"What do you require?" Lottie asked first.
Kanzaki Rei didnât bother with politeness. He answered directly:
"If I become your disciple, will I need to devote complete faith to you?"
Lottie shook her head.
"I wouldnât restrict your freedom of belief."
"I imagine... someone like you wouldnât be willing to subordinate yourself to a god so easily."
Kanzaki Rei had only entered the Deep Lands by chance. He had no prior connection to her.
Lottie understood wellâ
A being like him would never casually place faith in a god he had just met.
Turning him into a devout follower was essentially impossible.
Unless...
She forced control over him.
But if she did thatâ
Kanzaki Rei would likely lose his capacity for growth.
In this world, growth required independent thought.
Forcing control over someone meant stripping that away.
And judging by how composed he wasâ
He might very well possess a way to break free from her control.
If that happened...
He could become her enemy instead.
Kanzaki Rei was currently the only person capable of leaving the Deep Lands.
It wasnât that no one had ever left beforeâ
But anyone who had...
...was likely already dead.
If she turned against him, she would lose her only means of influencing the real world.
Moreoverâ
Based on the abilities Kanzaki Rei had displayed...
He was the most extraordinary talent she had ever seen.
If he didnât fall along the way, there was a high probability he would reach Level 9â
Or even ascend into godhood.
Lottie had no desire to gain such an enemy in the future.
Weighing everythingâ
She completely abandoned the idea of controlling him.
"Alright, then Iâll state my conditions directly."
"I want to know how to remove spiritual contamination. And if possible... Iâd also like a few divine artifacts."
Lottie paused briefly before replying:
"You want to remove spiritual contamination... for someone you intend to take with you?"
Kanzaki Rei nodded.
"Yes. I want to take an archer named Luluwi."
Lottieâs thoughts shifted, connecting to a point within the Deep Lands.
At this moment, within her own fantasyâ
Luluwi was dominating everything, nearly the supreme archer overlord of the entire Secret Sea.
Kanzaki Rei continued:
"Sheâs already been contaminated in the real world. Does that mean anyone who hasnât left the Deep Lands is automatically contaminated?"
Lottie shook her head slightly.
"Itâs... related to the Deep Lands."
"But not entirely caused by it."
"Perhaps there was something wrong with the way she entered."
"The Deep Lands has long been regarded by the real world as a graveyard of consciousness."
"There are entities that deliberately lure othersâ consciousness here... in order to seize control of their mindscape."
"Your friend may have been targeted by another force."
"You saw something corresponding to this in your visions here, didnât you?"
Kanzaki Rei replied:
"You mean... Black Secrets?"
Ever since his first simulated entry into the Deep Landsâ
Everything he had encountered afterward existed within its illusions.
To him, those clues could easily be dismissed as nothing more than a dream.
"Mm."
"Your illusions are actually projections of reality."
"The less aware you are of them, the more real they become."
"Some of the things you imagined... may even exist in reality."
"If you want a way to remove contaminationâ"
"I do have one."
A faint sphere of light slowly formed in Lottieâs hand.
"You can now draw upon the power of the Deep Lands."
"Imagination becomes reality."
"If you can make your friend firmly believe that she is not contaminatedâ"
"And believe that her contamination has already been removed..."
"Then what she believes..."
"...can gradually become reality."
"And her contamination will fade because of it."
"Likewiseânow that youâve passed the trials of the Deep Lands and become its next inheritorâ"
"Even while existing in the real world, you will still be influenced by it."
"The real world itself..."
"...may change according to your mind."
"From this point on, all things need not be sought externally."
Kanzaki Rei narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Youâre saying... my imagination can become reality in the real world?"
Lottie nodded faintly.
"Yes... though the influence will be limited."
"It will scale with your strength, and with how firmly you believe in it."
"The stronger your conviction, the more likely it is to manifest."
"However..."
"Once you are aware of this ability..."
"It becomes far more difficult to utilize."
"As for divine artifactsâ"
"Iâm sorry. While I do possess them, I cannot provide them to you."
"You cannot take anything from the Deep Lands into the real world."
"The only things you can bring back are people who originally came from outside."
"Anything native to the Deep Lands cannot exist in reality."
"I am now fully merged with the Deep Lands."
"I am part of it."
"Everything I possess is also part of it."
...What?
Canât take them out?
Then what exactly can you do?
Yelia got a divine artifact directly from Zhuya all by herselfâand she was weak.
Who knows how many inheritors Zhuya has scattered across the world?
People can just pick up divine artifacts off the roadside.
And here I amâ
Stronger, your only discipleâ
And youâre telling me I donât get even one?
Kanzaki Reiâs expression remained perfectly calmâ
Like a blank poker face.
But Lottie could clearly sense the dissatisfaction radiating from him.
"Ahem!"
She suddenly coughed.
"Whileâwhile I donât have divine artifacts to give you!"
"I still have other things I can offer!"
"Artifacts are just external tools! External strength can never compare to oneâs own!"
"I can teach you mind readingâhow to see what others are thinking."
"I can also teach you how to construct complete mental defenses."
"Iâve noticed your mental protection is quite weakâyou could benefit greatly from my techniques."
"And..."
"I also have knowledge of mental-type magic."
"I can even show you how to construct pathways into the Deep Lands."
"Youâll be able to freely travel here in the future."
"Any questions you haveâI can answer them."
...
Those terms...
Werenât bad.
If thatâs the caseâ
Ansu might as well get lost.
A god of mind and illusion personally teaching himâ
That would fill a major gap in his abilities.
His biggest realization in the Deep Lands was just how weak his mental defenses were.
He had almost no way to resist mental attacks.
"And..."
Lottie added quickly:
"If I successfully ascend to the position of the Lunar Sovereignâ"
"I should be able to project part of my power into the real world."
"At that point..."
"I may be able to lend you divine artifacts."
...
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