Hiss!
Lin Qing, in the real world, sharply sucked in a breath.
He did not even have time to think before raising a hand and viciously pinching his thigh.
"!!!"
The genuine pain told him that this was not a dream, nor had he gone mad.
"So... I died?"
Lin Qing sat blankly on the broken wooden stool, his mind a complete mess.
I died, so who am I now?
Both the scenes in the images and the experiences described by the narration perfectly matched the course of his own life.
Even his martial soul!
With a thought from Lin Qing,—
A faint burning sensation came from between his brows.
The next second, an equally profound and mysterious vertical eye silently emerged.
His martial soul was also the Heavenly Eye!
Of course, calling it the Heavenly Eye was a bit of an exaggeration. At present, it was merely an extremely cool-looking vertical eye on his forehead.
Other than granting him exceptionally sharp vision, enough to see the veins on a leaf a hundred meters away, he had yet to discover any particularly special abilities it possessed.
His Innate Soul Power was also rank eight.
One coincidence could be called chance.
Two coincidences could still be called coincidence.
But coincidences everywhere... that could no longer be explained by "coincidence"!
"This dead Lin Qing was very likely me, but he should be the me from another world—the one who ought to be sitting here right now."
Lin Qing forced himself to calm down and began analyzing the situation.
There were only two explanations he could think of.
First: this was all just a gimmick cooked up by his cheat.
The so-called "last words" and "relic" were merely backstories fabricated by the system to hand out rewards.
After all, what proper system would actually make its host listen to their own last words?
Second: the dead Lin Qing really was him, but not the him from this timeline.
He was Lin Qing from a Parallel World, or another timeline.
Only that could explain why their experiences were so similar.
"Whatever."
Lin Qing shook his head, throwing the chaotic thoughts out of his mind.
"Either way, it should do me no harm."
If the system truly wanted to kill him, would it need to go through all this trouble?
Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Lin Qing looked back at the Ash Urn on the table, his gaze turning fervent.
"Let's see what your relic can bring me!"
As though it had sensed his thoughts, the narration in his mind continued in a steady voice.
[After my martial soul awakened, I received an invitation from Spirit Hall.]
The scene changed.
A letter appeared in "Lin Qing's" hand.
The envelope bore Spirit Hall's distinctive emblem.
[At the same time, I could also choose to attend Notting Academy, where Tang San was studying.]
In another scene, the elderly village chief of Emperor Soul Village leaned on his cane and kindly said something to the young "Lin Qing."
"Child, I secured the village's work-study student slot at Notting Academy for you."
At this moment, Lin Qing faced the first choice of his life.
[Considering that I had no backing, little strength, and no cheat...]
For the first time, a subtle fluctuation appeared in the narrator's voice, as though it were sighing.
[After careful consideration, I chose to join Spirit Hall!]
The image froze.
The young "Lin Qing" stood at the village entrance with a crude bundle on his back.
He took one final look at Emperor Soul Village, where he had lived for six years, and at the tearful girl Er Ni bidding him farewell. Then he turned and strode forward with firm resolve.
"Oh?"
A trace of surprise flashed through the real Lin Qing's eyes.
He had long since figured out the situation in this region.
Emperor Soul Village lay on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire. It was a remote and impoverished place, and the nearest junior soul master academy was Notting Academy in Nuoding City.
The very academy where Tang San spent six years in the original story.
Given his identity as an orphan, unless something unexpected happened, he would most likely only be able to attend Notting Academy as a work-study student with the village chief's help.
There was no helping it. He was too poor and had no choice.
Yet Lin Qing from this Parallel World had actually received an invitation from Spirit Hall!
"That... actually seemed reasonable?"
Lin Qing quickly grasped the key point.
The Heavenly Eye, a body martial soul, might not have been properly studied in this era. Many people might have regarded it as an ordinary mutated martial soul.
But Innate Soul Power rank eight!
That number was enough to draw attention anywhere.
After all, Innate Soul Power rank seven already qualified someone as a minor genius.
Ranks eight and nine were talents every major faction would fight to recruit.
As for Innate Full Soul Power? That was something one could only hope to encounter by chance.
As the largest soul master organization on the continent, Spirit Hall had eyes and ears everywhere.
How could it possibly fail to extend an olive branch after discovering a child with Innate Soul Power rank eight?
Lin Qing stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"The invitation from Spirit Hall might already be on its way to me. It just hasn't arrived yet."
Emperor Soul Village was simply too remote, and information took time to travel.
"Interesting."
Lin Qing's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
The experiences of the Parallel World Lin Qing were like a suddenly opened window, showing him a completely different future and an entirely different path.
"Even if this so-called 'relic' is only this memory, its value is already immeasurable."
Because what this memory brought him was not gold and silver.
It was information!
Real, detailed information about the future.
Not the one-sided world seen through the perspectives of protagonists like Tang San in the original Douluo Continent novel.
Rather, it was Douluo Continent personally experienced and witnessed through the eyes of an ordinary soul master.
Such information was practically a custom-made "growth guide" for him.
He could completely build upon Parallel Lin Qing's experiences, determine the best choices, avoid any traps that might exist, and seize those fleeting opportunities.
"This is far more practical than any divine cultivation manual or legendary artifact."
Lin Qing took a deep breath and calmed his excited emotions.
His gaze refocused on the light-and-shadow image before him, and a heated curve lifted at the corner of his lips.
"I really want to see how 'I,' after choosing to join Spirit Hall, ended up dying."
That was right. Since it was a relic, it meant that this six-year-old Lin Qing had died.
The last words continued.
[After joining Spirit Hall, I was assigned to study at a junior soul master academy near Spirit Hall's Suotuo City branch. I needed to graduate from a junior soul master academy before I could attend the advanced soul master academy in Spirit City, Spirit Hall Academy.]
In the light-and-shadow image, the young "Lin Qing" entered a bustling city with his bundle on his back.
Shops lined both sides of the streets, and the pedestrians were smartly dressed. Compared to the dilapidated Emperor Soul Village, this place was practically another world.
The scene shifted to an ancient stone building.
Above its gates hung a gilded plaque: Suotuo Junior Soul Master Academy.
[On only my second day after enrollment, I received some good news.]
Though it was supposedly good news, the narrator's voice carried a faint, barely perceptible hint of mockery.
[Viscount Priest of Suotuo City's Priest Family said he saw potential in me and was willing to sponsor me.]
A butler-like man dressed in fine clothes respectfully handed a letter to the parallel Lin Qing.
[He offered 1,000 Gold Soul Coins right from the start.]
"1,000 Gold Soul Coins?!"
Lin Qing himself nearly leaped off the broken wooden stool.
His eyes widened, and even his breathing quickened.
One Gold Soul Coin was enough to cover several months of expenses for an ordinary family of three!
A thousand Gold Soul Coins was practically an astronomical sum!
For an orphan like him, who could not even fill his stomach, it was an unimaginable fortune.
"Viscount Priest is being far too generous. Why?"
Yet a trace of vigilance rose in Lin Qing's heart.
Something was wrong with this man!
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
And even if one did fall from the sky, it would most likely be an iron pancake—the kind that could crush someone to death.
Before you continue