Electrolux

The sunlight was dazzlingly bright.

Warm rays spilled over the lush green grass. Unknown wildflowers bloomed across the meadow, their leaves and petals beaded with crystal-clear dew. A plump, fuzzy bee hovered above a flower, buzzing softly.

The air was heavy with damp mist. Not far away lay a lake, its dark green waters unfathomably deep.

A squid lounged lazily against the shore, waving its sucker-covered tentacles through the air.

On the hillside across the lake stood a towering castle, its spires rising one after another. Its bright windows glittered with dazzling light beneath the sun.

"What a beautiful Spiritual World." The old man in white stood beneath a tree and sighed in admiration.

It was that fragment of Electrolux's Spiritual imprint that had fallen into another world. Now that he had entered Wang Rui's Spiritual World, he could temporarily use Wang Rui's tangible Spiritual Power to condense a physical form.

"Uh, thank you for the compliment." The red-haired youth appeared out of thin air beside him.

"Hm? Is this your human form?" the old man asked teasingly. "It doesn't seem related to your true form at all. Still, young man, this face of yours looks quite spirited."

"Thank you. Your robe looks very nice too." Wang Rui scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. "May I ask who you are?"

Electrolux stared at him for a while, then shook his head with a laugh. "I don't remember. As you can see, I come from another world. In what little memory I have left, I had already died. But because my soul was too powerful, at the moment of death, it tore through space and left behind this wisp of Divine Sense, which eventually arrived in your world. I was originally drawn here by the Spiritual energy on that giant worm, but the situation surrounding you truly piqued my curiosity. So, this wisp of my Divine Sense took up residence in your Spiritual World. As for anything more specific, I think you should know more clearly than I do."

Wang Rui's heart jolted, but nothing showed on his face. He merely wore a clear-eyed, foolishly confused expression. "How would I know something that even you yourself don't know?"

"You're quite vigilant, young man!" Electrolux shook his head. "Look at that Power of Destiny on you. Making a prophecy whenever the mood strikes—that's basic training for you prophets, isn't it?"

Wang Rui remembered that there really were prophecy techniques in the novel Throne of Seal. Their prophecies could not only peer into the future, but seemingly even manipulate fate temporarily. That did bear some resemblance to the Power of Destiny he possessed.

"I don't know any prophecy like the one you mentioned." Wang Rui shook his head. The word innocent might as well have been written across his golden eyes. "Is that an ability from your world?"

It seemed this was someone exceptionally good at concealing himself...

Electrolux looked at Wang Rui with some surprise. His instincts told him that Wang Rui still had not told the truth—even his reaction was not genuine.

Generally speaking, those blessed by light had pure hearts and were kind and tolerant, while those blessed by fire were mostly straightforward and hot-tempered.

Yet judging by Wang Rui's habit of not saying a single honest word... Whether one called him vigilant or deep-minded, he was neither a light-blessed one who prided himself on sincerity and purity, nor a fire-blessed one who was frank by nature and disdained lying.

Although judging a person's character by their attributes was somewhat arbitrary, according to Electrolux's remaining memories, gods would certainly choose their blessed ones according to their own preferences—or, to put it in a more blasphemous way, when a person's attribute became pure to a certain extent, that attribute would inevitably influence their personality.

However, as the greatest of necromancers, Electrolux himself was highly sensitive to goodwill and malice. He knew that Wang Rui bore no ill intent, so such insignificant lies did not truly matter.

"Hm? In your world, isn't the ability to peer into the future called Great Prophecy?" Electrolux pondered for a moment. "But judging by the density of the Power of Destiny on you, I can conclude that you have a way to peer into the future and even the past—at the very least, you must know something about me. Otherwise, why would you directly place a fragment of a stranger's Spiritual imprint into your Sea of Consciousness? I can sense that the level of your Spiritual Power is already close to what mine was at my peak. If you had wished to, you definitely had a way to refuse my entry into your Sea of Consciousness."

Fuck, good thing I reacted quickly. I nearly got led around by this old fox. Wang Rui secretly let out half a sigh of relief. Just now, he had thought he had revealed some flaw and that Electrolux had seen straight through his thoughts.

Still, he truly lived up to the legends of the Holy Necromancer, the Undead Scourge. This old man had taken up residence in my Spiritual Sea, yet he did not bother concealing his probing at all. He really was arrogant.

Wang Rui had long considered how to deal with Electrolux—

He did not know whether the once noble Son of Light would be disgusted by someone so bluntly calculating.

Creating the persona of someone purely kind and honest, one who fit the image of a Son of Light, might earn Electrolux's appreciation, but it was absolutely not feasible.

After all, he himself was not an honest person. Moreover, Electrolux would be living in his Spiritual Sea the entire time. Wang Rui could not keep acting forever, much less change his plans for Electrolux. The path he intended to walk would never consist of kindness and mercy alone.

Once his persona conflicted with his actions, the trouble would be immense.

But misleading and deceiving him entirely with lies would not work either. Wang Rui did not expect to fool an old monster like Electrolux, one who had experienced betrayal, fallen into darkness, gone mad, and finally come to his senses—even if he had lost his memories.

It would be better to use caution as an excuse, tell a few harmless lies, let the other party expose them, and then reveal his purpose. That way, it would neither conflict with his future behavior nor make him seem too threatening.

In any case, the true purpose of the Imperial Auspicious Beast was nothing shameful.

"Fine, I admit it." The red-haired youth spread his hands. "I really did glimpse a sliver of the future. I saw that the gray one who came from another world was the hope of my kind's future—I suppose that refers to you?"

"Oh? The hope of your kind?" Electrolux was indeed intrigued. "If I'm not mistaken, you are a magical beast with dragon blood, correct? Back in my original world, I should have encountered dragons from other worlds as well. As far as I know, no matter the world, dragons should be among the strongest beings. Why would I become your hope?"

"That has to do with the special laws of this world." Wang Rui shook his head with a bitter smile and roughly described the situation on Douluo Continent and the plight faced by soul beasts.

"No wonder, no wonder." Electrolux stroked his beard. "I was wondering how someone could possess two utterly pure attributes at once. Wouldn't light and fire fight each other to the death? So the gods of this world are different from the gods in mine. But regardless, your situation is very interesting."

"And the laws of your world." Electrolux frowned. "In my world, although practitioners could increase their spiritual energy by consuming magical beast crystal cores, they could still advance without killing magical beasts. But when slaughtering innocents becomes a necessary condition for advancement... even the most fundamental rule of professional advancement carries an aura of evil."

The old man shook his head.

He had once been the purely kind Son of Light. Although he had fallen, his fundamental judgment had never vanished. "The laws of every world differ from one another. By rights, I should respect the laws of your world... But the laws of your world themselves carry the feeling of draining the pond to catch the fish."

"If this continues, I fear the practitioners and magical beasts of your world will disappear together."

Wang Rui: Acting.

Old Electrolux: I know he's acting.

Wang Rui: I know he knows I'm acting.

Old Electrolux: This little brat has far too many twists and turns. I can't be bothered acting back and forth with you. Let's lay our cards on the table.

Wang Rui: Talking to an old fox is exhausting. (Wipes sweat.)

(Not really.)