The mysterious person I encountered in the misty dreamscape was now staring at me, subtly exuding an ominous atmosphere. I had rejected his trade request, and perhaps he was now considering whether to resort to violence and forcibly take the black jade from my hands.

It was quite a new experience; under his gaze, I truly felt as though my life was overshadowed by an impending crisis.

However, the black jade wasn't on me at the moment. This was a dream, so the item should be with my real-world body. And unless I'm mistaken, he too should be unable to use any supernatural powers in this misty space, just like me.

He was likely a real person, possibly very powerful, but here, like me, he was no different from an ordinary human.

The sense of mysterious danger I felt now wasn't because he truly had the ability to wield mystical powers, but because his "essence was enormous." Even though he had become like a mortal in this place, it didn't mean he had truly become one. He still exuded a sense of pressure.

"Are you going to make a move here?" I asked.

After our conversation, I actually had quite a favorable impression of this mysterious man.

It wasn't just because he had shared important information with me, but also because of his seemingly contradictory actions. He appeared to value the black jade I had and wanted to gather it for himself. In this situation, the best approach would have been for him to prevent me from realizing the black jade's importance or even to make me believe it was a dangerous object that needed to be disposed of quickly. Instead, he chose the opposite path.

This surely wasn’t because he was foolish. When I hesitated about whether I should admit I didn’t know what the divine seal was, he had already seen through my act. He possessed the wisdom and insight to read other people's thoughts.

He seemed worldly wise but without any hint of mercenary greed, carrying an aura of integrity and even an otherworldly, transcendent quality.

"…Incredible." The pressure in his gaze dissipated, and he returned to a calm demeanor. "You're really powerful. For someone as powerful as you, I have no impression of you at all. Is this what they mean by ‘there’s always someone stronger’?"

He shook his head and then looked into the depths of the mist. "I want to continue exploring this place. Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure," I replied, with no objections.

We then moved deeper into the misty dreamscape together.

I no longer asked him who he was. Although I was curious, the experience of exploring a mysterious place with an unknown person was exciting and refreshing. He, too, seemed to understand this unspoken understanding, and didn’t inquire further about my identity. A strange tacit agreement was formed between us.

Perhaps it was because I had such bad luck earlier, wandering through the mist for so long without any changes. This time, with the company of someone else, things quickly started to change.

After walking for only a few minutes, shadowy figures appeared ahead. As we approached, I realized I had seen these things before.

There were eight massive rock chairs.

Closer to us were seven identical rock chairs arranged in a row, while the remaining one, much larger, stood in the distance, positioned in opposition to the others.

Three people had already arrived here before us.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say "two people," as one of them clearly wasn't human. This figure, at least four meters tall, sat motionless on the especially large rock chair, resembling a colossal statue.

The two human figures were seated on the leftmost chairs. Their heights were more normal. Like us, they too appeared in shadowy forms. The person on the far left was tall and thin, while the one beside him looked more like a child.

I recognized this scene.

When I first encountered the black jade, my mind was drawn into this misty dreamscape. At that time, I had also seen these rock chairs and the three shadowy figures sitting in them. However, my mental state was clearly not normal back then, and I couldn’t communicate with them.

Perhaps hearing our footsteps, the two normal-sized figures immediately turned their gaze toward us.

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"Who’s there?" the tall, thin figure asked sharply.

The childlike figure cautiously asked, "Are you a new companion?"

From the voice, the former was male.

As for the latter... although the voice clearly belonged to a child, the speaker was too young to have gone through puberty. It was hard to determine the gender just from the voice. If I had to guess, it sounded like a little girl, and I could vaguely tell that she had long hair.

I glanced at the mysterious person beside me. I had expected him to speak first, but after arriving here, he was staring at the giant figure, looking completely stunned.

I also studied the giant. Even after we arrived, it remained motionless, making it hard not to suspect that it was just a lifeless statue. But just like us, this "statue" appeared in shadowy form, as if it could move and speak like us at any moment.

To be honest, I still lacked a sense of reality in this misty dreamscape. Even though it was related to something strange, it was still a dream.

The two figures continued to stare at us. I decided to speak to them first.

"I was pulled into this place after obtaining the so-called 'Divine Seal fragment.' As for this person, I'm not familiar with him; we just happened to meet on the way. You can ask him later." I said. "Did you two also come here after coming into contact with the Divine Seal fragment?"

