“What exactly are you? A living being? Some form of sapience? Or perhaps a failsafe left behind by someone?”
The moment he returned to his bedroom and closed the door, Lin Hong spoke within his mind using his mental sense.
He was truly surprised.
He had originally thought it was just a brand recording some information.
Who would have thought it might actually be alive?
Silence.
In his mind, that spiritual brand offered no response, remaining as quiet as a mouse.
Lin Hong frowned.
He did not press further but instead sank his consciousness into his body, probing toward the location of the brand.
It was a subtle feeling.
The brand floated quietly at the edge of this body’s spiritual sea.
It was motionless and difficult to detect unless one specifically looked for it, but it certainly existed.
Lin Hong extended his mental energy, attempting to touch it.
Buzz.
With a slight tremor, a strange object — what Lin Hong would call a panel for now — appeared in his mind!
This thing was quite extraordinary.
Calling it a panel was one thing, but it looked more like a stone slab polished to a mirror finish, exuding an ancient aura as if it had endured countless ages.
On the panel were three lines of text, written in the common language of this world, clear and concise.
Line one: [Fate Value Balance: 0]
Line two: [Mission: Slay the cultists who will appear during tomorrow’s assessment. Reward: +50 Fate Value]
Line three: [Commodity: “Elavia Continent Geographical Records.” Price: 50 Fate Value]
Lin Hong stared at those three lines for several seconds, his mouth twitching slightly.
‘It’s quite the setup. Missions and commodities… does it want me to work for it?’
“Swap it for something else, like a treasure that can nourish the spiritual origin. I have no interest in the human geography of your world,” Lin Hong said lazily.
The panel did not react.
Lin Hong didn’t care and asked his previous question again: “What kind of existence are you, exactly?”
Silence.
The three lines on the panel remained still; no new content surfaced.
He continued to ask, “Where did the soul — or rather, the spirit — of this body’s original owner go?”
Still silence.
Lin Hong grew a bit impatient.
“You just sent me a message mentioning cultists and told me to slay them. So, what are cultists?”
Still no damn movement.
Lin Hong’s face darkened.
‘What’s the meaning of this?’
It had mysteriously sent him information, almost like issuing an order or posting a mission.
Now he wasn’t even asking how this thing could predict what would happen tomorrow — a question that might involve major secrets.
He simply wanted to know what these cultists were, yet it was playing dumb.
Lin Hong had no patience left to haggle with it.
He immediately mobilized his mental energy, making a move as if to erase the brand.
!!!
The next instant.
[Cultists: A general term for beings who believe in the doctrines of the Evil Gods, divided into…]
A long string of dense text flooded the panel frantically.
‘This method works best after all.’
Lin Hong gave a cold sneer, withdrew his mental energy, and began to read.
Now that his mental cultivation had recovered to a respectable level, his perception was extraordinary.
He processed the information in just two or three breaths of time.
Afterward, he turned his gaze back to the mysterious panel and asked, “Now, back to the main point. What exactly are you?”
The words on the panel slowly faded.
It was silent again, but Lin Hong could sense a form of weighing and struggling.
Thus, he was patient and waited quietly.
Finally, a few words emerged:
[Insufficient authority. Cannot say.]
‘Cannot say?’
He raised an eyebrow but did not press further.
If it wasn’t lying and truly could predict tomorrow’s events, then it might involve significant karmic consequences.
It was normal that it couldn’t speak.
“Then where did the original soul of this body go? Is it still alive?”
The panel flickered once more: [Cannot say, but it is alive and completely safe. It can return in a few days.]
Lin Hong remained non-committal.
He would believe it for now, as he currently lacked the ability to verify it anyway.
“Now then.”
Lin Hong threw out the last question he could think of for now, and the one he most wanted to know.
The information about the cultists reminded him of certain things.
“You say the cultists believe in Evil Gods. So, do these Evil Gods not belong to this realm?”
[Yes.]
In an instant, a shiver ran through Lin Hong’s body.
He felt that some doubts buried deep in his heart were about to be answered.
Over ten years ago, he had been sucked into a bizarre black hole in his home universe.
Eventually, he arrived in the starry sky outside this continent, where he was immediately surrounded and attacked by gods.
At that time, among the dozen or so gods and demons, several emitted fluctuations that felt familiar to him.
They were very similar to the alien races he had fought to the death in his home universe!
Therefore, he asked this, and immediately followed up with another question: “Then, are they invaders? Have they invaded this world before?”
[Yes.]
Another single word!
“Be more detailed!”
[The Evil Gods come from outside the world. They descended upon the Elavia Continent tens of thousands of years ago, calling themselves the Saint Race…]
Suddenly, Lin Hong could no longer remain calm.
