Fractured History

The next morning, inside the mottled Brick House.

On the second floor, in the center of the sunlit bedroom, Tang Qi slowly awakened atop the soft Moon-Patterned Carpet.

Before opening his eyes, Tang Qi saw the dim, void-like space in his mind. There were a few more golden specks of light, like dust—his reward for cultivating through the night. It was strange; he had sat here cultivating all night, yet he did not feel the slightest bit tired.

After waking, he was even more energetic.

He had also tested the time limit for cultivating the Golden Furnace Meditation Method. Aside from the special circumstances of his first attempt, each subsequent session lasted about an hour. Once his brain began to ache, he had to stop.

After resting for half an hour, he could continue cultivating for another hour.

Repeating that cycle, the entire night had passed.

Of course, Tang Qi was still figuring out how best to arrange his cultivation schedule.

What truly troubled him was that he had yet to find a way to use the Mental Power gained through meditation.

However, finding Supernatural Power skills to cultivate was clearly no simple task. Tang Qi was still in the "adaptation stage" of this New World, and he needed more time.

For now, Tang Qi needed to play the role of a Ninth-Grade Student properly.

Although sealing up the luxurious villa and living alone at the high school without needing anyone to care for him already made him quite different from the Original Owner, Tang Qi felt he should still make an effort with this last remaining student identity. He could also use it to catch up on some common knowledge.

With that thought, Tang Qi immediately got up. After cooking himself breakfast, he picked up the books and class schedule he had received yesterday and prepared to leave.

Just as he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and turned back into the storage room beside the Restroom.

He reached into the cramped room and dragged out a wooden box. Opening it, he saw the items inside: the Witchcraft Notebook he had taken from Old Morgan, several small witchcraft trinkets, and the Soul Exchange Scale.

Tang Qi had tossed all of them in here last night.

His decision to abandon the Dark Witchcraft Notebook and the Soul Exchange Scale was naturally not because he lacked decisiveness, nor because he clung to distinctions between justice and evil.

From beginning to end, there had only been one reason: caution.

Though these items could grant a person considerable power, using such Dark Witchcraft would draw the attention of an Old Witch Family. That was not a wise choice for Tang Qi right now.

Especially after obtaining the Golden Furnace Meditation Method, these items had become even more dispensable.

As Tang Qi looked at them again, though only one night had passed, he could not tell whether it was an illusion, but he felt the evil aura on these things had weakened somewhat—and it was still weakening.

"Could it really work?"

Tang Qi muttered, focusing directly on the scale at the bottom of the box.

Immediately, ripples surged through his field of vision, and the special interface appeared once more.

Among these items, only the scale and the Meditation Method that had not yet been deciphered seemed to have reached the level required to trigger Tang Qi's "Omniscience" ability—or rather, his Cheat System.

Curio: Soul Exchange Scale

Information Fragment One: This is an evil creation capable of exchanging souls.

Information Fragment Two: Due to the special nature of its environment, it is being suppressed by Light Power and is continuously weakening. There is a high probability that activating the ritual will fail.

"It works!"

Seeing the changed Information Fragment, Tang Qi said joyfully.

The information in the diary had been correct. St. Thorn High School truly possessed Light Power capable of suppressing Dark Witchcraft.

Even if it was not human, but merely an evil creation, it would still be suppressed within its range.

Having verified this, a heavy stone in Tang Qi's heart finally fell away.

He stuffed everything back into storage, feeling even more relaxed. Then he turned, opened the front door, walked down the stone steps, and followed his memories of yesterday's route along the tree-lined path toward the actual campus.

The facade of St. Thorn High School was the white-brick plaza at the very front and the centuries-old Thorns Church.

But that was merely the facade. Beyond it lay an extremely vast campus.

Deep within the campus, there was even a sizable park.

The main area, such as the Central Campus, contained the true teaching complex, with four or five grand buildings standing separately. On either side were clusters of buildings for faculty work, as well as student dormitories.

Tang Qi's residence was tucked away in a remote corner on the left side.

As he headed toward the main campus, he casually glanced a few times at the Bell Tower Area very close to his little building.

That was the place Pastor Sinbani had mentioned—the sole drawback of this secluded Brick House. It was too close to the Ascetic Society Club, so one would often see strange scenes, especially in the early hours of the morning.

Yet this time, Tang Qi saw nothing at all.

"Did I wake up too late?"

He shook his head and muttered to himself.

Tang Qi pulled a book from his coat and opened it as he slowly made his way toward the main campus.

There was still quite a distance to go, enough for Tang Qi to review some common knowledge, especially history.

For example, the page he had flipped open at random described the history of the founding of the Divine Eagle Empire.

Before he saw the text, however, what Came into View was a striking illustration. It depicted the shore of a great city, where a massive statue seemed to stretch into the clouds.

