Chapter Seven: The Realm of the Dying

"Dying Breath" is a truly miraculous authority, possessing a level of the "inconceivable" on par with Dream Walking.

Upon acquiring this power, the corresponding knowledge surfaced in Chen Zi'ang's mind:

It is said that spirituality is like a faint spark, while life is like burning firewood. When the firewood is consumed, the spark may persist for a short time before being extinguished within the thermodynamic environment that spontaneously tends toward chaos...

Setting aside the vast, obscure, and sanity-warping knowledge, the key point here is that if a person has just died, their spirituality (or, in human terms, their soul) may temporarily linger in the "Realm of the Dying," much like embers remaining on burnt-out wood. At this moment, if one were to blow a strong breath, these embers would suddenly ignite, bursting forth with a final flash of light and heat before fading away completely.

"Dying Breath" is precisely that "breath" directed at the spirit.

This authority allows one to enter the Realm of the Dying, locate the spirit that is approaching extinction (provided they have indeed entered this realm), and read their memories from before death—usually, it is the memories immediately preceding death, as memories further back are more easily lost, and the dying are clearly not in a fully lucid state.

The only problem is that the Realm of the Dying is a plane within the Abyss and is quite dangerous. Every time Chen Zi'ang used the Dream Walking authority to descend into the world of the collective unconscious, he would only wander around the ancient city of Enrank, never venturing outside, as he knew only the Nightmare kin were friendly toward him. In the Realm of the Dying, however, no such friendly forces exist.

So, should he risk the completely unknown and unassessable dangers to explore another mysterious and perilous abyssal plane, just to find intelligence related to a case?

Of course he should!

Regardless of whether his style of action is aggressive, his initiative has always been maxed out when it comes to the desire for exploration—or, one might say, his penchant for courting death. There is no other reason; it is simply to become stronger and to find a way to save his younger sister.

He shared the information regarding the "Dying Breath" authority with Tsukimiya Suzuna, who was so shocked she had to cover her mouth to suppress a gasp.

You can obtain someone's authority after killing them?

What on earth is that?!

One must realize that Nishikawa Mie's authority came from the King of Ghouls, and that deity has always been paranoid, stubborn, and ruthless; how could he allow such an absurd thing to happen? But since their senior surely wouldn't lie, one could only assume that for some unknown reason, the King of Ghouls had shifted from hostility toward Chen Zi'ang to appreciation.

"So, Senior, do you intend to enter the Realm of the Dying to find these two deceased individuals and read their memories before death?"

"Yes," Chen Zi'ang said earnestly. "First, there is no guarantee we will find them; second, there is a high probability of encountering danger."

"Suzuna, I don't want to pressure you, I'm just asking: are you willing to come with me?"

"Of course," Tsukimiya Suzuna replied without hesitation.

"Even knowing the dangers involved?"

"That's right."

"And it’s possible we might return empty-handed, a wasted trip?"

"What else would I do?" Tsukimiya Suzuna stood tall. "Don't forget, Senior, I am the Deputy Chief of the Field Operations Division!"

"Very well, let's go!" Thinking she had a point, Chen Zi'ang waved his hand.

He immediately activated the "Dying Breath" authority, feeling his surroundings suddenly spin as if he were being caught in a hurricane. When his form stabilized, the two discovered they were standing in a vast, boundless desert.

The sky was dimly lit, devoid of any sun, and it was impossible to tell where the light source originated. Chen Zi'ang looked down at his feet and found that the desert here was white. The sand was grayish-white, fine, and emitted a stench of scorched flesh, as if it were... bone ash?

Chen Zi'ang stared cautiously at the sand beneath his feet, unsure if it was dangerous, until he heard Tsukimiya Suzuna suddenly speak:

"Residue of spirituality."

"What does that mean?" Chen Zi'ang asked.

"Well, I heard Sister Rio mention it before." Tsukimiya Suzuna, feeling no burden, shifted the source of information to Hozekaze Rio and explained, "To those of us living on the surface of the Abyss, life is tangible, while spirituality is intangible."

"At the same time, spirituality is the projection of higher-dimensional life onto the lower-dimensional plane."

"Therefore, our intangible spirituality, within the planes of the Abyss—like here in the Realm of the Dying—likely exists in a life-like form, meaning it has a physical body."

"Just as there are corpses after life ends, there are naturally residues after spirituality fades."

Chen Zi'ang: "..."

"Let me confirm," he said slowly. "You mean that these sands can be treated like corpses, and we should assume they are harmless to us?"

"That's what I mean," Tsukimiya Suzuna nodded. "As long as you don't find it disgusting, Senior."

"It's fine," Chen Zi'ang laughed. "Just as coal and oil are the corpses of plants, it doesn't really bother me."

As if to prove his point, he used his Mandala Dharma Sword to poke into the sandy ground, idly tossing the sand around.

As a result, he unearthed a decayed white bone. The bone was already rotten beyond recognition, and something was crawling on it. Looking closely, it was countless white beetles the size of rice grains. When still, they were indistinguishable from the white sand, and only when they crawled did they look like beetles.

"Contaminated spiritual residue," Tsukimiya Suzuna added. "Just as I said: in this world, they have physical forms."

Chen Zi'ang quickly tossed the bone aside and confirmed, "They shouldn't attack us, right?"

"No, they're like mealworms; they don't eat living things," she reassured him. "As long as we don't fall into a near-death state here, we'll be fine."

Seeming to realize she might have said too much, she quickly added, "Of course, this is just my understanding. If it differs from reality, you can't blame me, Senior."

"Don't worry," Chen Zi'ang comforted her. "If we die here, it won't matter anyway, right?"

He activated the "Dying Breath" authority again, beginning to search for the "spiritual residues" of the two specific corpses. Time ticked away, though it was impossible to tell how much—because the sky remained in a state of perpetual twilight, there was no wind, and no living things existed; it was as quiet as if time itself had stopped. Only the sight of Tsukimiya Suzuna standing gracefully by his side reminded Chen Zi'ang that he hadn't been frozen in some terrifying, silent world.

Finally, "Dying Breath" had a reaction.

"Found them!" Chen Zi'ang’s spirit lifted.

"Where?" Tsukimiya Suzuna asked hurriedly.

Chen Zi'ang didn't need to answer, as an invisible current had already begun to swirl in his hand. It descended onto the white desert and quickly moved off in a certain direction like an invisible giant serpent. Though its outline could not be captured by the naked eye, as the current blew rapidly, the white sand parted on its own, forming a trail that could be followed.