned that headstrong Abyss Lord and gathered here to start a new round of information exchange.
They had yet to make any moves after being struck down by an extraordinary witch in this world; would they lose face or something? The Abyss Demons didn’t care; how much is face worth?
Trading their lives for a bit of face, even if it was just a small demon under them, was not worth it for these demon lords.
Even among the demon lords gathered here, if anyone’s interests or the interests of most demons were involved, they would abandon their alliances as quickly as possible.
Betrayal, selling out, isolation, bullying the weak… such things were common among the Abyss Demons.
However, when it came to shared interests, they would symbolically exchange their intelligence or information like this.
Gathering together was not merely about sharing intelligence; it was about testing the motives of other Abyss Demon lords. The lords were indeed repulsive, not only to outsiders but also to each other.
Whenever an Abyss Demon wanted to make a move, the first thing to beware of was the “neighbors.”
Now, they originally just wanted to discuss how to summarize the failure in the struggle for fortune in the Main World, and coincidentally take this opportunity to see how the situation played out, especially since one of the demon lords had cost his life to cause chaos. By now, he should have been picked apart by his subordinates in his territory.
But they hadn’t seen the scene for long when they witnessed such a spectacle.
The consciousness of the Main World was actually about to eliminate other fortune seeds for the sake of a little one!
God knows how much they had paid to insert so many fortune seeds when they wanted to interfere in matters of the Main World, only to run into the script and muddy the waters?
If the World Consciousness made such arbitrary decisions, then their efforts would be in vain.
Of course, it couldn’t be said to be entirely in vain; they could always wait for the next script to start. But demons were all impatient.
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
“What else can be said? I shouldn’t have had any hopes for invading the Main World.”
“If you have no hope, then withdraw. There are plenty of lords who want to join in. Have you contributed anything among us? Do you have the right to speak here?”
“March forth! We cannot let this little one succeed!”
“That weakened witch may not have left yet! If you want to d*e, you can go find her directly! What are you thinking? What are you, the excrement of the Abyss’s lowest level?”
“It’s your brain that’s not functioning well. Don’t confuse what we want. We want this little one not to ruin the investments we made earlier. Do you think someone with her performance would accept? She just cut the Earth Vein Shackles.”
“Then why are you still making a move? Wouldn’t it be better to observe and watch? To avoid unnecessary complications?”
“Out of goodwill, our recklessness has already provoked the witch we shouldn’t have provoked. Now these new generations need an accident to shift the focus and conflict. The Dream Demons we’ve arranged have already caused quite a bit of trouble…”
“You know it’s best to destroy these Dream Demons. They’ve become a nuisance.”
“You say destroy just like that? Dream Demons are our means of exploring the Dream World. Ever since that Soul Truth Witch appeared, exploring the Dream World has become a necessary project for any powerful force in the Void. This time in the Main World, we’ve also collected a lot of information on the dream layer. Aren’t you pained that these Dream Demons aren’t raised by you?”
“Useless things. You should also think about why what you valued so much would be taken by a newcomer just entering extraordinary powers.”
“Dream Demons are not meant for combat! You agreed to that witch’s conditions and sold my Dream Demons, and now you’re blaming me?”
“Enough arguing! You… discuss the expedition.” At this moment, the demon lord sitting at the head suddenly slammed the table, and the room fell silent.
“Send a few little demons to act as cannon fodder, giving the academy a reason to take action themselves. The situation has developed to this point, and they will also have trouble wrapping things up. If not, are we going to struggle even more? If the pressure continues, you all know that little one with innate Spirit Vision might surprise you. Wouldn’t that be good for everyone?”
“Are we demons going to clean up after them?”
“What? Of course, we don’t have to do that. Those cowards in the Main World want to take us down; at most, they can only talk big, but witches really take action. Don’t you understand the position of the witches? They are among those who defaulted on our entry into the Main World, we are not enemies.”
“What! Those witches agreed? How is that possible! Those witches are always saying…”
“That’s why I say brainless people should speak less, and silly statements will only make you seem even more foolish in my eyes. Only a few among the witches in the Main World truly have a say. They are favorable towards many extraordinary races entering; if they don’t oppose, it counts as support. If the Main World keeps everything closed off, that is not what the witches wish to see.”
“…”
“And do you know how popular Abyss witches are among the witch community?”
“You! You want to betray the Abyss!”
“I never said that.”
…
At this moment, my gaze was complex as I looked at the fortune seed in front of me, momentarily unsure of what I felt—honored? Grateful? This was the acknowledgment of the World Consciousness, and even for me, it could make me its only child.
What does it mean to be the only one?
That means I could receive treatment similar to what Tan Han experienced at the very beginning.
Moreover… I am no longer a puppet that is at someone else’s mercy; I can ignore most people whose power is below the Academy Head. This is the benefit of having backing.
And there was one more thing: I wouldn’t be easily deceived like Tan Han; it’s simply that I know too much.
However… I would not choose that path.
To say it lightly, it would be a betrayal of my choices, my current investments, and efforts; to say it more heavily, it would be seeking trouble for myself.
In this moment, it felt as if the whole world had quieted down, even that Abyss Demon dared not move at that moment.
No one knew what this Abyss Demon was enduring at this moment, the fear born from being watched by the World Consciousness, a being that was not even extraordinary yet. If the World Consciousness truly wanted to target it, there was no chance for resistance.
Clearly, for me, this was a crucial decision that concerned a multitude of matters, to such an extent that the World Consciousness had “personally intervened.”
Once I made a choice, it would affect all the children of fortune here.
I slightly turned my head to look at all the people who had stopped moving. Among this sparse crowd, there were some prominent figures; they were all chosen by the fortune seed. At this moment, an invisible Thread of Fortune connected all the fortune seeds. A thought echoed in my mind: once I choose to accept, all these people’s fortune seeds would be destroyed, and the fortunes they gained would be transferred.
