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Dream Realm, Trial Ground.
This place is one of the closest connections between the Dream Realm and the Material Realm, the umbilical cord of both worlds.
Above the Lower Realm, below the Upper Realm.
Every Transcendent participating in the ascension ritual, their souls would arrive here in a daze during their dreams. Like being cast into the deep sea, but in the end, they wouldn't sink downwards—because "transcendence" is an ascension. Its direction is upwards.
The Dream Realm does not follow the laws of the Material Realm, with a clear and orderly east, west, south, and north. Each region seems independent, yet also overlapping.
The "Trial Ground" is a lake, but it is also like an hourglass of water connecting the two worlds. In the upright pool, filled with warm amniotic fluid, the inverted world is soaked with blood. Transparent bubbles float steadily in the pool, each hiding nine sleeping souls.
This is the essence of the ascension ritual.