"Divine Seal fragment? As expected..." The tall, thin figure seemed to frown. "Yes, we are also contactors of the Divine Seal fragment. I am 'Number One,' and she is 'Number Two."

As he spoke, he pointed to the childlike figure beside him, who softly said, "Hello, big brother, I'm Number Two."

"There’s no need for us to exchange names here. We’ll just use numerical codes to refer to each other," Number One said to me in a blunt, straightforward tone. "You are Number Three, and he is Number Four."

Number Four is the mysterious person beside me.

"Alright, I’m Number Three. Then..." I looked at the silent giant, "What number is he?"

"He doesn’t have a numerical code. If you really want to call him something, you can refer to him as Zero," Number One snorted coldly. "Are you curious about who he is?"

"Of course. Could you enlighten me?" I asked.

Despite his unfriendly tone, Number One answered without hesitation: "There’s nothing to hide. Actually, neither Number Two nor I know what he is, but one thing is very clear: it’s this guy who pulled us into this strange foggy dream."

"It's him..." I observed the giant, now referred to as "Zero."

At that moment, the mysterious person—Number Four—made a move.

He suddenly strode forward, walking straight up to the giant. With a voice filled with suppressed fury, he demanded, "Is it you? Are you the one who brought the world to its current near-destruction state?! Answer me!!"

Previously, I had seen Number Four as a figure with considerable composure, but now, he was confronting the giant in a manner like an erupting volcano.

The giant, however, remained as still as a mountain.

Number One coldly interrupted, "There’s no need to talk to Zero. He’s in a dormant state right now. If you have any questions, you can wait for him to wake up and ask then."

Number Four sharply turned to Number One, "Have you spoken to the Master of the Divine Seal?"

"Master of the Divine Seal... Hmph, so this guy is indeed the original master of the Divine Seal. No wonder he could use the power of the Divine Seal fragments to pull us into this place..." Number One seemed to be deep in thought, then answered Number Four’s question, "Yes, when Number Two and I first entered this place, he was still awake. But after giving us his instructions, he fell into a deep sleep.

"According to him, once this place is full, he will wake up again and reveal the reason he summoned us here."

I glanced at the remaining empty seats—there were five in total.

If two of the empty seats belong to me and Number Four, then three more people are needed.

Then I asked the question that concerned me the most: "If the others don’t arrive, will we be stuck here forever?"

"Not really," Number One replied, "It’s just that our consciousnesses are now bound to the Divine Seal fragments, so we’ll occasionally be drawn back here. Probably, after a little while, we’ll be able to wake up from this dream."

That’s a relief. Although I’m very curious about this place, I still need to return to the real world to find Ma Zao.

As for the Master of the Divine Seal they mentioned... If I understood correctly, the giant is the owner of the Divine Seal, the one who can fulfill any wish? Why did he summon us here?

What does Number Four mean by "the world being brought to the brink of destruction"? From his tone, it seems like the giant made a wish using the Divine Seal that led to this? Could it be related to the "apocalypse" Ma Zao mentioned?

This topic is getting too big for me to grasp. I can’t even fully believe in the concept of a "wish-granting artifact."

I turned to ask Number Four about my doubts, but he seemed to be lost in thought, staring angrily in the direction of the giant.

"It’s probably related to the apocalyptic prophecy passed down in Mount Luo," Number One said nonchalantly. "I’ve heard there’s an unknown prophet in Mount Luo who believes the apocalypse will come in the near future. The increasing frequency of strange events is considered a sign that the apocalypse is approaching."

"Mount Luo... apocalypse..." I muttered these two words.

The mention of "Mount Luo" by the person in this foggy dream made me feel that, like me, he was a person from the real world.

However, from his tone, it seemed he wasn’t a part of Mount Luo.

And his mention of the "apocalypse" brought a different feeling to my mind.

Originally, both the "apocalypse" and the "Divine Seal" were just terms thrown out by Ma Zao in my mind.

But now, with these people knowing about the existence of the Divine Seal and the so-called "apocalyptic prophecy," the concept of the apocalypse suddenly felt like something that truly had weight in reality.

"What's the matter, you believe in the apocalypse too? I heard that even in Mount Luo, only a few people actually believe in it," Number One continued in a dismissive tone, seeming to not believe in the apocalypse. "If that’s the case, you probably have a lot in common with Number Two."

"Number Two?" I looked at the quiet child.

"Yeah, this little girl, she claims to live in a future after the apocalypse has already occurred," Number One said.