It felt like the emperor was about to designate a crown prince, and as long as I accepted this “imperial decree,” the other princes would all become commoners.
Perhaps the one happiest among them would be Tan Han?
If she knew the truth at this moment, she might be the one wishing for my acceptance the most.
But from my perspective, the students all spontaneously looked towards that direction, as if that was the focal point of everything in this world, that fortune seed.
No one knew what was happening at this moment; they could only passively accept everything that was happening.
But at this moment, all the children of fortune felt as if something was lost from their bodies, until a phantom, something like a seed, floated in front of them.
This would be their only chance to see what their fortune seeds actually looked like.
Up to this point, they could clearly distinguish who the true children of fortune were. Many were shocked to realize they were children of fortune, like Luxien. Of course, there were plenty of people with calm expressions, merely expressing curiosity about the existence of fortune seeds.
They gladly accepted this identity, and it was precisely because of this that their gazes turned towards that distant figure, their eyes filled with complexity.
At this moment, they were also facing a choice, but they had no right to make that choice. Rather than being a decision, it was more like watching others’ charity.
Don’t be fooled by how frightening the Dream Demons made the concepts of fortune and script sound; they were all intelligent people who understood the benefits of fortune. To gain benefits comes at a price—it was merely an exchange of interests.
Now that they realized they truly were children of fortune, far too many people did not want to give up this identity.
Yet at this moment, they were powerless because they could not interfere with this choice, so they could only look around at the situations of others.
Even at this moment, the competitive spirit engraved in some people’s bones could still be seen.
At this moment, the world granted them eyes to see fortune clearly, and they could naturally see that even among those with fortune seeds, there were differences.
Some fortune seeds were withered and lifeless, while others thrived, surrounded by a golden aura—this was the embodiment of fortune.
This journey in Ninglan New City could be considered the fairest competition for these children of fortune. It wasn’t like the last Dream Exchange Competition, where the winner took all; everyone had a chance, as long as… they had eliminated a Nightmare, they would be granted fortune.
Now, looking at those children of fortune who had yet to obtain any fortune, at this moment, they felt the gap between people.
And among this crowd, the most prominent was Tan Han, who had become the child of fortune, holding an entire fortune for herself through the college entrance ceremony; she was the only child of fortune initially.
The fortune had already transformed into a beam of light enveloping Tan Han’s whole being. At this moment, they finally understood why Tan Han, who had achieved such a perfect score at the beginning of school, had been so fiercely competed for by many academies and ultimately ended up at the Witch Academy.
If the academy had known from the start that Tan Han had such potential, they would surely have made every effort to claim her.
But at this moment, Tan Han did not feel that way.
This was her first time seeing her fortune seed so intuitively. The spiritual eyes nurtured by the fortune seed also revealed themselves at this moment.
Compared to all this, Tan Han was more concerned about that distant figure.
Rationality told her that she should persuade Xiao Han to accept that fortune seed so she could break free from her current prison. But her emotions wouldn’t allow her to say something like letting someone else bear the brunt of her fate.
At this moment, when they saw me glancing over, many people eagerly spoke out, advising against acceptance.
But only I understood that my glance towards them was not about being indecisive or seeking help.
I was simply admiring their expressions at this moment; of course, mainly I wanted to see Tan Han and the expressions of the few others I was concerned about—probably… quite intriguing, right?
But after I turned my head, I found that those urging me not to accept had the most fascinating expressions.
I stepped forward, looking at that brand new fortune seed, floating right above the Earth Vein Shackles where the Dream World and Reality intersected.
However, as I approached, I noticed that this brand new fortune seed actually had fine cracks. Those cracks were caused by withstanding the impact of the Dream World itself, after all, a fortune seed was merely a container for fortune and was slowly mending itself at an imperceptible speed.
Previously, I asked those Dream Demons if the fortune seed could be destroyed, but unfortunately, I hadn’t obtained an answer.
And now, I had used my methods to prove that… the concept of a fortune seed could indeed be destroyed!
Just like the Earth Vein Shackles.
Perhaps the World Consciousness truly saw me as a high-level worker, thinking that by granting me the identity of a child of fortune, I should be grateful?
But the reason a person is a person is that a person always has their reasons for persistence.
Not everyone is merely profit-seeking.
At this moment, I understood why those from beyond the world would describe restricting a person’s freedom as “Earth Vein Shackles,” such a negative term.
Because people always yearn for freedom; to say it more broadly, not just humans, but all life always seeks freedom.
What I need is for freedom; to impose upon me, all are shackles.
I cannot produce any resonance or belief in a world where I possess no sense of belonging, and that is one of the reasons for my decisiveness.
I am no longer a child who would happily accept the status quo for a piece of candy.
“I choose not to accept, hahahaha…”
At this moment, I firmly declared my choice, and I intended not only to voice my thoughts but also to prove my determination through action!
“World Consciousness… I want to become the person you actively wish to retain but cannot obtain!” I murmured the words “World Consciousness,” then loudly announced to everyone that life in the world requires decisions for the sake of some persistence, just like this moment!
Consider it my dark humor.
When I finished shouting everything, I looked towards Tan Han, my lips curling into an ambiguous smile.
“Tan Han, didn’t you once hope to obtain the answers you wanted from me? Back then, I didn’t know how to respond to you, but now… this is the answer I’m giving…”
At this moment, the Dream Rewriting Spell was fully activated, rune rituals swirling around me. This time, it would be a terrifying strike, even more than the previous one aimed at shattering the Earth Vein Shackles.
Betting my dignity, promises, and confidence!
“Watch closely, Tan Han… this strike will be spectacular!”
