Omniscience (Revised)

Great Osa above, save us. The Nimo Grassland has not seen rain for three years. The rivers have dried up, the wells have run dry, and the people of the Ukuru Tribe are nearly all dead. My poor daughter is about to die as well.

Great Osa, you must have heard my prayers. Mother finally agreed to lead our family away from the Nimo Grassland. With the help of Mother's reputation, our family passed through dozens of tribes across the Nimo Grassland. Only one conflict occurred. That time, Mother killed the other tribe's chieftain and, as punishment, seized the most beautiful woman in their tribe. She would become my new wife.

We reached the Yoruba Kingdom, the most powerful kingdom in the southern Saha Continent. Everything was good here. Mother sold a gemstone, and our entire family moved into a comfortable house. My new wife finally became pregnant.

Damn Yoruba people. They discovered Mother's existence and threatened to burn her alive if we did not leave. Foska went berserk and killed several Yoruba police officers. We were surrounded and attacked. My new wife and daughter were both killed. I was injured there. I could no longer produce descendants for the family.

A cunning smuggler found us. He promised to take us out of Yoruba and to the legendary paradise—the Divine Eagle Federation. Mother gave him her last gemstone.

We finally arrived in the Divine Eagle Federation. Mother wanted to kill the smuggler and take back the gemstone, but she discovered that her strength was rapidly weakening. She could no longer keep killing people. We could no longer survive with the help of Mother's strength. This was not paradise either. This was hell for the poor.

For the family, I sold myself. A despicable broker introduced me to a couple as their butler. The pay was high, but half had to be given to the broker. Still, what remained was enough to keep the family fed. Balagon also had money to apprentice at a butcher shop.

Twenty years passed. Mother suddenly contacted me. She could sense that her strength was recovering rapidly, and that some unknown change seemed to have occurred in this world. Those already-magical witchcraft spells could not only work again, but were more powerful than ever before. Mother said she had touched upon a higher Mastery Level. She said she was going traveling and entrusted the heavy responsibility of caring for the family to me.

As it happened, that couple died in a car accident, leaving behind a substantial estate and a foolish child.

I needed a living body, and I needed that property too. At last, I could continue making a great contribution to the family. It seemed I had to begin preparing that ritual. I would definitely succeed.

—The final page.

Old Morgan's Diary. Its first half recorded some witchcraft, while the second half was truly his diary.

From his fragmented descriptions, it was easy to determine that Old Morgan had been smuggled over from the distant Saha Continent more than twenty years ago. His wife and child had died during the journey. To make a living, he had sold himself to those shady brokers.

None of that was important, of course. What truly concerned Tang Qi—

was that Old Morgan had a family behind him.

Moreover, the diary made it clear that Old Morgan was not the one in charge of this family. It was his mother, a dangerous-looking old witch.

Old Morgan's witchcraft had obviously been learned from her.

So the situation now was this: although I had taken the place of a rich second-generation heir, I had also offended a black family that knew witchcraft. Judging by Old Morgan's diary, this family clearly had no regard for good or evil and would kill whenever they wished.

Old Morgan and this family had endured for more than twenty years because witchcraft could no longer function after they entered the Divine Eagle Federation. They had begun emerging again because witchcraft had been Restored.

Though these were only scattered details, the reason behind them was not difficult to infer. This world, which appeared identical to Previous Life Earth, actually possessed real Supernatural Power. The only question was whether, like that old witch, everyone had only just begun recovering their powers, or whether they had possessed them from the very beginning...?

Regardless, the first thing I needed to consider was how to preserve this hard-won new life under that twisted family's vengeance.

But I was alone, without family or support, and merely an ordinary person. How could I fight a witch who knew witchcraft, along with an entire family?

Call the police?

That was Tang Qi's first thought, born of a civilized society. Unfortunately, he quickly shook his head and dismissed it. From the original owner's memories, it was easy to conclude that although he had personally witnessed Supernatural Power, this world's public face was still no different from Previous Life Earth.

In other words, if Tang Qi went to the police, the most likely outcome would be that they treated him as a lunatic. He might even be charged with murdering the Old Butler.

With that path blocked, Tang Qi Realized that he would most likely have to rely on his own strength in the end.

The moment that thought arose, Tang Qi looked directly at the diary in his hand and the few crudely made little witchcraft trinkets. Somewhat helplessly, he said, "Even if I'm exceptionally gifted and quickly learn these witchcraft spells, I still couldn't fight a ruthless old witch. It would probably be little different from seeking death."

"What should I do? Maybe I should sell all the family property and flee Messer City. Perhaps I could avoid that twisted family's revenge."

Tang Qi knew very well that the last method was the correct one. Yet fleeing before the battle had even begun instinctively repulsed him.

After thinking bitterly for a long while without coming up with any good solution, Tang Qi let out a faint sigh. His gaze unconsciously fell upon the last item, also found on Old Morgan's body: a strange and ancient Parchment Scroll.

Old Morgan's diary said that the Parchment Scroll had been left behind by his deceased second wife. Her father was the tribal chieftain killed by Old Morgan's mother, and the Parchment Scroll was a Holy Relic worshipped by that tribe for centuries.

