Xiao Lin felt a headache coming on. He did not even know what the Book of Creation was, let alone its so-called fragments. He never saw anything like that at all!
“You must really want to know what the Book of Creation is, don’t you?” Ivan saw the profound confusion on Xiao Lin’s face.
“Can you explain it to me?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know what the Book of Creation is.”
“This isn’t funny. So, how many fragments are there in the Book of Creation?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are the pieces?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is there a benefit to collecting all the pieces? For example, the ability to ascend to a higher level?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what do you know…”
Ivan sighed. “I told you, I’m only a fragmented memory. All I know is that the Book of Creation relates to the origin and laws of Planet Norma. However, the book was destroyed a long time ago and its fragments are scattered all over time and space. One of the fragments is hidden in The Final Land; in my tomb, that is. In fact, this memory of mine is also to protect that fragment. When I dive into your deep consciousness, it also means that this fragment has been absorbed by you.”
Xiao Lin could already feel a headache. He quickly waved his hand to interrupt. “The problem is, you don’t know a single thing at all. How do you expect me to collect all those fragments? And, how do I know if this thing will bring harm? I don’t want to stir up trouble!”
Ivan shook his head. “I may not know, but the information in my memory shows that the Book of Creation is very important to Planet Norma, even Earth! In fact, if it’s possible, I would’ve loved to task this to a more capable person, but unfortunately, it was you who entered that place, and it was you who understood the message I burned on the crystal wall. For that reason, it can only be you.”
After a pause, Ivan blinked and smiled softly. “As for the harm? Haha, I’ll borrow one of your Chinese sayings: you’re taking your own undeserved gain for granted. Aren’t you curious how the Miracle skill you created came to be? I’ve been paying attention to you in The Final Land. While it’s true that laws can be created there, you couldn’t have been able to create your new skill without the book’s fragments, even with that SS-level talent! I obtained a fragment back then too, and that was why I was able to create the resurrection law.”
Xiao Lin was indeed quite surprised, but on closer thought, the statements put forth were the only possibility. His Miracle skill did appear rather abruptly, as if a mere thought was able to transform it into a skill.
However, Xiao Lin was more concerned about Ivan’s other statement. “You said that the Book of Creation is also important to Earth? But isn’t it from Planet Norma?”
Ivan spread his palms. “You’d have to find the answer yourself. I told you, my task is to protect the fragment. Now that the fragment has a new owner, my mission is complete.”
Looking at the bright, carefree smile on the young Russian’s face, Xiao Lin guessed something and asked quickly, “Are you going to leave? Or is it—”
“I’m just a memory. I’m not even a soul. Back in The Final Land, I used a special method to seal myself in the fragment. Now that there is no fragment, normal law dictates that memories without a body will fade away quickly. Such is the law of nature,” Ivan said calmly. He did not feel the slightest regret at his impending disappearance.
Regardless of Xiao Lin’s earlier views and beliefs toward that legendary character, he could not help but feel sad when he heard that.
Whether it was the Miracle skill, the accelerated learning of Phantom Steps, or supposed assistance to help Xiao Lin improve his talent level, the memory of Ivan—whom he did not know personally—really did help him a lot.
After a brief moment of conflict, Xiao Lin hesitated and said, “I don’t dare give you any assurances or promises regarding the Book of Creation’s fragments, but if strength and conditions permit, I’ll try to help you collect them.”
Ivan waved his hand and said disapprovingly, “It’s okay. This isn’t an order. It’s just a request. The onus on agreeing actually lies with you, but the information in my memory shows that it seems to have a great impact on Earth. Although I’m just a memory, I still don’t want any disasters to happen in my homeworld. I hope you can understand.”
Xiao Lin nodded to express his understanding, despite the fact that he was still puzzled.
Just as those last words were explained, Ivan stood under the apple tree and continued, “My time is running out. I’ll help you complete your transition to SS-level. Oh, about that, it’s a very complicated and time-consuming upgrade. I don’t have time to explain more to you, but I’ll help you this time. You’ll have to find out more on your own in the future.”
After finishing his words, Ivan closed his eyes before waiting for Xiao Lin to respond. Ivan’s body then became increasingly transparent and blurry. After disappearing completely, the entire light-filled world seemed to have lost its anchor and crumbled in an instant.
Xiao Lin’s consciousness fell into chaos again—in layman’s terms, he had passed out.
When Xiao Lin next woke up, he felt that every bone in his body was sore, but aside from that pain was an unexplainable freshness in his spirit. He stood up with great effort and used the wall as support, then discovered that his clothes were soaked all over. He sweated profusely, and there was also some kind of thick, stinking, unknown gray-black substance sticking to his clothes.
Xiao Lin looked outside the window. Darkness had already covered the sky and he breathed a sigh of relief when he lowered his head to glance at the time on the computer display. It was still the evening of the same day and he was fortunate not to have been stuck in a coma for days on end.
After rushing into the bathroom, he took a very pleasant shower and completely cleaned off all the strange stickiness on his body. When he came out again, he was fully refreshed and his bone pain had lessened. Then he logged into his personal file and checked his own talent attributes: it was a confidential piece of information that only he could access.
[Talent: Academic Genius LV2 (self-named)]
[Level: SS]
[Passive effect: Improve learning efficiency by 200%.]
[Active effect: Replication ability to replicate any non-talent skill that does not exceed the Grade E evaluation. Effect lasts 10 minutes, and the skill can be used every 6 days.]
His SS-level skill was finally upgraded, and the effect after the upgrade was tremendously powerful. The passive effect had doubled by 100%, and he was more than eager to see the 200% training result after initially experiencing the initial passive effects.
Xiao Lin’s active replication skill had also been strengthened. The cool-down period after using it had been reduced from the initial seven days to six days. Although it was only a one-day difference, it was still better than nothing. The replication effect duration had also been extended from three minutes to ten minutes, and most importantly, the grade of skills he could replicate rose from F to E.