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What the hell is this place?!

Before he could ask around, a black hover train suddenly appeared before him. A fair-skinned young man with flaming red hair stepped down and said to Qin Yi, "You're Young Master Qin Yi, right? The master ordered me to come pick you up. Please get in."

Huh? Just as Qin Yi was about to object, Andre suddenly spoke from within the space. "Go with him. We don't know anyone in this unfamiliar place, so we might as well follow him. It won't be dangerous anyway."

Thinking that made sense, Qin Yi said nothing and followed the red-haired young man aboard.

Along the way, the red-haired young man rambled on and on. It took Qin Yi quite a while to understand what was going on. The young man was called Luo Fei, the special assistant to Qin Yuanlie, a general of the Empire. The Qin family was an aristocratic family of the Empire, with countless descendants spread throughout its various military divisions. Their influence was intricately intertwined, like a vast net stretching across the entire Empire. The Qin family's patriarch had been a veteran who had followed the founding emperor even before the Empire was established. The Qin family had existed alongside the nation, multiplying through who knew how many generations. When a forest grew large, all kinds of birds flocked to it. Some descendants of the family had begun indulging in pleasure and chasing women. The father of the so-called "Qin Yi" was one of them. While wandering through the Empire, he met "Qin Yi's" mother. After a night of passion, he left behind some money and departed. Thirteen years later, however, an unexpected incident caused him to lose that function, leaving him unable to father any more children. Disheartened, he left the Imperial Capital. While wandering around, he happened to see "Qin Yi," who was delivering food at the time. "Qin Yi's" distinctive Qin family features and the primordial stone necklace around his neck made Qin Yi's father suspicious of his background. After investigating openly and secretly, he discovered that "Qin Yi" was the result of his one-night affair all those years ago. That pure yet stubborn woman had become pregnant because of that accident and insisted on giving birth to the child and raising him. Yet she had overworked herself and died young, leaving the ten-year-old "Qin Yi" alone in this world.

Upon learning the truth, Qin Yi's father was overjoyed. He told everything he knew to his own father, Imperial General Qin Yuanlie. Qin Yuanlie had already felt deeply guilty over his son's accident, so he was delighted upon hearing this. After repeated investigation, he sent his special assistant Luo Fei to bring him back.

What a melodramatic, utterly ridiculous plot! Qin Yi sighed repeatedly. He said to Andre in his heart, "I still feel guilty! I'm not the real 'Qin Yi.' What am I supposed to do when the time comes? If they discover the truth, won't I die horribly? Besides, isn't this unfair to 'Qin Yi'?"

"Fair or unfair, it doesn't matter!" Andre suddenly said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Qin Yi asked suspiciously.

"Because that 'Qin Yi' is already dead." Andre's voice turned strange.

"Don't tell me it was you—" Qin Yi's expression changed drastically. He stared at Andre in stunned disbelief.

"Of course it wasn't me! What are you thinking?" Andre snorted, then suddenly dragged Qin Yi's consciousness into the space. Once inside, Qin Yi saw a youth lying on the ground, covered in injuries and looking exactly like him. His eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Uh, I got curious after hearing what Luo Fei said! So I searched nearby and found him dumped in a broken alley behind a hotel. I saw that he looked a lot like you, so I pulled him in here. But he was already dead." Andre said aggrievedly, "How could you suspect me—"

"Sorry! I've read too many novels. I thought you'd killed him to silence him!" Qin Yi apologized guiltily. Then, looking at "Qin Yi's" corpse—what a bizarre feeling—he asked in confusion, "What exactly happened to him? Why is he in such a terrible state?"

His gaze swept over the youth's stiff corpse. Red marks and wounds torn open by sharp objects covered it. The area below him was a mess, and there were also patches of cloudy white liquid that had already congealed. The horrific sight made Qin Yi's face turn livid.

"What a beast!"