Tang Qi set down the diary, picked up the Parchment Scroll, and slowly unfurled it.

Tang Qi did not hold much hope for the Parchment Scroll. Since it had fallen into Old Morgan's hands, it had effectively fallen into that old witch's hands as well. If it truly were a miraculous Holy Relic, the old witch would have snatched it away long ago.

What happened after it was opened confirmed Tang Qi's premonition, because nothing happened.

The Parchment Scroll felt comfortable to the touch. Its mottled colors and ancient aura were apparent. The only slightly unusual thing was that although it was deep into the night, the scroll felt very warm, as though it had been left beneath the sun all along.

By coincidence, after the Parchment Scroll was opened, there was only a single totem painted inside.

A sun. A golden sun.

Tang Qi stared at the totem for a while. Aside from making his eyes blur slightly, he gained nothing.

"Sure enough, running away is more realistic."

After muttering that, Tang Qi was about to set the Parchment Scroll aside and continue studying the diary.

Then the unexpected happened.

Tang Qi's pupils suddenly contracted. Before his eyes, a familiar sight appeared.

A special image unfolded within Tang Qi's vision.

Curio: Ancient Parchment Scroll

Information Fragment One: Its origin is a Curio recording the Golden Furnace Meditation Method. It can be deciphered.

Information Fragment Two: Deciphering method: point the Parchment Scroll toward the sunlight at dawn and silently recite, "The sun is a golden furnace, and the only fuel is the soul." After ten seconds, the Curio will be Restored.

It appeared. It appeared again.

Tang Qi forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and stared at the image before him with full concentration.

This familiar yet different scene had occurred when Tang Qi was still a low-level demon known as the Judgment Demon. Back then, whenever Tang Qi looked at anything, an interface similar to those found in online games from his Previous Life Earth would appear, only more concise and mysterious.

At the time, Tang Qi had thought it was the benefit of his transmigration. But after he was reborn, all those images vanished. This made Tang Qi think he had to be a demon to see them.

Now, it seemed Tang Qi had been wrong.

Perhaps only supernatural objects could trigger such an interface.

The operating Soul Exchange Scale was a Supernatural Mystical Item. I was one when I was the Judgment Demon, Old Morgan's soul was one too, and so was this Curio Parchment Scroll.

Of course, perhaps I'm simply too weak, so this ability only works intermittently?

And what should this ability be called?

Omniscience?

Omniscient and Omnipotent?

As Tang Qi guessed at the nature of his Cheat System and casually gave it a name, his gaze fell directly upon the two Information Fragments.

According To the fragments, the ancient Parchment Scroll's true form should be a Curio containing the "Golden Furnace Meditation Method," and the way to restore it had been displayed directly before Tang Qi.

It was not a complicated method, but without knowing the incantation, even if one possessed the Parchment Scroll for centuries, they would never unravel its mystery.

Just like the tribe where Old Morgan's second wife had come from. They had worshipped it for centuries and likely studied it for centuries as well, yet in the end, they could not compare to Tang Qi's single glance.

"Golden Furnace Meditation Method!"

"Dawn!"

Holding the Parchment Scroll, Tang Qi murmured as he rose.

He walked straight to the window and suddenly reached out to seize the ornate curtains. With a swish, the curtains parted. Light bloomed in an instant, driving the darkness from the study. The first warm ray of sunlight pierced through the window and landed directly upon the Parchment Scroll in Tang Qi's hand.

Tang Qi immediately raised the Parchment Scroll, placing it entirely beneath the sunlight. Closing his eyes, he silently recited word by word, "The sun is a golden furnace, and the only fuel is the soul."

As the final word fell, Tang Qi began counting down in his heart.

Ten!

Nine!

Eight!

One!

Tang Qi abruptly opened his eyes, his nervous and expectant gaze falling upon the Parchment Scroll once more.

Had it succeeded?

Had it been Restored?

Although Tang Qi did not know what the so-called Golden Furnace Meditation Method was, this Curio—which sounded like some kind of cultivation method—was undoubtedly his greatest hope at present.

When Tang Qi's gaze fell upon it, when the final second ended—

Tang Qi saw golden sunlight spill across the Parchment Scroll like flowing water, circulating along the sun totem. When the golden threads formed from sunlight reached the center of the totem—

Boom!

A golden halo erupted, enveloping Tang Qi and the entire study. Though it lasted only a brief second, Tang Qi still felt boundless warmth. The tension, unease, and fear brought by his transmigration into a demon, his scheme against Old Morgan, and his rebirth as a human all silently vanished in that instant.

At this moment, Tang Qi was incomparably calm. He looked at his palm once more.

There, the Parchment Scroll had vanished.

In its place was a mass of golden light, like a newborn sun—warm and dazzling. Its faint heat melted outward, then, under Tang Qi's suddenly widened eyes, slowly merged into his palm.

In a daze, Tang Qi caught several more Information Fragments.

Curio Restored!

Ancient Meditation Method discovered—Golden Furnace Meditation Method!

Can be converted into a skill!

Conversion in progress!