Chapter 1010: Dream Revelation, Firming the Self

After Paliyasi left, Xia Duo walked out of the guest room and stood at the end of a thick tree branch that extended from the balcony of his room, quietly gazing into the distance.

The Elven Kingdom at dusk did not settle down; on the contrary, the nightlife had only just begun.

Vaguely, Xia Duo heard a female voice singing. Although he could not hear the specific lyrics, the winding and melodious tone was full of spirituality, giving him plenty of room for imagination.

Xia Duo listened carefully, his mood exceptionally clear. It seemed that at this moment, he had completely forgotten about tomorrow's trial ceremony and was completely immersed in this moving singing.

But beautiful things are always fleeting. When the number of frolicking Elves outside gradually increased and the noise began to rise, the singing gradually faded away, and he shook his head with a sense of regret before returning to his room.

That night, Xia Duo had a dream like an ordinary human. He dreamed that he had arrived at the foot of an ancient oak tree, where he saw three half-person-high, floating light orbs arranged in a wing-like formation.

Gold was in the center, with silver and red guarding the two sides.

Immediately after, Xia Duo reached his hand into the golden light orb, and in just an instant, he felt a tangible object press against his palm.

Subconsciously, he pulled it out, and then the golden light orb retracted, transforming into a stone sword shining with golden light that appeared in his hand.

The dream ended abruptly there. Xia Duo woke up immediately, his eyes full of disbelief: "The Divine Sword Trial?"

In fact, what surprised him was not just the Divine Sword Trial, but the dream itself. One must know that after a Spellcaster perceives their Soul, it is very difficult to dream.

And the Elf body is even more special; it does not require sleep like humans do, only a short period of meditation is needed to restore energy, and it is indeed possible to dream during meditation.

But most Spellcasters possess a clear sense of self during meditation, which they use to study Magic, crafts, or simply think of nothing at all.

Xia Duo had already learned this technique during his previous incarnations as an Elf, and he had used it many times in the few days since he incarnated as "Laier Akalama" this time.

With these two factors combined, the probability of him dreaming normally was almost reduced to zero, let alone such a special dream!

Xia Duo was very familiar with the scene in the dream, or rather, "Laier" was familiar with it. In the days when he first arrived at the Elven Kingdom, he had visited it; that ancient oak tree was called the "Elder Oak," and beneath the tree was the place where the Elf Court Elders held formal meetings.

Occasionally, Elves from other Elven Kingdoms would also come here to borrow the venue at the foot of the Elder Oak to conduct some more solemn ceremonies.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Divine Sword Trial ceremony would be held there.

But now, Xia Duo had strangely had a dream, and he had dreamed of the venue for the future Divine Sword Trial, and even the scene itself—how incredible this was!

"Could it be that the Divine Sword has a spirit and is choosing its master on its own? Or is it some high-level Mage playing a prank out of boredom?"

Various possibilities appeared in Xia Duo's mind, but these possibilities could not bypass the influence of an external force, yet Xia Duo was very certain that he had not received any external influence.

This was very contradictory; either the external force was so brilliant that he could not see a single flaw, or it was a coincidence to the extreme that he had a dream, and one that suspectedly depicted a future scene.

But no matter what, it seemed to indicate that he was fated with the Sword of Ruling!

At this moment, even though Xia Duo had long since adjusted his emotions before the trial, he could not help but feel his heart race. Could it be that he really had the possibility of becoming the Crown King of Cormanthor in the prophecy?

At the same time, a thought also appeared in his mind almost uncontrollably, and that was—

If he really obtained the Sword of Ruling, should he stay in this Projection Plane?

This thought was so strong that even though Xia Duo still had many ties in the Main Plane, he still considered it seriously; one could see how great the temptation was!

If he could become the Crown King of Cormanthor, it was almost certain that he could rule Cormanthor for at least a thousand years, and if he returned to the Main Plane, he was not sure if he could live for another thousand years.

Although the Projection Plane was seen as virtual and unreal from the perspective of the Main Plane, within the Projection Plane itself, there was no distinction between true and false.

However, after thinking about it seriously, Xia Duo gave up this idea. If it had been when he first transmigrated, he might have made such a choice.

But now, Niya was waiting for him in the Main Plane, and the people of Daxia Territory were waiting for him; how could he bear to abandon them!

Furthermore, whether he could pass the trial was still an unknown. Even if he passed and truly became the Crown King of Cormanthor, there was no guarantee that the essence of this Projection Plane in the Astral Plane could support a thousand years.

Indeed, the Crown King of Cormanthor could rule for at least a thousand years; this could be called the plot, but if the Projection Plane itself ceased to exist, then this plot would be meaningless.

In addition, there was another point, perhaps the most important one: Xia Duo already possessed a relatively stable and perfecting Personality. He did not want to live his whole life wearing the identity, psychology, and Soul of "Laier."

Incarnating as an Elf or some other creature for a short time was indeed a good experience.

But if he were to constantly distort his self to adapt, or eventually automatically accept that outer layer of "skin," that was not something he could accept.

After pondering for a moment, Xia Duo once again firmed his sense of self. If this was also part of the Divine Sword Trial, then he would rather fail because of such a choice.

Soon, the time arrived at early morning.

The chirping of birds outside the window announcing the dawn startled Xia Duo from his state of deep meditation. After that strange dream last night, he had tried to meditate again, but no more dreams appeared.

So, he spent half the night in a meditative state calculating the derivation process for the Ascending Ring.

He had made full preparations for the Divine Sword Trial, and by now, gain or loss was no longer something he needed to consider. Instead, the original plan for this trip to the Projection Plane was still something he could not relax on if there was an opportunity.

While organizing the gains from last night in his mind, Xia Duo cast a spell to clean himself and changed into a gorgeous formal suit.

Only then did he go out under the urging of Paliyasi.

"Brother Laier—"

As they got closer and closer to the "Elder Oak," Sailin, who had been quiet the whole way, finally could not bear the anxiety in her heart and called out to Xia Duo in a low voice.

But the shadow of being grounded yesterday still remained, and she did not dare to incite her brother to flee the Elven Kingdom again, only gazing at Xia Duo with her wet, large eyes.

Xia Duo sighed in his heart. In the memories of "Laier," of the Akalama generation, only Laier and Sailin were close in age and had the closest relationship; even with his own older brothers, there was a gap of hundreds of years.

At this moment, when her closest brother was about to do something very dangerous, how could Sailin remain indifferent!