The Sorcerer's Handbook

Chapter 220: Legend of the Rainbow Tail

It was a strange feeling. Both handbooks referred to the same person, yet neither revealed her name.

Sonya and Dia had no idea either. Still, it was only a trivial detail. Ashe mentioned it to Sonya simply because the coincidence felt too striking to ignore. He wasn’t particularly curious about it. The owners of those handbooks had lived long ago, and the ”her” and ”the woman” mentioned inside might already be dead. If fate allowed, perhaps they would even stumble upon her corpse.

That was the allure of the Virtual World. It served both as the resting place of knowledge and the graveyard of sorcerers.

Every Sorcerer’s Handbook recorded a life from thousands of years ago, preserving stories that might no longer exist in the real world. Reality could be cruel to everyone, yet the Virtual World cherished every child.

Ashe returned the Sorcerer’s Handbook to Dia. Once she absorbed it, her hair quickly reverted to its natural white.

”What ability did you gain?” Ashe asked with curiosity.

Secret Princess protested in her mind. ”Shouldn’t that be something private? How dare he ask? White Queen, go scold him!”

White Queen replied calmly, ”My dear princess, we’re already teammates. Information that can improve combat effectiveness should be shared openly.”

She paused and focused on sensing her newly awakened ability. Her expression soon turned strange.

”I gained a sensing ability called Love Hunting.”

”What?”

”It allows me to easily sense whether someone harbors romantic feelings for another person.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Sonya instinctively stepped back. Then she noticed Dia wink at her, wearing an expression that clearly said, ”Even without this ability, I could already see through you.”

Sonya forced herself to meet Dia’s gaze, but the blush on her face refused to fade.

Ashe recalled the latter part of the handbook. ”Now that I think about it, that Task Sorcerer later exposed many hidden couples in the temple. Could awakening this ability while exposing Frank have turned him into some kind of love police?”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ”Still, it’s not a bad ability. Definitely more useful than my Poop Mastery or Pleasure Secrets (Effective only on females over two meters tall).”

The three of them returned to the sports car. Not long after they started driving, a sudden explosion erupted in the distant sky. A series of crackling blasts followed.

The Ascending Golden Rain obscured their view, so they could not see what was happening. All they could sense was the faint impression of a battle unfolding high in the air.

”People really do throw their lives away,” Sonya remarked, surprise and indifference mingling in her tone.

Dia shrugged. ”It happens every two or three nights. Sometimes three times in a single night when things get intense. The gap between Gold and Sacred Realm sorcerers is simply too vast to bridge.”

Ashe blinked. ”You know what’s going on?”

”A sorcerer with both wings fully unfurled is flying.”

”Both wings fully unfurled... of course!” Realization struck Ashe at once. He suddenly turned to Sonya. ”Then why don’t we just fly? Flying should be faster than driving, right?”

”No,” Sonya shook her head and pointed toward the distant explosions. ”The moment a sorcerer tries to fly, the large Knowledge Creatures nearby would sense it immediately. They’d attack without mercy. Any sorcerer who dares to follow the path of the Ascending Golden Rain gets hunted down, as if flying were a crime with a heavy penalty.

”Flying on the Continent of Time is far more dangerous than when we were chased off in the Sea of Knowledge. Attacks come from every direction, and the battle takes place in the air. Even the toughest Brute Body sorcerers get devoured in no time.”

Ashe shivered, recalling the terrifying pursuit by the nine Knowledge Creatures after they triggered the Whirlpool Secret Poison.

”Then why would anyone try to fly?” he asked.

”Because they’re searching for the Rainbow Tail,” Dia replied.

”The Rainbow Tail?”

Sonya explained, ”It’s a legend of the Virtual World, just like the Golden Fish. The Celestial Ox supposedly has a Rainbow Tail. If someone follows it, they can reach the Ox’s back, which is the third layer of the Virtual World, the Distant Sky Domain.”

Ashe frowned. ”If the Distant Sky Domain is on the Celestial Ox’s back, why not just fly straight up there? Why bother searching for the Rainbow Tail? The sky isn’t blocked.”

Dia answered, ”Because no Two-Winged sorcerer can reach the top of the sky. In the month since I arrived on the Continent of Time, I’ve heard of more than a dozen sorcerers who tried. Knowledge Creatures hunted them down in the sky. None of them flew higher than five hundred meters. Every single one of them fell.

”The sorcerers who dare to fly must have fully unfurled their wings. They likely have their own combat systems, several Two-Winged spirits, and powerful Miracles. They are probably among the strongest of their rank. If they have any other way to raise their sorcery class to the Sacred Realm level, they wouldn’t risk challenging the sky.

”But even they failed. That alone proves it’s impossible to reach the Distant Sky Domain by flying.”

Ashe tilted his head. ”But the Rainbow Tail is also high in the sky. It’s the Celestial Ox’s tail, after all.”

Sonya added, ”According to the information I’ve found, the Rainbow Tail might be extremely long. ”It may even hang all the way down to the ground. Those sorcerers aren’t trying to cross the sky. They’re searching through the Golden Rain for the tail hanging below.”

”There’s no proof yet, but many sorcerers believe Knowledge Creatures won’t attack anyone inside the Rainbow Tail. If they follow it, they can safely reach the Distant Sky Domain.”

Ashe murmured, ”So that’s the real purpose of the Rainbow Tail... A safe route through the sky. What a clever loophole.”

Sonya’s eyes shone with excitement. ”Before this, I would’ve thought the Rainbow Tail was just a rumor. But now things are different. Watcher, find it, just like with the Golden Fish!”

Ashe sighed in exasperation. ”It’s not that simple. I have a feeling the truth about the Rainbow Tail isn’t anything like the rumors. Otherwise, someone would’ve discovered it already. It wouldn’t still be a legend.”

Secret Princess muttered, ”They’re so arrogant! Almost no sorcerer in the entire Virtual World has found the Rainbow Tail, yet they come here aiming straight for it. Are they trying to mock it?”

White Queen replied calmly, ”If you’re so eager, why don’t you do it yourself?”

”White Queen, you’ve changed. You don’t love me anymore.”

”My dear princess, even if I love you more than ever, it doesn’t mean I won’t find you annoying.”

Ashe steered the sports car forward, racing against time itself. He glanced at the Virtual World map and decided that, at the very least, he would search one more Resource Point tonight.

Just then, several Golden Zones suddenly appeared on the map.

From his previous experience, Golden Zones indicated rare encounters. Yet this time, the message displayed on the map sent a chill down Ashe’s spine.

[Everyone grows old and dies, including you. Hurry.]