Tang Qi knew that city. It was Carthage City, the second-largest metropolis of the Divine Eagle Federation.

And that statue was, in fact, an idol.

It wore a broad robe and a Thorns Crown that seemed to radiate light. One hand held a book of unknown significance, while the other grasped an ancient-looking, icy sword. At its feet, upon a towering black stone pedestal, were countless Relief Sculptures depicting shattered Demon Fairies and Ghosts.

With the Naked Eye alone, it was difficult to tell how tall the idol truly was, much less discern more Details.

Yet beneath the page was an introduction to the idol.

Lord of Thorns: A gift presented by the Europa Alliance after the Great Cataclysm to celebrate the founding of the Divine Eagle Federation. The crown upon its head represents the endless radiance bestowed by the Lord of Light. The book in its hand is the "Thorns Codex," representing the strictest and fairest laws. The sword in its hand and the Relief Sculptures beneath its feet represent the countless demons defeated by the Divine Eagle Federation through powerful force during its founding.

Legend had it that Europa's gift also included a pair of Wings of Freedom, meant to accompany the Lord of Thorns idol. Unfortunately, they were mysteriously stolen during transport and had not been recovered after centuries, becoming one of the greatest mysteries in the long history of the Divine Eagle Federation.

"Why isn't it the Goddess of Liberty?"

Tang Qi could not help sighing as he looked at the somewhat familiar image from his memories.

Though everything was different, in certain Details, the scene depicted on this page of the history book was indeed very similar to the Statue of Liberty on Previous Life Earth.

But the related history was utterly unrecognizable.

After all, this history book clearly recorded official history.

The appearance of things like the Lord of Thorns and the Codex could be understood, but the matter-of-fact way it spoke of demons left Tang Qi deeply puzzled.

He was not puzzled by the existence of demons. His experience on the day of his rebirth had made it impossible for Tang Qi to deny the Exists of Supernatural Power. Since devils, the Soul Exchange Scale, and Dark Witchcraft could all exist, the appearance of demons was only natural.

What Tang Qi truly could not understand was that, publicly, the existence of Supernatural Power was denied by the authorities.

Like Previous Life Earth, this world had developed modern civilization.

Though many strange and exaggerated Myths and Legends were still passed down through books, films, and people's conversations, and though this world seemed to have especially many more legends than Earth, their Details also seemed far too real.

For instance, the Original Owner's most vivid memory was that more than a thousand years ago, this world had suffered a Great Cataclysm. Whether it had been war or disaster was unknown, but that Unexpected Change had been linked to complicated terms such as gods, demons, and the apocalypse... sweeping the entire world into it.

The Divine Eagle Federation, now one of the Most Powerful political entities, had been founded when the Great Cataclysm ended.

Such a massive event should have left behind detailed records, yet from the Original Owner's memories, it seemed the truth of that great event had been jointly concealed by the major nations through some shared tacit understanding.

Anything that could not be completely covered up was handled through the contamination of various information, successfully creating a harmonious atmosphere of modern civilization across the world—one even better than that of Previous Life Earth.

But if Supernatural Power, demons, or gods could truly appear, then Even If the major political entities concealed it together, they could not silence everyone's mouths and blind everyone's eyes.

Tang Qi found the answer on the next page as to why this situation had formed.

Or rather, a possible answer.

It turned out that a century ago, a miraculous meteor had streaked across Origin Blue Star. Then, overnight, all supernatural phenomena vanished.

In their place came the rapid rise of science.

In only a hundred short years, the entire Origin Blue Star achieved greater accomplishments than it had over the previous thousand years. Aside from the occasional wars in certain local regions and on the Saha Continent, most of Origin Blue Star had become civilized and prosperous.

Because of this, many political entities and races adopted Brand New calendars after that meteor, and the Divine Eagle Federation was among them.

That was why Tang Qi had seen the words "Divine Eagle Calendar Year 102" on his admission notice.

The Divine Eagle Calendar referred to here was actually the Divine Eagle New Calendar.

If converted into the old calendar, that number would have to be increased by at least several thousand years.

The fractured yet marvelous historical progression of Origin Blue Star captivated Tang Qi so completely that he failed to notice he had already entered the Main Campus. Voices began to surge around him as Figures moved back and forth.

At This Moment, Tang Qi suddenly felt a pain in his forehead. His body swayed, and he nearly fell. He barely managed to steady himself, only to glimpse from the corner of his eye that the Figure he had collided with was about to fall. Tang Qi instinctively reached out and wrapped an arm around the person's waist.

"Ah!"

As a crisp, pleasant cry entered his ears, Tang Qi also felt soft, warm flesh beneath his palm.

It's a girl!

The conclusion immediately formed in Tang Qi's mind.