He felt his blood boil in an instant.
Everything lined up.
The Evil Gods of this world were very likely the same alien races he had fought for years in his home universe!
The alien race referred to themselves as the Saint Race, while his home universe called them the Evil Race.
Their origin was unknown, they were naturally warlike and bloodthirsty, and they had once invaded his home universe, causing widespread suffering and turning the galaxies red with blood!
It could be said that this was an innate blood feud, a struggle until death from the moment of birth.
However, he really hadn’t expected that the invaders his home universe fought to the end would be worshipped as deities in this world, with countless believers under them.
Phew.
He exhaled, allowing himself to calm down quickly.
Originally, he only planned to deal with the trouble the original boy left behind. He hadn’t expected to learn such things.
This made his thoughts clear instantly.
They were already mortal enemies, and now there was the added grudge of his own death.
New and old hatred were stacked together.
Besides slaying gods, he would also execute evil.
From the low to the high, he would slaughter every last member of the Evil Race!
Of course, this panel’s origin was unknown, so Lin Hong naturally couldn’t believe everything it said.
He would find time to use Evan’s identity to consult books and other materials to confirm it for himself.
At this moment, Lin Hong opened his eyes and withdrew his mental power.
Although he still had many questions, he felt there was no rush.
As his mental power was withdrawn, the mysterious panel dissipated, returning to its state as a brand.
Lin Hong stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.
A breeze brushed his cheek, bringing a sense of refreshment.
The sun was bright, and the sky was cloudless.
In truth, Lin Hong didn’t have much interest in the Fate Value mentioned on that strange panel or the buried history.
However, if it concerned the Evil Race, then he was no longer bored.
His hands were itching; he wanted to kill them all.
By the way, he would also take the fall for young Evan.
After all, he was currently occupying this body for no apparent reason, so he had to do something.
Thinking of this, Lin Hong stretched, turned around, and planned to make some preparations for tomorrow.
The next day.
“What the… am I seeing things? Is that Evan Wayne?”
“My god, it’s Lord Wayne, the one who even dares to skip Master Edwin’s classes. He actually came to participate in the assessment?”
“What? What? Is it that young master? He came for the assessment? Am I seeing the real person today? Goddess of Luck be praised, I must go buy a lottery ticket after the assessment is over!”
In the spectator stands of the martial arts arena, whispers spread like ripples.
At this moment, Lin Hong felt uncomfortable all over.
First was the academy-issue combat uniform he was wearing.
He wasn’t quite used to it, likely because the style was different from the battle armor of his home universe.
It felt as if he were wearing a burlap sack.
What made him even more uncomfortable were the gazes around him.
It was as if they were looking at some rare species.
But it was no wonder.
In young Evan’s memories, skipping class was as common as eating.
Even some teachers in the academy known for their strictness weren’t given any face.
He either didn’t show up, or if he did, he would doze off or daydream.
As for assessments?
He either didn’t show up or handed in a blank paper.
Now, he had actually appeared at the assessment site, and it was for the strictest practical combat assessment.
In a sense, it was indeed like a rare animal coming out of its cage.
To distract himself, Lin Hong chose to split off a thread of mental energy and probe into the spatial ring on his finger.
Inside were some magical gadgets that would be of great use shortly.
Because right now, while his mental cultivation had recovered significantly — roughly comparable to a level 4 or level 5 mage of this world — it was a shame that he needed to keep the vast majority of this spiritual origin to prepare for reconstructing his physical body in the future.
He couldn’t use it unless absolutely necessary.
Therefore, he chose to use external items for assistance.
Quite fortunately, young Evan Wayne was mediocre in both of this world’s orthodox cultivation paths — magic and combat aura — but he happened to have decent talent in other areas and was obsessed with them.
For example, he had created many interesting alchemical gadgets.
Without needing magic, they could produce intense light, powerful vibrations, and explosions.
They were quite powerful, and he had plenty in stock.
Thus, Lin Hong unceremoniously requisitioned them.
He was using them to help take the fall, anyway.
” — Evan Wayne!”
At this moment, on the arena below, a middle-aged man wearing an academy instructor’s robe called out loudly.
His voice spread throughout the venue via a magical amplification array.
“Will student Evan Wayne please enter the arena!”
The whispers around him stopped instantly, and everyone’s gaze turned toward him in unison.
Lin Hong took a deep breath, stood up, and sighed in his heart.
‘What a struggle. To have to take an exam even after coming to a new world.’
He stepped onto the arena, and his opponent had already taken the stage.
It was also a boy of about 14 or 15 years old.