The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

"It doesn't matter." Long Ao didn't even glance at the demon core, his tone casual: "As long as it can cover up the fact that we've been out of contact for three days, this stone is being put to good use compared to having others investigate us endlessly."

"At worst, we'll just say that we happened to encounter this level 10 Void Beast in another dimension, and it was severely injured and on the verge of death. Then, the wolf made its move, and after it died, we picked up the demon core and escaped."

Moreover, Long Ao estimated that the council would not embezzle the demon core, because he was Long Ao.

Since it's still his, why should he care?

However... Long Ao couldn't help but think of the fate those people had mentioned.

Is everything that happened today also preordained?

If so, is fate really so hard to defy?

If not, how did the White Tiger come to know everything that happened today?

destiny……

Is fate really at play?

If so, then what is my fate?

Yin Chen took a deep breath and looked away from the demon core.

"You can startle people with just one move. The core of a tenth-tier Void Beast is something that would be treasured as a family heirloom even in my family's treasure vault, which is locked by more than a dozen layers of formations."

He wasn't surprised; among those present, only the fact that this item appeared in Hong Yuan's hands would have surprised him.

"I told you, I found it."

Long Ao turned his face to the window and crossed his arms: "Since it works, just use this excuse. As long as it solves the problem, that's fine."

An Changqing remained silent. The last time he saw the tenth-order Void Beast Demon Core was not long ago at the First Academy. It was eventually taken away by Instructor Jing; it was a treasure of the academy.

It must be a coincidence.

After all, they are fewer, not extinct.

Looking at the demon core on the table, Su Yuehe's worry gradually faded, replaced by a sense of relief that had finally come to fruition.

She picked up her terminal again, her fair fingers dancing lightly across the screen as she revised the report she was about to send to her mother.

"In this way, all the logic is closed."

An Changqing nodded in satisfaction. He took out a specially made sealed box from his storage space, carefully put the demon core inside, and then pushed it back to Long Ao.

"Keep your things safe for now. After we get off the spaceship, I will submit this report to our superiors on behalf of the team."

An Changqing planned to handle it himself, as he had experience with this matter.

"Whatever." Long Ao casually stuffed the box into his pocket without even glancing at it.

Chen Guan leaned back in his chair, quietly watching his companions refine the excuse, one after another.

The longer he stayed in this strange world, the more he felt this way.

It seemed as if the world was always leaving him in an instant, but when he slowly woke up, everything was as before.

Chen Guan didn't know when it started, but this illusion became stronger and stronger, making it increasingly impossible for him to live in this world with the mindset of an ordinary person.

The more you try to get closer, the further away you drift.

Familiar comments scrolled rapidly across the semi-transparent screen, constantly reminding him that he was not from this world.

[Good heavens, he just took a tenth-tier demon core like that! Brother Ao is so generous.]

[Brother Coffin is always so calm. While others are making up stories, he just watches from the sidelines, as if it's not about him at all.]

[Xiao An's usual daydreaming, but Yin Chen probably doesn't know yet that his fate has also begun.]

What does the person upstairs mean?

Yin Chen appeared in Xiao An's high school episode; you can check the forum for details, the experts are discussing it extensively.

Seeing the lively barrage of comments, Chen Guan adjusted his sitting posture to be more comfortable.

Yin Chen...is there some gossip going on?

Chen Guan cast aside all distractions and swiftly attacked the forum, eager to seize any juicy gossip.

To be honest, he didn't know much about Yin Chen's family situation, only that they were a wealthy family.

Now that the comments section is giving him a god-like perspective, how could he miss it?

[Search: Yin Chen.]

The system responded quickly, the page refreshed, and a flood of dense discussion posts poured in like a waterfall.

He glanced at several titles and quickly spotted a post highlighted in red.

A summary and background reveal of Young Master Yin's tragic scenes in the high school arc: The untold stories of Yin Chen and Chen Guan.

Upon seeing the title of the long and difficult sentence, Chen Guan clicked on it immediately.

Clicking on this post immediately evokes a strong sense of gossip and drama.

[Back in the prequel, Yin Chen actually appeared as a minor character; yes, he was that ridiculously ugly extra from Shanghai.]

[His entrance was absolutely spectacular, with snow falling everywhere and the wind howling – his style was off the charts! And what happened? Who did he face in the solo competition? That's right, it was none other than our own An Changqing.]

[An Shen hadn't even fully drawn his sword; with a casual flick of his wrist, scabbard still attached, he shattered Young Master Yin's carefully prepared ice shield into pieces. Young Master Yin fell from mid-air, landing in a rather unseemly manner.]

Upon seeing this, Chen Guan looked up at the seat diagonally in front of him.

Yin Chen was leaning back in his chair, his long legs crossed, his posture so composed that there was not a single flaw.

It's completely unimaginable...

Chen Guan silently shifted his gaze.

[You think that's the end of it? After being schooled by An Shen in the team competition, Young Master Yin felt he had lost face, so he went to provoke another dark horse team at the time. Coincidentally, he ran into our Brother Ao.]

[Young Master Yin laid out a huge pile of ice spikes in front of Brother Ao. Before he could even finish speaking, Brother Ao punched the ice spikes and Young Master Yin himself, sending them flying. The narrator said that Yin Chen was hanging on the wall for a long time before he could get down, which was quite a feat.]

Upon seeing this, Chen Guan turned to look at Long Ao, who was sitting in the corner.

The student was resting with his eyes closed, his arms crossed over his chest, and his breathing was steady and even.

Chen Guan's gaze returned to the screen. In the latter half of the post, the topic shifted, no longer mocking Yin Chen's achievements, but turning to the background of the Yin family.

[However, to be fair, the Yin family is a prominent family in Shanghai, and their foundation is indeed not to be underestimated. Take a look at this picture; it shows Yin Chen losing the match and being scolded by his father when he got home.]

The focus wasn't on Yin Chen, who was being scolded, but on the place where they were standing—the Yin family's ancestral hall.

In a typical ancestral hall, the central altar should house the ancestral tablets, right? The Yin family is no exception, but I noticed something.

The poster included a high-resolution restored screenshot below the text.

Chen Guan's gaze fell on the map.

The background lighting in the screenshot is dim. Yin's father stands on the bluestone steps with his hands behind his back. At the very center of the altar at the top of the steps, besides the rows of wooden shrines, there is only a dark gray stone tablet standing alone.

The stone tablet had no name engraved on it; its surface was covered with the marks of time, weathered and peeling, and even had strange cracks.

Chen Guan's breathing slowed down slightly.

No, those aren't cracks, they're words.

The image that naturally came to mind was the one he had looked back at not long ago when they had just emerged from that snow-covered underground ruin.

That weathered boundary marker standing at the entrance to the ruins.