Simon arrived at the top floor of the Soul Sanctum.
Walking forward, there was a large plaza with a glass floor, now shattered, revealing what lay beneath. Simon leaned over and saw mountains of bones piled up, practically a thick layer of corpses covering the ground.
Seeing this gruesome scene, a storm of hidden memories erupted in his mind.
The memories of the butchers from the Soul Sanctum, whom Simon had devoured, flashed back. Simon saw the insects' shrill cries, their pure white souls twisting as they were extracted, and one by one, their eggs losing their luster. In the world of memories, all the sins of yesterday reappeared, like hell itself.
The intense emotional fluctuations made Simon incredibly agitated.
He took several deep breaths before finally recovering.
In the Dream World, these memories could be borne by sub-consciousnesses, but in the real world, these memories hidden in the subconscious were very difficult to control.
However, memories are ultimately just memories. Simon's personality was complete and sound, so these memories had limited impact on his actions.
Teleporting onto the mountain of corpses, Simon looked around and found an empty spot. There, a single, shriveled corpse lay, but its attire was luxurious. The deceased's expression in life must have been one of characteristic arrogance, but now it looked utterly dispirited.
This was the Soul Master's corpse.
Simon sat down, crossing his short legs, and began to attempt entry into the Soul World.
With his powerful strength, he could now effortlessly perceive the Soul World. In his vision, it was an illusory white light spot. Then, imagining himself flying into it, his vision would advance, the light spot would magnify, and engulf Simon's consciousness.
This was his second time entering the Soul World, but the feeling was distinctly different. This time, he could sense the connection between the Soul World and the Dream World more clearly.
Since the souls of the deceased are the fragmented remnants of their dreams, it could be said that dreams are souls, and the Soul World is the superficial layer of the Dream World.
Simon had also seen this theory in the Soul Sanctum's literature. It seemed that every researcher who delved deeply into the Soul World could discover its connection to the mysterious Dream World.
So, where did the Dream World originate from? It was unknown.
Discarding distracting thoughts, Simon observed this world from the perspective of a soul.
There were countless corpses here, but no souls, not even half a one. Not even the Soul Master's soul.
Simon could guess the reason. The piled-up corpses had no souls because they had died from having their Soul Energy drained. As for why the Soul Master, that brutal butcher, had no soul, he was probably killed by the Little Knight with the Dream Nail.
Under the swing of the Dream Nail, fragile lingering dreams would be devoured, and it could allow the user to enter the worlds of those powerful lingering dreams. By crushing the deceased's obsessions, one could devour and absorb them.
The Dream Nail continuously absorbed Dream Essence, then awakened, becoming a great divine artifact capable of breaking all seals.
Simon was filled with emotion. He actually really wanted to encounter the Soul Master's lingering dream. Devouring his memories would bring him many benefits. At the very least, his application of Soul Energy could reach a higher level. Furthermore, battling such a powerful spellcaster was a rare experience that would undoubtedly add glory to his warrior's journey.
One could say he came at a truly inconvenient time, missing the Little Knight. Fortunately, the knowledge of the Soul Sanctum was still there, and this was already a great harvest.
For the next period, Simon settled down in the Soul Sanctum. Whenever hunger became unbearable, he would stuff a few 'Errors' and 'Follies' into his mouth. To be honest, they had no taste and weren't filling, but they contained plenty of Soul Energy, and there were many of them.
Eating these strange things so often, Simon gradually began to find philosophical meaning in them. Because eating 'Errors' and 'Follies' every day meant steadily moving forward on the path of struggle, correcting mistakes, eliminating foolishness, and ultimately, there would be rewards.
…
Soul Energy is actually a very interesting form of energy because its source is relatively idealistic, meaning it comes from consciousness. Its function is also quite interesting, being an idealistic power based on materialism.
Specifically, Soul Energy allows the user's consciousness to exert a direct influence on matter, rather than indirectly by influencing the user's actions to change matter. This can be likened to telekinesis, using thought to leverage reality.
For example, if Simon wanted to lift a Nail, he could use his consciousness to control his arm to achieve that goal, but he couldn't make the Nail fly up by merely imagining it. However, after outputting Soul Energy, his consciousness would become like a physical entity, capable of grasping the Nail and lifting it.
But Soul Energy has its limitations. This is not a truly idealistic power; it cannot erase or modify the information of real matter with consciousness. Soul Energy can crush a stone, sculpt it into a small flower, but it cannot turn the stone into a living stone person, nor can it make the stone bloom on its own, nor can it make the stone disappear from the timeline.
Simon's use of Soul Energy for teleportation, while seemingly very subjective, is actually an objective phenomenon. Soul Energy transforms the user's body into a special soul-state, moving within the soul coordinate system at a very high speed, and that's all there is to it.
As Simon's understanding of Soul Energy deepened, his inspiration flowed endlessly.
Through his tireless efforts, he mastered various profound techniques, such as levitation, the classic self-tracking energy ball, a Soul Shield, sword qi materialization, and using Soul Energy consumption to replace eating, thus never feeling hungry, and so on. The current Simon was virtually transcendent, his strength advancing by leaps and bounds.
After the knowledge reserves of the Soul Sanctum were depleted, Simon officially emerged from seclusion and continued his journey.
He could temporarily leave the City of Tears. Although there were still many mysteries here, Simon's goal was eagerly beckoning him.
The Seer had once told him that to wield the Void, one must possess a Vessel's mask, and such a great product as the Vessel's mask was actually the correct way for insects to utilize Soul Energy.
There were still many mysteries worth exploring in this world, and Simon's steps would not cease.
The next stop was the Queen's Gardens, where the White Lady resided.
In the game, meeting the White Lady was actually quite troublesome, not only because the Queen's Gardens had treacherous terrain and exceptionally difficult paths, but the main problem was that the passage to the Queen's location had a Shade Gate. Without Shade Cloak, one couldn't enter, and Shade Cloak had to be obtained from the Abyss.
Simon certainly didn't have Shade Cloak, so he needed multiple plans.
Plan one: Attempt to forcefully breach the Shade Gate.
Plan two: Try digging a tunnel to bypass the Shade Gate.
Plan three: Find the Little Knight and ask him for help in obtaining a root from the White Lady.
Step by step, Simon was determined to get the mask.
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