The conversation in the hall continued.
The three people gathered around Celestia had barely spoken the entire time, listening in silence until the Royal Knight’s report came to an end.
Only then did they exchange glances and speak in low voices.
These three looked ordinary, unremarkable at first glance.
They would blend into a crowd instantly, impossible to pick out.
Lin Hong’s gaze swept over them without drawing attention, and he began to sense their presence.
Just as he expected—their aura was inwardly restrained, strong and formidable.
Lin Hong speculated that if the Royal Knights present were all at the fifth tier, then these three might be a full tier higher.
Sixth tier.
Although he had no systematic understanding of this world’s supernatural system, his perception was sharp enough to grasp the general outline.
These three were clearly no longer young.
Their aura was as solid as a mountain, and every movement carried a sense of weight.
They were likely true experts of this empire, with few stronger than them.
At that moment, one of them, a gray-clad man, spoke slowly, his tone heavy.
“To think a young man like this was hiding within the empire, and we had no prior knowledge.”
His voice was low, but it carried natural authority.
“This is a failure of my intelligence agency.”
The man beside him frowned and said flatly, “It’s not necessarily your fault. The continent is vast, and there are countless extraordinary individuals. Besides, he was clearly trying to hide his tracks.”
“Hiding his tracks doesn’t mean he can completely evade the intelligence network.”
The gray-clad man shook his head, his face expressionless.
“A young man who might not even be twenty, who can actively break into a god’s space, fight and kill freely within it, and even affect the entire space—someone like that should not be completely untraceable within the empire.”
“If someone like that is a friend, it’s fine. But if he’s an enemy, it will be very troublesome. He would be a hidden danger, and many people would lose sleep.”
Lin Hong sat to the side, resting his chin on one hand with a lazy posture, but he was actually listening with great interest.
These three were indeed extraordinary.
That gray-clad man seemed to be one of the intelligence heads?
That sounded promising.
Still, he wasn’t worried.
With his current identity as Shaonian Aiwen, and even after he shed that identity, he would have the means to protect himself.
So he was quite at ease, even a little amused.
But soon, the topic shifted away from him to the evil cultists.
Lin Hong perked up instantly, sitting up to listen.
He quickly learned a few things.
Earlier, the emperor had ordered the students of the Imperial Capital to leave the city and head to the border for training.
This wasn’t just to broaden their horizons—they had a mission.
To purge the evil cultists hiding along the empire’s borders!
Lin Hong learned that in earlier years, the evil cultists on this continent had a notorious reputation, but they still kept a low profile.
They operated in the shadows and limited areas, not causing much attention.
But in the past decade or so, things had changed drastically.
The cultists of the major churches had gone mad, growing increasingly reckless and aggressive, with no regard for consequences.
They began to appear frequently, setting up large-scale blood sacrifices, ambushing lone experts, polluting towns and villages, and causing countless tragedies.
Even some hidden clans had not escaped.
In recent years, many major incidents had shaken the entire continent.
The continent was no longer peaceful.
On the empire’s side, the intelligence agency had been engaged in a covert war with the cultists for over ten years.
Until now, the emperor had ordered this conflict to be brought into the open, no longer limited to secret killings, but a true bloodbath.
Lin Hong listened quietly.
He had little interest in the grand affairs of this country, as he was not from here.
But when it came to killing evil cultists, he was wide awake.
That was his job back in his home universe.
He sat up and listened!
These three also mentioned that during this expedition, some exceptionally powerful cultists had appeared, beyond the original plan, forcing even them to personally intervene and intercept.
“Those people were strong. According to intelligence from our inside agents, they are a type of existence within the cult specifically responsible for combat and killing.”
“Internally, they are called the ‘General’ level.”
“However, their target didn’t seem to be the students, nor were they here to reinforce. They were just passing through, heading to some location.”
“Of course, when a group like that moves, what good could come of it? Even if they were just out for a stroll, if we run into them, we’ll make sure they never make it back!”
‘Truly impressive. Great minds think alike.’
Lin Hong was intrigued.
He even considered whether he might cooperate with the empire in the future.
They find them, he kills them.
Clear division of labor.
Sounded promising!
But as soon as the thought arose, he dismissed it.
Because it wasn’t really necessary.
His own perception was sharp enough now, sensitive to the aura of the Evil Clan.
And with the mysterious panel, he had no shortage of ways to track them.