"There's only one way to find out what happened to him. We can use the Ghost-Seeking Soul-Summoning Technique to search his consciousness. Although his body is dead, he died so miserably that resentment must remain. As long as we can connect with that resentment, we can probably figure out what happened to him," Andre said.

"Alright." Qin Yi sighed and silently recalled the Ghost-Seeking Soul-Summoning Technique that Teacher Ying Mai had taught him. Moments later, green lights gradually floated from the youth's corpse, slowly gathering into the shape of a person. It was the face Qin Yi knew best.

"Thank you for giving me a chance to speak again," the youth said first.

"Uh, you're welcome!" Qin Yi scratched his head awkwardly.

"If there's a chance, please help me take revenge!" The youth's second sentence was exactly what Qin Yi had expected.

"..." Qin Yi fell silent awkwardly. He knew what the youth meant. But in all his life, he had only ever been killed by others. He had never killed anyone himself!

"I know it's asking too much to entrust something like this to a stranger. But seeing your face, I can roughly guess why you saved me." The youth smiled faintly. "It isn't that I'm unwilling to die. I simply cannot accept dying in such humiliation. Besides, that beast didn't only do this to me. Many other youths like me are being harmed by him. If you can't get rid of him, tragedies like mine will keep happening."

Qin Yi looked at the unwillingness and hatred radiating from the depths of the youth's soul and hesitated.

"Forget it. Treat it as an exchange! I'll make a deal with you using my soul. After accepting my soul, please accept my wish for revenge as well. Let me rest in peace." As the youth spoke, he suddenly rushed toward Qin Yi. Before Qin Yi could react, the youth had already merged into his body. Qin Yi felt a clear, cool sensation flow down from his head, and a set of memories that did not belong to him suddenly appeared in his mind. Even the spiritual power within his body increased noticeably.

Andre said somewhat gloomily, "That is the power of the soul. Among all forms of power, soul power is the strongest and most wondrous. Many gods captured pure souls for this power. But that violated the laws of the gods and would earn the contempt of all deities. Later, such methods gradually disappeared. That youth's soul was extremely pure, and his obsession after dying from abuse was exceptionally strong. He willingly abandoned his soul and gave it to you. Therefore, the growth of your spiritual power is purer than even a thousand years of bitter cultivation, or even the Faith Power you gained last time. But at the same time, you must accept the soul's strongest obsession before death. In other words, you must help him take revenge."

Qin Yi nodded gloomily as well, feeling the youth's memories in his mind. For no reason, a trace of sorrow rose in his heart. While he was lost in sadness, someone said beside his ear, "Young Master Qin Yi, we've arrived."

Qin Yi hurriedly returned his consciousness to his body and opened his eyes. The hover vehicle had stopped before an exceptionally luxurious cluster of villas.

Author's Note: Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ever since Qin Rong left with Daoist Tianku, Qin Yi had practiced cultivation techniques alone at the academy. Yet after roughly a year, he had made no progress at all. Unable to help himself, he asked Andre in astonishment, "Why the hell is that?"

"Of course. Your body has been tempered by my Divine Power, so it no longer reacts to this weak, insignificant cultivation energy. Unless it's Faith Power of equal quality, you can forget about making any progress even if you cultivate for ten years," Andre said matter-of-factly.

"...Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Qin Yi felt the urge to kill someone.

"You never asked!" Andre replied even more matter-of-factly.

"What do we do now?" Qin Yi was on the verge of tears. Nearly a whole year had been wasted for nothing.

"How about finding a way to obtain Faith Power?" Andre thought for a moment and offered a suggestion.

Qin Yi fell silent, then changed the subject. "Oh, right. These past few days, Teacher has started teaching pill refinement. I looked through the jade slips we were given before, and the material ratios require extreme precision. Come back to Earth with me. We'll buy some laboratory equipment."

"Sure." Andre agreed readily. He said to Qin Yi, "Are you ready?"

