All the heavens, starting as the ruler of the universe

"Brother Lin, you've finally arrived." Ao Qing looked at Lin Yan as if he had seen a savior.

Lin Yan pushed away Ao Qing, who was trying to hug him, and glanced at him. "It's alright. His soul wasn't tampered with. His memories from this period of time have just been covered up and hidden."

"Huh? Someone really did set me up?" Ao Qing looked miserable.

"You think too highly of yourself." Lin Yan glanced at him. "If I really wanted to target you, you wouldn't even be here as long as I am."

"Brother Lin..." Ao Qing was about to say something when Lin Yan raised his hand to interrupt him, "Don't speak yet, someone's coming."

Ao Qing followed Lin Yan's gaze.

Reinhard's red hair shone like a burning fire in the sunlight. His hand rested on the hilt of the Dragon Claw Sword. His steps were slow, but each one was steady.

His gaze swept over Ao Qing, then landed on Lin Yan and stopped.

"Who are you?" His voice was calm, but Ao Qing could detect the wariness in it.

Lin Yan looked at Reinhard, his gaze moving from his face to his chest, then from his chest to his arm, and finally settling on the sword at his waist.

"Reinhard van Astreya," Lin Yan said, "the strongest swordsman of our time."

"It's just a title." Reinhard's hand remained on the sword the entire time.

"Sword Saint, Phoenix, First Encounter, Second Appearance, Arrow... With so many protections bestowed upon him, calling him a Sword Saint is not an exaggeration."

Lin Yan recognized the person in front of him and knew what kind of world this was.

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-

The protagonist of the Japanese light novel and anime, Subaru Natsuki, also known as 486, is an ordinary person with the protection of the Death Archive.

The reason Ao Qing has been out of contact for so long is because the protagonist, Natsuki Subaru, kept dying and rewinding in the early stages of the story. This caused Ao Qing to repeatedly loop through time, but he had no memory of that period.

"What brings you here, sir?" Reinhardt remained vigilant.

Reinhard van Astrea is the pinnacle of existence in this world, possessing over 250 different blessings. In fact, it could be said that the world's will can grant him any blessing he desires at any time.

Compared to Subaru Natsuki, he is more like a protagonist.

Lin Yan was about to speak when he suddenly stopped.

It wasn't that I was interrupted by someone, it was that the world interrupted me.

He felt an invisible force surging in from all directions, and time was flowing backward, like a river suddenly changing direction and flowing from downstream to upstream.

He saw pedestrians on the street begin to back away, their steps disordered, and Reinhard backed away from them.

He stretched out his hand, and starlight flowed from his fingertips, enveloping Ao Qing. The starlight was very thin, like a transparent membrane, covering Ao Qing's entire body.

"Brother Lin?" Ao Qing was stunned.

"Don't move," Lin Yan said. "The world is flowing backward. Remember what you're seeing right now."

Ao Qing didn't know what Lin Yan was talking about, but he didn't move.

He stood in the starlight, watching the pedestrians on the street recede as if a rewind button had been pressed, watching their shadows move from east to west, and watching the sun rise from the west.

His head started to ache, a pain that radiated outwards. Something was churning in his brain, like stones that had been pressed to the bottom of the water, rising one by one.

Past memories gradually surfaced.

He saw himself standing on the street, watching the bustling crowd.

He followed a black-haired boy into a small alley, watching as three thugs pulled out knives and the boy ran into them.

He saw blood, and he saw the boy lying on the ground.

Memories resurfaced; he saw himself waking up in the grass again and again, and seeing himself following Raizuki Subaru into that alleyway again and again.

"Brother Lin..." His voice trembled.

"Take a deep breath; dizziness is normal."

"..."

Time has stopped flowing backward.

The pedestrians on the street returned to normal, the sun rose again from the east, and shadows moved from the west to the east, as if nothing had happened.

"Is this the power of protection?!" Ao Qing was dumbfounded.

"It only works in this small world," Lin Yan replied.

That's right, a small world.

Lin Yan discovered that this world was not a complete universe like other worlds, but only a small part of the solar system.

It's as if it was detached from the universe.

"Then how am I supposed to find the transmigrator?" Ao Qing hadn't forgotten his mission here.

"This world doesn't need you, I'll take care of it. Anyway, you've already got your 500 Origin Points." Lin Yan didn't care about the transmigrator; he was interested in this kind of world.

"Should I take you back?"

Ao Qing hesitated for a moment, "You should take me back, Brother Lin. There's nothing I can do to help here."

"Okay." Lin Yan didn't say anything more, reached out and opened a spatial rift to send Ao Qing back.

Ao Qing's figure disappeared into the spatial rift.

The rift closed, the starlight faded, and the street returned to calm.

Lin Yan stood there and began to observe the world with his consciousness.

His consciousness spread out of his body, through streets, through houses, through city walls, through clouds, and through the atmosphere.

He saw the starry sky, but there were very few stars, scattered sparsely, like a handful of broken diamonds casually scattered by someone.

He continued to extend outwards, past the farthest star, past the dark void, and then he encountered a wall.

It's not a wall, it's a boundary, the boundary of this world.

Lin Yan's consciousness stopped there. He saw that this world was not a complete universe; it was only the size of the solar system, or even smaller.

As for what was outside the wall, Lin Yan couldn't see anything.

He snapped out of his daze and opened his eyes.

"Interesting," he said softly.

This world was created, not formed naturally.

Someone, or some kind of being, created this world.

Lin Yan stood on the side of the street, watching the people coming and going.

These people are real, not fake; Lin Yan is certain of that.

He didn't consider that this world was just a fictional world, merely a casual stroke in someone else's novel.

That would be meaningless and would only negate one's own existence.

Lin Yan will not waver in his existence. Even though he is a created virtual character, he still possesses self-awareness.

Even if it's fake, I'll still practice fake cultivation to make myself real!

What he cares about is that he is still alive and can still find answers; that's enough.

Lin Yan lifted his foot and walked towards the city.

He saw Subaru Natsuki, he saw Reinhard, and he even saw Rem with blue hair.

"Interesting," Lin Yan said again, then smiled.

"Let's add another goal: to find the original Earth."