Better to work alone.
Speaking of the mysterious panel, Lin Hong’s expression suddenly paused.
He remembered that since last night, he hadn’t communicated with it at all.
Last night, he had a blast killing.
He had slaughtered about thirty or forty cultists of various levels.
He should have earned a good amount of Fate Points.
So, he called out to the mysterious panel in his mind and asked.
Then.
‘?’
He called several times, but the mysterious panel did not respond.
Lin Hong frowned almost imperceptibly.
Ever since the panel appeared, although it was sometimes cold, sometimes played dead, and sometimes annoyingly cheeky, it always reacted when he called.
At least a little.
Today, it was completely silent for the first time.
He didn’t believe it and tried a few more times.
Still the same—quiet as a mouse, no response.
Had it run away?
He didn’t bother waiting.
Part of his consciousness sank into his mental sea.
‘It’s still here. Why is it mute?’
The mysterious panel was still there, not gone.
But its state was clearly different from before.
In the empty, silent mental sea, a page that usually lay quietly with little presence was now glowing with a faint luster, pulsing on and off as if breathing.
It was no longer calm or dim.
Instead, it was strikingly conspicuous, as if undergoing some kind of change or slowly awakening.
Lin Hong stared at it for a moment, and his mind began to stir.
Was it leveling up?
He remembered that it had happened once before.
After that upgrade, it first displayed immense power, including various secret texts, and even brought him into what seemed like the origin of the universe.
Thinking of that, Lin Hong felt a little anticipation.
If it really was leveling up, what would it become?
Maybe it could take form?
His consciousness circled around it a few times.
It had become blurry, and even the original content was no longer visible.
He watched for a while, then withdrew his mind.
Since he couldn’t help, he didn’t bother.
As long as it didn’t explode, it was fine.
In the following days, this usually unremarkable border town became unusually lively.
Because batches of Imperial Capital students, having completed their phased training, were sent here to rest.
It was clear that these young people were markedly different from when they left the capital.
They had less sharpness and frivolity, more calmness and resilience, and also more killing intent and bloodlust.
They had all been geniuses with extraordinary talent.
Now, they even took the initiative to help the townspeople, without any arrogance.
The training had clearly been effective.
It could be foreseen that if these people didn’t die prematurely, they would grow into the backbone of the nation.
At the same time, just yesterday, the old butler Robert finally woke up.
When Lin Hong arrived, he saw the old man half-leaning against the headboard.
His face was still pale, but his spirit had clearly recovered a lot.
His two sons stood by the bed, their eyes red, almost unable to speak from emotion.
Lin Hong wasn’t good at handling scenes like this.
He glanced from the doorway and turned away.
Time passed day by day.
A few days later, the students gathered in Rockford Town began to leave one after another, continuing to train in various border areas.
At the same time, the matter here was considered concluded.
According to the original plan, Lin Hong and Lovira were supposed to continue their journey, heading deeper into the border to visit the Duke and Duchess.
Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction.
But the more it did, the more uneasy Lin Hong felt.
Because it was too smooth.
That wasn’t how his life usually went.
These past few days, he often left the town to explore the nearby mountains and forests, walking far.
But everything was normal.
No fighting, no battles.
It was peaceful and stable, with a kind of serene beauty.
Logically, that was a good thing.
But Lin Hong couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
Based on his past experience, times like this usually meant that the universe was preparing something big for him—something terrible.
“Hiss…”
In the courtyard, Lin Hong sat on a stone bench.
It was nearly noon.
According to the schedule, they would set off in the afternoon.
Suddenly, he looked up at the sky.
For no reason, he felt a chill run down his back.
The next moment, the world changed.
The sky, which had been clear, turned dark in an instant.
The wind stopped.
All sounds seemed to be cut off by some invisible force.
Every noise became faint and distant.
In the sky, strange clouds appeared, thick and heavy, like blood slowly spreading across the heavens.
Visibly dark shadows fell from the heights, swallowing even the sunlight.
The entire Rockford Town fell into a suffocating oppression at that moment.
“Seriously? You’re actually coming?”
At the same time, in his mental sea, the mysterious panel, which had been silent and flickering for days, finally stirred and emitted a pulse.
[Warning! Warning!]
[Detected: Partial will of an evil god descending.]
[Quest issued: Slay the God.]
‘What did you say to slay?’