"We're leaving now?" Qin Yi was a little surprised. Since when had Andre become so efficient?

"Of course. There's been nothing fun here for an entire year. I'm bored to death." Andre rolled his eyes.

"..." Qin Yi decided it was better not to place too much hope in him. He got up and packed his dorm room, placing all the necessary items into Andre's space before saying, "Alright, let's go!"

Andre neither confirmed nor denied it, merely taking Qin Yi through space. The power of spatial laws was extremely strong, yet inside Andre's space, Qin Yi did not feel anything at all. More than once, Qin Yi had praised Andre's space as the best thing for home life and travel. After quite some time passed and they still had not reached Earth, Qin Yi asked suspiciously, "Andre, what's going on?"

Andre closed his eyes to inspect the situation. After a moment, he said in a panic, "This is bad. We encountered a cosmic turbulence just now and got swept away by it..."

Upon hearing that, Qin Yi felt like coughing up blood. Why was every spatial crossing with Andre so unreliable? Aaahhh!

This was way too depressing!

"Then where are we now?" Qin Yi was on the verge of tears. "Can we still go back? Qin Rong is still on the Rainbow Continent!"

"The coordinates are unknown." Andre said guiltily, "We may have been swept too far from our original location. And my current power is insufficient. But I memorized the spatial coordinates of the Rainbow Continent. As long as we have enough Faith Power, we'll definitely be able to return."

Qin Yi shot Andre another accusatory look. He knew this guy was never reliable. Other than keeping him alive, Andre could guarantee nothing at all! It was more random than winning the lottery.

"Attention, we have contacted the nearest plane. Prepare to enter," Andre suddenly said. Qin Yi only saw a flash before his eyes, and Andre threw him out of the space.

Before he could protest Andre's rough behavior, Qin Yi was stunned by the sight before him.

Hover vehicles flew through the sky, enormous mecha resembling those from the anime Gundam stood around, and towering buildings were filled with an American science-fiction atmosphere...

What the hell is this place?!

Before he could ask around, a black hover train suddenly appeared before him. A fair-skinned young man with flaming red hair stepped down and said to Qin Yi, "You're Young Master Qin Yi, right? The master ordered me to come pick you up. Please get in."

Huh? Just as Qin Yi was about to object, Andre suddenly spoke from within the space. "Go with him. We don't know anyone in this unfamiliar place, so we might as well follow him. It won't be dangerous anyway."

Thinking that made sense, Qin Yi said nothing and followed the red-haired young man aboard.

Along the way, the red-haired young man rambled on and on. It took Qin Yi quite a while to understand what was going on. The young man was called Luo Fei, the special assistant to Qin Yuanlie, a general of the Empire. The Qin family was an aristocratic family of the Empire, with countless descendants spread throughout its various military divisions. Their influence was intricately intertwined, like a vast net stretching across the entire Empire. The Qin family's patriarch had been a veteran who had followed the founding emperor even before the Empire was established. The Qin family had existed alongside the nation, multiplying through who knew how many generations. When a forest grew large, all kinds of birds flocked to it. Some descendants of the family had begun indulging in pleasure and chasing women. The father of the so-called "Qin Yi" was one of them. While wandering through the Empire, he met "Qin Yi's" mother. After a night of passion, he left behind some money and departed. Thirteen years later, however, an unexpected incident caused him to lose that function, leaving him unable to father any more children. Disheartened, he left the Imperial Capital. While wandering around, he happened to see "Qin Yi," who was delivering food at the time. "Qin Yi's" distinctive Qin family features and the primordial stone necklace around his neck made Qin Yi's father suspicious of his background. After investigating openly and secretly, he discovered that "Qin Yi" was the result of his one-night affair all those years ago. That pure yet stubborn woman had become pregnant because of that accident and insisted on giving birth to the child and raising him. Yet she had overworked herself and died young, leaving the ten-year-old "Qin Yi" alone in this world.