"The dagger and book were left there by another team. Before we entered, another team had already entered the examination."
"They didn't even take something that important with them, so they most likely died. If they couldn't survive even with the dagger, their enemy could only have been macrocosmic The Mysterious and Subtle, or something inside the immortal gate."
"Conversely, that also means they were terrifyingly strong."
Ye Lin's eyes flickered, his fingertips tapping lightly against the table.
If that line of reasoning held, a lot of things would make sense.
For instance, why could the ghost imitate the system's voice?
Because the ghost had eaten the examinees from another team and gained their memories.
Why was there another candle in the Ancestral Hall?
Because the other team had brought it out. They hadn't realized that carrying the candle would allow the immortal soul to find them, so they had died at Little Child Ghost's hands.
"So the examinations were never prepared for any one team. If we think of an examination as a mission, we're only one part of completing it. No, with our strength, we're just peripheral scraps, the equivalent of cleaning up a battlefield."
"Clearing away unnecessary trash for the system before other teams enter the examination."
"But if we keep following that logic..."
Ye Lin's heart jolted. He suddenly realized that taking this reasoning further would mean the examination scenarios weren't generated by the system. They actually existed, and the teams were merely dropped into them.
Otherwise, if the system could control everything, why bother with that extra step?
Had all these disasters actually happened?
When would they have happened?
In the past, the future, or a parallel timeline?
Why did the disasters occur, and what role did the system play in them? If these disasters